A Middle Eastern America

After only a month since last posting, I have had my questions and quandaries concerning Bahraini lifestyle and culture confirmed!  Two days ago a good Arab friend of mine, who happens to have lived here since 1953, told me, "This is a Middle Eastern America.  You will not be homesick here." 

There it is!  So like America, this little island is becoming known as the "Middle Eastern America."  Shopping malls in abundance, any American food/restaurant you can imagine, all conveniences Americans have come to rely upon, and MORE - any other food from nearly any other culture you might wish for, free to-your-door delivery of almost anything from any store, and a freedom that is virtually non-existent in any other country in the region. 

Though satisfied that my suspicions were correct, I am still rather baffled by the lack of Bahraini culture.  Just as America is a "melting pot" of people, cultures and customs, Bahrain also has its degree of "stir the soup" mentality - there are far more expats than nationals, and the expats come from all over Europe, America, India, the Philippines and parts of Africa.  While this is definitely a Muslim country, Christmas trees and Christmas decorations have been put up in all the major Hypermarkets, malls, and hotels.  Half of my students, though they are all Muslim, celebrate Christmas.  Some Bahraini families celebrated Thanksgiving and a few stores had Halloween decorations up in October!

I must say the longer I live here, the more baffled I become by this country.  I think this is honestly one of the strangest places in which I've ever lived. 

As I look forward to the holidays and spending a few days at home, my thoughts on the oh-so-common "reverse culture shock" are thus: I'm going to feel like I left America and am living in a country that does not lay claim to that name.  For, instead of exulting over all the missed items I couldn't get here, I'm going to see what I can purchase every day - and then will wonder where all the items from all over the world are and why they are in places like "China Town" instead of one gigantic Hypermarket!  :-D

Internet Connection and Bahraini Culture

I have internet connection!  This is exciting for a few reasons.  First, having internet means that my CPR card, the card which officially allows me to live in the country, has arrived! :-D  (I couldn't get internet without it)  Second, I can now keep this blog and you, my readers, up to date on life in Bahrain.  Third, well, it's just great to have internet that is not temporary and borrowed!

I cannot believe it is already November.  Last night's and today's weather heralded the change of seasons by doing something every Bahraini and expat loves - it rained!!  A downpour!  The weather in general is finally cooling off, the skies are becoming clear, and the air fresh.  Winter here is like fall in California and it is quite lovely.

Now, let me tell you about America, I mean Bahrain.  

In many ways Bahrain is one of the strangest places I've ever lived in.  This strangeness is not owing to it's foreign-ness, but rather its degree of familiarity.  When I first stepped off the plane, this small island held all the aspects of any foreign home - a different language, new customs, transportation difficulties, new people, and very little with which I could compare to something familiar.  However, the longer I live here, the stranger this place becomes, not because of its initial overwhelming feeling of being foreign, but because of its growing sense of familiarity.

Let's start with the grocery stores and my first general surprise.  The stores here are huge.  Not Super Walmart huge, but HUGE, most being two stories or more (and are quite aptly called "Hypermarkets").  The first floor contains several eateries, all of which m y readers will recognize - Papa John's Pizza, Burger King, Krispy Kream Donuts, and Subway!  The second floor contains the "grocery" section which includes everything from fresh baked bread to a fish market.  They have peaches flown in from Georgia, oranges from Florida, Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Burtolli Pasta Sauce, Dryers Ice Cream, and Coco Puffs cereal.  The only American thing I've come to realize they don't have (and wish they do) is Cheez-its.  The third floor contains anything else you could possibly want from refrigerators to laptops to designer saris for the Indian ladies to clothing for the whole family.  Needless to say, the first time a coworker took me to get groceries, I was blown away!

But my shock did not end there.  It continued to grow the minute I stepped into one of Bahrain's many malls.  As with the grocery stores, the malls are big and left me wondering where in the world I was.  In one mall I could get Louis Vuitton purses, Sax Fifth Avenue items, gold and diamond jewelry that cost a fortune, Mac makeup, chocolate that was flown in from Paris, all of my groceries at the attached Hypermarket,  laptop computers, internet and cellphone connection, items I could buy in the outdoor market (without the bargaining power), coffee from a local café or Starbucks, have a snack at Pinkberry (yes they have this too!), and choose to dine on any kind of main course dish I liked from nearly any category of cuisine -  all during closing hours that make me wonder if Bahrain ever sleeps! 

