week 3 week 3 week 3 week 3...

Some notes from yesterday morning downtown:

Friday morning in downtown Manama at Cafe Lilou waiting for some friends to arrive for our "Ladies who Brunch" brunch where we get to munch yummy food, yet prolly not drink adult libations... I'm not sure yet actually.  This is our second brunch session and I'm really enjoying getting out and about around the city and it's various nooks and crannies.
There is a lot to explore on Bahrain actually. Is such a small island, yet so many little neighborhoods and villages to explore. My trusty Sophie (GPS) gets me everywhere I need to go, yet there is so much construction around downtown that sometimes Sophie steers me awry... I went over a bridge this morning to another island and it was 7 km. before I could turn round...
This afternoon I plan on doing a reconnaissance survey to all the potential gyms/clubs I want to join.  I received some unexpected funds from my Fellowship for " settling in costs" and I plan to used them appropriately... Of course, my initial concern is to have. 2-in-1 gym + beach membership. I've noticed in my short time here (3 weeks last night!) that beaches are few and far between... I have a total of 3 choices for my 2-in-1 scheme to pan out, and 2 are downtown Manama- which is about 10 km from my apartment which, of course isn't far for someone from Hawaii to drive for some quality entertainment... Additionally, petrol is so cheap here. It takes about 4BD (Bahraini Dinar) to fill my tank- which is about 10 USD.

Saturday morning in bed.
Yesterday was busy.  I need my robot to bring me a cuppa joe right now. Hung with the Fulbright Crew last night.  Now that we're turning into Mall Rats, we went to the mall... Bahrain City Center to be exact. We went with the intentions of going bowling and catching a movie.  Now, all the other Mall Rats were out in force last night.  Driving there was madness.  Loads of cars with Saudi tags. We finally arrived and went to get our movie tickets so we could cruise around for a few hours first. The line was insanely long so... we aborted that mission to go eat.  We headed to a place called "Fuddruckers" which is, apparently, huge in the US... I've never heard of it, but they got some good burgers going on there for sure.

After we were all experiencing food paralysis, we thought about bowling to relieve some of the heaviness weighing us down.  It was about 10:30 and the place was packed so we had to abort this idea as well.  We dutifully headed to the air hockey station where we got our aggressions out.  Not long after we started though, it was all over.  Rather anticlimactic with game over so soon (I did make high scorer list though :), we thought about checking on the movie situation again.

Off we trotted back to the theatre and got some midnite tickets for "Runner Runner". With an hour to kill we agreed on heading to the sports store as we are all endorphin junkies (not sure about the newest Fulbrighter to debut in-country though as she was likely headed for jet-lag syndrome having just landed in country the previous evening).  After 45 minutes of cruising around in the store as if we had it all to ourselves, I walked out with:

a yoga mat
a weighted medicine ball
a swimming cap

We did have a ball in the store and L-netta even got on the inversion machine  (mind you this is at 11:45 pm and after eating HUGE food at Fuddruckers)... We trotted out and to the theatre to get our Ben Affleck/ J. Timberlake action par-tay on. Of course it's freezing in the movie theatre and I was prepared, but the newest addition to the crew wasn't ready for it. As well, her eyeballs were starting to roll to the back of her head as the jetlag was settling in to invade her body for a few days.  We got through it just fine, and the movie was pretty entertaining.  The drive home went much quicker and it was right about 3 AM that we arrived back at the ranch.

So, another great week went down last week.  No complaints here.  The weather is cooling down.  The air conditioner is getting ready to go on holiday... as well as myself actually.

Eid holidays are coming up.  This means a week of travel.  I'm thinking Oman. I'm thinking camping. I'm thinking mountain hikes. I'm thinking gorgeous beach sunsets.  I'm thinking medina wandering. I'm thinking FABRIC.  You all know how I love me some luxurious fabric...

On the subject of fabric, I hear the tailors here are awesome as well.  Back in Gaziantep, Settar took Solo_ojo and myself to an awesome tailor downtown by the kale.  Terzi Mehmet!  Mehmet made me quite a few things: pants, skirts, jackets... There is nothing more thrilling, when on a shop/hunt expedition, than to find a tailor and make appointments for fittings during each step of the process. The drinking of Turkish coffee or tea, the chit-chat, the important details that you don't know are being understood because your tailor can't speak English, and you don't speak Turkish very well... Yes, it is the THRILL of the hunt indeed.  Every trip to the tailor is like an unraveling of a unique present to yourself.

So in remembering this thrill, I bought a cool pair of Thai Silk palazzo pants on Maui before I left and I absolutely love them for over here.  Long, wide-leg, light-weight fabric that breathes, and the movement the fabric produces when I walk... well I just like the entire package.  So, on my trip into the medina, or souk here, I'm going to check out some fabric shops and tailors.

