In terms of income and circumstances, the Abdulla family could be considered average, although their standard of living is upscale even by First World standards. But in other respects they are extraordinary. Saif, a university professor, was a leader in the anti-Iraq resistance abroad; his two oldest daughters were among nine Kuwaiti women who joined the U.S. army during the war. The youngest daughter is a star high school basketball player.
Sometimes their days are much like the days of a monied and mobile family in North America: watching MTV on the satellite dish, shopping till they drop in the mall, cruising the freeways while chatting on the cellular phone--once I rode with one of the daughters on a playful high-speed chase with a man she liked. I often found the kids knew more about American popular culture than I did--strange, considering that I was born in Hollywood.
At the same time, Kuwait is very restrictive by Western standards; I was constantly being told not to photograph things. Frustrating! The Abdullas, like many Kuwaitis I met, worried about what a consumer society Kuwait has become. "The desert has become a parking lot," Saif said. He quoted an American joke to me: When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. "The Kuwaitis don't know this saying," he said, "but they live it."
