A University President, an Ambassador and a CEO walk into a bar...

So last night I ended up going to an event I never thought I'd be invited to.... an AUC alumni gathering in Bahrain.

I have to admit.... it was very bizarre standing elbow to elbow with President Arnold and his charming wife Sherri (I think that's how it's spelt!).  To my surprise quite a few of the heavy hitters of the region were there (CEO's of regional banks, the head of SABIC and the US Ambassador).

All this made me wonder whether in 20 years time a gathering of the people who graduated in my decade will be anywhere near as successful, or have anywhere near the amount of skills necessary to do something productive in their lives.

Based of the people that populated 98% of my classes, my verdict right now is no.

So I walked into this event (absolutely dreading it), expecting there to be a long drawn out speech about how important it is for alumni to give back to the university, and how amazing it is now, and how we're the best in the region blah blah blah, and I don't know whether it was the cold air, failing mic, or that half the people at the dinner were hit hard by the recession, but he kept it short, and for that all I can say is Thank you God.

An with that, may the fundraising continue... far far away from Bahrain.
Thanks for listening to my rants you guys...
LG.

A Walk Through Muharraq

Alrighty... I'm back.

Apologizes for all of you who've been eagerly waiting for another immensely smart and witty post.
I've been incredibly busy showing a good friend of mine around 'The Island'!

I must admit that even though I've lived here for years I hadn't been to most of the places I somehow heard about through friends who do this sort of thing all the time.

Up until recently, my tour of Bahrain to friends consisted of the usual ..."To your left you'll see one of the oldest shopping malls on the island.... before that we did... well..... nothing.
And to your right a lot of new shiny buildings that were previously just empty desert.
Like here.... here.... here...
Oh and here.
So yeah.
Anyone up for lunch?"

Yeah.  I know. Disgraceful.  For someone who knows the ins and outs of the political, demographic and trend makeup of this island, it was one sad attempt. But the beauty of Bahrain is that everyone loves helping out, and it's pretty easy to find out new (or in this case older) things that can be done here.
One of the most intriguing places that I ended up going to was this quaint little neighborhood in Muharraq.

HE Minister of Culture Sheikha Mai did a fabulous job of restoring that area, giving it a more modern and elegant touch while restoring its old time charm.  She has managed to restore several of the older more prominent houses in the area, and includes The Kurar House (which focuses on Bahrain's phenomena embroidery), The Bin Mattar House (which looks into Bahrain's legendary pearling industry) amongst others.

One of my personal favorites include the Iqra Library which was specifically built for the children of the area, and has the most amazing interiors.  If you're feeling like the taking a break from the usual Seef District bonanza I highly recommend going to the House of Coffee, newly renovated and operated by Maya. Their dark Hot Chocolate is to die for, and the atmosphere is very enjoyable.

If you're interested in learning more about the initiative set forward by HE Shaikha Mai, a great article in TimeOut Bahrain published quite a few months ago talks to the Minister about her efforts to preserve Bahrain's national treasures.

I should run, but I promise to have some more things up soon!
Be safe,
LG

Diamonds and A Beach Festival- November Events

So the past few days have been pretty intense.
As I've mentioned earlier I haven't been feeling pretty well.  Add the stress of 'the job' and mild food poisoning, and you've got one unhappy camper.
I've got quite a lot of big news, but living on the lovely island of Bahrain (BAHRAIN I LOVE YOU!!!) 
I should keep my mouth shut until things are done. In the meantime, I can tell you about some other major things have taken place on the island I call home:

1. Jewelry Arabia 2009 is finally here! You have no idea how many times I've heard stories about the legendary halls upon halls of diamonds! The models lounging around, dripping with diamonds, and the women flocking from all over the Gulf spending thousands of dinars on a years supply worth. So I finally got a chance to go this year, and well, it was an interesting experience.  What's always intrigued me the most was how millions of dollars worth of diamonds could be stolen every year.  It's just astounding. Apparently they can never seem to get the place locked down enough.  But them again how can you with all the people running around, and the sheer quantity of jewels. So this year according to the GDN, over BD 100,000 worth of diamonds have been allegedly stolen on the first day.  Not a good start, but if you can try and get yourself down there.  It's definitely an experience.
2. When I heard that Bahrain was having it's very own Bahrain International Beach Festival, with the top DJ's coming in during the three days of Eid I was shocked.   At first I wanted to go out and get some tickets (after all, Bahrain's a sleepy town, this would surely be AWESOME).  But the more I though of it, the more I knew that there was NO way the religious right would let something like this happen.  And guess what.  One week to go, and look who's finally awake. Several PM's have made statements wanting to ban the event.  My thought to them- if you're so worried that this event will corrupt the morals of your children, why don't you actually teach them ethics (so that they in turn can critically think and use their minds) rather than shutting down the event for the rest of us.  What i'd really like to know is, why must you control other people's lives to fit what you think is 'right'.  Now this doesn't just go for you, but for everyone out there. All I want to know is..... why is everyone so judgmental and close minded?

2birds and 1 wannabe Blogger

I found myself surfing the net last night, trying to get some insight into why some blogs are successful, and others, well are not as successful.

During this 'adventure' i happened to stumble across a blog by the name of 2birds 1blog, and I have to say that its THE funniest thing i've ever read.  One of the writers (Megan) is unbelievably hilarious and sharp, and I found myself wondering why I couldn't translate that sort of sarcasm (that naturally plagues me in every aspect of my life) into this sphere as well.

She has this amazing gift of putting down witty repertoire onto the screen, and somehow made a person literally laugh out loud (as known as the "Llol phenonenom" - that's right, a capital L, not to be confused with the lower case l, which as we all know is NOT the same thing- but that's a story for another day).
Anyhoozle, as I was saying she has been able to put down her daily life experiences and make it not only timeless, but consistently hilarious.

So if you haven't had the chance to check out her blog please do, trust me, you'll love it!

A Little Perspective

It's often hard to realize that the reason you haven't succeeded isn't the lack of opportunity or chance, but rather your lack of ability to grasp it. 

I've been looking through the internet trying to figure out what makes successful blogs successful, and so far haven't reached anything in particular. 

Although i haven't found an answer to one very long winded question I did find this.

Hope it puts things in perspective for you.

Much love,

LG

Updates!

Hey Y'all,


I'm back!
It's been a rough couple of months, but I've decided to get back into the swing of things and get writing. Granted, it's difficult keeping to it if you don't have a dedicated following, or anyone following for that fact, but after watching Julie & Julia, I've been given the 'zing' necessary to get on with it, so here I go!


Updates since the last time we spoke:


1. I've graduated (woohoo) and working hard at a top notch company.
It's ben hard getting used to a new routine, new people new atmosphere and a new line of work, but I've approached it as a daily challenge, which I think has helped quite significantly.


2. Moved to Bahrain
Yes, Yes I know.  I never really thought I'd move back here, but here I am.  It's crazy.  I thought I would be jumping for joy, at being back, but now that I'm here it all seems too familiar.


I love the Bahrain that I grew up in.  The serene island in the middle of the Gulf, bobbing along, doing what it does best.  But since I've been back, quite a few things have changed, and its been interesting to see how that affected the people, the attitudes and the demographics.


And since all I've been doing since coming back here is work work work,  i've decided to make this blog my little pet project, and expose the world to my little world here in Bahrain.  I will try to write as much as possible about this fabulous country, and let everyone out there know amazing life here is for an expat!


Let the blogging begin!