Merry Christmas!

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas together this year! It was a busy last few days as Christmas fell on a Friday, which is also church for us. We had a good time spending Christmas with friends - it was very nice! Enjoy!

Look what the cat dragged in. No. Really - Look.

Outside our apartment door, in the hallway between our flat and our neighbors flat, there has been a cat that has been living between the cardboard boxes that store some of our and our neighbor's items (we don't have closets, attics or basements). This cat has established herself there and we see her often when we are coming or going. Once we saw her fighting off another cat from taking over her territory. She even had two kittens (who have since moved out) a few months ago, right on top of one of Alison's plants. We call her, affectionately, mama cat.

Well, apparently she has been very appreciative of our hospitality, and today I came home from work to find this RIGHT in front of the door.



If you look closely at the bottom left of the photo, you can see the bulk of the carcass. Yes, mama cat, thank you for the gift. Actually, I'm quite impressed at how evenly the feathers are spread out. When I tried to sweep the feathers away with an old newspaper, they went everywhere.

So what's the moral of the story? Alison and I aren't sure... what do you think?

The Window Has Arrived: Good Thing We Have Good Friends

It is important to note that yesterday (Monday, Dec 20th) began "the window". The Window is the space in time that the baby COULD come, which is up to 3 weeks before the due date and 2 weeks after. Most women have their first baby AFTER the due date, so we aren't on our way to the hospital just yet, but we ARE ready to bolt when the time comes.



Alison and I have been very appreciative of the community we have here in Bahrain through our church, Saar Fellowship. We have been particularly thankful for that the last few days as some friends have offered their support in very specific ways.

On Saturday, we went to some friends' house for lunch. They have three children of their own, and the wife has observed and/or been a part of quite a few births here in Bahrain. It was great to hear their stories, hear what was useful and what wasn't, things we can expect from the hospital here in Bahrain and just be encouraged. She even offered for us to call her whenever we wanted to, particularly when the baby starts to make its way out! She was very gracious - and we forewarned her that we will probably take her up on that offer, and it will probably be at 3am. While I felt very calm about the whole thing, the fact that we were talking about all these things over some salmon and squash helped. I dare say we will be a little less calm once the baby actually comes!

In general, we have been very blessed with the examples we have around us of good, Godly parents. We have friends who have children in all sorts of stages of life from newborns up to early teens that provide us examples of what we might want our family to look like in 2 years, 5 years or even 13 years. Even though we are far away from family, we are surrounded by people who will be able to help guide us through the maze of parenting.

However, we also were also given a night away by some OTHER friends! We stayed the night at a five star hotel and had a wonderful evening together. Here are some of the highlights.

• Fantastic steak dinner at the island's best kept secret: Jim's Restaurant (secret from us, anyway). If you have a coupon for buy one get one free, it is totally worth it.
• cable TV! We don't get any channels on our tv, so it was nice to watch The John Stewart Show, The Colbert Report, and The Office
• I was able to watch little NFL football, live (the game was REALLY good, too)
• A nice gym on site to do a little pre-dinner exercise. A woman even came in to check out Alison. I think she wasn't convinced Alison should be allowed to exercise while pregnant.

Exploring Bahrain, Ep 2

I am starting a new series of posts that will be called "Exploring Bahrain". Alison and I have recently taken to finding a place in Bahrain that we've never been before, and just driving there. If you're wondering where Episode 1 is, you can find it here, where I posted about two funny signs we saw as we were driving to the edge of the island. There were other interesting things we saw, but I'll leave it at that.

You would think that on an island as small as Bahrain there wouldn't be much to explore. However, I'm starting to realize that there are plenty of nooks and crannys with all sorts of interesting things. As you read, there will be links to "google maps" that will show you where we went (or attempted to go).

This time, I used Google Earth to identify some places that might be interesting to drive through - and I found no shortage of VERY interesting places!

The first were two islands just off the western coast of the main island. However, once we got on the highway, we found out that the exits were staffed with armed guards and "do not enter" signs. I imagine that they are residences for the Royal Family. However, we did have a nice lunch at the Causeway, half way between Saudi and Bahrain. Here is as close as we could get. If you look closely, you can see a bit of land rising up off the water.

Next, we headed south on the main island, on the road that was furthest west. I had chosen this because I saw huge swaths of green - which is rare enough to go on the hunt for. A brief glance at Google Earth made me thing they were farms (which aren't as uncommon as you'd think). However, as we drove down the road, we found that they were more large residences.

At one of the places we stopped, we found grass like this. Very weird - but always a great to see real, green grass.

Another place had what almost looked like meadows.

Lastly, one of my favorite. I want you to notice three things about this. 1) There are no cars. 2) there is a side walk. 3) The trees are green and hanging over BOTH sides of the road!

"Didn't Cry at All" "Easy as Pie"

I am happy to report that our crash-course in parenting was more coursing than crashing. We played with the two children for a while - sophia was particularly enthused by my innovation of pretending to eat the play-food after she had pretended to cook it. And best of all - everyone was down and in bed by nine. No tears. No coming back out. It really was fantastic.

The question is whether this is good or bad. Its good in the sense that it relieves some of the nervousness of parenting. It may be bad as it gives us a distorted view of what parenting can be like at times. Here are a few pieces of the conversation:

My dad: Is this a testament to your budding parenthood or for the hard work, day to day, toil of the children's parents. HMMMMMM!:)

Alison: There's really no way to objectively find an answer you question... so i'll just assume we're budding into magical parents.

You will notice that there is a new tag on the blog below: Parenting. I'm sure this will be the first of many.

Crash-Course in Parenting

Alison and I are getting a crash-course in parenting tonight, though there will probably be more crashing than coursing. Some friends of ours are going out on the town and we are watching their toddler and infant. The last time I was with them, I had the toddlers hair piece and put it in my beard. Tears and trauma were the result. Not off to a great start, then. Once the night is over, maybe I'll post how the night went, probably with editorials along the lines of "went to bed at 7" and "didn't cry at all" and "easy as pie". I will take pictures as proof.

The Nobel Truth Revealed

I saw this post here, on Mankiw's blog. Here's some more good satire from Harvard economist N. Greg Mankiw about winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

First-Year Grad Student Wins Nobel Prize in Economics!

From the Associated Press (with some light editing):

Pfuffnick's Nobel Economics Prize triumph hailed by many

LONDON — The surprise choice of first-year graduate student Quintus Pfuffnick for the Nobel Prize in Economics drew praise from much of the world Friday even as many pointed out the youthful economist has not yet published anything in scholarly journals.

The new PhD candidate was hailed for his willingness to tackle difficult problems, his commitment to improving the economic system, and his goal of bringing efficiency and equality into harmony.

Professor Paul Krugman of Princeton, who won the prize in 2008, said Pfuffnick's award shows great things are expected from him in the coming years.

"In a way, it's an award coming near the beginning of the first year in grad school of a relatively young economist that anticipates an even greater contribution towards making our economy a better place for all," he said. "It is an award that speaks to the promise of Mr Pfuffnick's message of hope."

He said the prize is a "wonderful recognition of Pfuffnick's essay in his grad school application."

Eid Mubarak! (Happy Eid!)

The Hajj is one of the most important holidays for Muslims, right up there with Ramadan, (though I must confess, I'm not sure which is more important). You can see a great interactive graphic/map of the hajj on here on cnn.com. I'll give a bit of an explanation below, but for those of you who are more knowledgeable, feel free to comment!

