Greetings from the Kingdom of Bahrain!

I flew into the Kingdom of Bahrain from Doha this morning. This small island country along the Persian Gulf with a population of about 1.2 million (which includes about 600,000 non-Bahrainis who work in the country) is rich in its history, culture, and recent political events. Like Qatar, this Muslim country is observing Ramadan, so food and drink is strictly forbidden in public places until 6:30PM, when iftar starts. When iftar started, I walked around the Manama (the capital city) in the humid 98 degrees weather. I cabbed over to the souq, and snapped a few photos in between browsing goods and chatting with store owners.

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The indoor section of the souq
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The indoor section of the souq
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Mosque at dusk
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View of the bay and downtown from my hotel room
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More photos of a mosque from my cab

Throughout my cab rides, I asked the taxi drivers about their thoughts on the recent protests that took place in Bahrain as part of the Arab Spring, and they all had very bold opinions about the King and his royal family. Though I won’t go into details of the conversation here, I will say that all three drivers I met will attend the protest tomorrow at 5PM in Manama.

Afterwards, I headed to one of the newest buildings, the Bahrain City Center, and people-watched while having coffee and trying to stay awake along with the rest of the city.  Every day, I’m amazed at how people are able to celebrate the breaking of fast, and socialize into early morning, and then go to work the day after. I’m trying my best to keep up!

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I normally do not take photos of my food/drink. Like, ever. But I had to snap a photo of this espresso because of what it is served with. A date! Not a chocolate or a cookie, but a date!

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