This door I was photographing…..

…..opened to this……

I froze. Had I interrupted something important? Was I in trouble?  All men looked at me. I looked at them.  They saw me take the picture of the door, so I asked if I could take a picture of them. They said Yes!  Then they welcomed me in! The man in the grey thobe stood and told me his English is not so good and pointed me to the man to his left.  The owner then left the room.

The man to his left is Abdulaziz – born in Saudi Arabia but a citizen of Kuwait.

A server brought me tea, water and cake.

Abdulaziz explained that the house I was in, is one of the oldest in the area and survived the Iraqi invasion.  What I understood is that the family is from a line of pearl boat captains.  The lineage of pearl boat captains was drawn out and framed on the wall.

I was a bit nervous to explain I could not stay long as I was walking back to my hotel and had to be back in time to make sure I made it to the airport  – I did not want to offend with a short stay to their offer of hospitality.  There was no offense!!  Abdulaziz drove me to my hotel!

Abdulaziz is a retired government worker whose wife is an engineer.  He told me if I needed any favors he knows the manager of the hotel and would help me out!  That the family who owns the hotel owns quite a bit of the downtown area – and if you want to meet with the family regarding business you meet with one of the sisters first.  Meaning you meet with one of the women of the family.  He made it a point to tell me how liberated Kuwaiti women are!

Meeting Abdulaziz was a highlight of my stay!

S. xo