From today's NYT

"Nayla, the homemaker in Dammam, a Persian Gulf port city, says Ms. Winfrey helps her cope with a society that does not encourage her to have interests. “The life of a woman here in Saudi — it makes you tired and it makes you boring,” she said, sighing.
Like many Saudi women, Nayla struggles with obesity, a major issue in the kingdom because many women are largely confined to their homes and local custom often prevents them from participating in sports or even walking around their neighborhoods. "

This is a direct quote from today's article in the New York Times. It's talking about how Saudi women are now huge admirers of Oprah after her show began broadcasting over there a few years ago. I couldn't agree with this quote more. I saw it firsthand!

I came across an Oprah episode on the television on my third day in Saudi. Jeff had gone to the airport, so I had to stay in the hotel room by myself. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw Oprah's face on the screen. Like Nayla, I found an oasis in the desert!

Some comments Elena has received in the past week...

"I really like her hair! It's wild and all over the place."

"What a handsome boy!"

"Good boy!"

"He's so cute!"


Umm, yes, so Elena wakes with wild hair which I hardly ever bother to fix. She's not going on any job interviews, so does she really need to brush her hair? Her mother hasn't used a hairbrush in years.

And the people making the other comments, they have no idea they aren't exactly compliments to us!

Didja really wash yer hands, didja really?

A big shock to me upon arriving here was finding out that toilet paper is of such little importance.

Waiting in line to use a public stall, hearing a flush, seeing an abaya lady exit, entering the stall after her, unzipping pants only to zip them back up after seeing there's no TP, looking at the shelf behind me to see if there's a roll, noticing that there is not even a lonely cardboard cylinder spinning aimlessly on the holder, freaking out upon realizing the lady before me didn't use any toilet paper! Seriously skeeved, using my sleeve to open the stall door making mental note not to touch this sleeve again until I can take it off at home, I leave the bathroom.

OK, so this doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened. More than once.

Like I've said in a previous post, there are little hoses in every stall and I'm sure that's what the abaya lady used.

Over the past year, I've learned many things about toilet etiquette. Old school uses the left hand. In Arab culture it is very rude to extend your left hand for anything; this is why. New school uses toilet paper, but deposits used toilet paper into a small rubbish bin next to the toilet. Is this really any more sanitary? Personally, I enjoy using and releasing and flushing and never seeing it again.

My neighbor who practices TMI, has told me numerous times that her toilet gets clogged very easily. Um, thanks. She always had to call the maintenance man to plunge her toilet. She was getting very frustrated (understandable, but what is not understandable is why she didn't just buy her own plunger). On his 3rd visit, she really lost her temper and told the maintenance man that there was just something wrong with the plumbing. He told her it wasn't the plumbing, it was because she was using toilet paper!

And that brings us to the subject of Bahrain plumbing. I can't really give my neighbor a hard time because actually, everyone's plumbing gets clogged. They use pipes that are one size too small and it's not actually a plumber doing the plumbing, it's a poor guy from India with no experience with indoor plumbing, told to plumb these bathrooms, with this given set of materials. I'm not being harsh. At certain times of day, you can smell the sewage out of the bathroom floor. In every compound. I've been in way nicer compounds than my own, and still smelled the same smell.

So all this comes back to what I have learned this past year: Stomach viruses spread around here like nobody's business. At any given point in time, I can name at least one person with a stomach virus. Like Elena, for example. Like me, who got it from Elena. I have never, ever, been so sick in my previous decades in the US, as I have been in the past year in Bahrain. The Big D sick. Is it no wonder I didn't actually get these sicknesses until after Elena was 6 months old? Me, I can control what I touch and how often I wash my hands. Elena after 6 months, not so much. Strangers all day long are kissing and hugging Elena and holding her hands. (Arabs are very touchy feely people!) They take her from my arms and whisk her around, nuzzling their faces into various parts of her body. They hand her back to me... and disease continues to spread...

Reflections on the past year

I just passed my one-year mark of living in Bahrain (April 14). I have more than passed my one-year mark of being in the Middle East (Feb 14). As they say, you can do anything for one year. I find that to be remarkably true.

