Oman - Arabic Language School

Tomorrow morning I am flying to Oman with two of my teammates, not because its unsafe (it's not), but because we have been planning this for a while. We will spend three weeks in a rural Omani village at an Arabic school, and then head back to Bahrain with hopefully the ability to speak better Arabic.

This trip has come at a great time. While I would prefer to not pack up my things again, I eagerly welcome a structured schedule. We will be in class every morning for 4 hours and then spend the rest of the day practicing our Arabic. The unrest in Bahrain has not endangered me personally, but it has changed our way of life here substantially. I wasn't able to go much of anywhere and certainly didn't spend much time meeting new people at all during the last month. However, last night I did get to go to a friend's house for a quick visit (that resulted in a three-hour dinner), where we  talked about the current political situation. Her father was a political prisoner here in the past and she was at the Pearl when they cleared it last week, so this family has very strong opinions about this country's politics. This provided great opportunities to talk about Christ - I was able to pray aloud in Jesus' name for Bahrain and her personal struggles in all of this (it is tearing up many friendships across the island). Tonight I was driving to another friend's house (who I haven't seen in a month because she was on her honeymoon!), but ultimately had to turn around because the Saudi forces at the checkpoint deemed it an unsafe neighborhood for me to go into. Typically, I get waved through the car checkpoints, but this time I had to actually show my American passport and talk with the guards (in arabic - eek!).

Needless to say, I don't feel compelled to leave Bahrain for safety reasons, but do feel a bit aimless here at times because of the limiting security restrictions. Hopefully, Oman will be the change we need and that tensions will have cooled in Bahrain upon our return so we can spend time with people again!

Also, there is a sandstorm going on outside my window right now. the first of the year 

A Good Picture of Bahrain's Modernity

Pearl Torn Down

Yesterday the government tore down the famed Pearl Monument. It stood in the center of the capital's main roundabout, the center of the Pro-Democracy Reformer's Camp. The pearl really was beautiful; it was lit at night by colorful lights, had a fountain beneath it, and served as a national symbol - I am very sad it's gone.

According to this NY Times article, "The official Bahrain News Agency reported the change as a “face-lift” to “boost the flow of traffic.” But Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, said at a news conference, “We did it to remove a bad memory.” He added of the month-long anti-government rallies: “The whole thing caused our society to be polarized. We don’t want a monument to a bad memory.”

Pearl Square had become a tent camp with free food and a carnival atmosphere modeled on Tahrir Square in Cairo. But Bahraini troops forcefully cleared it on Wednesday. In removing the sculpture, the country cost itself a landmark designed to honor the six gulf states whose economic life was based, before oil, on pearls. The six, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, make up the Gulf Cooperation Council — which sent in 2,000 troops in a show of force just before Bahrain’s own security forces moved to crush the protests."

courtesy www.bi-me.com

Copyright © 2011 Contattaci www.Mister-X.it P.I. 

Ghost Town

This morning riot/police forces raided the Pearl again in an attempt to clear the protester's camp. I hear there have been about six deaths today, both at the Pearl and in villages.

Much like the first time a month ago, doctors and ambulances are not able to get to the injured or treat them. Rumors are the police (I use that term loosely) have even commandeered ambulances.  People outside the hospitals have been gassed and shot, and as you can imagine that tear gas floats into the hospital.

The Saudi and Emirate forces were supposed to quell the violence, but per most Bahraini's predictions, they have done the opposite. I exaggerate in no way when I say that they have attacked protesters and doctors in a mostly one-sided battle.

The island is on lock-down and a curfew has been implemented (4pm-4am). It looks like a ghost town outside: the roads are deserted, businesses aren't open, work and schools are closed. Only the grocery store remains open, where all the milk is gone and the ATMs are offline.

Per the embassy's recommendation (and just common sense, really), we have remained indoors. Most of our time is spent perusing Twitter feeds for updates, playing board games and watching movies. I check in on my local friends and so far, they and their families are all okay.

We continually monitor the situation, so unless the safety of our neighborhood changes, we will be staying.
In the side bar I put a link to a global 24-hour prayer chain for Bahrain. Please spend your time not worrying for our safety, (because really, we are not in a tremendous amount of immediate danger), but praying in Jesus' name that a resolution will come to this country and Bahrainis will be made aware of their need for Him. Having all their political demands met will still not bring personal peace. 

Saudi Sends Its Forces

In response to the utter chaos filling the villages of Bahrain, the government here has called Saudi Arabia to send in its military forces to...I don't know what...patrol the island, I guess. This has the potential to be pretty bad; I honestly don't know what good will come from it.

It's difficult to distinguish rumors from fact, but we have been hearing from friends and the internet about the clashes between police, Bahrainis, plain-clothes policemen, foreign workers, and other groups. The U.S. Embassy sent us an email yesterday (and another today) instructing us to stay in our homes. Americans are not being targeted, but these clashes seem to erupt anywhere. Many of the villages are being guarded by Bahraini youth with sticks who question anyone entering. A friend of my teammate's said its safer for him to be at the Pearl than to be in his own village.

Shops, highways, and schools are closed; I didn't go to work today and my language sessions were also canceled. My team and I stayed inside and played games all day - hopefully this won't continue much longer. It's been a month since protests started and little has happened in the way of government submission to demands.
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As of late afternoon local time today, the U.S. State Department has upgraded us to "Travel Warning" status.

This page has all the notices U.S. citizens receive by e-mail from the embassy if you ever want to check them out. 

Great Video on the Shi'as of Bahrain

Yesterday's Clashes

click here for the CNN story

Daily Political Marches

The political situation has been consistently in a heightened state in recent days. Nothing major has happened and things are still safe, but the protests and marches have escalated in frequency. They have become more organized and wide-spread (but still not violent), usually obstructing streets. The U.S. Embassy gives us e-mail updates about the scheduled marches, and I often find out about them via Twitter so I can try to avoid them.

I still go to the Pearl Roundabout (the protester's center) once a week or so with friends. Last Sunday I met several new people at a lecture. Nearby the main camp area a tent was set up with a table for the speaker and chairs for the audience. I don't know exactly what the Sheikh (religious leader) was saying since it was all in Arabic, but I would occasionally catch a few things. I had a great conversation with two young students about the government here; it made me appreciate being from a country with truly fair elections.
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As the impasse has continued for about three weeks now, I knew that something would give soon. Today several marches/protests were broken up by riot police in scattered towns across the island. Rumors are flying on the internet, so I don't know exactly what happened. I do know a very good friend of mine lives in the town where it was taking place and I haven't heard from her yet tonight.

This afternoon we met with some other believers to talk about how to meet our local friend's needs during this time and how to speak Jesus into this situation. You can be praying that the Lord gives us wisdom in this area.