2010 is almost over

2010 has been an interesting year for us. On 1 January 2010, I would have been unable to accurately place Bahrain on a map and apart from a vague "middle east" tag I would not have been able to tell you anything about the country. 365 days later we are resident here with good jobs and apart from close family and friends we miss nothing of Scotland. I suppose the lack of grassy golf courses (in fact the lack of golf courses) might just qulify as something I miss a little. We can honestly say there is nothing else.

For us the year has been a whirlwind of activity, of highs and lows, excitement and challenges and as it draws to an end we look forward to 2011 and hope it continues to bring us good fortune. We also spare a thought for some friends and family for whom 2010 was not so good. You are in our thoughts at this time.

Skype is a great thing and we are using it to the maximum to keep in touch with family. Our skype name is dave.spittal if any other friends care to add us to their list. I have now bought the fastest internet access on the island so quality of skype should improve if your end is up to the task!

So for 2011 we wish you all the very best of health, wealth and happiness. Thank you all for your support, friendship and encouragement. We hope to be welcoming some of you to Bahrain later this year.

David and Sheila.

Sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine

Sorry to rub it in folks but today it is glorious here. I have played 12 holes of golf and returned to relax in the sunshine. I noticed on the way across that the whole of Western/middle Europe is white but there is absolutley of sign of it here! I filled the car with petrol without even a grimace never mind any gritted teeth, in fact I would say it was with a smile. It seems all wrong really. You are there in the freezing cold, have to get out of your car in baltic conditions, grab hold of the nozzle which makes your hands blue and numb and then you have to pay through the nose for your measly few litres. On the other hand, I wind down the electric window, flip open the wee catch that releases the petrol flap, and tell the man "Mumtaz please, full tank". I sit back and relax, perhaps winding the window up to make sure the car doesn't heat up too much, and then pay the man a few Dinars for his trouble.

Anyway, enough of that, I thought you just might want some reassurance that the sun is still here. Our plants didnt survive our tiume away so we are going to start again and our TV box didnt survive the electronic chop either so we will have to get the real thing I suppose. Still, all's fair in love and war as they say.

Oh I must say a belated thank you to Ashley for her hopsitality and for sharing her house with us for the past two weeks. It was much appreciated, even allowing us the use of the master bedroom!

Toddle pip for now, I dont want to miss too much of this sunshine.
David

Settling back in

OK we have had a chance to grab a bite of supper and it olny remains for me to update you all. Despite Claire's best efforts the upgrade to business clas did not take place. The checkin man told us that we had been upgraded and ushered us to the business class queue. We checked in and made our way to the plane where we were in fact not in business. We weren't really that bothered for the short flight to Amsterdam so said nothing. When we got to Amsterdam we realised that our seats to Bahrain were not businesss class either but worse than that they were not even near each other. I brought this to the attention of staff ad showed them the booking we had with adjacent seats. After a bit of tooing and froing she m anaged to move a few passengers and get us seats together.

The flights were very pleasant and we arrived in good time. If anybody is coming by that route it is worthwhile to note that every other day the flight is direct from Amsterdam to Bahrain and on alternate days it stops in Kuwait (as it did on our original flight). It saves about 2 hours journey time if the direct flight is in operation. It is the same on the way back so we will be checking carefull and taing the direct option wherever practicable.

House is all in order here and the temperature tonight is 15 degrees. We dont need the air conditioning on but then again we dont need heating yet either!!!

Off to bed in the next few minutes. It was great seeing you all.
David and Sheila

Back in Budaiya

OK folks that's us arrived back in the villa and all is well. Update to follow soon.
D

Flight update

Seats together now secured. Leaving here at 1pm uk time. Direct flight to Bahrain. D

Big disappointment

Well it seems that the only people who think We are business class were at edinburgh. Our seats on the 7 hour flight are not even together! Trying to get something better sorted. D

Upgraded ya beauty

Waiting now in airport lounge clutching our business class boarding passes. Three cheers for Claire. Using my newly bought reading glasses as i have lost mine already. Love to all.

Chapter 2

They say that time flies when you are enjoying yourself and I have to say that the last two weeks has flown in. Today we prepare for our flights back to Bahrain tomorrow morning. The weather has restricted us somewhat but we have really enjoyed our stay and catching up with those of you who managed along to Kirkcaldy. I have to admit it will be great to get back to the warmth of Bahrain and to playing some golf again. This snow has been a pain and I am sure you all feel it much worse than us because you have been hampered by it since November!

Anyway it's onward and upward as they say. We look forward to a longer stay in July/August when we will hopefully be able to see more friends and relations. Andrew Maggi and the children are returning to Scotland for a holiday in July so we have many plans to make and we have started looking forward to that already.

Have a great new year when it comes and remember to look out for us on Skype.

Cheers for now
David & Sheila

Safely Home

Hi y'all, I am pleased to announce that we have arrived safely home in Kirkcaldy. Please note that we have not got a car here and consequently will not be able to visit everyone during our short stay. Everyone will be made very welcome if you can come to see us.

We are now relaxing after a beautiful plate of Barbara's lentil soup and bacon rolls. Magic.
David and Sheila

Edinburgh here we come

Last flight boarding soon

First leg complete

Here we are after check in. Should be boarding in about 40 mins. David

Travel update

Arrived safely in amsterdam tried to get an earlier flight but no joy. See you all soon. David

Taxi booked for 2 hours time.

That's the taxi booked and in just over 2 hours the first part of our journey should begin. It's about 30 minutes in the taxi from here to the airport. We are leaving the car at the villa rather than the airport. Parking there at the last holiday time was an absolute nightmare. The cars were parked everywhere there was (or wasn't) a space. On the verges, in the spaces between spaces. Cars were blocked in right left and centre. Anyway we have decided to bodyswerve that hassle in favour of the taxi. Let's hope it arrives on time. Needless to say I think I have booked it in plenty of time. I usually have us at the airport far too early!

Today I was back in at school to see the director. I have been appointed as Head of Science with effect from the first day back after the holidays. I will be in overall charge of physics, chemistry and biology for the whole school. There are heads of chemistry and biology who will look after the issues pertinent only to those subjects but I will have ultimate charge and responsibility for everything including general science which is taught right up the the end of year 11 which is the same as the end of 4th year in Scotland. It will be a new challenge and I am looking forward to it. There is a small amount of extra money which always helps.

The bags are packed and it's just a matter of watching the clock. I see the weather forecast isn't too good. let's keep our fingers crossed.

Bye for now,
David and Sheila

The countdown is on

Well that's the online check-in done. Less than 30 hours till we fly. There's been a bit of a sand storm here the last couple of days so the air has been full of dust. Good time to head for home.

I am not sure if we will be able to update the blog as we travel like the last time but I will give it a go. Dont worry if you dont hear from us though, my last attempt to blog from the mobile failed although the "sent successfully" message came up! Not sure why the post didnt appear on the blog.

Last minute preparations are well under way. Will relax tomorrow and maybe play a few holes in the morning. It's great to be on holiday.

See you all very soon.
David and Sheila

Promises delivered

Here is the picture I promised of the Bahrain World Trade Centre. As you can see it's taken from the bottom looking up. A truly awesome building.

Here is the original to compare

I took mine from the bottom of the right hand tower as you look here. We also drove half way to Saudi Arabia today. There is a 23km long causeway from Bahrain to Saudi. You can't get in to Saudi without a visa but you can go the the island half way and go up the observation tower from where you can see Bahrain and Saudi. It was a little hazy today but you could see Saudi in the distance. This picture is looking back towards Bahrain. If you zoom in on it you'll see Bahrain.

In the city today we walked around the suq (sook) which is a kind of bazaar with zillions of stalls selling all kinds of tourist souvenirs. There was a cruise ship in the harbour so we fitted in well as tourists!

