Day 1. The one with all the tequila

On the 14th of Nov we drove to the airport in anticipation to pick up Yulya, who was due to fly in from Kuwait for her compulsory Eid fun program. Little did I know that the 45 minutes spend waiting for her to come out of the “Arrivals” gates- were my last peaceful moments that week. Now, this is someone whom I have not seen in two years- at least that’s the excuse I adhered to for not recognizing her until my husband pointed her out to me! Her first acknowledged phrase when we stepped out of the airport was “Why is it so hot here?". And this is November...at 1 am! A few casual phases about weather and humidity, and we headed home. The short 15 minute drive back was evidently enough to win Yulya over. She was quite impressed with how green Muscat is, the holiday decorations running through the highways and the squeaky cleanliness of it all. I learned that Kuwait doesn’t have privatized petrol stations, and that Kuwait City can be driven through within the span of 20 minutes and that the water in the Gulf is smelly and polluted. I grinned with pride for The Sultanate upon hearing this. Once we got home, the husband took her luggage (!!!) up and I got the girl a beer. She immediately began rummaging through her suitcases looking for the presents she brought along. And oh do I like my presents :) Before we knew it, it was 4 am, the conversation was flowing and the beer has been long replaced with tequila. Although we weren’t previously close friends, we clicked and chatted away like schoolgirls during a sleep over. It was comforting to be able to share and immediately recognize that someone else is going through the exact same thing. Knowing someone else shares your joys or peeves is a strangely heartwarming experience. No wonder that friendship is formed when one person says to the other “what you too??? I thought I was the only one!!!”