Part of what has made this year fly by so quickly is the birth of Elena. I think a baby somehow warps time and can make the days simultaneously glacially slow (during those middle-of-the-night feedings in the beginning) and grand prix speedy (the sleep time in between those middle-of-the-night feedings).

Very cliche, but true-- I have learned a lot this past year. I have learned about geography, culture, religion, human behavior, about my husband, my daughter, and myself.

I think I'll write a few posts about my howdy, saudi year and how I feel about it.

Our trip to Dubai

The NYT has their travel column, "36 hours in...," this time about Dubai, and it reminded me of the trip we took in December. It was our first time in Dubai, and the first thing anyone would notice is the sheer amount of construction. Crazy construction. Even though Bahrain has more construction than I've ever seen, Dubai by far tops it because it is bigger and denser. Everything about Dubai is about being big and tall. Nothing is "old," everything is shiny and new.

It was very exciting to explore Dubai- the streets are extremely clean, the malls are huge and pristine, the restaurants are trendy and stylish- but at the conclusion of our 6 days there, I realized I couldn't really recommend Dubai was a destination to anybody. Having lived in the Middle East (what I really mean is being deprived in the Middle East), Dubai is a spectacular break from the drab, brown and tan environment I'm usually surrounded by. It's sleek, modern, colorful...but not much else.

Dubai almost makes you forget you are in Muslim country, but then you see the sign posted at the entrance of the Mall of the Emirates stating "ladies no bare arms, appropriate dress required" and it brings you all back to the oppressing culture and norms of the religion. Not that anybody really adheres to the rules, I'm pretty sure I saw cleavage and skin while there, but you won't find any Vegas cocktail waitress/swimsuit silhouette type outfits in Dubai.

People call Dubai, Vegas of the Middle East (Vegas without the gambling). In a way, the spectacle aspect is there, but it's not nearly as fun or exciting. Dubai shopping is not any better than Vegas or New York. Dubai food is severely lacking. Dubai has not yet attracted those celebrity chefs that have made Vegas one of the best places for eating. Dubai restaurants use the same old peasant workers in the kitchens of their finest restaurants, just like Bahrain and Saudi- people from other 3rd world countries who work cheap and don't ask questions.

We stayed in a hotel condo on the beach, and in December it was still warm enough to spend the day on the beach. The water was cold, but I saw other people swimming. We booked a one-room condo, but were upgraded to a two-room, and I found out that most people visiting Dubai get the free upgrade. Our condo really had three rooms, as these places all have an extra room and bathroom built-in for the maid. Please.

I think Dubai is just beginning and I'd like to visit again in 10 years to see how much it's progressed. The thing about Dubai is that they are not averse to bringing in outsiders, ie Europeans, to design and build their city. When Dubai is determined to push to #1, it has the money to make it happen (see Emirates Airlines).

Overall, as an American I would never, ever spend all the time and money to vacation in Dubai. I would stop in Dubai for a couple of days on my way to somewhere else, but never make Dubai my final destination. But as an American living in the Middle East, I would definitely visit Dubai again for its huge water park, waterfront strolls, and escape from the litter and general dirtiness of Bahrain.

Reading over what I wrote, it sounds like a negative review of Dubai, but we had a great time in there (not counting having the flu while we were there), since it really is about the company you keep and I happen to really like my family! We would definitely visit again but only while we're over in this part of the world. For a true shopping experience, or dining experience, or theme park experience, there are many other superior choices a lot closer in proximity to the United States.

Maybe it's just easier to govern racist-ly...

I had read somewhere, although I couldn't remember where, that here in Bahrain if you are in a traffic accident, guilt is automatically decided by the police once they arrive at the scene. If you are Arab (Bahraini), you are automatically innocent. If you are Indian, you are automatically guilty. An ex-pat in an accident with a Bahraini, the ex-pat is guilty. An ex-pat in an accident with an Indian, the Indian is guilty.

I thought this was absurd and wasn't sure of its validity, but my friend, an ex-pat from South Africa, was at a red light when she was rear-ended by a Bahraini. When the police arrived, sure enough, she was declared guilty and given a ticket for 18BD ($48). Even though she was the one that got hit. She said there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. No explaining, much less protesting, was allowed.

