Happy Thanksgiving

Things in Bahrain I'm thankful for:
1. always sunny skies
2. leaving the window open day and night
3. fresh juice stands
4. stinky fish vendors on the corner (I don't actually buy anything, but it makes me laugh!)
5. blooming bougainvilllea
6. peppermint tea
7. shawarma
8. Coke in glass bottles
9. my pet fish
10. the smell of shisha
11. evenings sitting on the corniche looking at the city
12. mini marathons (only 5K!)
13. environmentally friendly jute shopping bags
14. the one and only beach that we only go to at night :)
15. afternoon nap time

my balcony garden

My plants were growing splendidly. I was so excited to come home after school and see their progress. Then one day when I opened the curtains, all I saw were stalks. Some hungry bird must have found one of the only green things on the island and had a feast.

Now it's back to square one.

Women Who Know Their Place

A point of view.

Barbara Walters, of TV's 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters' vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, "Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?"

The woman looked Miss Walters straight in the eyes and without hesitation said, "Land mines."

famous :)

feels like spring...

Now that it is November 5th, and the weather has cooled to the 70s (night) and 80s (day), it's time for some spring planting. No, you're not crazy, you did read that right. :) This week I started a little garden on my balcony. Believe it or not, there was a sale on potting soil, which I took as a green light for this little project of mine. I bought some pots, filled them with dirt, and planted some seeds. Now I feel like a little first grader waiting for my seeds to sprout. I have no idea if it will work, but I'm determined to try. In light of today's economic struggles and the rising cost of food, I figured my little 12 cent seed packs would be worth the effort. Plus in a bleak and colorless country, any hope of green is well worth it. So now I will sit back and wait for the harvest...

did we really have to put that in writing???

From a recent memo at school--

"Hitting a student is not allowed. If a parent issues a complaint in this regard, the administration will not support a teacher in such an action. Also, name calling is forbidden. It is a form of abuse and will not be tolerated in the classroom."

an interesting discovery

When I first arrived here, I was under the impression that the tap water was saltier than what I was used to but perfectly fine otherwise. Recently, I've come to learn otherwise. I was baking with a friend, and we needed some water. Naturally I went to the tap and filled the cup. My friend looked at my with a puzzled/shocked/disbelieving look on her face. I wasn't sure what I had done. She proceeded to tell me that I can't use that water for baking. Now I was the one wearing the puzzled/shocked/disbelieving look. Why not, I said. I've been doing it for a year! And not only for baking, but all my cooking and even making tea. She just about fell over. Apparently no one uses tap water for anything because even though they say it's clean, it's really not. She asked if I was worried about getting sick to which I merely laughed; after drinking the tap water for a whole year, I'm pretty sure it doesn't make me sick! Since then I've come across two other people who find my water drinking habits shocking. I guess I'll be buying more bottled water from now on! :)