At the movies

My little girl went to the movies a couple of weeks ago. There is nothing remarkable about this, except that it was her very first visit to the cinema:). Perhaps her parents were a little more excited by this than she was. All expectant and nervous were we... will she be scared of the life sized television set? Will she sit through the entire film without wanting to go to the toilet? Will there be any scary bits that we will have to counsel her through? We ended up selecting something right up her alley (but perhaps not ours). The Disney cartoon, "The Princess and the Frog" was the right choice and particularly suitable for a three year old little girl who is, these days, obsessed by princesses and fairies.

Our expectations were exceeded. She sat through the entire 90 minutes quite patiently, gobbling and gulping down her popcorn and juice (thankfully cinema kiosk food in Bahrain is not exorbitantly priced) and although she did get a little antsy a third of the way through when the story-line wasn't going quite as she'd hoped - she persevered and held her attention span till the end (having said that - she did better than her parents - dad was constantly fiddling with his blackberry and mum was fighting off a bad headache which wasn't helped by all the overly-cheerful musical numbers)

There are several comfortable and modern movie theatres around Bahrain and we visited the one that has recently opened up at Bahrain newest shopping complex. Going to the movies here feels just like it does back home, except that as well as English language films there is a choice of Arabic, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. It's quite the hangout for teenagers looking for entertainment on the weekends, young couples (and maybe young men and women looking to become couples) and families. There's usually a variety of choice in terms of what you can watch. Lots of Saudis who visit Bahrain over the weekend like going to the movies here too... especially as there are no movie theatres in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, not everything gets released here. Sure, the big blockbusters all make it but not small, independent films. This can be disappointing. Sometimes you'll be hanging out to watch a movie, only to find out that it's not going to be released in Bahrain. Lots of flicks go straight to dvd. Take a look at this site to get an idea of what's on offer at the movies: http://www.bahraincinema.com/.

....By the way, we did end up having to counsel a little on this creepy looking character from the film (the Shadow man)...thankfully, there haven't been any nightmares...

My other island home

When we were about to leave Melbourne last year to move to Bahrain, and when I started telling people about the move, a lot of our Aussie friends didn't know where Bahrain was (I don't blame them, though I am relatively familiar with the geography of the Middle East, I had to find Bahrain on the map before heading here myself!). My usual response was - it's an island and it's not too far from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (because most people have heard of Emirates the airline and a lay over in Dubai is not uncommon). The funny thing is, I still get lots of friends back home asking me "So how's Dubai?" As I said, Dubai is something familiar, a place that most people know of (even if they haven't visited it) for its grandiosity, its excess and its label as the Las Vegas of the Middle East.

Bahrain could well be described as Dubai's sleepy cousin (the ever so slightly less ostentatious one). It's relatively quiet and has a population of around 1 million - this includes the huge number of expat workers both blue collar and professional who live and work here. But, what Bahrain lacks in numbers it obviously makes up for in determination. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Bahrain has the fastest growing economy in the Arab world and, that in 2008 Bahrain was named the world’s fastest growing financial centre by the City of London’s Global Finanical Centres Index (info courtesy of Wikipedia). Impressive right? The problem is that when you're living here, it doesn't feel like 'this is where it's at' and frankly doesn't seem all that sophisticated. The majority of shopping centres are slightly dull - the best on offer are Seef Mall and City Centre. My world changed when the City Centre opened its doors late last year... Not quite Chaddy, but it will do for now. There are a few indoor play centres for kids which are of a passable standard but the outdoor parks are pretty drab (not that we can use them in the current heat of 40+ degrees celsius during the day - winter is fairly cool though and that's when you can venture outdoors on day-time excursions). Sometimes, it feels like there isn't a lot to do. In this heat, you feel like you don't have too many options and there's only so many times my daughter and I can watch all the Wiggles DVDs we brought from Australia. So at around 5pm - when the sun's about to call it a day and the heat is not as harsh, we usually head out for a play in our yard with the other children in our compound, go visit a friend or jump in the pool.

You would think that living on an Island we would be surrounded by pristine, blue water and sandy beaches. Although 'Bahrain' in Arabic means "two seas" you struggle to find a strip of beach over here, especially one that you don't have to pay for. At one of the five star hotels you can pay about 25 Bahraini Dinars per head (just under $AD80) to enjoy a man-made beach strip. There are a few locations that you can enjoy the beach - for free, but these locations are fairly rough in their appearance and they have not been developed for picnicing plus there's not really a swimming culture. When you do catch an odd glimpse of the water, it is quite beautiful in colour - a gorgeous shade of aqua.