First Impressions

When you travel east, you end up with a very very long day.

Yesterday, I left my parents' house at about 4:30.  Mom, little Louie and I had a bonding time in the car together and then I got to the airport.  There, I received a text from my friend Marsha: "Is this issue in Paris going to affect your flight?"  Yikes!  A quick check on Twitter, Facebook and the NY Times and I knew there were problems.  

Tonight, safely landed in Bahrain, I know all the more why I am here.

All Germans were not Nazis.

All Americans were not slaveholders.

All Christians were not Crusaders.

All Muslims are not terrorists.

We need to understand one another.

So, here are a few bits from my trip that I would like to share:

a)  I met Joan, my colleague from New York.  We were comfortable with one another immediately. In Doha, Qatar, we met up with a few other colleagues, and then our whole group met up at the Bahrain airport. All the teachers who choose to take part in these expeditions are really dedicated and motivated learners.  

b) I watched Pixels on the plane.  It was just as hokey as it was supposed to be and made a long flight feel a little shorter.  The first flight was 14 hours, but it wasn't as long as the flights of my colleagues from Los Angeles! I also slept on the plane, wrote a blog post, and was awake for a meal of French Toast.  Note: French Toast on Qatar Airways is not what I expected.  Think fruit bread rather than "eggy bread".

c)  Here are some initial photos of Qatar.  Note-- I was just at the airport there, for a layover.

Doha Airport is modern and has many play areas and child-centered  sculptures. This "Teddy Lamp" is the centerpiece.

I didn't take pictures of people, but I thought it was okay to take this photo from the airline magazine.  Many men dress like this.  I realize how much cleanliness matters in the culture, and so I guess it is helpful to wear white?  I'm not sure, though.  Women were dressed in all sorts of ways, but the plane to Bahrain had many ladies with long black garbs. 

We took a small bus to our second plane, from Doha to Manama (Bahrain).

Here is the view of Doha from flying into it.

d)  When we got to Bahrain, we were treated very well.   Water!!! And a lady with a beautiful spirit from the Marhaba greeting company organized our visas and made sure we got our suitcases.

e)  The group of us who met in Doha got to the van first.  Here's a big cultural difference: we were left in the hotel shuttle with the AC running and the doors open for a long time while we waited for our new friends.  It was shocking-- not for the issue of needing to wait (that's a normal part of group travel) but rather for the trust and energy usage!  

f)  Here are a few first views of Bahrain.

Most Bahraini cars have license plates with the same numerals as we have.  This one probably comes from a different country and is using the real Arabic numerals and letters.

Some of my friends teased me and said they only travel to places where there are  palm trees. Note: this is the desert. There are palm trees.

From the bus shuttle, a hasty shot of the skyline.

Our hotel

g)  I learned a few facts about Bahrain when we were waiting for our room keys and for them record our passport information etc.   

First of all, it is definitely a fossil fuel economy, so oil is everything here right now.  I knew that, but it is really hitting home.   

Next, the rules  here aren't quite as restrictive as Saudi Arabia. Consequently, people from SA will come here on weekends.  Movies aren't allowed in SA so this small country fills with folks coming to see films here on the weekends.  Can you imagine!  

Finally, the name of the Gulf is a bit of a political issue.  Is it the Persian Gulf? The Arabian Gulf?  I'm going to stay out of it and just call it the "Gulf" for now.

Tomorrow is a new day, but now I MUST go to sleep.

Peace to ALL,

Emily