Bahrain comes alive at night and right around 6-7pm the malls fill to the brim with a bustle of people that makes Christmas shopping look pretty tame.  Everywhere there are Bahrainis shopping, eating, talking, and walking about with bags and sacks and shopping carts stuffed with groceries, clothing, and any other item which they might wish to purchase.

After seeing all of this, my initial reaction was, "Where am I?  And where is your culture?"  I felt like I had taken a 30 hour plane flight all to step off and land right back in America.  Though driving may at times prove a challenge, it is not difficult for a "westerner" to live here.  In fact, as I write this, I am sitting at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, sipping a Vanilla Late, listening to American "starbucks" music, very much in the comfort of something similar if not nearly identical to my own culture.

The longer I live here, the more I want to discover the Bahraini culture that is all around me, flowing in and through everything done and said.  I have yet to really put my finger on the pulse of the cultural beat that I know exists within this tiny island country.  But with a contract that states I'm living here for at least another year and a half, I hope to find it!  Perhaps this time next year I'll be able to tell you all about it.

1,2,3s and A,B,Cs

It's hard to describe what the first week of teaching was like.  Perhaps I could say it was like a whirlwind.  Or maybe a tornado.  Maybe I could even liken it to a small earthquake.  However, no analogy will describe it quite accurately enough as this: I felt like I had been run over by a bus.  A school bus.

I reported in for work at 6:30am sharp, readied my classroom, and waited for my first kiddos to show.  Within fifteen minutes five of my students were already playing in my room; fifteen minutes after that my class population had doubled.  Most of my kids already knew each other (from attending prekindergarten at the same school) so they were comfortable and fortunately there were no criers.  By our 7:30 starting time, I had all fifteen students listed on my roster plus a new student. 

During the first day we toured the classroom, talked about standing in line, stood in line, went on break, ate lunch, played nicely with each other, learned a letter or two, sang a song, explored all the varying stations in our little classroom (art, math, reading, writing, and free play), and before we all knew it, it was time to go home already!  Day 1 down.

Since Day 1, the students have learned our class rules, faithfully charted daily weather, learned the days of the week, have begun writing letters and numbers, learned three nursery rhymes, have written their own book of nursery rhymes, had stories read to them, learned about the Ugly Duckling and Puss in Boots, visited the school library, have begun learning sight words, can tell you their colors and several of their shapes, have each spoken in front of the class, and can all do A-K in sign lanugage.  If this sounds pretty good to you it sounds exhausting to me! 

Along with the intellectual side of school, the students have also learned how to make friends, hurt each other's feelings, say sorry, share (in a definitely on-going process), walk in class, respect each other, respect their teacher, help each other, clean up after themselves, and have fun.  I have already talked to varying students about hitting each other, poking each other, trying to pick each other up, hugging each other, not sharing, being nice, standing in line, obeying the first time, listening, raising their hands, NOT running in the classroom, and learning to listen even if they're standing up (for the wiggly ones).  I think about the only issue I have not dealt with yet is biting another student (and hopefully won't have to!)

In short, I can say, now with TWO weeks under my belt, I am thoroughly enjoying being a kindergarten teacher!  The kids are a blast and are SO curious about everything!  They like to learn and enjoy it.  I love seeing them grow intellectually and in all other areas of life.  Being able to foster a classroom environment of love and acceptance with firm discipline is a huge task but a great joy.  I am looking forward to seeing just how much my little kiddos grow by the time I am writing a post about leaving for the summer!

Little things can be a big reward for a teacher, such as hearing a student say, "Thank you, Miss Sherrie, for all you did for us today."  WOW!  Now THAT brightens my day - no matter how crazy it's been!

Well, I'm heading into town (I don't think I'll get lost this time).  I've got to go pick up our class pet - mini turtles!

Driven Around the Bend

Yesterday marks a rather significant achievement in the life of yours truly.  For the first time since arriving on the Island, I got into a car and drove from my residence to the capital city - solo! 

Now, for those of you who know me, you realize what a significant thing this is.   For those of you who don't know me, let me state for all time and eternity that I am absolutely HORRIBLE with directions.  I think this is one thing that is used to keep me humble, if nothing else.  I can get lost just about anywhere.  Whenever I drive someone to a place I am vaguely unfamiliar with, that person suddenly switches from being my passenger and friend to my living, breathing, human GPS.  "Turn right in a quarter mile," can often be heard from the passenger side, rather than, "Hey so how was that movie last night?"  No, it's not quite that bad, but you get the idea. 