Well, my robot never showed up this morning. Must be some technical difficulties... so I got my arse outta bed and made my own cuppa joe.  It's damn good.

Today is day 2 of finding a gym/spa/club.  Yesterday didn't pan out too well.  The thing is, I want the entire package: beach/lap pool/gym/cafe/steam room, etc.  Proximity is important as well.  We'll see what today brings.  I might try to run with the Bahrain Hash House Harriers this evening. They are doing a run in Juffair.  I can't imagine running there as it seems so congested.  I know I don't feel like drinking a beer afterwards as I have loads of lesson planning to do so... might not happen...

That's all folks. I've got nothing.  Typing this even bored me, but I'll still post it just to make you all read through the normal-ness that I experienced this week in Bahrain! 

"X" marks the spot

Last night was "X". I didn't even know it was coming earlier in the day. After classes let out (Thursday is my heavy day with 3 classes), I finished up some other things and then headed out and back to base camp (how Sophie (my GPS) finds my dwelling).  I only had about an hour to chill before heading out on our weekly Riffa run with the Bahraini Road Runners Club.  I made a smoothie (yes I brought Chia Seeds, Flax Seeds, Super Blue-Green Algae, etc from Hawai`i with me) thinking that 1.5 hours was enough time to digest...

Well not necessarily.  Nothing major, but I could feel it moving through my system while running.  I'm still getting used to running in the heat so... At any rate, it was a good run.  Feels so satisfying after crossing the finish line and receiving my card and hanging out afterwards chatting with everybody soaking wet.  As we finished the run, the sun was setting into the horizon in a magnificent display. Something about that moment stopped me and made me feel really comfortable in my new environment. Eventually we all scatter and so off our trio of musketeers went (Lynette and John, the Fulbrighters, were with me). Sophie was acting up and brought us through a maze of roads, which was highly amusing.  Upon reaching base camp, I realized that I had Sophie programmed to 'shortest route' instead of 'fastest route', or vice versa...

Anyway, at home I just lazed about and though I would eventually get motivated to do some lesson planning and get it out of the way for the weekend.  Shower, dinner and ready to go?  Nope.  Couch and air con... Yep I was headed for my "crash and burn" night.  Now I remember these fondly back on Maui.  They happened every so often.  I always enjoy them actually.  My body just saying, chill the f*ck out. I passed out around 9:30 pm on the couch and woke up at 10:45 and trotted off to bed.  9.5 hours later here I am, in bed with my chilled coffee, feeling relaxed and gooey. Damn that was a quality sleep.  Feeling like a million Bahraini Dinar now (which would be close to 3 mil USD)!

Now, there was a few things I didn't take care of last night though... like going to the phone store and getting my phone credits... Ugh.  That must happen later this morning as I've friends in town from other kingdoms nearby.  

This morning marks week 2 for me here in the Kingdom of Bahrain.  So far so great.  I've managed to get it all together and make a home that already feels homey. I have a bedroom that is cave-like and never sees the light of day- which I so adore.  Makes me feel like I'm back in the jungles of Haiku. I also got all my paperwork finalized- meaning my car got leased! Yep I have wheels.  This is a great, unexpected, part of the Fellowship details I must have overlooked earlier! Anyway, it feels great to be mobile.  I haven't had a car for the past 3 years in Turkey and Tunisia so this is quite liberating.

The 3 Musketeers attended a cool function at the Crowne Plaza Hotel this week. We met up with all the local Fulbrighters that just came back from their missions in America, etc. It was amazing to talk to so many bright young minds ready to conquer the world with their smart ideas.  I'll be working with some in the future. So, it was a great place to meet-up, connect and exchange ideas and think about the future.  I had quite a few conversations about the historical and archaeological heritage of Bahrain, known as the ancient "Dilmun" and "Tylos", with some scholars and artists there.  I realized from conversation that I really did do some in depth research about Bahrain so was pleasantly surprised that I had contributions to add to the conversation.You know I love me some history talk- especially ancient history! There is also a budding art movement here as well I found out.  All in all, a very successful evening indeed.

As well, I've another swank function coming up this week too!  I like that my social calendar is filling up.  Makes me feel more settled into this place. I actually had to turn down an invite to go hiking this morning- due to my 'crash and burn' episode, which I am enjoying immensely.

Another highlight of this past week was finding out that there are no classes on Tuesdays so we can choose to come into work and work, or work from home- which is difficult I am finding out...

That about wraps up this past week for me.   This weekend is full of visiting with friends, finishing up the very last bit of residency paperwork, and attend the Youth Peace Conference.  This means little time for lesson planning except for the late nights... Speaking of which, it was announced that I became coordinator for the class I am teaching, so... a full plate this semester indeed. Good thing I had my "crash and burn" episode last night because now I'm off and running again...