So what is the Hajj, exactly? Some people are probably aware that in Islam, there are five pillars that each Muslim must do in his or her life: giving alms, saying the shahadah (There is no God but Allah and Mohamed is his prophet), praying five times a day, fasting during Ramadan and lastly, going on the pilgrimage to Mecca, or, the Hajj. The Hajj in particular retraces some of the steps of Ibrahim (Abraham, as most westerners would know him) as outlined in the Qu'ran, where Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son Ishmael to God.

Here in Bahrain, while many people are not participating the pilgrimage to Mecca, there are plenty of others who are participating in celebrations. One thing that is commonly practiced is the killing of a sheep, and then giving the meat to people who are in need. I haven't seen the actual slaughter yet, but I did see a very large truck-load of sheep being taken somewhere. And probably not to the green pastures near still waters.

As for Alison and I, we are grateful that this Eid (which means festival) falls on the weekend of American Thanksgiving! Alison does not have school tomorrow (Thursday) and does not start school again till next Wednesday. Nor am I teaching classes at the ACEC, which means we both have some time off. Tomorrow we are hosting thanksgiving in conjunction with our neighbor, Linda, for 25 or 30 some odd people! Its going to be quite a feat, none of it organized by me. Me - I'm just the brute labor. I'll probably be moving furniture and carrying turkeys.

The Masjid al Haram, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The large black structure in the middle of the mosque is the directions that all Muslims pray towards, where ever they are in the world.

All Speaking English, But Not All the Same Language

This last week, I sat down in a meeting with a woman who was visiting Bahrain and is originally from New Zealand. With us was another man from India who's lived in Bahrain for the last two years or so. As we started getting down to business, it wasn't long before I realized that, while we were all speaking English, these two people didn't really understand - at all - what the other was saying.

It wasn't that one was using vocabulary that the other didn't understand, or that someone's accent was too strong and therefore unintelligible (for the most part). Quite often, they understood the words coming out of their mouths. However, they didn't at all understand what each was meaning!

In fact, it became such an issue that eventually I became the translator. At first, I was just putting in a few words to help clarify, but it became evident that doing this was the best method of communicating what the other meant. After a little bit, they would both look to me for translation. One would say something and ask a question and they would both turn their heads to me so that I could translate. Then the other would respond - after which they would both look at me so I could translate!

Who would've known that such things are possible!

Physics is Phun! And Projectiles are the Icing on the Cake

Really, what boy doesn't like projectiles - particularly throwing his own projectiles. Now, just imagine the excitement that comes from CREATING something that can launch projectiles! That's what I call homework. Incidentally, that's what Alison calls homework, too.

In her 10th grade physics class a few weeks ago, she had them all do a project where they needed to create a catapult that could project a ping-pong ball at least 50cm. I'm not sure what the unit was - probably something to do with motion and projectiles (she has thus informed me that "projectile motion" was the name of the unit. I get an "A").

The students had a good time doing it, and I was duly impressed with the projects and posters hanging in Alison's classroom. The students obviously worked very hard on these. If you look closely at two of the pictures, you can even see the pingpong ball being launched. Much further than the required 50 cm. You can see four of the catapults in the pictures below.*

So to all of her students - congratulations on fantastic projects! Yes - that's right. I know you read this blog. There are more pictures, and if you're interested, tell Ms. Alison and I'll post the rest of them on my picasa site (see link on the right), and you can download them yourself.

Setting up the catapult just so.

Watching carefully as the ball is launched.

I must say - that's quite a large catapult!

Small, but obviously very effective.

This makes you want to teach or take a physics class, doesn't it!
*You will notice an equal amount of pictures of boys and girls. This is to highlight the fact that we are equal opportunity teachers. We believe that both boys and girls have the same potential to do fantastic things in physics and we encourage all of them to go on and be famous scientists that will revolutionize the world with their inventions. I also believe they will all make stellar economists in 12th grade!

Cartoon of the Day

I'm an Obama fan in general, but I thought this was funny - and maybe a bit true. It comes as Germans (and many others) celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As you may know, its a play on Ronald Reagan's declaration, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!" only a few years before the wall crumbled.

In general, though, expectations have been too high for Obama, and after a year in office, I've heard people say that he hasn't done enough. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the system is made to be slow and cumbersome - not just in his case, but in any politicians case (which is by design). Hopefully some of those expectations will wain and become a little bit more realistic - even if I don't agree with some of his goals and aspirations.

I originally saw this cartoon here, on Carpe Diem.

Under Construction: A Little Blog Facelift

After over three years with this blog, I've decided to give it a bit of a face lift. I'm not quite sure if I am completely settled on it, so I may change it in the future. I'm sure you can handle that. However, I had a bit of a time trying to find a site that would give me a template for my blog.

You see, I know other people who have fantastic looking blogs - but they come from websites like "Cutest Blog on the Block". I mean, how could I keep my manly dignity and get a blog template from a website like THAT. I couldn't. Fortunately I found this one. If you have a blog, feel free to check out All Blog Tools to see other templates they have.

Who knows. Maybe I'll find some other interesting things to put on here.

Guidelines For Spending Time With Our Baby

If you are thinking of spending time with Alison and I and our baby once Round 2 comes (however little that may be), this will be an important blog for you to read.

One of the things I enjoy doing is downloading podcasts from Talk of the Nation, an NPR news show on in the afternoons (US time). Its fantastic because I can stick them on my ipod and listen to them throughout the week and keep up on all the drivel that's happening back in the US. Today, the topic of the show I listened to was on baby development. That is, how do parents make their babies smarter (apparently disney is refunding people who bought the Baby Einstien videos). In the course of the show, various parents called in singing praises about their own child's intelligence, and the show's host and guests were very careful not to say anything that would suggest the callers child was in any way 'average' or 'below average'.

Lets switch gears, but this will all tie in beautifully in the end.

I found a website this last year called "Stuff White People Like" (SWPL)- a blog written by someone who wants to articulate exactly what it is that white people, like myself, like. The commentary is biting and hilarious at the same time, often making observations that, while absurd, are oh-so-true. For instance, sea salt:

Regardless of how much a white person cooks or how long they have lived in their current home, they all have a tube of sea salt in their pantry. In fact, it’s one of the few foodstuffs that white people will actually bring with them when they move. This is because sea salt is expensive and while white people have money, they didn’t get that way by throwing away $7 packages of salt.

When white people think about regular salt, all they can think about sodium and poor health. When they think about Sea Salt they think about France. So it’s no surprise that it has become so popular.

Now, I'm no chef, but the whole idea of sea salt does seem a little over the top to me. Alison might disagree. However, the observations are very true, particularly the one about France.

This website, SWPL, also has a very important blog post on child ettiquite. I'm not sure if this applies just to white people or if it applies across the board. If you are not white and have children (or spend lots of time with non-white people who have children) - please feel free to inform me of the proper ettiquite. More accurately, this post is on gifted children and how all children are gifted. I've included the most important part here.

If you see their kid playing peacefully, you say “oh, he/she seems very focused, are they in a gifted program?” at which point the parent will say “yes.” Or if the kid is lighting a dog on fire while screaming at their mother, you say “my he/she is a creative one. Is he/she gifted?” To which the parent will reply “oh, yes, he’s too creative and smart for school. We just don’t know what to do.”

But NEVER under any circumstance imply that their child is less than a genius. The idea that something could come from them and be less than greatness is too much for them to bear.

So there you have it. Guidelines for what you say to Alison and I about our child. He/she is gifted and will be the next Albert Einstine or Madam Curie.

