 There’s always a buzz about the Bahrain at the time of festivals and that’s true at the moment. Early in the morning I walk from the Cathedral through the souq to the central Post Office in Manama two or three times a week. Flags and pictures are going up outside the mosques and food stalls being set up on the streets. Yesterday I was offered a cup of Arabic coffee and some dates. By the evening cars are parked everywhere- it’s hard to walk on the pavements – but there is a festive spirit in the air mixed with some tension too as the police presence is more apparent on the roundabout just nearest the Cathedral adjacent to the Ministry of Interior, which can be a flash point. As I said this morning relating to Jesus in Jerusalem “history and the present seem to come together in the celebration of the festival.” |
There’s always a buzz about the Bahrain at the time of festivals and that’s true at the moment. Early in the morning I walk from the Cathedral through the souq to the central Post Office in Manama two or three times a week. Flags and pictures are going up outside the mosques and food stalls being set up on the streets. Yesterday I was offered a cup of Arabic coffee and some dates. By the evening cars are parked everywhere- it’s hard to walk on the pavements – but there is a festive spirit in the air mixed with some tension too as the police presence is more apparent on the roundabout just nearest the Cathedral adjacent to the Ministry of Interior, which can be a flash point. As I said this morning relating to Jesus in Jerusalem “history and the present seem to come together in the celebration of the festival.”