Kuwait - first impressions

The flight



We are three friends. Francine Brasuca, Rose and me and we are pretty excited about going to Kuwait for a gig. We are sure it will be fun, specially because this is our first time in the country, at least it is the first time for Rose and me. Francine has been there three times before. She is such a show off.


At the airport in Bahrain, everything went well. Very smooth. We boarded with no hiccups.


Already onboard, we chatted, we laughed we told each other some stories, then a flight attendant came in the friendliest way and asked us to shut the fuck up. Of course not with those words. She was kind and sweet, ultra professional.But apparently some passengers were complaining about the noise.


We decided not to create any more problems and kept quiet for the remaining 5 minutes of our flight.




GETTING OUT


On our way out, I remembered in New Zealand, some of my best employees were " stolen" from restaurants and shops. If I was given extraordinary customer services by someone, I would simply give them a card and offer them an interview.


I said bye, told them how great their service had been and explained Rose is an HR manager at a flight company in Dubai. The three of them spent some time chatting. Believe me or not, that was their  last flight. The company was in bad shape and had fired both of them. On their last day at this company, they had delivered an exceptional service.

I hope they get new jobs soon. I really do.


AT THE BUS


To get from the plane to the airport, we all went on a shuttle. When I got out of the plane, all the passangers were already there, only waiting for us.I had no option but to trow Rose in the fire:


- I am not the last person. there is a woman stuck in there, chatting. I think you should call the police to escort her out of the plane.


Then I saw Rose coming down the stairs and everyone looking angry at her. It was really funny.At least for me.


ARRIVAL


It took over two hours for immigration to let us out of the airport. A nightmare. We had pre approved visas, but the person who hired us, took the original to the wrong airport, 10 minutes away. With a fab Kuwaiti bureaucracy, it took them over 2.5 hours to get it sorted, and we were only released because an airport employee, took pity on us and personally went to the other airport to retrieve it.


SMOKE


At the hotel, I was dying for a warm bed and a good night of sleep. I had a shower, got myself under the cover when I heard the next-door guest arriving. How could I hear him? He was loud and made sure she made as much noise as he could.

From there on, every hour, from 3:30 to 7:30 he had a cigarette - and the smoke came right into my bedroom, waking me up.


It was just a nightmare...