Gathering info on Bahrain in anticipation of a move

My comments are in red below, I have tried to address and answer what I can. Hope this helps you somewhat....I am sure others will be able to help you more

Hugh_Lohr wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I'm a brand new US attorney and I was hired in-house to become the EMEA specialist for a US company, with the goal to relocate me to Bahrain within the next 15 months.
As such, I have a lot of questions regarding this move.

But first a little bit about me:
As I said earlier, I am a brand new attorney.
I graduated from a small US law school with a JD.
However I'm not a traditional student, I immigrated to the U.S. 4 years ago and before that I had graduated from an LLM and LLB from 2 French universities.
I'm married to a lovely nurse, and am now a US citizen as well.
We have no kids and no plans to spawn anytime soon

As I wrote earlier, I was hired by a mid-size U.S. engineering company (not petroleum though) to be their EMEA specialist because of my civil law background and international experience: I've worked in France, India and the U.S.
The company I joined has a pretty decent international presence, but unfortunately they have nearly no experience expatriating Americans, as they generally import talent.
I would like to gain a bit more info on what to recommend to my employer

As a result, I am wondering how things will be over there, for myself and my wife.
I would like to have your opinion about certain things. At the moment I am trying to figure out the following:


1 -- Life:
- How is the cultural life over there?
We are currently living in the inland northwest, and as such it is pretty much a cultural desert compared to what I grew up with in France. Going to a larger city I'm hoping it will be a bit better regarding museums, operas/theater, etc...

- How is the day to day life compared to a large US/European city?
There is plenty here but then Bahrain is a tiny Island so you may run out of things to do, but, hop over to Doha or Oman/UAE/Jordan etc and you can experience more of the Arab culture

- How is it for women over there?
I know this is kind of broad, but what I am wondering is that if yourself, or your wife had to change much of her routine when you moved, and if so, what changed.

- Does your spouse works over there?
I am a woman and I work, for a woman life here is fine, probably the biggest thing to change or keep in mind is to be respectful of the religion and culture here, so women not to go out and about in skimpy outfits bearing too much flesh etc. As a woman she will not be required to cover up in any way and western clothes are perfectly acceptable. Women are free to drive, work and do as they please.

- How did you and your spouse adapt to the new environment over there and how fast?
My husband and I have lived in the region previously so adjusting was not an issue, once you find a home and set up, make some friends you will probably settle in quite quickly, however it depends how flexible you are to change and accepting of local customs / oddities etc

- How is public transportation? Is it efficient at all, or do you rely mostly on your own car?
We own a car, public transport is improving but in no way would I rely on it. You can rent a car quite easily so you don't need to buy if you want your own car, but cars and petrol are extremely cheap so your car repayments can be the same as the car rental for the month, so if it seems you will be in town for the long haul it may be worth just buying your own car.

- Hobby-wise, what do you do over there after you've visited the town?
What kind of activities does the town offer?
How expensive do you feel hobbies are compared to where you come from?
Plenty to do - check out Time Out Bahrain. There are private clubs that you can join that have sporting activities/gyms/pools etc as well as events. I cannot give you prices but if you go to websites the joining fees and what is on offer will be there. Some clubs are the Rugby Club, British Club, Dilmun Club, Country Club.
I pretty much work and then come home so cannot really help you more with this one.

- How is the international community? Do you mostly hang out with people from you own country, or is it a mix? What are your relations with the locals?
Lots of expats both from Arab and Non Arab countries. Who you hang out with depends on you and what you like to do and what kind of people you find doing those things too. Bahraini people are very friendly though and happy to welcome you into their homes. I am a bit of a homebody so being overly "social" is not my thing but we have a mix of friends from all over the world and local.


2 -- Cost:
- How is the cost of accommodation compared to a US (or a French) city? [or any western part of the world you have lived in]
Check out bahrain property world, it should give you an idea of what you can get for a comparable price.

- How is the cost of food?
I mean how much do you spend eating in for your and your couple/family on average every months?
We shop and in about BD50 - BD80 manage to stock up enough for a few months, however we only really have 1 meal a day. Shop at more local stores and get local brands it will be cheaper than if you shop at the more expensive supermarkets and stick to imported brands

- How expensive are most of the local restaurants on average?
Ranges from v cheap to v expensive - Time out will list the restaurants and the av costs $ - $$$

-How is inflation? I heard that accommodation especially can increase or decrease significantly from a year to another.
No idea

3 -- Expat' package
I have read some info about people that posted what their proposed package was on this forum. But the issue is that I can hardly find any information regarding what would be acceptable for someone in my position: in house, from the US, and well under 30 yo.

Currently between my wife and myself, we make close 140k USD before tax (she makes more), and we're taxed at approx' 25%). But our cost of living, counting EVERYTHING you can think of, is only around 30/35k per year.
As such, we can save a lot, and knock down our student loans very fast.
Unfortunately she may not be able to work in Bahrain for various reasons, and I would then be the only breadwinner.

- I wonder what is the expectable salary for in-house lawyer over there?
Any idea what it is for lawyers with 1 to 2 years of experience?

- What kind of benefits does your employer provides you for you and your family:
-- housing?
-- spousal allowance?
-- car/fuel ?
do we actually need a car? I mean, Bahrain is 1/3 of the size of the county I live in !
-- flights home?
-- Any other?
-- How often are your expat benefits updated?
I have heard inflation runs amok over there, especially for housing.

All I can say most expat packages include your base salary, housing or an accommodation allowance, annual flights home ....car may be optional depending on company and work. You may get free schooling for 1 or 2 children as well.

I'll be very grateful for any info anyone could give me on these topics!
Thanks a lot, and Best regards!

- HL

Dear Ocfemjc,

thank you very much the infos you gave me.
It's very reassuring that as a woman you didn't feel it was to difficult to adapt, and that friends are aplenty.
I still am a bit concerned for my wife. She's just unexperienced in changing environment as drastic as this is.
Driving will suck too, she hates city driving, so city driving without the rules (as it apparently isin Bahrain) will suck twice as bad haha!

I see that quite a few things will be more expensive than in our dear inland northwestern US.
Interestingly enough food it seems will be nearly three times as much as what we spend in the U.S. ! And we eat-in 3 times a day, 95% of the time!
Rent will also be a killer... but it's a big city in the Middle East.
Can you confirm that rent does not fluctuate too much from year to year though? or is it the case lie in Dubai.

thanks again for all these info!

Best !

- HL

I don't think it fluctuates too much. Maybe the highly trendy more expensive areas but by and large I think it's not too bad and pretty stable. You can haggle rents down too!!!

I am sure once your wife finds friends she'll be ok. Maybe Juffair is a good place for you to live as its close to the naval base so lots of Americans around. May make her feel more at home. Also lots of familiar food chains and things in walking distance.

Uber is available in Bahrain so if she doesn't drive or want to try then thus is cheaper than regular metered taxis here and really good during normal hours. 3am not so much!

Your company should give you accommodation or an allowance for it so rent shouldn't be too bad. I have to top mine off with a bit extra to rent what we live in however if I didn't have my pets my accommodation allowance would've sufficed for a decent 2 bedroom apartment.