Gee, that certainly does simplify the workload.

Can you imagine if this was implemented in the United States? Who would be automatically guilty? Obviously Asians. (We don't get any respect anywhere we are in the world.) We'd have to tier them-- like is Vietnamese higher or lower than Laotian? Black people. Mexicans. There'd be some mad tier-ing going on. Sadly, Indians would still be in the automatically guilty group. It would be one complicated process. Sure glad the American police don't make assumptions based on race.

Food on Feet

Elena's been displaying some pretty un-ladylike behavior lately. Her new thing is that she likes to put her foot up on the high chair tray during meals. Sometimes she also scrunches down her body so that her foot ends up by her ear and she gets stuck. Most days she ends up with food between her toes. An authentic toe-jam. You will recognize those stricken with Food-on-Foot syndrome by the nibbling of toes once the meal is done. A kind of saving-this-for-later mentality, if you will.

Air-conditioned babies

As the weather steadily heats up (today 33 degrees, about 91F), I'm thinking more and more about air-conditioned babies.

Many expats leave Bahrain each summer. As an Irish expat friend of mine told me (her kids are 13 and 11), most moms and kids leave Bahrain and go back to their home countries from June - August. The men stay and work and during their annual leave they go back to their home country to spend it with their families. She said that it really is unbearable for the children to stay indoors all day long. Now she's describing families with school-age children.

Amongst my new mom friends, many of them are staying here for the summer, only a few leaving for a month or 6 weeks with their husbands to go back to their home countries during the husband's annual leave. These are families with babies under one year of age.

Since quite a few of my friends are staying in Bahrain for the entire summer, it made me wonder how they could do it. I know I couldn't.

Let's think about it.

It's March, and temperatures are already in the 90s. We've got the air conditioner on now, and I don't think we'll be turning it off for the next 9 months. Last year, she only had two months in Bahrain before we went back to the States. So, from newborn to 2 months, it really wasn't too bad because she slept all the time and I'd either have her in the house, or push her around the mall, and she'd sleep all day long. Now, she's crawling and learning and exploring and just loving new environments.

I was telling a friend that I really hated Bahrain last summer, because you literally couldn't spend any time outdoors. She laughed and told me that the first summer is always the worst. She said, "It's really not that bad. You're only outside for that short bit between your car and the building. The rest of the time you're always someplace air conditioned."

Umm, I think that's my point. I don't want to always be in some air conditioned place. What about fresh air? What about enjoying the outdoors? What about Elena?

"Oh, just take her out at night," my friend says, as if that's not the biggest letdown of an alternative in the world.

Just to refresh our memories, true summertime weather is up to 129 degrees with 90% humidity. Suff-o-catingly hot. At night, yeah it's 30 degrees cooler, but still averages 97 degrees at 9pm.

So Elena will think that the sun has disappeared? And that "outside" is now permanently pitch-black? I think it's a little cruel to make my kid stay indoors all day long, although, that's what the locals do and I guess that's what a few expats are going to do. It's hard for me not to be judgemental about this...I feel like I know better, want more, and want better for Elena.

I know I am lucky for having known another way to live. I'm glad that I get to be a wimp and leave for the summer and not have to endure weather that is punishing on your brain and body. I'm happy to prevent Elena from becoming just another air-conditioned baby.

Pull-Ups

I'm not talkin' potty training, man. I'm talkin' brute strength.

See what I mean?

We were at the park yesterday and it was deserted so I took this picture of the "grassy" area. Litter everywhere. It is very common not to find any trash cans nearby so I guess I understand why you see litter everywhere. But this park has many trash cans, and some other places have trash cans, but you still see people throwing garbage on the ground. There isn't a lot of pride about keeping your neighborhood clean.

Even so, Elena enjoyed herself.

MILF!!!!!

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front!!!!!

As reported in the Arab News today, the MILF convention is underway in the Phillipines as we speak.

At the park today

Elena was forced to ride on the swing today. I think she liked it. We went to the neighborhood park today. Looking through the pictures, the park doesn't look half bad. I saw sand, water, palm trees and sunshine in the pictures. But what I couldn't take pictures of is the patchy grass area with all the litter. That's because a couple of Arab families were having picnics on the ground so I couldn't take pictures of them. So I think I will alter my memory to only include what I see in today's photos-- a seemingly picturesque, early spring day.