Needless to say, the thought of me driving alone, having only ridden into town a couple times, warranted a few warning signals in my own mind but I needed to do it and wanted to get out.  I decided to set no goal for myself other than that I would have an adventure.  This way, whether I made it to my desired destinations or not, I would achieve my goal.

I headed toward one of the major roadways I needed to get onto and achieved both finding it and placing my little red Toyota Yaris onto it amidst the traffic.  I rather quickly developed into a defensive and offensive driver all at once, needing both skills to maintain my right to hurtle all 3 tons of metal down the roadway without getting honked at for staying behind a slow vehicle, having lights flashed at me for moving too slowly in general, or police lights coming behind me and pulling me over for going too quickly (at which speed they do this I've still yet to ascertain).

Just ten minutes into my drive I became rather excited when I neared my destination without incident of metal meeting metal or myself getting hopelessly lost.  And that's when the real adventure began.  I took one off-ramp too early.  In the states I'd just get back on the highway but not here.  I exited onto a 3-lane roundabout.  Because of the traffic, I couldn't switch lanes and ended up driving into a city I doubt I'd heard of before that point in time.  Since "all roads lead to Rome" I decided to stay on the thoroughfare, knowing it'd eventually lead to a main street which led back to the main city. 

After five minutes the nice big two-lane road reduced to a small two-lane street, then became a one-lane road which plunged into back street alleyways which probably should never see vehicle traffic, let alone vehicles coming both ways with cars parked on both sides of the "street," and sometimes double parked at that!  I was stared down, honked at, nearly hit a dozen times, squeezed, pushed, pulled, and driven around the bend.  You know those areas "they" tell you to never go into as a white female foreigner?  Yeah, that's where I managed to land myself. 

Miraculously, however, the itty bitty little one-ish lane street became a narrow two-lane street and then became a nice big two-lane road where I could actually see the sky above me and it dumped me out right back into that intersection with the roundabout!  I decided that I didn't care if I drove around the thing ten times, I was getting back onto the interstate!  Ah, but the best laid plans of mice and men…

A car stayed right beside me and decided he was going to turn right whether I wanted to go straight or not.  So, stuck on all sides, I began driving into another part of Dodgy Town.  By this time, my traffic offenses were beginning to mount up and they included: nearly running a red light, driving straight through from the left turn lane, jamming myself into traffic lines which should never have been created, and driving the wrong way down one-way roads.  I felt more like a national driver than my driver's license would ever lead me to believe.  So, as soon as I realized that I was heading down another two-way street which was rapidly becoming a one-way road I decided I'd had enough.  In front of three police jeeps, a massive amount of men milling around in front of a mosque, and enough traffic around me than I cared think about, I pulled a completely 100% illegal U-turn to get back onto the more widely travelled upon thoroughfare.  I squished myself between two cars, got in their way and drove back into daylight. 

From that road I somehow found my way back onto the main thoroughfare that took me all the way into the city.  Here, again, the driving was not without issues (I missed the off-ramps, pulled near-illegal street maneuvers, and circled around parking garages twice because I missed the exit), but I made it!  I made it to my destinations! 

And finally, 2 hours later, with purchases bought and stowed in my little car, 6 hours after I had originally left my apartment (it was now 11:00pm), I headed home.  Thankfully, I managed to arrive at home after having only needed to make about 5 LEGAL U-turns and in less than half the time it took to get into town in the first place.

In conclusion, I can say thus: I know about a half dozen places NOT to go, have visited nearly all the legal U-turn spots on the island, and can now successfully drive from my apartment to the capital city (hopefully next time without incident).  So if you ever come to visit, I can probably reasonably get you from point A to point B.  But if you need a lift when I'm back in the states, you'd better know where you want to go!

Life on the Island

There are many things I want to post all at once, but for now I will limit myself to one aspect of life on the Island – Grocery Shopping.

I have yet to acquire my own transportation. This results in one of two things – 1.) Someone drives me places or 2.) I walk. Now, I am not one to mind walking. Given the chance, I would rather ride a bike, but walking isn’t a bad second choice. However, this is the Middle East where women don’t really walk alone. Anywhere. But I need food and no one’s around. I feel a tad bit stressed as I head outdoors, but I’ve got to get groceries, so out I go. It’s nearly 5pm and the sun goes down in 45 minutes, so I need to hustle.

