Living through history. I could curse one of my college professors who daily forced his students into discussions surrounding his guiding question on what comprises history. While a little over a year ago I would have pulled some answer out of the air to answer his question. It might have sounded impressive, but it would have had little validity. I feel confident now that I could help Dr. Becker realize that Jacob is an accomplished teacher/historian – for I am now being given the opportunity to live through history. Surely he would argue my point, but at least I can say, “I was there.”
My mentor teacher from my student teaching recently commented on here and reminded me how much we all joked about Bahrain becoming violent and me being unsafe. Several times I was warned to take any roadside shavings, even if the deal was just to good to pass. Naturally we all joked because, who in the world had ever heard of Bahrain? Where is Bahrain? Is it a new country? Small of course, but where is it? For years to come when asked where I first taught I will say Bahrain and will not be met with a puzzled look.
What’s been happening is extraordinary. Bahrain is small, very small, but this country is very good to its people. The same royal family has been ruling for over 200 years. While past monarchs might have possibly ruled unfairly, the current King Hamad rules with a just fist while encouraging advancement and development throughout all levels in Bahrain. Violence still continues, and more people are being killed each day. Things seem to be getting worse, but here in Juffair we might as well be living in a different country. There are a number of people against the government, but there is also a strong support group for the king and the current government.
Things are going well in this area. We are about 10-15 miles away from the Pearl (LuLu area) Roundabout. We even had school on Thursday, although we had only 15 total students in the high school. (All of the following pictures are from the pro-government rally)
Things did get serious Thursday evening with the attack on the "peaceful" protesters. It’s sad that the riot police attacked the camp - children were overcome with tear gas and taken to the hospital. Six people have died, being sprayed with shotgun bullets, or killed from quail guns. This "attack" has put people in shock and has sparked a bigger nationalist feeling amongst most Bahrainis, I believe.
The people protesting here are incredibly crazy. They have the best salaries, the lowest taxes, and the best government of any other country in the Middle East, but with Egypt, now every country feels as though they need to be "free" in their own sense of the word.
Yesterday was a terribly exciting day. At about noon (right after prayer time) there was a massive Pro-government rally at the Grand Mosque - RIGHT OUTSIDE OF OUR APARTMENT!!!!!! It was amazing to see nationalism in full swing in a divided country. Naturally we ran to our roof and took some pictures - then we became bored with the roof, and ran to the rally!!!
It was incredible...honking horns, chanting, screaming, pictures of the king, pictures of the prince, the prime minister. It was amazing. We stayed for about two hours and then made the walk back to our apartment. At 6pm the cars were still honking their horns, and traffic was at a standstill for 5 hours!!!!...Outside of our apartment!
There were also funerals yesterday for the protesters who were shot - more people were killed during the funeral march. The hospital near the main protest area has become overrun with injuries and casualties...they are calling for national help because they can't handle it. Doctors and nurses are having breakdowns from the pressure, and what they are seeing is unbelievable. Children are involved as well. Children of all ages follow their parents blindly on both sides. Its encouraging and disturbing at the same time.
Not sure what the next few weeks will hold, but I can be sure that I will be living through and greatly enjoying each day. Best wishes to all people in Bahrain and high hopes for things to be resolved in the coming weeks!
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