You seem to complain a lot about Bahrain....

What is there to like?

Hello all,

Yes I do complain about Bahrain a lot.  I looked deep within and came up with a few positive things to say.

1.  Most everyone you encounter out in town speaks English unlike Djibouti and Germany.
2.  The base is very secure and has a modern infrastructure with plenty of services.
3.  Manama (capital of Bahrain where I am) is a modern city with many restaurants and malls.  If you want to spend $5000 on a Kate Spade handbag, you can do that here.  Take that Djibouti.
4.  Gas is cheap at $.25 a gallon.
5.  That is really all I could think of.

Many of you probably still can't get your head around a 1 year assignment and being away from family that long.  Many people I work with are regular active duty Marines and for them, this is a "permanent change of station" or PCS for them.  The active duty types get ship somewhere about every three years.  You may find yourself at Camp Lejeune for 3 years and then moved to the deserts of California.  They don't really have much of a choice where they go....needs of the Marine Corps are the first priority.

Why am I telling you this.  Well, active duty Marines can choose to come here for 2 years and bring their family or they can choose 1 year orders and come here by myself.  Most choose the latter so my situation is no different then many of my peers.

Honestly, if I were active duty and had to make the choice, I would not want my family out here.  Germany...absolutely.  Here...absolutely not.  There is just nothing here.  Its hot, there is no history like in Europe, no cultural things like art museums, no sports like soccer or F1 (they do host an F1 race here but nobody goes to it) and the landscape is pretty barren.  There I go complaining again...

The kids would be miserable here as would Jodi.  Jodi would be much happier tooling around Stuttgart on her Vespa.

The first time I was in Djibouti, I said I never ever wanted to go back.  Well, I did and the second time was a pretty darn good tour.  Bahrain is my new favorite place to never ever want to come back to.

Thankfully, I have a routine throughout the week that keeps me focused and busy.  The time is going fast and the environment that surrounds me is of little consequence.

Until next week...
Michael