The sweet appeal of Bahrain after my vacation at home
by Imane Fawzy Nofal
In front of me lay a small box of chocolate, in it lined up 8 different flavors of different shapes. I indulged in the rectangular white chocolate which melted right away in my mouth, immediately alerting all my senses. Chocolate is not all about sweetness, to a chocolate lover like me, what makes them special is how delicious and flavorful they are. With just very little left in my mouth, I took a sip of my warm tea — it felt so good!
What was a treat I was giving myself! Relaxing, after three hard days of cleaning and organizing my home upon my return to Bahrain from my home country Egypt. My memories of the Gulf area are not always very good ones though. I had first moved to Saudi Arabia with my parents when I was 4; we lived there until I was 11 years old. Recently I made another move; this time to Bahrain with my husband at the age of 23. At the time I felt sad, I was being separated from my family and friends with whom I had grown up and shared wonderful moments – some beautiful, and merry; others crazy and sad.
These past two months were the longest vacation I had spent in Egypt since I left. This might sound bizarre but I had no fun there this time; maybe because of the pressure of having to divide my time between my family, in-laws, husband’s friends and my childhood friends. I couldn’t really catch time; I was simply running after it! There is no pleasure in keeping your eyes on the clock while sitting with your friends chatting, making sure you catch up with the next planned family event; how about the constant barrage of advice from older people concerned about how thin you are, how you are spoiling your children, how stubborn you seem in front of your in laws, how wrong it is to wake up late, how much luggage you should travel with and how thrifty are with your money!
The discomfort I felt wasn’t only because of all the talk and interference, but also mainly due to the instability of my life during this time. It felt like I wasn’t in control — others were pulling the strings and I their puppet had no option but to dance! I started to yearn for Bahrain. Although my apartment is smaller there and the country is much calmer than Egypt, the stability of life back there was so much better than these ups and downs with my family and friends.
In a bid to be philosophical, I tried convincing myself that what was really making me unhappy was my attempt to satisfy everyone, they really were not controlling my life. I understood that my folks in Egypt are too caring and loving — to the extent that constantly meddling in my life was just a way of providing guidance and showing they care . But one can only take so much!
The chocolate box rested steadily on lap while these thoughts raced in my head. Slowly, I savored each of the different flavors, feeling relaxed — not so much because of the chocolates, but rather because here I was lying on my own sofa, having my favorite snack, a cup of tea in my hand, watching the show I love — my life locked 1204.50 miles away of my elderly advisers!
Imane blogs at Express It 2 Live It
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