A Change In Plans: Surprises Are In Order

I have reported before that we don't yet know whether Round 2 is a boy or a girl. Its still a mystery to us. Alison had a checkup a few weeks ago, and when she went, she refused the ultra-sound (the doctors here do ultra-sounds like they're going out of style). Its just an unnecessary expense.

Well, we* are solidly into our third trimester, with only about 11 weeks to go, and well, we've decided to do it the old fashioned way. That's right - break out your "I like Ike" stickers and start thumping "boogie woogie bugle boy" on your stereo, because we're going old school (in fact, Alison is quite often barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen making something scrumptious).

We've decided that we are going to keep the gender unbeknownst to anyone - particularly ourselves - until Round 2 is a ball of wriggling baby in Alison's arms. Then we can see with our own eyes if we have the next Albert Einstien or Marie Curie (or N. Gregory Mankiw or Barbara Ward, if you're into that sort of thing).

"But wait!" you might object. "How will you know what else to buy!? Boy things or girl things!?" We have been very blessed by friends both here in Bahrain and across the pond. This summer, people were very giving towards us, and we got lots of great things. So much, in fact, that we didn't spend a dime of our own money until about three weeks ago when we bought a stroller (for $50, no less!).

In keeping with the theme of surprises, Alison had a surprise baby shower thrown by some of the women in the church this last Saturday, and you can even watch the surprise below. I, of course, left her to her party and went home, but she came back with a whole bunch of loot for the baby. We have enough clothes now, that we probably don't need to go out and by a whole lot else (not to mention the fact that we're hoping to play the hand-me-down game with the other couples who've got kids who are just ahead of Round 2).



Some of the things given to Alison this last time:

• Fantastic clothes
• Soft ducky robe that fully wraps up baby (gonna be honest - not sure how to describe it. There'll be pictures at some point, I'm sure)
• Bible story bath time books (complete with an elephant that squirts water from the nose)
• A crib thing that twirls toys above the baby's head while it lies in the crib
• books!

So I'm sure there will be more fantastic things to share in the 11 weeks to come. And 11 weeks makes it seem very, very close. Before I know it, the grand finale will be upon us. Don't worry - I'll document it all on here.

And now for the brief update of where Round 2 is in the developmental process. He's not doing anything all that new, just getting bigger (as Alison could tell you - he's pushing up against internal organs quite a bit these days).

• The baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds
• He is tad over 15 inches long from head to heel
• His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature
• His head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain.

I will say though, our little guy is quite active. He does summer salts inside the womb, I think, and he's even moving enough that I can see Alison's tummy poke out when he's pushing hard enough!

*To all the women who have been pregnant or feel the right to be indignant even if you never have been pregnant yourself: yes, I know that I myself don't have the same experiences as Alison - the one who is physically carrying our child. But she says "we're pregnant" and "our pregnancy" and "our trimester", so I feel quite comfortable in keeping the syntax on my blog.

Google, Packers and the End Times

I love Google. Some people think that Google will someday take over the world and control us all (does this mean they are the anti-christ!? One world government!?). They might be right, but to be honest - I would be alright with that. Google's stated goal is to organize the entirety of information on our planet. This is quite a project, and they have already got in trouble when they started to upload books onto "google books". Of course, the copyright holders started coming forward to protest the illegitimate use of their works.

In general, though, the idea of putting as many books online - and making them searchable - isn't a bad idea, at least if the content isn't in violation of copyright laws. Google has also started to map Bahrain, and quite frankly, has the best maps of Bahrain that I have yet to see. Most of the maps made and published here are out of date or simply incomplete.

In fact, Google makes it very easy to organize all of MY information - which I'm sure makes the conspiracy theorists even more nervous. I use their finance section to keep track of our investments, their sites to manage my school website for students, upload and manage my pictures, share and collaborate on documents relating to work projects, use the calendar application to create a calendar on my school website, upload my own videos, and gmail for my email. In fact, I look forward to the day that Google buys out Facebook and integrates that to their network. It would be complete the last schism.

But the most recent reason that I love Google is because of youtube. In my last post, I mentioned there are some things I don't get, and one of those few things is Green Bay Packer football (American football, mind you). However, some blessed soul has decided to upload the highlights for each NFL game every week. I'm not sure if it breaks some sort of copyright, but I don't think so. Its not quite as good as the whole game, but I'm not complaining.



In other news about the signs of the times - see how Jesus gave us the name "Barak Obama" as the anti-christ. Oh puh-lease.

"How I Know My Wife Loves Me" or "Treasures Found" or "Alhumdilla!"

My Grandparents lived in Morocco for 20 years back in the 1950's and 1960's, and I have often been struck by how different a life I lead compared to them. When they left America, they quite literally left America. Friends and family were distant and the comforts of familiar foods and other products were tasted only every few years.

Alison and I however, can enjoy much of what American companies have to offer, such as Caribou Coffee, Gilmore Girls from the DVD rental store, and over priced clothing stores such as Gap if we (read: alison) so choose.

However, there are certain amenities that have not yet reached Bahrain, or hardly ever show up at stores. These products, if they ever do reach the stores' shelves, are often sold out very quickly because the supermarkets do not keep them in stock. One such item is one of my favorites: Triscuits.

Any student who has had me for economics knows that I love Triscuits (I would often use it in examples). My favorite snack by far is Triscuits and pepper jack cheese. For the most part, I have only been able to enjoy Triscuits while in the States or when someone I know who works at the US Naval base (the base has their their own grocery store stocked with American products) "happens" to have an extra box that they "aren't going to eat".

We heard from some friends that one of the stores is currently carrying Triscuits, and we saw the evidence whilst watching their kids for them the other night. Inspired by this, we trekked out to the grocery store today and, as luck would have it, found the shelf where a few boxes of triscuits still straggled - looking for a home.

Find a home they will - right in my belly! Alison bought up the last 5 boxes of original flavor triscuits and some pepper jack cheese. Al Humdillah!!

The question now is how often we will consume them. They are a precious commodity, and I don't want to eat them willy-nilly. I would rather savor them and make the most of each suculent bite. In fact, Alison has just sat down next to me with an open box and some pepper-jack cheese. So now, in fact, would be a fan-TA-stic time to eat some triscuits.

What makes this snack so good? Let me tell you. 1) The crunch, texture and heartiness of the triscuit itself. 2) the cheese taste mixed in with that excellent crunch 3) the slight bite of the peppers to top it off... And, as Alison says in a fantastic American accent 4) "They're 'Merican!"

Indeed they are. Indeed they are.

The 1000th* Visitor!!

Congratulations to someone in Washington DC! You are the 1000th visitor to my blog! You looked at three separate pages on my blog and stayed for a full 1 minute and 25 seconds. I don't know your name, but thank you for visiting my blog. I feel honored.

Creepy. How do I know this about you!?

You may have noticed on the left of the screen there are a few different boxes that show where people come from. One of them is called Sitemeter, and this particular web site tracks where each person comes from.

That's right. I know. Why do I do this? No particular reason - I just think its kind of interesting. It provides quite a bit of information:

• IP address
• city
• country
• time you came
• how many pages you visited
• what link you clicked on to get to my site
• how long you stayed for
• what link you clicked on to leave my blog
• a dot on a world map showing where you came from
  

Hm... listing it like that makes it sound a little creepy. It almost makes me want to stop tracking it. But I won't. Most of my visitors come from Bahrain, and then the United States. If you click on the Clustrmaps, you'll see that, in fact, I've had visitors from every single continent except Africa. In fact, someone from India returned to the blog for a while.

