You know it's spring in Bahrain when...

I turned on my A/C last night. I was roasting and the A/C was terribly inviting, so I flipped the switch and went right back to bed with nice cool air blowing in the room...:)

TIB

sidenote annoucement

March 21st is Mother's day in Bahrain.


So, Mom, Happy Mother's day.

Spring Equinox...

On this day, morning prayer was at 10 to six AM and evening prayer was at 10 to six PM... This would imply that day and night would be equal today, yes...well, thousands of years of watching this phenomena shouldn't be too far off.

Every religion observes natural events such as solar and lunar movements for various events, observances, holidays, etc. In Islam, observing the moon to figure out when holidays begin (at sunset or at the new moon, etc.) and observe the solar movements for the 5 daily prayers. In Judaism, same as Islam except for the 5 daily prayers. In Christianity, one particular solar and lunar event is most significant. The equation for Easter is as such: the First Sunday AFTER the First Full Moon AFTER the Spring Equinox. These are just book religions, the list goes on, but in one of my classes yesterday, my kids figured out that solar and lunar observances are nothing special to any one religion. :) It's a human thing to watch celestial bodies we do not fully understand...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Even out here some people tend to be Irish on this day, the 17th of March...in honor of St. Patrick who drove all the snakes out of Ireland.

Little problem with the histories: there are no snakes native to Ireland and to the best of any reptilian biologist--no snakes really like the environment of Ireland and therefore would not live there! So, snakes...no, non-Christians... more likely.

Just a little more history than you really needed to know.

TIB

so, the middle east has nothing in common in the west...

So, I went off to the Al Jasra house (the house where Shaikh Isa was born in 1933) today with Anna, Ben, and Rebecca (Anna's sister) and well, as a historian, I find it quite amusing just how much the Muslim world gave to the west and yet, everyone denies this SO MUCH! so, I give you a nice glimpse of what the Middle East gave the West...

road trip...

Yep, these are the kings camels... kinda cute from a distance.

the dust storm...

So the other day there was a huge dust storm, not like wind and dust blowing everywhere, but more of a huge cloud of dust settling over the city and the like, this shot was taken about two blocks away from the towers, and as you can see -- it was interesting.

one day at a time...

So, things are shuffling around like crazy in the school. My seniors are driving me crazy--is it spring break yet...! My juniors are as bad if not worse--is it spring break yet...! I am just plain tired--is it spring break yet...!

TIB

p.s. in 1912 on the 12th of March, Juliet Gordon Low held the first Girl Scout meeting at her home in Savannah, Georgia. Her niece was the first registered Girl Scout in her Aunt Juliet's first troop. Several years later in 19-- on the 12th of March, my mother was born, creating another holiday on the 12th of March and a good enough excuse for me to say that, yeah, I'm still a Girl Scout, Thanks Mom!

Hat and Tie day...

Yep, this is me, at morning rounds yesterday, wearing a skirt that's a bit short for the norm...and a tie that implies that I went to a prep school...if only the kids would actually LOOK at my tie--it's a Harry Potter Gryffindor house tie. The hat, well, I liked it so I decided to wear it. :)

Spirit week!

Ok, this week is going something like this:
Sunday: hat and tie day
Monday: crazy hair day
Tuesday: twin day
Wednesday: sports/jersey day
Thursday: mis-match day

Long story short, I'm taking this and running with it. Yesterday (Sunday) I wore my Gryffindor tie and a big floppy hat. Today, my hair is all in braids.

In the weather: we're warming up with 80's and bright sunny days. I'm still loving this island. :)