And I'm Getting Poorer Every Day

5:23 a.m. I was awakened by a man singing to me.

Okay, he was singing to everyone in earshot of the local mosque, not just to me. And it's somewhat soothing.

My morning in Kuwait had begun. It's no problem to be woken up so early when you're jetlagged anyway. My inner clock was confused. I'm back on Uganda time, after being on Eastern Standard time for six weeks.

My mobile phone started buzzing when I was in the (cold) shower. I grabbed a towel and raced over. It was the rep from a realtor I'd contacted. He would be happy to show me some furnished apartments in an hour.

I worked out which bus would take me to the meeting point in Salwa, but after standing at the bus stop for a while, considered that the buses might not run that often on a holiday. I hailed a taxi.

The taxi driver had no idea where the Palms Hotel in Salwa was. Neither did I. We couldn't communicate at all, so I said "Radisson." He nodded, then showed me a photo of his wife.

Luck was with me and the Radisson turned out to be next door to Palms. There was too much security at Radisson so I didn't bother sneaking a look. Apparently every window was blown out of it during the Gulf War.

The realtor showed me some apartments around Salwa. Kuwait City is sprawling, and Salwa seemed to be quite a long distance from the office and the city center.

The first was acceptable. It was clean and fairly modern. It wasn't large, and consisted of several small rooms that all featured locking doors. Rent was $1000 a month and Internet access was an additional $85 a month. Eh. I wasn't blown away, but if nothing else came up, I'd consider it.

The next was larger, older, and had its own balcony. It was $1200. Again, an additional $85 was required for Internet.

The third place was a $600 studio. But it smelled badly due to a sewage pipe problem, and it was dingy and excessively used. The realtor hadn't even wanted to show it to me, and once I saw it, I understood why.

I started to reconsider the corporate housing I was already in. I'd asked the maid to deal with the rancid food in the dishes and she'd done a good job. Internet was included there and the city center was just a few minutes away by taxi... but then Hassan told me the monthly rent would be $1200. Ouch.

The realtor left me at Marina Mall, another glamorous over-the-top mall that reminded me of my impoverished status. I got the cheapest thing (besides McDonald's) that I could find in the food court, and it was still $6. Then caught another $6 taxi home. I realize that $6 for a taxi fare is not to be unexpected, but if it costs me $12 just to leave my place, PLUS whatever I spend when I get to my destination, it's going to hurt. It's going to cost me $20 to walk outside my door.

It's going to be an interesting three months, but it's rapidly becoming clear to me that I am in WAY over my financial head. I can't afford to live in Kuwait.