I recognize the locations that most of the locations. For instance, dots that come from Arkansas I know are my friends Amos and Meredith. Dots that come from the Ukraine is my friend Alicia. Or at least I'm assuming they are them.

Now, having this 1000th visitor does not mean that 1000 distinct people came to my blog. Rather it means that my blog was visited 1000 separate times. Assuming that the same people visit every time there are 1-3 new blog posts, it probably means that there have been 30 or so regular readers (and add 5-10 non-counted on facebook). I'll make a wild guess that

Another anomoly of the system: My blog has been visited 600 distinct times in Bahrain, but I would guess that about 20% of those times have been my wife - and only because I set my blog as her home page. So every time she opens up her computer, it goes to the blog, and the information gets counted in the system.

So there you have it. Statistics. I kind of like the numbers and information, so its neat to see it on the website, even if I don't actually use it for anything. 1000th visitor, if you feel brave enough, feel free to identify yourself. You will get no prize, though.

*This is not truly the 1000th distinct visitor. That person will remain forever unknown. Rather, this is the 1000th distinct visitor since I have started tracking visitors, around the end of December 2008. At this pace, if I had started keeping statistics when I first started blogging, I'd be closer to 3000 distinct visits by now.

Bahrain 0-0 New Zealand

Saturday night, I had the opportunity to go to a World Cup qualifying match between Bahrain and New Zealand. Unfortunately, Bahrain didn't win, though they should have. They had 2 or 3 opportunities in front of the goal that only a team like my high school soccer team would have missed (we weren't that good). However, there were some exciting moments in the game, and a good time was had by all.

Bahrain and New Zealand play a second match next month, and the winner of this two-game series will go onto the World Cup in South Africa next summer. It would be quite the riot if Bahrain were to make it to the World Cup, and it would be a fantastic time to be in Bahrain, as the celebrations would be quite fantastic.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures and a video that we took while we were there.

Owen, Ross and I at the stadium.

Where the action took place.

The stadium from the outside. Owen commented that it looks like a space ship.

An enthusiastic crowd.

Two Signs in Bahrain

Today Alison and I decided to drive around the bottom two thirds of the island. Not the whole two thirds - really just the area along the eastern coast of the lower half (but being on the eastern coast is really the same as saying we were on the eastern half of the island). We drove down on one of the highways, took a look at one of the ridiculous resorts that's being built, and drove back up through some of the villages.

On the way down, there is a turn off on the high way. Not an exit, per se, but just a turn off. There were two signs on the turn off warning people away. Here the first as you drive along the road (click to enlarge).


To be honest, the picture of large bombs is more of an incentive to go find something interesting. Good thing they had another sign clearly stating what they wanted people to do. You'd think that they would put this next one first and just leave it at that (again, click to enlarge).


Fortunately, the two signs are right next to each other, so we didn't go too far before we turned around. At some point, I will upload some of the really neat photos we were able to take while driving around and title it: "Things you would see if you came out and visited us."

Our Little Corn on the Cobb

On the right, you'll see an updated picture of the size of our little Round 2 (or you should... my changes haven't taken place yet). The size of an ear of corn might be a little misleading. I don't think he* is as thin as an ear of corn - I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the length (which is about one foot long). Alison can feel the baby moving quite a bit, particularly when something is pressing against her tummy (such as my hand!). He also seems to be active about the time we're going to bed. I've heard stories of people being able to "tickle" and interact with the baby, so I'm hoping that at some point we'll be able to do that!

Here are some of the developments taking place in our little Round 2.

• Round 2 is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up.
• His brain is growing quickly (duh - he's going to be a genius)
• His taste buds are continuing to develop.
• His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world.
• His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

There are, of course, other things going on besides the development of the baby. I mean, Alison and I do have jobs, you know. We have other things to do besides sit around and watch Alison's tummy get bigger.

As many of you know, I've started working for our church part time. I've also been teaching English at one of the language institutes here in Bahrain. I've taught one section so far that has started and ended, and I enjoyed it. The students were beginners, and we were learning things such as "Hi, how are you." "Where is this?" or "Whose is this?" The students - all guys - were a lot of fun to work with. I start my next session in two weeks.

Alison, however, has had a bit of a roller coaster ride. Many of you have heard of H1N1, or "swine flu" as its more commonly known as. Bahrain started the year trying to get schools to close until after the Eid Break (this last week). Though they did delay opening for a few days, most schools were open at the beginning of september. After Eid started, the government has again declared that all elementary and high schools will be closed until mid-October. Of course, parents aren't happy about this because 1) their kids aren't learning and 2) their kids are at home ALL THE TIME. There has even been a facebook group created protesting the governments decision to keep the schools closed! It'll be interesting to see how long the schools will actually be closed for.

While this is bad for students and learning, it is kind of nice because it means Alison can take it a little easier. She will still go into work next week, and aparently there will be some correspondence work that she will have the students do, but it will be more relaxed than a full on teaching schedule.

Lastly, I have been growing my goatee out. It hasn't been all THAT grown out, and I'm not sure it will grow as long as I want it to. But I met a guy the other day that has the beard of my dreams. I thought I'd share.



*We still do not know for certain what gender the baby is. Doctors have split 50/50 on their answer, and Alison and I each have a different 'intution' about what the baby is (she says girl, I say boy). I hate saying a gender-neutral "it" and saying "he or she" everytime gets cumbersome. So I've decided to alternately use "he" and "she" in subsequent blog posts. It might cause confusion, but that's ok.

Quote of the Day

"Nationalism... can be defined as a group of people united by a common error about their ancestry and a common dislike of their neighbors."

-Explaining Foreign Policy (Lloyed Jensen)

So true. So true.

"I feel very scared to be in this country right now."

No, I don't feel scared to be in Bahrain. In fact, Bahrain has been quite fantastic. Rather, the title of this post refers to a quote from a mother in the US, taken from this article on CNN. But like the Secretary of Education says in the article, all the hubbub surrounding President Obama's speech to American students is just kind of silly. Really? Someone is scared to be in the US right now?

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that very few people are truly scared of the leadership in the United States. I mean - is Obama's administration comparable to Ghadaffi? Sadaam? Pol Pot? Stalin? So if people are not truly scared, then what is going on?

Well, I imagine that its one of three things.

1. These people do not understand a real fear of dictatorial leadership, and they need to be a little more knowledgable about the world around them and figure out what life is/was like for people who truly live in fear for their lives.
2. These people are just angry, but don't have enough self awareness to correctly label their feelings.
3. These people are just angry, but saying "I'm angry" doesn't get the results they want. Maybe they think they sound more legitimate saying "I'm afraid" rather than "I'm angry" and feel more justified in their indignation.
   

I would surmise that its really a mix of the last two. But really - do we really need to be scared!? Or even angry about this education speech!? I don't agree with most of Obama's economic decisions, but this doesn't mean that he's dictatorial, grabbing for power at every chance or looking to innoculate our children with his "leftist-communist-socialist" propaganda.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I think the speech on Tuesday will be about working hard in school with no partisan message. As a social studies teacher, opportunities like this are fantastic, as the president is speaking directly to students. It gives teachers a chance to relate things like civics and government to their own experience.

Not only that, but as I said in this post, Obama is providing an example as a leader that people (and kids) should work hard. Will this inspire every student in the classroom? Obviously not. But its quite probable that thousands of kids will be inspired. Is that not worth the speech?

