Inside Bahrain via...Two citizens

'Mustafa is Bahraini. In the 1960’s his family moved to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, where he grew up. After living there for nearly 30 years, he decided he didn’t like the direction the country was headed nor how he perceived their people to be. In 1997 he gave up the big money fast moving Emirates and came back to Bahrain and started a small Lebanese pizza shop (Manaqeesh). He is the owner of one small restaurant with seating for 4 and earns just enough money to live. He works every day of the week directly behind the counter, in full thobe and ghutra (Traditional Gulf attire), and will treat you to one of the brightest and welcoming smiles.'

'Ali is a Turkish man who came to Bahrain a number of years back for employment. He found Bahrain through his future sponsor, a very prominent person in society. He took many favorable gifts, jobs and offers from his sponsor and had a good life for himself. He got married to an expat and had a young boy on the way. His exceedingly lazy, childish, apathetic, and often malignant nature soon shown and his life was as if a mirrored reflection.

He was working at a small Turkish grill restaurant when a beautiful young woman started eating there regularly. He, thinking she was cute, gave her free soup whenever she came. She thought he was nice and soon had her friend go talk to him on her behalf. A few months later Ali had plans to take a second wife.

Ali’s first wife was first brought to Bahrain for the sex trade industry. We can only guess how they met. What is for certain is that he isn’t the type of husband who demands that his wife stop working and stay at home. The money she earns in one of Bahrain’s least respected, most well-known industry is still enough to support herself, her husband, and her new baby boy. She has no reason to quit. Her home is nice, her life is quiet, and she has no reason to complain.

Unfortunately she was also completely left out of her husband’s decision to take a second wife. In fact, she had no idea he was getting married for a second time.

The second wife of Ali, Tess, is from the Philippines. She teaches at a local university and has a very stable life. Her only major misstep was to fall in love with a man who is still a child at heart, but a cruel careless man in spirit.

They flew together to the Philippines for the wedding, spent a lovely 3 weeks on the beach relaxing together, and then returned back to Bahrain. He spends the majority of his time with Tess. Since his first wife spends most nights of the week out working, she does not have any idea how he spends his.

Tess knew all along that he had a first wife. She knew all along that he had a child with his first wife. She still married him.

His childish ordeal recently ended when his second wife Tess, striken by jealousy and guilt, decided to end it all. She attempted suicide about a week ago.

She has made a full recovery and checked out of the hospital a few days after the incident.

I have no further information about them. I only grew to know of his personal situation the last day I spoke to him. All of the details above were gathered from a third party, a friend of a friend.