Evacuees...

Our beautiful view from our new livingroom...

I guess as most of you know by now we have been evacuated to Saudi Arabia by our company....*sigh*  It is absolutely beautiful here on the compound...it really does look like a beach resort somewhere in the Carribbean.  I am so thankful that our company cares enough to get us out of a dangerous situation.  And I am thankful that their compound is so gorgeous!  I need to thank whoever it was that arranged for us to get a villa at the last minute because John lives in a small two bedroom apartment...and we would have been just fine there, but we are so thankful that they were nice enough to get us a villa. 

It only took us a couple of months to fall in love with Bahrain.  We love the culture, the people, our friends, and even the food.  I have made some great friends and so have the girls.  Janie has the nicest friends and I am going to miss them coming over and hanging out and talking.  We are teaching them about SARCASM (as we are experts) and they are teaching us Arabic and their culture (by observation of course) and how to speak clearly without using too many words, etc..  I feel for them and their families because they are watching their country be torn apart...we have Saudi Arabia to evacuate to but their home is in Bahrain.

No one really knows what will happen in Bahrain...and there are no big news stories in the States about our civil unrest...and rightly so seeing as how Japan has been devastated by natural disasters and a nuclear meltdown.  I only have to look at those news stories to know that life could be soooo much worse. 

As best as I can see one of three things can happen.  Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, etc. have sent in their troops and it will either scare the opposition in to backing down and starting dialogue...hopefully with as little bloodshed as possible, OR....it will cause Iran to get more involved and they will try and intervene on the oppositions behalf...as has already been threatened.  If this happens, I suspect the U.S. (who has the Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain) and other E.U. countries will have to get involved as the GCC (Gulf Coast Countries) are our allies.  The last option would be that a civil war between the two sects in Bahrain will happen.  This will be the worst because I fear it will go on the longest and be the bloodiest.  I don't think you'll see big protests like you saw in the beginning of all this.  I think it will be street warfare like we started to see this week.  Gangs of thugs from both sides patroling neighborhoods and terrorizing the country.  Hopefully with the military support of the GCC the last two options won't happen. 

I ask that while you are praying for Japan and their people....just throw a little prayer in there for Bahrain and their people.  This is a sad situation for them and its more than just about it being an inconvenience or the fact that all this unrest causes the gas prices to rise in the U.S.  It is a volatile situation that affects the world in very serious ways.  So please pray.  Pray for peace in the Middle East...but especially Bahrain. 

The girls are in the middle of the second semester of the school year.  It would really stink to have to start at another school this year.  In Jubail, the school only goes up to the 10th grade so Janie would either have to home school, virtual school, or go to an International School in Dahran.  I do not want her driving over an hour to school one way on the Saudi roadways every day....I can't stand the idea that not only would she be over an hour away from me, but I cannot drive myself to get her if something were to happen as women aren't allowed to drive in Saudi.  I am praying that the unrest in Bahrain will be solved quickly so that we can get back to our lives and we won't have to make any of those decisions.  Janie actually has quite a few friends in Saudi, unfortunately they are all on the ARAMCO compound which is about an hour away.  Quite a few of the dorm kids that go to The Bahrain School are from that compound.  Hopefully she will get to go and visit some if we are here for an extended amount of time.

My family is crazy worried and this evacuation really isn't that big of a deal.  We are safe and secure....I am sure that they are baffled as to why we can't wait to go back to Bahrain.  And I know they are wondering why we haven't just flown home instead of evacuating to Saudi.  All I can say is that is that the thought of being that far away from John is excruciating to me.  I know we can do it...and we have before....but I unless there isn't another option then we want to be close to him.  I am a better person and parent when he is around.  I am a bit too lenient with the girls and he is my voice of reason...he is the balance to my check.  HA!  John loves his job...and his job is here...  I will say that the thought of going home and being near Alison again is inviting...but she has her own life and she is in college and growing up.  I miss her every day and I choke up even writing that line, but I feel like God moved us to Bahrain for a reason.  And until he makes it painfully clear that it's time to move back home....we will stay.

The compound here is incredible...there are lots of CPChem families living here....most of them have younger children.  The ladies that live here are so nice and welcoming.  I hope to get together with some of them as soon as my pity party is over....LOL! I think this is a great place to have a vacation, but I can't wait to get back to our old life...all of us in one house together with little to do tends to make for a grumpy set of women....poor John...pray for him.