Day Tour in Bahrain

Went on a tour here in Bahrain and I was really impressed with everything.  Not sure the picture quality is that great, since I used the iPhone.  Well here you go....



Grand Mosque in Bahrain

This mosque was build for 20 million USD and can hold seven thousand during prayer.  As we walked around inside, I was surprised at the size, but didn't seem like it would fit that many.  Another interesting item is that the mosque was paid for by the government, which is standard for a mosque.  During the tour we had a little time to gain some insight into the culture and religion.  What I learned is that a lot of things I associated with Islam are more based on culture.



Portuguese Fort

This fort was built around 1500, which shocked me.  It was an impressive construction project, and I can't imagine being a Portuguese sailor or soldier that came here from around Africa.

Camel Farm

Next stop was a camel farm near the causeway to Saudi Arabia.  There were hundred camels that all were living under shade awnings, and apparently they are owned by a member of the Bahrain royal family.

We had lunch and then went to the national museum, which was neat.

Day 13, 2012/11/24

All psyched up, skates packed, and ready to roll.

ARGH!!!  Why does everything shut down the weekend after Thanksgiving.  There are always plenty of people everywhere around Thanksgiving.

So we went home and once again had movie night of "Cat In The Hat Knows A Little About That" since our DVD player is broken and the computer has a mind of it's own.  ***Spoiler alert***  I ordered a Blu-Ray player for Christmas and bought The Lorax Blu-Ray so we can watch something in Blu-Ray.

Day 10, 2012/11/22 Thanksgiving

Time flies when you are busy.  4.5 days together fly by so quickly.

This year we spent Thanksgiving with a family with which we are casual acquaintances.  I have never done this before and rather enjoyed the experience.  There were no expectations of how I was to help, no unspoken words that sting, and you know if you don't like it you don't ever have to repeat the experience.  We had a great time and learned so many new things about this family beyond the fact that almost everyone in the family is a doctor: Father, ENT; Eldest Daughter, OB/GYN; Middle Daughter, Pediatric Nephrologist; Youngest Daughter, ENT; and Son-In-Law, Ophthalmologist.

The kids had a blast running around, acting crazy in dress up, and performing a talent show.  The main talents were piano and art.

We even enjoyed having leftovers of all our favorite foods without having to suffer through those which are not our favorites.

Day 11 - Black Friday in Bahrain

Daddy-O, 11/23/2012

Well Black Friday was in full effect here in Bahrain, although not from locals out in town.  I was on the base to do some laundry, and there were some serious lines inside the Navy Exchange (little shopping store for non-military folks).  I'm not sure if the deals were that good, or that we have been conditioned to shop on the day after Thanksgiving.  A question to ponder, and ironic since I was reading a very anti consumption book at the time.

As for the hotel, I'm in a very nice place, but just doesn't quite have the kitchen to do much.  From talking to folks here, the options are a furnished flat or executive apartments.  Since the cost to me will be the same, I'm not sure what to do. 

Option 1, Flat:  The one that I saw yesterday was spacious and nice.  Looked like maybe three bedrooms, a sitting room, a dinning room, and a big kitchen.  The most impressive thing was the small pool on the back patio.  I've heard that is pretty common. 

Option 2, Executive Apartments: The link shows one that I've heard about.  I'm sure there are others.  This just seems to have everything I need and am leaning this way.  I'm sure there will be more to report after I visit later.

All the best, and here is picture of Grand Mosque here in Bahrain.

Al Fateh Grand Mosque in Bahrain

Future Posts
- First meal out in town
- CNO and MCPON visit Bahrain

Day 8, 2012/11/20 (Daddy-O)

Well the USS John C Stennis pulled in yesterday and changed life here on little Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain.  I'm not sure the exact number of folks assigned to NSA Bahrain, but adding about 5,000 people from a CVN is noticeable.  One example is the ATM line which is normally one or two people has been 20 deep or more at some points.   If you have time, read up on these amazing pieces of engineering (CVN).

While I make it sound like it is bad to have them here, I'm very happy that they get to take a break from their months at sea.  If people don't know, these folks spend months at sea doing the work of the nation and are rewarded with small breaks to pull into unknown lands.  While these visits have changed over the years, I know they are welcome.

