Watching the World Cup

While its unfortunate that the US has been eliminated from the World Cup, I can still enjoy good soccer (football)! Watching the World Cup is no easy task. You have to have expensive satellite or a fast internet connection (which is also expensive).  However, people here adapt!  Many coffee shops show the games.  Even the theaters are showing the games!  I watched the first US game at a cinema.

However, one of the most exciting venues is at the mall.  Last night I went with a friend to catch the last half of the England/Germany game.  One of the cell phone operators is sponsoring World Cup showings.  You can see the area below where people can pay to sit.  And it was sold out (or so I was told when asked).  Of course, one doesn't have to pay to watch the game - which is what we (and many others) did.

Don't let the above fool you.  This was at half time.  When the game was showing, the center was packed and the outside was full with people standing and watching the game. 

Here's a glimpse from the ground (still outside the VIP area).  This is where we watched most of the game from.

People lined the railings on the 2nd and 3rd floor to catch the game.  You can also see that there were smaller tv's in the VIP area, where people could watch. 

While it wasn't as comfortable as watching from home or in a theater, it was a lot of fun watching with this many people.  No matter who scored a goal, the crowd cheered.  I think its about as good as it can get without actually being at the game.  I'm not sure I'll make it to any more mall games before we vamoose to the States, but it won't be for lack of desire!

Aledo, IL - Home of Thugmuffin and Vanilla Milkshake

The latest music video from my brothers, Stephen and David. 

Two Unrelated but Important Thoughts

If you're looking for pictures of Eva, you will find none on this post.  Come back later (but don't forget to read what I wrote below!) 

1.  I am officially unemployed.  There are some job possibilities in the queue, but none are 100% certain.  For my former economic students, you would recognize this as frictional unemployment:  when someone chooses to leave their current job intending to get a better job.  Pray that the job possibilities come through.  If you want to hear the whole story, shoot me an email.

2.  World Cup:  I feel a little bit bad talking about the World Cup as an American, mostly because of this post from the blog "Stuff White People Like."  However, the American games have been exciting, and bordering on heart wrenching.  If you are able, I encourage you to watch the next match against Ghana (the team that eliminated the US in the 2006 tournament).   I also encourage you to feel indignant about the stolen goal in the second game against Slovenia, and even check out Sports Illustrated, who posted FIFA's address so outraged fans can write and express their frustration.  

An English friend sums up the current world cup situation this way: 

[he] thinks this world cup has turned out just like WW2... the French surrendered early, USA arrived late and think it was all their hard work that got them where they are, and we're [England] left to fight the Germans..

True... so true... except I would add, as a loyal American fan, that the Americans have (sort of) earned their place and certainly scraped through.  And I'll jump on any bandwagon that makes fun of the French.

Scoot Scoot!!

Eva has started lifting herself off of the ground a little bit, and she's even starting to scoot around the room.  And every once in a while she'll roll herself across the floor.  All very exciting!




I also took some photos recently.  You have to admit, she's really cute in her sundress.  And the pictures of her and Alison are fantastic.

A (Persian) Bahraini Wedding: Part 2 (Men and Women Together [Josh's Perspective])

If you missed the first post, you can click on this link to read about Alison's experience at the women's only portion of the wedding celebration (and if you think the title is too long... well - there's lots of nuance to be communicated!). 

One of the things that Alison mentioned in the previous post was the make-up.  Here's a great (though slightly more exuberant) example of the make-up. You can see more examples at this website.

Also, I wanted to share this quote with you.  A comment a Bahraini friend left on facebook regarding the last post:

300 people? thats it? maybe i should invite you to a wedding from my mom's side of the family. its normally mixed men and women from the beginning. 8 pm till about 5 am. dinner and breakfast. not a lot of people are covered, a lot of people are drunk, and girls and boys on the dance floor. about 1000 to 1500 people. 

 Its good to note that there are a wide variety of people in Bahrain - from the very conservative (which is what westerners typically think of) to the more liberal.  So while my descriptions are interesting and exotic, please don't take this as a 100% cross-section of Bahraini society!

