8/5> I'm near Iran and the United Arab Emmerets (sp?)- (UAE). We are sailing> with a ship from Pakistan. When I was in Bahrain waiting for the ship at> the hotel with the 3 other people from my ship we stayed in the hotel and> went only to the Naval Base there because to the terror level. However,> when the ship pulled in for 5 days we went out in town to the mall with> other people and also saw "wedding crashers". It was funny because the> movie had Arabian and French subtitles-- thank goodness it as in English!> We also had a "rug flop" where all the officers from the ship were invited> to 2 Commanders that work at the Naval Base in Bahrain house. It was a> buffet dinner with native food, pool table, big screen tv... and also> people that sold rugs. They literally "flopped" out like 100+ rugs onto> the ground. Price ranges were from a reasonable 70 Dinar (about x 2.6 = US> money) to like 800 Dinar. like $140- $3,000. I bought 2 at a good price of> $220. We bargained with them it was fun. They were from India and Persia.> We also went to the "Gold Sook" where 22K gold was a good price but still> fairly expensive. Next stop we'll eventually be in West Africa after> transiting through the Med. So we had some time out in the town. Now not> too much free time. I stand watch 5 hours on the bridge driving the ship.> We have been boarding a lot of fishing vessels and searching them here in> the Persian Gulf area. I also have things I have to qualify in as well. I> have random tasks I'm in charge of like creating a spreadsheet of> everything for the entire deployment (#of apples eaten, # of ships> boarded). I don't have a division yet because the guy i'm relieving is> still here until oct. that is good so I can learn about how things work> and all.