I'm a little late, so i'm going to play catch up on some things. I didn't realize how challenging it would be to keep the blog updated!
We went to Bahrain a few weekends ago. It's not far, what takes the most time is going through the one million checkpoints on the causeway. You have to stop to show your passport/buy insurance/show your passport again/answer a few questions/passport/pay some fee or other/ lather, rinse, repeat. Traffic is ridiculous. There are toll-booth like lanes, but you just get in where you fit in. I think it took us about an hour and a half to get through, but i've heard stories of people sitting on the causeway for 5 hours and not moving an inch!!!!
We didn't really have any specific plans when we went. We just went to the mall, and Adam and Hisham went to a water park (inside the mall). My shopping buddy and I walked around the mall while they played. I think we'll join them next time. The mall was huge and I was tired of seeing stuff after awhile. There was a movie theater, a bowling alley, a mini amusement park, the water park, a huge grocery store, a mosque (that's standard in almost every building anyways), tons of stores, tons of fast food restaurants and just as many sit-down restaurants, and some other things i'm sure i'm forgetting. A lot of people go to Bahrain to partake in things that are not available in Saudi (pork and alcohol). Since we didn't go for that reason, it really just felt like Saudi, minus all of the abayas and separate seating areas.
One thing they like to do in this area of the world is SHOP! I was going to Saks, and on the way, the stores were getting more and more expensive. Burberry, Tory Burch, Hugo Boss, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, etc. And people were coming out of these stores with bags of stuff. Crazy. Anyways, some pictures for your viewing pleasure. :)
 |
| We had to fill up before we hit the road. If I did my math correctly, gas is 45 cents per gallon. We paid 31 riyals, or a little less than $10 to fill up our mini-van. |
 |
| I felt like I was going to Pensacola Beach for a minute.....just a minute. |
 |
| Delivering the taters |
 |
| I don't know what this face was about, but he was having a blast. |
 |
| I remember swimming and playing at the beach all day long. We'd be starving! Whatever you ate that day at the beach tasted better than it had ever tasted before. |
 |
| Raisin fingers |
 |
| I had a much better picture of this little boy body surfing, but I couldn't subject y'all to the person in the two-piece bikini that was in the shot. She obviously didn't have that friend that would say "uh, no, go change". |
 |
| Look what I found!!! I didn't even have one. Steel City Pops has set my expectations too high for me to even set myself up for disappointment. |
 |
| Shawarma delivery |
 |
| Moroccan clothes store in the mall |
 |
| Going back "home" |
