We arrived in Bahrain on June 6, and were surprised to be greeted at the airport by almost all of my aunts and uncles. My cousin Wahid even showed up in full Bedouin dress to impress Aaron.

We stayed with my Uncle Ismail, my Aunt Mary and cousin Sam in their huge house. Mary and Ismail couldn’t have been more hospitable, and Aunt Mary was sweet enough to drive us around and show us the sights of Bahrain during our week long stay.

I was surprised by how much Bahrain had grown in the two years since my last visit. There was construction everywhere and a lot more cars (and hence, traffic) on the road. It was apparent that the economy is booming. Everywhere we went appeared new and modern, with all the comforts of home. We were even able to find ingredients to make Mexican food in the local grocery store! Bahrain is a very cosmopolitan place, much like the U.S. or Europe in terms of standard of living. And, much like home, there are malls just about everywhere!

We were showered with affection and stuffed with food in Bahrain. We spent time playing video games with Sam and reading and relaxing. Aaron learned lots of new recipes from Alsabi, my aunt and uncle’s housekeeper. It was just what we needed after all our travels. It was too hot to spend much time outdoors but thankfully, everywhere we went had air conditioning.

We spent lots of time being driven around by Aunt Mary, who is a great tour guide. She is our unofficial family historian, and we enjoyed her stories. Aunt Mary drove us out to the desert, where many Bahrainis still camp out in the winter, sometimes for months at a time! Aunt Mary explained that many tents had satellite TV and all the luxuries of home. Not exactly roughing it! Camping season was over when we visited, but we hope to come back and experience it ourselves one day. We did see lots of oil rigs.

We visited Al-Areen Wildlife Park, which is a nature preserve for many of Arabia’s indigenous animals. The park had quite an array of deer and birds, some of which were very beautiful. Some of the birds were quite aggressive- Aunt Mary got attacked by one and had to defend herself with her handbag.

We saw ancient beehive graves dating from 4100 – 3700 BC. Bahrain was once known as Dilmun and has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. It was amazing to see remnants of Bahrain’s 7000 year old history scattered in between homes!

Another tourism highlight was our visit to Sheikh Issa’s house in Muharraq. My cousin Wahid took us here and showed us around. After seeing so much of Bahrain’s growth and modernity, we enjoyed this trip into old Bahrain. We walked through the souk to get here and found ourselves in a beautiful old complex that was once the Sheikh’s home. There was even a wind tower, which I remember my mom telling stories about from when she was young. The wind tower is an element of architecture in Persian and Bahraini homes that acts as an ancient form of air conditioning. My mom has childhood memories of hanging out in the wind tower in her parents’ home to escape the heat.

We enjoyed touring around Bahrain, but the absolute highlight of our stay was spending time with family. My mother’s four brothers and one of her sisters live in Bahrain, and much of the extended family. They couldn’t have been more warm and welcoming and we had such a great time with everyone.

My Uncle Ebrahim and Aunt Fatima hosted a delicious luncheon for us, and Aaron met most of the family there. I heard some great stories about my mom from my aunties.

Afterwards, my cousin Deena took us to the family business, fabric shops started by my great-grandfather and passed down to his sons. Uncle Ebrahim now owns the shops, and Deena manages them. The stores still bear my great-grandfather’s name.

We had the chance to spend lots of time with various cousins and aunts and uncles, and were taken out to dinner almost every night. One night, Deena and Wahid took us to a delicious fusion Asian restaurant. Another night, we celebrated Hisham’s 28th birthday with him, my cousins Safiya and Tariq and their friends. And yet another night, we were treated to a delicious dinner by my cousins Nasreen, Sohair, and Ali, Ali’s wife Julie, and Sohair’s son Yusef. Most of my memories of Bahrain revolve around eating, and now I understand why!

Our visit culminated in a wonderful family party that my Uncle Ismail and Aunt Mary hosted for us at their home. My cousin Mohamed happened to be visiting from Egypt and we were happy to see him again. It was great to see all the family together! The Khonjis are known for their love of singing and dancing, so it was appropriate that the evening ended with an impromptu concert by my four uncles.

We had such a wonderful time spending time with family in Bahrain and are excited for our next visit!

We spent a really fun week in Boston, with a few days in Cape Cod and a daytrip to Marblehead. We stayed with my college roomate, Samantha, and her talented chef boyfriend Gendreau. We rented a car and spent last Thursday in Cape Cod. It was a beautiful and clear day, and we drove all around, starting with a quick look at Plymouth, first settlement of the pilgrims. Sadly, there was a construction zone around Plymouth Rock, leading Aaron to speculate there was a conspiracy and they had actually moved the rock.

We spent some time walking around Hyannis (home of the Kennedy compound) and then driving all the way up to the edge of the Cape at Princeville. We liked Princeville, it is a really cute beachy New England town, and we walked around and ate fudge, which along with salt water taffy is a staple in every New England tourist destination. Aaron was really excited by the Pirate Museum but there was a sign saying the grand opening was May 2 (the next day.) We drove out to the Atlantic coast (Princeville is a tiny town in between the Atlantic and the Bay) and tried to take a walk out on the breakers but were prevented from walking by a sign stating there was contaminated shellfish and it wasn’t safe. Foiled again! Nevertheless we enjoyed Princeville and would like to visit sometime again.

The next day we picked up Sam from Boston and headed out of the city again, this time to Marblehead, which is a tiny town on the outskirts of the city and is rich in New England maritime history. We were lucky enough to get a private tour of the Old Town Hall and even a trip up to see the belltower. We heard lots of great stories from our host and were charmed by the city’s history.

In Boston, we enjoyed great cuisine by chef/host Gendreau who is opening a restaurant in Boston (Circle) in the next few months. Thanks for the french toast!

The weather was pretty rainy for most of our visit, but we still managed to walk around parts of the Freedom Trail, including a memorable visit to Old Ironsides (the U.S.S. Constitution, an old navy warship) and the accompanying museum. We had never heard of the Barbary War before. We also hung out in Copley, and went out to Harvard Square, where we had brunch with friends Simonetta and Jan. Afterwards we went to an art show with Rabi, Dang and Chris and finished off the day with more great food courtesy of Gendreau (this time, it was duck.) The final day of our visit I took Aaron on a tour of my alma mater BU and we had lunch with Jeff, Aaron’s college roommate who is now getting his graduate degree at BU.

Thanks so much to Dang for the early ride to the airport! We had a great time in Boston and can’t wait to visit again soon.