Counting the hours now. See you all soon.
David

There IS another course in Bahrain

Before we left Scotland I was sure that I had read on the internet that there were three golf courses in Bahrain. Well there is. Today we played Bahrain Golf Club which is another desert course very similar to the one we are members of and believe it or not you can actually SEE one course from the other! They are right beside each other but it took me until this week to actually realise its does exist and how to get to it. The entrances are at opposite ends of the courses.

Here is a picture of the second hole. You can see Rifa Fort on the hillside in the background.

This hole (the second) is a par five. As you can see the weather was once again magnificent. It's getting boring again isn't it? We played a full 18 holes in the baking sunshine. I have entered a competition there in late January which is how I found out about the course. It doesn't have a website although it has a great big clubhouse and a pro shop and all the other things you would expect of a golf club including a driving range. For some reason it has a practice putting green with real grass on it. Not sure why when there's not a blade on the course!

Tomorrow we are going to investigate an area of the city centre that we have never really explored. We saw lots of shops in Manama (the main city) when we went to the booze shop but we never stopped. Well tomorrow we are going to have a day in the city. I am planning to take my camera to take some pictures including the one I promised you in one of the first posts on this blog. I posted a picture of the world trade centre saying that I would take my own picture. It's got three wind turbines mounted between two towers. The wind turbines provide the power for the building. I'll try to get a good shot tomorrow together with some of the other interesting buildings in the city. It's cool enough now to walk about for a while.

Hope you are all beginning to thaw out.

David and Sheila

Black Gold

Snapped this picture on the edge of the golf course today. This oil well is a working "nodding donkey" well which is continuously pumping oil. It is located right on the side of the third fairway at Awali. You can hear it chuntering away as you walk past. There are actually quite a few located on and around the course. I expected all worthwhile oil wells to be huge things so I was a bit surprised to see this.

Weather still fantastic. Watching the forecast in Scotland with interest. It doesnt look too good for our return which is now only one week away.

Fingers crossed. If its still looking bad next Wednesday I'll have to ask you all to get out a clear a wee bit of runway so that our plane can land!

See you soon.
David

Those lazy hazy crazy days of winter!

Today we had a picnic lunch on the beach in the sunshine. It was a little breezy but not a cold breeze you understand. We drove today down to the very south of the island where there is a group of man made islands with thousands of properties built on them. The motorway goes all the way down there. The only problem seems that no-one actually lives there yet. The properties are there but I dont think they are finished.

We didnt try to get out on to the islands because the bridge has a security gate on it and we didnt want to say we were just going for a wee look!

We passed the "Tree of Life" which is a big tree in the desert. It has confounded the experts because apparently they dont know where it gets its water supply.

Here's me in front of the tree with my new 1 Dinar 500 Fils sun specs. Still cant go anywhere without sun specs!

We had to get some netting today because something ravaged Sheila's vegetable garden and decimated most of our plants. Not sure what it was but whole branches of the broccoli were missing. Not the sort of damage you associate with caterpillars. Its more like a bird or gecko or something. Do you get vegetarian birds or geckos? We hope we have saved the rest but it might be too late. It was always going to be a problem getting them watered while we are home anyway. We can try again when we return in January if they dont survive.

We passed the Shaik Isa (pronounced eesa) Air Base today and saw their spectacular entrance monument thingy ... see below

Zoom in and have a close look at this one. The jets are spectacular. Note how the jets silhouette against the azure blue sky! Also took some great photos of rock strata for John Blackwood. He loves stuff like that and I feel sure if I upload one he will put a comment of explanation of the features on for us .... well maybe not. Watch out for your wee email box John I'll send you some.

Hope you are all getting enough provisions and hope the airport is open by a week on Thursday. We are counting the days. We have a day off for the Islamic new year on Tuesday so its starting tomorrow it's 2 days on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off, 2 and a half on and we leave the next day and home the day after (if you followed that).

See you all soon
David and Sheila

Grassy Golf

Today I enjoyed my first game at Riffa Golf Club, the grass course. I was guest of a player I met at Awali called Madden Broadbent, originally from South Africa. Madden says he is working his way round the world having lived in Indonesia, India and now Bahrain. He lives in one of the houses actually on the course. Must be worth a bob or two!

Here is a picture of the 18th fairway.

The big fence is to separate the driving range from the fairway and the water is there to make the fairway look much narrower than it really is. It was a great course but very narrow winding its way through the houses. It will be very interesting in January to see how the professionals play the course when the European tour comes here. I was also gifted a voucher for a free round worth about £108. By the way, for as good as the course is, NO course is worth that sort of money.

It was the school fair today and Sheila thinks that they have raised a tremendous amount of money with stalls representing many of the 65 or so nationalities that make up the school.

Tomorrow we may veture down the the very south of the island which is almost uninhabited. They have built a motorway to the south to service a new city but they havent built the city yet!

Weather is still fantastic. Perfect for golf and other outdoor activities. Thanks for the icy photos. We noticed that the shops have started displaying heaters because its getting a bit chilly here!!!!! The locals have clearly got no stomach for the cold.

Cheers for now
David

Lunch of the sun terrace.

Just thought you all might want to know that we have just enjoyed lunch on the roof terrace followed by a spot of sun bathing. It was a bit too hot so we had to come in to the air conditioned house for a bit.

David

"Snow day" in Bahrain

We dont actually have any snow in Bahrain to get an extra day off like you lot but we do have the King of Bahrain. He has graciously (and suddenly at 6pm tonight) given all of the schools the day off tomorrow. Now I would like to say that its in sympathy for the poor weather in Scotland but I think its actually because Bahrain has won some Culture or Heritage Award. Whatever the reason I thank him for the opportunity to relax tomorrow and have a long weekend.

I hope you are all managing to get along without access to the shops and provisions and I hope that it all melts before we come home. This time in two weeks we will be checking in for our flight home.

Cheers for now
David

You can take the girl out of Glenrothes ....

Whilst shopping last night we saw a couple of Christmas ornaments that were pipers. They were in full highland dress and Sheila just couldn't resist having a look up their kilts. She said she was checking to see if they were musical... yeah right! What do you think? Does the evidence speak for itself? Sorry about focus I had to be quick.

David

Happy St Andrews Day and Happy "Snow Day"

Have a great day and for those of you enjoying a "snow day" remember you are supposed to be at work so remember to get something useful done. Don't venture out unless absolutely necessary but keep the pictures coming. The students here are loving them. Most of them haven't seen snow!!

David

Friday Outing

After the golf today (enough said about that!!) we visitied the equivalent of the Roayal Highland Show in Bahrain. It was a kind of agricultural show with various animal based stand and stalls. There was a dog and bird show and various stalls. They sell wee ducklings and chicks in small cages. There were absolutely loads of them and people were taking them away in droves. I can't imagine it would be allowed in the UK.

We saw the world famous Lipizzaner Stallions Display team.

Apparently these horses are not born white. They are black or very dark brown and change to white after about 8 or 9 years. Just occasionally one reaches adulthoood and stays black or dark brown and its considered to be very lucky to have one.

Weather report? Well just look at the picture! It has to be said that when we were out about 7.30 last night getting some messages Sheila was heard to remark, "it's almost cool enough to need a jersey on". It is a little cooler at night. they say you need the heating on in mid winter but we'll need to wait and see. We are not sure if we have any heating!!! The air conditioning has a setting for "warm" but we havent needed to try it.

