Hey... let's go visit Ally Cat's Mom!!! Shall we?

[anna_66]

WOW! That's all I have to say

I'd love to have your house!

[Pam]

I can't even think of a proper adjective to describe your beautiful home!!! Thank you so much for the tour!

[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?

[Lillycat]

i really enjoy the commentary surrounding your lovely home.....i hesitated to respond as i wanted the answers to the questions on the post ahead of mine!!!!! i really appreciate this.....tour and culture!!!

[NoahsMommy]

Wow, Julie! That was so neat!!! Your home is amazing, truly amazing and I'd LOVE to camp out in your guest room and discover the area.

Very, very cool!

I have questions:
*The compound....is it all yours? Does the company own the compound and you have the house you showed us? How many homes are in your compound? Do you like your neighbors?

*Are there many places your hubby can ride his bike? How do the locals feel abou Harley's or bikes in general?

*Do they have churches there? Like, non-Muslim churches?


OK, gotta go back to the pictures so I can show my hubby!

[Barbara]

This must be a Loire Chateau of Bahrain- one of the biggest private houses I've ever been in. I love the two inhabitants (a prince and a princess I suppose) on their padded chairs

And I love your bedroom. So romantic!

[leslie flenner]

Why two toilets in one bathroom?

[QueenScoopalot]

Originally posted by leslie flenner
Why two toilets in one bathroom?

Leslie One is a "Bidet" and as I say oh bidet to you too!(Said in a British accent) Don't ask where it comes from...my twisted, twisted mind!

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

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.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
Wow, Julie! That was so neat!!! Your home is amazing, truly amazing and I'd LOVE to camp out in your guest room and discover the area.

Very, very cool!

I have questions:
*The compound....is it all yours? Does the company own the compound and you have the house you showed us? How many homes are in your compound? Do you like your neighbors?

*Are there many places your hubby can ride his bike? How do the locals feel abou Harley's or bikes in general?

*Do they have churches there? Like, non-Muslim churches?


OK, gotta go back to the pictures so I can show my hubby!

I would LOVE for you to come and stay... in fact as I have said before if ANY of you Pet Talkers are ever in the Middle East I will be VERY upset if you don't drop in!!!

We rent the house from a landlord, and there are around 20 houses in our compound. Some companies DO have their own housing compounds, thankfully my hubbys does not (Not sure if I would like to be that close to all his colleagues 24/7!!!!)

There are not really many places to ride the bike. Bahrain is VERY small - 20 km wide and 50 km long, so when we have bike runs with the HOG club here it tends to be quite repetative. The plan is to take the bike with us when we leave, and hopefully end up living somewhere more bike-freiendly. There are a mixture of nationalities who ride here - we have everything from US Navy guys to Sheihks riding their Harleys here.

We have many different religious denominations here in Bahrain - obviously Muslims are the majority, as it is a Muslim country, but we also have a range from Catholic to Charismatic churches here - although the services are on a FRIDAY, as Sunday is a normal work day!!