We Have Moved....

YAY! We are finally in our own villa! We have been moving for the last two or three days! We are exhausted but we are happy to be in our OWN villa. Don’t get me wrong, we are going to MISS the daily housekeeping at the apartment, but the maids here come on Mondays and Thursdays so I think we will be good.

We spent the entire weekend moving, shopping, moving and shopping some more. Many of you know that I hate to shop so it has been a long weekend. The bad news is that John has to go back to Saudi tomorrow morning. *sigh*

I took some pictures of the new villa today, but keep in mind that it isn’t finished yet. We are still waiting on our huge sofa to be built and delivered as well as the curtains. The curtains in the pictures will NOT be the curtains we will have. They are hideous.
We are living without internet…we bought a pre-paid stick so that we could still use the phone and keep in touch with our friends and family. We do have satellite, but they came and installed it in the wrong room so the girls are laying on the rug and watching it with no couch. Hopefully they are coming tomorrow to move it and to install another one in our bedroom. We met our neighbors yesterday….they are from New Zealand and they have a 12 year old boy that goes to the Anglican school, St. Christopher’s. Peter, the husband, is the King of Bahrain’s helicopter mechanic. I think he works for Bell or something because he goes to Fort Worth a lot. They seem nice and it is great to finally be making friends.

Our watchman (I will try and inconspicuously take a picture of him soon), Amwaj, is from Pakistan and he is very nice. He speaks English well and is very efficient.
It is hard getting used to Sunday being the first day of the week so I very often don’t know what day it is.

As a result, I missed my awesome brother-in-law’s birthday….HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL…and today is my little sister’s birthday….HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEANNA! We desperately miss you guys!

Eid Mubarak

Yikes!  I just THOUGHT the malls were bad during ramadan!  You should see them during Eid!  It is about a billion times worse than the busiest shopping day of the year in America....add to that a bunch of Saudis and Kuwaitis here for Eid and you get a complete mess!  Last night we went to eat at Johnny Rockets and then to a movie at the mall...we saw Inception (it's still fairly new here)...fabulous movie!  Go see it if you haven't or rent it if it is already on video in the States.  Anyways, we went to the movie theater in the mall and just to get to the theater was a feat!  It was PACKED!  We had to walk from one end of the mall to the other because they have 20 or so theaters half on each end of the mall.  And of course we endured the MANY stares that we get being the only white obvious Americans there.  We got there a little early and I had to go to the bathroom....yeahhhhhh...bad idea.  I don't know if many of you reading this know about Muslims and their bathroom practices...and I hope I don't offend anybody here, but these muslim women are just nasty!  In public restrooms they don't have full on bedets...instead they have sink squirters like we have in our kitchen and they are attached to the walls next to the toilets.  NOW....I know what I THINK you are supposed to do with those squirters...because it really seems pretty obvious, no?  Yeahhhh, I don't know what the heck they are doing.  Last night, like many other nights, there was about an inch of water all over the stall floor...in EVERY SINGLE STALL!  UGH!  PLEEEEAAASSSEEE!  What on earth!?!?!?  Then there is wet toilet paper everywhere.  The stalls are TINY so I don't know how they get their burqas off so as not to get them wet.  WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH THOSE SQUIRTERS!?!!??!  When we left the parking garage at the mall it took us 45 minutes to get back to our apartment....we live about a mile from the mall.

As best as I can describe Eid it is like our Christmas and New Year's Eve.  There are lights all over the country.  There are TONS of people shopping and TONS of people from other arab countries taking vacation here...mostly because this is one of the only Arab countries where you can drink...or that is my theory anyhow.  Tonight we had planned to go to Magic Island (an indoor amusement park) and eat at the food court...until we got there.  We amazingly found a parking spot around the back of the mall...SCORE!  Yeahhhhh, not so hot when we went to leave.  It took us one HOUR to go .4 miles.  That is four TENTHS of a MILE in ONE HOUR!  It took us an hour and a half to get home....again, we STILL live only a mile from the mall.  What a freaking nightmare.  And, of course, the Saudis and Kuwaitis drive like idiots just like the Bahranis.  There was horn honking and cutting and parking in odd spots.  It's like a freaking obstacle course every stinking day!

Tomorrow night we are STAYING HOME!  We will go to the store in the early hours when they are all still hung over and then we will stay in tomorrow night!  The girls get Sunday-Tuesday off of school.  Maddie is bored and Janie doesn't want to go back....lol! 

On the up side, I finally got our VPN to work and now we can watch American television!  WOOHOO!  Our internet still sucks and is slow, but everything can't be perfect, right?

