Life in the Middle East

Bahrain so far

I arrived in Bahrain during Ramadan, the month-long Muslim holiday. From sunrise to sunset, no one eats, drinks, or takes pleasure of the flesh, so to speak. Then there is a large feast, called ifar, every night. The point of Ramadan is to remind observers of the suffering of the poor, practice self-control, cleanse the body, and inspire kinship with fellow Muslims. For non-Muslims, it means no eating in public until after the sun goes down needless to say, I grew very hungry.

a few observations

Following Ramadan is a three-day holiday called Ede Mubarak. This is a huge celebration for making through the month of fasting, and I think it has something to do with the timing of the Koran, but its unclear. I was happy for it, as the restaurants reopened and there was a lot more eating and drinking and fun to be had by all. Of course, the traffic grew much heavier, almost instantaneously.

Being new to the area, I had to get used to the traditional Middle Eastern dress. From what Ive learned so far, theres little significance to the different styles of headdresses and robes, except perhaps regional. The mens robes are called thobes, and their headdresses vary from the checkered red to plain white to baseball caps favored by the younger generation. The woman wear a robe called the abaya and a hijab over their hair. The general range of dress is from extremely provocative to completely covered, so theres always something to ponder when people watching.

I love watching males in their thobes and headscarves doing modern things, like fidgeting with car radios or ordering at McDonalds. But nothing is as ironic as a woman with only her eyes displayed checking out skimpy tiger print lingerie at the mall.

Bahrain is not a very pretty place. Some hotels have nice garden areas that require constant watering, but in general the area is all rough sand. Mostly you see just buildings, or buildings being built, but I have yet to explore the interior, where things may be more visually appealing. A lot of the roads are not paved, but frankly its more dangerous to drive on the regular roads because the drivers here are horrible. With the exception of a few red light cameras, there is no traffic law enforcement. People dont use signals but seem quite fond of cutting people off deadly accidents are pretty regular, unfortunately, although thats partly due to a failure to use seatbelts. I think its kind of fun to drive, since speed limits arent enforced and you can weave in and out of traffic. You can also park where you see fit, whether thats at the end of a road or up on the sidewalk.

The entire city of Manama is well lit. Extremely tacky festive lights line everything from roads to hotels to apartment complexes to mosques. Even the Grand Mosque, beautiful by sunlight, is ridiculously lit in orange and green every night. Im not sure if these lights are always there or taken down sometime after all the holidays.