A preacher comes up to a farmer in his field and remarks,
“Mighty fine farm you and the Lord have made.”
“Yep,” replies the farmer, “but you should have seen it when He had it all to Himself.”
from PS I Love You compiled by H. Jackson Browne Jr.
The Sweeter the Juice
16 Feb 2012 3 Comments
in When Dragons and Rabbits Make Me Laugh - Humor Tags: Bahrain, Humor, mysterious students, pineapples, playing pranks, school poster, students
Thursdays I read with Mark’s classmates at school. As I waited, I perused the healthy eating posters someone created. Pineapple was this week’s chosen fruit.
Pineapple is full of vitamin C, vitamin B and magnesium for helping our immune system. Bromelain aids digestion. And the poster said pineapple sweetens and improves the taste of seminal and vaginal fluids.
WHAT?!?
I called Mark’s teacher over and asked her whether or not she knew this much about pineapples.
“OH my GOD!” was her response.
She poked her head into Ace’s teacher’s room and called him out. We watched him mouth the words and his eyes widen.
“Someone must have copied and pasted without reading this,” he said.
They scooped up the poster to put in its proper place – in the teacher’s lounge.
I wondered how an adult making a poster for children could have made such a mistake and Googled pineapple. Generally none of the sites touted those benefits. Only when I added vaginal fluid to pineapple did I find articles extolling that particular virtue.
Perhaps the mysterious poster creator did not understand English.
Or perhaps some 10-year old student knew exactly what he/she was doing and wanted to see whether the teachers were paying attention.
In The Palm of My Heart
14 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Food for the Mind - Books, Food for the Soul - Poetry Tags: Ali Al Satrawai, Ali Al Sharqawi, Bahrain, contemporary poetry from the Middle East, Hameed Al Qaed, poetry, roses, Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine's Day - cards and flowers from my children
11 –
Let us be together
Hanged by the peg of heart
Beneath the sky we adore
The sky that loves
You are coquetry of the beginning of jasmine
You spread out in my liberty
From a fearful night
From In the Palm of My Heart by Ali Al Satrawai
Pearl, Dreams of Shell
Ali Al Satrawai is a Bahraini poet, writer and journalist. This verse came from an anthology of contemporary poetry, Pearl, Dreams of Shell compiled and translated by Hameed Al Qaed.
Lessons from the Najd – How to Live in a Sandstorm
12 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Food for the Mind - Books, Island Tales - Expatriate Living Tags: adobe houses, architecture, courtyards, Najd architecture, Prince Sultan, sandstorms, Saudi Arabia, sustainable design
Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Sa'ud's Farm
As we are the middle of a sandstorm, I changed my theory. I think walls around Middle Eastern houses help to keep the desert from taking over the front yard.
Living in an older section of the island, our compound is surrounded by a wall. Inside we hardly notice the sandstorms. But many of my friends have moved out to the new golf development in the middle of the desert. Designed to appeal to westerners, neither the houses nor the development have perimeter walls. My friends are complaining the sand is piling up in mini-dunes around their homes and they cannot open their windows with all the swirling sand.
Several years ago Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Sa’ud invited Mojo to his renovated, al-Udhaibat farm outside of Riyadh. The farm retained its traditional Najdi architecture which enabled people to live in the desert before electricity.
One key aspect was to surround the house with palm trees. The palms acted as natural barriers against the sand. The air was cooled as it swept through the shaded areas under the palms. Upon reaching the garden, walls kept any remaining dust and sand from entering the house.
Courtyard and airflow
Besides surrounding the house with walls, central courtyards are a key feature of these mud houses. The wind passing over creates a low-pressure zone in the courtyard. This sucks in eddies but the low-pressure is counteracted by well-placed apertures in the rooms into the courtyard.
During the night, the courtyard and roof act as a cool air sink.
During the day, the sun heats the courtyard. Warm air rises creating a chimney effect and pulls breeze through the rooms.
In the evening, the courtyard and buildings retain heat then give it off as the night air cools.
As I think about our impact on the desert whether as an eco-tourist or a westerner living in the desert, I find William Facey’s BACK TO EARTH: ADOBE BUILDING IN SAUDI ARABIA to be a very enlightening study of traditional Arab architecture and its effect on the environment.
All photos and images are from this book.