I don't think that the people who are claiming to be scared are part of some sort of right-wing conspiracy, or even that they are intentionally trying to add to the derailment of Obama era policies. However, they are letting their anger and frustration over other areas (health care, economic policy) cloud their judgment and color every decision that Obama is making.

Really?! (That's right. I said "really" for the third time. That's how ridiculous these people are).

You're scared!? Tell that to the next Afghan refugee that fled the Taliban in the 1990's. Or someone who's lived in Somalia. Or someone who lived through the purges in Soviet Russia.

Food for Thought: The Nephilim and Neanderthal

So I've just finished this book - "Remarkable Creatures" - and it it (among many other things) the author makes a compelling case for the existence of Neanderthals (actually - he just assumes they existed and his purpose was to determine if homo sapiens evolved from them - he concludes that we did not). But in the process, the detailing of DNA information and such make it believable for them to have existed. Which made me think:

Could the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 have been some sort of Neanderthal race, or something similar? The mention of Neanderthal seems to be a time line marker, and there is little description of them. Here are the descriptions:

• they existed when the sons of God and daughters of men had children
• they were mighty men of old
• they were men of renowned.

The author of the book says that Neanderthals were resilient creatures, and many of their bones show signs of repeated breaks (similar to Rodeo riders), indicating that they hunted large animals. This may have gained them respect as mighty and men of renowned.

As for the first description - existing at the time when sons of God and daughters of men had children - it seems that these "sons of God" were different people than the Nephilim. Neanderthals are characterized as slow and dimwitted, but I'm not sure that this is a fair assessment (ie, the skulls look more like apes therefore they are less intelligent).

(Some commentators online suggested that the Nephilim were the off-spring of the Sons of God and Daughters of men, but I'm not really convinced).

Of course, all of this assumes and old earth, and therefore begins contradicting scripture. Fossil records seem to indicate that Humans and Neanderthals existed around 50,000-100,00 years ago. However, if we take the genealogies in scripture as literal, and assume they are, lets say, 50 years apart, that doesn't line up with a 50,000-100,000 year time line.

I asked a friend this question and she said, "Maybe... but I don't really care." Should we care? Maybe not.

But your comments are welcome anyway.

Results Are In: We're Having A...

......

well... is that a...? Or is it the umbilical chord... we're not really sure.... so maybe it's a boy? But it could be a girl...

The doctor said she thought it might be a boy, but that the picture was inconclusive. I was having a hard time making anything out on the scans (Round 2 wasn't in an optimal position for getting a good "ultrasound pic", either). Another "scan" of some sort is scheduled for later next week. Alison informs me via facebook that it's not an x-ray, but rather "some kind of safer, better scan."

We'll keep you posted.

A Book Review; Tidbits; Ramadan

One of the best fiction books I've read, and one of the only books I've read more than once. Yes, its about rabbits - but its a fantastic epic-hero story. If you have a chance, read the book. Its a children s book (along the reading level of the Harry Potter books), so it reads fairly easily and quickly.

In other news:

• Going to concentrate on my next book: The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer (Tracy Hogg). I've started it already, and she makes it sound like having an infant is about as easy as having a stuffed animal - if you treat him/her just right! I'm sure it is... I'm sure it is... I think part of her appeal (to Americans, at least) is that she's British. She uses lots of "british" phrases and it all conjures up images of Mary Poppins and the like - the nanny who swoops in and magically fixes all of the children's problems.
• We didn't get to have the ultrasound last Sunday like we were hoping for, so still no word yet on the gender. We've rescheduled for Thursday at 6:30pm. (on a related note - after this and the fiasco with British Air, I'm going to start carrying around a receipt book with me and billing people BD10 for wasting my time).
  
• I've officially started both my jobs: teaching English at the ACEC and working for our church as the community relations coordinator. I'm really looking forward to it!

Ramadan has started, the month of fasting for Muslims. This means it is law that people cannot eat or drink in public (which I accidentally did the other day... oops!). Muslims fast during the daylight hours, from dawn until dusk every day for around 28 days. At night they are able to eat, and this usually means visiting family (and clogging up the roads going to visit those families). It doesn't sound like that big a deal to fast during the day, but its actually quite difficult. Doing one or two days like that isn't so bad, but if you stretch it out for a month... well - you get tired of being tired and hungry every day. Especially in the heat. I know because I fasted during Ramadan the first year I was here. It was pretty intense.

Another Baby Update (and a blogging milestone)

This post is my 110th post as a blogger over the last three years. Actually, this previuos was my 100th post, but I forgot to mention the milestone. I couldn't just do "101" or "103" - 110 seems to be the next best thing. I'll try to remember at 150 and/or 200 - which will probably come even sooner as I post updates about Round 2 after he/she is born. "Round 2 walked today!" "Round 2 smiled today!" "Round 2 knocked over his cereal bowl today!" How exciting!!

I may or may not be one of those people that sees every action as a developmental milestone and that milestone coming quicker than the average baby. I may or may not see my baby as significantly smarter and more mature than the average baby. Consider yourself warned. (for more new-parent-relations etiquette, see here).

So speaking of an update on Round 2: we will find out the gender of our baby tomorrow (Sunday, Aug. 23rd)! When we get back from the doctors office we will be able let the whole world know. Of course, below is the developmental information for the baby as Alison approaches finishing her 20th week:

• He/She weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now.
• 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he/she's measured from head to toe.)
• He/She is swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system.
• He/She is also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his/her first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Ok - so that was a little grosser than I had expected. But those of you who've had babies know that its not all fun and games. For those of you still waiting, consider it a preview.

One of the amazing things is that the baby has about doubled in size in the last two weeks or so! I think it'll continue those growth spurts over the next few months, too.

Even more exciting is that we've been able to play with him/her over the last few days! He/She has started moving around quite a bit (Alison can feel him/her all the time, and sometimes its enough for me to feel it). There have been times when he/she is really active that if I push on Alison's tummy, the baby will start squirming around even more and push back a little bit. Its a lot of fun!

Alison and I have started moving from pregnancy books to baby books. Here are some of the books we are perusing - either borrowed or owned. Suggestions welcome.

• The Baby Whisperer
• What to Expect the First Year (the sequel to "What to Expect when You're Expecting")
  
• Lifespan Psychology (one of my college textbooks! Very exciting)

Our Bag Has Returned from the Deep Abyss

At midnight last night, after Alison and I had been in bed for almost an hour (I was still awake reading Watership Down), the doorbell rang. A little confused, I went to the door to find someone from the Bahrain Airport with our last bag! This was fantastic news. Apparently, the guy had called 16 times (which I confirmed with 16 missed calls on my mobile), and I hadn't picked up. I'm not sure how long he'd been driving around, but he apparently found our flat. So the saga is over - mostly. I'm still going to type up a letter for British Air and see if we can't get some compensation out of the deal. We still don't recommend you fly BA; or if you do, don't check any bags.

I have also been awake since 6am this morning, working on getting my wireless router set up. After a few phone calls and some internet trouble shooting - I am on security enabled wireless connection! No more cords, no more delicately moving so as not to disconnect the ethernet cable. Such freedom.

So now that we have "fully" arrived in Bahrain, we can be fully focused on getting some of the things done that we need to. Here are some of the things on our to-do list:

1. Get me a Visa: I was able to get a two week visitor visa at the airport, and now I need to work on actually getting my work visa/work permit. It *shouldn't* be a big deal, but... it seems that nothing is without a hassle.

2. Start my new job: I will start next week. I got a large to-do list from someone else at the church, and it was interesting looking at some of the things on there I need to do. I'll keep you posted on those things.

