Day 28 - Bahrain

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First we went to one of the malls and had lunch at KFC. We also walked around and went through some of the stores. Augusta was looking for a skirt.

After that we went back to the Bahrain National Museum to see the rooms that we missed the day before. One room was on the life of the people in Bahrain. One of the most important events in their life is considered to be marriage, and so a large part of the room focused on how the woman is prepared, the wedding, the wedding night, the celebration, etc.

Another exhibit was on the nature/wildlife of Bahrain and had some stuffed animals. It was very well done though... with scenes put together... like the beach... showing which animals could be found there.

Then we went to pick up Shawn, took a wrong turn, and ended up having to make a big loop... so we were a little late picking him up from work.

We then went to the Souq, which is a big market with hundreds of little shops carrying everything from expensive jewelry to stuffed camel toys to tailors to pink mosque clocks to restaurants... and a lot more.

One of the shops I wanted to check out was a tailor shop. Joel, one of Shawn's co-workers, had three suits made at a particular tailor... and he highly recommended it. So, after a bit of searching, we found the tiny shop in on of the alleys of the Souq. With all of the other tailor shops, if it wasn't recommended I probably would have never gone in there. However, they seem to be confident in what they do. One of the staff asked me what I was interested in, and I said black with pinstripes. So, he left the shop for about five minutes and when he came back he had about eight fabric samples... along with dozens of others (kind of like looking at wallpaper or carpet samples). I selected one after checking with Augusta and Shawn to see what they thought, and then the guy measured me. Also, I picked out a fabric for a dress shirt. Oh, and I decided to go with a three-piece suit. For the suit and shirt, the total price was 46 BD (about $120). In the U.S., it would be upwards of $600, and in Hong Kong it would probably be at least $300. I was very excited. And the whole experience was interesting and fun. Augusta and Shawn also enjoyed the whole experience. The tailor is becoming an endangered species in the U.S., accessible only to those with lots of cash to burn.

After that, we got a bite to eat at Johnny Rockets... about as American as apple pie (I'm trying to limit the ethnic food to every other day). They had great shakes (I had a chocolate peanut butter shake) and almost all of the songs playing we recognized (50s - 60s songs). Most of the workers were Filipino. At one point, one of the male waiters picked up Kai and walked behind the counter showing him off to the other workers. About four other guys huddeled around Kai... and here that isn't strange. Men and women LOVE babies... Kai usually gets picked up at least once when we're out and is often kissed (the other day Kai had glitter lip gloss all over his cheeks). One guy even asked to take his picture with his cell phone.

We then headed back to the villa... they headed for bed and I finished reading "The Silver Chair", the sixth book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I think it is one of the best and has a lot of lessons (and warnings) for living life in it.

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