Salaam and good morrow.
Took me a few minutes to open this window as I had to search random tabs written in flowing Arabic script at the top of the page to find the blogger 'dashboard'. I'm sitting at a desk looking out through a filthy fifteenth floor window at the bay of Bahrain on the edge of Manama center with the bay to the right. It's 7:30 am and feels like mid-morning. I think the jetlag was actually helped by having a crap 4 hour sleep in Vancouver before I left on the 26 hour jaunt that brought me in here last night. So far Bahrain has been basically hospitable. It looks dodgey as hell to my trained (well-traveled) eyes however and I hope everything remains copacetic - and I'm sitting in Jeff's (Orton - my American contact and friend) appartment this evening sipping something cool and having a laugh. It's hot and muggy out there - around 30 celcius in the early morning - my hotel room is air conditioned and comfortable. Checkout time is noon - not sure when the sleepy whiskered character who took my passport last night will return with my Visa...sometime between 10am and 4pm I remember hearing. Thayne the American from New York came in 3 hours after me and seemed more jetlagged than I was. He seems alright. Shit. Just noticed there's a derelict old wooden ship on a traffic island of white sand, dead grass, and scraggly palm trees with the freeway right next to it. Culture shock hasn't begun to set in and I'm off to Saudi today where things are even weirder. I woke at 5am to peer out my window and saw many men gathered around the back of a truck hauling sides of beef off and throwing them on carts to be wheeled away - this was a big truck - like a semi- a cargo truck - that's a lotta corpses. Reminded me that in some places in the world, life is cheap. The morning dead. 'Bringoutchyadead'!! The 5am morning death-count. Deaths head. Mortal combat in the markets for bovine flesh. Savage reality of mortal sustenance. It's all fruits and veggies down there right now from the look of it - this hotel is across from a derelict shopping mall that has a bustling market right next door. Half the city looks dead - the other half bustling along - the freeway is a constant vein of vehicles - there's a Mosque visible across the way and palm trees everywhere. Funny how the Mosque looks like a walled compound, pseudo-military. My first impression is that Bahrain is like Pusan - 'Texas Street' on a citywide level. Dodgey as hell and potentially fun. Rasheed, my (Indian) driver last night said things have been cool here, especially since Ramadan began - but Jan-March were dangerous - there have been troubles here that recently and armed conflict in the streets. Shit. Just noticed another traffic island with another washed up old wooden ship and 3 'yurt' looking buildings nestled in a sandy freeway roundabout. I'm running on bad (instant) hotel coffee and a granola bar I brought with me 16000 km last night/morning/whatever...
Did a few sun salutations around 7-ish before coffee - stretching and yoga are a good idea when in this state. I'm short on hard cash but my credit is humongous. Long as I can cover Visa processing I'll be fine. Saw the waxing 3/4 moon setting over a humongous Boeing 777 jet engine intake as we banked right into Doha, Qatar, and as we leveled out the sunrise in the same cleft between engine and wing. A hazy blazing orange disk in a glorious pink soup on the horizon. Shaved. Packed up tight. Still healing a little fresh ink and a cooking burn on the left arm. 4 channels of shit to choose from on the hotel tv. Thank goodness for a hardline to the net - convenient. I hope all goes well with this job!! Teaching first year Saudi University students (through McGill and the Saudi royal council) is an exciting prospect for me. I hear the city streets in Bahrain where the royals hang out are a bit 'crazy'. I think they can get away with anything - money talks and bullshit walks I suppose.....except that the 21st century monetary system is the new bullshit. Nice one. Reconcile that if you can. Waves of consciousness rolling over my mind regarding where I am right now. System low on power - gotta plug in soon - 220 volt here fortunately and I have a Korean adapter that fits perfectly. Publish while I can and back later from Saudi...
Cheers.
A salaam aleikoum,
Peace descend upon us all,
Inshallah,
God willing,
-Grayson.
Took me a few minutes to open this window as I had to search random tabs written in flowing Arabic script at the top of the page to find the blogger 'dashboard'. I'm sitting at a desk looking out through a filthy fifteenth floor window at the bay of Bahrain on the edge of Manama center with the bay to the right. It's 7:30 am and feels like mid-morning. I think the jetlag was actually helped by having a crap 4 hour sleep in Vancouver before I left on the 26 hour jaunt that brought me in here last night. So far Bahrain has been basically hospitable. It looks dodgey as hell to my trained (well-traveled) eyes however and I hope everything remains copacetic - and I'm sitting in Jeff's (Orton - my American contact and friend) appartment this evening sipping something cool and having a laugh. It's hot and muggy out there - around 30 celcius in the early morning - my hotel room is air conditioned and comfortable. Checkout time is noon - not sure when the sleepy whiskered character who took my passport last night will return with my Visa...sometime between 10am and 4pm I remember hearing. Thayne the American from New York came in 3 hours after me and seemed more jetlagged than I was. He seems alright. Shit. Just noticed there's a derelict old wooden ship on a traffic island of white sand, dead grass, and scraggly palm trees with the freeway right next to it. Culture shock hasn't begun to set in and I'm off to Saudi today where things are even weirder. I woke at 5am to peer out my window and saw many men gathered around the back of a truck hauling sides of beef off and throwing them on carts to be wheeled away - this was a big truck - like a semi- a cargo truck - that's a lotta corpses. Reminded me that in some places in the world, life is cheap. The morning dead. 'Bringoutchyadead'!! The 5am morning death-count. Deaths head. Mortal combat in the markets for bovine flesh. Savage reality of mortal sustenance. It's all fruits and veggies down there right now from the look of it - this hotel is across from a derelict shopping mall that has a bustling market right next door. Half the city looks dead - the other half bustling along - the freeway is a constant vein of vehicles - there's a Mosque visible across the way and palm trees everywhere. Funny how the Mosque looks like a walled compound, pseudo-military. My first impression is that Bahrain is like Pusan - 'Texas Street' on a citywide level. Dodgey as hell and potentially fun. Rasheed, my (Indian) driver last night said things have been cool here, especially since Ramadan began - but Jan-March were dangerous - there have been troubles here that recently and armed conflict in the streets. Shit. Just noticed another traffic island with another washed up old wooden ship and 3 'yurt' looking buildings nestled in a sandy freeway roundabout. I'm running on bad (instant) hotel coffee and a granola bar I brought with me 16000 km last night/morning/whatever...
Did a few sun salutations around 7-ish before coffee - stretching and yoga are a good idea when in this state. I'm short on hard cash but my credit is humongous. Long as I can cover Visa processing I'll be fine. Saw the waxing 3/4 moon setting over a humongous Boeing 777 jet engine intake as we banked right into Doha, Qatar, and as we leveled out the sunrise in the same cleft between engine and wing. A hazy blazing orange disk in a glorious pink soup on the horizon. Shaved. Packed up tight. Still healing a little fresh ink and a cooking burn on the left arm. 4 channels of shit to choose from on the hotel tv. Thank goodness for a hardline to the net - convenient. I hope all goes well with this job!! Teaching first year Saudi University students (through McGill and the Saudi royal council) is an exciting prospect for me. I hear the city streets in Bahrain where the royals hang out are a bit 'crazy'. I think they can get away with anything - money talks and bullshit walks I suppose.....except that the 21st century monetary system is the new bullshit. Nice one. Reconcile that if you can. Waves of consciousness rolling over my mind regarding where I am right now. System low on power - gotta plug in soon - 220 volt here fortunately and I have a Korean adapter that fits perfectly. Publish while I can and back later from Saudi...
Cheers.
A salaam aleikoum,
Peace descend upon us all,
Inshallah,
God willing,
-Grayson.
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