I am finally growing teeth!

Here come the nubbins!

Finally, a park! Well, sort of.

Jeff knows how much I miss being outside with Elena. When we were in Seattle this past summer, I took Elena out in her bassinet everyday and walked around our neighborhood, which has numerous walking trails, and a couple of parks and a library that I used as "destinations" or the halfway point of our walks.

Now that Elena is crawling, I would love to have a park to go to, just to sit on a blanket and let her explore the grass and give her some different stimulation than just our living room or that of the other moms houses we go to.

After a few days in the 80s, a sandstorm came through and ever since then it has only been in the high 60s, low 70s. I've been wanting to take advantage of this weather since once it heats up we can no longer spend any time outdoors. At this time last year, it was already very hot, so I feel like this weather is not going to last.

Anyway, the other day Jeff took us to a park that he discovered. I didn't know that when I took Elena to visit a friend last week, he spent the morning driving all around the area. As small as the island is, and as much exploration as I did back before the baby was born, there are many nooks and crannies and I still haven't seen every inch of this place yet.

This park actually has the framework for a great park, but it has sadly been neglected and therefore, is very sad. There is a paved walking trail, playground equipment, and is by the water. There is a lot of sand though, so on the windy day we were there we walked with the wind and made the best of it. It's oddly unpopulated though, but I guess no interest in this park is why it hasn't been kept up.

It's come to this...

The definition of "public park" in Bahrain is vastly different from any idea of a public park that I normally have. The few places to walk outside are dirt paths alongside busy streets. So awhile back, I discovered a huge, empty parking lot that belongs to a new amusement park being constructed right now. The amusement park was not yet open, so the parking lot was always empty. In fact, the entrance was barricaded with a guard standing by, but we would park at the gas station across the way and push the stroller over and the guard would let us enter by foot and the three of us would have this parking lot to ourselves-- with the exception of the workers, who thought we were crazy since I know they'd never seen a family in there walking for recreation.

The other day, we decided to walk around there again, since the weather has been comfortable enough to walk out in the open without any shade, but it was a different guard and he was strict! He wouldn't let us in, no matter what.

We were bummed and drove home, since the only other place to walk would have been the mall, but it was the weekend and the mall would be shoulder-to-shoulder crowded. On the way home Jeff said, "Can you believe we're disappointed we can't walk around a parking lot?"

Um no, actually I can't, gee how our perspective (and standards) have changed!

That's the reason?

The pediatricians here advocate giving infants Vitamin D supplements, but Elena's American pediatrician does not. Says they're not necessary. So when the dr's here couldn't really give a satisfactory answer to my question of why (I know, how obnoxious of me, who am I to say what's satisfactory in a medical answer?) I decided against giving the supplements.

The other day, this subject came up with my mom friends and one of them, whose husband is Bahraini, said the reason why children here need to supplement is because they do not spent any time in the sun. The culture keeps kids indoors, so they don't get exposure to sunlight for their bodies to make Vitamin D. Really? I know she's not an expert, but this seems like a plausible reason.

"But this was the best part!"

Elena said, after we breezed through the wildlife park in 45 minutes. (Ok, so it's a small park, we weren't expecting much.) We sat under the tent in the refreshment area to chill before we headed back home. If we don't strap Elena in the car seat, she will turn around in the seat and face backwards, grinning at the new perspective. So here Jeff is pushing her in the stroller while she squealed and yelped like some crazed charioteer.

More from Al-Areen...

This is Elena petting one of the goats at the wildlife park.

They don't have a caretaker for run-on sentences here...

We went to the Al-Areen Wildlife Park the other day. It is about a half hour drive south from where we live. It was stinky. It was brown. We saw many different types of goats, some flamingos, lots 'o birds, porcupines, and big turtles. It also had a section for native grasses and such. This is where I learned about Duranta, which I didn't know was a hedge plant that could be shaped for hedges.

From here on out... the Blazing Sun!

