Whirling Dervishes

Last night I went to the concert of Turkish Sufi Music. This included the Whirling Dervishes. Their dance is one of the most enduring and exquisite ceremonies of spirituality. The repetitious music is a chant and prayerlike. The dance is not frenzied, but rhythmic and methodical. It is a drama of faith.

Each man stands on one foot and uses the other foot to push himself around. The "skirts" look weighted at the hem, and their orbit must help each man feel where the next dancer is, because they each stayed within their own space, with their eyes closed.

Sufism, which combines mysticism and a way of life, cannot be separated from poetry and music. What could be more appropriate to help us along this mysterious voyage than the pure sound of the Ney? Hope you can hear the Oboe-like instrument in the video.

Muharraq

Muharraq is an old town in Bahrain, on it's second largest island. A lot of the shops that you find in Muharraq have not changed in about 50 years. Below is an herbalist. This is the old "drug store", with bottles of ingredients lined up on the shelves.

We found an interesting music shop, selling a couple of different types of drums.

Besides selling musical instruments, they also sell "Saudi" sandals.

Traditional Houses in the Suq

Today, I went to get my hair cut at the Sheraton Center (same salon I have used for 20+ years) and went into the Suq to see some of my favorite old houses. Above you can see the balcony on one of the old houses. This one has not been restored. Below you can see one house that has been beautifully restored, with carved and painted balcony and doors.

I'd love to see the interior of this one!

Magical tour of a Japanese Garden

I attended this multi-media show this morning. Here is the Newspaper review:

"A SERIES of interactive visual theatre performances begins today with a performance entitled the Japanese Garden, at the Salman Culture Centre, Hoora.

The show is being presented by Italy's award winning Teatro di Piazza o d'Occasione's visual theatre company and the Teatro Metastasio Stabile della Toscana.

It will feature the Children's Cheering Carpet, which is a specially designed platform, where performers' movements trigger sensors embedded on the surface to create beautiful digital images and sounds projected from above.

The performers will take the spectators through an amazing journey discovering the precious elements that make up a Japanese garden, say organisers.

Members of the audience will also be invited to participate and experience the story of how a Japanese garden is born."

I found the show well choreographed and presented. The children participated very well.


Please try this website for a short video.

http://www.hkiac.gov.hk/2007/graphics/en/prog/movie/56/popup.html?carpet.swf

Tree of Life

One of the longest standing "tourist" attractions in Bahrain is "The Tree of Life". This is a lonetree in the middle of the island which is supposed to be several thousand years old. It's alwaysremarkable to see, as it does not seem to be near any water source, but there must have beensome water under the ground there to get it started.



Oops, I almost got the tree growing out of Allison's head!

Mah Jongg

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There is a flourishing group of Mah Jongg players in Bahrain! I was invited to play with them this morning. There were nine of us, so we had three tables going. I appreciate their patience with me, as I am rusty from not playing for several months. Plus, they play a very different version (International) . No jokers! No hands with flowers in them. If you have a flower in your hand, you may pick up an additional tile from the end of the wall. The hands that the players have to choose from are different, as well. In stead of doing the Charleston in the beginning, they start right off with the tiles you are dealt. If at the end of picking from all four walls, no one has Mahjed, then the four jokers are brought in, and they play a Gulag hand, where they exchange (without revealing) tiles. Wow. A lot for this old mind to learn.

I enjoyed meeting all the ladies. I need to learn the new language..."wishing & fishing" is called out, when you are looking for only two more tiles to make your Mahj, and "fishing" when you are looking for your last tile to Mahj. Did I get that right? So, till our next "twittering".....mixing the tiles, I'll be looking forward to playing again.

Bahrain National Museum

This afternoon I spent a pleasant few hours at the National Museum of Bahrain. The special exhibition was of Masks. The masks were from South America and Mexico, the Far East, including Guinea, Korea, China and Japan. Several were from different parts of Africa, and a few from Canada and Alaska. It is amazing to see the differences and similarities. Most were made from wood, but some from basketry and feathers.

Since they did not allow photo taking in the exhibit, they constructed huge blocks in the lobby area, which were covered with posters of the masks. Here is a taste of what I saw.


Below you can see the set up in the lobby. the blocks are not touching each other. They had marked "Viewing Point" on the floor where you had a good vantage to see the blocks in line to make a complete picture.

What can I say????

Could this be a source of the Housing problems? Picture a little guy, with his hands up, saying to his dissatisfied customer: "Don't blame me, we are just living up to our name."

Happy Easter

A few years ago, I helped with a flower display at St. Christopher's (Anglican) Church. Several teams of men and women worked with plants and flowers in almost every corner of the Sanctuary, to depict the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Here is the Alter and the two communion rails (covered with gauze) to symbolize the Tomb.

We used succulents, and local "oats" in baskets, stones and broken pots to keep an arid feel. We also found a couple of olive branches, which we set out as trees.

One of the other groups did this arrangement, and see how each grouping worked well together.

At "The Corners"

When we say "we're going up to the corner", we mean up to the village round-about. This is about a 5 minute walk from our house. Here is what it looks like at dusk.

Sometimes I stop at our favorite fruit and vegetable stall on my way to or from school, when I drive past.

