Moving to Bahrain

expat1

I am thinking of moving to Bahrain. I am 22, single girl and wondering if anyone has any advice on moving over there? is it a good place to live, is it difficult to make friends? what is the social life like?

Any help would be great

c - 13

/Waves

Hey, I moved to Bahrain myself about 2 months ago. 24 year old guy.

Its not a bad spot. The food is cheap compared to home. Theres quite a lot of bars and clubs and the people are very friendly. Very safe place, once you get used to the driving.

The place tends to be manic on a Thursday night because people come over here from Saudi to go on the beer.

If you want specific information on anything ask away. It can be a real pain to find any information on Bahrain on the net, all the info seems to be about 2 years out of date.

expat1

Did you move over on your own... and did you have a network build up? is there clubs to join... or it is just go and hope for the best?

Are you working five or six days a week? Is it generally really long hours?

They are all the questions i can think of at the minute... if i defo move over... no doubt i will have a million more for you!!

thanks a million!

c - 13

Did you move over on your own... and did you have a network build up?

Moved over there with my company on my own. Didnt know anyone in the office or in general over here. Still dont know anyone in the office ...

is there clubs to join... or it is just go and hope for the best?

There are - Theres an Irish club (but I havent seen any activity from it), british club, welsh club, Dilmun Club (Expats mostly I think), Marina Club (Expensive) and then your regular gyms and stuff. I havent bothered with any except for the gym personally,

Are you working five or six days a week? Is it generally really long hours?

6 Days, Friday is the holy day here so thats my only day off. I do finish early on a thurs though. My working day is around 7.30 - 6 but thats obviously going to depend on who you work for.

They are all the questions i can think of at the minute... if i defo move over... no doubt i will have a million more for you!!

No worries at all keep firing them away there.

If you dont mind me asking will you be transferring with a company or looking for work when you get here ?

expat1

I am at final interview stage for a job... dont know if i am interested enough in it yet... its a long time and it seems to be working long hours and long days... and i like the craic... (well i know most ppl do!) but you know urself, i dont want to go, and realise i've made the biggest mistake ever!

so you have made friends over there... is there many irish?

c - 13

Theres a fair few Irish alright, I tend not to run into them much.

Theres 3 Irish bars here -
Fiddlers Green (Quiet)
JJ's (Busy, Mixed crowd)
Maguires (No one sems to know where it is)

I've only been out twice since i was here (my own fault) but I got talking with a load of people the nights I was out (and i'm generally shy/quiet). Heading out with a bunch of lads I met from Saudi Arabia this Thursday again.

The thursday and friday nights are the biggest party nights really, the other nights quieter.

On the plus side its one of the Gulf countries that does allow off licence sales (3 on this little island) so thats a definate bonus.

They love their ladies over here so ladies drink very cheaply or free most nights of the week which can help the craic here

On the working front of thing as i'm sure you already know there no tax to be paid over here, which is sweet. More money for going out !

Have a look at this page. Most of the bars and that are listed here plus events going on - might give you an idea of how the place is -

http://www.clickbahrain.com/clickbahrain_nightlife.asp

Bahrain is supposedly the second biggest party place in the gulf after Dubai.

expat1

If you had the choice would you do it again?!

I am not shy now, but i am very comfortable, take me out of my comfort zone of ireland and it could all go terribly wrong!! plus... drinking/ partying dont mix with early mornings!! the thought of just going out on my own just terrifies me! i just couldn't do it!!
anyways, you dont know to know about all my worries!!

thanks so much for the advice!

c - 13

expat1 wrote: »

If you had the choice would you do it again?!

I am not shy now, but i am very comfortable, take me out of my comfort zone of ireland and it could all go terribly wrong!! plus... drinking/ partying dont mix with early mornings!! the thought of just going out on my own just terrifies me! i just couldn't do it!!
anyways, you dont know to know about all my worries!!

thanks so much for the advice!

Yeah I think I would, but i'd make the effort to go out more than I have done. I would have made friends sooner.

To be honest except for the multiple nationalities in the bars theres not a whole lot of diffence from home really I think.

Music wise most places are house (Ministry of sound have nights over here on a semi regular basis), R&B or Rock/Metal (Local Bands).

Oh and almost eveyone over here has near perfect english, just for the record !

One thing other than the nightlife for you to seriously consider is the heat. At the moment its hitting about 40 celcius most days, obviously everywhere has air con but you still feel it a bit.

Its due to hit about 50 on hot days I hear. Its been mild recently because there were sandstorms for most of the month of June.

expat1

I lived abroad before in the middle east, so i am prepared for the heat (well as much as anyone can think they are before they feel it!)

My biggest worry is just being really lonely... i've a few friends that have moved and they are all struggling with that the most i think. But as you say, you just have to go out and make the effort at the start and it will pay off in the long run.

Cheers and no doubt if this does happen, i will be asking for advice on more important issues like accomadation and the likes!!

c - 13

Then you should be alright - the heat gets me fairly badly.

Lonliness only hit me once for about two days and that was it, but i'm quite a solitary person at times so I may not be the best person to ask about that.

