MAD MONEY.

Last night we received our first paycheck (WOOT, WOOT!). The events that followed were not as "woot"-worthy...

* We were paid by cheque. The school arranged for a bus to take us to the bank to receive our bank cards and deal with our money matters. Upon arriving to the bank, we were informed that we could not use our accounts that have been set up, as we do not have civil I.D.'s yet (you know - that same thing that prevented us from purchasing a SIM card and high speed internet).

* LUCKILY, someone important from our school popped by the bank and called another important person from our school. This led to a short-lived period of excitement where we were told everything would be sorted out right then.

* Many minutes later, Phil and I had our turn with "the bank people". Phil received his card no problem. And then it was my turn. BAHA. For some BIZARRE reason, there are 6 people on staff who could not open a bank account. I was one of them. Apparently things should be worked out by next week....INSHALLAH.

* Following this, I signed away my first official paycheck to my hubby (or my newly named "sugar daddy") and we left the bank (2 hours later!) to take a cab home with others who were finished too.

* Outside of the bank, Phil was able to call a cab driver our way. He drove past us at first and waited to pull over at a safer spot. We thought, "GOOD THINKING". The police officers behind him thought, "YOU'RE NOT THE RIGHT COLOUR."

* Long story short, the police officers gave the poor man a ridiculously INSANE ticket for "pulling over in the wrong place". This is WITHOUT A DOUBT the WORST part of living in Kuwait. Everyday, I am appauled by some act of racism that is believed to be "just fine" by others and covered up with absolute non-sense. YEESH.

* The cab driver was kind enough to drive us home despite receiving a ticket so outrageous. He even let us squeeze 5 people in the car and was going to charge a very low price to get us safely home. However, we did all but make him dinner when he dropped us off at the apartment - trying to do SOMETHING to make the situation more right.

Anyways, tonight we added another tale to the "INSHALLAH, THINGS AREN'T FAIR" storybook I'm putting together. Originally, my aim was to compile a couple of short stories that could be easily written and illustrated by.....MYSELF. After being here for almost one month, I can see that I may need to recruit some contributing editors and artists if I ever wish to finish!!!