We are still adjusting to life here.  John went back to Saudi on Saturday morning.  He will be back on Wednesday night.  I know that we have only been here about a month, but it doesn't feel like this place will ever be home.  It doesn't feel like we will ever get in to a routine.  It would help if we lived in our own villa instead of temporary housing, but since no one works during Eid for FIVE DAYS we can't get our furniture delivered.  After Eid we are supposed to be able to move in....I am not holding my breath.  Our temporary apartment which is usually occupied mostly by westerners is now filled to capacity with Kuwatis and Saudis.  You know they are not Bahranis because they won't get on the same elevator the girls and me.  Sometimes that is a good thing....lol...

Janie celebrated her 17th birthday here last week.  We went to eat at The Meat Co., a South African steakhouse chain.  I loved it but everyone else thought it to be mediocre.  My steak and prawns were some of the best I have ever had.  It was SUPER expensive, but worth it to me...I couldn't stomach another piece of gamey beef.  We then we to our favorite place, Cafe Ceramique, to paint some more pottery.  John is such a good sport...it took us extra long because we were doing bigger items and he took it like a trooper.  He sat there watching the whole time.  We topped off the night with Janie and Maddie's favorite cupcakes, Hershey's white chocolate chip and red velvet, from Clever Cupcakes.  Janie isn't a big sweets eater, but she LOVES these cupcakes!  It was a good evening.  Janie got to have a birthday party with all of her friends the last week we were there, but I know that she missed them.

Hopefully my next blog will be about us moving in to our villa!!

Well....Eid Mubarak everyone!

ONE BAD APPLE CAN SPOIL THE WHOLE BUNCH!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  --Matthew 28:19-20

What does that passage mean to you?  Jesus charges his followers to go and "disciple"...not necessarily "save" them.  People are saved by the grace of God...period....nothing else.  So it is our job to disciple people.  The definition of disciple according to the dictionary is "to teach or train."  I feel certain that burning a bunch of korans will not necessarily disciple (train or teach) anyone anything buy anger, intolerance, and hatred.

1 Corinthians 13:11-13:
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

And Matthew 12:33 tell us, "To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

We are called to DISCIPLE and to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.  I don't know about you, but I don't think that burning another religion's holy book is representing either of those commands given to us by Jesus.

"We are definitely probably insulting all Muslims," the Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center told CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella. "The fact that we offend them is the lesser of two evils."


Jones believes radical Islam could take over the United States and that the best way to fight back is by sending a radical message, Cobiella reports.

"Sooner or later we're going to have to say no to radical Islam," Jones told Cobiella. "We feel what we are doing is we are actually revealing the nature of Islam."

He actually said we are definitely probably insulting all Muslims....besides the obvious contradiction in his "definitely probably" statement....I don't think INSULTING is synonymous with DISCIPLING OR LOVING!?!?!? 
 
Gen. David Petraeus warned in an e-mail to The Associated Press that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan - and around the world - to inflame public opinion and incite violence."


I, being a Christain living in a muslim country among muslims both peaceful and radical, am extremely offended and alarmed by the fact that this supposed man of God is completely disregarding the safety of many many Americans outside his little bitty community.  His failure to realize the NEGATIVE ripple effect of his actions are reprehensible. 
 
The rest of the world is watching and lumping Christians in to his "group."
 
Considerate Christians. They make God and His body of believers look good. Sure, believers already know He is good. But others? They are watching. And lumping. What do they see in you?

The Insane Grocery Store Situation!!!

Those of you who know me well know that I hate Walmart.  Oh, I like the IDEA of Walmart...the low prices, the convenience of everything all in one place, I just HATE going to Walmart.  I hate the crowds, rude people, overspending....the list goes on.  Well there is one place on earth that can make me pine for Walmart and it is BAHRAIN.  The shopping here is absolutely RIDICULOUS.  You cannot get everything that you need/want in one place in spite of the HUMONGOUS hyperstores that they have....which is also insane.  They have Carrefour, Geant, Mega Mart, LuLu Hypermarket, Al Osra, Al Jazeira, Jawad....and many more I have not heard of I am sure.

Carrefour is like the Middle East Walmart....it carries groceries, media, appliance, televisions, computers, etc....Geant is another French owned hypermarket that carries much the same.  Mega Mart carries a few American items that you crave as does Al Osra and Jawad.  I have not been to them all but I am sure that by the end of the month I will have been to every single grocery store on the island. 

