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!