Bahraini Cultural Observations 1

It’s interesting to reflect on how I change when I’m in Bahrain, as opposed to when I’m in Melbourne.

Today I saw a girl and a guy having a coffee and a chat at Baretto and it didn’t occur to me until about 10 minutes later that they could be dating. It’s really not something that goes through my mind when I see a girl & a guy having coffee. In Bahrain however, if I see a guy & a girl having coffee in a cafe I immediately assume that they are carrying on a clandestine relationship and notice all of the little awkward oddities about their interaction.

Also in Melbourne I think nothing of scantily clad girls or girls that smoke. It’s summer, it’s hot, why not wear hot pants or a mini-skirt? Why not have a fag ouside with your coffee? In Bahrain, however, if you see a (Bahraini/Arab) girl with shoulders exposed, anything resembling slight cleavage, wearing anything above the knee and/or smoking then you immediately assume at the back of your mind that she’s probably of loose morals and probably comes from one of those expat schools. Not very fair but I just can’t help these things going through the back of my mind.

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