Counting the days now till the holidays.
Cheers for now
D&S

Everything comes to him that waits

I played golf last weekend at our club Awali with a couple of guys from Riffa Golf Club, thats the one with grass on it. It costs BD60 per round (£108) but one of the guys, Madden Broadbent originally from South Africa has invited me to play in one of their competitions. It is an "invite a friend" competition and Madden has asked me to play with him. Excellent, I say, a chance to play the grass course for free. I suppose they are hoping that the invited guests will want to join and I suppose most of them WILL want to join but whether thay can afford the fees is another matter. We have looked at those again but it only served to confirm that we wont be joining. I will have to make do with any kind invitations that come my way. Its a week on Friday, the last weekend before we come home to Scotland for the Christmas break. Lots to look forward to in the next couple of weeks.
Cheers for now
David

Christmas lights in Bahrain

If you recall when we went to pay our golf subscriptions the lady there suggested we join the Bapco club. Well we went there tonight just to have another look round. there was some 10 pin bowling competition or league in full swing and it was pretty busy. The club has put up some lights in the entrance driveway. It goes for a very long way and every tree is decked with lights. It looks splendid.
This is the entrance area to the club.

We will go back for a game of 10 pin when its not so busy. The snooker hall was fairly quite. It has 5 full size tables of very high quality.

Back to work tomorrow so I suppose I better start some preparation to make sure I know what I am doing.

Cheers for now.
David

Competition Report

Well I didn't win it if that's what you were expecting. I did make 2 birdies and 9 pars but the other 7 holes were the problem. I finished 8 over par on a handicap of 5 was too much. I finished in 20th place out of 43 starters. Allowing for a healthy spattering of bandits I felt that this was not too bad. It will take some time before I get to grips with the course and its foibles. I was in good company and enjoyed the game. The weather was, needless to say, fantastic.

Waiting for visitors tonight. We have invited Liam and Andrea (the couple who live on our compound and who helped us so much before during and after the move in) for wine and nibbles.

Just waiting for the house to cool down a bit because the air conditioning has been off for most of the day. I suppose you lot might have had to switch the heating on by now!!

TTFN
David

Holidays almost over

Ah well the holidays are almost over with only the weekend to go. I am playing my first competition at the golf club tomorrow at 7.30am whilst you lot are safely tucked up in bed. Its a shotgun start where everybody starts at the same time. I am starting at the 8th hole which is not too far a walk from the clubhouse. The people with furthest to walk at the start generally have furthest to walk at the end because you finish where you started. It means that theoretically everyone finishes at the same time. There is a social afterwards.

We met a Scottish couple at the golf club last night. They were very friendly and the woman is also a bit of as beginner. I think Sheila might play a game with Roz in the near future. She comes from Forfar and her hubby John from the west coast somewhere. It was good to meet and chat with someone from outwith the school because you dont end up talking shop all the time. Roz works in the hospital here and John is a readymix concrete chappie. It turns out that they live on a compound just a few streets away from us. I am sure we will hook up with them again.

We are watching the golf from Honk Kong at the moment. The weather there looks pretty good. How is it beside you? It was another scorcher here today. We had lunch on the roof terrace again but had to come in because it was too hot to stay out for too long. The coffee cup which was black was almost too hot too touch. It was hotter in the sunshine than it was when the coffee was in it.

We have been painting the kitchen today. It was a bit past it so we decided to liven it up by painting the tiles and kitchen unit doors. It is looking quite good now. Better than it did anyway. I am not cut out for the decorating lark. I start with great enthusiasm but when the job is not complete half an hour later I begin to fade and the standard goes down a little (which is not a good thing from a low start position).

Four weeks from right now we will be back in Bonny Scotland. See you all then.
David

Happy Birthday Mum

Have a happy birthday. Sending you our very best wishes for a lovely day. Will speak to you on Skype tonight. Might even be allowed to open one of our wine bottles to celebrate!

Lots of love from Sheila and David

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

X and one for good luck!

Today's golf update

Well today we played the back nine only for a couple of reasons. The car was getting its 1000km service and so we didn't get to the course till about 9am. When we arrived there were about a dozen oriental golfers milling around and getting ready to start. We decided it would be pretty slow playing behind them so just played the back nine.

I am very pleased to report that my Skycaddie mapping worked a treat and I knew the distances I was away from every green. I have sent my mapping to skycaddie who will publish the course if they are happy with it. I managed to get around in only 1 over par for the nine holes. Not bad, though I say so myself. I putted much better and am getting the hang of the wee mat thing.

Sheila is getting back into the swing of things and is getting much more confident again. We bought a practice net that we can use in one of the spare bedrooms. the ceiling is high enough for even me to do a full swing if I want to. The net should allow us to work on our short game indoors. We promise to take the net down if anyone books their flights to visit.

Here is Sheila on the 14th Tee. The hole is called "Missile Creek" and is one of the most intimidating T shots on the course. It is a par 3 and if you are looking for the fairway you will look for a while. There isn't one!! Just a whole load of wilderness and then the brown. Posture looks ok, set up fine.

The brown is just over Sheila's left shoulder if you zoom in you'll see the flag.

Going off now to have a wander round a market that we saw on the way to the golf. Will let you know if we find any bargains.

Sheila bought a Wii and Wii Fit with her birthday money so we are leaping about the livingroom like daft things to try to get a bit fitter. That definietley will not be Skyped so don't even think about asking.

Cheers for now.
David and Sheila

Final hurdle negotiated?

Today we finally a chance to visit the driving licence centre where we both obtained our Bahraini driving licence. Apart for a severe dose of open wallet surgery (£45 each) it was a straightforward if complex process. You go first to this desk then that desk, then the eyesight examination then back to desk one then wait a while then desk two again, then wait another while and then as if by magic a person appears with a nice plastic licence and a copy of the most bizarre highway code book. We each had to get one. It was not enough for one between two. Still we think that is all of the documentation obtained and there should be no more hoops to jump through or forms to fill. (Unless of course they decide we need something else).

Played golf again today. I have now mapped the whole course with my skycaddie so we'll see if it works tomorrow when we go back. The car is booked in for its 1000 km service tomorrow so we'll need to do that before we go golfing. Might be too hot to play a full 18 holes.

Here's a closer view of the brown and a couple of bunkers on the right and extreme left. The bit in between that looks most like a bunker is in fact fairway!

Here's a view over the course with the houses of Riffa in the background. there arent too many trees on the course but its remarkably easy to get behind one! The course reminds me of the landscape of the spaghetti westerns. I can see a bunch of horses running through the scrub with a trail of dust behind them. Today though it was helicopters from the nearby air base. Loads of them, they were obviously on some kind of training exercise.

The weather was once again awesome. It apparently stays like this now till April time when it starts to heat up! Anywat tea is served again. Magic restaurant this. Service pretty good you know. You must try it some time.

David

A stroke of luck

We went down to the BAPCO club tonight which is where we had to go to pay our golf subscription. BAPCO is the Bahrain Petroleum Company and they own the golf course. It is a bit like the dockyard used to be at Rosyth where inside their compound it is like a sort of small town. There are shops and offices and they have a members club which is where we had to go to pay our dues. BD300 for the year for a family membership.

Whilst paying I casually asked the nice lady if we could use all of the club facilities or only the golf. She told me that it was only the golf unless we joined the BAPCO club too. She then astounded us by saying that we could fill out the membership form there and then and if we were BAPCO members our golf would be cheaper. The whole cost including this BAPCO membership was only BD245 saving us almost £100!! How good was that. It means that we can use all the facilities of their club and play golf for less than the cost of the golf alone. We havent fully investigated what the club has to offer but it looked very nice and I am sure we will find something of interest.

We picked up a what's on guide and noticed some sort of bowling competition. Not sure whether 10 pin, short mat or what but it sounds interesting.

Up late tonight, nearly 11 o'clock as I type so I better get going before I fall alseep here in the chair.

Och aye the noo.
David

Application success

Just had a phone call from the Golf Club saying that we have been accepted and can complete the application process. That is fantastic news and perfectly timed because we were planning to play every day during the holidays and that would have been somewhat wasted money. Now we can play as members at no additional cost. I can also get into the competitions and see how it goes. Watch this space.

