Driving in Bahrain!

Drivers in Bahrain are crazy.  Literally.  Bahrain is a very small island, but it used to be the banking capital of the Middle East (Dubai recently stole that title) so there are a LOT of people and not much room to drive.  The major roads are six lanes separated down the middle with some sort of median.  On most of these roads there are numerous roundabouts to maneuver around.  It took me a couple of days to figure out which lane I was supposed to be in.  Each roundabout has three lanes and three exits....right, straight (so to speak), and left.  So, if that weren't enough to get used to....the drivers are crazy.  They don't care about laws or being in the right lane...they just turn when they want to and go where they want to without much regard for the other drivers...so you have to be careful.  OH, and they HONK AT EVERYTHING.  It is absolutely hilarious!!!  If a car is BROKEN DOWN and the traffic is backed up they LAY on the horn!  Everyone does!  Like honking the horn is going to magically make the broken down car get out of the way!  Also, if you take more than 30 miliseconds to accelerate once the light turns green 15 people behind you will honk.  This is the most honk-crazy bunch of people I have ever seen!!!

Because these roads are separated by a median, you HAVE to make several u-turns while driving.  It is the only way to get to anything.  Basically there are NO left turns off the roads unless you are making a u-turn...The absolute ONLY time anyone uses their turn signals here is when they are making a u-turn.  Again, you must watch and be on guard.  If you get in an accident you are not supposed to move you vehicle until the police get there (which can take an hour or more) and the American is always going to be wrong....if you hit a Bahraini.  You must always have 20BD on you at all times so that you can immediately pay the police your fine.  If it is deemed your fault you owe 20BD and if it isn't you only owe 11BD (I think).

The stoplights turn yellow before red...just like in the U.S., but they also turn yellow before they turn green and people GO ON YELLOW! 

I had read before moving here that traffic was horrendous, but it has not been too bad.  I found out quickly that it is because of Ramadan.  Everyone sleeps all day and goes out all night so the roads are empty.  The people that DO have to work don't go in until 9:30 or 10:00am during Ramadan.  Right now it is only taking 15-25 minutes to take the girls to school every morning but, from what I understand, it will be taking us an hour or more when Ramadan is over....Ramadan is supposed to be over this weekend (I think...it depends on the sighting of the crescent moon or something so no one knows and exact date).