Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Single Female English Teacher in Bahrain.

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Bahrain
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Hazel 2005



Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2009 3:42 pm    Post subject: Single Female English Teacher in Bahrain. Reply with quote

I am considering teaching in Bahrain. I am not so much looking for job advice but am more concerned with what life is like for a single Western woman in Bahrain. Are there opportunities to go out and socialize and meet other foreigners/expats? Are there any specific safety concerns that I should be aware of? I have read through this board and there just doesn't seem to be much information on this topic. Any experiences and/or advice would be welcome. Thank you!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, you are pondering work in the Gulf again I see. (apparently you decided against Kuwait a few years ago) I have never lived there, and we haven't had hardly any English teachers come on here to give us any information for... like... years. There are not a large number of jobs in tiny Bahrain, and those that work there don't come here to post, I guess.

So, I will just make a couple of sweeping generalizations about Bahrain and life in the Gulf for women. It is a small place and thus the number of Western expats will be small. By the end of the year, you will probably have met most of them. (good news/bad news kind of thing - actually a common situation in all of the Gulf) You mentioned in the past that your social life at your current position included the military - did you mean US military men? There is a presence there, but I'm not sure whether they are allowed to mingle much. They keep them on a short leash in these Gulf countries because they don't want any incidents involving booze or women.

I would say that it is a safe country in that there is little violent crime, but there are rumblings now and again from the local Shia population with demonstrations. Thus far, nothing has been directed at Western educators that we know of. Bahrain does a have a night life, BUT many of the spots are overrun by Saudis who cross over to indulge in the available... um... talent... and get soused. I expect that the local expats quickly learn which places to avoid at what times. Laughing

If you do get a job there, please come back and tell us the latest from the ground.

VS
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jdl



Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 632
Location: cyberspace

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

VS,

Don't forget the weekend KSA expat crowd! Another experience!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now you've done it!! I was going to let that be her big surprise. Cool

VS
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mouse5



Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 142

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:48 am    Post subject: weekend visitors Reply with quote

Sheikh Khalifa is considering make the island into an "alcohol-free" zone. Bars are already closing. That'll keep a lot of weekenders away.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Never Ceased To Be Amazed



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 3500
Location: Shhh...don't talk to me...I'm playin' dead...

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lotza sailors there (HQ of the U.S. 5th Fleet doncha know!). Security-wise, they had a significant bombing campaign back in the early 90's, but things have been calm for years...

If they lose their alcohol, IMHO, they lose their only real reason to exist.

NCTBA
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Neil McBeath



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2009 2:56 am    Post subject: Single female teacher in Bahrain Reply with quote

Things are not all that calm in Bahrain.

In April 2008 Molotov cocktails burned a policeman to death in his car in the village of Karzakan, and on the 1st of May 2009 a car exploded in Daih. The authorities are still investigating that one.

The Bahraining government, unfortunately, pinned its faith on developing banking and Formula One motor racing to develop the kingdom, and back in 2005 they looked as if they were on to winners. In 2009, banking is tarnished and motor sport is in a crisis, and all this adds fuel to the government's critics. They are mainly the religious parties, who would love to close the Manama bars and hotels. These places don't affect the average Bahraini, and they would not affect a woman who was living and working in education, but they attract the weekend hordes from KSA; and very nasty some of them are.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kaw



Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 302
Location: somewhere hot and sunny

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2009 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bahrain is as safe for women as anywhere really and there are chances to get out and meet people. Now, I know it's not the most exciting of places but it really isn't that bad. Similar to Kuwait in fact but without the booze.

Wonder which bars are closing - hopefully just the 'dodgy' ones of which there are many. The 'no booze' thing has been going on for ages now and it's unlikely it'll be got rid of completely as the country would lose too much money - yep back to those Saudi tourists and of course F1!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
balqis



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 373

PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2009 11:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

... except that Bahrain has a heart of Cordelia and Kuwait only Goneril's tongue...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Arabian Hawk



Joined: 12 Jul 2009
Posts: 79
Location: Mystical Kingdom

PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bahrain is the "perfect" destination for an ESL single female English teacher in the Gulf who most definitely will have no shortage of students to tutor in Mamana from across the causeway especially on weekends! Laughing Laughing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
7atetan



Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Posts: 93
Location: Not in the Mediterranean Sea

PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arabian Hawk wrote:
Bahrain is the "perfect" destination for an ESL single female English teacher in the Gulf who most definitely will have no shortage of students to tutor in Mamana from across the causeway especially on weekends! Laughing Laughing


*groan* Rolling Eyes

Yes, Bahrain is a Mecca (pun intended) for the oh-so pious Saudis to get up to everything forbidden in their "paradise" across the causeway, and there is no shortage of providers to, um, service them... - mostly female but by no means ONLY female. O.K., we get it. Is it really necessary to spam every thread in this forum with scurrilous innuendos to make that point? It was funny and clever the first couple of times; now it's neither.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have never heard any locals describe KSA as a "paradise". In their belief system that is somewhere not to be found in this world - but in the next.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
7atetan



Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Posts: 93
Location: Not in the Mediterranean Sea

PostPosted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="scot47"]I have never heard any locals describe KSA as a "paradise". In their belief system that is somewhere not to be found in this world - but in the next.[/quote]

You mean paradise is EVEN BETTER than Saudi!!? Jeezaloo, sign me up for a bungalow in hell post haste, then!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MOD edit
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Bahrain All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China