I am going out for dinner tonight with the science department staff. Sheila is not going but she is not too disappointed because she had to force an indian meal down once already here and is none to keen to repeat the process. I on the other hand am very much looking forward to sampling the delights of apparently one of the best indian restaurants on the island. Sheila has just finished her macaroni and cheese delight!
David

More rain

Ah well I suppose. This place is going downhill rapidly! Today we had another thunderstorm and severe downpour. Again it only lasted a few minutes and it was warm rain but rain nevertheless. Winter has really set in as the temperature is down to about 27 degrees. It does feel a bit chilly.

I'll try to get a picture if I can but it was all pretty much dried up by the time we got out of school. Only a few roadside puddles were left to hint at the happenings of a short time earlier.

Still its good for the seedlings which are by now truning into plants of significant proportions. We will need to consider re-potting them this weekend.

Only two days now till the holidays so I hope this weather perks up a bit before then.

Cheers for now
D

Rain, rain, we saw rain

Yesterday while I was in Dubai a big black cloud rolled across and a thurder and lightning storm erupted. And I wasnt here to see it!! However whilst on the way to the airport I was caught in a downpour in Dubai. Mind you its still 27 degrees so it is warm rain and it didnt last long.

Safely home from Dubai and heading for bed soon.
David

Golf again

Note Sheila's accuracy stats have gone up a notch. She very cleverly got the ball to stop on that wee green patch ready for her next shot! Here she takes aim ready for her approach to the brown.

We played today in glorious weather. We have to keep reminding ourselves that its November. It certainly doesnt feel like November. I just had to take a picture of the water hazard. No golf course is complete without a water hazard so I grabbed a snap of this one as we passed.

The humps of dry sandy earth represent the waves and if your ball goes in there you are in the water and you have to take a penalty drop. You are allowed to wade in and get your ball back though!

Here is the picture of the car I promised.

Getting ready now for trip to Dubai. Might try to blog on the move but no guarantees.
D&S

Hey hey hey its the weekend

Another Thursday arrives already. I like Thursdays now. Looking forward to the golf again on Saturday and then off to Dubai on Saturday night for my course on Sunday and Monday. I am looking forward to the course but not really to being away. I fly back on Monday evening.

Next Thursday will be even better because then it will be the holidays and a chance to re-charge the batteries for the final surge to the Christmas holidays which will then be only another three and a half weeks away.

Better get my shopping list done.
See you all soon
D

Phew!

Good evening dudes and dudettes. I notice that your clocks have changed so the skyping window in the evening is reduced, on account that we are in bed at a ridculously early hour. Still we can chat till we drop off.

I am pleased to report that the money we last saw in the Bahrain finance house has arrived in my bank account in Scotland just in time for the mortgage to come out. Phew, that was close, arrived same day. There was no panic really but I am glad it arrived, albeit minus some commission and a crappy exchange rate meant that what I thought would be nearly £900 was only £800 by the time it got to Scotland. Somebody is making a fat whack of dosh out of those exchanges. We have to pay a fee at BOTH ends and the exchange rate is not great. Still look on the bright side 800 out of 900 is better than never seeing the money again!

I used to hate Mondays because there was almost a full week to go. Now I love Mondays because when Monday is over I am almost half way through the week and all of my "free" periods come in the last three days. I say "free" but in that regard its just like Kinross, lots of covering for other teachers and then there is cafeteria duty and playground duty, oh yes and front of school duty to attend to. They are not onerous tasks but they do use up what is supposed to be preparation and planning time. Mind you I have to remember to take my sun glasses with me because it's too bright standing out the front of school in the blazing sunshine.

There is now only the rest of this week and one full week to go before the "mid term" holiday. It is very late this year because it is governed by Eid (pronounced eed) which is an Islamic holiday and so we are only back for three weeks after mid-term and it will be end of term. I also have two days in Dubai next week so that will shorten it still further. We are beginning to look forward to returning to the cold and wet for a couple of weeks and to seeing you all again. Will we need to bring a jersey?

New car is going great but I will have to order a small step ladder for Babs and Dave to help them into it. It is so high that Sheila too needs to clamber up to get in. We are still not sure what to do with our November break but a goodly helping of golf seems favourite. Hopefully we will be members by then to keep the cost down as each paying  BD7.500 (double it then take 10% off) every day will be quite costly. Still it will be worth it. If I have my membership I might even treat myself to a game at Riffa, the grass course. I will have to bite down and swallow hard when I hand over my BD60.000 though. At least I can be sure my round wont be spoiled by pouring rain after 2 holes.

Still keeping up the swimming although not at the weekend this week. I had a couple of days off. Somehow it is easier to get up with the alarm at 5.30am and jump in the pool than it is to get in after rising at 7 on the weekend.

That's all the news for now. Many of you have said that you enjoy reading this blog so I will keep it going for now. If you are posting a comment it would be useful to others if you choose the option at the bottom of the list where you choose Name URL. Just type your name and leave the URL bit blank. So come on lets hear your comments. Keep it clean though, there are children reading this!!!

A' the best
D&S

First Golf Game

Today was the first of hopefully many games at Awali Golf Club. Sheila was in school at an important meeting so I jollied off to the golf. It wasnt busy because only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. I started about 9am and it was beautiful. There was a nice cooling breeze and alone I ventured into the unknown. I had no idea where each hole was but the club steward assured me it would be difficult to go wrong. Thankfully he was correct.

I only played 15 holes because by 11.30 the sun was blisteringly hot and I decided it was not wise to stay out in it for much longer so I walked in from the 15th under the shade of my umbrella. I had managed 5 pars in the 15 holes and 10 "others" that varied from bogey to triple bogey, woops! It wasnt easy because (a) I had no idea how far I was from the greens, er I mean browns and (b) I had no idea how far I would hit each club. I found the ball flies MUCH further than in Scotland. If I am accurate enough at least two of the par 5s I played will be reachable in two shots.

Here is a view of I think the 9th brown from behind the green. The fairway goes off into the distance.

You can see one of the wee men who sweep the browns sitting in the shade of the trees. The browns are covered in a loose oiled sand and its remarkably like putting on grass. Similar sort of speed. Of course you leave foot prints everywhere so they need to be swept regularly. You dont realise how many steps you take when putting until you look back at a green where every step is obvious.

I am looking forward to going back next weekend when I will try to be there a bit earlier so that I can get all the way round before it gets too hot. Hopefully Sheila will play too.

Well its tea time again so I dont want to be rude to the chef.
Cheers for now
David

Marathon event

Today we visited the Bahrain International Raceway where the Formula 1 season holds one of its races. It was the scene of the start and finish of the Bahrain Relay Marathon. The school had a student team and a staff team entered. The staff team managed a very creditable 3 hrs 40 minutes but the students managed once again to beat them although this time by only 5 minutes. Staff have never managed to beat the students. Each runner runs about 3 km and its 46km in total, a little over marathon distance.
Here is the staff anchor man Paul Millington crossing the finish line. Note the late October weather!

Managed to return the hire car to the airport this morning and the Actyon performed really well today. It cost us £8.40 to fill it with fuel because it is a big car after all.

Went in to the finance house to send some money back. Like much of Bahrain life it all seemed a bit dubious. I will rest easier when I see that the money has arrived safely in my bank account. I have also managed to set up internet banking now too and so hopefully that will allow me to transfer from the comfort of my own livingroom.

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying this recent fine spell of weather.
David

New car arrangements

New car arrangements. Fahad, the friendly and very helpful car salesman promises to arrange to pick us up from school at 4pm to take us to collect our new car. I am impressed with Fahad and trust his ability to deliver. I have stressed to him that I cannot and do not take phone calls during the school day and he seems ok with this. On occasions he has text me and we have communicated effectively using this medium.