So anyway in summary. Its not a bad spot, theres plenty of bars and clubs here (drinking and otherwise). Friendly locals. Its just about getting your arse in gear and going out really. Its probably not going to win awards for the nightlife but its not bad by my standards anyway.

If you do decide to go for it just make sure that you get your employer to factor in accom for you, thats the biggest expense out here.



And if you have any other questions feel free to PM or ask here.

ibh

Just thought i'd hijack this and ask what the situation is in Bahrain regarding unmarried couples being there?
I know in almost all the Middle east you can't get a visa with your GF and you can't live together.

Myself and the GF wanted to work in the Middle East for a year or 2 but this is what stops us.

c - 13

To be truthful i'm not 100% certain myself. I haven't had the girlfriend over myself yet and haven't looked into the implications of doing so.

The country in general is pretty liberal though, especially if you're a Westerner.

If I find anything out i'll let you know.

gaf1983

I lived just across the water in Qatar for a year, from 2006-2007. Social life was pretty good - if you're in anyway sporty there's loads to do in the Gulf, the climate really lends itself to it. The Doha Rugby Club ran touch rugby every Sunday night, and there was a GAA club which trained every Tuesday - there was a great social scene attached to both of those. We actually travelled to Bahrain for a GAA tournament, earned a couple of caps for Qatar in the process, and JJ's was savage craic. Found Bahrain to be that bit greener than Qatar, also found the Bahrainis to be that bit friendlier than the Qataris. Massive generalisation I know.

Regarding the early starts, it was definitely a pain at the beginning, we were starting work at 7 and living a 45 minute drive from work so that took a while to get used to. However, nearly everybody over there has an early start so everyone's in the same boat, you get used to it. Although it could be fairly weird first thing on a Sunday morning, knowing that back home it was only 3 in the morning on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, the odd time I'd get a drunken phone call from friends back home. The weekend being on a Friday and Saturday definitely took a while adjusting to.

Regarding the working week, I was lucky in that I was teaching so it was just a five day week. However among my friends in other jobs, 6 days or at least 5 and a half seemed to be the norm. However, generally if your putting in hours like that you'll be on a decent salary, which remember is tax-free.

I know in Qatar there were always various high-profile events passing through, such as a top-class tennis tournament, golf, motorcycling race, etc. Bahrain has the F1 Grand Prix, and I'm sure it has plenty of other events. The Gulf Region is also a great launching pad for travelling to other places - we got to India, Turkey, Oman and Egypt, had great times in them all, while friends went to Jordan, skiing in Iran (and Dubai - but that's different), Sri Lanka and Nepal - all for fairly cheap prices. Check out airarabia.com - they would be the closest equivalent to Ryanair.

IBH, regarding your question about unmarried couples not living together: that was definitely the law in Qatar. However, our accomodation was provided to us by our employer. The management, who were Lebanese, were fairly relaxed about that rule, in that they completely turned a blind eye to it - like two of my friends were engaged at the time (since married) - they were just down on the books as living in different apartments, even though they had shared the same apartment for three years. I knew other people who were working for Western companies in the Gulf and again living together as an unmarried couple was fine with their companies. However, I did know one guy who got a job with a State body - however if he wanted to take it up he would have had to marry his long-term girlfriend - this didn't happen, so they have since moved back to Ireland.

Best of luck with your decision.

ibh

gaf1983 wrote: »

IBH, regarding your question about unmarried couples not living together: that was definitely the law in Qatar. However, our accomodation was provided to us by our employer. The management, who were Lebanese, were fairly relaxed about that rule, in that they completely turned a blind eye to it - like two of my friends were engaged at the time (since married) - they were just down on the books as living in different apartments, even though they had shared the same apartment for three years. I knew other people who were working for Western companies in the Gulf and again living together as an unmarried couple was fine with their companies. However, I did know one guy who got a job with a State body - however if he wanted to take it up he would have had to marry his long-term girlfriend - this didn't happen, so they have since moved back to Ireland.

Best of luck with your decision.

Cheers for that. I was hoping that people would just look the other way and ignore it. G'friend works for a huge company as well so we would both be going out there 'seperately' but would be living in the same building.. Have to look into it more anyway. Work in Engineering and there is quite a demand for that so hopefully it'll be an option for a few years to come.

Was there any necessity to learn Arabic??

gaf1983

Arabic doesn't seem to be a necessity in the Gulf (though it could be for some jobs, I suppose if you had to deal with the public a lot), nearly everyone speaks English, and all the signs are printed in English too. There is such a huge foreign population in the Gulf states that English is a common language for many people anyway. However, if you do learn a couple of phrases they would be appreciated. Might be easier to concentrate on the spoken language rather than touching the written stuff with a barge pole for a while.

What field of engineering are you in? I know that Mercury and Kentz, two Irish construction engineering firms, had a big presence in Qatar, I think Kentz do in UAE too.

ibh

gaf1983 wrote: »

Arabic doesn't seem to be a necessity in the Gulf (though it could be for some jobs, I suppose if you had to deal with the public a lot), nearly everyone speaks English, and all the signs are printed in English too. There is such a huge foreign population in the Gulf states that English is a common language for many people anyway. However, if you do learn a couple of phrases they would be appreciated. Might be easier to concentrate on the spoken language rather than touching the written stuff with a barge pole for a while.

