Tadayima...

Well am back home, the past two weeks have been too full for me to be able to fit some online time in them. Plus it was for the first time in such a long time that I have been unplugged for this long.

It's Kinda idiotic saying this but I missed "the people", my Online buddies in which the main interaction I have with them is through the web. My heart was warmed up when they actually asked about me (more like it was a "phew, am not too abnormal in feeling that" kinda way)
and thanks for everyone who wrote/commented asking where the hell I was at :D (that means Tala, 7aki, and Summer).

Also thanks for John (if u ever pass by), I got all fuzzy when I heard my name on the radio :D

As for what the hell i was doing, I was in Bahrain for work. It was a hectic couple of weeks. I worked through the day and went out and hanged with my friends there at night, EVERY F'n NIGHT.

So Highlights (I know you don't give a rats ass about this but this lil bit is for me, kinda of an electronic memo):

• Taking after work swims is sooo relaxing, and i hate swimming. better incorporate that into my schedule
• It sucks when 20 people tell you "wow you have gotten so fat!" in one day, EVEN if your a guy who never cares about that. Good thing i can Yo-Yo my weight.
• Whenever you take over from somebody else they will most certainly screw you over, and the first day will always be hell.
• Its nice to see family, but never when they are hosting in a party of their 40 friends when the closest age gap between you and them is 15 years. Plus it ruins the night when its the most important game for the team you cheer for and they LOSE ! (a half hearted congrats to AC on winning the champions league)
• Concerts are FUN, you will not care if they rip you off on the Alc, the bathrooms are flooded, people are pucking even before the party started, people in the gulf seemed to confuse hip hop with techno and started break dancing or any other side effect of a big party. Armin Van Buuren Rocked Manama, and It was a blast. Side note next time lets try to get a better ratio than 1 girl to 10 guys please it kinda sux.
  
• Never excuse your self out of a party because you have to work on a Friday the next day, things will work themselves out
• Be Nice and when invited to home poker game lose the first time you are there, at least to cover the cost of hosting you. It doesn't hurt to lose more at the beginning and then win it all back to help your pride ( Also its a good excuse to use whenever you lose, since guys can only lose on purpose after all)
  
• Nokia phones suck, and fastlink roaming is a rip off. buy a new non-Nokia cellphone so that you will get your calls when you should and get a local sim wherever you go (keeping the sim in the wallet damages it so don't do that, someone better invent a holster for them soon)
• Shopping in Bahrain is not recommended for normal sized people, its frustrating.
• There is one day I wish to erase from my memory, and I had a pretty good job of erasing it so far.
  
• Having to change your plans and look for an apartment 10 hours before your flight is not a good idea, and my company buys cheap worthless tickets that can't be changed easily. Never gonna try to do that again.
  
• Alcohol stores in Bahrain are shady, they hide them with a screen, there are no signs. even when you are on the front door of them you can't recognize them. The only way to recognize them is on a Wednesday when you spot a Saudi changing his clothe on the street (no kidding) then you know you are in front of an alcohol store!
• There is a worst airline than RJ its called gulf air
• My Allergy to photos seems to be easing up, might consider allowing photos again ;) , the reason is no one recognizes me in my photos any more since they are more than 5 years old
  
• Going to a seminar for the 3rd time in less that 6 months to hear the same presentation again (w/o the presentation since they were having tech problems) is worst than watching pain dry. On the other hand it allows some pretty creative drawings.
• Not having an internet connection Sucks, you miss so much that you end up post binging like what am doing today
  

ENJOY !

Ps. I changed the playlist, am wondering is it too annoying having the playlist on the blog ? should i remove it ? what do you think ?
maybe you have not even noticed it !

Homecoming - Delayed

Well I made it back to Jordan, and just got nailed by so many tasks that were due in the past week that I couldn't breathe. Also getting down with a cold didn't help.
So this is my Homecoming post a week delayed.

Coming back from Bahrain I had to draw comparison with Jordan, so here it goes.
Bare in mind that this is the first time that I been to an Arabic country with a non-tourist intent so my Point of View (PV) was drastically different.
Bahrain was actually a pleasant surprise, when i went there i expected the normal khaliji attitude which utterly disgusts me (offense intended in hope of them noticing). I knew its a small place so i expected to be bored off my wits, and with all that Shiite Sunni crap i expected some tension (come on my name is enough for me to expect that).

I was proved wrong on all those, Bahrainis are definitely the most pleasant people of the gulf that i interacted with, they are peaceful. regardless of what they would think of you they will give you your space, they don't have the same arrogance of other people in the gulf. For the most part they want to live and let live.
The amount of diversity that is tolerated there is astounding, you have a lively american, english, phillipino, thai, and indian crowd. plus the normal amalgam of arabic nations the palestinian the lebanese, some syrians, bahrainis, Saudi's (mostly on weekends to get trashed and watch movies) some kuwietis, and even persians (according to one of them their sin is being narcistic and I would have to agree).
all those people seem to be living on their own, though its a small country they still managed to divide the pie nicely.
While in Jordan that seems so hard, or maybe am drawing my conclusions too hastily since the majority in Bahrain don't quite like the ruling minority, although it being known to be more liberal than other countries around new movements in the parliament are trying to change that too.

One thing i noticed is that some areas will be too loud to raise kids and have family, but on the other hand for single expats like me those places were a blast to live it (Juffeir is kinda of a middle ground, Seef was certainly a blast, and some of the older neighborhoods, Adliya comes to mind, is pretty nice too). The nightlife is varied and fun, alot of scenes to check out. A healthy live band scene, nice wine and dine places, and very fresh cultural scene too.
what i think is different than jordan is the fact that to me much of the scenes here are either prothsetic (cultural, night) or stale (wine and dine, cafe's). the people that hit those places are mostly too dimensional to keep anything for chance on any given night, every night you'll hang out with the same crowd and end up talking about the same thing or hear others talking about the same thing. THAT LEAVES ALOT TO BE DESIRED WHEN GOING OUT IN JORDAN.

I was flabbergasted by the way people drive there, they recognize lanes, they use signals, you won't hear a horn for days, the roads are comfortable to drive on even when you are drunk, and best of all you don't see many cops around.

So in my conclusion if you had to stay for a couple of years in a country and the choice was between jordan and bahrain i think bahrain would be a much more satisfying experience.

Did mention that the people there are friendly, they smile, and in a good mood in general.