Originally posted by leslie flenner
Beautiful home! Do you feel like it's home or does it feel like living in a hotel? (being temporary and all...). How long will you be there? How is it transporting the pets? What does entertaining corporate employees mean? Do you have to be the woman in waiting or do you join in on conversations, is it all men or a mix? Women CAN'T drive? Does that mean they don't know how or that they are not allowed? Do you drive? And how do you not pass out from the heat when you go out in long sleeves, etc. And the worst thing to do would be to put something on the head in the heat! I would think women would pass out constantly! Do they? Do you?
Sorry not to have answered sooner - as most of you know I have been away, and this is my first day back online.

It doesn't feel like a hotel, but isn't really "home"either. I think a large part of this our mental attitude - we have NEVER been renters - we have always owned our own homes, so it is frustrating to be renting and paying someone elses investment off every month!!

As far as the corporate entertainment - we often have sort of "mini receptions / cocktail evenings"with executives and their wives from key clients of my husband. (It's all catered etc, but you need a big place to entertain 20 or so people without it being awkward). Also my hubbys company will occasionally need some of their staff to meet with an outside consultant, or have a pl,anning workshop etc. The company is based in Saudi, so no-one can travel there without visas etc, whereas most nationalities can get a visa upon arrival in Bahrain. So what they sometimes do is use our house as the venue for internal meetings. They will use the study as a meeting room (it's the size of a triple garage, so space isn't a problem) and I will either prepare lunch etc or get it catered. Occasionally we will have an executive stay over if flights etc are a problem, so we keep the guest room clean and ready all the time. (Although my inlaws are here for a month now, so we have put the word out that the house is unavailable for the next few weeks!!

In Bahrain women can drive. Also being covered up isn't really a problem regardless of the heat - the issue is more what fabrics you wear. I stick to cotton and linen, so the skin "breathes"and it is more comfortable than man-made fabrics. So I havent had any problems with passing out. Generally in summer very little time is spent outdoors in the heat - we rush from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car, and then to offices / shops etc which are all air-conditioned too.