Bahrain

Saudi Arabia was just across the bridge!
I got such a kick out of the steet signs there!
Ben and I in the lobby of our hotel. You can't really see it, but the flower arrangement was one of the prettiest I have ever seen! It smelled delicious! The hotel was so nice!
Ben and I were super lucky to have the opportunity to see each other for 3 days! He was in Bahrain for a conference for a bit, and I flew down with a friend, whose husband was also in Bahrain, to see him! We had such a blast! Ben was still working hard so it was nice to have my friend Shauna there to spend the days with. Ben and I were able to spend 3 evenings together. I left Gemma in Germany with a good friend and she didn't even seem to mind that I had left.
When I wasn't hanging out with Ben, I spent my time by the pool or exploring the area with Shauna. We had an amazing experience visiting the local Mosque. We had a tour that was led by an Islamic woman. She was covered head to toe, even her hands and face! Her eyes were the only part of her we could see. It's funny how some of my preconceived notions that I didn't even know I had were revealed that day. When I see women dressed in the Abahya and men in the Touk (the typical Saudi Arabian cover) I feel like they live in a different world. However, when we walked into the Mosque, the woman at the desk was reading "Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus" and she spoke perfect English. The tour was such an insightful experience into the hearts and minds of people from a religion other than mine. Our tour guide, Faria, was open to any and all questions, and I drilled her! Shauna and I learned so much. We had to dress in an abahya to visit the Mosque, I will attach more pictures in a minute. I am so glad that I got to experience life from that vantage point for an afternoon, but also so glad that I could return to the Christian life that I have choosen!
Ben is doing well but is really looking forward to being home and the newness that was present during his first deployment has been replaced the monotony of daily life there. I am so glad that we got to experience Bahrain together!