And now - Part II (read part 1 here)

After Alison came home to feed Eva, we headed out around 11:30 pm back to the wedding.  When we arrived, Alison headed into the hall where the women were, and I went into another door, wandering around until I found something that looked like the men's gathering.  Fortunately, some former students saw me and brought me into where the men were sitting.

The room had about 20 or 30 men inside, presumably most family of the bride and/or groom.  Most stared at me awkwardly as I obviously wasn't a part of the family!  A familiar face found me (brother of the groom) and he graciously offered me his seat and we started chatting.  The women were in the main hall, so I asked him if he'd been in there.  I thought maybe, since he was family, he was allowed.  But he responded, "If I were to go in there, they'd kill me!"  I got the sense he was only half joking.  You see, many of the women would be uncovered, and it would be considered shameful for him to see those women - particularly the bride.

After about 10 minutes, the father of the groom came in to tell the men it was time for them to go in.  The men slowly started to move towards the door as the father enthusiastically encouraged/pushed us out and into the main hall.  As the men entered, many of the women came up to escort them in.  I'm not sure, but I got the sense that the women were family members - sisters, wives, cousins, etc.  It seemed similar to the entrance of the wedding party in a western wedding, where all attention is focused on them.  And there I was, standing awkwardly in the middle of everything!  I'm sure people were wondering who the weird American was standing in the middle of the family as they were entering!

Timidly I waited, unsure of what to do, or where to go.  Most of the tables were occupied by women.  And though some of the men told me that it was alright to go sit with my wife, I wasn't convinced that it would have been completely culturally appropriate.  Fortunately, Alison saved the day and came up to me, and we walked together where the bride and groom were sitting.

They were seated at the front of the hall, with elaborate decorations behind them.  No one was sitting directly next to them, but a large square area was blocked off around them, of which they were at the head.  This square area had chairs around the outside, and hard wood floors in the middle. 

We were ushered up to the front by the father of the groom, and we got in line behind 30 other people.  We waited to give congratulations to the bride and groom and have our picture taken with them (if I ever get the picture, I'll post it here).  After we finished that, I went to sit in the much smaller mens section, and Alison returned to the womens section. 

I sat next to one of my former students (the brother of the groom), and we chatted for a little bit, before it was time to hit up the buffet.  And what a buffet it was - fantastic arabic/persian/indian food.  I really do love the food in this country.   We all took generous portions, and headed back to our seats to chow down (and get indigestion due to eating at 12 midnight!).  As we ate, here area  few things we observed:

• The mother of the groom went up with 1/2 dinar bills (worth about $1 each) and 'sprinkled' them over the bride and groom.  The children rushed around to collect the money that had fallen on the floor. 
• the center of the square (of which the bride and groom were the head) was a dance area, and a variety of people were dancing.  Old, young, men, women - it was a lot of fun to watch the old men dance with the younger girls (though I think they were all family)! 
• The bride and groom cut the cake and ate it, but few people payed attention.  However, it was all caught on video by the professional videographers! 
• The bride and groom spent most of their time getting their picture taken with various people, and very little time socializing.  Honestly, they looked exhausted (which was confirmed to us when we saw them later that next week!) 
• The music was LOUD.  It was apparently Arabic.  Or Persian.  The people I talked to weren't quite sure.

After a while, I looked behind me (my table was near the front), I saw that many people had left.  I asked one of the guys near me what was next and he said that it was pretty much over!  While I described some of the activities above, about 3/4 of the people were just sitting and eating. 

So, at 1am, it was time to leave!  Alison had made her way over near where I was sitting and we decided that it was time to head home.  On our way out, we said our goodbyes to friends, thank-yous to the groom's parents (who had invited us in the first place) and congratulations to the bride and groom (who apparently didn't make it out for another hour or two!)

