Kunz Family: November 2006

It is just before 6AM in the morning and I have been up since 4AM. We’re in the midst of a torrential downpour and our roof has a leak AGAIN. The maddening part is it is the same place where the leak was last time that they (the repair crew for the compound) were supposed to fix, but now it is 10 times worse. I should have known, because it was Mr. Half-Ass-edness (a name used by most of the residents in the compound) working on it – everything he touches has to be re-repaired. Fortunately, the water is flowing across the bathroom ceiling and coming in through a vent over the tub. But I don’t know for how much longer as the mark on the ceiling is getter wider/soggier. There is so much water coming through the vent it is like having the bathtub tap on full, but only the noise is much greater because the water is falling from 9 feet up. I guess we know for next time – when they fix the leak next, I am going to make them stand up there with a house just to be sure they’ve done it right.

ANYWAY… from Eric’s point of view, he cannot wait to go outside. He just woke up and is raring to go. Most of Bahrain, if not all, does not have storm drains, so the puddles that accumulate are ENORMOUS!! Needless to say… we will be driving to school this morning and save the puddle jumping for on the way home.

New news for this month…
\n\nMatt’s\nDad came to Bahrain\nfor two weeks this month and absolutely loved it! Eric was so happy that\nhe was here and was very sad to see him go. During his stay, we took him\nto the Grand Mosque, the Suk (local market), I took him grocery shopping\n(believe it or not, it is quite interesting here – going to the fish\nmarket and fruit/veg market), a camel farm, Eric took him to the Gulf Hotel\n(where the only splash pad in Bahrain\nis located). Also, Matt and two of his friends were working on closing a\ndeal to purchase a boat so Dad got to go to the marina more than a few\ntimes. The deal was finalized the day before Dad had to leave, but I\nthink he at least got to go out on the test drive.\n\n \n\nI\nknow absolutely nothing about boats so I cannot give the particulars other than\nit is white and blue, has plastic covering the leather benches (which we\nthought was hysterically funny because most Bahraini’s either keep the\nfactory plastic on their car seats or have custom plastic covers made –\nbut it turns out to be most practical on a boat), has 2 engines, a canopy and\nheld 6 adults and 2 children with plenty of room for at least 4 more\nadults. I’m sure Matt will have photos on our blog site soon. \n\n\n \n\nTo be\nhonest, I’m not crazy about boats – between a bad boat accident a\nfew years back and the motion sickness, it’s just not one of my favourite\nthings to do. However, when I saw how much Matt and Eric enjoyed it, I\nthink I’ll learn to like it. I haven’t seen Matt smile that\nbig in a very long time. \n\n \n\n",1]
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Matt’s Dad came to Bahrain for two weeks this month and absolutely loved it! Eric was so happy that he was here and was very sad to see him go. During his stay, we took him to the Grand Mosque, the Suk (local market), I took him grocery shopping (believe it or not, it is quite interesting here – going to the fish market and fruit/veg market), a camel farm, Eric took him to the Gulf Hotel (where the only splash pad in Bahrain is located). Also, Matt and two of his friends were working on closing a deal to purchase a boat so Dad got to go to the marina more than a few times. The deal was finalized the day before Dad had to leave, but I think he at least got to go out on the test drive.

I know absolutely nothing about boats so I cannot give the particulars other than it is white and blue, has plastic covering the leather benches (which we thought was hysterically funny because most Bahraini’s either keep the factory plastic on their car seats or have custom plastic covers made – but it turns out to be most practical on a boat), has 2 engines, a canopy and held 6 adults and 2 children with plenty of room for at least 4 more adults. I’m sure Matt will have photos on our blog site soon.

To be honest, I’m not crazy about boats – between a bad boat accident a few years back and the motion sickness, it’s just not one of my favourite things to do. However, when I saw how much Matt and Eric enjoyed it, I think I’ll learn to like it. I haven’t seen Matt smile that big in a very long time.

