Update 6: General stuff :-)

  Good morning from lovely Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia!

 The sun is now shining after a brief episode of rain. I saw and felt rain drops this morning. It was a good feeling. This week has been a pretty good one, I'm busy working overtime at the Shabaka Training school twice per week, my classes have been unusually smooth, and this weekend should be a nice, relaxing time. On a different note, I'm taking a self-imposed break from the coffee bandwagon and am boarding the lovely boat of Green Tea for a couple of weeks, just to change things up. So far I'm liking it.

 In two weeks I will be going to the Kingdom of Bahrain, again. I'm going to try and find a host through Couchsurfing so I don't pay for a hotel and can actually meet some cool people again. My former hosts have sadly left for better things in India and back home in the states. However, I am looking forward to a weekend of sight seeing, good Thai food, and a couple of over priced Heinekens.

 The week after that, I may be going to Khobar and Dammam for the day to do some sight seeing in those cities. There's a compound trip there and I'm always up for getting away from the paradise that is Al-Ahsa, lol. It should be good times and seeing the Arabian Gulf again is good change of scenery. Khobar also has a nice Jarir bookstore which is the premier English book dealer in Saudi. I can easily spend an hour in there just browsing around their Lonely Planet travel guides.

 Only 48 days until I leave for Thailand and Cambodia. I'm getting excited, but it still feels a ways away. This weekend I am going to look for the LP travel guides for those two countries and do up my research for my vacation. I can't wait to go and I hope to avoid some of the more tourist locations for the first half of my trip. Angor Wat, of course, will be quite touristy as it's THE thing to see in Cambodia. I'm hoping to make it to Northern Thailand. We'll see what I can muster up. Whatever I decide, my itinerary, if you can call it that, will be quite loose and I will have no time table. I like travelling on the go and staying for whatever time I want. It's  the beauty of travel.

 Alright, it's almost time for class and I have to go.

 Life continues in the Kingdom.

 - Jesse

Update 5: Back to Work and January's Vacation!

   Well, it's day two of 'back to work week' and things are slowly getting readjusted in my head. Eleven days of being lazy in KSA and Bahrain really was nice and totally broke my work circadian rhythm.

   Yesterday's classes were hectic. Most of the students were rowdy and tired... complaining that they didn't want to do the work and the usual gripe and diatribe that they usually muster up as 'Friday' gets closer. During my last hour of teaching yesterday, Rob, third in command here at Shabaka, interrupted my class and asked if I would be interested in doing overtime twice per week teaching at the Shabaka private school that is here in town. Being it was the first day back to work, tired, and maybe a little irritated from a day's worth of whining students, I excitedly said yes! lol... So now, every Saturday and Monday between 4-6 PM I will be teaching a very basic conversation ESL course. And at 100 riyals per hour (about 27 dollars) it all helps towards paying off loans and/or (emphasize on 'or') have a better vacation in January!

 Ahhh vacation, a word long since forgotten in most corners of America. I'm luck to have roughly five weeks paid vacation per year, without having to do the twenty years of work to get it. So, after a long chat with a friend who I met in Korea last night, I decided to book it for Thailand and Cambodia, two distant kingdoms in Southeast Asia that I have been longing to go to for a long time. My friend, Kyle, will meet up with me during the last week of my vacation after he finishes a work camp in SoKo. I have no itinerary yet and probably won't make one, but I will certainly be visiting Angor Wat, Pnomh Penh, Bangkok, and it's guaranteed I will be among the crowds of foreigners on the beaches of Phuket and Ko Samui. Stoked about this whole thing, even if it's two months away.

 Until that time, life continues in the kingdom, where it has gotten considerably cool and windy.

 - Jesse

Kingdom of Bahrain, Trip 1

  Last week, I climbed onto the compound bus with excitement to leave for the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small tiny island nation just off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the middle of the Arabian Gulf. This two day break from THE kingdom was organized by Don our transportation manager.

 Unaware that this country even existed a few months ago, I first heard of this place from my friend Patrick Crossman who worked here in KSA last year and who helped get me this job. With limited knowledge and more excitement than ever to travel outside of Ah-Ahsa, where I currently reside, I got aboard the bus and started reading my Lonely Planet travel guide for the hundredth time to review all of the places that I wanted to see: Manama souq, central Manama, etc..

 Bahrain, as it turns out, has a history going back more than five thousand years, being a former Empire, British protectorate, and critical trading post for the Portuguese. The island has a fascinating history and is littered with old forts, ruins of ancient civilizations, and great Arab architecture ranging from decorative mosques to Manama's modern day buildings.

                                                     Mosque in Manama souq area

                                                     Bahrain World Trade Center, side view

                                                     Some random skyscraper

  Bahrain also happens to be a popular tourist destination for expats in KSA and Saudis alike. It is considerably more liberal than KSA as it allows women to drive and vote. Furthermore, freedom of religion is a right and all nationalities were declared 'equal' by the king in the early 90's. All of these things have helped create a modern Bahrain that is not only more tolerant of diversity, but also makes it much more multicultural and interesting than anything that I have experienced in Saudi to date.

