A Year in Bahrain

Our flight leaves today.  TODAY. Ashton and I will join Derek in Bahrain for one year. I didn't even *really* know where Bahrain was before this. Middle East? Yes. It's small? Sure. Anything more than that? Nope. Not a chance. 

I've learned so much since we made the decision in March. Really, my learning started when Derek was offered the job one year ago. A two year work assignment in Saudi Arabia (SA). 

It took from August to November in 2014 to prep everything for Derek to move, during which we learned that he could live in Bahrain and commute to Saudi Arabia each day. (Fact #1 - Bahrain is an island that connects to Saudi Arabia via a 16-mile-long bridge called the King Fahd Causeway.) The more we learned about Bahrain and the differences between it and SA, the more we knew that Ashton and I would want to spend some time there. Some time was originally a summer, though. Until we learned Fact #2 - Bahrain feels like 120 F AND is humid all summer long. Not an ideal time to visit. As they do, circumstances and life kept changing, and in March, Derek and I came to the same conclusion at one. We should change our timeline to visit, and it should be a whole school year, shouldn't it?

And thus, my free time vanished. Two things needed to happen: I needed to visit as many people as possible - saying yes to each experience I was offered, and I needed to find a therapist to help me process the change and transition while solo-parenting (lest I lose my freaking mind). Both happened, and I am very proud of this. I did not hide in my house and obsess over everything going perfectly (it never does anyway). I calmed down and worked each day toward the move. Craigslist, packing, dinners with local friends, Goodwill donations, travels to see family and friends, therapy, and more packing all became regular, weekly things from April until move-out-of-DC-day on August 6. 

And here I am. We leave Chicago today. I have a list of goals for the next year. A great list - if you ask me. Ashton thinks it is way too long and unrealistic. He's probably right. I am, as the blog title indicates and as described by a former boss - unfailingly upbeat. I will always see the silver lining. I will always search for the positives and ways to grow and learn in a situation. Even the worst of situations. So the long list of goals stays. And the learning begins.

One of the goals is this blog. I hope to post something for each day that I am in Bahrain - August 2015 through June 2016. Maybe a picture, maybe a thought, maybe a quote, maybe a full out, detailed grapple with life. I'm doing this mostly for me. I so want to make the most of this experience, but at the same time, I am worried about how I will handle being away from home so long and being in a completely different culture than I have ever experienced. I want to continue to be as open and adventurous as I have lately, and I see this blog as a way to do that and process it all in a healthy way.  

I also want to have a record of our journey, both for me and for Derek and Ashton to remember too. Kid is going to college in four years. This is our family's chance to bond like crazy; we'll have this trip - just the three of us - for the rest of our lives. I love this and I want to soak up each minute. 

There's also a part of me that wants to teach others what I learn. I never thought I would end up living in the Middle East, never thought I would be immersed in a Muslim culture. But it's coming - it's pretty much here. I've had to fight and question quite a few assumptions already. I'd love it if my experiences and learning could help counter some assumptions that others have (and there are plenty of US assumptions about the Middle East and vice versa). If you're reading because you are in a place to learn along with me, I think that would be awesome.  If you're reading out of curiosity and to hear about some crazy Roberts family journeys, I think that's awesome too.  If you just check in every once in a while, I'm equally as thankful for that.  :)  Basically, if you're reading this - thank you.  I hope you enjoy, and I hope that we can keep in touch in additional ways also.

For now - I'm going to go try to stop freaking out.  Less than 12 hours until take off!