"It's not so bad in the shade with a breeze."

That's what Scott told me today as I was complaining about the heat. It's still 90+ degrees here. We don't get cold water out of the tap.....it's always hot! I am so tired of brushing my teeth with hot water. Scott is right. It's not so bad in the shade with a breeze. The trick is to find the shade & hope there will be a breeze. Today is Halloween. We don't expect any trick-or-treaters here. I am enjoying my bag of Halloween York Peppermint Patties I've stashed in the freezer. I love eating those frozen. Frozen Snickers are so good, too. Come to think of it so are frozen Twix & Kit-Kat. I love Halloween candy because I don't feel so guilty eating it. They are the perfect size. I guess the problem is when one piece turns into seven! Oh well!

We've had a relatively quiet week. We decided to lease the house in the city. It just makes more sense & we really like the landlord. He owns a restaurant we've been to & love. He said we now get 50% off our food bill there! The restaurant looks like it's just off Melrose or Santa Monica somewhere. Very "hip" and modern & the menu is ecclectic & fresh. The next step in the lease process is passing the security inspection. Once that is done we can sign the lease.....hopefully next Wednesday. Scott has promised to give me swimming lessons now that we have our own pool. I was always embarassed to take swimming lessons as an adult when there were kids taking lessons. I remember ski lessons & golf lessons....those darn kids were always better than me! As many of you know, I am not the most coordinated person.

We went out to a Lebanese restaurant last night. It came highly recommended & was delicious. We are trying to be careful because the food here is soooooo good. Scott burns off food before he even eats it whereas I gain weight just thinking of it. The menu was extensive & it was hard to narrow it down. We settled on meza of kibbe, taboulah olives & yogurt and shared a plate of lamb, chicken & beef kabob & kofta. The next time we eat there we will try several other dishes.

I made friends with our waiter, a nice young guy named Asam. He has aspirations of opening up his own Lebanese restaurant in another location in Bahrain. He is Syrian. He told us his life story. He studied for over a year....cooking & management. Well, I asked him if he wouldn't mind giving me and a few other ladies cooking lessons. He agreed & gave me his number to contact him. I hope he understood what I was asking. Sometimes the meaning gets lost in my conversations with people out here. He is apparently leaving in a couple of months. My household goods shipment (all my kitchen stuff) won't get here for another month or so. The cooking lessons may or may not happen. I hope they do!

Benny and I ran into another wife walking her dog, Lucy. She and Benny were jumping all over eachother. We were complaining how there is no grass anywhere for the dogs to walk on or at least go to the bathroom on. Right away I came up with the idea to petition to use the baseball field on Base as a dog park during the hours it's not being used. There are so many dogs and it would be a great way for us all to socialize. I will be bringing it up next week and hope it will be be received positively.

My big dilemma right now is figuring out where to get my hair done. I think this has been the hardest part for me with my moves.....finding a hairdresser I like & trust. I will be starting my search tomorrow before my gray hairs become too obvious! Talk to you next week!!!

Michael Jackson & Stray Dogs

We drove by Michael Jackson's Bahrain Compound on Amwaj Island while we were house hunting with one of our agents. We are considering a house approximately a mile from this compound. We were told that it has been bought by a man from Dubai. The house we like is beautiful. It is brand new & won't be ready for a couple of weeks. The back door opens up onto our own private dock right along the water. The downside is that it's a little above our budget & it would be a long commute for Scott everyday. Also, we'd have to build a fence to keep Benny from jumping into the water or running off. It will be hard to pass this one up! We are also looking at another place here in the main city of Juffair. Scott could walk or ride his bike to work. It's close to all the shopping I would need to do & I would be close to Base to use the gym, etc... It has a nice courtyard with a small lawn which will work for Benny. It also has an indoor pool! We'll be deciding within the next few days. From what we understand things don't always go smoothly here when you decide on a place & go to sign the lease. The owner can decide to give the place away to someone else at the last minute if they are offered more money. This happened to one of our neighbors. So, I'm not getting my hopes up too high.