It's been hovering in the 40s and 50s the past two months. People told me it would get cold in Bahrain, but I didn't believe them. And 40-50 degrees is not that bad to me... unless you don't have central heating in the house. And no insulation. And your house is made of concrete. Which is what I've been living through since, oh, around Christmastime. We live in a huge house with no heat! Jeff bought these oil-filled heaters which are great, if you are sitting right next to them. Without built-in fans they are pretty much useless in this place with, I don't know exactly how tall they are, 12' ceilings?

So pretty much overnight it went from wearing a sweatshirt weather to wearing a tank top weather. Today it hit 82 degrees. And I don't think it's going to cool back down. If I remember correctly, upon my arrival to the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia one year ago, it was already in the 80s.

I think it's time to ditch the heaters.

Coming to the M.E.

Jeff has always been defensive about our move to the Middle East. When people would say, "Gee, Pauline's a good sport about moving to the Middle East," he would always respond that it wasn't so bad, and then list out the 3 good things that we found here, and leave off the 3000 bad things we found here.

Almost all the other ex-pats I've met are happy here. Let me explain why.

Most ex-pats have a housing allowance that covers the rent and furniture for a 4-bedroom, 4-bath, at least 2000 sq ft house. Most of them get a free car while they are working here. If you sit back and think about it, where do most of your bills fall? In the housing and transportation categories. So with those out of the way, there's not much left to have to cover. Many people's incomes triple or even quadruple from what they would be making back home. For example, I know for a fact that the Brazilians have quadrupled their incomes and can freely drive around in a nice car without worrying about getting carjacked at a red light. It's paradise to them.

Most ex-pats stay in their field of expertise and the move to the Middle East is simply an enhancement to their career. No one moves over here to start over. And then there's us. I could not in good conscience stand in the way of my husband following his dream. I mean, everyone gives up on their dreams. I know that sounds cynical, but for most people, that's the truth. Many people have told me so, once they learn about our situation. So we are not typical ex-pats. Our house and furniture and cars are not covered by the company. His income dropped dramatically from his former career. We are here as a means to an end.

For me, this is temporary living. In no way am I preparing to stay here for years, like many of the other ex-pats I know. Jeff is constantly trying to be glass half full... and on my good days, I can be that way, too. But on my bad days, I have to tell him... let's get real. The Brazilians-- 3rd world country to another 3rd world country, but at least one without the murders and muggings. The South Africans-- dangerous political situation, corruption, fear for personal safety. The Western Europeans-- tripled and quadrupled their salaries, makes it easy to overlook the bad stuff. The Aussies and Kiwis-- ditto. So out of the scores of people I've met since moving here, I've only met two other Americans. One hates it here, and is only here because her husband's family is here. The other likes it here because she says it's a really easy life, but also her husband's family is here, too. The only other Americans here are military and they are here because they have to be!

The other day I was at a mom & baby group and we got to talking about America. I didn't know that these two other women, a South African and a Colombian, had briefly lived in the US a few years ago. Both of them confided that if they were able to get a permanent home in the US, that would be the #1 place both of them would choose to live. One of them said, "If I were you and had a home in America, I wouldn't be here!"

Of course I had to come home and repeat this conversation to Jeff verbatim. It just proves what I've known as soon as I moved here... no matter how unpopular America is, no matter how botched the government is, everyone still wants to live there!

I'm feeling homesick now and my morale is low. I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary of moving here but it has already been 1. 5 years since Jeff started with the company and I had agreed to commit to 2 years. Now Jeff's company has radically changed things and made it so that Jeff cannot achieve his goals for 4 years. I'm tired of the constant battling with his company and can't forsee having the endurance to continue for another 3 years.

Nobody told me about this!

So I didn't know anything about babies before Elena was born. I didn't pay attention to baby-proofing because I thought it was so far away, for sure I had one to one and a half years before she would be getting into trouble.

I didn't know about crawling.

Elena has been crawling for one month now and at first, wasn't much of a problem because she moved slowly and I could divert her from any tricky situations.

But now, I turn away for 30 seconds and she has wriggled her hands into the dirt of the potted plants and smeared them on her pajamas. Now, she holds onto the couch cushion and pulls herself up to grab the t.v. remote controls and changes the settings. Now, her favorite game is going to the entertainment center and unearthing the jumble of electrical cords from under the pile of pillows we've placed on top of them, in our naive attempt of "out of sight, out of mind."