3. Alison will start her job: she's supposed to start next Sunday, but apparently the government has mandated that all private schools will start after eid (which, this year, isn't till the 3rd week in September). Apparently this is due to concerns of a swine flu outbreak here in Bahrain. We're still waiting to see if that will actually happen, but it'd be nice for her if it did!

4. Prepare the baby's room! There are actually a ton of things associated with this: get a new wardrobe for MY room, so we can get rid of my old one that's currently in baby's room; paint the room; clean out all of the junk we don't need (a mammoth task - we tend towards pack-rats); get rid of the desk that's falling apart; find storage for the junk we can't let go of; hang pictures; order more stuff online for our parents to bring out; put together the crib; wash baby clothes; hang pictures given as gifts; play with the toys; etc etc etc.

5. Find out whether Round 2 is a boy or a girl! We have an appointment on the 23rd, which is next Sunday. We'll get an ultra-sound, and then we'll let you know! The name will be kept under wraps until he/she is born, though.

Well, its off to the shower for me. Many things to do.

British Air: Deep Abyss of Satan's Lair

Summer Score For British Air:

Bags Checked: 6
Bags Lost: 6
Bags Returned: 1

British Air has been in rare form. Or normal form, as I'm learning. I never thought that it could be this bad. British Air lost all of our bags on the way to the US back in June - including all of Alison's maternity clothes. A few days later, I got MY suitcase back, but Alison was still wearing the same shirt and pants. We did eventually have to go out and buy Alison a whole bunch of clothes.

Fast forward to today.

We check in 4 bags. 1 is a guitar. The other three are suitcases filled with our clothes and all sorts of goodies for the baby like clothes, toys, bath items, and a few personalized gifts from Alison's baby shower. Alison even spread out all of our clothes and baby items evenly between each of the three suitcases just in case one got lost. That way, we would still have clothes to live in until the lost bag returned. But no - all four bags were lost. All that work for nothing (and the guitar is lost as well).

And its not just that our bags didn't make it on the plane, and they know they are sitting in London. No - they completely don't even know where the bags are. Don't even know. Incompetence at it's worst. THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE BAGS ARE!! How are they still in business?! Because one thing is for sure - I won't fly them again. I'm not even sure I would fly them if they gave us tickets, unless we weren't checking any bags.

In related news - apparently British Air and US Consular (immigration division) are demon-cousins.

Because it needs to be documented

Every time we travel, I try to travel lighter than before. But somehow, at the end of the trip, we have more than we came with. Its a blessing and a curse. Here is the evidence.

Heading Back Home

It has been a wonderful time in the US. We were in 7 states in 7 weeks, and saw a lot of family and friends. When I get back to Bahrain, I will upload pictures using the new digital camera that my parents got for us for birthday/anniversary/christmas etc. It has been a lot of fun having a camera. I'll include pictures of paintball with my brother and dad, time with my grandparents (who lived in Morocco!), walking out to the Manitowoc lighthouse, and - wait for it - settlers. Many many games of settlers.

But now we leave in about 3 hours for the airport to slug it out with British Air on the way home. Most of you know, but Alison lost her bag on the way here. To put it more bluntly - British Air lost her bag in Terminal 5, or as we like to call it, "The Black Hole of Doom." (we are supposed to get a reimbursement check, by the way, but it hasn't come yet). It does make me a little nervous, as we have four checked bags this time, instead of 2, one of them being my guitar and brand spanking new industrial strength guitar case (and guitar). Not only that, but we have a plethora of baby gifts from Alison's baby shower that I'm not too interested in loosing.

We got some great gifts, and of course, some of the favorites include the handmade gifts such as a blanket and painting for the baby's wall. We are even getting the first edition of a children's book to be published by one of our friends - "10 trolls you should know" - which I am really excited to see (its not quite done yet). All that to say - please pray hard that British Air does not lose one of our bags. We have gotten smarter and spread out all of our belongings among each bag, so if one bag gets lost, there isn't one person who loses ALL of their belongings.

Anyway, we are ready to be back in Bahrain and leave the suitcases behind. We get back on Friday night and we have a few days until we start work. Actually, due to a government mandated delay due to the swine flu, Alison may have a few weeks extra off! But we will be spending that time getting things around our apartment ready for baby when he/she arrives. Putting up cribs, moving furniture, baby-proofing our house, etc.

And for those of you wanting to know whether he/she is a he or a she - we will find out on Aug 23rd! Or 21st. I'm not sure which. Alison has a doctor's appointment, and we'll find out in the ultrasound. However, our name will be kept mum until our little buddy actually joins us in the post-womb world.

Parenting Classes

I am preparing to take some math classes online through LSU - Independent Study. Sweet. So how about taking some parenting classes online? I got my first lesson from my friend Russ. Here is what I learned in my first lesson:

Here's an update on the development of Round 2.

• Hearing is starting to develop, so he/she can might be able to hear us!
  
• The baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — his/her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker.
• The baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip).
• she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom.
• She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

As for Alison and I, we are still in Texas, with my parents. We have done a few things, such as help paint my parents house, watch my brothers record in a professional recording studio, played LOTS of settlers, eaten superb home cooking, visited guitar stores, and generally hanging out. And on Saturday - the grand finale - we will go play some paintball. Fantastic times.

In the Washington Post: The Crown Prince of Bahrain

Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince in Bahrain (and therefore the current king's son), wrote an article that was published in the Washington Post on Thursday. The article is about the Palestinian-Israel conflict. I really like the Crown Prince. Though, to be honest, I'm not really sure why. But he seems to have his country's best interest at heart. I think that he wants to do the best to help his country grow economically as well as strengthen social cohesion among Bahraini's. All in all, when he becomes king someday, I think he will do good things.

Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis

By Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa

We need fresh thinking if the Arab Peace Initiative is to have the impact it deserves on the crisis that needlessly impoverishes Palestinians and endangers Israel's security.

This crisis is not a zero-sum game. For one side to win, the other does not have to lose.

The peace dividend for the entire Middle East is potentially immense. So why have we not gotten anywhere?

Our biggest mistake has been to assume that you can simply switch peace on like a light bulb. The reality is that peace is a process, contingent on a good idea but also requiring a great deal of campaigning -- patiently and repeatedly targeting all relevant parties. This is where we as Arabs have not done enough to communicate directly with the people of Israel.

An Israeli might be forgiven for thinking that every Muslim voice is raised in hatred, because that is usually the only one he hears. Just as an Arab might be forgiven for thinking every Israeli wants the destruction of every Palestinian.

Essentially, we have not done a good enough job demonstrating to Israelis how our initiative can form part of a peace between equals in a troubled land holy to three great faiths. Others have been less reticent, recognizing that our success would threaten their vested interest in keeping Palestinians and Israelis at each other's throats. They want victims to stay victims so they can be manipulated as proxies in a wider game for power. The rest of us -- the overwhelming majority -- have the opposite interest.

It is in our interest to speak up now for two reasons. First, we will all be safer once we drain the pool of antipathy in which hatemongers from both sides swim.

Second, peace will bring prosperity. Already, the six oil and gas nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council have grown into a powerful trillion-dollar market. Removing the ongoing threat of death and destruction would open the road to an era of enterprise, partnership and development on an even greater scale for the region at large.

That is the glittering prize for resolving the dilemma of justice for Palestine without injustice to Israel. Effectively, this is the meta-issue that defines and distorts the self-image of Arabs and diverts too much of our energies away from the political and economic development the region needs.

