Today at lunch our friend Ali Najim was recognized and approached by a fan for the first time since we’ve been around him. According to his friends, Ali is approached in public all of the time. He really is famous so it’s pretty cool being around a celebrity. We'll be appearing on his show next week and I'm eager about that experience.
You can check out his Twitter account here:
https://twitter.com/AliNajim
And his Instagram:
http://instagram.com/alinajim
Ali does not have a Facebook page and his reasoning behind that sparks a topic I love to talk about. He stopped using Facebook a few years ago when he maxed out at 5,000 friends but has not created a fan page. Ali told me that the social network is just not as popular in Kuwait as it used to be and that people are trending toward Twitter and Instagram. He said he’s going to use the social networks that are trending at the time, but if Facebook returns to more relevance with the Kuwaiti youth in the near future he would likely create a page. Several other people I’ve talked to are far more enthusiastic about Instagram than Facebook or Twitter here in Kuwait. Obviously Facebook owns Instagram, but I think it speaks about how social media is moving today. Instagram is about photos. You log into the app to see photos. On Facebook you can find photos but you have to find your way through statuses, game invites, and other miscellaneous posts first. I know that a few conversations with random people isn’t a true quantitative look at the state of social media in 2013 but it did reaffirm some of my notions.
Back to chronological time. After breakfast at the hotel we began our day with tours of Kuwait National Museum, the Sadu House, and a visit to the planetarium next door. The Kuwait National Museum had several artifacts from Failaka Island, the island located off the shore of Kuwait which has been a hub of commerce and activity for almost 5,000 years. The most notable artifacts there were some Alexander the Great coins from the Hellenistic period. Alexander himself once visited the island and so will our group later in the trip. Ever since I read Watchmen as a teenager I’ve always been fascinated with Alexandar the Great’s travels across the world and soon I’ll be standing in a place he once stood.
The museum also had several exhibits with mannequins posed in situations of Kuwaiti daily life in previous centuries and it was interesting to take a glimpse into how life used to be here in the gulf. The oil boom of the previous century has led to rapid growth and modernization and it is hard to find old traditional buildings and streets these days so our trip to the museum was worthwhile and beneficial. After this we went to the Sadu House, which is a place where traditional Bedouin weaving occurs. It was interesting to learn about the efforts in place to keep the traditions alive.
Lunch today was a two hour affair which featured several types of salads, appetizers, desserts, and the main course. I was quite full after the appetizers and salads and opted for a plate of two mini burgers. We then had tea and coffee before going to the Kuwait Scientific Center. At the Scientific Center we saw the coastline, visited the aquarium, and took in an Imax movie. Then we went back to the hotel before I called it a day to write this blog. Tomorrow we are going to sit in on some classes at GUST. Photos from today are in the slideshow below
You can check out his Twitter account here:
https://twitter.com/AliNajim
And his Instagram:
http://instagram.com/alinajim
Ali does not have a Facebook page and his reasoning behind that sparks a topic I love to talk about. He stopped using Facebook a few years ago when he maxed out at 5,000 friends but has not created a fan page. Ali told me that the social network is just not as popular in Kuwait as it used to be and that people are trending toward Twitter and Instagram. He said he’s going to use the social networks that are trending at the time, but if Facebook returns to more relevance with the Kuwaiti youth in the near future he would likely create a page. Several other people I’ve talked to are far more enthusiastic about Instagram than Facebook or Twitter here in Kuwait. Obviously Facebook owns Instagram, but I think it speaks about how social media is moving today. Instagram is about photos. You log into the app to see photos. On Facebook you can find photos but you have to find your way through statuses, game invites, and other miscellaneous posts first. I know that a few conversations with random people isn’t a true quantitative look at the state of social media in 2013 but it did reaffirm some of my notions.
Back to chronological time. After breakfast at the hotel we began our day with tours of Kuwait National Museum, the Sadu House, and a visit to the planetarium next door. The Kuwait National Museum had several artifacts from Failaka Island, the island located off the shore of Kuwait which has been a hub of commerce and activity for almost 5,000 years. The most notable artifacts there were some Alexander the Great coins from the Hellenistic period. Alexander himself once visited the island and so will our group later in the trip. Ever since I read Watchmen as a teenager I’ve always been fascinated with Alexandar the Great’s travels across the world and soon I’ll be standing in a place he once stood.
The museum also had several exhibits with mannequins posed in situations of Kuwaiti daily life in previous centuries and it was interesting to take a glimpse into how life used to be here in the gulf. The oil boom of the previous century has led to rapid growth and modernization and it is hard to find old traditional buildings and streets these days so our trip to the museum was worthwhile and beneficial. After this we went to the Sadu House, which is a place where traditional Bedouin weaving occurs. It was interesting to learn about the efforts in place to keep the traditions alive.
Lunch today was a two hour affair which featured several types of salads, appetizers, desserts, and the main course. I was quite full after the appetizers and salads and opted for a plate of two mini burgers. We then had tea and coffee before going to the Kuwait Scientific Center. At the Scientific Center we saw the coastline, visited the aquarium, and took in an Imax movie. Then we went back to the hotel before I called it a day to write this blog. Tomorrow we are going to sit in on some classes at GUST. Photos from today are in the slideshow below