Out the door, around the corner, down the street (avoiding any and all form of the male species), through a dirt lot (still avoiding the male species), down an alley (especially avoiding the male species), around corner #2 and I arrive at the grocery store.

In the store I can relax, breathe easy, and enjoy myself. I can stroll rather carefree down the aisles, perusing the vast quantities of Middle Eastern and imported goods for sale. I may take my time choosing what I like, and can look around to get a good view of my surroundings (without looking at any male faces, of course). Inside the grocery store, I am a happy lark. Until, that is, I look at my watch and realize with some dread that it’s 5:45pm and the sun just dipped below the horizon. That means I need to get going – fast.

I collect the last few items on my list while the call to prayer is broadcast over the loudspeakers and head to the checkout counter. I pay for my purchases, hope the person packing my things doesn’t squash my already too-ripe tomatoes, shove as much as I can in a large shoulder bag, pick up the few remaining sacks, and head for the exit.

Outside, there is just enough light to walk the streets alone as a woman and reasonably get away with it. There happen to be quite a few men out today and I keep my head down, eyes pointed just in front of my feet. Even when a group of elementary school boys approach I lower my head and gaze. I am fully covered except for a head scarf and they all pass on by, noticing that I take no notice of them. My peripheral vision becomes quite good. As does my hearing – I don’t see a car coming as much as I hear it.

Back around the corner, up the alley (always avoiding the men), through the dirt lot, up the street, around the corner, and a slight smile may be seen on my face. I have successfully reached my fair haven, teacher building No. 2, with every single item on my list!    

Except cereal.  Ugh.  Back I go! (Tomorrow!)

Marhaban (Welcome) to Bahrain!

I've made it! After 3 flights, 7 hours of layovers, 4 airplane terminals, 23 hours of travel, 1 pick-up, and 1 hired suitcase carrier , I stepped into the muggy heat of Bahrain. I was cordially welcomed by passport officials and fellow teachers alike to my new home. I was also welcomed by a power outage :-) I guess the power company got so excited to see me that it sent too much power to our building and overtaxed itself. It finally got calmed down enough to say hello around four in the morning - for an hour.

Though the trip was a tad bit grueling (I got sick by the end of it) it was definitely not "plain." Here is a list of people encountered and miracles witnessed. First the people. I met a TSA official who served our country in the Navy, a 9th grade English Intervention teacher, a senior in high school who has been living in Italy for the past year, a man who looked like he could be a pirate, and three Kuwaiti women whose seat assignment was overlapped with mine. Now the miracles. I was only charged $110 for my extra baggage instead of what should have been $400 due to a change in regulations, my cabin luggage was allowed on when another lady's whose bag was around my size had to be checked for an extra fee, I wasn't charged an overweight fee even though one of my bags was 4 pounds over, I was given an aisle seat for my last flight with an empty seat beside me and a lot of leg room, and all of my luggage arrived intact!

Welcome to Bahrain, indeed!  I am pretty well settled in, have already made some great friends, and am beginning to orient myself around the island.  Bahrain is a truly fascinating place to live and I am excited to begin sharing stories and pictures with you in the coming weeks and months.  Stay tuned for post #1 about living in Bahrain!

Plain Ride

Nope, it's not misspelled.  Here is my challenge: To enjoy the travel not just the location.  I often think of adventure as beginning when I arrive in my target location, not during the getting to it part.  As an already tired traveller who has 20 hours of travel ahead of her, this will be a challenge worth meeting. 

Travelling can be stressful, as many of you know.  Bags can get lost, someone may get sick next to you on the plane, and you're typically sleep deprived for much of the time.  That's the side of travel I think of most when I think of twenty hours of planes, airports, taxi rides, and layovers.  But what might I enjoy if I look at travelling itself as an adventure?  Maybe I'll meet a newly wed couple traveling on their honeymoon.  Perhaps I'll see a mysterious man I can write into a crime mystery.  Maybe I'll even meet a millionaire and gain an open invite to her palatial palace in the Swiss Alps.  Okay, that's a bit fantastic.  But still, my challenge is with me as I load my bags into the car, ride to the airport, shuffle through security, stuff myself into a middle seat, and travel the friendly skies.