Living in Bahrain

[666]

What is it like living in Bahrain for expats with
families. Good and bad points please.

[Bloke]

I grew up in Bahrain from the age of 2 to 11 and really loved it. People ask what my childhood was like, and I can only wish they had a childhood like mine. I'm now 20 and am hoping to get back to Bahrain to fly. I would have no troubles with raising a family up in Bahrain, although I have heard that it has changed since I was there 10 years ago.

[ironbutt57]

good to live, schools for kids expensive, no major complaints really..

[SeldomFixit]

Lived there with young family just prior to the Gulf War and would be back there in a flash inspite of current changes.

[CaptA320]

Bahrain is fantastic compared to other Gulf States, people are real nice too. Schools and house rentals are expensive. Still I enjoy it here.

[Bengwa Pilot]

What about the guys who fly as FO's on the Metro's ?? for DHL Express Bahrain , Do they still get enough $$$$ to live reasonably well and have some fun??....how about night life and girls, whats the scene like??
Thanks Bengwa.

[ironbutt57]

yes bengwa pilot..they do indeed.plenty of entertainment here as well..

[Bengwa Pilot]

MMMM....yes yes...any hints any tips....on getting me in???.... I like beer night clubs women and beaches...should I put that on the resume???
Cheers Bengwa.

------------------
[email protected]
"dreaming of Cathay"

[shorthaul]

Bahrain's an aquired taste like anywhere in the middle east. You are after all forgoing any normal human and legal rights if it all goes wrong. i.e. car accident with the wrong person.

It does still have some civil unrest, however is relativly safe. If you like living on a small island with a 3rd world set of rules then it can be OK.

Good Luck

[Zones]

Also used to live there, many friends still there....

As a single bloke, with some spare $$, as long as you like going to same bars all the time, and can get off the island regularly for dose of reality, then it is absolutely fantastic. Lots of hosties, although varied in quality (both looks & brains), and some who are only after Arabian $$$$$.

As a married guy w/kids, then yeah I guess it's good too, although differently : you gotta like "private country club" scene, as they form centre of social scene.

Weather is mixed - can be great in winter, albeit windy and even cold, and b!!!!y hot in summer.

Driving, shops and that stuff all OK, but of course not quite what you get in UK,USA or Aust etc.

And if you are married, then mind those GF girls...they could spoil your marriage if you're tempted by the cookie jar!

Don't know what it's like to be a woman in BAH! So excuse male oriented view.

[ec55]

Hi im ec55,
Im just new to the forum. Was wondering if anyone can give me some advice? I am soon to be leaving the UK to head to Bahrain to live and work as a Beauty Therapist with my partner. I have already visited the country once and although i enjoyed the holiday, was a bit skeptical about making such a drastic move. But since coming back to the UK my partner has told me he wants to permenantly move over there to live and work as his family emigrated over there a few years ago and he has lived there most of his life being brought up in Saudi Arabia. It is a huge life changing decision and please if anybody can give me some advice i would be very grateful.

:confused: :confused: Thanx

[Monty77]

Well, I'm a fan.

Married with kids. Not in to clubbing, but never was anyway. Nice people, no tax. Get into windsurfing/get a boat. Enough good restaurants to keep you going.

I always apply the perspective: what is the alternative? M25 in the freezing rain/train commuting/ community charge/ASBOS/ tax/more tax/hoodies. I always considered London a great place to visit, but not live. I now hold that view for the UK as a whole.

It's not for everyone, and families and friends are important to some. Bahrain is a 6 hour flight. It used to take me that to get from Yorkshire to London. In this internet age the distance has shrunk - how many people do you know write letters abroad today?

Go for it. And if you don't like it - it's not a life sentence. You just go home again. I miss the tv though.

[EK Pilot]

Yes, a wonderful place! I had a great time there but sadly (or happily?) I was tempted by that cookie jar! I joined Emirates a couple of years ago. Not as nice in Dubai, but the cookie jar is much bigger! :E

[fractional]

Monty77 saysI miss the tv though I add the weather forecast too:bored:

[Bigman11]

it is about work, i am going alone, how much the salary should be for a good living.?