Today at 1pm a man arrives at school with my new car. I am on duty at the break and have to leave my post to deal with this. The delivery man tells me that they work only half day on a Thursday and here is my car.

I am not a happy bunny but in the interests of an easy life I accept the car which is fine. I drove it home and a short time later Sheila drove our rental car home alone without incident. It was her first solo trip doing all the navigation and driving and avoiding crashing into mad motorists. Mind you a large percentage of them are not actually on the road so you cant really crash into them. There are no kerbs at the sides of many of the roads so they just off road it to pass you especially if you are in a queue waiting at the lights and stuff. You really have to see it to believe it.

Not much goes smoothly but it goes all the same. I will post an actual picture of the car soon. My wee man that washes it will think he has had a bit of a raw deal agreeing to wash a wee Nissan Tiida and ending up washing a humungous Ssangyong Actyon. Still all's fair in love and war, and I do pay him 5 Dinars a week for three washes, three chamois downs, removal of our rubbish bags and the occasional spot of garden tidying so he can't complain at that!

Looking forward to my first golf action since arriving. I haven't really missed it because we have been so busy but now that I am close to playing again I am beginning to get excited. It will be the first time I will have putted on a brown! they call the greens browns on account of the fact that they are brown. they have no grass only a lightly oiled sand. You leave footprints in the sand so theres a wee man (not the same wee man who does my car but a different wee man) who walks along with a brush and brushes the brown between one group playing and the next. Sounds like fun.

Well it's bedtime soon to will sign off now.
David and Sheila

OK Judith the pressure's on

Tonight we found the booze shop and we are back with a half cupboard full and a threat about what will happen to me if I start to drink it! It isnt cheap but then again its not as bad as the coffee or the haggis. We have enough to keep Judith going for a couple of days but will get more in when the flights are booked so no worries on that score. Tomorrow is our last day before the weekend and another week has passed. The weeks are just flying in.

Friday is Bahrain relay marathon where a marathon course is covered by relay teams. The school has a team in but we are not running. We will go along and shout some support from the sidelines.

have been in the pool at 5.30 every day this week so managing to keep up the routine. Tomorrow is the last day of 14 lengths then its up to 16. Going to keep increasing every week until I get to 20. It will take too much time in the morning to exceed that.

Excited about getting our new car toomorrow too. have learned not to get over excited though. Spanners find their way into the works all too easily here. Sheila will need to drive one of the cars to the airport on Friday so that we can return the hire car.

D

PS seeds are coming along nicely.

New Car

All appears to be going swimmingly with the new car deal. We had to visit the garage last night to sign the lease and write out 24 post dated cheques for the entire duration of the lease. My arm was hanging off. I tried to tell them about direct debit but alas to no avail! Anyway thats us fixed up for the duration of our stay (and a wee bit extra - still seemed the best deal). We get the car tomorrow after school. If that goes equally swimmingly it will be a brand new blue SSangyong Actyon 2.3 litre automatic just like the previous picture, if not, well it could be just about anything. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday was payday, the last in cash. We didnt have our bank account in time to get paid straight into it this time so its a wad of cash in a white envelope and not a word to the taxman. Oops sorry there is no taxman.

Well time is pressing again and if there is to be a third pay packet I better get myself in to school.
Toodle-oo the noo.
D

Two months in and still standing

Well that's almost two months in and we are still surviving. Our very busy period is probably now behind us and we are beginning to settle in to a less hectic lifestyle. The house is organised with only a few non-emergency bits and pieces needed to complete it. The car is ordered and we should get that in the next couple of days as long as the lease is approved.

I am planning to play golf this weekend, at least on the driving range if not the course and we can start to explore the island and some of the tourist attractions. We will try to put together a visitors guide in time for anyone who stops by. I am naturally finding less to blog about as our lifestyle settles so the time may be near for the updates to stop or at least slow down a little. I dont really want it to turn into meaningless posts about us going to the shops for the messages! I know from the feedback that many of you have enjoyed reading the updates and I have enjoyed reading the comments that you have added.

Time for work now so will sign off meantime.
David

Seedling report and other stuff.

I am pleased to say that Sheila's seedlings are coming along nicely and we will soon be eating the produce! It's the weekend again and we have finally had the opportunity to relax on the roof terrace for a while. The weather here now is what you dream about for your holidays. It is very sunny although it is still too hot to lie out in the middle of the day. It was perfect at 10am this morning. Whilst on the roof terrace I took the opportunity to take a picture that shows that Bahrain is not immune to the financial difficulties being experienced all around the world. A lot of building work was stopped here when the crisis hit and probably one of the biggest projects to stop is visible from our roof terrace. The picture is zoomed in so they are not as close as they appear in this picture.

You can see six tower blocks under cosntruction but the cranes have not moved for over a year. There are at least another 4 towers there that can't be seen from this angle. I shudder to think how much money has been laid out so far with nothing in return. It is not clear when they will start again but I hope it is not too soon. All of the traffic for those blocks will have to go through the road system behind our villa to get to ANYWHERE on the island because we are in the very northwest corner and they are even northwester than us!! The noise won't be a problem but if you imagine one car per flat that's a lot of traffic on top of what is already a pretty busy highway.

Sheila has been driving me to work this week to get the hang of driving on the other side. She will need to be confident before I go to Dubai because she will be on her own for those two days. I have no doubt about her ability to cope. I will be flying out on the Saturday night and returning on the Monday.

Must go now cause its getting too hot in here. The air con needs turning up a bit (or down depending on your perspective)
D

Dubai Trip is on

Yesterday I got confirmation that my trip to Dubai is going ahead early next month. I will have two days training delivered by the examination board that we use at the British School. I wont have much free time in Dubai so won't see much if any of the place. Maybe just enough to allow us to plan a visit there later.

Sheila got her CPR card yesterday so that's us both legal residents here in Bahrain. We just need to apply for Bahraini driving licences (yes they do have them) and that will be all of the administration tasks completed, I think.

The weekend is upon us once again. I think there are only two orr three weeks left till the November holiday and then three weeks after that it is the Christmas holiday and we will be travelling back to Sunny Scotland for a couple of weeks of cool down.

Cheers for now
David

Greeting the new arrivals

I am delighted to report this morning the Sheila is the proud parent of a few wee green seedlings which have popped their little heads into the sunlight. We will be eating the produce before too long and the roadside market garden may in fact be a reality if stuff grows this fast. They were planted on Saturday morning and already have popped up.
TTFN
D

Faith restored

Abdullah did indeed manage to collect the parcel for Sheila and it was found to contain a lovely digital photo frame pre-loaded with numerous pictures of ALL the family (little "in joke" there) not just some of them! Its a great reminder of home and much appreciated. Thanks to Nicola, Ashley and Michael. Your other pictures are now hanging on the wall.

We managed to open a bank account tonight so our money should get paid in soon and we should be able to manage our account online. We have been promised a chequebook, (remember them?) and a bank card to get cash from the hole in the wall machines. All very normal really.

I have booked a test drive in a SSangyong Actyon on Saturday. If all goes well we will order one and lease it for the duration of our stay. It will be brand new, 2.3 litre automatic. Just like this:

They are Korean but have Mercedes engines and gearboxes. Just like everything else here, many things can happen to scupper the plan but at the moment it looks to be full steam ahead. Its interesting to note that their payment arrangements for the lease are that we supply them with a bundle of signed, post dated cheques and they cash them one at a time every month (ahh the cheque book will be handy after all). I must tell them about direct debits! The car we saw is the same colour as the one above but there is also a deep wine colour which was also really nice. We haven't yet driven one so we need to check that its comfy and easy for Sheila to drive. Its pretty big.

