Room for one at the Ramadan

Everyone has heard of it, but not many Americans are actually familiar with it.  What time is it? It's Ramadan time! Between 11 August to 9 September it is the Islamic time of prayer and fasting, meaning that before sunset there will be no eating, drinking, or smoking in public.  But that's not all! I was recently informed that not only will I not be able to eat in public (not a hard thing to do), but I could be arrested for my clothing.  During Ramadan I could potentially be arrested for wearing clothing that did not cover my legs and did not cover my elbows.  I never thought that my elbows were sexy, but apparently they are arrest worthy.  Although I might find some of these rules silly, they are what they are and I will oblige them out of respect.  Of course, though, there are some positives for us ex-pats during Ramadan.  FEASTS!  At sundown every restaurant/hotel sets out huge, delicious buffets for everyone to partake in.  There are also festivals on the beach here at some of the major resorts.  One draw back, even though this country permits the selling of alcohol (at hotels only), there is no alcohol sales during the month of Ramadan! 
But every day here is a learning experience and I learned something about alcohol here yesterday.  I will NOT be going out, drinking in up in the bars!  The blood alcohol level here is 0.0.  I have heard too many stories of people being pulled over with a blood alcohol content of 0.01 and being thrown in jail (it also takes at least two days to test blood alcohol here..so you could be waiting in jail for a while).  They take drinking and driving very seriously here....as in no tolerance!  So, not even a one drink limit for me! I'll just dim my living room lights,turn on some music, pretend I'm in a bar, and sip my wine in the privacy of my own home!!

The girl has a mini skirt....and isn't afraid to use it.

My plane landed around 9PM on Saturday, 24 July 2010.  I had been flying/sitting in an airport for almost 24 anxious hours.  After having traveled for so long, all I wanted to see was the person who got me into this world-traveling mess: my boyfriend, Capt America.  Now, Capt America really is a Captain, but not for the Avengers, rather for the US Air Force and he had been stationed at the Naval Base in Al Manama, Bahrain.  I told him I was adventurous and wanted to have an adventure.....I was in for a surprise.

Squatting
When we found out we were moving to Bahrain, we did our homework, or so we thought.  We learned Bahrain was a tourist country; they were progressive Muslims; they liked their alcohol (but only at hotels); I would be able to wield by mini skirts; they spoke English.  I was sold.  My first rude awakening came after being reunited with my love; I had to pee.  Navigating into a confusing bathroom, I was confronted with a hole in the ground.  Was there a mistake?  I wasn't supposed to go to the bathroom in that, was I?  I checked the other stalls, much to the amusement of a snickering 8yr old girl in there with me. Yes.  They really did expect me to squat.  After having mastered that event, I felt like I was already an Arabic world professional.  Turns out, most bathrooms aren't truly like that here in Bahrain.  I think they put those squatters there just to weed out the weak.

It's getting hot in here........

Before I left everyone said, I hope you sure do like it hot.  Yes, I realized that it would be hot, but I didn't know just how hot it really would be.  Arriving to Bahrain late at night, I didn't realize just how hot it would feel.  At 9PM it was 99 degrees with about 80% humidity.  Good thing I'm not really big on makeup or we would have a serious problem.  For the next week, the low would be around 100, highs edging dangerously close to 120.  Although we Georgians pride ourselves for being able to withstand incredible heat waves, I was not prepared for that.  As I unpacked my suitcase, I left my bathing suits in their little bag: All my visions of laying out on our roof top deck were quickly squashed with the oppressive wall of heat that I was encountered with once I opened the door.