Ah, Bahrain

I'm adjusting to Bahrain and have actually slept the whole night (hooray) after 4 days of just a few hours here and there. It must have been the exhaustion!

I am reminded of what I loved about living in Bahrain.

• It's exotic! There's nothing like trying to figure out how to use a combination washer/dryer to get the brain working again, LOL. And everwhere you look there are things you've never seen anything like before. The signs, the artwork, the clothing, the manhole covers, the architecture, everything is new and unusual!
• The food is fabulous! Pierre took me out to a hotel restaurant the first night I was here. An all-you-can-eat buffet, they had a fabulous salad bar with such exotic things as sliced, cooked pumpkin with a sweet glaze and so many unusual salads! Then you could select your main dish from a variety of meats (the tenderloin was to die for!) along with some veggies and they individually prepared it for you. While you were waiting for that there were over 30 different types of bread and rolls as well as soup, cheeses, etc to sample. Along with the meat and veggies I had some lovely almond rice and some cumin potatoes I'd love to try to duplicate at home. And maybe I shouldn't mention all the luscious desserts available. I tried 6 (!) and enjoyed 4 of them. Now before you start thinking I was real pig, the cakes were teensie tiny pieces, even if they were 7 layers tall! I wish I'd had room (and the nerve) to try the creme brulee or the tiramisu. And this was just one meal! I'm going to have to be careful and pace myself. It's no surprise that when I moved back to the US after living here for 2 years I weighed the most I've ever weighed!
• Labor is very inexpensive here. In a way I feel guilty about taking advantage of the fact, but they're here by their own choice and they need our money to send back home. My pedicurist was from Nepal and a delightful woman. The sad part is that she hasn't seen her 2 boys in 3 years. The woman who gave me a wonderful massage is Philipino and sends her money home to help support her parents whom she has not seen in 5 years.

Next time I will try to explain the system they have here for bringing labor into the country. I've rambled on enough for now!