Another Day in Bahrain Down...303 More to Go

Please pray that John gets his Igama tomorrow. We have not seen him in two weeks and if he doesn't get it by tomorrow at 3:30pm he will have to stay in Saudi for TWO MORE WEEKS. We are miserable and we miss him desperately. The girls get a week off for Eid and we will be stuck here doing nothing but wallowing in our misery if he doesn't come home.


The third day of school is history. When I was picking up the girls from school today Janie didn't come out. Maddie and I waited and waited. After about 20-30 minutes I internally started to panic. I parked the car, dug my badge out, and we started in to the school. The whole way I was chanting in my head, "Please Dear God let everything be all right" over and over. As we walked in she was walking out. She was in the counselors office because one of her teachers (on the THIRD day) noticed that she was on his roll but not for the class that she was attending. He told her to take her seminar period and go check it out with the counselor. The counselor had a line out the door (for apparently obvious reasons) so she was told to come back after school. Turns out the COMPUTER changed her schedule and no one gave her a new one or said anything so she has been going to the wrong classes for THREE DAYS! It is sort of fixed...when we looked at it we saw that it still isn't exactly right but I'm sure I will be able to go in tomorrow and get it fixed. Soooooo, let's hope the homework she did for the classes she was going to still works for the new classes.

All three of us are miserable. We hate it here...which is apparently a normal feeling...if one more person tells us that we are going to be miserable for the first SIX MONTHS one of us MIGHT lose it! I feel tremendous guilt (daily, hourly, every minute of every day) for ripping my children out of their lives and bringing them here. They miss home so much. The facebook posts about Sweeny's first football game last Friday night was almost too much to bear as was the junior high dance that they had that night! Ugh....they have been really good about it...they say stuff, but it isn't disrespectful or anything. When something doesn't work or isn't good Janie will say, "You know where ____________ works? AT HOME!" and then we all laugh. If nothing else this little "adventure" will make us stronger and closer as we are isolated on this island.


Today apparently Janie's history teacher told them that Bahrain was in a state of civil unrest and on the verge of a civil war as was Saudi Arabia. Awesome to tell children who are new to this country and still a bit scared by all the riot police everywhere something like that! I said, "Look at the bright side, if a civil war breaks out the company will send us home!" So now I think that they are secretly hoping for a civil war.


I realize it has only been 2 and a half weeks and that we will adjust. I also realize that we are still in temporary housing so we have crappy cable, horrible internet, and we live in a financial area rather than residential area. The up side to temporary housing is that we have housekeeping every day...makes my life a little easier I guess.


I used to talk to my little sister 10 times a day...I haven't talked to her for more than 10 minutes in the last month. I used to talk to my best friend 100 times a day and see her a couple times a week....I haven't talked to her more than twice in the last month. I tried to call my sister this afternoon, but in my sad state I miscalculated the time difference and called their house at 6:15am! It would have been funny except for the fact that when my brother-in-law answered the phone I started crying. I had not anticipated that reaction so I just squeezed out the statement, "Tell D I will call her in two hours." He just said, "I'm praying for you guys all the time."

That brings me to the subject of prayer. I just want to thank all of you who are praying for us. Please don't stop as we need it. We tried a new church on Friday...it was nice, but not exactly what we were looking for....Janie was home sick so it was just Madeline and me. There aren't a lot of Christian churches to choose from soooooo....I guess the cliche "beggars can't be choosers" comes to mind. I have been trying to do Proverbs 31 devotionals every day to make up for the lack...it seems as though they are writing the devotionals with my situation in mind! HA! For the past week it has been all about obedience and faith and trust. Ouch. I pretty much have no choice but to obey because I don't have a passport to leave and go home! HA! Seriously, thank you for all of your prayers, they are much appreciated. Some of you have asked me for specifics so here they are: That John would get his Saudi Igama by tomorrow to be able to come home; that the girls will make friends at their school; that the transition gets easier for all of us; that Alison makes friends at A&M and that she does well in her studies; that we would continue to rise above all the drama that we were thrown in to when we moved here; that all of our family remains healthy while we are gone; for my friend Amy P. and my sister Deanna because I know that they are missing me as much as I am missing them; and I guess lastly, that we would be safe here and that God would reveal our purpose for being here.


See everyone in 303 days!

IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!

The pricing doesn't make sense in this country!!!

