Saturday, May 22, 2010

Manama

Hi Bloggers,

I've been in Manama (that's the capital of Bahrain, if you didn't know!) for nearly a month now and am getting quite settled in. It's much more sedate than I expected, but that's quite nice actually. It's a bit like a watered down Dubai, much smaller and less stressful, but basically the same kind of things going on.

I was out taking some pics yesterday, but it was a bit hazy for some reason. Surprising, 'cos actually the humidity here is pretty low. It's starting to get pretty hot now. A lot, of course, depends on where you put the thermometer, but I've had one reading of 43 C up to now. Anyway, for this blog I'm just focussing on skyline pics. I'll get better ones up in due course.

One doesn't have that much contact with Arabs on the whole, or if one does it's probably a taxi driver. I must say, they've all been pretty affable so far. However, most workers here seem to be from Kerala, India. Clearly there's some ancient trading connection between the two regions, which still continues through to today. Most waitresses and shop assistants seem to be Filipinas.

The picture on the right is the spectacular Financial Harbour Towers. What I like about them is the way their juxtaposition changes depending on what part of town you're looking from!

Will say more in my forthcoming blogs.

Cheers,
Rob

2 comments:

Bangkok.Ian said...

Hi Rob,
Quiet for too long. Welcome back to the blogosphere. I'm sure you are glad not to be in Bangkok right now, it must be pretty scary.
I teach about 70% arabic speakers (mostly Saudis and Omanis) in my new school. I quite like them, more honest than Thais when talking about study and refereshingly candid about reasons for lateness. Bahrain does look a bit hazy. Is it perhaps smog?
I look forward to more from Bahrain over the coming months. Keep well. Ian.

tropicalrob said...

Hi Ian,

Great to hear from you!

Yes, I find the Arab students pretty honest. They've got a lot more attitude than the Thais and really express opinions. Where is your new school? Myself, I may eventually try and move on to teach in HCTs here as they're pretty lucrative.

Yes, pity about BKK. God knows what the future holds! I hope Abhisit keeps to his promise of early elections. What do you think of the coalition in the UK? lol

Cheers,
Rob