Merry Christmas! (Bahrain style)

In my mind Christmas is connected with images of snowy front lawns, stockings over fireplaces, and steaming cups of hot chocolate, so even after four years, Bahrain Christmases don't feel very Christmas-y to me. But in the midst of sandy streets, sunny afternoons, and ice cold Pepsis, we still do our best to embrace the holiday season. Every year our church has the tradition of going Christmas caroling. Church members sign up to have the carol team visit them in their homes and share a few Christmas tunes. Generally the carolers are made up of the youth group and the worship team. We all pile into the vans and spend the night driving around to the houses, making music, and eating goodies. Last night we caroled from 6:30 pm to 1:00 am. A good time was had by all. :)

happy carol singers

decorated palm trees

candlelight carols

youth

visiting the hospital

getting warmed up

sandstorms instead of snowstorms!

garden

So now that the temperatures are coming down from sauna level, I decided to plant a garden. I have truly come to treasure all things green, as there is a severe lack of them in the desert. It started out as a small school science project: we are learning about seeds and plants, so the kids had to bring in various seeds from the foods they eat and we planted them in cups. I took all the left over seeds and started my own garden. So far we have sprouting lentils, mustard, basil, cucumber, watermelon, tomato, sweet melon, and some small flowers. I must admit, I get a childlike pleasure watching the baby leaves push through the dirt. :)

pumpkin cheesecake!

a taste of fall

I've been reminiscing about fall a lot these days. I think it's the season I miss the most--the changing leaves, wearing scarves, bonfires, fall treats...

so I decided that although it's still about 80* here, I would eat like it's fall. My first project: apple crisp! Living on a desert island in the Middle East, all our food is imported from various countries. Where do we get golden delicious apples from? IRAN! Who would have thought! They make for same tasty apple crisp though!

Rey was quite happy with his first taste of apple crisp! :)

Next on the menu...pumpkin cheesecake!

pani puri

So although I have been married to an Indian man for almost one year now, I have yet to pursue the art of Indian cooking. This is my first attempt; nevermind that most of it comes prepackaged. :) Pani puri is an Indian snack. Pani means water and puri is the puffed, hollow pastry thing you see below.

The puri is filled with mashed potato, a sweet red sauce, and then filled with a green water. Below Rey is preparing some.Finished product: all ready to eat!The correct way to eat pani puri is to dunk the entire puff into the water and shove the whole thing into your mouth. Below some of the youth boys enjoying the tasty treat. Rey is satisfied. :)

Yum!

I myself have mixed feelings about this snack, mainly because there are so many things happening in your mouth at the same time. The potato is hot but the water is cold. The red sauce is sweet but the green water is spicy. The puri is crunchy but the potato is mushy. My Dutch mouth is not quite used to so many sensations at once! It is quite the experience though, so if you ever get the chance, give it a try! :)

October

Well, it's been a while since I've updated my blog. Here are some interesting things that have happened in October.

Being a Muslim country, there are strict rules regarding the sale of alcohol. Several Gulf countries ban it completely, but Bahrain, being the Las Vegas of the Middle East, can't really do that. They do face an interesting dilemma however, as Muslims are not supposed to purchase or consume alcohol. So what do you do when you have a liquor store that Muslims are not supposed to enter? You make a drive through! That way, they aren't technically entering the store to purchase alcohol. They simply drive up, place their order, and a store employee will bring the goods, conveniently concealed in a paper bag, right to the car. Problem solved!

Bahrain Marathon

Believe it or not, there is actually an annual marathon in Bahrain! They mark out a track in the desert and along the highway, starting and ending at the Formula 1 track. It's actually a relay event; teams enter with 16 members, who will each complete one leg of the marathon, approximately 3 km. It's been my desire to do this ever since I've gotten to Bahrain, and this is the first year I was able to. I joined a team about 3 weeks ago, which does not give much time for training! But I decided I would just to my best and have fun. I was assigned to run leg 14, a long straight stretch along the highway. I had been training at night, so I wasn't exactly prepared for the bright shining sun that blazed down on me at 1:30 in the afternoon! :) It quickly sapped my energy, so I wasn't able to achieve my goal time, but it was still a fun event. Here are a few pictures:

our medals :)

the end!

my training partner, Stephen, the model/runner

youth boys--Stenson and Jobert

a little taste of India

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours planned a traditional Keralite dinner. Kerala is one of the southern states of India, and a lot of my friends are from there. In this traditional dinner, all the guests sit on mats on the floor, and the food is served on banana leaves. Each person gets a leaf for a plate. Then all the food is eaten with your hands. I must say, there were quite a few excited Indians to see the white girl eat with her hands! With the help of my coach, Dipti, I got the hang of it pretty quickly. :)

Dipti and I

eating fat rice and dal with my hands

a little collage of the evening

Dipti, me, Habiba

our host, Sunil, in his traditional Indian outfit

banana leaf plates and hungry people

Rey and Stan

public notice

the heat is on

While we were in the US this summer, Rey and I gave the keys to our apartment to Rey's dad and a good friend of ours. Both those people came over regularly to make sure everything was ok. Rey's dad usually switched the AC on for a few hours (pretty much every day) to keep some air moving in the house. Despite his best efforts, the inside temps must have reached insane highs because this is what we found when we got back

our candles had begun to melt!

Ramadan

Once again we are in the month of Ramadan, the time when Muslims fast from sun up to sun down. Most restaurants are closed in observance of this month and pace of the country pretty much slows to a crawl. Considering that the outside temperature is still well above the 100 mark and everything is closed, this also makes for the most boring month of the year.

no eating, no alcohol, no smoking, no sex, no medication/pills, no ice cream

paper beads

My new favorite hobby is making paper beads. My friend, Morgan, brought me a necklace from Uganda made of paper beads. I really love it and decided that I would go about making some of my own. Here are the results of the first batch:

strings of beads hanging in the bathroom while the varnish dries

first batch of finished beads

first necklace

home improvement

With all my time at home these days, Rey and I decided to do a little redecorating.

our sitting room BEFORE

Rey hard at work

AFTER: our new RED wall :)

summer

Well, we are back in Bahrain after a much needed vacation. Our trip to the States was wonderful. It passed much too quickly, but we enjoyed every moment. Here are a few highlights:

a warm welcome at the airport

exploring Chicago

weekend at the lake

trip to San Diego

hanging with the fam

Dordt friends reunion