Clarissa's Blog

My Arabic faculty member in Kuwait sent me a huge duffel bag of treats and souvenirs. (And this, by the way, is how I found out what a duffel bag is). The treats were manufactured in places like “Shahrazad Roundabout in Al-Safat.” Everything is decorated with Kuwaiti flags. Even the shredded paper that protects the goods from breaking during flight is the colors of the flag. And there are QR codes attached to everything where you can listen to Kuwaiti music to accompany the eating of the Kuwaiti sweets. And little notes in English explaining the importance of each gift to the Kuwaiti culture.

These are people who really love their country. Actually, all people from everywhere really love their countries. It’s not because Kuwait is rich. Mention Honduras to a hondureño, and prepare for a 30-minute passionate monologue extolling the greatest country on Earth that is the poor, miserable, gang-infested Honduras. It’s only here that it’s unfashionable and even suspicious to express patriotic feelings.