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Chan'ad Bahraini

(Scomberomorous maculatus Bahrainius)

Note: This page has moved to a new address. Please click on the following URL to get there: http://chanad.weblogs.us/index.php?s=Mar7aba. Sorry for the trouble.

Mar7aba

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Hello, mar7aba, shlonak,

Chan'ad is the name of a species of fish found in the Arabian Gulf and elsewhere. It is small, silver in colour, and is a popular food in the local cuisine of Bahrain. I'll see if I can find a photo, or some detailed info later.[Update here]

Bahrain is an island state located in the Arabian Gulf (a.k.a Persian Gulf). It is about the size of Singapore, and has a population of roughly 600,000 (probably more). About ~~half~~ 35% of those people are expatriates, while the remaining are Bahraini citizens (I haven't checked the latest Census figures, but these are the numbers most often thrown around). More on Bahrain later.

I (a.k.a. Chan'ad Bahraini) am an "Asian" living in Bahrain. I have lived all of my life in Bahrain, except for my higher education years in the United States. After reading other great Bahrain blogs like Mahmood, and more recently, Letter from Bahrain, I thought I would also take the opportunity to document and comment on life in Bahrain, from the view of an "Asian" expatriate. Hopefully, some readers will also take the time to comment on my posts so that we can have dialogue also. These are interesting times in Bahrain these days and there's alot to talk about.

Until my next post, ilal liqa',
chan'ad

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at 4/29/2004 04:52:00 pm. Permalink

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5 Responses to 'Mar7aba'

Chanad says:
5/10/2004 10:16:00 am

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Anonymous says:
5/10/2004 10:17:00 am

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Chanad says:
5/15/2004 05:24:00 pm

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Anonymous says:
12/03/2004 08:04:00 am

I will never understand why asians are ashamed to actually mention what country they are from. Having lived two years in asia an indian and a cambodian are two different people. how come you dont say I am a _____ and proud what ever you, asian is a very blunt term for every country is differnet it is if you have no pride in your motherland.

Chanad says:
1/02/2005 10:25:00 pm

Anon,
There are a number of reasons why I chose to use the term "Asians" in this post.

1) When I started my blog I wanted to reveal as little as possible about my personal identity for reasons of security. I was absolutely paranoid as it would be the first time I would publicly express my opinion about the Bahraini government and politics. So I preferred to use the general term Asian rather than reveal my nationality. This was the main reason for using the term.

2) "Asian" is the term used in the local papers to describe individuals from Asia, rather than mention their specific nationalities. In the Bahraini press there are basically three different categories for residents: Bahraini/GCC, Westerner, or Asian. I was trying to allude to and highlight this ridiculous breakdown by using the blunt term (always in quotation marks, you may have noticed).

3) I do not really believe in blind nationalism. Just because I hold a certain passport, or was born in a certain place, is no reason for me to be proud... It is (in my humble opinion) just as stupid as proudly proclaiming to everyone that I have five fingers, or I have blond hair. I did nothing in either of these cases that warrants pride. I am not embarassed about my nationality, but neither do I feel the need to announce my nationality to everyone. That said, I do certainly hold an affinity to the cultures of my upbringing, that should be apparent in many of my posts.

I hope that answers your question!

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