Vanilla Coffee Creamer ~$6.67
Large Block of Velveeta ~$13.00
Apple Jacks Cereal ~$8.34
Tostitos Rounds ~$6.93
Eggo Frozen Waffles ~$5.87
1/2" Remington Curling Iron (cheapo one) ~$31.77

Then there is the milk (I have never seen a cow on this island) ~$1.34
and the eggs ~$.80
and the Canon Printer ~$25.00
and the USB cable ~$2.00
and the S-VHS VGA Cable ~$3.00
and best of all the 42" LG Flatscreen TV ~$700

Sooooo, the things that SHOULD be cheap are OUTRAGEOUSLY priced and the things that SHOULD be expensive are CHEAP.

CRAZY!

Best Work Out Song EVER!

The Second Day of School...My First Day of Freedom

It's the second day of school today...well, I guess you could say it is the first since yesterday was only for 4 hours.  The girls have A days and Bdays....very confusing if you ask me.  On A days you go to your first four classes on your schedule and on B days you go to the last four classes on your schedule.  Sounds easy, but they alternate so Sundays aren't always A days and Mondays aren't always B days...and so on. 

Madeline was really nervous, but she really liked it and made friends very easily.  Janie wasn't nervous and she wasn't too impressed.  She commented how the kids were really loud, obnoxious, and very disrespectful to the teachers.  I feel certain that they will both do fine.  I am feeling particularly guilty this week as I read everyone's posts from home about Friday night football games.....*sigh*

Taking them to school during Ramadan is easy....getting home was a little more difficult as the traffic on the road in front of their school is ridiculous!  It took me probably 20 minutes to go a mile.  People just pull out in traffic and block the road.  One arab woman in an Escalade decided she was going to make the road a two lane and started eeking up next to me and trying to force me to move over, but I wasn't going to let her in because I saw her come from the back of the line!  Patience is a virtue....and I was very patiently eeking up until we got to the car parked in the lane she was in and it forced her to stop and no one would let her in so she ended up in the back of the line....WHERE SHE RIGHTLY BELONGED!  LOL!

I know I am supposed to be doing something spectacular today while they are at school like exploring the island or shopping, but I didn't go to sleep until 1:30 a.m. thanks to that STUPID Euro washer/dryer!  UGH!  Maddie had a shirt she needed and Janie had a pair of jeans she needed for school. UGH....JEANS....the dance I have to do with this stupid machine to get a pair of jeans washed and dried!  When Madeline's load finished at 1:00 a.m. I put Janie's jeans in there.  I fell asleep and was awakened by the machine stopping (unbelievable as it is two rooms away).  I ran in there at 1:30 and re-started the drying cycle....I woke up at 3:00 a.m. panicked that they weren't done....and again at 5:45 to make sure that they were done....I am sending their jeans out to be cleaned...it may not be cheaper, but it is definitely more efficient!!!

I am sure that there will be more posting today as I am in a particularly strange mood....

It's Time for Texas A&M

Alison starts classes tomorrow at Texas A&M!  WHOOP!  Do you think she would take a picture of herself on her first day and email it to me for the blog???  HAHAHAHA!  Probably not.

I desperately miss my daughter and can't wait to see her at Christmas.  She is going to love it here because of the shopping.  They have some extremely high end stores that are tailor made for her and her body! 

Last Sunday Susan, Sarah, Janice & John Ed, and Sue & Jerl helped Alison move in to her dorm.  I hope they know how much they are appreciated!  I cried that day because I couldn't be there....and then Nancy Long posted something profound on my Facebook page...she said, "Even if you were in her dorm room with her you would be crying."  And she was right.  I felt better after that!  Thanks Nancy!

Here are some pictures of her unfinished dorm room.   She has yet to send me pictures of the completed dorm.

I miss BIG AL!!!

UGH RAMADAN!

We moved to Bahrain at the absolute WORST time!  It is the height of summer here and averages about 107 degrees, and it is Ramadan.  Ramadan the month where muslims aim to strengthen their relationship with God primarily through fasting.  Sooooo, that means no eating or drinking from sun up to sun down.  UGH!  Did I mention that it is 107 degrees in the SHADE!  People need to hydrate themselves in this heat and humidity! 

No restaurants are open.  Department stores open at 10 a.m. and close at around 1:00 p.m. and then re-open anywhere around 7 - 8p.m.  At about 8:30 p.m. when Iftar is over the malls start to get REALLY crowded.  The bigges mall near us is called City Center and it has a 4-story parking garage that is absolutely packed...no room whatsoever.  It can take you an hour just to get in and park.  The malls stay open until 1 a.m. during Ramadan.  It is crazy packed just like it is in America during Christmas. 

The bad thing is that teenagers who like to sleep already get used to sleeping all day and staying out all night...which is fine in the summer but not so good when school starts.  Today was the first day of school and the girls had a half-day.  Janie is already sleeping on the couch!

Our Temporary Temporary Home

We were put in temporary housing for 30 days and given a rental car until we can purchase one.  The temporary housing is a three bedroom high-rise apartment that is very nice.  Tile floors 3.5 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining area, some other room that I have no idea what it is used for...very nice and a bit bigger than our house at home....I would guess around 2500 SqFt...

So John left for Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m...which was about four or so days after we got to Bahrain.  Things are going well.  The girls are settling in...kind of making the apartment our own, etc. On Wednesday morning I was awakened with a loud click when the lamp next to my bed suddenly popped on and the AC came back on...that entire morning the electricity came off and on...since we had previously had a problem with one of our electricity in our apt. we thought it might just us.  It wasn't.  Apparently they were having some short in the electricity so that when the AC came on for the building it would trip the lights.  Ugh...we were informed that we needed to go and stay at a sister residence across the street and that they had arranged a room for us there.  The room over at the new place wasn't as big or as nice, but we thought it was for only one night so we brought a change of clothing and made due.

Flash forward FOUR days and we are still living in the temporary housing of the temporary housing.  We had to go and get stuff from our apartment because we were out of clothes, had no shampoo, no water, no food, no detergent.  The girls were starting to get on each others nerves because it was much smaller.  That was a bad day.  I cried all day and wanted to go home.  I was hot, I was displaced, I missed my family, and my husband still wasn't able to come home for a visit.  The cable over there wasn't as good...nothing worked right and we had to get people up to fix or replace the DVD and cable, etc.

Finally after four days we were allowed to move all of our stuff back.  Did I mention it is HOT here!  Sooooo for a second time in the 108 degree weather we schlepp all of our stuff BACK over to our original temporary housing.  We are all settling in....again.

Different vs. The Same

So there are some subtle differences here that we have had to get used to that aren't necessarily good or bad...they just are. 

• All the rooms have light switches on the outside of the room...and the blowdryer has it's own switch that must be turned on to work...as does the washer/dryer, dishwasher, stove, etc.
• Every bathroom has a bedet...and a half-bath has a sprayer hose instead of a bedet!
• Arabs like marble and tile....a LOT.
• Even in the most westernized Arab country the Arab women wear abayas or burqas.
• Inshala means, "whenever we can get to it." And that usually is in many many many days.
• Of course they use the metric system....just like every other nation on the earth besides America!
• Indians are second class citizens here and are very often indentured servants.  They pretty much work in all the service industries...cleaning, watchmen, hotel and restaurants, etc.
• The Sunnis are the Royal Family, but the Shi'a outnumber them and are much poorer.  The Shi'a are usually the ones that have "demonstations"
• There are three kinds of police:  Regular...which I guess use their fists to subdue people if necessary as they don't have guns.  The Riot Police...they are placed strategically around the country with Uzis...usually at night, but it isn't unusual to see them in the daytime.  Long story, but a synopsis of why, the Bahraini Government (Sunni) "reclaimed" some of the Shi'a land where fishing was their livelihood for hundreds of years....so now they have no livelihood....that is just ONE of their beefs...obviously the hatred goes back farther than that.
• Because of Ramadan, the malls and restaurants don't open until around 7:00 p.m. and they stay open until 1:00 a.m.

There are many many more but that is all I can think of off the top of my head!

Our First Few Days in Bahrain...

That first night in the apartment/hotel were a big ball of emotions, tears, yelling, and confusion.  We get to the apartment and there is literally NOTHING there...no water, no food, no laundry detergent, NOTHING.  By the time we got up to the apartment it was 12:45 a.m. and the girls were starving.  John was running around trying to get the internet set up...which may sound like a strange thing to put as priority one, but we thought getting the girls the ability to get in touch with their friends at home was the most important thing at the time...mostly because they were crying and telling us how much they hated us! HA!