Our\nfirst day out on the boat and wouldn’t you know that was the day the\nrainy season decided to start in Bahrain. Matt has NEVER been\non the island when it has rained so he was a little disappointed that the first\nday he got to take his boat out that it rained. Oh well – it was a\nwarm rain and wind. Matt, John (one of the co-owners), Eric and Luke\n(John’s 5 year old son) were all fighting over who got to drive. At\none point I heard Matt say to John, in a totally serious voice, (in response to\nJohn’s music selection on the radio) “You can’t drive the\nboat AND control the radio.” It was so funny… it was like\nwatching Eric and Luke negotiating sharing a toy.\n\n \n\nThe\nwater was quite choppy and the ride was a little bumpy (I was motion sick for 2\ndays afterwards). On the way out of the marina, while in the channel, we\npassed a yacht going back in. WOW!!! The wake/wave it created behind it\ngave us quite the ride. From where Eric and I were sitting at the front\nof the boat, it looked like it was at least 10 feet down to the trough of the\nwave. Eric loved it and begged his Dad to turn the boat around and do it\nagain. Poor Luke had been sitting on the floor of the boat, so when we\ncame crashing down, he went airborne with nothing close to hang on to. \nThe poor little guy was so terrified when ever the boat picked up some speed\n– understandably. So we had to drive slow. Eric said that he\nwanted to take Luke back to shore and leave him there so that we could drive\nthe boat fast. LOL\n\n \n\nOut\non the water, we did some fishing. Caught a barracuda – biggest\nfish I have seen on a fishing rod. We also saw a school of dolphins\njumping out of the water.\n\n",1]
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Our first day out on the boat and wouldn’t you know that was the day the rainy season decided to start in Bahrain. Matt has NEVER been on the island when it has rained so he was a little disappointed that the first day he got to take his boat out that it rained. Oh well – it was a warm rain and wind. Matt, John (one of the co-owners), Eric and Luke (John’s 5 year old son) were all fighting over who got to drive. At one point I heard Matt say to John, in a totally serious voice, (in response to John’s music selection on the radio) “You can’t drive the boat AND control the radio.” It was so funny… it was like watching Eric and Luke negotiating sharing a toy.

The water was quite choppy and the ride was a little bumpy (I was motion sick for 2 days afterwards). On the way out of the marina, while in the channel, we passed a yacht going back in. WOW!!! The wake/wave it created behind it gave us quite the ride. From where Eric and I were sitting at the front of the boat, it looked like it was at least 10 feet down to the trough of the wave. Eric loved it and begged his Dad to turn the boat around and do it again. Poor Luke had been sitting on the floor of the boat, so when we came crashing down, he went airborne with nothing close to hang on to. The poor little guy was so terrified when ever the boat picked up some speed – understandably. So we had to drive slow. Eric said that he wanted to take Luke back to shore and leave him there so that we could drive the boat fast. LOL

Out on the water, we did some fishing. Caught a barracuda – biggest fish I have seen on a fishing rod. We also saw a school of dolphins jumping out of the water.
\n\nOkay…\nenough boat talk. I guess I am pretty excited too – I just have to\nfigure out how to get over the motion sickness. If anyone has any\nsuggestions, please let me know. I think I’ll get over my fear of\nbeing in a boat accident pretty quickly. After all, being out on the\nwater has to be far safer then being on the roads here.\n\n \n\nMatt\nand Eric went to the Australian V8 car race on Friday with Eric’s friend,\nRayyan and his Dad, Nabil. The race was at the Bahrain International\nCircuit, where the F1 cars race. Eric LOVED the race (he has been race\ncar obsessed since seeing the animated movie Cars). The past 2 days, Eric\nhas all of his race cars out and has been running all over the house making\nrace car noises. When asked what his favourite part was, his eyes got as\nbig as saucers and he said “Oh… the crashes, Mom”. \n\n \n\nI did\naccept the position and Gulf Air and should start on Jan-7-07 if the government\napproves my visa. Currently, I am not allowed to work (outside the\nhome). My residence card actually says “Occupation:\nHousewife” – which Matt thinks is hysterically funny and reminds me\nall of the time. I don’t think it will be an issue as Gulf Air is\nalready my sponsor via Matt. The other issues is whether the HR\ndepartment will actually get it processed in time. I’m not going to\npush it because I have a friend coming to visit in mid-Jan07. I tried to\npush my start date until after her departure, but Gulf Air wanted me to start\nDec-1-06, so Jan-7-07 was the best I could do. So with a little luck, my\nvisa will not be ready until after Christina leaves.",1]
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Okay… enough boat talk. I guess I am pretty excited too – I just have to figure out how to get over the motion sickness. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I think I’ll get over my fear of being in a boat accident pretty quickly. After all, being out on the water has to be far safer then being on the roads here.

Matt and Eric went to the Australian V8 car race on Friday with Eric’s friend, Rayyan and his Dad, Nabil. The race was at the Bahrain International Circuit, where the F1 cars race. Eric LOVED the race (he has been race car obsessed since seeing the animated movie Cars). The past 2 days, Eric has all of his race cars out and has been running all over the house making race car noises. When asked what his favourite part was, his eyes got as big as saucers and he said “Oh… the crashes, Mom”.
I did accept the position and Gulf Air and should start on Jan-7-07 if the government approves my visa. Currently, I am not allowed to work (outside the home). My residence card actually says “Occupation: Housewife” – which Matt thinks is hysterically funny and reminds me all of the time. I don’t think it will be an issue as Gulf Air is already my sponsor via Matt. The other issues is whether the HR department will actually get it processed in time. I’m not going to push it because I have a friend coming to visit in mid-Jan07. I tried to push my start date until after her departure, but Gulf Air wanted me to start Dec-1-06, so Jan-7-07 was the best I could do. So with a little luck, my visa will not be ready until after Christina leaves.