Bahrain

It was time for another trip to renew my visa. I decided to take the excuse to see a new country! One that wasn't too far away or expensive... I took the hour long flight to Bahrain where I was wonderfully hosted by the local AIESEC chapter, newly registered and already rockin.'

So here are my thoughts on Bahrain...

Bahrain is more chilled out than Dubai..people I met were laid back...feels like an island.

Bahrain is more Arab than Dubai. In Dubai, the Arab world is an option. If you choose, you can avoid it entirely and easily. I don't think this is the case for Bahrain...even the taxi drivers and restaurant cooks are Bahraini. I really felt like I was in the Arab world. The realization felt like something melting...which made me conscious of how frozen I feel towards Dubai. All the excitement of being in a new world...that rush that can pull me to all corners of the planet...started to come alive in Bahrain. There were times on the narrow dusty streets when I looked around, and all men were covered in white and all women were covered in black and then it was us, the alien westerners. Then, I felt like I was really in Arabia. Authenticity.


Bahrain is Ancient. You know the Dilmun empire in Gilgamesh? That's Bahrain! Thousands of years of civilization. Enki, God of sweet water was the residing God of Bahrain. And there was also an Earth Goddess...an earth goddess in the Middle East!! Yes!! Thank you!!

Of course, this civilization is dead now and the gods, being no longer worshipped in anyway (there is no god but Allah...) seem to have left.

Somewhere in the middle of the Island, isolated in the desert is the Tree of Life. The kind AIESECers drove me to see it. It is Huge!

It is ancient and knarled and sprawling. But at the top the leaves are green and full and happy. It is unbelievable. It's in the middle of the desert, with nothing around it but sand, not even bushes are there for miles, yet this gigantic tree sustains itself. How?

Local mythology says that this is the Tree of Life reffered to in Genesis in the garden of eden. Some scholars on this history suggest that the garden of eden was probably in the area. It is Awesome.



One funny thing about Bahrain is that it seems like it's trying to copy Dubai. They are building Islands in the ocean too (also destroying the natural reefs)...theirs are in the shape of pearl shells. They are building a financial center whose trade buildings look quite similar to the emirates towers. For sure, Dubai has been successful in selling itself with this kind of glitter...but according to laws of marketing, if you enter the market with the same poduct, you have no choice but to compete on price. Bahrain should use it's assets, stop trying to copy Dubai and sell itself as the real Arabia, but still accessible and fun.


One night, while walking around as tourists, Lyna (NYC), John (Australia), Caroline (UK) and I stumbled upon a festival in the middle of the street. As we walked further, we saw pockets of this festival raging everywhere. Ladies in black Abayas and children running around, men shovelling out free food to people or gathering to listen to the loud-speaker sermons from the mosques. We saw doors of houses opening to the throngs, and got a glimpse of the light inside, kisses and exchanging of gifts among neighbors. We learned from a Lady that this was 15th Shaban, a major Shia Muslim festival.

People came up to us and offered us food: we each walked away with popcorn, cotton candy, juice, sweet corn, shawarma, fruit, lollipops and Arabic sweets. We had trouble carrying it all and decided we had to escape the genorosity and kept walking. Several people came up to us and asked if we would like to hear the story of the festival and of course we did. We heard stories about religious leaders and battles, the story was not memmorable or lovable but the teller was. His eyes sparkled and he was peaceful, he spoke with such trust of his faith and belief in his god, but in such a generous and gentle way he shared it with us.

It was an interesting experience I think for the three westerners...the place was full of love and life, and it was spilled onto us in acts of generosity and hospitality...but we were surrounded by Hezbollah flags and pictures of Nasrallah. We hear on the news about Shia and Suni conflicts...In fact I heard on the news the next day that the celebration in Iraq was without violence...That was news.

Basically, the experience I had was this: There is religion, which as an institution creates division and motivation for fighting...then there are the People who are in that religion and they are peaceful and loving, using it as a community -a bond with each other and a reason to celebrate in the streets. I bet Sunis and Shias and Christians and Jews are not that different. I bet if you take the flags away and you watch a celebration, you see all the same thing and you feel the same feelings. These are thoughts many people have, but this weekend it was illustrated before my eyes. It will make hearing news of conflict over religion even more difficult to bear.

Speaking of understanding and diversity, the recently registered AIESEC chapter in Bahrain is awesome. I met LC members and MC members.... everyone is full of energy and sense of mission, adventure, cooporation and fun. If it was a company, I would invest.

Whose that Arab chic? Well, I dyed my hair black a few days before leaving. I was sick of being hassled, sick of being confused for a Russian prostitute, sick of being red. I fit in better. The thing is, from black...there's no where else to go...Foxy or frightening? I'm still not sure...