Today is “Rebellion Day” in Bahrain. A new holiday — code for a day of protests. According to my resident expert, August 14th is the day that Bahrain became independent from England, so this year the Shia are declaring August 14th as a day to exercise their independence from their government. All I really know is that we’ve been told that we have to stay home. Again. And I just got an email that the boys’ boat trip to the island was cancelled tomorrow because of all the “unrest” on the island. Boo.
Last year we didn’t have the pleasure of celebrating this holiday with the Bahrainis, but Egyptian Revolution Part Deux has fired everyone up again. Last year the heat kept everyone home and quiet until November when things cooled off here weather-wise, which signaled it was time for things to get heated up politically.
The most irritating part of it all is that the severest clashes are contained in areas that we aren’t even allowed to go. Oh wait, more irritating than that is that the areas we are allowed to go on the island just keep getting smaller and smaller. It’s like they took a blob of red paint and slapped it all over the map. It makes me want to leave — not because I’m concerned for my safety, but because what is the point?