We were starving so we called down to room service...which was closed.  Since it was Ramadan when we got here, the eating establishments stay open until very early in the morning.  I  called Pizza Hut and ordered pizzas and walked across the sandy lot in front of the apartment to the "cold store" to get a few items that we desperately needed.  Water, soda, laundry detergent, chips, etc.  I cried all the way over to the store and all the way back.  When I got back the internet was ready and the pizza got there shortly thereafter.  Let me just say...a Meat Lover's pizza is not the same thing in Bahrain as it is in America.  Blech.  The pepperoni was tolerable but not desireable.

The next few days weren't too bad.  It was very difficult to get used to the heat and humidity...even though we are from the Gulf Coast of Texas it is still so very difficult to get used to the heat.  We spent a couple of days with the realtor looking for a Villa to lease.  The first day was sooooo hot that the girls lasted an hour and a half finding only 1 out of 6 or 7 that we really liked.  Since it is Ramadan here there is no eating or drinking in public from sun up to sun down.  That sounds easier than it is.  If you are out and about in 110 degree weather you NEED to hydrate.  It becomes very difficult to function without water in that heat.  After the first day of house hunting we all took 3 hour naps....it was physically draining.  The next day of house hunting the girls lasted four hours.  It was still stifling hot and miserable, but they were troopers.  We still couldn't find anything that really just loved.  The last day of house hunting the girls decided that they didn't even want to go because of the heat and humidity.

After three days, we decided on the one that we liked the first day.  I don't know if it is because we really liked it or if it was because we were tired of being out in the heat or what....but, whatever it was....we committed.  It is a nice villa with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and our own pool.  The owner agreed to furnish it and let us pick out the furniture so that is and added bonus.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Most of you already know that John, Janie, Madeline and I packed up and moved to the Middle East on August 9th. Alison, our oldest daughter, moved to College Station to attend Texas A&M - WHOOP!


Before our big move, we spent a week on vacation with all of the girls in Paris and a day in Amsterdam. It was incredible! The weather in Paris was in the mid-70s during the day and the mid-50s at night. We couldn't have asked for better weather...even the few hours where it was a drizzling a bit weren't bad. We saw everything we wanted to see and even some stuff we didn't want to see (John loves museums...enough said).

We saw Alison off to Houston from Schipol Airport in Amsterdam that last day of vacation. That was the hardest thing that John and I have ever had to do. We tried not to cry so that we could be strong for Alison...I am sure that she was embarrased when she made it through customs and into her glass gate to wait on boarding and saw both of her parents standing on the other side of the glass crying and waving. She gave us a little wave and then proceeded to pretend like she didn't know us...which we completely understood.

The rest of us: John, Janie, Madeline and I left for Bahrain at 2:00 p.m. It was a very long day...we got to the Amsterdam airport at 7:00 a.m. and didn't arrive in Bahrain until after midnight the next day. I cried on the plane for 3 or 4 hours....having to leave my oldest child and not see her until Christmas was absolutely heart-wrneching. We have never been apart from her for more than a week or two at a time so three months is a lifetime for me!


We touched down in Bahrain to extreme shock. The weather was absolutely stifling. You could feel the humidity inside the air conditioned airport. The girls and I had to wait in customs while John scrambled around to turn his traveler's checks into Bahrani Dinar so that we could pay for our visas. I had suggested at the Amsterdam airport that John exchange some money so that we would be able to pay for our visas since it was going to be so late....he declined my suggestion. Those of you who know me know that I couldn't resist the "I told you so." It wouldn't have been so bad if my feet hadn't been swollen up like club feet and the girls hadn't been standing there bawling. I was afraid that the people in customs were going to think that we were kidnapping these two girls by the way that they were crying. We were tired and hot and the idea of moving to a new country had finally hit the girls!


Walking outside to the van that was to take us to our new temporary apartment was like swimming instead of walking. At midnight it was probably still 101 degrees with 100% humidity. I was NOT happy. The girls cried and cried and I am sure the driver thought we were all crazy...we showed up with 10 suitcases. Let's just say all over Europe we were a spectacle with our 11 suitcases. In and out of the airports and hotels people stood and stared and even pointed sometimes. Every hotel staffers' eyes got HUGE every time we checked in and they saw our bags.


The van driver dropped us off at our new temporary apartment and so starts our new adventure in a strange land.