We've been keeping very busy! This week just flew by. Scott is still going through his check-in process which involves all day boring meetings. I've been busy running around with agents house hunting & of course playing ball with Benny. Fortunately his girlfriend Maggie joins us every once in a while to shake things up. She bugs the heck out of Benny & he gets all worked up when she steals his ball. We went out last night to a dinner party here in town. We met some really nice people. Most Navy guys are here alone, but there were a few wives. We used a taxi service and the whole thing was comical. The driver showed up 15-minutes early. The taxi office called 4-times to tell us the taxi was on its way, even though the guy was already here. Finally while we were driving in the taxi they called again & told us the wrong taxi came to get us. Did it matter? We were on our way to our destination. It was just hilarious. I love it when Scott speaks to the locals here. He speaks very slowly, almost like a robot. He is very patient. I have had to use my Arabic a few times. I am definitely not as patient as he is.

Every two weeks the wives meet at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. There were about 30 of us. It's a nice way to connect with other wives & network. Most wives here are older. Now that the school has opened, younger wives & kids should start coming, most likely in the summer. Apparently 90 new families are on their way here. This is an active Base. There is a weekly social group that meets for drinks & appetizers. I'm signing up for an Arabic class & rug buying & gold buying class. These are all offered for free and should be really helpful. One of the Naval ships is coming into port here today. This means that about 5,000 sailors will be converging on the Base & all over the city. We are staying in tonight. These guys apparently go a little "wild" when on shore because of all the restrictions they have while on the ship.

One of the saddest things to see are all the stray dogs around here. I'm always in a panic that I'll see one get hit by a car. It's sad because they look so hungry & tired. It's still so hot, so imagine how thirsty they are. I was out walking Benny yesterday and a pack of 4 dogs came running around the corner. I was in flip-flops and the roads are sandy & full of little rocks. Benny & I ran from that group of dogs. I'm shocked I didn't twist my anlkle or fall. Benny just thought we were going for a run. He was thrilled & pulling hard! Now I'm freaked out about walking Benny alone. There is one animal shelter here but it is over-crowded & they don't have enough people to round up all the dogs. It's really just so sad!


We spend a lot of time on American Alley. It's close by and we can walk there. Our car should be here in a couple of weeks...so they say! We celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a nice Italian dinner. These two years have just flown by! I've enjoyed talking to everyone who has called. Our skype number works great. Our moving notices that I ordered could not be delivered to our FPO address. So, here's our info:

Address: Scott & Monique Loeschke
PSC 901 BOX 50
FPO AE 09805-0001

Phone Number (home): 310-584-7374
Scott Cell: 011 973 3941-3674 Scott e-mail: s_loeschke@yahoo.com
Monique Cell: 011 973 3618-4979 Monique e-mail: mesplang@yahoo.com

Talk to you next week!

One Week Down.......103 to go!

