It is after midnite Nashville time but 9:40 am Tuesday in the Persian Gulf. I'm in an internet cafe across the street from our hotel. Here is a view of the city from my room:
After two long, long days of flying cramped quarters we finally arrived last night here. Bahrain is an island country between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
We were greeted by Hussein and Manjou who got us thru customs and to our hotel. We are staying here 2 nites (off base). Nice hotel. We each have our own rooms. Get this. We pay $120 per room but are reimbursed by the Army. If we had paid less than $100, we would have to pay it ourselves. Your tax dollars ar work.
One disappoinment. As our schedules have been joggled around so much, the base wan't able to get our paper work in order to play on the aircraft carrier, so no paddling in the Persian Gulf this trip. We're all disappointed but are sure many more adventures are nearby.
Because we all arrived pretty exhausted last nite, we all slept great and don't seem to have any jet lag symptoms.
Breakfast was interesting. Some eggs and fruit (loaded with black olives) and curried garbanzo beans. Tasty, actually.
A few other notes of interest. In the city, we cannot wear shorts that are above the knees. I'm not exactly sure what would happen to us if we did, but I'm not going to test the establishment. We've seen a lot of people with various turbins and such, and even a few women completely covered except for the eyes.
The band plays tonight at 8:30 on the base. We're heading over there in a few minutes to set up, get the sound underway and then we have the day to do some exploring. We're all looking very forward to that.
I haven't had a chance to take many pictures yet - they wouldn't let me take any in the airport (security, I guess), but here are a few more.
This is check-in from Frankfurt to Bahrain:
here is a flight attendant from our flight on Gulf Air:
Finally, did anyone get that license plate number?
13 comments:
Wow! Welcome to the Sandy Hilton, eh? Glad to hear you're on the ground safe & sound. Should have had you say hello to Frankfurt for me - I was stationed at that airport for 2 years. Sorry to hear about the disappointment with the carrier. That sure would have been cool.
So you can't understand why they don't want your sexy knees hangin' out? Ask Gracie - she'll explain it to you...
Enjoy the experience!!
Greetings Jerry! Glad you made it safe and sound. We're thinking about you and hoping all goes well. Good luck with everything.
hey sweetie - sounds like you didn't miss my snoring.
bummer about the carrier. i know you were really looking forward to that adventure.
and ragamuffin: i LOVE jv's knees - and i bet you don't see many bald men in that part of the world. there isn't a law against showing a bald head, is there?
Maybe if you paint little faces on your knees, it'll look like you're walking on some happy midgets instead of showing your knees...
Hey J-stroke,
Good hearing from you, whew! Keep those knee caps covered. I understand they are the USA's secret wepon. :-) Glydr is collecting dinner reservations for 'copia, don't worry he'll hold yours! 5 inches of snow in Madison yesterday. I'll send all I can.
Love ya
K
Glad to hear you made a safe arrival. What an adventure. Look forward to seeing more pics and hearing more from you. Have a good time.
Vale Heath
Great News Jerry, have fun, break a leg and a salam alaikum
With apologies to Meridith Wilson ...
The gig that fails on the first time out, it's usually the Army
And the gig that fails on the second time out, it's usually the Navy
But the gig that makes on the third time out, head in the dust, feet on the ground
That's the gig you're looking for, it's in Djibouti.
(chorus)
Djibouti, Djibouti, the gig is hard to get.
Djibouti, Djibouti, you can play it yet.
Glad you're safe and sound.
The license plate says, roughly:
968 LBL
Something like that.
The inscription above says "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."
Love ya,
Darren
Hey Jerry! It's snowing here again - not much forecast, but we can hope! That word probably sounds pretty foreign (literally) to you right now! Stay safe and I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more about the trip. Do you have walking around time - and can you do that?
J-stroke!
It's a good thing you're up to. Keep it up. They have sand trout over there, sand crappies?
Heck of a portage bro. Hope you're keeping a full journal for the rest of us wet feet.
Woodbender
Tim Eastman
Hey Jstroke...Glad everything is going well. Stay safe, we'll see ya when you get back.
Hey Jerry,
Just read the whole blog in one. Man, what a blast you guys are having, and what a great thing that you all doing for the troops. I can well understand the tear jerking, I would be the same. I love how you try and make sure that no one misses out on a performance, it's a little like 'We leave no man behind'. I'm really proud of you guys. Thanks so much for the blog too, it's really interesting.
Take care and be safe, Graham (UK)
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