Said and Science

Posted on November 21, 2019 by TheJessicaness
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Said moved to Riyadh after getting married to his wife in Turkey (she has family there) and had driven the four and a half hours to come visit. We agreed to meet at 10ish and I was on schedule to meet that time until I went on base to get the utilities check since Visa wouldn’t approve our card through the Electricity and Water Authority (plus municipality tax of 10% total rent) and got sidetracked by a “health” fair where there was candy at every booth except the dentist and it was more of a services offered awareness where I was able to get a reflective band for Caleb when he’s able to ride his bike to work, as it’s required along with a helmet and a bell.

The event looked more like a science fair to me but I was able to look into a machine that gauged my eyesight (still good), get a quarter of a wheat bagel with egg and cheese, and get a book recommendation from the lady running the air quality booth — cities have a long way to go in cleaning up one of the fundamental needs of human survival, such as the case with Bahrain allowing cars to idle for hours and block traffic as they honk for service from cold stores and restaurants.

Anyway, Said picks me up to join him on a trip to a government office to get his residence sticker put into his new passport. We walk up to a man at the service counter and he says this should be done on the causeway or at the airport to save time, but he’ll see what he can do. He comes back after two minutes and tells Said to go home and then we have a laugh as we realize just how quickly we were able to bypass going back and forth to ‘merge’ the data and paid nothing without waiting in line or on the system that is down.

We celebrate by having lunch at Hash House in Adliya and split some wonton tacos and rice wrapped in banana leaf. We’ll get some matcha tea across the street at Dose Cafe before he’s off to a business meeting and I’m hand-in-hand with Caleb on our way to yet another sale and deal on base — anything to keep us coming back for more and I’m not going to complain. I got a new pair of owl earrings from one of their pop-up booths and the man rewired the fish hook backs to ensure my ears wouldn’t get irritated.

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Household Goods

Posted on November 19, 2019 by TheJessicaness

It took three guys an hour to unpack 47 items (front bike wheel removed for easier transport counts as one) and nothing was broken but we seem to have misplaced the connector cable for our dive watch to the computer. Being that we had these things packed six months ago it’s difficult to remember what we chose to leave in storage and that we mostly brought clothes and kitchen supplies, but even there we managed only one coffee cup – Caleb’s happy birthday mug from a decade ago.

After a long day of reorganizing the kitchen, hanging smelly clothes to be washed later, and trying to connect electronics — stereo, Wii, mixer — we decided to go to Show Shha for dinner. I was craving spicy and I was in luck when I walked in and noticed the pani puri serving station. I stood there excitedly and absentmindedly popped them into my mouth without count until I remembered we were here for dinner. We only got two entrees, but Caleb ordered enough bread variety for catering… or take away.

The next day we would buy a mop because we couldn’t even sell our last one for a dollar so it stayed in San Diego. I got a new dustpan because using one without a handle and a rubber lip is hard on my thumb and patience. Caleb got a new toilet brush so he wouldn’t have to look at the poop-stained one that was left behind and a cheap blender with the only options being on, really on, and off since we didn’t bring ours and he plans to leave it here.

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S’mores and More

Posted on November 15, 2019 by TheJessicaness

After hearing about my night at Bennigan’s, Caleb wanted to go and try his luck at finding the sandwich with a pretzel bun — which is no longer on the menu. We had an early dinner around 4:30 as the BBQ invite was to arrive between 5 and 6, so I knew dinner would be later and it was definitely worth the wait. I got to meet Wasan’s husband, the French chef; her neighbor who likes cigarettes, Carlsberg beer, and dog kisses; and one of her triathlon training friends.

The rest of the crowd was waiting on the chicken, meat, and shrimp to finish on the grill while I enjoyed the asparagus and other veggies, two salads consisting of carrot and onion and another mostly olive and potato, two loaves of bread — one zaatar and the other olive, and baked potatoes. There were plenty of nuts, trail mix, and Cheetos and the drinks of which I had mostly water didn’t disappoint either, but there was champagne, red wine, XO cognac, and an alcoholic punch. I’d have stayed a couple more hours but my ride, without having to worry about a taxi, was ready to go.

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Princess is Here

Posted on November 14, 2019 by TheJessicaness

The same weekend I meet S’mores was when the Bahrain Marathon Relay was happening and Princess happened to be on a team visiting from Saudi to get some exercise, but not before hanging out with me. We met at Bennigan’s for dinner because she was staying in that hotel where I got to try a cinnamon apple margarita before going to Wembley Lounge (a first for me) where the drink service is like Señor Pacos but served individually instead of by the pitcher so our table was covered in wine (red and white), whiskey (mixed with soda or just ice), and other glasses of vodka and gin.

We made acquaintances with an outgoing Navy wife from Iowa and her shy Irish teacher friend, a couple of guys who liked drinking and diving (not sure in which order), and some other guys playing billiards but we never got the table because I was too busy eating free pizza from the guy singing the most karaoke before Princess ordered fish and chips and got an Uber. I walked home.

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Caleb and Books

Posted on November 13, 2019 by TheJessicaness
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Caleb doesn’t get much time off with his current schedule but he enjoys baking cinnamon rolls and Irish soda bread, cooking pasta and veggies, playing his daily sudoku, and finding weird cartoons to intersperse with our latest documentary series when we’re not out shopping for food, taking a walk amongst the cars in the dust, or curled up on the couch — him reading from Kindle and me from the over 50 books I’ve amassed from the library’s free offerings.

I’ve been keeping an eye on activities we can do on base — smoke-free, cheap, and close — for when Caleb isn’t on duty. We were going to play bingo last time we lived here but I thought it was an outrageous cost (how else will you fund the $7,000 jackpot that has to be won by the first 50 numbers) but since Caleb has had a few raises and two advancements since then and me a job we had enough to spend the $25 per gamepad for an hour and a half of entertainment and possible winnings for each game.

I’m not saying that we couldn’t afford to play last time we were here but I prefer to spend our money on fancy popcorn in Dubai or scuba diving in Hawaii instead of movie theater kernels and cheap beer… hence why opposites attract, but we agreed on the Mongolian BBQ (by the pound, not the plate) after the game and both eyed the cast iron wok that we’d enjoy cooking with. We’d gotten haircuts earlier (my last being three months ago and his being three weeks ago) and the cost, time, and massage option will have me coming back soon.

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