Out of all the days I’ve attended the conference, this day had to be the quietest. It could be because a lot of people traveled or it could be because the elections are over, who knows. But day 3 was probably the second most anticipated day of all, seeing that Nawal would be performing live and everyone is pretty much invited. Everyone seemed to have cooled down as if nothing happened the previous night. People went from being extremely political to simply their regular old selves. We enjoyed our last dinner together sponsored by Zain as well as a few Blackberry giveaways also sponsored by Kuwait’s leading telecommunications company.

Looking around, I noticed people feeling a little bit gloomy because the whole shebang is over and they all have to go back to studying mode and some even to final mode. I’ll admit that I met a lot of nice people there and I enjoyed the conference more than I anticipated. I’ll leave you with a few pictures. I’m hoping to get some more from a friend. Sorry I have no Nawal pictures because no one was allowed to take any.

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Forget the iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia or Samsung. Sixth sense technology is the future of mobile technology. This phone is currently just a concept and is thought about being released into production in a couple of years. Personally, I’m not a fan of “Minority Report” style technology, but I’m sure a lot of people will give this phone a try. If you’re not interested in background behind making this phone, just forward to 2:10.

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These are Obama’s pictures in college. The photographer, Lisa Jack, only met obama once in her life and it was when she took these pictures. These photos were taken when Obama and Lisa both attended Occidental College in Los Angeles. When Time magazine interviewed Lisa, she said that surprisingly, Obama recognized her during the inauguration. I think 20 years from now, when we look at our college pictures, it’s definitely going to be a good laugh!

Source: Time Magazine Photo Essays

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Day 2 was an extremely action packed day; the voting took the longest time and the crowd was just outstanding. Day 2 is the day where everyone has arrived and is well rested. And this is when the voting begins.

As soon as I walked into the hotel I was surprised as to how we Kuwaitis pretty much conquered and took over the Hyatt down in Long Beach. Before you knew it we were everywhere. All the seats in the lobby, in the coffee shops and even by the pool were overtaken by our people. Even the people at the Cold Stones next door to the hotel knew who we were. I have to admit though, it was a blast seeing everyone again.

I ended up waiting an hour and not moving very far, so I came back just before the voting stopped. I still waited for ever. The place was packed and I heard that there were around 1200 students who attended the event. Which most likely is a record for NUKS. The results weren’t announced until very late into the night; somewhere around 2AM. I don’t know why though. It was like all the attendees were waiting for their flights in transit and everyone was sitting on practically anything that one can simply sit on. Some people played cards whilst others chit-chatted and mingled.

When the time came for the results to be announced, everyone quieted down. Literally, everyone just went silent in anticipation. It was very suspenseful. After the results were announced, everyone went crazy and chanted cheers and yelling.

The results:

Fikr Al-6ulabi — 43 votes

Mustaqbal — 353 votes

Wihda — 521 votes.

Al-Wihda gained victory once more. And Ahmed Al-Jo’an is now the elected president. I wish him and all his committee members the best of luck and Allah ywafighum inshallah.

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Why do I call it make believe? Straight forward answer, because it is! People are smiling, laughing and roaming around 24/7. Its hard to believe its true. As joyful as I make it sound, there is one thing that was so noticeable about this city, it’s almost dying from the bad economy. A couple of years ago when I was here, the streets were almost jammed. Now, the streets and hotel lobbies are dead. The amount of khaleejiyeen was also surprising, everywhere I turn your head there is literally some khaleeji standing there, its like there is some other conference other than NUKS going on here that we all don’t know about. I didn’t take my camera around with me much, but these are some of the pictures I managed to take:

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Designboom.com’s online store christmas special is offering a collection of different cassette tape wallets. Creative idea isn’t it? If you look closely, one of the cassettes they used is an old Abdullah Al-Ruwaishid cassette! This cassette tape wallet goes for $43. Unfortunately, the Abdullah Al-Ruwaishid version is sold out, but you can find many other Om Kalthoom ones.

Link

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The pre-conference day started out hectic and day 1 was even more hectic. As soon as I walked into the hotel all I heard was the clapping of the red and blue crowd; cheering each other on and taunting one another. Nothing out of the typical when it comes to NUKS elections. As I predicted, even more people showed up to the event and the hotel is beyond packed. Truly a magnificent feat on behalf of NUKS. Getting everyone together and somewhat well organized (you know how we Kuwaitis are with lines).