It's like once she's discovered crawling, she doesn't want to stop moving!

And forget baby-proofing in Bahrain; I don't think they've ever heard of this before. There's a sad little selection of products in the corner of the store to satisfy ex-pats, but that's about it. They cost about five times as much as they would in the States, so I'm not buying them as a matter of principle. I'm talkin', one doorway baby gate with a layer of dust on it gathered since 2005, and another one delivered to the island so long ago that it has lost its box and just sits there, propped against the wall, so forlorn without packaging.

I was reading something the other day and it mentioned professional baby-proofers! Please! That's the other extreme-- paying someone to come into your house to do this?? Only in America...

The Kiss Hello

It's no secret that I hate potlucks, the way they are forced upon you at the office by the suburban ladies who like to wear thick-gauge, holiday sweaters. It's no secret that I hate people who throw parties at their house but oh, by the way, everyone's bringing a dish, can you bring the salad? Why throw a party if you can't afford to host? Invite fewer people. And if you're simply too cheap to host, well then I don't want to be your friend anyway.

Allow me to give some context. When Jeff and I moved into this brand-new compound, we were one of two families occupying the premises for many months. Our neighbors were a lovely, childless, British couple and we often went to their house for dinner and parties because they loved to entertain. I went away with Elena in August, returned to Bahrain in October, and by then all 40 units were rented out and I came back to a barrage of new neighbors, all with multiple, mostly school-aged children. I simply could not keep track of these greasy, snot-nosed kids because there were so many of them and they all looked alike since each had at least two or three siblings. Let me note that 90% of these families are either Brits or Kiwis, and I'm not noting this because I'm prejudiced but because it will explain a little bit about why I don't have anything in common with them, why I find it hard to understand their English, and why these white faces initially thought I was the maid pushing Elena around in her stroller and wouldn't respond to my hellos. (Because they use Asian maids.)

Anyway, we live on a narrow street and it is now overflowing with screaming children. They play outside all day without supervision, do not get out of the way when a car approaches, they kick plastic 5-gallon buckets down the brick road, they bully my 6-year-old Hungarian neighbor girl about her English (I politely confronted the bullies to have them stop, but really just wanted to smash the ringleader's face in), but most irritatingly, they leave their bicycles in front of my garage and my front door. Oh, they're not singling me out-- there are at least 30 different bicycles in this compound and they drop them wherever they happen to be. So many times I have the urge to drive right over the bikes, but of course I don't. I get out of my car and pick up the bike and move it off to the side. And it just keeps happening, because I have no idea whose bikes these belong to and really have better things to do than to wait at my window to witness the live bike-dropping.

Well these neighbors all get on famously now, are chums, really, and there is a neighborhood get-together each Friday (the Middle East's Sunday) afternoon where everyone brings a dish. I've never attended. And just like Jerry Seinfeld when he objected to kissing hello to each of his lady neighbors, I have become a pariah.

What was my point? Oh yeah, tomorrow this German family is having a party to celebrate the birth of their 3rd child. Fliers were handed out. Everyone's excited. They ask me, are you going? I make up excuses, backed into the corner. The problem with making up excuses to your neighbors is that they can all see your car in the garage and the lights on in your house. You can't exactly lie.

Want to know what we, the guests, are being asked to do?

• Bring a gift for either the baby or the mom- gee thanks for letting me choose
• Bring a dish to share with everyone- it has to be Italian because it's an Italian-theme party
• Bring something to drink
• Bring your own glass in which to drink the drink that you brought
• Contribute 1BD ($2.65) toward the cake
• We have to call this other neighbor to tell her what dish we are bringing so there are no "duplicates"

In other words, it BYOE- bring your own everything. Boy will they be embarrassed for forgetting to ask us to bring our own folding chair and tv tray. And people are excited about going! It's like I'm the only one who finds this offensive! And by the way, this family's 12 year-old daughter is the bully who was making fun of the 6-year old Hungarian girl.

This Ashoora isn't like home...