[tbaylx]

Depends on if you have to pay rent or you get a housing allowance. Rent prices are really high here, figure 600-900BD/month for a decent place.

If that's paid for by the company and you don't have to eat a ridiculous exchange rate by sending any money home, than you can get by nicely on anything over 1000BD a month.

if you have kids in school, have to pay rent, or have debts back home then it takes an ever increasing amount above that.

[Ray Darr]

...how long is a rope??
...how high is the sky??

A "good living" is pretty open-ended. What are your standards? How much dosh do you want to put away? etc etc etc etc...

I haven't lived there for a while but it's a tolerable place to call home for a while, all things considered. Just give a few more details in your questions, and you'll get detailed answers from those in the know. :p

Cheers.

[Che Guevara]

I am soon to be leaving the UK to head to Bahrain to live and work as a Beauty Therapist with my partner.

You are married, right? Technically, if not, then 'shacking up' is against the law in all Gulf states....it's done, however like everything else over here everything is fine until something happens or goes wrong, much like the situation on the roads etc. as mentioned in previous posts.:rolleyes:

Overall not a bad place to be at all once you recognize where you stand and come to terms with it.

Good luck

[Ibn Kalb]

+ friendly
+ safe
+ no dog****
+ getting help (cleaning lady etc) is easy
+ big culture of eating out

- disciminatory against non-Bahrainis (law cases, family law, immigration, religion)
- rulers and trading families all fighting against each other...no sense of working together to produce a Monte Carlo of the Gulf
- traffic and general organisaiton is appaling
- little planning
- expats whinge a lot and you fall prey to that too
- cultual desert except for strolling players from abroad
- lost the plot commercially and been overtaken
- costs are now increasing substantially

[airfort]

I do not know what culture permits some people to say bad things about a country that hosted you. Consolidation of standing Bahrain in the eyes of others is a national duty. This is sometime hard to believe by many of you, but ask those who have come for a job and ended up living for years. Like the thousands of foreigners, you will be a dear guest of our beloved Bahrain. This is how this country treats its guests. Believe me you will not think of going back home, ask those who have spent their lives here.

All the country and locals ask for in return is some respect.

Cheers

[tbaylx]

Would that be the same respect that locals show by tossing mcDonalds garbage out their window at a stop sign? or maybe the same respect shown by those that destroy anything even remotely close to a public beach? or those that put up a tent during holidays only to leave all the garbage behind after packing it up? or the respect shown to the sub continent workers getting paid 50 dinars a month working 15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week?

I like bahrain, but i sometimes think that expats respect the country alot more than those that were born here. Not everyone mind you, but more than a minority.

maybe Bahrain could do with a few more expats here so that "respect" for ones surroundings actually rubs off.

[SIUYA]

airfort...............

you will be a dear guest of our beloved Bahrain. This is how this country treats its guests. Believe me you will not think of going back home, ask those who have spent their lives here.

OK, I guess we'll have to take your word for those.......ummm.........aspects exhibitted by locals towards expats living in Bahrain. I wonder if, however, some of your nearby neighbours have the same same attitudes to expats as you suggest exist in Bahrain. :confused:

[Ibn Kalb]

Airfort

Yes I am a guest in this country because this country needs me and I need a salary. The country is not doing me any favours at all.

I like it here which is why I live here.

To suggest that I cannot offer a balanced critique of the country, society and culture is somewhat defensive to say the least.

[Desert_Storm]

I've been living in Bahrain for a little over a year now and what can I say..... Guess it is one of the most westernized countries of the middle east. Haven't had any major situation here so far but i'm pretty aware that if a legal situation arises, we, as expats, will always loose the case against the locals (no hard feelings but that's the way it is). Guess the situation also depends on what you, as an expat do in Bahrain; i.e it's not the same to come to Bahrain as a Pilot or as a high rank employee of a multinational rather than coming here as a simple laborer (domestic employees or construction work force). Money talks and that helps a little bit but still, one can see almost each and every day all those cases about maids taken to Salmaniya Hospital beaten to dead by a local sponsor or the poor indian subcontinent guys who are treated worst than animals, transported in trucks like cows, at 47° C without A/C, working 15 hours shift per 50 dinars a month, and living in ****holes, (most of the time 8 or 10 guys sharing a 2 bedroom apartment). Think if you ask one of this poor guys about Bahrain, they'll tell you that Bahrain is far off from being open, westernized, or that there is any respect for human rights here in the sand pit. Cheers!!!!!