Got a rug for the livingroom tonight so we are almost there, or so we think. We always think that the next thing will be the last but we keep realising there's something else needed. We picked up a corkscrew last night. It was really hard to find one in the shops but where there's a will ... you know the rest. That just leaves me needing to locate the booze shop and then Judith can book her flight!

Chow for now
David and Sheila

More surprises in the post

Thanks yet again for the new surprises in the post. A parcel has arrived from New Zealand and the long lost parcel from Nicola, Ashley and Michael appears to have turned up. It has been held at the post office in Muharraq but we should be able to collect it later today or maybe tomorrow. We will probably enlist the help of Abdullah, the local magician who extricated my infra-red pens when they were impounded. Abdullah is a local man employed by the school as a liaison officer. He works his magic in keeping the school and the local authorities on the same track. He knows how things work and what needs to be done, where and when.

Off to work again soon.
C U l8r
D

Sunday Sleepy Sunday

Good morning campers. 6am Sunday morning and already been in the pool. Today is the first day of our week and we are back to work. I hope you get nice weather for your Sunday off. It's "Think Pink" day here where money is raised for breast cancer so we have had to look out our pink stuff. Sheila has lots of choice but I am restricted to my tie! Still its the thought (and the money) that counts.

I had fire training yesterday even though it was my day off. I had to go to the local fire company and receive some training about fire extinguishers. There was nothing new in it for me as I have done all that stuff before. Mercifully the 3 hour training only lasted for 1 hr 15 minutes so I was home early.

Sheila has planted some lettuce in a wee garden box on the roof terrace. If its a success we will get a few more and maybe open up one of those stalls at the side of the road selling our market garden produce. Well  .....  maybe not but if we get a few leaves of greenery to munch on that would be great.

We were looking at cars yesterday again. We are once again facing the decision of how to proceed. Now that I have my CPR card buying is an option. We looked at a lease yesterday of a SSangyong Actyon. A kind of jeep thing from Korea. Looks really nice and robust! Not a hugely roomy motor but there are only the two of us and the golf clubs would go in if the seats are folded down. What more do we need?

Have a great holiday to those of you who have just started two weeks break and commiserations to those who haven't.
Chow for now
D

On the road again

Today Sheila had her very first drive on the right side of the road. We have visited and driven in several countries where they drive on the right but Sheila has never given it a try. Today being Friday and the roads being markedly quieter she decided to have a short spell behind the wheel. I am pleased to report that there were no untoward incidents. She will have a few goes driving me to and from school in the next couple of weeks because I have applied for some inservice training early in November. Now unlike Scotland the inservice training is not very local. Edexcel the exam board we use are running training for people new to the courses and it is in Dubai. I will have to fly there in the morning and return the next evening after two days training. It might only be the one day but I am not sure yet. Like everything else in Bahrain it might not even happen.

We handed in our applications for the golf club and had a wee drive around that area. We were near to the Bahrain International Racing Circuit where the Formula 1 Grand Prix takes place. This car seems to have missed the road a bit.

Got the sun loungers and did a bit of sun lounging on the roof so we are all lounged out now. We also passed by the Lost Paradise of Dilmun (LPoD) which is Bharain's water theme park. We will visit there soon and check it out for you. There seems to be a lot of new construction there. It wasn't clear whether it was new thrill rides or new apartments or probably both. I don't suppose it will be any kind of match for the Disney water parks in Florida but since it's really the only one it will have to do. Watch this space in the coming weeks.
D

Contact Update

Our UK mobile phones are now out of action (until we return to Scotland) so if anyone is sending text messages you will need to use our Bahrain mobile numbers. If you dont have them and need them then send us an email or contact Nicola, Ashley or Michael. I am sending them a complete list of contact numbers.

Another weekend is upon us. The "cooler" weather is not in fact cooler but the humidity level has dropped dramatically (as it sometimes does) and so it is VERY VERY pleasant here now. There is a refreshing breeze and of course glorious wall to wall sunshine. I am told that the humidity levels can go back up at any time. maybe some kind geography teacher (John "fount of all knowledge" Blackwood) reading this will have time to explain. Enjoy your break in Granada John and Ruth.

Planning another visit to the golf course today to hand in our application forms. May have a wee bash at the driving range to see if I can remember what to do. Also going for our sun loungers today. It's time the roof terrace saw some action other than visits to the washing machine (did I mention that the washing machine is on the roof in a wee shed thing?).

No sign of the wee car cleaning man today. Maybe he has Fridays off. I suppose I can't grudge him that.
Chow for now
D

Sheila takes the class

Such is life in Bahrain that when there is no one else to cover the class in an emergency then the personal assistant to the Director steps up to the mark. Sheila was asked to cover the last 15 minutes of the lesson whilst the teacher had to leave. Needless to say the students came on in leaps and bounds and now they understand home economics better than ever. I am not sure if it has given her a taste of life at the chalk face or not but as usual she coped admirably. What a gal!
D

Remember we thought the coffee was expensive?

Tonight we were shopping in Alosra supermarket getting a few messages when I spotted a McSween's haggis. Alongside were some other fresh haggi (haggi being the plural of haggis) priced at .... wait for it ..... BD9.30. Can you remember how to convert? Double it and take away 10% so I'll save you the maths ... £16.74 for a wee ball haggis. It wasn't the sort of thing you would see at a Burns supper for 50, it was the sort of thing that you would doubt whether it was actually big enough for two! Haggis will have to wait till we get home. I suppose someone must buy them or they wouldn't stock them but to be sure it wont be us.

It has definitely turned cooler tonight. All of a sudden it is feeling much cooler. According to the internet it is still 27 degrees but it feels much cooler than that. Don't get me wrong, it's not cold but markedly cooler. I am not sure how permanent it is. We'll have to see tomorrow.

Best wishes to all
David and Sheila

Postman Pat arrives again

Many thanks for the cards and gifts arrived today in the post for Sheila's birthday. She has been trying hard to forget but the cards keep arriving and reminding her.

Had my first parents evening today. They call it evening but its from 3pm till 5.30pm. Hardly an evening but its great from my point of view.

Remember I said I had hired the wee man to wash my car. What I didnt realise is that he washes the car every other day and wipes it over with a chamois leather on the alternate days. It's never looked so clean. What a man! He takes our rubbish away and tends to the garden leaving nothing for us to do except soak up the sun. Now that I have my CPR residency card I can buy a car if I want to. We will be doing some serious car hunting over the next couple of weeks to finalise whether to buy or lease until the summer. I also can now apply for my Bahraini driving licence which I have to do although it looks doubtful if any of the locals have one! Anything goes on the roads here. If a junction is busy people just go off road and bypass the junction altogether. If there is a big queue waiting to turn at traffic lights you can be sure that someone will drive right up to the front and then cut in to the space in front of you. Driving licence!!!

Chicken lasagne for tea tonight. I can smell it from here.
Cheers for now
David

Anxious wait is over

I know you will have been waiting anxiously to see the new coffee table, so here it is. It came flat pack at our request so that we could fit it in the car so I had to build it. I'm sure you will agree that I have lost none of my magic touch with the phillips screwdriver and spanner. Still liked the other one better but I expect to be nearly alone in my view.

OK here goes

It still has to have a rug fitted underneath on the floor but we haven't seen exactly what we want yet. That search goes on.



Have been in the pool this morning again. That's three mornings on the trot. Alarm at 5.30 in pool by 5.32, swim 10 lengths and then two warm down lengths. Planning to build it up to more as the weeks progress. Makes you feel great before going off to work, which by sheer coincidence is what I must do now.
Ta ta for now
D

TV installation

Things are definitely looking up here. The TV installation man arrived as planned and fitted our dream box. We now have a zillion channels but sorting the good stuff from the rest will take a bit of time. We were back at work again today. The weeks are just flying by. It won't be long till our November break and then it will be time for Santa. I hope you are all started your Christmas shopping. We saw a shop here with trees and decorations. They look so out of place here.

