Blogs from Manama, Bahrain, Middle East - page 2

At the Arabian Gulf sits the small archipelago consist of 13 major islands. It is one of the oil producing countries with the biggest oil reserves and it's monetary unity is the dinar. It is being ruled by monarch. The royalty which ruled the muslim nation for more 30 years. Recently riots in the streets particularly the Pearl round-a-bout is at the center or world media and politics. The majority Shiite muslims wants to overthrow the Sunni ruling monarch. A martial law imposed and some people died in the protest which is rampant in the middle east including Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen and more recently Libya. There's nothing much to see in Manama. It's a rich emirate/state-nation but it will only be fully developed in the next ten years. It's way backward to it's neighboring Dubai ... read more

This is just a break from sightseeing. Jason's job involves supporting US Navy submarine activities in the Persian Gulf. There has been a submarine and a tender in port for the last few days. Jason and Dan organize what they call a "Rug Flop" to give the visiting sailors a chance to by an oriental rug. Jason has become friends with a local rug merchant named Abdul Wahed Abdulla. It turns out that if you want to buy an oriental rug, Bahrain is the place to do it and many visitors know this and want to buy one. The Rug Flop is a combination social event and rug sale. The idea is that the party saves the sailors from having to shop from store to store and haggle for price. There is catered Arabian food and ... read more

Jason and his friend Dan are renting a house from a Bahraini man. He was originally planning to live in it himself with his family so it is very traditional and very well appointed. Many of the homes and apartments in this area were built to be rented to U.S. service people. We are only about a mile from the naval base where about 3,000 naval personnel are stationed. The house is quite large with five bedrooms and a separate apartment over the garage. I have attached a couple of pictures to give some idea of the decor. The house is in the main city of Manama which is in the NE corner of the island and we are in a neighborhood called Jufair. I think there is a map on this site which you can ... read more

Hi Everybody and a very Merry Christmas from the sunny desert island of Bahrain! Another year done and dusted and before ya know it 2011 will be well underway, scarey scarey... Here’s hoping 2010 delivered all you asked of it and that you’ll be getting some time off at Chrissy. We’ve become masters of distraction to help the time pass on the small isle in the Persian Gulf which has been home for nearly 18 months, - where a road trip means turning around at 60km. Along with Buddies Roger and Karen, Jude and I moved apartment from our beloved Burj Omran when our 12 months lease matured. The market had dropped majorly so we were able to a secure a brand new three (as opposed to 2) bedroom apartment at a much cheaper rate – ... read more

Kia Ora! ........ from the Desert Island of Bahrain Folks, and profound, untold and immense apologies for the big gap in Blog episodes since Feb 2010! Read on and you’ll see why time has flown for us, what we’ve been up to and why I’ve been so slack in maintaining the Blog (Did I say that out loud?) Okay, after having a blast in Goa, - India’s beautiful and economical beach area, we settled back into island life - Jude going to work all day and me doing the House Hubby thing, - you know, lying by the pool, coffee mornings, playing cards, cycling the back streets on Myrtle, cooking dinner etc etc and suddenly the excitement and hoopla of the Formula One meeting descended on Bahrain. In March, the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) hosted the ... read more