| Summer in Bahrain and probably the wider Middle East takes on a different routine. I returned at the beginning of August in the middle of Ramadan. Temperatures are regularly 40˚C and upwards and I gather in July it has been the hottest on record. Many of the congregation are away, certainly most families and wives, but there are also people arriving and it’s a good opportunity to get to know those who are new in a quieter period. In particular, after our US Navy exodus of the summer, it has been a joy to welcome a few new US Navy friends to the Cathedral community at the start of their two years here.
  As last year I have hosted a meal in the Deanery followed by a film, last week – The Help – based on the excellent book by Kathryn Stockett . I reflected on the book in an earlier blog and the film did not disappoint, though some of the southern dialect was a challenge for some of us. On Wednesday this week we are going to have a post Olympic viewing of Chariots of fire, whose music is probably in the bloodstream of all of us who have watched any of the Olympics this summer.
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