Who is Coming Here? Part 2

So, part two is the actual day of the visit.
The President had a few different places he needed to be over the whole 20 hours he was here. He was met by the King at the airport. After that the President went to one of the palaces for a ceremony where he received a medal from the King and they each gave a short speech. After that he went to the hotel for a meet and greet with the embassy staff and families. Then he had a "working" dinner with the King and each of their advisors. The next morning he went to the navy base to have breakfast with the troops, and then he was on his way.
For the palace ceremony the groups decided on "1 plus 30", which meant that there would be the President, plus 30 Americans, and the King, plus 30 Bahrainis. Most of the American delegation was taken up by people traveling with the President (Secretary Rice, the Chief of Staff, the Press Secretary, etc), but the balance was taken up by Embassy Staff. So, Steve and I were invited to come along for that. This meant we would not be able to make it back to the hotel for the "meet and greet", but that seemed okay because we would get to go to the ceremony and the palace.
So, everyone associated with the embassy that was not meeting the president at the airport met at the embassy and we took a bus to the palace, which was about 30 minutes outside of the city. The palace is a working palace, which means no one really lives there; they use it more as an office and a place for official functions.
It was really chilly and overcast that day, and we were going to eb outside for the ceremony - we were definitely glad we had our coats. The palace people led us past the area where the ceremony would be, which was this big outdoor courtyard. The chairs were set up on this raised patio overlooking a large stone area. We were led to a long, skinny room with a table down on side and a buffet at the other end. So, the embassy group was able to have a nice lunch before we were ushered outside to wait for the arrival of the President and King.
We were led to our chairs on the raised patio. Some of the Bahrainis were already arriving. We just chatted and waited for the people to arrive. A little before the time that the President was suppose to show up, the press corps arrived and began setting up. A little bit after that we heard the King's helicopter arrive, and then saw the President's motorcade drive up to the front of the palace. An honor guard played our national anthem and the Bahraini anthem, after which the King led the President to the raised area where we were all seated.
The President was awarded a medal from the King, and then both gave a speech. After the speeches, the King and President sat down, and in a large courtyard area a sword dance was performed for everyone. It was a few hundred men sort of walk dancing and chanting. There were a few dozen that carried swords and muskets and would swing them up and down to the chanting. The dancers kept on coming forward towards the raised area, at which point the King brought the President forward and gave him his sword so he could join in. So, the King and President swung the sword back and forth a few times. After that the dancers sort of moved back and danced away. During the dance, the audience was given the Arabic coffee, which was wonderful because it was so cold.
After the dance was over, the President and his staff headed over to the hotel, while the rest of us got back on the bus for the trip back to the embassy. It took us a while to get back to the embassy due to the jammed up traffic from the President's motorcade. After we picked up our car Steve and I headed over to the hotel to work.
Steve ended up working most of the night by helping the White House Gift Officer pick out gifts for all of the people involved in the visit. I ended up helping out around the hotel and at the control room for a little bit, and then I hung out in the bar with some of the other embassy staff, enjoying the fact that we were done!
So, all in all, it was quite an experience - it definitely kept me busy for a few weeks, which was nice, because I would have never seen Steve otherwise!