"We're lucky that we were born where we were"

Every morning as we go to school, we see truckloads of men on their way to work. They ride in open-backed trucks, with about 15 men in one truck, all sitting there in blue coveralls. They all appear to be Indian. We heard they live with about 15 people in one apartment, and they make about 70 dinar a month (about $190). They work all day in the hot sun as delivery men, car washers, construction workers, road workers, maintenance men, and other things. The teachers at our school, on the other hand, each make about 10 times what they do, with housing and transportation paid for.

Mike and I were discussing this with some friends the other day, and we decided that it is easy to think (without realizing that you're thinking it) that you're better when you have more money. We can hire people to deliver stuff to our door, we are college-educated and have good jobs, and it's easy to think that we have those things because we worked harder, or we were smarter, than other people. As we cautioned each other about this, our Australian friend Marge said, "I just think we're lucky that we were born where we were. I think that's really the only difference." We are so rich in America. It has been very easy to take that for granted, to take for granted public education and easy access to higher education. It is interesting to think that my quality of life is in many ways just determined by where I was born, and thus by all the opportunities I have had because of being an American.

I know that it is not quite that simple, that there are many factors that play into everybody's life, including work ethic, geography, genetics, culture, upbringing, personality, etc. But, this has definitely been good stuff to think about...

Bahrain's buildings

Bahrain doesn't look like this yet, but it will in a couple of years. This is an artist's rendition of the new "Bahrain Financial Harbor" downtown. Here is another picture of Bahrain in the future.
This one is for real. I took it on the bus on the way to school this morning, and it was the best shot I could get to give a perspective on the buildings shooting up in Bahrain. If you look closely and start counting from the far left of the picture, you can count 8 or 9 cranes. Note the cranes on top of what I like to call the "lumpy" buildings. There is also one on top of the "triangle" building. The last time we drove through the downtown area, I counted 27 cranes.
One more of Bahrain's future. The two buildings on the far right are nearly finished, as well as the "triangle" building, and several more have been started.

Patriotism

A few days ago we drove past the American Embassy, which is about a mile from our place in Bahrain. On top of the building flies an American flag, the only one I have seen since we arrived. Never before have I realized what a big deal a flag is. We are halfway around the world, and most things here are very different from America. But, seeing the flag, it feels like we are home. It feels like we are safe, like we belong to something, like we are cared for. I have seen thousands of American flags before, and have even flown one from the house on holidays, but never really understood until now why flags are such a big deal. I love driving past that flag, and it reminds me that I am a citizen of a great country. I think I'm starting to understand what patriotism really is...