Wafiq is from Bahrain. His family moved to Dubai while he was going to college, but he was born & raised in the tiny little island, Bahrain. That’s how I wound up learning about the country & ultimately visiting. I rarely write about Bahrain for a lot of reasons, the shiny things are in Dubai – all the glitz, glam & tall buildings, which is where I spent most of my time. Also, because Wafiq grew up in Bahrain, we don’t tend to do very much when we visit. We stick close to his house & his friends houses and… there’s a lot of people that don’t want to share anything online so I can’t write or photo with them unless it’s curated. ha! More on that another time.
Bahrain is still my favorite. Each time we go I notch something new off my belt. It’s a small island country in the middle of the Middle East, with approx 1.2M people. The vibe is very much island. One of the reasons Wafiq knows English so well is because he went to an English speaking school with the same exact curriculum that I had when I went to school, in America. There’s an American Military Base on Bahrain, so Wafiq went to school with a lot of little Katie’s. {aka: American’s.} Which is also why Wafiq tends to get along with American’s that served in the Military – they know where Bahrain is & they know what type of dude Wafiq is.
Besides the history & political parts of this country, I love the feeling I get from being there. Every time I would visit from Dubai I instantly felt relaxed stepping off the plane. Bahrain is very CHILL. Like an Arabic island vibey country, intriguing right?
I will admit, I don’t think all Bahraini’s feel the same way – because it’s a small country, almost like a small town, locals feel like they know everyone & people depend on gossip.
BUT for visitors, I can tell you, this place is the shit! And more affordable than the shiny neighbor Dubai. If you want to get culture, laid back, easy living, personal feeling – Bahrain is the place. For example, we went to the Al Fateh Grand Mosque in Bahrain our last time visiting, because it’s the #1 thing to do on trip advisor. We happened to go on Christmas Eve which I found pretty interesting – my entire life Christmas Eve has been the coordination of a Church Service & this year it was a tour of a Mosque. Silly how things work out. Anyway, the tour guide could not have been more informative & RELATABLE. He was our age. & as soon as Wafiq & I realized he was incredibly easy to talk to we started grilling him on every single religious question we could think of. I mean everything, even if I sounded dumb, I went for it. I love exploring religions & learning what other people believe. It’s crazy how much you can learn when you’re not afraid, and you ask questions. Rather than preach or intimidate, our tour guide answered questions honestly & fearlessly.
So far on my visits to Bahrain this is the vibe I get. Easy, relaxed, people. When you go to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, you don’t feel the exact same way you do in the Grand Mosque of Bahrain. As glamorous as the Abu Dhabi one is – there’s tons of people, large tour groups, and a formal education. I’m not trying to knock the Abu Dhabi Mosque as it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen, rather show the perks of both 🙂
Unlike Dubai, you’ll see Bahraini locals everywhere when you visit. They’re available to be seen! Emirati’s are so few, that you don’t interact with them very often or even see them everywhere.