I met a friend at the school one of the first days we were here.  Her husband is a Navy pilot and they have been here since December.  I asked her one day what the women do all day and she replied, "We spend all day going to every grocery store trying to get all the stuff we need!"  HAHAH!  Turns out she wasn't really kidding!

I asked another friend where to find stuff and this is the list I got:

Appliances, electronics, phones, printers, computers, cameras, printer ink, TV, DVD, Wii, Playstation, games

1. Carrefoure in City Center
2. al Sharf in City Center
3. Geant in Bahrain Mall
4. eMax in Marina Mall

Cleaning supplies, bath supplies, "target-type stuff," paint, candles hardware, power tools, non-power tools, screws, nuts, bolts, duct tape, pool supplies, garden supplies, pet supplies, dishes, pots & pans, dishes, glasses, cooking goodies (spatulas, bowls, etc)
1. Manzil's

USDA Beef
1. Jawad

US Deli meats (Dietz & Watson...they sell it at Randall")
1. Jawad
2. Al Osra
3. AL Jaziera

Pork (only European...US pork has been banned)
1. Al Osra
2. Al Jaziera

How crazy is that!  AND, to make it even more fun, most of them are not even close to each other!  UGH!

Life With John Home....

Dad's home!  Best two words I have heard in weeks!  The "adjustment" period has come and gone and everyone is back to the way we were.

Janie was sick Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  She only started getting out of bed last night.  We ate at Macaroni Grill one night the first week we were here and Janie got a bit sick.  Well, two weeks later Janie had conviced herself that it was just a coincidence.....sooooo the three of us at at Macaroni Grill again.  Turns out, it might have been the Macaroni Grill.  Poor Janie threw up all night for two nights and missed two days of school.  When she wasn't throwing up she was sleeping...I am convinced she has lost 15 pounds since her "illness." 

This is the realtor Philip and the couch (well part of it...too big to fit in pic) that we are having made only they didn't have enough of the material that this one is made out of so the one we are getting is brown...sigh...this one was sold...

Thursday morning the realtor, Philip, came and picked us up early to go furniture shopping for the new villa.  We got to the furniture store and the salesman had our list of items we needed and a budget for every single item.  We had to buy furniture for 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 livingrooms, a kitchen, and an office....what should have been fun was just daunting.  We only had three hours because the stores close early in the daytime for Ramadan.  It started out fun picking the couch which we quickly agreed on...the one drawback is that that particular couch is made by local craftsman and it won't be ready until two weeks after Ramadan.  By the time we ended I was just basically pointing and picking.  We had to pick rugs and wall art and TV consoles....Ugh.  I am not sure that everything matches or that we even got everything we needed.  I do know that we ran out of time and we have to go back and pick out the curtains for them to make.  There are just walls of fabric and the communication is difficult due to the language barrier.  For better or worse we have most of the stuff we need.  We are going to buy stuff on our own to fill in the blanks.

Late Thursday night Janie started to feel a little better and wanted to get out of the house so the four of us went out to eat at The Hard Rock Cafe.  She didn't eat much, but it was nice.  We then decided to indulge their dad and go shopping at the Seef Mall.  Almost every night since we have been here we have gone shopping.  I am SHOPPED OUT.  I have no desire to go shopping, but there really isn't anything else to do.  The movies in the theaters are old and the girls have seen them and the indoor waterpark is closed until Eid.  We walked every single inch of that mall and even realized that we missed an entire wing!

Today John and I got up and went to the villa again...I had to drive because I have been having trouble finding my way.  Turns out it is the easiest thing ever to navigate to!  Then we went to 5 different grocery stores (post on that to come) and got the girls and went to eat and shopping (big surprise!). 

The shipping company is delivering our shipment to the villa at 8:00 a.m. so it is off to bed!

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).

PRAISE GOD!

WOOHOO!  John has his Igama in his hands!!!!  Thanks to EVERYONE for your PRAYERS!  I appreciate them so much!  Praise God!  I really didn't think we were going to be able to go two more weeks without being able to see him...especially since I have to go furniture shopping tomorrow morning and they are delivering our air shipment to our villa on Saturday morning...early!  I wasn't looking forward to doing all that by myself.  Especially since I have a sick daughter!

So thank you to our HR Department and to Brett Campbell for stepping in and helping us!  You Rock!  Now to get him home to Bahrain.  He missed the shuttle for the today but he is hoping he can get another one tonight...if not, he is leaving at 6:00 a.m. and will be here by 8:00 a.m. or so.  We miss him so much! 

YAY!  I won't have to move out of the apartment by myself!!!  And I won't have to pick out furniture and televisions by myself!  GOD IS SO GOOD!