They call it the Basement

Today i went with my mum souvenir shopping. Since this year was the 50th anniversary of Kuwait's Independence and 20 years of Liberation i wanted to get something that celebrated the old Kuwaiti culture. In my opinion Kuwait has one of the most interesting history and culture, but it slowly died out, with only some traditions still customed today.

So my mum took me to these antique shops in a place called the basement, where i have such fond memories a a child exploring old valuable objects that people surprisingly got rid of. It's changed so much but the same feelings rushed to me, my eyes moving fast across the shelves that were stacked and piled with vintage really old items. It's impossible to see everything in the shops, you would probably have to come in everyday for the rest of the year to at least have seen half of what's in the shop.
I have finally found the one shop that i would like to visit everytime i go out.

I learnt some things about Kuwait's history that i never imagined that i would come across. Like the fact that the Kuwait currency the kuwaiti dinar was introduced in around 1962. Before that the currency was Indian Rupees with King George and Queen Victoria and Elizabeth on the back. I was so surprised.
The men who run the shop are from India and know so much about Kuwait's history and of every single object lying in that shop's history. Whatever you wanted to know they would tell you, they even knew the history of ever single lineup of old vintage cameras. I was so impressed, as I've never really met a person with so much knowledge on a range of subjects and speaks about it so proudly.

When i asked them where they found all this stuff they said they would get them from old kuwaiti houses, everything found in the shop belonged to residents of Kuwait from different nationalities. There were stamps from every region, school exercise books from the first schools that opened ever in Kuwait, old letters, The first British passport belonging to a young British gentleman and his wife, Coca Cola bottles from every year starting from it's first release to the 90's version and most of them were still full of coke.... etc.

I wish i knew Kuwait before it became modernised and before the time of the war with Iraq, when there classes were 99% foreigners instead of 88%, when the houses were traditional and functional... sigh... seeing old yearbooks and photos makes me wish i was part of it back then.
I mean i love Kuwait today but i wish i witnessed the change of lifestyle. I'm really proud to have lived in Kuwait all my life and i consider Kuwait my home since i was lived here since i was only but a year old. The best memories.

I was blown away by the items they had, i will definitely be returning to the basement soon. I was sad that i left my camera charging at home, and had to use my phone's camera, so the pictures didn't do any justice for the beautiful aging objects.