Thursday Sept. 25  2014

WE'RE HERE!!!!

We arrived at Mirisolas last night just before 11 PM. Actually we were in decent shape considering we'd been traveling for 24 hours. The Lufthansa flights were uneventful, food okay, seats pretty comfortable. The segment to Frankfurt we sat in a section for 3 and had it to ourselves. The second segment to Bahrain with a stop in Doha, Qtar, we sat in a section for 4 with no one else!l Since they were both night flights, we also had blankets and very comfortable pillows. Again, decent food and free wine!!  So, we have been in two of the Arab States that have joined the coalition for air attacks against ISIS (L).

It's very hot and humid here!!  The air conditioning in the house helps but it doesn't wash the sand from outside the windows!  Pete was home when we arrived just before 11, the first night he'd been home in a couple of days!!  We toured their spacious home, had some snacks and wind before retiring at midnight.

This morning we slept until after 9!!  Hallelujah!!!  The kids had already left for school and Pete for work so we had a leisurely hour before leaving for the Bahrain School and volleyball practice.  At the Bahrain School we saw a Navy guard with automatic weapon. We  relinquished our pass ports for visitor passes at the entrance, saw Lucas and Serena (big hugs!!),and watched Suz take the kids through drills, I walked and did some yoga in the gym. Met the IB coordinator and had a nice chat.

After practice  Suz let us off on American Alley while she picked up Nick at a birthday party. Saw pizza places, a Fudrucker's, Baskin Robbins, Cinnabon McDonald,s and other "American" places. We even saw a couple of Arab men in thobes topped with baseball caps. It was 97 degrees while we sat outdoors and sipped our Starbucks. We met 2 Indians and one Egyptian who worked as barristas, very friendly, very good English. I bought a Bahrain Starbucks mug for a souvenir for 4.000 BDs. Peter's burger and water cost 3,92 BDs at Fudrucker's.  We then sat on the shady side of the street and it was still 97 but breezy. Suzanne picked is up at 2, we greeted Nick with hugs all around and went home to relax until our next activity at 4.