Hello!
So for the past couple weekends, I have been lucky enough to find myself at the beach on Friday :) How about that! Going to the beach in October, the end of the month even. Two weeks ago, I went with a group of teachers and it was the first time I have swam at a beach, in salt water, since my freshman year of college. We went to one of the public beaches called Al Jazayir, and although it is only a 20-25 minute drive, we cover two-thirds of the island. That is so amazing to me! Typically I stay in a little bubble in Juffair and Adliya (a neighborhood close by) so when I actually have to drive for a bit it is fun! Also, knowing that if I were to drive for 15 more minutes and I would be at the end of the island, it truly reminds me how small Bahrain is!
Below you can see where the beach is on the map. Just look towards the little hump on the bottom half on the left side :)
As for the beach, it was a perfect day. It was in the high 80s to low 90s and there was a slight breeze. We left around 1030am and came home around 1pm. This was perfect to me because it was enough time to soak in the rays and swim yet, I didn't lose my whole day.
To me, the weirdest thing was swimming in salt water. I would forget there was salt in the water every time I dipped my head under; it made me laugh. One of the best things, I can float in salt water! I have never been able to float before but I can here. It is so relaxing because you can just lay back put your hands behind your head and relax, all while in the water. What I would do to have a water-proof book in that moment! Overall, the beaches are nice. There are about seven gazebos scattered along the beach so there are places you can find shade. The water is extremely clear too! Another adjustment to be made from the murky lake water I am accustomed to swimming in. There weren't too many fish while I was swimming. The fish I did see were no bigger than my hand and had a tan color with some brown. They blended in so well with the sand sometimes I wouldn't even see them. One interesting thing was how some of the fish would jump out of the water! I don't know why they would jump but they would jump out two to six times in a row, almost like a skidding rock. It was very nest to watch, especially when it was while everyone was swimming. One of the other teachers also found a crab shell in the sand. He picked it up and, being the Biology teacher I am, I held it and looked at it... and then kept the shell. It is just so hard to grasp the fact that I am on an island surrounded by salt water with marine and animal life that I am simply not used to. The crab had blue legs/claws and the body was red; it was simply fascinating.
The second time I went out to the beach, we organized a ladies day with seven other teachers. All met up around 11am and drove out to the beach with the car full of food and drinks. It was a really great time and definitely provided some memories. Just picture a bunch of ladies sitting around a grill that is propped up by rocks (because the stand is broken) trying to figure out how to light a grill... yup that was the beach day! It took us forever to start the charcoal and then, I don't think we had enough so the food took almost an hour to cook when it should have taken 20 minutes. The grill was hot so we knew the charcoal had not burned out... but, something was wrong, we just didn't know what. That's what happens when none of us have grilled on our own though! This time at the beach was a little more relaxing. I laid out in the sun and read Life of Pi, then I saw some and then I sat in a beach lounge chair and just watched the water and there was a breeze, it was so perfect and relaxing. I couldn't think of a better way to de-stress from the week than a day like that. I stood in the water for almost 45 minutes and just concentrated on the current and the movement of the water, the sun beating down on me and breeze blowing through my hair... it was so incredibly spiritual and peaceful, I have never had a moment like that and I hope that there are many more to come.