Or mid-morning I sometimes walk up to get a "smoothie" from the corner Juice stall. My favorite is still "Sweet melon", or you can have a Bahraini special", which is a mixture of everything. You can have one with or without ice cream.

To go with it, I stop at the Middle East Restaurant, to get a hot spinach and cheese bread from this Turkish fellow. Yummy.

Mosques

This is one of the oldest Mosques in Bahrain. This Mosques been reconstructed to it's original style. This Mosque site has been dated back several hundred years.

This is one of the small Mosques, in Jasra Village. This probably looks as it would have 50 - 75 years ago.

This is one of the newly built Mosques in our area.

My Favorite Flower Photos

We are having a quiet long weekend, as we celebrate the Prophet's Birthday, and the first day of Spring.

On the Road again

There are many unusual sites in Bahrain. Some of them are seen while sitting in traffic jams. This is why I always carry my camera! There are several times, when the sight is so fleeting, that I can't get my camera out fast enough. But sometimes I am lucky. The photo above is the back of a truck, with artwork, which I captured while sitting in one of those traffic jams.

What's this? A picture of a "sleeping policeman"? a speed bump? or as we call them in Bahrain, humps? There is even a road that we all know as "Humps Road" which has so many humps, every few hundred feet, I avoid driving on it. In the above photo is a "famous" bump that disappeared a few days before President Bush arrived in Bahrain, and re-appeared a few days after he left. The bump is on the route, that Bush would be traveling to the US base, so either its removal was for a smooth ride, or for a quick get-away, we are not sure. An Urban myth???

Coffee Morning

There is an American Women's Association here in Bahrain. It is more like an International Women's Club. Today, our US Ambassador's wife hosted the members at her residence for a coffee morning. The President of the club was presenting awards to some of the long standing members, and there was a lot of picture taking going on. This captures our congenial group "in motion". The dining table was filled with delicious goodies from cucumber sandwiches (Lucie's recipe?) to melt-in-your-mouth date nut bars.

Marina Ereli (our Ambassodor's wife) is on the right, with a long-time Bahraini member.

Some of the guests.

Afternoon Garden Delight

I went to another winning garden on Sunday afternoon. The light for photography was perfect.

On one side of the house was their kitchen garden, which you see in the movie. At first I only saw a few things that I recognized, such as tomatoes, cabbage, and strawberries! One of the guests pointed out the different trees in this section, including pomegranate, olive, mango, fig and several others native to Bahrain. The fragrance was wonderful, like honeysuckle.

In the video, our hostess is the woman in the light violet scarf. I wanted to give you a feel of their enthusiasm. I never feel excluded, even when the conversation is in Arabic. Generally, at least one person will translate into English for me. I am seeing for the second time, some of the women I met last week, and they are so welcoming. They offer their hand, or as one woman said yesterday, "In Bahrain, we kiss."

This is the other side of the house, a covered patio with interesting trees and hanging baskets.

More than a dozen tables were set for us throughout the garden, on the patio, and in the gazebo, for a buffet supper.



More soon!!!

Not all Fun and Games

"Spontaneous demonstrations take place in Bahrain from time to time in response to world events or local developments. We remind American citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possible escalate into violence. American citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations. American citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times." from the US Embassy notification

When we drove to the Souk on Friday, we could see this smoke from the highway coming from Jidhafs, an area where we used to live. It was probably burning tires. Some of the unrest is due to high unemployment of the local young people, after they come out of secondary school and University. Also, some people would like to have more representation in the government.

Star Anise Recipe

Remember I showed you a barrel full of Star Anise? In talking to Salima, my Chinese cooking guru, she has suggested we all try adding one to the bottom of a roasting pan, when we roast a joint of beef. Or try putting one in the cavity of a chicken when you roast it.

I am taking orders for how many handfuls of star anise you want me to bring back!

Bab al Bahrain

On Friday, we usually go down to the "Bab", which means Gate; this is the gateway to the Souk, the old bazaar, little shops that sell everything from Rolexes, to belly dancing costumes, and wind-up toys.

This Gate has been here for many years. In the early days, when we were first here, this circle in front of the gate, used to be a fruit and veg. market.



Next to the Bab is an old Mosque, and a new Batelco (telephone co.) Building.

In the evening the Mosque reflects in the blue glass of the Batelco Building. Below is one of my favorite photos....thanks to Yvonne!

Chinese and Thai Cooking Lesson

I was invited to cook with Salima and Ging today. Salima offered to show us how to make "Turkish turnovers". That doesn't sound very Chinese, does it? The filling is pork, onions, green peppers, and spices. The pastry is a small square of puff pastry. The sides of the pastry square are closed, and then it is a matter of pinching, and rolling to get a nice looking top edge. Here Salima is brushing egg on the finished packets, ready to pop them into the oven.

Below, Ging is coking to Thai noodles in a large wok, before adding a handful of bean sprouts, and herbs, and frying an egg right in the pan and mixing it into each portion of the dish.

Ging showed us how to make a spicy papaya salad. In the photo below, you can see a large mortar and pestle, in which the chili and garlic, cherry tomatoes, and shrimp sauce, fish sauce, and lime are all mixed together. The shredded papaya and carrots are added into the mixture right in the same bowl. This was a very spicy dish.

Everything was yummy. I have to practice the pinching and rolling!