A different culture. A different way of life.

Ajouté : 2026-06-01

[00:00:03]Good morning.

[00:00:05]>> [snorts] >> Today is Friday.

[00:00:09]It is Friday the 29th of May.

[00:00:14]Yeah, I was um It's Elora, by the way. You know me now.

[00:00:20]I think you do.

[00:00:22]Um I was just thinking about a holiday that I had quite a few years ago, actually.

[00:00:31]And um I didn't enjoy it very much.

[00:00:37]But um I've been to a few places around the world.

[00:00:42]Um not many, not widely traveled.

[00:00:46]Um but my brother lived in Bahrain for a while.

[00:00:53]He eventually went to India for a long time. But anyway, he was living in Bahrain with his girlfriend.

[00:01:04]And um he invited me to go and visit.

[00:01:09]And I thought, "Ooh, now that will be interesting."

[00:01:15]Um a completely different part of the world, different different cultures, different just different.

[00:01:25]But um I've been to Moscow, and that was interesting.

[00:01:31]And I thought, "Yeah, Bahrain. Uh yeah, yeah, I think I'll go there."

[00:01:36]And uh so off I went to Bahrain. And uh I stayed with them in the apartment.

[00:01:45]Um and I thought, "This is going to be really interesting."

[00:01:50]And uh he was doing a bit of work, so he was available some of the time to show me around, but then I was left to my own devices while he went to work.

[00:02:05]And um and I thought, "Well, I like walking.

[00:02:09]I I could go out and walk around and look after myself as I do here in Great Britain."

[00:02:20]>> [clears throat] >> Excuse me.

[00:02:21]And um so I'll do the same in Bahrain. He lived at Manama, is it?

[00:02:28]I think that's a big place.

[00:02:30]To I thought, "Yeah, I'll go for a walk around." Oh, I wanted to look at um architecture. I wanted to look at the buildings. I wanted to feel like the atmosphere, the the vibes of Bahrain.

[00:02:46]What is it like? Doing a bit of investigation and taking some photographs.

[00:02:53]So, that's what happened and um I was there on my own some of the time um while he was at work. So, I would go walking around.

[00:03:05]Um to be honest, I did not know at the time what that meant for a white female to walk around in a country that was predominantly dark-skinned males. I did see a few women in there, but not many.

[00:03:27]But what I found was um people were people about I'm trying to choose my words here. People from another culture um gawping at me, shouting at me, pointing at me, uh ogling me, waving to me.

[00:03:49]Uh But, and I felt very uncomfortable. I have to say that.

[00:03:55]And I was out walking for 45 minutes to an hour.

[00:04:02]And I I had to give up.

[00:04:06]I had to go back to the flat, to the apartment.

[00:04:10]Because I felt so uncomfortable by all these strange men that didn't know me, I didn't know them.

[00:04:21]But, apparently, that is what happens.

[00:04:23]Because I was obviously standing out like a sore thumb.

[00:04:29]Um, and I realized I was not able to do over there what I am able to do here.

[00:04:38]Um, and and the freedom that I have here.

[00:04:43]Uh, I'm I don't I don't know much about how women who live there get on. Are they treated the same as I was?

[00:04:56]I don't know.

[00:04:57]But, anyway, the point I'm trying to say is I really didn't feel comfortable with all these people around me who were giving me lots of attention for all the wrong reasons.

[00:05:14]>> [clears throat] >> And um yeah, so um this is just my take on um people that come from the other side of the world. I shall remember that holiday. Um, I actually left early. Um, I left early because I didn't like the situation there. Um, and I got on an earlier flight. I rang the airport. Can I get on an earlier flight because I want to get back to England?

[00:05:46]Um so yes, um didn't seem my holiday out there to the end. I left early to come back. Um so, anyway, just my take on living with people that are not like me.

[00:06:03]Uh I didn't like it um at all.

[00:06:08]I felt out of place. I felt I felt awful. I I really did feel awful.

[00:06:16]I didn't like being stared at, gawked at, catcalled, waved at, uh you know, basically men trying to pick me up. It was horrible.

[00:06:28]Um it was going back a few years. I don't know if it's improved at all now, but but anyway, that is just me. I would rather be in my home country uh with people that I am familiar with and people that I can relate to.

[00:06:47]So, anyway, this is me, Queen.

[00:06:50]Thanks for popping in.

[00:06:52]Doo-da-peep.