Sunday September 28
It's definitely Sunday but certainly feels like Monday! Pete went to work, kids went to school. Lucas couldn't find his backpack! Missed the bus, found it!! So Suz is driving him to school! Doesn't feel at all like Sunday!! I've arrived on Bahraini time!! It's 8 AM here, 1 AM in Harwich!!
Yesterday after lunch at the base, we retired at home after 2 to a lazy afternoon. Naps, TV until time to prepare dinner. Dinner was a grand affair in the dining room with china and crystal. After showers, the kids went to bed and the adults discussed the history and state of Bahraini and Arab affairs. No, we didn't come up with any answers!! Pete has loaned me two books by Bernard Lewis which I hope will enlighten me!! I retired about 10, very tired. But Peter had taken a long nap and I was sound asleep when he crawled in next to me in our bed on the third floor.
This morning......disaster!!! No water! I did manage to wash my face before it was all gone! Suzanne's landlord, Abdul Rahman, arrived to change the water pump from the water tank on the ground floor to the one on the top floor. Charming man, eager to chat, very good English. He changed the pump in his "work" thobe!
Suz, Peter and I went on a short sightseeing tour past the royal family's Summer Palace and the Grand Mosque to the National Museum for a tour of exhibits of Bahrain's culture and lifestyle. Clothing, wedding customs, birthing of children and a model souq or market were among the exhibits. In Bahraini culture, the groom's family takes care of all wedding arrangements! Part of the ancient archeological artifacts at the museum are burial mounds, rock and sand formations with compartments for more than one body. These were made in large groups like cemeteries between 2800 BC and 630 AD and are still visible in the desert.
We dropped Peter back at the villa about 11 and drove to the base where Suzanne taught her spinning class and I did 40 laps around the track. After doing a few errands, we picked Peter up and drove to Megamart, a sort of Super Target with groceries and department store items. Also checked out a "cold store," the Bahraini answer to a 7-11!!
While we were on base , Peter had a long discussion with Rahman. When he was young, Shia and Sunni got along well and he had many Shia friends. Over the years the Shia and Sunni have become enemies because off Iran's influence and the widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Like most Sunnis in Bahrain, he and his wife are upper middle class and own real estate (two villas that they rent to Americans) and have government pensions (she was a teacher). The Shia tend to be poor and a drive through Shia neighborhoods confirms that....tenement like housing, lots of anti-government graffiti, trash and scars from tire fires and molotov cocktails from anti-government protests. These protests are dealt with in a very heavy handed manner and most protesters are thrown in jail. He's sad about all this and also feels badly that these conditions and the radical Muslim elements in the wider Middle East give all Muslims around the world a very bad name. Peter was left feeling that if more people could sit and talk to a Muslim like Rahman (albeit it was a one sided conversation) we'd all feel better about the Muslim world. This is another example of how travel gets us out of our "echo chamber" and gives us a different perspective. Rahman is a wonderful man and Peter was glad to have had the opportunity to talk to him.
2 comments:
The problem is recognized, but what is the solution? What can be done to lessen the gap between the haves (Sunnis) and have nots (Shia) so as to put them at peace again? Liken it to the growing difference between the levels of wealth in the US? But then, we are not at "war" w/each other, yet.
Pam
Next time we see Rahman, we'll see what his answer is!! Is there one?
Post a Comment