                                                     Bahraini flag in all its glory

 Being in Bahrain certainly has its appeal for me as a Westerner, the multicultural ambiance in the air is great as you walk by a Thai restaurant while there's an Indian barber next door who happens to be cutting the hair of somebody from Europe. However, as of recent, Bahrain has experienced it's own calamity with what has come to be known as the 'Arab Spring'.

 A few months ago massive violent protests took place in central Manama, the capital governorate, and the Saudi military was called in to intervene. The results were bad and to this day mild, small protests continue with tear gas and other maneuvers being deployed to suppress them. You see, Bahrain is seventy percent Shia muslim while the other thirty percent, including the ruling royal family, is Sunni. I'm not going to describe the differences between the two as I have no interest in writing an encyclopedia, but take my word when I say  that there are major rifts in beliefs and this sadly, has led to violence historically. Aside from recent events, Bahrain remains a relatively safe place to travel and I felt totally comfortable there while drinking expensive coffee and over priced Heineken.

 Admittedly, my trip to Bahrain was more of a getaway from KSA more than anything. While it is a beautiful country, I simply enjoyed the multi-ethnic feeling of the place while eating to good to be true Thai food (Pad Thai and Pad Sew). On to of this, bar hopping for a couple of nights was fun and having some good westerners to chat to is guaranteed to be a good time. While my time eating and drinking didn't result in anything crazy, thankfully, Bahrain was a great stress reliever and brought to life a sense of interest in Saudi again.

 

 During my stay in Bahrain, which is not a cheap place to stay I might add, I couchsurfed on a local expat's couch for two days which equals me not spending copious amounts of money for a hotel. Couchsurfing is an organization that connects travelers with places to stay in places all over the world. Wonderful hosts open their homes and let travelers stay with them for a specified amount of time. I did this all the time in Korea and I have found that it opens many doors and connects many people from all walks of life.

 Anyways, my host and I decided to go to the beach one afternoon which was on the northwestern edge of Bahrain outside of Manama. The Gulf was gorgeous and the air from the sea spectacular. This beach that we went to, which was located in the village of Budaiya, also housed one of the king's castles which is reminiscent of Windsor castle in the U.K. It was a great drive and one of the highlights of my two day trip.

                                           Budaiya Beach, Bahrain

                                           King Fahd Causeway linking KSA with Bahrain via the Gulf

                                           King's castle

                                           Budaiya Beach

 Overall, my Bahrain experience was one of relaxation and cultural re-connection that I don't get here in KSA. In a sense, I felt more of the Middle East in Bahrain than in Saudi, which is an odd thing to say since here it is more restrictive. KSA is kind of like an exclusive club, one few people desire to join, but if you do, there are certain rewards that you only get here. These rewards of course, are cultural interactions with people from a very conservative background that comes from being raised in one of the world's strictest Islamic states. Yet, the hospitality shown by some Saudi's can also be extraordinary. Like Bahrain, even Saudi has it's own cultural feel, even if it's difficult to find most times. I'm glad to be experiencing both as the year quickly comes to a close.

 Life continues in the Kingdom.

Update 4 - Sand Boarding, Souq, and Vacation!

  Greetings,

 It's been a while since I last posted, so I suppose I'm due for an update. Over the past couple of weeks life in Saudi has been pretty much routine, save a couple of excursions which I will detail below. It is now vacation and I have chosen to stay inside the Kingdom to save money. On November 6th-8th, I will be going to the Kingdom of Bahrain for some long over due relaxation that includes a couple of beers, friends, and new sites in another country.

 Last week, my friend Ali took me and my friend, Trina, to the national park near Al-Ahsa to to sand boarding behind his SUV. This consisted of connecting a sled to the back of his SUV and yours truly sitting on it while going over hills of sand, bushes, and other things. It was a great time. My friend Ammar, Ali's friend, also let Trina drive his SUV for a bit, which is strictly forbidden in the Kingdom. During this time, I also got some good shots of the desert, and one shot of Trina that I particularly like. Sadly, I did not take photos of me or anyone riding the board as I couldn't be bothered to do it.

                                           Trina

                                           Sarah

                                           Ammar and Chris

 Afterwards, we all went back to Ali's family 'bachelor pad', as he calls it, to eat and smoke some 'shisha' or flavored tobacco. After a few hits off of the hookah bong and with a great feeling roaring through my head, we got up and went back to the compound. Overall, it was a great day and another entertaining evening thanks to Ali.

 Yesterday, I took a trip down to Al-Ahsa's newest 'souq' or market, to check it out during the time. Since Saudi is a night culture, most of the shops were closed and there wasn't really anything to see other than the architecture and people doing their own thing. This souq used to be one of KSA's best until it was burnt down in 2001 in a tragic fire. It has since been rebuilt and shops are slowly coming back. I hope to see it in full swing by the time I leave Al-Ahsa in X date. Tonight, I am returning to the site to see what shops there are, and to meet my friend Matt who is living at the Hofuf Hotel while new apartments are being built on the complex.

                                                     Downtown mosque

                                                     Market

 Now, I'm on vacation and am having a couple of relaxing days at the compound. I've been catching up on sleep, swimming, and grilling out. I'm also planning my trip for January, which ought to be nice. Now it's time to go start my lamb curry.

 Adios,

 - Jesse