Bahrain - March 2008

by Hannah

Sunday March 9, 2008

I have been waiting for this moment for so long that it feels like a dream now that I finally arrived.  I arrived in Portland around 9:30 in the morning and met the other delegates who are going to Bahrain with me.  Besides me there are 9 other teens including: Sarah, Page, Molly, William, Elisa, Laura, Nicole, Daric and Avilisha (Avia.) There are also 4 chaperones; two sign language interpreters and the Mobility International (MIUSA) executive, Lydia Shula and another MIUSA staff, Susie Grimes.  All of these people are very thoughtful, smart, kind and respectful of other people's disabilities and their needs; the only sad thing is that I'm the only one who has a visual impairment.
We are now in a hotel near the Portland airport and we will be traveling to Bahrain tomorrow around 10:30 in the morning; It will take about a day especially when Bahrain is 11 hours ahead of the United States.  It is almost 9:30 PM now and I have to go to bed because we have had a very long day today, that included: getting to know people games, preparation for going to Bahrain and a long orientation about our stay in Bahrain.

Tuesday March 11, 2008

At the Portland Airport, we went to Wendy's for lunch because they didn't seem to have any other restaurants.  The food was very disgusting and greasy, but some people liked it.  First we flew to Germany and spent about 3 hours at the Frankfurt Airport.  We had a lot of fun while we were there because listening to people speak German was like listening to a really beautiful song.  It took 10 and a half hours to get to Germany and then another five and a half hours to get to Bahrain.

Upon our arrival in Bahrain, we were greeted by very friendly people who took our pictures, shook our hands, gave us very welcoming speeches and one person even gave us flowers that were made into a long necklace with many colors that had a very fresh and sweet smell.  The Bahrain airport was like ours except it smelled a little different and all the people spoke Arabic.  Then we drove to our Youth Hostel.  On our way to the Youth Hostel, I learned that there are 55 islands that make up Bahrain and all the islands are connected by causeways. 

Oh, I wish I could have brought everyone with me to Bahrain because the cities are really lovely with it's identical square houses, long causeways, tall buildings and palm trees that line up on each side of the roads and sand that fills the sidewalks.  Tomorrow we will have another orientation with all the Bahraini delegates who came to Oregon last summer; they did the same thing as we will be doing in Bahrain.  It is about 12:30 AM and the weather here is still very warm.  I have to go bed because I have to get up at 6 in the morning tomorrow, but I'll write to you as soon as I can.

Wednesday March 12, 2008

Today didn't go as planned because instead of going to Adhari Park, we learned to speak a few words of Arabic and how to write it; they also have their own alphabet, which has 28 letters.  We also had a long discussion with the Bahraini doctor about how to stay healthy; this was all in the morning.  And in the afternoon we had an opening ceremony with the other delegates who went to Oregon last year.  During this ceremony, most of the hosts and the people who sponsored us gave welcoming speeches and there was one blind delegate that went to Oregon last year, who sang a really lovely song from the Holy Koran.  One of the delegates from our group played his Indian flute and another gave a speech about how glad we were to come and spent this lovely three week stay in Bahrain.  After the welcoming ceremony, we went to one of the Bahraini Malls to buy some phone cards and other things that people needed.  Their mall was very big and it had an escalator that was flat (like a ramp.) It was humongous inside and everything smelled of fruit, vegetables, new clothes, lotions and perfumes.  Everyone wears a lot of scented things in Bahrain and it smells very clean; even the bathrooms smell like perfume.  I wanted to buy a head scarf their, but the prices were too high, so I decided not to exchange American money for Bahraini money because Bahraini money is worth twice as much as American money.

Our hosts are Essam and Wasna who are really nice and sweet.  The other participants are doing well except for one who got jet lag.  The weather here during the day is very warm and I get tired easily because hot weather makes me sleepy.  Though I never get jet lag, the days feel long here because of the hot weather, all the workshops that I have to attend, the time difference and all the curious people around us all the time, taking pictures of us and making us feel like we are movie stars.  I will write more tomorrow even though everything that was planned for us before our arrival has now been changed.  I have to go to bed now because it's about 12 in the morning right now and I have to get up at 7 o'clock tomorrow.

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