The weather...
It's hot. Like... crazy hot. We arrived during the hottest part of the year. Every day has been in the 100's, the humidity has been through the roof and the heat index has been close to 120 every day. When the sun is high in the sky and beating down on you it can get downright oppressive. The heat during that part of the day is absolutely inescapable. However... when the sun goes down in the evening (which, blessedly, is early), it's tolerable. As a night owl, this is totally fine by me. As a mom of a young child, it kind of sucks- Stella loves to be outside and we're having to learn how to be inside more during the afternoon when she's not in school.
The food...
Holy wow, the food! We've only had one mediocre meal and that was room service from the hotel. Everything else has been phenomenal! We've had middle eastern food, shawarma, Indian food, burgers, etc and it's all been great! Also... everything delivers. Everything. There's an app called Talabat and you order through it and within an hour- dinner is served! Or dessert (we totally ordered crepes last night and had a dessert date on the couch after Stella had gone to bed)! Stella, who is your average 6 year old and prone to pickiness-- has tried everything and really liked it!
The sights...
I've been surprised at how pretty everything is. Im not entirely sure what I was expecting from the desert, but the architecture is really neat and varies SO much! The amount of detail they put into the concrete (or stucco... not sure what the actual building material is) is gorgeous! There are beautiful designs cut into the domes and even the walls around the buildings.
And the sunset... oh I could go on and on about the sunset. That great, giant oppressively hot ball of gas descends down in a moment of stunning glory here. The sky goes orange and pink as this huge orange ball dips down and has vanished in mere moments... its breathtaking and ten days in I haven't gotten tired of it yet. It's one of my favorite things about Bahrain so far.
When the sun first goes down the sky puts on a show... pink sticks around for a bit then plays into teal and blue before the dark night sky takes over. It really is a wonder. We don't have the good camera with us yet (it's on its way with all our stuff) and my iPhone pictures just don't do it justice. After the sun goes down the city lights up and looks like a totally different place.
We've been to the main Souk and it's really neat. So many different shops and stalls filled with everything from rugs to lanterns to trinkets and wooden boxes. An absolute feast for the eyes. Everywhere you look there's something else to see! And we've only been to a small section. We're headed back soon to delve even deeper and find more!
The people...
The people have been SO nice and so welcoming. I've not felt unwelcome or like an outsider at all. We've not run into a language barrier yet- everyone we've met so far is fluent in English. Which, to be honest, is a huge relief. I've heard very, very little Arabic in my life-- Christopher knows a few words and I've heard one of my best friends moms speak it once or twice to my godson but that's it. So to know that I'll be able to get around on my own without a problem is a huge relief!
I've been pleasantly surprised to see the Arabic couples being affectionate towards each other. Weve seen couples holding hands, arms linked, laughing with each other... just acting like normal couples. As Americans we have this view of the Middle East. We see oppression and assume there are loveless relationships where the men hold ownership over the women. I'm not going to lie and pretend that that's not a bias I wondered about. But here, in this little part of the Middle East, we haven't seen that. I'm sure, in more oppressive and strict parts of the Middle East the culture could be like that, but in this quick snapshot we've had here, it's been nothing like I imagined.
In addition to being friendly and affectionate towards each other- everyone here seems to absolutely LOVE children. Stella is absolutely spoiled here! Waiters fuss over her bringing her candy or wanting to bring her dessert, the hotel staff constantly want to talk to her and high five her, our maid has left her sweet notes, and people on the street wave at our little dancing queen as she twirls by them.
Overall...
Overall, I kind of love it here. I am already ready to be out of the hotel and settled into a home of our own (but it'll still be a while... our things aren't due to be delivered until later this month, hopefully) but I feel like, if things continue the way they have been, I think we'll be really happy here! It's definitely an adventure but it's exciting and amazing and I'm so happy we got to come here and have this experience!
It just makes my heart flutter to hear the happiness through your words. I had faith that all the struggles and stress over the past 6 months would pay off and you would have the adventure your wanderlust heart deserves. Miss you like crazy, but love you more! -sd
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