Thanks a lot Hermes!

We are going to start off with a quick geography lesson. Bahrain is chain of islands off the coast of Saudi Arabia. If you look on a map, you can barely see it (just look for a tiny speck). Manama, the capital, is on the north-east side of the island. We live in Janabiya, which is a little west of Saar. If you look at the map below you will see the King Fahad Causeway in a darker yellow-orange color. This is a glorified freeway that connects Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. Apparently, when driving on the Causeway, our exit is the last exit before taking a direct trip to Saudi. If there were a reason to pay attention to road signs this would be that reason. If driving home I miss the exit I will be taking a direct flight to a place I am not quite ready to go yet, and chances are (I am willing to bet money on this) I will miss that exit… crap! What I have been told (and I don’t want to test it anytime soon) is saying, “yikes, my bad” is okay, and they will turn you around and send you back on your way.

Last night and today I got to see more of northern Bahrain after throwing a small tantrum about not leaving the compound. For dinner we decided to have our first authentic meal, so we hopped in the car and just drove around. We landed at a small restaurant where everything was written in Arabic. The store owner didn’t speak any english, so Bookie was able to practice his arabic. The restaurant was so tiny and full that we decided to take the food home. While Bookie was ordering, I was able to sneak in a selfie with a grouchy Mason outside. The store owner gave us a ton of delicious flatbread (which the boys refer to as Bahraini bread), and we ate chicken (which was really freakin’ spicy).

This morning we needed to go shopping, so we went to the Naval Post (just East of Manama). Getting there and back was interesting to say the least. I’m not going to go on and on about how crazy the driving is because words cannot express the hectic nature of it. What I will say is that Bookie definitely fits in… while driving that is (poor white boy). The best example of this is our drive home. He is still figuring out how to get around here (and we haven’t set-up our phones yet, so no GPS for us). After about 15 minutes of wrong turn after wrong turn, and a ton of shouted “choice words” we ended up in a place only Hermes (the greek god of God of travel, communication, and language) himself could have placed us. We were trying to get back on the King Fahad Causeway (AKA Saudi Express), and we ended up on a street that was perpendicular to the Causeway. Thanks Hermes, you’re a trooper! The only thing between where we were and where we wanted to be was sidewalk. Not a crosswalk, nor a bike path, nor anything else slightly reasonable to drive across. It was a damn paved sidewalk. So, Bookie did what any other Bahraini would do, drive over it (while I literally covered my eyes with my hands) and got to where he wanted to be. I think he may be taking “When in Rome” a little too seriously. 

Being out with the kids is great. Hunter loves driving around, and you can see in his eyes that he is taking everything in. He is old enough to see the differences, and he is curious. Yesterday he asked why people in the restaurant didn’t speak english. He knows we are in a different place and I think he is just trying to understand it. On our way to the Naval Post Bookie stopped at a fruit stand on the side of the street. He came back with a pomegranate, but it had a yellow shell and was a lot sweeter than the pomegranates from home (a lot cheaper too). Hunter (who is normally very pickey) tried it. He also ate and loved the Bahraini Bread (flat bread) from the restaurant. This is uncharacteristic of Hunter, but I love that he is embracing it. I am a proud momma. 

Jet lag is slowly getting better. Austin is still doing his midnight wake up, but he is going back to sleep. Hunter slept till 5:30 AM this morning (YAY Hunter), and Mason woke up at 3:30 AM, but went back to sleep with Bookie till 6:45 AM. We aren’t there yet, but progress is being made. Hunter believes that Bahrain is darker than Monterey because every time he wakes up in the morning it is dark, and every time he wakes up from his nap (which we wake him up because his body thinks it is 4:00 AM) it is around sunset. Poor baby. I have bribed him. I told him that the first day he wakes up after the sun comes up he won’t have to nap… I still dream of that day!