Island Fever
09 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Island Tales - Expatriate Living, Stories from Far Away Lands - Travel Tags: Bahrain, driving in Bahrain, flying in the middle east, sailing in Bahrain, Team Pindar, travel, vacation, winter 2012
Every country has its pluses and minuses.
Living on a small island means the people and places become very familiar and comfortable. It’s cozy. But after a few months when these same people and places become a bit over-seen, we need a break.
The only way to drive off the island is to cross the causeway into Saudi Arabia. Unless you hold a GCC passport, you need a visa to get in there. If the Saudis do allow you in, you have to cut through miles of desert to end up in the same desert under a different government.
We could take a boat.
A successful water escape requires a knowledgeable captain otherwise we might be like the first Bahraini sailboat to participate in an international regatta. A couple of years ago as Team Pindar maneuvered their brand-spanking new “Kingdom of Bahrain” yacht towards Dubai, they cut too far east and ended up getting arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. After being held for a week, the government negotiated their release but the team missed the race.
Even if we didn’t have “evil intentions” to infiltrate Iran, a spyglass is a top ten necessity to scan the sea for pirates. And we don’t have one.
So generally an island vacation requires a flight.
Should we fly one hour and still find ourselves in the Gulf? Different place, same flies.
Should we fly three hours and find ourselves in a regional skirmish?
Should we fly seven hours and find ourselves in freezing cold Europe?
ABOUT BETWEEN TWO SEAS
Photographer Andrew Weaver published a gorgeous coffee table book with many inspired and humorous photos about Bahrain. Between Two Seas can be purchased in the large bookshops or at the Bin Matar House in Muharraq. The great news is it was printed in different sizes so you can tuck one in your handbag for a gift or use it to decorate your coffee table and make your friends at home jealous.
On Different Lines – An Exhibit
04 Feb 2012 4 Comments
in Eye Candy - Art Tags: Art, artist, Japan, Japanese artists, Launa MB Karasuno, On Different Lines, Wakayama
Gallery Nekogameya
“When you find the small building with the red door, please enter and sign in.” said the invitation.
Guest Book at Gallery Nekogameya
Outside Wakayama, Japan, a group of artists held an exhibit at the Nekogameya Art Gallery.
Launa MB Karasuno, my sister, was one of the artists displaying her work. Her series of black ink drawings on homemade paper was titled “On Different Lines”.
I rarely bother her when she is getting ready for an exhibit. Like all artists, she gets stressed and works long hours finishing up her paintings before the opening.
- On Different Lines, 2011 by Launa MB Karasuno
On first glance, her work looks so simple and I wonder why did it take so long to create this?
But as I stare, the detail and the meaning begin to emerge. And instead I wonder does she sit in front of her easel staring at the blank sheet, waiting for a shape or an image to grow in her mind?
Puddle, 2011, Launa MB Karasuno
As High as It was Deep, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
Cavernous, detail, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
Or does it come from her dreams?
Different than the decorative art we hang in our house, her work is difficult for me to describe. Modern, simple, organic, minimal, from the soul are some words that come to mind but they inadequately convey the depth and detail.
She sees something in the world that I do not.
a big one detail, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
She appears to be describing her feelings or perhaps the culture she lives in.
- Too Heavy, detail, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
Tethered - not, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
She’s a kind of poet, solidifying her entire expression into one thin line, describing her life in images.
- Went Another Way, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
When We Are Old and Still, Launa MB Karasuno, 2011
I think Japan is the right setting for her work. The exhibit has the feel of a Japanese choka, a brief 5-7 sound unit poem that reverberates with feeling.
My sense is her creativity is not based upon what she sees. It seeps from the very silent dimensions within her mind.
Sleeping on the Job
03 Feb 2012 Leave a comment
in Island Tales - Expatriate Living, When Dragons and Rabbits Make Me Laugh - Humor Tags: architecture, Compount walls, design, graffiti, persian soldiers, sleeping guards, travel
It is the customary in the Middle East to build high concrete walls around a house. The walls help keep the desert outside and give women privacy to walk around their homes without having to be covered. Even though guards are employed to open and shut the gate, I think, generally, security is not an issue.
Which is good – since some of the guards are sleeping.
Tales of Dragons, Rabbits and Roosters 