Day 15 in Bahrain

The Honeymoon is over in Bahrain, and am settling into a one year marriage with this place.  First week was a bustle of incoming information, setting up house, and exciting travel…  week 2 was settling into routines, actually doing my job, and just plain living.  Am now starting week 3…

Question 1 – what the heck does a staff officer do?  Snarky answer – I staff issues.  Really – let’s say the boss wants to travel to X place, visit with Y and Z, and talk about A, B, and C.  Someone arranges all that, ensures materials are ready to brief those points, and then someone has to keep track of all the action items generated, assign them, ensure they are completed, and report out to the boss.  Or, let’s say General D wants to know about item E and get F done and wants it yesterday.  Someone has to research, get the answer reviewed, make plans to do F, and assign someone.  Same.  A lot like my last job, actually – typical middle-management stuff.  I have no financial responsibilities, unlike my last job, but I have more informational responsibilities – I am supposed to become the resident expert on country G so I can be a ready resource for the boss.  Still working that.  The rest of it is old hat, just have to (re)learn the quirks of the Navy and who all of the folks are I have to interact with.  And, of course, military protocol – have already pissed off a Royal Navy Captain, unintentionally…

Life in Bahrain itself – at least my small portion – is also becoming routine.  My commute is much more relaxing, as I walk each way – a bit more than a mile each way.  With the Ipod, it is actually very relaxing – other than playing ‘Frogger’ for real trying to cross a few major intersections.  Right off base is ‘American Alley’ – a few blocks that reminds me a bit of ‘the Center’ – pretty much every US fast food place that you could think of, Chili’s, and a Macaroni Grill is going in right now as well.  There is also a Starbucks, and though I did stop there once, it is much cheaper to buy it on base. 

A bit of the commute, and crazy intersection 1 – but it is only 6am, so it is relatively quiet.  No crosswalks, no red / green men, no ‘pedestrians in crosswalk have right of way’ signs – real life Frogger.

Another part of the commute

Another part – ‘Suicide Squeeze’ – notice the lack of sidewalks

‘American Alley’ – a bit of the West in Manama

I show up to base pretty early – usually before 6 am, and put in a 12 plus hour day, 7 days a week.   Mind you, I do fit lunch and some workout in there as well – working for a USMC Colonel, PT (physical training) is pretty much expected.   The base itself is pretty much self-contained – about every creature comfort one could need is in the ‘Freedom Souq’ – kind of like a small mall on the base, has a food court, O-club, two stores, barber, dry cleaner, a pretty nice gym, etc etc.  Pretty much everything you could need – I generally eat all three meals there since I am on base at meal times.  Food is pretty cheap - $3 for a nice big salad, some fruit, and a bottled water – and had some fish the other night for another $2.  Why buy food, schlep it a mile plus home, cook, and clean up, when I can just pay $4-$5 for a nice meal.

The blog will be quiet for a few weeks, as life will be routine for a variety of reasons.  Expect more interesting stuff next month, however.