the expat life

So you can usually tell the difference right away between American expats and European expats. Especially the men. But sometimes when the Americans have been living away from home a long time, they start to look more expat than American.

"Don't worry. If you ever go home wearing capri pants and carrying a 'murse' (man-purse), I'm sure your brothers will straighten you out!" I told Roger. 

A few more things about living as expats- we eat at American chain restaurants at home more often than we did while in America. I think I've eating more KFC and Baskin Robbins in Bahrain then I did my whole life before. And I'd never eaten at Johnny Rockets, EZ Burger, Chilis, or Tony Romas before moving here. We do eat out more here because while food is way more expensive, labor is cheap. So many times it is cheaper to go out for steak or chicken than it would be to buy a raw one in the store and fix it yourself. Food can cure a bit of homesickness. And there is tons of good food on the island- no joke- there is a "Bahrain 15", like a "freshman 15"- we've experienced it!

The BBC world service is heaven-sent. It makes me feel in touch with the world and with home.When we got here I would be so homesick I would go to the furthest grocery store just to listen to those comforting British accents.

And it can be surreal. This weekend, I saw Les Mis in theaters some friends- I had a "can't believe we are watching this movie here" kind of experience- to see the French revolution unfolding on screen- given recent events here. It's crazy to be driving along and hear "Rock the Casbah" on the radio as you pass oil wells and palm trees and it hits you like a ton of bricks how far you are from home. And to go from seeing Armani, Bulgari and Cavalli in the mall to the third world out the door is crazy- and I hope it keeps bothering me instead of being another thing I get used to here.

It has been a great experience overall. So we just signed up for one more year here in Bahrain- the 2013-2014 school year.

Peter and Paul

I have a pair of white cheeked bulbuls that come into our garden. I couldn't figure out what ate all the lettuce leaves, but I have a good idea now, after I caught one of the bulbuls making a salad out of my petunias! They are too darn cute to scare away, so Edward and I just watched through the sliding door for 30 minutes while the bolder one feasted. Roger caught it taking another trip through the buffet yesterday morning, so I moved the petunia to the front yard, which they have yet to discover.
I'm naming them Peter and Paul for the nursery rhyme. And I am happy to forgo lettuce for the pleasure of watching them! 

falcons

Some Bahrainis are really into falconry. When we were at the Al Areen Wildlife Park, Edward and Evelyn got to hold one. I was so proud of them because the bird was a little startled and flapped its wings in their faces, but they held on anyway. The bird was a little heavy for Edward, so he got an assist from dad.

Edward's quotes of the day

"I'm a tough boy. A big tough boy! Carry me."

"I'm the ginger-man. Chase me!"

"I'm not hitting, I'm just trying to be nice."

"Mars is red. Let's go there! But we don't have a space ship."

And he also said the f-word. Lots of times- like 20. He thought it was the name of a toy. We have no idea where he picked it up- cursing isn't very common here. It was hard to correct him while keeping a straight face! He was so sure that is what it was called. 

I smell a smell...

Edward said to me the other day "I smell a smell..." (Sniffs loudly.)  "It is poopy kitties! They scratch your face!"

He was used to enthusiastically petting our little kitty when he was small, so when we got here and there were feral, diseased, dumpster cats roaming around, we had to scare him off a bit. Sounds like dad did the trick!

Trevor

Meet Trevor, Edward's duck. Purchased with his own money at Bath and Body Works on Christmas clearance. There were more boyish ducks, but this, pink cheetah print, is the one he wanted. They have been constant companions from bath time to bed time. But Edward's favorite thing to do is to throw Trevor down our stairs and down the slides at the playground.

Star Wars

Today we were watching Star-Wars the Clone Wars cartoon and Edward thought that Obi-Wan Kenobi was Jesus. No bud, sorry!

Saar archaeological site

Here we are at the Dilmun era temple and settlement in Saar. It was ancient and fascinating, but unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of good signage to explain it all. I talked to a woman who worked on the administrative side of the dig years ago, she is going to let me borrow a book about it and maybe I'll have more information then. She said much of what they excavated has been covered again by blowing sand. I think the highlight for the kids were the three toilet paper commercial cute puppies that followed us around the site. But I'm happy to report we were able to leave without a new pet!

Khamis Mosque

The Khamis Mosque is the oldest in Bahrain- with foundations dating back to 692 AD. The twin minarets were constructed in the 14th or 15th centuries. and guess who got to go inside them?!? We were like  "Are you sure?" when the site guide said "Oh, yeah, you can go up." Sure, these have stood hundreds of years- but the rest of the place is a ruin... Way cooler than any lighthouse I've ever climbed- there were small light holes cut in every few feet, it was so narrow, twisting and a real head bumper- people were short back in the day. And two open  windows the perfect size for Edward to fall out of without any guards- so that was a little nerve wracking for this mama, since he and Roger were in the lead! It was amazing- but terrifying at the same time. It was really neat to see the inscriptions and the stairs that led down to the natural well nearby.

 

 Here were are- arriving at the the site.

 The arches still stand are were so beautiful.

 

These are the centuries old stairs leading down to the natural well that was on the site. It is filled in, but the ground was damp- you could tell water was really close.  

 

This is the teeny tiny doorway into the minaret. 

 

We are looking out of the minaret to the opposite minaret to take this photo- wow! It was amazing.

And the guard took this of us peaking out the window. 

And this is us posing next to a beautiful Bahrani door leading to the site. It was a really experience!

Evelyn quote

"I could only find a uniform shirt in the dirty clothes and it was stinky, so I just sprayed some of your perfume on it." :)

Christmas photo

Here is our annual Christmas photo- taken by some friends in front of their house. So happy with it!

Bowling

We went bowling as a family over Christmas break and it was a lot of fun! Edward's shoes were too big for him, as was the ball, which he kind of drop kicked down the lane! While her stance was a little odd, Evelyn won! (Granted we didn't have bumpers and the kids did- she kind of zig-zagged it off the sides!) Good times.

Santa pics

National Day

We bought Evelyn a traditional Bahraini dress for National Day. The school encouraged them all to dress up. Here is her with her cute friends Faye and Sara.

 We got to go desert camping again with some of the very nice ladies at the school. We had traditional breakfast and chicken biryani for lunch that was so good! It was really fun and the weather was beautiful this time.

And here is Evelyn's dress again- showing off the pattern of the Bahrain flag on her sleeves. Awesome!