As soon as I walked in I attended the political conference where one of my favorite Parliamentary members spoke. Marzouq Alghanim spoke about how Kuwait’s economy is greatly disintegrating with Kuwait giving out benefits for almost anything. Like household benefits of a measly 50KD greatly impact our economy; pretty much what Ali M talked about when he brought up the post about how a lot of Kuwaiti people don’t work and get paid. Soon after that conference ended, the commencement ceremony begun. Where the Dr. Shaikha Rasha Al-Sabah, Dr Ali Al-Kazemi and current NUKS president, Saleh AlTunaib all spoke. I managed to snap some pictures but the lighting wasn’t really a helper. Then it was dinner time and let me put it this way for you guys…I felt like I was eating food in Kuwait. Yes it was that good.

Midnight, the debate started between all runner up parties; Al Wihda, Al Mustaqbal and Al Fikr Al6ulabi. I couldn’t really stay there for the whole debate due to the overcrowding and heat from all the carbon dioxide being let out by the million people in the hall. I managed to snap a few pictures there too. Let me tell you this though; judging by the crowds there, it seemed to me the there were more reds than blues and greens (if that made any sense). But I still think that it’s too early to judge.

Check out the pictures.

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by: Faisal Al-Nashmi (PofR food critic)

Miami being a place with very few burger joints, comes a restaurant “One Burger” focused on mixing organic and fresh ingredients to produce the best quality burgers. A few minutes away from the University of Miami lies this burger joint, very noticeable between all other local shops and banks. The exterior design of the place is what caught my attention, painted jet-black matte with their logo “One Burger” in white placed upfront. The place might be influenced by Japanese art because of the small Japanese Manga toys being sold in original Asian toy machines. Restaurants specialized in one thing is usually what I try to hunt for. Burgers here are to die for, ranging from really organic to pure classic American. Burgers here are very juicy with chewy buns that complement the taste. I went for the BBQ burger which includes crispy caramelized onions, tomato, american cheese and of course original American Barbeque sauce. The first bite into the burger, crunch of the onions is all I could remember, so sweet yet juicy, then kicks in the taste of the savory/sweet barbeque sauce with the char from the succulent juicy burger. |more…|

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The day before the conference begins is the day when all the people start to come in. It’s just a few people that come in usually and the first day of the conference is when everyone else comes in and before you know it, the entire Hyatt lobby is packed like sardines; 1000 people in one room. However, this years pre-conference day was different and by that I mean, there were a lot of Kuwaitis and even more are expected to arrive the next day. The people there were almost more than half of the number of attendees in last years gathering in DC. One would expect this because of the substantial increase in Kuwaiti students studying in the United States.

If you’re wondering who’s got the biggest crowd down at the hotel; be it the Wihda, Mustaqbal or Fikr Al6ulaby. I looked around and it seemed to me that Wihda and Mustaqbal are running pretty close this year and there is major competition, but Al Wihda seems to have a grip around approximately 60% of the attendees and Al Mustaqbal running pretty close up behind them. As for the Fikr group, they have grown substantially, but I don’t think they can compete with the Democrats and Republicans we call Wihda and Mustaqbal.

The hotel this year is slightly smaller than the Hyatt hotels of previous conferences. I still haven’t seen the halls where all the events are going to be held so I can’t really fully judge the place. The city we’re in, Long Beach, isn’t that big compared to LA but it’s packed with enough places to visit for 3 days. I’m not really a fan of Long Beach, but Snoop Dogg lives there so I’m cool with it.

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After 5 hours of driving and traffic, I’m finally in Vegas. It wasn’t that bad, but the desert was literally endless. For the first time, I got to listen to american radio repetitiveness. “I Got a Feeling” and “Paparazzi” played almost 10 times. There are two fake Las Vegases on the way. You see the neon lights, you feel the excitement pumping up, you get there, and its not Vegas!

Anyways, just wanted to say on behalf of all the writers at The Puddle, 3eedkom imbarak and we hope you have a happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

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