Hard to believe, but we've been in Bahrain for over a week now! I am happy to report that we are out of the majestic Majestic and in a villa until we find our permanent home. We did not think we'd get out of The Majestic but Scott ran into a lady and her dog on Base one day & asked her where they were staying. She said they had been in an awful place called, The Majestic, and she was miserable there. She and her husband stumbled upon a compound of villas right by Base which allowed dogs. They had been in their villa for about two weeks and liked it. She said she believed they had an opening.....so Scott jumped into action. Sure enough we moved into the villa Monday afternoon. It's a 4-bedroom 3-bath. At one time it must have been beautiful. Now, it's nice but outdated. The marble floors and wall & ceiling mouldings are still beautiful. We are all so happy to be here. Benny's demeanor changed completely once we moved here. Just look at the before and after pictures. The before picture shows him depressed on a chair at The Majestic and the after shows him smiling by the pool now where we play ball several times a day. Of course he has thrown the ball into the pool several times already & almost jumped in once. We often have an audience of Saudi & Kuwaitis who are renting out the other villas. There are 7 villas here. Three of us are Americans and we all have dogs. It has been nice to have other dogs to play with. Bailey is 7-years & a bit grumpy. Maggie is 8-months-old & a wild woman. The two wives and I went out Thursday. One of them was stationed here 11-years ago with her husband so she is pretty familiar with getting around. She and her husband bought a car when they arrived so she's been keeping busy. Driving in Bahrain can be crazy but nowhere near as crazy as Egypt. People actually stop at red lights and stay within their lane. There are round-abouts all over the place so you're always circling. It seems unnecessary to me but I'm sure there's a reason for it. It was nice to get out of the house and to go somewhere other than the Base to shop. We went to an amazing fruit & vegetable market. The produce was incredibly fresh and made me want to cook up some healthy meals. I actually miss being able to cook. Our kitchen here is functional but we don't have all our kitchen supplies. The dishwasher pipe burst & flooded our kitchen the first time we used it! After the fruit & vegetable market we went to the fish market. Smell aside, it was amazing! The seafood was just freshly caught and put out by each vendor. They all fought for our business. I felt bad saying no thanks to so many of them! The vendors all said the same exact thing to us. They asked and answered their own question. They would say, " Hi ma'am how are you I am fine thank you." all in one breath. Their most popular fish is called, hamour. It is in the grouper (sea bass) family. I bought a nice fillet and Scott made it last night for dinner. It was delicious. The heads are sold separately, I'm assuming for people who want to make broth. Who knows! Aside form the hamour, we have been enjoying shawarma sandwiches, falafel and other yummy foods. We are close to an area known as American Alley. It's really just a very long street. You can find most famous American fast food restaurants there along with a mish-mash of Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants. Of course there's a Chili's and Macaroni Grill. Most importantly, there's a Starbucks! Because Benny is still under quarantine, we have not been out that much. Luckily, his quarantine ends in 3-weeks. After the fish market we went to one of the malls. This mall puts our malls to shame. It is state of the art and very accommodating. The women's bathrooms have suites for mothers to go into with their children along with a personal attendant. I was shocked to see so many women in Burkas. Only their eyes were visible. I would say about 80% of the women had some level of head covering on. Of those 80% about 60% were in full burkas. The three of us stood out, but there were several other Americans as well as British women shopping. I was pleased to see so many of our stores in the mall. One of the ladies I was with is originally form London and she said most of the stores were European. This mall had better stores than the mall in Memphis. I can get used to this!!! We can start looking for a place to live beginning Monday. Scott & I both have to go through a housing "brief" before we're allowed to start looking. There are many rules we need to follow and I think it will be helpful. I would prefer to live as close to the Base as possible. I don't think I'll be comfortable driving here. Not so much because of the way people drive but more because it's so confusing. Street names are limited. They primarily go by road numbers and the round-abouts are in the most random areas. Apparently if you get in an accident here, both parties pay the cop on the spot regardless of whose fault it is. My beach cruiser is being shipped here and should arrive in 6-weeks or so. A lot of people get around on their bikes here. I would love to be able to get around by bike. I'm sure it will be an interesting sight to see a pink beach cruiser zooming around on the streets of Bahrain. My basket will come in handy when I ride to the store or out on errands. I am considering applying for a job at the Child Development Center on Base. They are reopening now that families have been allowed back to Bahrain. The pay is minimal from what I hear. We'll see what I decide. It will all depend on where we live & what the hours will be. I will have to be able to get home a few times to let Benny out so he can take care of business. Also, if the pay is so low that after taxes it's nothing, then forget it. I'd rather volunteer there a couple days a week. I'll keep you posted. I definitely miss the USA! There absolutely is no place like it. It's nice to experience other cultures and to travel, but there really is no place like the USA! Until next week, stay well!!!

Our Villa

The fruit & vegetable market & the fish heads.

