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
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
