Remember how I said  life was a bit quirky around here?  Well, here we are, two weeks later, and it still is.  I’ve been rolling with it, telling myself to seek out something new each day.  You know, a new experience of some sort, and hopefully a  positive one.   Well, Bahrain doesn’t disappoint!   A few days ago it was as simple as a walk down American Alley- a street near the Navy base that is a shocking combination of a beachside resort strip on steroids, with all the chain restaurants one could want, along with some local Bahrain culture in the form of shawarma shops, men selling “Rolex” watches on the street, and the appropriate din of car horns and  small delivery motor bikes buzzing in and out of traffic.

#1, Helena and I took my cousin there for shawarma the other night as it was the simplest way of appeasing my desire to introduce my visiting relative to an all encompassing Bahraini experience.  There was a little bit of everything-  noise, trash in the gutter, trash on the sidewalk, the smell of cars, garbage, humid, warm air, and the odors of about 50  restaurants competing for business. (you know, I’m once again reminded of my visit to Beale Street this past May…) Walking down the street was a multi-sensory stimulation exercise. I’m so bummed I missed getting a photo!  But, #1 had his power walk on- shoulders squared, back straight, scowling at the sidewalk vendors as he strode by, with us tagging along in his wake. No way he was stopping to gawk like a tourist and take pictures. Here’s what Google came up with:

It occurs to me that not everyone knows what a shawarma is.  That  makes me sad, because shawarma is another of those fun words to say. Go ahead, try it.  Shawarma, shawarma, shawarma.

(It starts to sound a bit like “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” doesn’t it?  Do you like the way I worked a Brady Bunch reference into the post?)

It’s also a delicious, cheap, Bahraini burrito.  Shawarma even has its own Facebook page, a conglomeration of posts that mention it by name, and over 83,000 people “Like” it. (ONLY 83K?!, Doubtful.)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shawarma/108304492530276

(Scarily, it goes to show how un-private FB can be.Just scroll down the page a little, you’ll see what I mean.)

Here’s what one looks like when it’s all pretty for a camera.

Trust me, it is a warm juicy mess of meat and sauce when you meet it in person.  It will set you back a $2.00 or less if you stay true to the street food-ness of shawarma.  Buy it in fancy restaurant and you’ve paid too much, and missed the point of getting shawarma in the first place.  It WAS a bit heretical to go to American Alley to eat them, but, we were multi-tasking our tourist experience.  Afterwards we ambled away with full bellies, ready to dodge the cars, bikes and street vendors.  It was crowded, crazy, but not as bad as we expected.  We may go back, even #1 said it wasn’t “too awful”.   For a man who hates crowds, confusion, and strange men treating him like he’s their new BFF, it’s a resounding endorsement for a second visit! I think someone was just a little “hangry” when we started out…

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