I have been meaning to say that despite the lack of clouds at night there are virtually no starts to be seen. The light pollution from the city must be really bad. I am not sure what it will be like in the south of the island where hardly anybody lives. I will try to have a look if we are down that way at night and let you know.

Settling in to the villa now. Has a swim this morning at 5.30 before work and plan to do so every morning as long as I can get up. I went out at that time to find that my wee gardner-come-car wash chap had already washed my car and was working on some others. Did I mention I had employed a gardner-come-car-wash chap? No? It seems only right and proper to give some employment to the locals who work hard for a pittance. He works on site for several of the others. I think there are a few of them. We had one of the maids at the door looking for work the other day. We might give her a few hours too.

Cheers for now
D&S

Larry spotted again - outside!

I have spotted Larry the lizard again only I think he is really a gecko. He was lurking outside the window on the wall so I asked him to hold still for a minute while I took a photo.

He's only small but perfectly formed.

On another matter we are getting a new coffee table today to fill the space in front of the suite. You'll see below a picture of the one I wanted but Sheila didn't like it. You all know who the boss is in our relationship. I thought you would like to see it anyway. I thought it was ace.  Its shaped like an S which I thought perfect for the Spittals. The little stools are topped with white leather and there were a couple of wee cubby holes into which you could put things. It could have become a kind of man drawer. Anyway it is not to be because we have ordered another one. I might upload a picture of it when we get it for you to compare. We might even have a vote. That way I will definitely know that my taste is all in my mouth.

Well that's as near as I get to it. Just waiting for the TV man who is coming at 4.30 to install our satellite dish and receiver. We will then have over 2000 channels to choose from. That is not a mistype, I did say two thousand. I wonder how many we will be able to understand.
Cheers
D

Pictures at last

Morning all from sunny Bahrain. It is once again a beautiful morning with no signs of cooling down. Here is the first picture of our new home. We occupy everything in this picture except the leftmost window which is part of the villa next door.

The pool is shared between all of the sixteen houses on the compound. I swam my 10 lengths this morning and intend to do so every morning before work. I will send a link to everyone on my email list inviting you to view the other pictures. If you dont get an invitation and you want to see them just send me a mail.

We nearly had a disaster last night and I do mean disaster. We were driving along outside a row of shops and restaurants looking for something to eat when a small boy about 7 or 8 ran from a shop right across the road immediately in front of us. We missed him by inches but unfortunately the car coming the other way didnt. I could see what was about to happen but was powerless to stop it. The boy went up over the bonnet and then fell to the road. He was apparently uninjured in the event although obviously a bit shaken by his experience. The adults with him dragged him back into the shop and we saw no more. The driver of the other car was badly shaken as you would be. I am very glad it was not me. That's the second accident we have witnessed in two days. We saw another one happen at the roundabout near to our house. Let's hope there's no number three.

Cheers for now
D&S

Would you believe it?

I called in tonight at about 5.30 pm local time and bought an internet connection thingy. We went and bought some bits and bobs and returned to the villa. I plugged it in and followed the instructions and what do you know. We are connected to the internet already. No encounters with a wee man and a brown envelope, no site surveys, no hassle, nowt. It just shows you that some things CAN happen quickly here. I hope to post some pics of the villa soon as I know you are dying to see it. remember it's not spectacular but it is cheap! well relatively speaking cheap. Housing is very expensive here compared to Scotland.

Sheila got more presents from postman pat here today. I think they just hand over one parcel a day to make sure they have something to hand over tomorrow. Thanks to Colin Judith and Valerie for the lovely surprise. Sheila is none the worse for her new status and at least she is not as old as Valerie. Happy birthday tomorrow.

Ok enough for now. I have to start my quest to get a TV package installed. let's hope it goes as smoothly as the internet one did.

Best wishes
D&S

Opening night success

I am delighted to report that the first night in the new place was a great success. We have a pet lizard that we are not sure how to get rid of. His name is Larry (or Lorraine) and he (she) lurks about the high walls. They are pretty timid creatures and scurry off into a corner if you go near. We will need to see if there is some kind of trap so that we can release it outside.

House is looking good and I am pleased to report that we are now officially receiving visitors. get your flights booked and we'll get the spare beds organised. Special offer, free accomodation for every flight booked, free transport to/from Bahrain international airport, free use of swimmingpool and roof terrace.

I believe KLM have cheap flights on offer right now so what are you waiting for? Better weather?
David and Sheila

We're on the move

Last night we picked up the keys of the villa and it is looking good. We have checked out of the apartment and tonight we sleep in the new gaff. Pictures will follow as soon as I can but it will take a few days, maybe months! to get the internet up and running there. Watch this space.

Sheila sends a special thanks for all the gifts, cards texts and skype messages of sympathy ... woops congratulations on the occasion of her momentous birthday. As always she is taking it in her stride.
D

Oh No Five O!

Well Sheila has finally caught me up and today is the momentous occasion. Sheila is 50 .... but enough of that I am sure you are more interested in the progress of the house. Well it's like this. The electricity man DID arrive at the house and he DID have a look around and he read the meter and he left. Apparently that's enough for one day here in Bahrain. He said that they would actually switch the electricity on today. I think it's another man who does that. So alas we couldnt move in.

That brings me back to the subject of Sheila's 50th. She looks much the same and is her usual unexcited self. A big parcel arrived yesterday and she was absolutely delighted with its contents. A huge picture of our three beautiful children. It is exactly what she wanted and she could not have received a more perfect gift. There were cards and money and she thanks you all for those. A shopping spree is on the cards but you know Sheila she is not sure what she wants. I suggested a Bose sound system and a 42" TV but she didn't seem too keen on those! I am not sure why.

Anyway here is what she looks like at 50

Not bad eh? I happen to think there's not a bit out of place. Her hair is getting quite long if you compare it to not so long ago (see below).

Happy Birthday, I love you loads.

Back to the house saga. I have made an executive decision that even if we get the electricity on today (which is by no means certain) we will not move in tonight. It is not the way I had envisaged spending her 50th birthday. So here's the plan. I will take her out for a nice meal. We will stay at the apartments again tonight and I will have the internet reconnected for a day so that we can have a skype chat with the family and anyone else who wants when we get back. That is likely to be around 7pm (ish) Scotland time. Watch for us coming online around then. Remember it is Bahrain and the internet at the apartment did prove to be unreliable at times so we will just have to hope all goes well with that plan. We will then move to the villa on Wednesday if we are connected.

Managed to see the very end of the golf after following it on the internet during the day. Magnificent Monty rallies his troops to a great win. Well done boys.

OK enough for now.
David

The further adventures of an electricity man

Hi Folks, I have no doubt you will be on the edge of your seats awaiting the next instalment of the "Electric connection". Yesterday I telephoned the man again and an arrangement to meet was duly made. At the villa? Eh no! At the electricity board office? Eh .... No! Outside the police station in Budaiya? Eh .... Yes! Only when I got there the man from the electricity company was not there. But his wee brother was. Ah well in for a Fil in for a Dinar, I spoke to him and he seemed very nice. I duly handed over the BD100 deposit (£180) and a copy of my documnetation and off he went happy as Larry. I thought to myself, "I'll be lucky if I see him or the money again" but I didnt feel I had a choice. Anyway, a few minutes ago, whilst I am typing this my phone went. I answered to hear a fine sounding chap from the electricity company making an arrangement to switch the electricity on this morning after 8 o'clock. I am not counting any chickens but it looks very promising. Remember that all of the electrical appliances have still to be tested and the air conditioning checked. There's a lot can go wrong yet. Managed to watch the exciting golf yesterday but it looks like we will miss the actual climax today. Still, if that is because we are actually getting moved in then that's an acceptable situation. Looks like we will have no internet in place for Tuesday which is a big day for Sheila. I have a meeting after school so I thought we might hang around in school after that for a while so that we can maybe have a skype chat to any of you who are available at that time. I am planning to take her out for a nice meal in the evening and we will do present shopping after a few days when we are settled into the villa. If I can get internet in the villa by then we can skype away after the meal but I am sorry I am not optimistic for that. I will try my very best though. We will just have to make up for it when we do get connected again.
Cheers for now
D

An somewhat challenging weekend

Well as you already know the move didn't happen. Why? Because the electricity man who promised to meet us to get us switched on failed to materialise. Maybe he was watching the golf or maybe he just had more important things to do. It seems you have to get very used to officialdom here in Bahrain. The job gets done if and when the officials get round to it and not before. There's no point trying to pressure them or the like because that just makes them find other jobs that need doing before yours. We are very cool about the whole thing and won't let it stress us. We will get in when we get in and thats that. We have a roof over our heads at the apartment and some money in our pocket. Millions of people can only dream about that.

