Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men in a Tub
Austin has his first tooth! YAY Austy! We ran out of data for our home internet (which is why you haven’t heard from me in a few days), so we had to recharge our sim card. In Bahrain, you pay for the internet based on usage, so every time we use all of our data we will need to refill the sim card given to us (at least until we can get a more permanent solution). We need a few more documents to be processed before we can set up our own official wifi. Until then, I walk around with a portable wifi device. We just went to refill the card at one of the local malls and it was 1BD/GB. That is $1.66 USD/GB. I’ve never paid per GB before, so I’m not sure what the average going rate is. Please enlighten me if you know!
While at the mall refilling our sim card we went to the supermarket (two birds, one stone). Most of the shopping seems to be done at the mall. There are small grocery stores around the city, but if you want to do a quick, one stop shopping trip, the mall is your place. The grocery store was huge (kind of like a Target on steroids), and had everything you could possible imagine. I thought Target was bad when we lived in Monterey… poor pocket book. My favorite part of the store was the produce section. Specifically, area that sold spices. The spices weren’t sold in containers like every other store I’ve been to. They were sold in large barrels filled with every spice you could imagine. I wanted to buy one of each, but I am waiting to go to a Souq to stock up on the spices I want (only because it sounds so much better to say, “Yeah, I got this turmeric at a Bahraini Souq, and yes, that does make me so much cooler than you!”). They also sold grains in large barrels, and had a huge selection of herbs and produce. Next to the name of the produce was the name of the country it came from (which I found fascinating). I settled on a couple African Mangos (which was a different color than the South American Mangos). I now wish I would have bought one of each to see if I could taste the difference. The end of the shopping trip when like this: we went through the produce section, picked out the fresh food, took it to a weigh station (where they put a sticker with the weight and total price on it), and then paid for it at the register along with all the other food and non-food items.
Holy SPICES!
Mason loved the fish section; they had so many different types. He spotted a shark (yes, a whole shark was being sold), and couldn’t stop staring at it. They had fresh Sardine, Parrotfish, Octopus, Salmon, clams, and many, many more. All were sold whole, except the Salmon, which was sold by weight. I guess it would make sense living on an island would lead to a great seafood selection. I was surprised that there is a greater selection of seafood here than there was in Monterey Bay. I am assuming it has something to do with location, but I am interested in where the food here comes from (it looks like I just found myself a mini research project).
I’m not sure if everyone if familiar with the political side of what is going on here. I am going to give a brief, over-simplified explanation. Bahrain (along with Saudi Arabia) expelled all Iranian diplomats from the country about a couple weeks ago (Bahrain and Saudi were the only two Gulf countries to do this). It is interesting because not only did they close the Iranian Embassy, but they also told merchants they could not sell Iranian good at the Autumn Fair (a yearly shopping festival), and the Persian Restaurant in the mall was unmanned. Many countries (including the US) are lifting economic sanctions on Iran, but Bahrain is obviously siding with the Saudi government and keeping their sanctions in place. This is interesting, especially because of the large American presence in Bahrain. I have been reading a little bit more about the Gulf countries (probably something I should have done well before I got here), and the politics here are pretty interesting. Being here is making me remember how much I miss my Political Science classes at UCSB.
Now, off to every one’s favorite thing to talk about, my kids! Austin is moving around a lot more over the last couple days. He has learned that he is heavy, and that leaning gets him places. Yesterday, I was building a house with Hunter and Mason using Lincoln Logs, and Austin rolled his cute little butt over and destroyed the house. The boys thought it was funny (this time at least), but I don’t see them keeping their humor about it. Austin has also been eating a lot more. He loves Indian and Lebanese food, and for dinner tonight he was going-to-town on a lamb bone. We have a Mason 2.0 on our hands (Mason loves to eat everything, even spicy foods. He is crazy). I had to give him the lamb bone to chew on because I couldn’t feed him other food fast enough. My little man is growing up too quickly. He turned 7 months this weekend (cue the tears).
Mason is still Mason. The cutest little stink monster you’ll ever meet. He is still protecting his bothers (one big boy at a time), but terrorizing his bothers when he has the chance. Right now they are both into Star Wars (because I am a wonderful mom and will make sure my boys appreciate the classics), and they love to play fight. We have a lightsaber in the house (one of the Big Boys gave it to Hunter), and Mason goes around the house pretending he is a mini Luke Skywalker (although, we all know he is closer to a mini Anakin Skywalker… Oh please, you all were thinking it!) Please take a second to appreciate these gems…
They were wrestling around Austin, and Austin was not enjoying the excitement.
Hunter and I started working of Preschool stuff today. Grandmommy got Hunter a subscription to Little Passports (http://www.littlepassports.com/) and Hunter loves it. On a map he can successful point out North America and Asia. The subscription came with a large map, and we have a star on Monterey Bay (because that is where Hunter identifies as home) and another star on Bahrain. He can point to both places and tell me which one is which. He has been very interested in geography (I think it is because he is still trying to grasp how far away from Monterey Bay we are).
Random, but checkout bath time (don’t worry, no penis shots)! All three boys now bathe together. They spend a majority of the time spraying poor Austin with the blocks… Poor Austy!