The Road to Bahrain

Our plane finally landed at 1:30 am on Friday, October 9, 2009. It was a humid 84-degrees. We were supposed to have arrived Wednesday the 7th but lots happened to change our schedule. First our flight out of Norfolk was delayed 8-hours. We were stuck in the terminal for the night with Benny in his crate. Benny was the lucky one. He had a place to sleep. Scott & I, along with all the other stuck travelers tried to sleep sitting-up. Didn't work. The good news is that we got a free meal out of the deal! At 6:30am we crated Benny up & left him for the baggage handlers to load him in the plane. We boarded a HUGE plane and finally took off. A little more than 4-hours later we arrived in Portugal. The usual 2-hour layover was cut to 30-minutes since we were off schedule. Some service members & their families got off the plane to either report to duty or to go sightseeing. Scott ran off the plane as well. We were supposed to be able to walk and give water to Benny at each stop. At first we were told we couldn't get Benny because of the short stop. Then Scott talked to someone who allowed him to quicly take him out for a quick pee & a drink of water. Scott said that Benny peed a bucket! Poor guy. When it was time for him to go into the crate again, he wouldn't go in on his own. I was so sad for Benny boy! He was so scared. Anyhow, we took off for Naples, Italy. That too was about a 4-hour flight. Again more service members and their familes got off the plane. The captain then came on the speaker system to inform us that we were not going to be flying to Greece but would rather be spending the night in Naples. Normally I would have been thrilled to be in Italy, but we were pooped at this point. We had to get all our luggage and the dog and board these buses the airport had provided to take us to our hotels. These were big luxury buses. The bus driver was going to put Benny down below with the luggage and shut the door on him. I refused to let that happen. In the end, Benny sat next to Scott in the bus. From this point on Benny became everyone's dog. They LOVED him!!!! We spent the night in Naples, which I really was unimpressed with. It's very industrial & "gray." Benny could not stop looking at the statues in front of our hotel....he'd never seen Italian nude sculptures before. We were happy to take a shower and sleep in a bed. It was over 24-hours since we "slept." Our next stop was Crete, Greece. We had the full 2-hour layover there. Scott was able to walk Benny for a while. The rest of us were locked in the holding area. Literally locked in. Smoking was not allowed and all the smokers had to watch the airport employees smoking outside our windows. So, they decided to liquor up. I was so pooped I could care less about all the noise they were making. People were laughing & hugging eachother. Most of them had never met before. Fun stuff to watch. Fortunately there was a small Greek food stand in our holding area. Scott and I shared one of my favorite things to eat in Greece, feta cheese pies. It absolutely lived up to my expectations. Scott seemed to really enjoy it as well. From Greece we started our last leg of the trip. Four and a half hours later we landed in Bahrain. Our sponsor was waiting for us when we landed. We felt like those important people at airports who have drivers holding signs with their name on it. We found our bags & dog & loaded up into the Excursion waiting for us. It was really heartwarming watching the kids that made this long trip with us reunite with their dads. We checked into our apartment within this beautiful resort & finally relaxed. The next morning Scott ordered a Lebanese breakfast. It was soooo good. Reminded me of my dad's morning breakfasts! For lunch I ordered delicious chicken kabobs & fettuche salad. Delicious! We were also so happy that right outside our room were the tennis courts. We could easily walk Benny over there and throw the ball around with him for a while. At one point, we had an audience of women and children on the other side of the fence watching Benny run after and catch balls. All of our relief & relaxation ended when a manager came up to us & politely told us we had to leave. Apparently his BIG manager told him to tell us dogs were not allowed. Funny how no one mentioned it when the reservation was made, when we checked in or for the day and a half that we were there. In fact all the employees came up to Benny, pet him and complimented us on him. We called our sponsor who made the reservation and explained the situation. They wanted us out that night so our sponsor found us a place at The Majestic Hotel. Well, The Majestic is not so majestic. It's actually a dump. We are totally grossed out over here. We are looking for a house to move into right away instead of taking our time as most people do. The positive side of staying at The Majestic is that we are a five minute walk from the Base. We took a nice walk in the 94-degree heat and bought a few groceries. I was finally able to use my Arabic with a guy named, Osama, who immediately recognized it as Egyptian Arabic. I was very impressed. While sitting outside a Navy guy waved at us and came over to talk. Apparently, he had been on the plane with us throughout the trip. I didn't remember him. We met so many people because of Benny. Many people came up to us to share stories of their dog and to tell us how much they missed their dog. Benny loved all the attention. So, that's just a little bit of our road to Bahrain. It was tough but we're glad to be here and look forward to our adventures to come. I plan on sharing stories weekly, so come back & check it out!!!!!