The wasted years of deadlock have conditioned Israelis to take on a fortress mentality that automatically casts all Palestinians as the enemy -- and not as the ordinary, decent human beings they are.

Speaking out matters, but it is not enough. Our governments and all stakeholders also must be ready to carry out practical measures to help ease the day-to-day hardship of Palestinian lives.

The two communities in the Holy Land are not fated to be enemies. What can unite them tomorrow is potentially bigger than what divides them today.

Both sides need help from their friends, in the form of constructive engagement, to reach a just settlement.

What we don't need is the continued reflexive rejection of any initiative that seeks to melt the ice. Consider the response so far to the Arab peace plan, pioneered by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. This initiative is a genuine effort to normalize relations between the entire Arab region and Israel, in return for Israel's withdrawal from occupied territory and a fair resolution of the plight of the Palestinians, far too many of whom live in refugee camps in deplorable conditions.

We must stop the small-minded waiting game in which each side refuses to budge until the other side makes the first move. We've got to be bigger than that. All sides need to take simultaneous, good-faith action if peace is to have a chance. A real, lasting peace requires comprehensive engagement and reconciliation at the human level. This will happen only if we address and settle the core issues dividing the Arab and the Israeli peoples, the first being the question of Palestine and occupied Arab lands. The fact that this has not yet happened helps to explain why the Jordanian and Egyptian peace accords with Israel are cold. They have not been comprehensive.

We should move toward real peace now by consulting and educating our people and by reaching out to the Israeli public to highlight the benefits of a genuine peace.

To be effective, we must acknowledge that, like people everywhere, the average Israeli's primary window on the world is his or her local and national media. Our job, therefore, is to tell our story more directly to the Israeli people by getting the message out to their media, a message reflecting the hopes of the Arab mainstream that confirms peace as a strategic option and advocates the Arab Peace Initiative as a means to this end. Some conciliatory voices in reply from Israel would help speed the process.

Some Arabs, simplistically equating communication with normalization, may think we are moving too fast toward normalization. But we all know that dialogue must be enhanced for genuine progress. We all, together, need to take the first crucial step to lay the groundwork to effectively achieve peace. So we must all invest more in communication.

Once we achieve peace, trade will follow. We can then create a "virtuous circle," because trade will create its own momentum. By putting real money into people's hands and giving them real power over their lives, trade will help ensure the durability of peace. The day-to-day experience would move minds and gradually build a relationship of trust and mutual interest, without which long-term peacemaking is impossible.

When stability pays, conflict becomes too costly. We must do more, now, to achieve peace.

Stomping in the Old Stomping Grounds - Philly Edition

Some of you know that I lived in Philadelphia for a year, through a program called Mission Year. It was a really formative year for me spiritually as well as theologically (sort of formative... maybe that would take a while to explain...)

Anyway, so Alison and I are in Philadelphia this week visiting some friends. Though we are actually staying in the suburbs of Philly, we have been able to go into the city a few times this week. On Sunday, we walked around some historic and trendy areas of Philadelphia. I didn't spend a whole lot of time in these areas when I lived here, but its kind of fun to go to, none the less.

Yesterday, Alison and I headed into the city again, but this time to Southwest Philly. We took the trains into the city, and then took Philly's iconic trolleys into Southwest. We had intended to meet a friend, and so we stopped off a park near where we though he lived. Not there, though. After that, we took a chance further into the city, hoping to meet a family I knew/know well. We just kind of showed up, and fortunately they were home! We sat and talked with them for about 3 hours, catching up, telling them how Alison and I met. It was a lot of fun to see their girls, too, who had grown up so much. One is 23 with a son of her own - not really a girl anymore!

I wish I had pictures to post while I was with my friends. Unfortunately, Alison and I didn't think it important to bring a camera back with us. Oh well. Next time.

An Update on Round 2

A blog post just isn't complete without an update on the little guy/girl (no, we don't know which yet). 66% of physicians surveyed agree that Alison is a little over 15 weeks along, which means that he/she is about the size of an apple.

According to the Baby Center, the following things are happening to "The Hunter", as my own father has taken to calling him/her.

• The air sacs in the lungs are developing
• He/she can move all the limbs now
• The eyelids are fused shut, but he/she can sense light and will respond to a flashlight shined on the womb
• Taste buds are forming, and cravings for Chipotle, Dark Chocolate, Dr. Pepper and Caribou Coffee are beginning to develop
  
• It's POSSIBLE to know the gender of the baby, but we won't have a checkup for a few weeks, probably. When we know, you will know.
  

Remember to vote for your favorite name. Its amazing how many people have voted on my poll so far!

An Update on Round 2

Many of you, I'm sure, are waiting in suspense for more information about Round 2. Is he/she a boy or a girl? What will his/her name be? How big is he/she? Well, Alison is starting to show, and I'm sure it won't be long till she is waddling like a pro.

On the right, I have added a poll where YOU can decide what you think the name of the baby should be. I've added a few new names and have included some original ideas and suggestions offered by others.

In our small group, before we left Bahrain, we had a brainstorming session for baby names. I think Alison was less than enthused, but we came up with some good ideas. Someone mentioned names like "Grace", "Faith", "Hope" or "Christian" - all very good, Biblically grounded names. So I thought, why not keep with the themes of theological concepts. Why not "Sanctification" or "Propitiation"? Maybe even "Justification"?

In related news, I thought I'd share some updated info about the baby itself. Of course, you can see the current size of the baby (the size of a nutter butter cookie). But here is some more detailed info from parentsconnect.com:

• Your baby can make a fist and even suck his or her thumb this week—both skills that are über-cute during infancy ... and not so much at the age of 9. If you're really lucky, you might catch a glimpse of baby's thumb sucking on an ultrasound photo. That's a framer!
• Your baby's eyelids are fused shut to protect his eyes as they develop. His bones and skull are solidifying and soon itsy-bitsy ribs may appear. (Baby ribs! How cute is that?!)
• Baby's intestines are finally right where you want them—in his or her belly instead of poking out into the umbilical cord.
• Baby's tooth sockets are all loaded and ready to pop out baby teeth six or seven months after baby is born (causing baby a lot of pain and you a lot of lost sleep).
• Who's that singing? dc talk? Could be your baby: His vocal cords and larynx are completed now.

We'll keep you posted on Round 2's development, as well as my continued work to get Alison to at least consider some of my options.

A New Direction

Many people already know this, but some do not. I will be experiencing a little bit of a job change this next year. I have resigned from my position at Al Raja (where I was teaching history and economics). On the one hand, this is very sad, as I have really enjoyed teaching the students at this school as well as working with the staff. I will miss them a lot.

I will now be working at our church I attend as the Community Relations Coordinator. This will be a part time job, and my responsibilities will revolve around helping coordinate different events that the church puts on. I'm really looking forward to it. However, as it is part time, I will also be teaching English at one of the local English institutes. There are a lot of great things that will come about with all of this - including a little bit of flexibility for when the baby comes.

In other news, we have been in the US for about a week now. Today is independence day, and if you wish, you can read about my thoughts on celebrating this day here. Had a great breakfast made by my brother-in-law and his wife, played some tennis and then we'll head to church tonight where Alison will be able to see some friends. Its going to be an action packed summer, and you can track all of our travels here.

Unfortunately, Alison still doesn't have clothes. British Air lost a whole truckload of luggage, including mine and Alison's bags. A few days ago, they found mine and delivered it to the house we are staying at. However, they still have not found Alison's bag. Hopefully this will translate into an upgrade of seats for us on the way back to Bahrain. We'll play the you-lost-the-bag-of-a-pregnant-woman-and-made-her-suffer card.

