Sharons Monthly Report

Hello,

The biggest news this month doesn’t come from Bahrain, but Canada… My younger sister Melanie gave birth to Olivia Anita Den Hollander at 1:25 AM on Oct-16. Mom and baby are both doing very well now, but Olivia did have some problems breathing the first couple of days. Matthew, Melanie’s husband (yes… she married a Matt too), is very happy to have them both home. We’re very excited for them!

We don’t have very much to report from Bahrain for the last month. All has been quiet as the last month has been Ramadan -- the ninth month of the Islamic year. It commemorates the transmission of the Qur'an by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. During the month one fasts from sunrise to sunset, not only from food, drink, smoking and sexual relations, but also from impure thoughts and harsh actions. Similar to Lent in the Christian tradition, it is a time of intense introspection and reaffirmation of one's faith. In Islam, this fast, Siyam, is one of the Five Pillars of Faith. The end of Ramadan is marked by a three-day celebration called Eid al-fitr, the Lesser Feast. We expect this will start either tomorrow or Monday. This depends on the sighting of the moon and of course, every Muslim country does not see the moon at the same time so some countries will start Eid on Sunday, some on Monday. There is talk between Muslim countries to all go by the Mecca moon sightings. Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, is the birthplace of Muhammad and considered the holy city of Islam.

I have learned that some Muslims will get up before the sun rises to eat and pray and then go back to bed. The working day is shortened – seems to be different for each business. We’ve learned to stay off the roads from 3PM until dark – people rushing home to nap and then prepare/partake in breaking the fast (this is called iftar) and the driving is CRAZY!! Those that were fasting are awake to the wee hours of the morning eating and celebrating.

Ramadan is interesting from our point of view, but sometimes can be challenging. For example, it would be considered very disrespectful if I were to drink water anywhere outside of our home during daylight hours – not even in the car. This is hard because it is still very hot (does not apply to kids). I heard that a British woman was arrested for smoking in her car during daylight hours. She was fined $75 CDN and then released.

Matt and several of the other Canadian pilots that are here were put on standby for most of the month – I guess with the anticipation that there would be several Arab pilots that would call in sick. However, he is currently on his 9th standby day that he has not been called in. This is on top of his regular days off. Boy! It’s just like he’s working at Jetsgo again. LOL! Matt is off on Monday to go to Bangkok to play in a hockey tournament for a week.

Matt was in an vehicle accident this week -- stopped at a round about, an SUV was in front of him and a British woman hit him from behind. She didn't even touch the breaks -- she was doing b/w 60 to 70 KM. Matt saw her coming at the last minute and took his foot off the break so that the impact wouldn't be as bad, but he was pushed into the SUV in front of him. Airbag came out -- thank goodness. Both the front end and rear end of our truck are crumpled. Matt had a friend with him and John now has very bad back pain. B/c of this, John does not want to sign the police report until he knows more about his injury (b/c he has to sign that he's okay). As we don't have the police report, we have not been able to go to insurance and we're still driving the truck. I'm not crazy about it – although, other drivers tend to avoid us now to the point that it is almost comical. Matt is leaving for Bangkok on Monday and Eid starts soon. Nothing will be open during Eid so we won’t be able to resolve this with the insurance company until after he comes back.

Eric is still really enjoying school, but is happy to be off for a week (schools are closed for a half term break and b/c of Eid). I’m not sure what we’re going to do this week. Quite a few of our friends are leaving the island for vacations.

Eric and I both had the flu over the last week. But we're both better now.

I had an INTERVIEW!!! Yeah! It was with Gulf Air for a position revising their financial policies and procedures (Aoife and Susy… can you believe I’ve found a job that would allow me to have my “just a thought..” all day long?). The interview went very well, although I don't know if it is a position that I want. Seems to have a lot of red flags... The position is within a new department consisting of 10 people. The current Director (would be my boss) is leaving at the end of Nov06. There has only been one other person hired for the department to date and he has only been there 4 months. This department would be responsible for the Oracle program -- which is a massive company wide database/software program. The implementation has already happened and has been a complete disaster. It would be a great challenge and I would love to learn about Oracle, but I’m not sure that I want a position that is quite so challenging. Matt is (normally) gone a lot and I don’t think it would be fair to Eric. Oh well… I have not been offered the job yet so no need to lose sleep over the decision.

Well… that is the latest news. Hope all is well with everyone.

Until next month,
Sharon, Matt and Eric