In Bahrain, the working week starts on a Monday. But while living there, I still worked Monday-Friday. On Sundays, Muharraq souq was always empty. Friday or Saturday mornings, this scene would look very different. But mid-morning on a Sunday—empty (basically).

I say basically because you turn a corner and there’s absolute mayhem. Traffic. People haphazardly walking around. Smells and sounds you can’t make out.

But the souq—Muharraq souq—remains mostly quiet on Sunday mornings. Everyone is too busy starting their work week.