My first trip to Kuwait caught me by surprise as I wasn't supposed to be going, but my boss's plans changed and I was given just 3 days notice that we'd be leaving London.
I had spent the previous 6 months in Sydney Australia, so my passport luckily was up to date.
Having never been and not knowing what to pack, I put a bit of everything in my suitcase..shorts T shirts, jeans, black pants and aprons, with just 2 pairs of shoes, and some swimming trunks for lounging on the beach....I had been told their houses/compounds were on the beach of the Persian Gulf.
We traveled by private jet, and as I found out, I was to prepare food in the galley en route.
It was the smallest galley I had every worked in and found the best way to operate in there safely was to do it kneeling down..I couldn't stop laughing and neither could the family.
The seating in the plane was all light caramel colored suede and as well as sleeping quarters there was also a shower and bathrooms, all the seats faced eachother and were along side the fuselage ( like on a double decker bus)..so nobody had their back to anyone.
We had to re-fuel in Corfu and Beirut, in Beirut as we had to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables.( nothing then was grown, except dates, in Kuwait, it was just oil fields) Cars and trucks met us on the air strip, and I could see planes bombing the hillsides..this was in the late 70's.
From Beirut we flew to Kuwait City, we had left a cold and damp Luton Airport, London and arrived in 120f and a sandstorm at 11pm.
On disembarking the plane, I was told to help carry some of the family's items to the waiting fleet of limos, my luggage would be brought by their Kuwaiti staff.
The family went ahead as I carried objects to the waiting limo, the things I was carrying were 2 solid silver ostrich statues, their bodies being made from ostrich eggs, each about 3ft tall...plus I had 6 white panama hats on top of my head so they wouldn't get crushed in the cars.
Somehow I took a wrong turn, (the sand was in my eyes every 2 minutes, and the hats kept slipping down) and I found myself face to face with a soldier with a rifle pointing at me and he was asking me for something, eventually I understood the word passport.
It was then I realized the family had gone ahead with my passport.
When I tried to put the silver birds down, he got more agitated, so I just said "no passport"!
More soldiers came over and soon I had a crowd around me, all jabbering away at the same time.
Suddenly I said the name of the family, it was like something out of the movie Lawrence of Arabia, hundreds of men in white disdashas ( white, full length cotton robes that they wear on a daily basis) suddenly moved en masse, it was like the parting of the Red Sea. ( somewhere around this time I realized I was the only person in the airport in western clothes.. Jeans!)
The soldiers lowered their guns and saluted me.
A path was opened up, and I saw a driver from one of the limo's ( he had a white shirt and black trousers) running towards me to hustle me into his car.
I joined a fleet of 6 limos( for the food and luggage). As we drove away from the airport, all I could see were miles and miles of complete dark desert, lights from the airport and lights from Kuwait City, but more darkness than lights, what I had got myself into?..I suddenly realized that the family that I was joking with on the plane, serving them dinner on my knees, and constantly threw out of "my kitchen" in their houses in London were something pretty special here halfway across the world!
This family was special in many more ways, a very nice family who believed in the hard work ethic, and played as hard as they worked.
I had some very happy and memorable times with them all over the world, but this first trip to Kuwait was a wonderful eye opener for me.
Next week for May 1st I am creating some salads using lentils and couscous, and some great chickpea soup..some of these remind me of my times in Kuwait.
More fun tales to follow but the best bits will be in my book..no dirt on anyone but some very interesting & funny facts/happenings concerning food and the people I have met during my travels around the world via a kitchen sink & a knife set
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