What field of engineering are you in? I know that Mercury and Kentz, two Irish construction engineering firms, had a big presence in Qatar, I think Kentz do in UAE too.

Yea I work in Building Services Engineering. The company I work for does a lot of work in the Middle East so should be able to wrangle a move at some stage.
Don't think i'd be capable of learning much more than the odd phrase in Arabic.

Cheers for the info. I'll revisit this thread at a later date to see any other info people add..

just me 89

Hi Guys I have a question about Bahrain:

I have been offered 1400BD a month - is that enough to live on well?

Also I am a single guy moving over and |I am bit worried about meeting local girls? How does it work there as I have heard some unusual stories and what are the girls there like?

just me 89

I'm 27 by the way. haha

Tom Dunne

just me 89 wrote: »

Hi Guys I have a question about Bahrain:

I have been offered 1400BD a month - is that enough to live on well?

1400 BD is approx 2600 Euro.

Does that include accommodation? Accommodation is expensive here. A typical one-bed apartment is around 600-700 BD a month.

You could live on 1400 a month, if you don't have to take accommodation out of it. Food is generally cheap (both supermarkets and dining out), but like most countries, all price ranges are catered for. Drink prices in pubs are slightly cheaper than Dublin, nightclubs are much more expensive.

just me 89 wrote: »

Also I am a single guy moving over and |I am bit worried about meeting local girls? How does it work there as I have heard some unusual stories and what are the girls there like?

Some of the Irish single lads here are not having too much luck . There are way more males than females, I am told, and even at that, a lot of the females you will bump into are expats, not locals.

just me 89

That is great! Thank you very much! The 1400 does not include accommadation so it seems like the salary is way too low!

Tom Dunne

just me 89 wrote: »

That is great! Thank you very much! The 1400 does not include accommadation so it seems like the salary is way too low!

It certainly does.

Do you mind me asking what type of job it is?

Also, be aware that the vast majority (if not all) jobs for expats do include accommodation, so it sounds a little unusual that your job does not.

just me 89

No problem at all,

It is an Audit manager role with one of the big four.

oxygenman

Hiya,

Do Mercury or Kentz just employ engineers or do they employ tradesmen directly?. Only asking cos I never seem to hear of Irish tradesmen working out there anymore.

Thanks

Tom Dunne

oxygenman wrote: »

Hiya,

Do Mercury or Kentz just employ engineers or do they employ tradesmen directly?. Only asking cos I never seem to hear of Irish tradesmen working out there anymore.

Thanks

You won't get any Western tradesmen out here because for the cost of one, you could get around 20 Indian/Nepalese/Pakisatni workers. A friend of mine is a plumber and he has been searching for the past 6 months for a job, not even a sniff of one.

Just to give you an example, one of the lads purchased break pads, oil, filter, etc. for his car and went to a garage to get them fitted. It cost him around 12 Euro for labour alone, and that was with around 6 or 7 guys working on it. So manual labour is quite cheap here.

oxygenman

Hi Tom,

Thanks for that, I'm a plumber myself (industrial one), sounds like we haven't got a chance, not if labour is that cheap anyway. Is the standard of local tradesmen good?

Tom Dunne

oxygenman wrote: »

Is the standard of local tradesmen good?

Nope, it's abysmal.

I'm no tradesman myself, but I've seen a few things that would make you take a step back and go WTF? For example, in my apartment, the sockets in the kitchen are actually an extension lead nailed to the wall (and this is a pretty decent 3-bed apartment, btw).

I would seriously say to any tradesman considering the Middle East to forget about it an look further afield, you just won't compete with the local labour supply here.

oxygenman

Hi tom,

:eek: sounds pretty shoddy, just been on Mercury's site and they have a job in a place called Doha, Qatar. Chances are so that all local labour will be used on it, even though they are an irish company. A pity!!!

JGo83

ibh wrote: »

Just thought i'd hijack this and ask what the situation is in Bahrain regarding unmarried couples being there?
I know in almost all the Middle east you can't get a visa with your GF and you can't live together.

Myself and the GF wanted to work in the Middle East for a year or 2 but this is what stops us.

I'm going to take the boards back a couple of years, and add an extra layer of complication to ibh's query from 2008.

My boyfriend is moving out to Bahrain at the end of next month, and I'm thinking of going with him. However, not only are we unmarried, but he's Muslim, and we're worried that this is going to create problems.

We're both British passport holders (I'm Northern Irish) but he's originally Malaysian - thus not an obvious pale Westerner like me.

I know that if we're not married, I would have to go on my own sponsored visa, but there's not even any point in me looking for a job (which is a whole other dilemma!) if we can't live together. Perhaps, if I had my own housing allowance, I could have my own apartment...that's another possibility, right now I would hope to live with him.

Has anyone who is living/has lived in Bahrain have any idea about this?

Ta muchly in advance.