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Published: September 1st 2009
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Greetings Folks
- from a balmy 36®C in Sunny (AGAIN!) Manama, capital of Bahrain!
We are settling in well, being well looked after and loving the sunshine, even though you need to avoid doing anything too strenuous outside unless you want to be dripping like a butchers display case!
Having said that, I’ve started walking around the nearby area of Adliya, where we will be living in a few weeks, in order to get to know the area. I discovered why I couldn’t get the lie of the land so easily - the roads are curved! - so not laid out in square blocks, which was “throwing” my sense of direction into disarray! Any, it’s a very interesting area, with many many café’s, restaurants and (yes!) pubs! tucked away in small lanes and back roads. There is an Irish pub just 2 buildings down from our new apartment - oh well…. Lol (I could sleep walk that far!).
Jude has been meeting lots of people at work from NZ, Australia, England and Ireland - 2 groups of 32 have started, one week after the other, with Jude being in the first group. They are doing a very thorough induction, which
is great, in fact the Polytech has been awesome in their organisation given the huge number of new people starting.
I located and collected our 8 boxes from home at the Air Cargo depot on Sunday (working day over here, Fri and Sat off!) - that was a fun episode! I must have dealt with 20 different people, was invited into several different officials offices, watched as 7 or 8 Bahraini’s stared at the computer screen while helping the Guy using the keyboard to complete the transaction to finally release our goods! However, after a couple of hours, I had a result!! - and the boxes were at the hotel within another hour , having suitably greased the palms involved!
We’ve been enjoying some great hospitality with dinner invites from typically hospitable Kiwi’s already on the ground here - and have enjoyed some fabulously lavish buffets in the hotel provided by the Polytech - plus ventured out for a traditional Iftar banquet (breaking of the fast at the end of the day) I’m not sure if the food is so extravagant all the time or just during the current month of Ramadan, but it was fantastic with a
huge variety of tasty delights to choose from.
With new Kiwi friends Jackie (Well Jackie’s Canadian actually, but..) and Gavin we visited the traditional Souk or market, one evening, - wow - another cool eye opening experience. Jackie led us thru the crowded streets of the market, confidently navigating us to her loyal Tailor. Jude and I had brought samples of favourite trou and blouses (Jude’s blouse, not mine) to have copied in local, lighter fabrics which we chose from a good range. $NZ80 for 2 pair of tailor made trou seemed great value, - we are looking forward to collecting the results in a couple of days. The evenings are particularly festive at this time of Ramadan, as the locals fast during the day (have a sneaky brekkie before sunrise, than no water or food til after sunset, about 6.30pm at the mo) - so evening time is feast time. I was offered his and hers Rolex’s for 17 Dinar - but resisted as it’s a sport haggling over here and subsequent research reveals one Rolex can go as low as 5 Dinar. The Guy even proudly pulled out a Rolex catalogue to show what a great copy it
was!
As visitors, we cannot eat or drink in public between sunrise and sunset - even a water bottle being swigged in the car could result in a change of accommodation for the night! As sneaky drinkers from way back, Jude and I have avoided prison so far!
Last Friday, being the start of the weekend (remember) Jude and I drove out to the Isa Town Market - near where the Poly is, for a squiz. I was casually on the lookout for a cheap push bike - I sorta fancy the old style bikes, with a basket on the back and a French loaf sticking out of it while I trundle around the local (flat) streets! We didn’t see any bikes in the 2 hours we managed to survive in the heat, but did score some jandals and sandals for a dinar a pair (4 bucks) and a new release DVD for the same price - quite legit I’m sure! Plenty of merchandise to choose from tho, everything from caged birds with amazingly long tails, to furniture and an impressive display of hardware- just when was having withdrawal symptoms!
Our hotel has a fabulous pool complex with beautiful
gardens, swim up bar, inpool waterfalls etc etc, but with 60 or so colleague mooching around the place at the weekend, Jude and I decided to check out the Private Beach about 30 km down the island. There are public beaches - hardly used, and not a patch on Kiwi beaches, but Ladies have to wear ‘modest’ bathing suits - that’s hardly useful - for them or the Guys! So after a fee of 6 Dinar was paid we had a deserted resort type boat club, beach and pool to ourselves. After some gesticulating (with my gesticuticles) and another couple of dinar, we had comfy loungers positioned under a thatched umbrella a few metres from the water’s edge. The sun was beautiful and the sea was pleasantly tepid - none of the “argggh” moments when you reach that critical metre deep level! - plus the pool was a beaut way to cool down from the heat.
That’s all for now People - the hunt for a good used car continues this afternoon , wish me luck!
Keep in touch - we LOVE e-mail from home! Pete and Jude
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We Go
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yeah right
Pete. I am imagining you on the deeck with your Halah camel saugages using throwing the empty Tiger Beer Bottles over the fence into the neighbours swimming pool............?? far off? We Go