Off Roading

Many of you already knew this, but it was Alison's birthday on Thursday! Why didn't I write a post on Thursday, her big day? Well, because we were too busy celebrating, of course. One of the best parts, though, was the cake that our friends John and Sally baked for her. It was decorated like a settlers board! Quite amazing. I'll post a photo when I have time.

However, I wanted to post some other photo's from the year. These in particular are of an off-road adventure. A few guys from church like to take their trucks out to the desert and muck around a bit. Its quite fun. I usually come back with sand in my hair and the temperature gauge of the truck higher than normal. But no serious damage. I think.

The Toys and the Playground

Heading Up the Hill

I got stuck. Ross had to pull me out.

One of the guys showing off some of his moves.

The Last Week of School

I think I mentioned last week that we are on our last leg of the school year. Last week, the students finished up exams, and us teachers have finished grading the exams and have since turned in the grades. So if all that was done last week, what are we doing this week? Well, in a day or two the report cards will be printed, and we'll be stuffing envelopes with report cards, but until then, there hasn't been a whole lot to do. Some administrative work and organizational work, but Alison and I largely finished that last week.

However, we have been working on something far more important: Settlers of Catan. This board game can be described as a mix of monopoly and risk. I played it in college, and Alison and I have gotten hooked on it this year. We've been playing at least two games every day at school. I've won a few games, Alison has won a few, and in general its been a good time. I've even started tracking the statistics of how many times each number gets rolled. Should be very interesting.

Alison and I will be bringing this game with us this summer, so we'll be able to play it all throughout the summer. Good times are a comin'!

Round 2's First Photo Shoot

Below you will find the first ultrasound pictures that Alison and I got of our little guy. Before yesterday, I have never been able to see the baby in the ultrasound pictures whenever I've seen them, but yesterday I pushed through my blindness and saw. It probably helped that the doctor was there saying, "Its there. No, its there. ahrhghg!! THERE!!" So for those of you who have trouble seeing, the second picture is labeled with the baby.

When we got to the hospital, Alison hadn't drunk enough water. Apparently more water helps the ultrasound. We went into the doctors office and she hooked Alison up to the apparatus.

You can see on the picture a few dots that go the breadth of Round 2. These are the measurements. Apparently, though Round 2 is only 10 weeks since conception, he/she is the size of a 11 week old. Good stock, those Perkins'. The little tike was quite active, too. Limbs seemed to be flailing all over the place as he/she moved & grooved about.

We were also able to see the baby's heart beating. Its fairly unproportional, at least in terms of our hearts/bodies. It looked as if the whole stomach area (or the midsection at least) was bulging in and out, in and out. Quite quickly, too.

I'm not sure if this is true, but it almost seems as if you can see the outline of the skull bones. I read in the pregnancy books we have that its this time when the bones start to harden and form a little more, even though he/she is only about 2 inches long!

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the pictures. I'm sure we'll have more as time goes on.

Baby Names and Bargaining

This week has been chock full of excitement. I did something this week that I had never done before - when I went to get my haircut, I also asked for a shave and beard trim. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. It was a little less smooth than I had anticipated, and there wasn't a significant difference in a self-trim on my goatee. However, after a haircut, the barbers here always give a great head massage, so all in all I was satisfied at the end.

The I got my haircut because I had a raggedy mop on my head, and it didn't look professional enough for the person who was running security at the school's graduation. Well, it probably wouldn't have made that much of a difference, but I felt more respectable. And we didn't have any problems this year. It was really great.

So anyway, onto the great adventures:

1. Baby Names: We've gotten some entries for baby names from people. There are even entities who would like to contribute to Morejosh Inc, and pay for naming rights. However, we wouldn't want to stoop so low as to sell the name of our baby. Unless you have a lot of money. Here are some suggestions:

• Ross Montgomery Emily Louise Fender Mepham (going for the quintuple middle name)
• Owen
• Wycliff (actually, it's someone else's suggestion, but I'm stealing it anyway).

You can see in the side bar, too, the current size of our baby. Right now, its about the size of a small plump. The little guy is really growing quite quickly these days. Fingers and toes already, bones are starting to harden. Its quite amazing.

2. The worst barterer in the world: So my car needed some work - part of the muffler was shot. I took it to the garage. He said that he needed to completely cut out the section, and he'd weld in a completely new part. When I asked how much he said, "12 Dinars." (about $30). Now, this seemed reasonable as he was going to completely replace the part, so I just said ok. I didn't feel like it was too much to pay, and didn't feel the need to negotiate.

However, I think this confused him. I think he was expecting me to barter with him. In his confusion, he said, "Ok, 10BD." It confused ME. But yes, he actually LOWERED the price. I'm not really sure why.

A Completion of the Social Revolution?

Before I start this post - I must give a shout out unless you missed it. Alison is pregnant. Read more about it on the previous post. Also, check out the app to the right. --> This shows the development of Round 2, as we call him. Quite cute, isn't he! Anyway, on to the subject of this post.

I just read a biography about Vladimir Putin, the current prime minister of Russia and former president. Even though he is only prime minister, which is a lower post in the executive, it is his protege, Dmirtry Medvedev, who has taken the role of president. However, many people believe that Putin still ultimately calls the shots. In the biography, I learned how Putin was born to a lower middle class family, went through soviet indoctrination and decided to work for the KGB as a result, and eventually worked himself into russian politics. It was, it seems, an accident of history that he was catapulted into the presidency at the end of Boris Yeltsin's 8 year self implosion.

So Putin rose from being a relative unknown in his country to being the leader of one of the most powerful countries in teh world. Russia isn't an economic powerhouse at the moment, but certainly their arsenal of nuclear weapons makes them relevant. And Russia does what it wants. You got to admit, its no small accomplishment on Putin's part.

This got me thinking. There are three other countries who are or will soon rise to be THE world powers of the most consequence:

• United States: the worlds only hyperpower after the fall of the Soviet Union. After enjoying the hegemony, we are having to deal with a multipolar world.
  
• China: Regaining world power status after a century or two hiccup of not being a world power. And, basically they own US debt.
  
• India: they have 1 billion people and, really, they do most of the work for the US anyways. It won't be long before they are getting the majority of profit from their own work.
  

In each of these countries, the leader has rose from relative obscurity to be the leader of a very powerful nation. Barack Obama is the most recent member of this club. However, Hu Jintao - the president of China - came from a nondescript family. Manmohan Singh, the current prime minister and head of governemnt also came from a poor family and shares Hu's characteristic of not being raised by either of his parents. Singh isn't even a Hindu. He's sikh, which is a major deal in itself (imagine a jewish man becoming president of the US).

In fact, regarding parents, I believe the same is somewhat true for Obama. While his mother did not die until he was an adult and married, she moved around a lot and he lived with his grandmother for a portion of his life.

None of these men are from the "establishment", so to speak. They are not from the Bush Dynasty or from the Kennedy clan. Putin does not have connections to the powerful families of Russia, and Hu is not from the ancient families of China. Particularly in the case of Putin and Obama, the normal people clamor over them, and the "establishment" is eager to line up behind them to gain their own brownie points (or in Russia's case - cower in fear as he crushes them with greater fury than Alison v Ants in our kitchen).

Have we reached a revolution of class when it is those who were once poor, and are now rich, who run the four most powerful or soon to be powerful countries in the world? Have we usurped the borgouisie and have the proletariate taken over?

Somehow I thought it would have been different...