friday market

just got back from the souk juma (arabic for friday market). my shoes are splattered with mud and my sweatshirt is moist from the light rainshower outside. you must be wondering, rain in the desert? yes, you read it right. kuwait is entering winter season and the temperature is falling by the day. the locals say winter is setting earlier this year than usual. maybe because of the effect of climate change due to global warming. been two days straight now with this kind of weather.
that's why i had to go to souk juma earlier. i had to find a cheap but comfortable sweatshirt. see, i had this misconception that countries in the middle east always had a hot weather that is why i did not bring any jackets when i came here. my bad. good thing there is souk juma. it's like a rummage sale but only held on fridays. that's how it got its name. although in some parts of kuwait there are also rummage sales during saturdays and sundays. being a filipino that i am, i'm always on the lookout for bargains. the souk juma is a stone's throw from where i live so i put on my sweatshirt (got it from another rummage sale last week) and headed for it.
i had to rummage through all the stuff, haggle with the sellers, hop to another stand, rummage again and haggle again. in the souk juma, you would find all sorts of items for an absolutely low, low price (some bordering on the ridiculous). i saw a colored tv being sold for 3kd (PHP495), shirts and pants for 0.750-1.250kd (PHP100-200), food items for 0.250kd (PHP40). i saw boxes of cigarettes, bottles of perfume, computer keyboards and mouse, designer clothes and bags, everything, you name it, they have it. but beware some items have damage or are being sold beyond their expiry dates. you have to really check very carefully before parting with your hard-earned dinar or else you'd be going home with a reject. you might be thinking that you got the best bargain but then you'll find out later you were on the short end of the deal. so check, check and check again before making that buy.
by the way, i went home with a pair of nike tracksuits for 1kd. not bad for a bargain.