Auf Wiedersehen, 2006

This evening, I went with some friends to the Holiday Inn. We had a voucher for 20KD (about $60) worth of food, and free food is never a bad thing. Instead of champagne or wine, we had FauxChamp, a bubbly mix of apple and peach juice. For kicks, we all raised our glasses in a toast.

“To the end of a shitty year,” said Yazan.
“Have you noticed how everyone says that at the end of every year? It’s never a happy time,” said Waleed.
“Actually,” I interjected. “I liked 2006. It wasn’t that bad.”

It seems that at the end of every year, the common theme is good riddance. I generally chime in as well, but for the first time, I didn’t want to chime in. I genuinely liked 2006. Of course it had its ups and downs, but on the whole, it was a good year.

I rang in 2006 at a party with people I barely knew, save for two friends. Less than a month later, I was flying to Las Vegas to have a girls weekend with my best friend. We covered the entire strip in two days and even got to see a show while we were there. I decided to play St. Valentine on February 14^th, dropping off flowers and heart-shaped candy boxes to friends before going to a sports bar for dinner and a Hillcrest uber-trendy bar for post-dinner drinks.

In March, my grandparents moved back to their home after a fire had torn apart my grandmother’s room in November of 2005, and we rang in Norouz (the Persian New Year) properly, in the house that I spent every summer growing up in. I saw snow for the first time in my 24 years of existing. April was spent cramming for the GMATs – I essentially had no social life, other than spending more time at the office taking practice tests and in the UCSD Computer Science building being taught fractions.

May brought about a confession and the taking of one of the biggest tests of my life. I bombed it (well, I bombed the math section), but I was just relieved it was over and that all I had to worry about was the math. In June I went back to Kuwait after being away for two years, and reunited with friends I hadn’t seen in years. I also made the decision to move back to Kuwait.

In July, I quit my job. I took a road trip to San Francisco, driving up the 101 for the first time. I went to Vegas again at the beginning of August and won $40 the first time I played blackjack. I stayed at my job until mid-August and then proceeded to spend the rest of my time in California packing a million boxes. I learned that I had too much crap.

September was spent saying goodbye. I spent my birthday in Boston, eating Asian fondue and drinking a cheap glass of Pinot Noir. I took off for New York at the beginning of October and spent a week with Jessica, drinking for free at Don’t Tell Mama and watching her spend our cab money on cheap beers at an unmarked basement bar in midtown. The rest of October was spent in Washington, D.C., spending weekends with Monica and saying goodbye to my family.

I returned to Kuwait in October, and spent the first two weeks of November trying to get onto a normal time schedule and interviewing for jobs. I got on my 11^th plane this year when I went to Qatar for the day, for the Asia Games, one of the most hilarious trips I’ve ever taken. I started adjusting to life in Kuwait.

So, here’s to 2007 being just as good as 2006, if not better. Cheers, 2006. You were good while you lasted.