During the month of April, LEMS and NCHS teacher Izaak Mendoza traveled outside of the country to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain is located in the Persian Gulf and is compilation of thirty plus islands, according to Mendoza, Bahrain was “Once thought to be a historical spot for Eden and [is] now the financial capital of the Middle East region”.

Mendoza’s trip ran the length of April 8 through the 18 and was the results of the 2017 F1 Grand Prix Race where the Blue Knights, a group Mendoza was once a member of, performed for the opening ceremonies. 

Once back stateside, I had a chance to interview Mendoza on what he experienced in Bahrain, as currently the Middle East can be a tricky, albeit scary, traveling location for American’s. Mendoza, in comparison to Wyoming and the United States with Bahrain, said, “For example, although there are strict rules about women in mosques, how many cups of tea are allowed when first meeting, and the sacred prayer times throughout the day, they were very excited to show us that they had Pizza Hut, KFC, and Chili’s; the amount of Westernization that other countries go through act as a symbol of status for them, and they’re very eager to highlight that. Like American culture, the Bahraini population during the race week is a total melting pot of people from all over the world”. 

1. What was the reason for going; was this work related, religious, something for fun?

So aside from teaching at LEMS and the high school, I operate a series of twenty plus social media accounts as the Social Media Manager for Ascend Performing Arts, a non-profit whose mission is to “elevate life performance” through participation in performing arts groups. Ascend operates several world class competitive music ensembles, education clinics, events in the Rocky Mountain Region, and specialty entertainment, for example, the Denver Broncos Brass and Stampede Drumline heard at all the football games. 

I was part of an Ascend ensemble as part of my life’s dream to march competitive drum corps when I was in high school and college. I auditioned for the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps for six years before I was accepted into the corps and from there; I worked my way to become a percussion soloist and drum major/conductor for the corps in my final years. I “aged-out” of the corps (age restriction of 21) back in 2010 and in the past few years; I’ve been wanting to give back to the corps that taught me the most important life skills I’ve learned. I’ve been serving as Social Media Manager, Media Producer, and Video Editor for the corps and Ascend as a whole. 

The whole reason for the trip was because we were approached by Formula 1 racing and the Bahrain International Circuit raceway to perform at the 2017 F1 Grand Prix race’s opening ceremonies. They had seen a video of the Blue Knights on YouTube and were very interested in getting us over there to perform for the tens of thousands that travel to Bahrain each year for the race. 

It was the first time an American drum corps had ever been in the Middle East, the first time they’d seen rifles and flags tossed in the air, and definitely the first performance that a major marching group has ever done on a racetrack. 

2. What was a major highlight of your trip?

Two things -- first, getting to “go live” and showcase our trip to our audience back home. Not only did I reach the 50,000 plus followers that the Blue Knights have on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, but I was granted access to operate the social media of Drum Corps International, instead livestreaming to 500,000 plus people. The best comparison I can give is instead of having access to the Denver Broncos social media, I had total access to the whole NFL’s. 

Second, getting to showcase the marching arts to the Formula 1 racing culture, which is a huge deal. It really goes to show you how pursuing music as a side hobby in life can open up so many doors for you! 

3. Briefly, can you compare Bahrain to the Wyoming culture?

Well, when getting my Bachelor’s degree, one of my minors was in Cultural Anthropology, and I l love cross comparing cultures! Physically, you’re in a total desert environment, heat in the 100’s every day, dry, and you can only drink bottled water. It is a very conservative culture as a whole, so in that sense it resembles Wyoming culture. The people we interacted with were incredibly friendly and proud to host us, also proud to show us their culture—also resembling Wyoming culture. Though some aspects were the same, the vast majority of things are incredibly different. The language and writing was in Arabic, though there was a surprising amount that was still English, there are many social norms that you have to know before you go—doing things with your right hand that you do not do with your left, what’s socially allowed in public, PDA if in a relationship, and it is still a monarchy. And also to show the vast contrast, Wyoming is landlocked with little water, Bahrain is surrounded by water and is technically a collection of thirty-two islands, both natural and man-made. 

4. What about comparing to American culture in general?

When comparing American culture to Bahraini culture, it can be said that we are the poster child of “western culture” that other countries try to emulate to show their progressed and developed state of being. For example, although there are strict rules about women in mosques, how many cups of tea are allowed when first meeting, and the sacred prayer times throughout the day; they were very excited to show us that they had Pizza Hut, KFC, and Chili’s; the amount of Westernization that other countries go through act as a symbol of status for them, and they’re very eager to highlight that. Like American culture, the Bahraini population during the race week is a total melting pot of people from all over the world. I mean, the night before we performed, Enrique Iglesias was serenading a crowd of Bahraini police, people in full Arabic garb, people in short shorts, and from all different age ranges, followed by an American DJ that plays some pretty hardcore electronic music. For that race week, things were very accepting and open. It was definitely an interesting mix. 

5. The Middle East right now, depending on exactly where you go, can be a bit of a ‘no-travel’ for Americans, were you at all affected by this and if so, how did you prepare?

Exactly! Especially traveling with 110 people, uniforms, instruments, gear, and luggage, we were quite concerned with all of that. There was a time period where we were very worried we wouldn’t be able to bring our laptops and camera equipment on the plane with us. Luckily, everything worked out, visas came through, and no one in our party had any trouble returning to the United States. 

6. From what I hear, you are quite the tea connoisseur, did you get a chance to further your tea education level or even try teas that you haven’t?

I am indeed! I am a Certified Tea Specialist for the World Tea Academy, and have been working in the tea industry for about seven years now. Tea is the second most-consumed beverage in the world—behind water, and each culture has its own connection and tradition to tea. Arabic teas are very bold, black, and sweet. Often times, they’ll have milk in them or brewed with spices to make a chai. I was lucky on our last day of the trip to spend some time with some of our group at this place called Tea Club -- a very chic lounge that served as a tearoom. I enjoyed several pots of Arabic teas and taught some friends about teas of the region and helped them pick some out to bring back home! I find that sharing tea brings people together. It helps to open them up to communication, and through that, real discussions about world issues can be discussed in a good environment, where one day maybe I can help solve some world issues over a cup of tea.