Adventure: Day of Love?

There is an eerie feeling in air. The streets are uncharacteristically quiet--no people wandering about, very few cars on the road, just a general feeling of people hiding out, anticipating. Most offices were closed today or else told the employees to head home early. Rey left his office about 2. Although school was scheduled today, I stayed home due to losing my voice (something that seems to happen every year about this time!). Some of the main highways were closed, even the bridge going to Saudi, and all the malls closed by 6:00pm. My neighborhood is very quiet, deserted even. But we are hearing rumors of activity in other parts of the country. Protesters breaking into the mall, police firing tear gas and rubber bullets, tires burning in the streets; helicopters have been circling on and off for most of the day. Police have been on high alert since the weekend. Facebook messages and texts have been flying back and forth all evening as people are passing along what they hear. It appears the worst of it is happening now. Rey just received a message from one of his friends saying the protesters are fighting back against the police--guns are being fired and smoke hangs over sections of the city. While we don't know how much these rumors are true, one thing is certain: things are happening in Bahrain. Thankfully we are all safe, and our area remains quiet.

Here is an article explaining the events of last night:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/02/14/general-ml-bahrain-protests_8307276.html

Here are some photos from this afternoon: