Paracletus

For sure..had friends come out from the UK worrying about all sorts of things. The look on their faces when buying pork products for breakfast..priceless. It's far from being either as grim as some people try to paint it, or as amazing as others do. Anywhere can be as good or bad as you make it. And for all it's criticism, the gulf region is not a bad place to live for a westerner. Most things are accessible. Although I had a good time in Bahrain, I did find the overall place to be quite dull and boring. I am very much a fan of live music, and the middle east is certainly not the place to be..cover bands are not my thing. Most the bands I enjoy seeing live are probably banned in most muslim countries anyway. Even though I did go to a few local gigs with local bands, when the same line up is on every time they arranged events, it gets a bit tedious too. Probably one of the major factors which contributed to my decision to leave. I value life higher than my bank account.

I even know a guy who declined a position in Doha ($270 000) because he thought he would be murdered or kidnapped. He wouldn't listen to my arguements that Kabul and Doha were somewhat different, in his mind..'the middle east' was to be avoided at all costs in fear of his life.......