I had a bit of an unsettling walk this afternoon. The walk itself was fine, the weather spectacular, no hat, no scarf, and no gloves. I did get wet, couldn’t help it, everyone walking got wet. If the water pouring down from the buildings didn’t get you, the pools and ponds around the curbs did, as you either were splashed by passing cars or misjudged the depth of the water as you tried to jump or step from street to sidewalk. It didn’t matter; it was so lovely outside that a little water made it even a bit more enjoyable.
The troubling aspect came first when I went into the expensive French bakery that is about six blocks from our apartment. I wanted to get Cindy a fruit tart and a loaf of good French bread. I’ve shopped there before without any difficulty but today the new royalty of Russia was out in full force. Two young women with three hundred dollar haircuts and thousand dollar boots had five counter girls running ragged with their complex order and their imperious ways. While I certainly didn’t understand the conversation, the body language was obvious and their tone of voice was so dismissive, and yet the girls all jumped. By the time these lesser than grand dames had paid and departed, the store had filled up and it seems all the other women in the place got the best of me, despite my having been the first in line. My mistake was that I stayed near the tarts when I guess you need to go towards the cash register. I had waited too long already and had to admit defeat and went to another bakery where I was waited on right away. No tart for Cindy however.
Even more troubling than just being aced out of a shopping line was observing four young kids, two boys and two girls, who must have ranged in age from 14 to 16 getting stone drunk at 2:30. One of the boys had gone into the general store across the street from us and came out with a liter of vodka and two liters of beer and the four kids proceeded to sit on the fence and drink and smoke until all the booze was gone and then they just left their mess there and staggered on. It is sad enough to see older folks drunk but young kids drinking and smoking as an after school activity is just depressing as hell.
We weren’t too hungry last night since we had had a late lunch so I just caramelized some onions, red pepper, and garlic and used them as the filling for a small omelette, which I served on a bed of arugula. Cindy had purchased some olive bread and a bun filled with spiced chicken so we heated them up and they accompanied the omelette quite nicely.
Things are going from bad to worse in Bahrain. Yesterday police stormed the University where Cindy worked to stop some protests. Thousands of protesters clogged the main artery into the financial district of Bahrain. Gulf Community Conference forces, mostly Sunni from Saudi Arabia, have entered Bahrain to help stop the protesters, and Iran threatens to enter if even one Shia is killed. Great Britain has issued a travel ban on entering Bahrain, and oh yes, today would have been the opening of the Formula One race had it not been cancelled. The country doesn’t know how to handle real democracy and I’m afraid we are propping up the dynasty, much to the dismay of the majority population of Bahrain.
I know there must be some really good news out there but I’m having a hard time finding it. No, wait our friend Vernia in Australia got to go a million miles an hour in an open top Lotus on a race track and as she said, ‘blew the cobwebs out of her hair. I remember now that our dear friends Brent and Kari are sipping rum-somethings in the middle of the Caribbean instead of enduring more winter in Minnesota. These things give me joy!
Best wishes, Cindy and Wm
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