I think what struck me was how similar it was to even our own wedding!  Or at least the reception portion of it.  A cake was cut, most people just ate, people dressed in new dresses and sharp suites.  One of the things that was missing, comparatively at least, was the marriage ceremony itself (though I'll write about that another time). 

A (Persian) Bahraini Wedding: Part 1 (Men and Women Separate)

Last Thursday, Alison and I had the opportunity to go to the wedding of one of the brother of a former student.   We have been to weddings before, but never a PERSIAN Bahraini wedding. Essentially, the wedding is broken into two parts:  men and women separate, then everyone comes together.

Cultural Side Note:  Bahrain is not homogeneously Arab.  Rather, there are people of Gulf Arab descent, people of Persian descent, and then people who are ORIGINAL Bahrainis (locally known as bah-RAH-ni).  Of course, as time goes on the three cultures continue to mix, but it’s not uncommon for Bahrainis to identify with one of those three groups.

This particular wedding started at 8pm, which means that to be on time, one must arrive no earlier than 9pm.  Alison, and our friend Melissa, went together in elegant dresses, but covered in black abayas (without a hijab - the head covering), and arrived at a very fashionable and comfortable 9:30 pm.  I'll let Alison talk about what she experienced here:

The hall was decorated beautifully, similar to any other night reception in the US with decorated round tables and a center dance floor.  The place was filled with blaring Arabic/Persian/Indian(?) music.  And I mean blaring.  It really made it difficult to converse with the person sitting next to you at the table, forget about the person across the table. 

This left only one occupation for the night, people watching.  And this was THE BEST place to watch people.  We all had arrived in abayas, but as soon as we were in the privacy of the hall (away from men), the abayas came off.  And the women were extravagant.  More women than not had attended a salon that day to get their hair and makeup done.  I admit I like going to Arab events, because the makeup is so ornately done.

The dresses were also fantastic.  When I first went to the malls in Bahrain, I would wonder at the abundance of  scandalous and expensive couture dress stores, when it seemed like all I ever saw women wear were abayas.  It’s at the weddings they get DECKED OUT.  This still kind of confused me as to why women would spend (I’m estimating) and average of $200-400 for make-up, hair and dress on an event that no man will see her in. 

I learned however, that weddings are often the places that mothers and sisters will pick out a girl for their respective sons and brothers.  So oftentimes single girls go, knowing that someone might be looking to pick out their future daughter-in-law!

After about 2 hours of time with the ladies, the bride finally comes in.  I have never been to a wedding in the states where a bride is as adorned as at an Arabic wedding.  Her eyelashes were AT LEAST a half an inch long, and I have never knew hair could get that big.  In talking with friends, a bride will typically stay 8-9 hours at a salon getting done up, and the salon packages start at $250.  Just for an evening!  One time I showed some Arab friends my wedding pictures, and they wondered why I didn’t have any make-up on (which I did).  I think it was the equivalent for them of showing up for a wedding with jeans and a t-shirt.

This bridal display only lasts about 15 minutes, before all of that lovely hair, and the top of her dress is covered gently in a white wedding-style abaya and hijab by the girl's family.  This cues everyone else in the room to cover as well.  Then the men are allowed to come in.  It was then that I realized that a wedding is really about the women.  There were probably a total of 300 people there, and maybe 50 of them were men.

As for me - I was at home with Eva.  There was a small gathering for the men, but it was mostly close family.   At about 10:30pm, Alison came home - covered in her black abaya - to feed Eva.  With that finished, we drank a little bit of coffee and headed back to the wedding (leaving Eva with a sitter of course).

In a few days, I'll post the next bit of our wedding experience!

Newest Hit

My two brothers are currently at my parents house for the summer, in Aledo, Ill. (if you don't already know - my dad got a job up there and they are in the process of transitioning up there).  Stephen is in school at Visible College working on a worship arts degree, and David is enrolled at Full Sail University working on a film degree.

As an ode to Aledo, Ill (pop. 3000), they have composed a hip-hop song.  Its uploaded to youtube, as I haven't figured out how to embed my own audio files in this account yet.