[brassplate]

not a bad place if you don't mind small town living with big city traffic! but to be fair, apart from the traffic (which isn't that bad compared to Abu Dhabi and Dubai), it's a convenient enough place to live. you'll get your nice restaraunts, bars, clubs, shops etc that you're used to in the west. food, cars and petrol cheap, other goods not. gotta get used to the arab way of doing things. getting to know a couple of locals and the people in general will help.

[airfort]

I chose not to go any further because we can argue this endlessly. I wonder what 666 is thing now !!!

666….. forget about what was said and just come. You will not regret it.

This is AIRFORT
Cheers

[Dixons Cider]

Would that be the same respect that locals show by tossing mcDonalds garbage out their window at a stop sign? or maybe the same respect shown by those that destroy anything even remotely close to a public beach? or those that put up a tent during holidays only to leave all the garbage behind after packing it up? or the respect shown to the sub continent workers getting paid 50 dinars a month working 15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week?

That is exactly Bahrain, spot on.

[wastafarian]

for a nice evening outw ith girls and stuff likethat, i remend the adeliah area. 3 or 4 good thai restaurants within 5 minits of each other for apetiser and main corse, and then head over to the seashell hotel for desert (n0 cherrys tho). satisf all needs in one evening for less than a hundered bucks.

[Desert Diner]

And when the novelty of all things Bahrain finally wear out, there is the Dilmun Club, the Yatch Club, the British Club, the Rugby Club and the two Hashes.
When your "outside of work" life revolves around those activities you can trully call yourself an old timer.

[airfort]

666....Don’t believe what these guys say. They are tring to paint a white picture about foreigners and forgot that the number of locals is just as equal if not less ll!! . Unless it is written on there cars somewhere, how would these guys know if it was a local and not a foreigner who toss garbage out of their cars? I will not say what garbage ! ! or destroy things near beaches, when there is non. I don’t all expect these guys to take their garbage to the G.yard by himself? Do they ?

I don’t know of what nationality these guys are, but I would assume European. And the sub continent workers just like Europeans are only guesses here, and they are here because this country needs them and they need a salary as they said. The country is not doing them any favors at all, is true. but If they you don’t like it here no one is forcing them to stay. You all sound like the Sub-Ind guys are living in a place with a weather of 5 digrees, traveling in an A/Cd transports, and enjoy life back in the Sub-Cont. Would they give up all this and come here if this was the case. Come-on guys who are Kidding ?

Cheers.

[Bigman11]

Hello! is there anyone working in bahrain and living alone?

[Mephistopheles]

Just back from emptying my rubbish on some beautiful beach(?) I am very sorry to hear that many of you feel that the most locals lack respect & common decentcy. I just hope that all of our uneducated & disgusting habits don't rub of on you. Give me a second cuz I just have to beat my maid senseless & I will be back...

[Mephistopheles]

Ahhh! That's much better but damn her if she isn't getting a thicker skin each time I beat her with a hose pipe.
Anyway for anyone who is thinking of living here-
Bahrain is nice & small but getting a bit crowded on the roads.
Not too much to do apart from eating & drinking so I suggest you get a boat which will give you some more options.
If you are single there are plenty of bars & clubs to go to.
Schools are expensive but GF pay a majority of the fees.
So enjoy

[wadefac]

From reading the last 2 posts...........it all sums up to open your mouth and remove all doubt........ :oh:

[jackbauer]

Meph, when you say GF pay majority of the school fees, I reckon even the new salary package only pays max 40%. This is before the schools get wind of the increase and put it up again, average yearly increase in St Chris is 15% so it wont be long before the allowance is worthless.

