When moving to a new country, there were some things I was prepared to give up. Sweet corn on the cob, my favorite clothing stores, and references to "Merica" were a few of them.
Here's a list of things I didn't think Bahrain would have, but I'm delighted that it does:
Mexican Food. Can you tell I'm happy in the picture above? Senior Pacos (the sit down place, not the mall version) has legitimately good food. It's not street tacos, which I love, but at least there's good pico. (and margaritas- which looking back, may have contributed to the happiness).
Here's a list of things I didn't think Bahrain would have, but I'm delighted that it does:
The Have's
Mexican Food. Can you tell I'm happy in the picture above? Senior Pacos (the sit down place, not the mall version) has legitimately good food. It's not street tacos, which I love, but at least there's good pico. (and margaritas- which looking back, may have contributed to the happiness).
Doughnuts. There is an actual Krispy Kreme in the mall. It's no Dunkins, but it will more than suffice for those mornings when I could kill for a crawler.
Armani water (for about $12). Learning from experience, one of my first questions upon moving here was - can you drink the tap water? Pinky assured me that you can. This, I've come to find out, was a DAMN LIE. I was mildly sick for quite some time, and I came to grips with the fact that I would be taking pepto for the rest of my life. Out of curiosity, after seeing endless water bottles around, I casually asked a friend of mine if he drinks tap water - he about fainted.
"Absolutely not! Do you drink the tap water?!?!" He asked, with horror in his eyes.
"Um.... well I won't anymore...."
So FYI, don't drink the water. There's bottles for sale everywhere, and most of them aren't designer brand.
Street food. Again, it's no tacos, but there is local, ridiculously cheap food available. The above pictured delicacy cost about 50 cents, and was SO good. It was like spicy chili with chickpeas, and the poofs are fried potato dumplings. Drool...
Random awesome restaurants and stores. All my favorites from around the world are here. With as many malls as they have, all stores will eventually be drawn into the Bahrain circuit. Forever 21, H&M, Gap - all my favorites are here, even specialties like Potbelly from Chicago.
All in all, it's been hard to find things to miss from the states. What are a few of the have nots? Hot sauce (the good kind, not the Louisiana kind), stick deodorant, and of course, the beloved Target. Pinky misses mom's home cooking and Santiagos breakfast burritos. Guess we'll just have to pack those things in our suitcases next time we visit. Target might be hard. Maybe we can just take the little dog...