Additionally, we had some special visitors today, and I'll fill you in on that tomorrow....

Day 8, 2012/11/20

Thankful Day!  Today I had the chance to enjoy time with big sister and little brother during school hours.

Big Sister's school had thankful pie after lunchtime.  I was able to join big sister at the end of lunchtime in the cafeteria; big sister introduced me to her friends and shared the name of all her classmates.  Following lunch, we returned to her classroom to enjoy our treat together.  Since I am not often able to get to the kids' schools, this was a refreshing treat to see her in her element.

Stone Soup story as explained on Wikipedia:

Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help them out, so that gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.

Following Thankful Lunch, and somewhat overlapping, I rushed over to Little Brother's school for Stone Soup Chapel.  The best part of Stone Soup was being able to Skype Daddy-O and "share" some soup together.

Day 7 (Daddy-O)

Check-in day here in Bahrain....

I had a super breakfast buffet this morning at the hotel, but am sure that I might have second thoughts once the bill is converted into dollars.  The exchange rate here is 2.6 USD for about 1 BHD, which gives you the impression of getting a good deal.  Not necessarily true.  After breakfast, I walked a few blocks to the base.  During the walk, there were some items I noticed.  First, there are a tons of awnings and tents for the cars to park under, which I assume has to do with the powerful sun here.  The second was the fact that there were very nice buildings that match what I've seen in other countries, but they just had dirt/rock unfinished landscaping. Finally, there are plenty of US brands here from Pizza Hut, Chili's, Burger King.

Once at the base, I just kind of followed the crowd through the security areas, which were pretty impressive.  After security, I navigated the small base to my office for the standard check-in paperwork.  As always at new jobs, there were a lot of acronyms and names that I'll have to learn again.  I'm always amazed how the military can build a mini self-contained city on such a small space.  I found a library, bowling alley, gym, grocery store, small hospital, and many military units.

I'm sure lots of new things will come up with work in the next few weeks.  One thing I like about being out of the US is that everyone is automatically closer and inclusive.  Case in point, I have already been invited to two Thanksgiving meals.  I think this comes down to the fact that we are a small pocket inside a larger local community.   I am currently staying in a nice place in the Juffair neighborhood, and will provide more on that later.

I certainly miss the family, but plenty of new experiences keep me occupied.  Until my next post....

Days 6-7, 2012/11/18-19

When I was a kid, I'd watch Sci-fi shows and movies like Star Trek and Star Wars.  They depicted  video conferences between ships or a stationary location.  I never dreamed that one day I would be able to do that with someone I knew.

Times really have changed and technology has really changed the world of reality and possibilities we live in.  Almost 14-years ago I lived overseas in Nepal for 2 years.  During that time I would need to schedule telephone calls at least a week in advance via email.  Those calls were infrequent and expensive.  We read articles in our weekly Newsweek about people in other third world countries using a cell-phone as THE method of telecommunication; the cell phone brought villages that previously had no telephones in contact with the remainder of the country and the world.

Phone calls and physical and/or electronic mail didn't ease any of the loneliness or "homesickness" that the face and voice of a great friend or loved one can.  Daddy-O arrived in Bahrain today.  He had emailed me twice, texted via Google voice, and we finally spoke via Skype.  Those communications were all free and virtually instant compared to my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer.  Our kids don't have any idea what a luxury that is; they got bored talking to him and moved on to other activities within five minutes of him calling.

Life is changing all around us and you don't always realize where you started.  There are so many ways to go from here, but I will close with this.  Little brother doesn't understand that the person on the other end of the connection can't see what he points the phone at; this is so beyond my family's rented landline AT&T telephone that used analog dialing when I was a little girl.

Day 5, 2012/11/17

Why does it affect me more that he got on his plane out of the country than dropping him off at the airport earlier this week?  I guess it's the reality of him being absent setting in.  We have been able to talk on the telephone and Skype multiple times daily since he left.  Now I don't know when we'll talk to him again.  Maybe it's that their isn't anyone to tag so I can sit quietly with my own thoughts or so I can rest since a cold is settling in.

But the reality is, I should be thankful.  Thankful that he's going to a country where he should be "safe", he should only be gone for less than a year, I have the financial resources to take our kids on vacation, and we are surrounded by people locally and afar that are willing to help out with all kinds of requests.  That's what I need to try to focus on.