[Ibn Kalb]

I am a foreigner but familiar with your culture. I understand that it is difficult for someone in your culture to hear criticism of it. That is because you have a collective shame based culture but in Europe, N America, Australasia, for example, it is an individualistic guilt based culture. If people criticize my culture, I will listen and either agree or provide specific argumentd against. I won't go into denial of the facts because it makes me feel ashamed.

The simple fact is that the government and people of Bahrain (with a couple of notable exceptions eg the bsuinessman who plants trees everywhere) have totally destroyed the environment in Bahrain. Some examples:

1) Tubli Bay has been reduced from 25 square km to 16 through illegal land reclamation. The government has done nothing about it

2) Look at the chmineys of Riffa Power Plant. when did you last see yellow sulphurus smoke ? Why is it there? Should it be there?

3) Question: How many public beaches are there? Answer: One - al jazayir. Question: Why. Answer: because ruling family members and trading families have taken away these beaches for their personal use. Question: How is it done in other countries, eg UK? Answer: The public (ie anyone) has full, access to beaches all around the UK

4) Nabi Saleh used to be a beautiful, palm covered island with fresh water pools. Question: What is it like now? and why?

I think that should deal with this issue.

[themulleye]

jackbauer

Just out of interest, What do you pay for a child to attend a decent school?

[brassplate]

an example of a driving practice that is rife in bahrain.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=198450&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30226

the worst thing is if you are an expat involved in this, you may well be blamed.

[Fardan]

Hello,

I am a Bahraini citizen, and I'd like to meet english boys or girls who live in Bahrain.

well, here are some Info about me:

age: 16
city: well, it's not a city, but t is a village called Karzakan.
School level : secondary school.

anything you wanna know, Just ask....



:O
we

[airpilot_A3xx]

Fardan,, this is not a forum to meet boys and girls age 16. login myspace, facepart or Hi5 for that := ...plenty of boys , girls and others will be more than happy to know and aske you all sorts of questions abouk Karzakan boy :p...

[Chuck Y]

Ibn Kalb,
So according to you it is my people's fault that:
1) Tubli Bay is a s*** hole
2) The Chimneys of the Riffa Power Plant are spewing pollution
3) There are no proper beaches here
4) Nabi Saleh has no more palm trees.
I am sure you will agree that the people here can do nothing about the problems you mentioned but to say that that is the fault of all Bahrainis. Wow you've got mash potatoe for brains!
How would you feel if I put everything that your government did wrong directly on your head? Maybe not so great?

[Exengineer]

Having lived in excess of 20 years in Saudi I have the following observations about living in the middle east:

1. It isn’t going to be like your home country, as my daughter told me recently "Get used to it" Remember the travel agent sketch by Monty Python? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcTFAMwgG64)
2. When going to a new country, living or vacation, respect the religion, customs, traditions and royal family. If you do not like the way things are put up or leave. You're the guest.
3. If the locals want to treat their country poorly by leaving rubbish around, hey its their country. You can always remove it. Lead by example.
4. I walk out of a local bank with £3500 in cash today without a care in the world. You can't do that in the UK, you keep looking over your shoulder.
5. When in a foreign country I know where I stand. In the UK I do not. Too many stupid rules.

We are all in a foreign country for one reason, a better more lucrative life style. Most of us are sick and tired of tax, Tony Blair/Gordon Brown, tax, persecution of motorists, tax, hoodies, and more tax, petrol at £1 litre, and even more tax.

So if you want to work in the middle east, try it you can always leave. You never fail if you try. Of course you could sit around the crew room looking at the back pages of Flight saying "I could do that".
I love the life and the varied nationalities I meet. It is a great life for me. The good points far out weigh the bad points.

[Ibn Kalb]

Chuck Y

The answer is yes (presuming you are a national of Fantasy Island). Complacency is the bedfellow of this environmental destruction.

If you criticised my country - I would listen to what you say but I certainly wouldn't go into denial. If I have a problem with the government of the country where I come from, then I complain about it.

Quick question, just remind me where is "Bahrain Friends of the Earth" ?

[jackbauer]

Ibn, think in Bahrain it's called "Friends of The Re-claimed earth":p