Who is in your five?

As the adventures continue in Kuwait I have heard some rather insightful comments about why people come to the Middle East. One wise man said, “ People come to international teaching for two reasons; to run away or run to something.” Last night as I sat in an open air Shisha Bar, looking at a perfect full moon, drinking mint tea and listening to the waves roll in from the Persian Gulf I couldn’t think of a better place to run to for adventure.

I have started to feel more and more like I really do live here and might stay awhile. With each passing I am adjusting and developing my Kuwait lifestyle. I think the first three weeks here I partly felt like a vacationing guest. Although two days ago when I ran out of coffee the morning before attending a pre-school professional development in-service I suddenly felt like I lived here and I needed to get more coffee after work.

With so many slightly nomadic people living in the same space the topic of the development of friendship and friends from other parts of the world often comes up. The pop culture T-Mobile reference, “who is in your five?” has come up several times. It was interesting to stop and think about who is in your five? Or more specifically that lifetime list of people who regardless of geography of lifestyle will always be with you. The people who will make you laugh and cry at your wedding. The people that will help you move or paint anything! The people who won’t care when you call them at 3:00 a.m. because you forget the time difference, the people in your five will just be glad to hear your voice.

That conversation also developed into a more geographical specific question of who is in your Kuwait Five. With any drop you in the middle of a new job, new life, new housing you quickly realize who you connect with and who you don’t. I am blessed to be able to say that my Kuwaity five is fantastic and I one day do believe that perhaps when I leave this country some will move into the lifetime list.

So today as you have an adventure or two of your own I hope you have a chance to think about the people in your five!