P.S. Big sister and I shared a wonderful evening roller skating.  We can't wait to go again with our new skates.

Day 4, 2012/11/16

Daddy-O's bus stop friends miss him.  He was their lighthouse as the beacon of timeliness or tardiness upon arrival at the bus stop.

Our first day without Daddy-O we were the first ones at the bus stop.  I made everyone run because I thought we were late; turns out we missed Daddy-O because we didn't have anyone to signal us we were not late.

Day 2 we realized what time the bus really comes when we once again were nervous we were too late.  This time however, Eleanor's mom noted she thought they has missed the bus because the bus stop was a ghost town.

Day 3 resulted in a near miss of the school bus as big sister had to run to catch the bus that almost plowed us down in the crosswalk.  Maeve's mom received the panicky feeling when she showed up first.

Today we learned our lesson from yesterday, but finally realized the common thread in everyone's comments: Daddy-O provided all the parents assurance that their child hadn't already missed the bus.  So I informed everyone, "Daddy-O is a big fan of being on time.  It's not as important to me.  What matters is we are here in time to get on the bus.  Don't count on us anymore as your marker of time."

What matters to me about getting to the bus stop is will little brother and big sister be able to give each other a hug and kiss before big sister gets on the bus?  This simple act of love and friendship lasts me all day until I return home to find someone drew on one of our couch pillows.

Day 3, 2012/11/15

This being a working Mom and solo parent thing is a lot like being a stay at home Mom, but backwards.  I returned to work after being a FT SAHM for over 5 years because I never really got into the job responsibilities: planning for and preparing meals, managing household schedules and day to day family and household necessities.  As a SAHM, it seems there is never enough time to get everything done.  But those things that don't get done aren't usually necessary.  There's no time to do all the necessary items when you are at your office working all day.

I am a huge fan of knowing exactly what the situation will be, but that doesn't mean I am a planner.  I just need to know what to expect.  So here's what you can expect at our house this week:
-Rushing to get to the bus stop on time because I haven't found a reliable alarm clock
-Little boy asking "What that noise? That Daddy? You can be the Daddy (fill in animal of the day)."
-Plenty of whining and crying
-Skyping with Daddy-O with 2 children trying to edge the other out of the camera 's view
-Mom wondering when dinner is just going to magically appear on the table like it had for about the last year and serving thawed Baked Ziti when the reality that the dinner fairy no longer lives at our house
-Mom sneaking mouthfuls of cookies or cupcakes when no one else is within eye sight

Full of Thanks

Day 2, 2012/11/14

Today certainly could have started off better.  We were running to the bus stop, because we thought we were later, and arrived first.  Forgot to take out the recycling and left the house with someone crying, which is very rare here.  Did I mention that the iPad has decided to mysteriously default to Mark's email inbox every time I lock it?

We are blessed to have so many good friends and support in the area.  I find it funny that it almost feels like Mark died to them.  They want to know how everyone is doing? If we need a break?  Happy to help in any way or need a helping hand around the house.  We're here still waiting for reality to set in and miss Daddy-O.  So far, it's been one night and we were able to Skype and have Daddy-O join us for story time.

It's hard for the reality to sink in when he's still available for all our regular activities and to talk whenever we want.  After a week without being able to talk to Daddy-O and having to set appointments to talk via Skype, I bet everyone will be a little sad and some of the realness of it will sink in.

Until then, we'll defrost our Baked Ziti and keep on keepin' on.

Day 1, 2012/11/13 (Daddy-O)

Thanks to a super nice gate agent for Southwest in BWI, I made it down to Norfolk for initial processing.  When I was checking in they gave me one of those passes that says, "Your checked in, but this isn't a boarding pass." What is the point of that?  Well I went to get my pre-flight beer and came back to the gate about 45 minutes before departure.  At that point, I had to be super nice to the gate agent and she somehow was able to get me on the overbooked flight.  Not going to ask questions.

One bonus: there is a Jamba Juice at the BWI airport.  Wow!

Day 1, 2012/11/13

We survived Day 1.  Everyone got everywhere they needed to go with everything they needed.  Maybe you don't want to stand too close to Ann though:-)