On the bright side all of the furniture is in place. The bed set was delivered yesterday and the team of delivery men (yes team of men - 4 I think, maybe 5  - they were milling about like a swarm of locusts) assembled the bed in a few minutes in extreme heat - no air conditioning remember - on account that the wee man from the electric company ..... you get the idea. We spent the weekend getting all of the essentials in place so we can move in whenever the electricity is connected again. Hopefully that will be today but what the heck. If its tomorrow its tomorrow or maybe ......

Another bright side was we were able to watch the golf on TV. The overnight position looks good but I fear it actually will benefit the Americans. They are sleeping on a very determined mood to recapture lost ground. The Europeans are feeling good but may lack the bite needed on resumption. Let's hope for a grandstand finish and some fine weather for the Sunday. We are back at work today which reminds me I better get started. Please remember we only have internet at school at the moment and its likely to be like that for a good few days to come.

Cheers for now
David and Sheila

The move that was not a move

Move to villa did not happen. Back at apartment. Such is life in Bahrain. More info to follow. David

Another near catastrophe

It never suns but it shines, doesnt sound the same does it. Yesterday I was just a few minutes from having the last double period free when the school fire alarm went. As is usually the case I thought it was a fire drill but to my surprise on starting to go downstairs I quickly realised that the building was indeed on fire. A gas oven in a home economics room had burst into flames. Fortunately it was mostly smoke and it was quickly brought under control with damage limited to the one room and no one injured. I therefore spent my entire double period and break supervising the whole school. Now in Scotland we dread going outside in such circumstances when it is cold and wet. Let me assure you it is no better in the blistering heat! I suppose that means there is NO good time to be outside with the entire school population. The only difference here was when the school director asked ALL of the school pupils to be quiet and listen they did just that. Every pupil lined up in their form classes and waited for further instruction. The all behaved impeccably. Compare with fire evacuations in every school I have worked in so far ... no need for further comment.
Very sorry to hear about Sheila Zielinec. She was an institution.
School briefing in 5 minutes so must dash.
David

Nearly a catastrophe

All went well with our visit to LMRA (Labour Market Regulatory Authority) where we were seen in record time and got photographed and fingerprinted for our residency permits. One step closer to official status here. I realise why they need fingerprints and thought it would never be relevant to us .... ..... until we went back to the apartments. We duly entered the lift as normal and went up to the sixth floor. we got out and Sheila tried to put the key in ther lock. It wouldnt go in as normal and she fiddled for a while trying to get the door open. I was getting a bit impatient with her lack of dexterity when I suddenly realised that we were in fact on the EIGHTH floor trying to break into someone else's apartment! Another woops! I thought I might be arrested only hours after getting fingerprinted. Needless to say it was me who pressed the wrong button on the lift and to be fair all of the landings are identical.

I only have internet at work meantime so we will be out of skype contact for a few days until we get settled into the new place. Everything seems on track there so far. The new washing machine, dishwasher and fridge/freezer should arrive today and tomorrow with the bed on Saturday. We hope to be sleeping there by Saturday night.

Must go because the pupils will be arriving in a few minutes.
David

Coffee anyone?

It is with mixed feelings that I have to report that I have found a stockist of Douwe Egberts Continental Gold Coffee, the brand I drank at home. With excitement building I reached up to the shelf to check that it was indeed the same stuff. Bingo, the very same. A quick check of the label revealed that the big jar costs only BD 6.300. How much is that again? Remember the formula if you will to convert to pounds. Double it and take ten percent back off so that's, let me see, two times 6.3 is £12.60 take off £1.26 is a mere £11.34 a jar. Mind you it is the big jar. Needless to say I didn't like it that much and the jars are all still on the shelf.
Ah well the gruel tastes much better now.
D

One Month Down

Hi Folks, that's the first month in and we are still enjoying life here. The weather is still fantastic with little or no sign of it cooling off. It's still 38 during the day and 30 at night. I am pleased to report that Sheila's hairdo was a success. I am sure you will all have been anxiously awaiting the outcome! Next job is to find a decent barber for me. I beleive the going rate is about 500 Fils so that's about 90p. I am not sure exactly what to expect for 90p. I give a bigger tip than that in Kirkcaldy.

Our internet deal here at this apartment finishes tonight and I am not renewing for another month when we will only be here for another week. Their daily rate is extortionate so you might not hear from us as often. I'll try you keep you posted from school or using my mobile to update the blog. We cant get permanent internet in to the villa until our residency permit comes through and that could be some time yet. Pay day tomorrow. I must remember to take a wheelbarrow as we get paid in cash. You can't open a bank account here either till your residency papers are processed. It is apparently a process that cannot be rushed. Not because it takes a long time but just because they process them when they are good and ready and not before! The saying here is Inshallah which literally means "God willing" but really means, "if and when I get around to it".

Cheers for now.
David and Sheila

Plan B comes to fruition

Plan B swung into operation this morning and, with somewhat less than military precision, the sofa set was finally delivered to the villa. It probably would have helped a little if I had given them the correct name for the compound. That reminds me, I better go back to the shop where we bought the bed set and tell them what the correct address is too. It might help their delivery men when the time comes. Woops!

We are just enjoying a wee lunch break and getting ready for todays further adventures. Sheila makes her first visit to the hairdresser today. I think she is more than a little concerned about getting her instructions over to the hairdresser. Apparently it is frought with danger here in Bahrain. I think that if you find a good hairdresser you keep it to yourself. We'll see if the lady recommended comes up with the goods. If not, don't expect any pictures!

The villa is looking fine and the workmen are carrying out the repairs and redecoration to the standard promised and expected so we are pleased with that. We picked the carpet today from four samples which were all numbered but they were really so similar that we wont be able to tell whether we got the one we picked or not! To be fair any one of them would do. The date for moving is still next Saturday after the bed is delivered.

Ding dong, the men maids have arrived. See ya
D

Sometimes you just know things won't go your way!

Well I was correct to suspect that things would not go smoothly. The wee man with the wee van didn't make it to the address so the sofa set is still where it was last night. We are a little further forward because I WAS at the pick up point and I tried to get the man with the sofa to phone the man with the van to see if they could communicate without dum dum in the middle. Alas that plan didn't work because van man didn't answer his phone. Sofa man then phoned his pal and arranged the transport for tomorrow so its back on for a re-run tomorrow. Watch this space.

Home Centre had a 25% discount on today so we just thought, blow it, we'll have some new stuff and get the store to deliver so we bought a new bed, dresser and side tables for our bedroom. Let's hope that goes smoothly. It is another magnificent day. We are really looking forward to moving into the villa so that we can spend a short time each day out in the sunshine to build up our tan. Whatever else you think about Bahrain the weather is awesome.
Cheers for now
David