Today is the official day of Ashoora, a Muslim day of mourning and remembrance. It is marked by religious festivals that last from Jan 17-20 this year, but today the 19th is when it is observed, when everything in Bahrain shuts down. Grocery stores, restaurants, shopping malls... everything is closed. Of course Ashoora means different things for the Shias than it does for the Sunnis, but since the Bahrain population majority is Shia, the only things I've learned is about the Shia traditions. Apparently they don't like foreigners to go into the villages during this time. I have been told this ex-pats, so I don't know how true it is. I've driven through the villages before, just to look around because I was curious, and the Shias don't really have any reaction-- mostly just staring because why in the world is this girl driving through the village. But during this time of Ashoora, they flagellate themselves and make cuts into their foreheads so that blood streams down their heads. I think I will take the advice and stay out of the villages today.

Apparently Ashoora marks the day that Hussein (no, not Saddam) was martyred-- there are signs honoring Hussein everywhere you go. Hussein was somebody important way back when, somebody very important in the teachings of Mohammed, I am not sure in what way, maybe a prophet. When he was killed, Islam was split into two sects-- the Sunnis and the Shias (Shiites). I'm pretty sure I'm not doing the explanation justice in these three sentences. Perhaps I should spend this day learning more about it.

There are huge, black flags everywhere on the island. There is graffiti on the concrete walls of buildings with quotes about Hussein. When you drive past the villages, you can see the streets are packed with abaya-wearing women, in large numbers that you don't usually see in one place. Large fabric banners are hung across the entrance of these villages. The decorations are kind of I don't know how to explain it, broke-down, and remind me of the San Gennaro feast held in NYC's Little Italy every September. I'm pretty sure there are no pork sausages during this festival, though.

So yesterday I thought I better go stock up at the grocery store since I wouldn't have the option to go today. I tried to make it in the morning, but of course with Elena one thing led to another and by the time we were ready to go out, it was 3pm. At the grocery store at 3:30pm, we wandered down the empty aisles since everyone else came and hoarded already. There was no milk. There was no chicken. I really hate living on this island sometimes. I got some Pringles and a jar of spaghetti sauce which will just have to do. It's convenient that Jeff is out of town since I can always make do with a Snickers bar for dinner, but he can't.

Yes, Jeff is out of town again. Been gone for a week now. Of course he was supposed to be gone for 4 days, and of course his return date was delayed. I pretty much expect that everytime his company sends him out of town for a ferry flight or a training (which it is this time) that he will never come back when he is supposed to. The company will inevitably mess something up. I will not be surprised when one day his company sends him out and he just will never return, and I will never see him again because he landed in a black hole created by his company. He has lost so much time with his family due to this company it's not even funny. It would be one thing if these trips were really fruitful and beneficial to him and/or his career, but 95% of the time they are simply a waste of time. And sorry, but a 5% success rate, in my opinion, just isn't worth the sacrifice.

Rain, rain go away

It rains in Bahrain. Who knew? It doesn't rain very much. Maybe a downpour for 30 minutes. And it's only happened twice. But it causes such a mess! There's no drainage. It's muddy everywhere. Everywhere is slick because the floors are made of marble and granite. White cars turn brown. It's gross.

Bush in Bahrain

We saw his motorcade today. Of course we were stuck in traffic for miles (I should say kilometres) because they shut down the highway for him. All of us were herded toward the surface streets for a distance before we could get back on the highway. And zooming in the opposite direction on a traffic-free stretch were police cars with blue lights flashing, and several dark green Tahoes, and one black one with the US presidential seal on it, all windows tinted black. Think he was in that one? Does he travel with it? Jeff says it can fit in a 747. Anyway, wonder what he thought of this little island. I wonder if he mispronounces the capital, Manama, as rhyming with Panama, like I did when I first moved here. Probably.

When is a Snickers bar not a Snickers bar?

When it's made in Australia!

I bought a Snickers bar and got home and eagerly opened it up and cut off a piece with a knife and it's missing the nougat! The most critical component of a Snickers bar! It's just chocolate and caramel and peanuts! Call it a Payday, then!

I looked at the wrapper and it had all the Arabic writing on it like most everything here, then I saw (in English) that the country of origin was Australia! Those prankster Aussies!