The things we get excited about.

Seasons greetings, Merry Christmas, and hello from the land of sand!

Today it’s a wet sloppy sand we’re standing on as we’ve had some rain today.  Rain is pretty exciting stuff. It either comes down in torrents on a driving wind, flooding streets, and finding the leaky spots in houses during a 30 minute frenzy of precipitation.  Or it gently sprinkles us, hanging over our day, keeping us company like a clingy friend.  You like them, but really, don’t they have someplace else to go already?!! There may, or may not be a video posted below that someone took of the rain.  Technology and a slow, spastic internet have been giving me a good butt kicking lately….

There are other things that get us excited,  and if we lived anywhere else I’d think we were pretty weird for what becomes post worthy on the local Facebook pages.  Take Kale, for example.  Yes, Kale, with a capital K.  While all of you back in the U.S. are downing kale smoothies like a frat boy with a keg on the last day of school,  the rest of us have been pretty much kale-less, and definitely keg-less, since arriving.  Bahrain has not caught the kale craze, but maybe they will after this photo was posted. The post garnered about 10 responses!  People want Kale!   (BTW, I hope the man in the photo wasn’t the vendor, picking his nose…)

This beautiful bounty of goodness was 500 fils- about $1.33 per bunch. Some resourceful American should snap it up and resell it at twice the price closer to the base.

While we’re on the subject of food, let me wish you the best as you frantically shop for and then cook your Christmas-y treats.  We feel your pain  when it comes to shopping for the just-right ingredients.  Kale-lust aside, we get excited when things like canned pumpkin, fresh cranberries, spiral sliced ham, and frozen pie crust are all in stock, at the same time, in the same place.  Maybe you feel the same way as you browse the aisles of Kroger, Publix or Super Wal Mart.  But really, you know you’ll find it.  Here, one either spends hours scouring the island, posts frantic requests on Facebook for said item, (a woman wanted a kilo of Masa for tamales. Really?) or, goes to a Hail Mary plan B that usually results in an outrageous outlay of money. One may also find that culinary substitutions that would be a cringe worthy sign of weakness stateside,  are brilliant here.  (Confession time- Today I spent $7.25 on a liter of vanilla ice cream.  That’s about 2 pints of ice cream. And, we’re using sage instead of rosemary on  our lamb.  I DID NOT spring the $5 for mint jelly, a line has to be drawn somewhere.) It’s also very exciting when our ovens work, maintain a constant temperature, and don’t shut themselves off.

Despite booby trapped ovens and the challenge of being an American in a metric world, there are some really good cooks and bakers on the island.We’re so happy they call us their friends!  Mince pies and brandy butter anyone? These are from our favorite Brits, and came with a lovely note wishing us a Merry Christmas.  Thanks guys!

Aren’t they beautiful?  Go ahead, be jealous.  #1 ate two of them in the car on the way home.

We’re also drooling over the home made fudge another friend made us.  She was worried it wouldn’t come out right since she didn’t have a candy thermometer.Who knew fudge required the use of a candy thermometer?  Not this non-baker.  It came out just fine.

 

This is the SECOND layer. Helena and I ate the first one during the 20 minute car ride home from her house. Afterwards our stomachs hurt, and we were buzzed on sugar, but it was so worth it.

People have been asking if Christmas is celebrated here.  Well, sort of.  We’ve found the Bahrainis love to celebrate anything, and the King is very obliging about granting days off for Muslim holidays.  Christmas falls after National Day, December 16th. The national colors are red and white, so the palm trees, buildings and  even the cars are decked out in red and white lights  and bunting.  Hotels, grocery stores and other  businesses are decorated for Christmas. Who doesn’t want one more way of selling stuff?!  There are even Yule log cakes in the bakery cases- thank heaven for a strong ex-pat community! Even better,  Christmas Eve coincides with the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday this year.  Small world.  Looks like we’ll  both be watching for our Prophets, and celebrating their births.  The family is going to a Christmas Eve service featuring a living Nativity.  I’m pulling for three camels and wise men to make an appearance.  (Follow-up report- no camels.  Not one.)

Santa is cruising around, too:  

Arab Barbie is available on the store shelves:

We have a tree.  It’s fake, a first, but we’ve got some spruce scented oil sticks in a jar to cover for us.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!