Eid photos: story to follow soon!

English Cafe'

Every fortnight the University of Nizwa hosts an event called the English Cafe'.

It is a time when students and faculty and others come together and only English is spoken there. It is a good opportunity for the students to practice their English.

They serve coffee and tea and put on some sort of a skit or show and a slideshow.  There are questions proposed and time for discussion.  Last nights topic was about friendship.

Before it began, I met the wife of another teacher here.  She is from NY & pregnant with their first child.  We had a good time talking about birth-n-babies.  That was fun for me, as I never tire of that topic.

The event takes place outside and there are tables & chairs set up.
The kids were able to run around & were totally safe.  There was only 1 other baby there.
The students love children!  They get heaps of attention on campus.  Our friend Conor said that if Rob & I ever wanted some child-free time, we could just drop our 3 off at the Uni & come back in....a week or so! We actually probably could & they would be perfectly safe & adored.

My girls have become good friends with several of the students and it was great getting to see them.
We sat at a table with Fatma.  Although Noah was mingling with a table of pretty girls most of the evening.

Camilla volunteered to help with an activity on stage.  She was adorable.
She had to stick her hand in a bucket of ice to try to find a 50 baisa coin. She came out with a very cold/wet hand but no coin.  After a lot of applause, they handed her a coin anyway.
Conor volunteered as well & he didn't get a coin either---but they didn't give him one.

We look forward to attending the next English cafe' in 2 weeks where the discussion will be environmental issues.  I hope littering is brought up.  It is out of hand here.  We need to start a campaign to clean up Oman!

Constant attention from the students

The lovely mosque on campus

Noah makes friends with Sayid (sp?), a Bedouin student.

Charming Noah...

Camilla on stage.

Conor entertaining the crowd.

Mira & Camilla with Fatma & Ahlam, special friends.

How this "toy" got placed in the kid's section of Khimji's Mart, I do not know!!!

LOL!!!

Um, this isn't Spencer's!!!

Wow, & ooooopppppssss!

People watchin' from the carpark

Noah fell asleep in the car on our way to Khimji's Mart (our local grocery store) so I stayed in the car with him while Rob took the girls in to do some shopping.

People watching in Nizwa is never dull. I can't help but constantly say to myself, "I live here!" It is just sooooo different.

 The majority of the traffic in & out is Omani men in dishdashas and Omani women in abayas;  usually quite a few children too.
There are many Indians & Pakistani too living in Nizwa.



So, the "whiteys" (totally being silly here saying that) really do stand out. Out of respect of the culture  & to avoid anymore attention than you already get, most white women wear modest clothing in public.  Arms covered, long skirts or pants...no head coverings but some do.  I have my standard uniform: an ankle length skirt & a light weight long sleeved shirt & sandals.

 As I am people watching I see a very out of place tourist.  She is wearing a tight red tank top with white bra straps hanging out.  Scandalous! Definitely not something you see here every day.
Didn't she read her Oman guide book prior to visiting here?!
Seriously, not cool around these parts but Westerners are often forgiven for their faux pas.


The car parked right next to me had an Omani lady & her very young, less than 1 yr old, child on her lap waiting for her husband to come out of the store.

She was loving on her son & kissing him & he was giggling (I could see this but not hear it) & then she made eye contact with me and could see that I was taking it all in, the beautiful interaction between her & her son.

We smiled at each other.  And the look we exchanged was nothing more than "awwwww, sweet baby".


  Then she had him blow kisses & wave at me & it was so precious. A Mother's love & pride...♥ universal...

What IS this???

 

A chicken? Some sort of a turkey??

It was just walking down the street at dusk yesterday---rather big too.

Frankincense: not just a gift for Jesus

I love how frankincense seems to clean the air.

We burn it frequently around here and I find myself craving the scent.

Coming from the Boswellia tree, Frankincense comes in many grades.  The highest quality to most Omanis is silver but most westerners feel that hojari smells better. This probably has something to do with the climate in which it is burnt.

We brought a lot of frankincense back to the USA to give to friends and family and I think the majority enjoyed it. Imagine me dividing it up from a large bag into many little baggies. It looks a bit dodgy.

A lot of people said it reminded them of church.  And for those that don't like incense anyway, this was probably way too strong for their liking.

Henna (by Mira)

 

Henna is a plant. It is a thick green paste that women wear to keep themselves cool in the summer.

Women can get it on their feet too.  You put on the green paste and let it dry for 1 hour until it is all light green and then you wash it off and it will be orange. the next day it will be a brownish redish color.

 Henna depends on the heat of your body. you know how the palm of your hand is always sweaty? well it will be brighter on your palm than any where else.

 written by Mira age 9

new henna that our nehbiors did for Camilla and me.

Sorry about the blog hiatus

A few reasons:
--Having fingernail problems due to a HUGE mistake of getting fake nails put on in the USA...this makes typing not a whole lot of fun. (never again...)
--I have been trying to think of something interesting to blog about.  I want to write about things that my readers want to read.  I hate being mundane or redundant so I have been brain storming. I can see why photo blogs are much easier for daily updates.  Too bad I am not a stellar photographer.
--I have been living life.  Trying to stay away from the computer more.  It is such a time sucker for me.  I need to learn moderation. 
--It is Eid holiday & Rob is off work for the week ( & I am giving the girls a break from school as well) so we have been enjoying more family time.

I will try to write something substantial soon but until then...while you are enjoying your many flavors of delicious ice cream, know that THIS ain't no Blue Bell!!!!

it is hard living in 3 countries at the same time

Last night my little sister Camilla was crying because she missed her kindergarten friends (in new zealand) and i was sad too because i missed my friend Olivia. I like seeing new places but i also miss my friends. We get to go places other kids don't get to go but it is hard because we have friends in Oman, the USA and New Zealand.

We wish everybody could be in  the same country.

Written by Mira age 9. 

Better audio of the call to prayer

It is a lovely, yet haunting sound.

How I awoke today

By SWEATING.
Lovely.
The power had gone out.  Not sure when & no reason why.  It heats up pretty quick around here & having no A/C is not much fun at all.
Fortunately it came back on within a couple hours just when I was about to lose my mind.
And it wasn't like we could take cold showers to cool off (see a post a few weeks ago re the hot tap water).
Current temp in Nizwa is 34 C or 93 F & it is not quite noon yet.
Gonna be another hot one!

Goats up to no good

The call to prayer

 

Not the loudest.  I will have to try again but maybe you can hear something...

Yes! I can sleep tonight (the conclusion to the spider story...)

Robert Simms, you're my hero!

I sure would like to see some more fat lizards right about now

Our washing machine is located outside in a little shed-like thingy. Which makes it handy for line drying.  And line drying rules, especially here...it takes about 5 seconds to dry a load of clothes!

I just went out to check on the load going & as I went to lift the handle up to open it, the BIGGEST and I do mean passport-sized (that is the closest thing in front of me to compare it to) spider crawled out.  I almost touched it!!!!   It was on top of the machine.  I jumped back & he was gooone.  Nimble & quick.  Aren't they supposed to be clumsy the bigger they are?!

So now, he is gone.  Where to?  Trying to find a way into our house?  Into my bed???

I told Rob via gmail chat & his response:
  i imagine he is probably emailing the same thing to his wife right now "you should have seen this human, she was huge, it freaked me out man! i'm not going back to the laundry machine, no friggin' way. Those humans are scary"

I wish I had gotten a photo. That was my 2nd thought. The 1st one being "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

No, that is not the ice cream truck

A small orange truck goes through our village almost daily.
The back is filled with cylinders of gas (for cooking).
A guy drives through honking his horn and if you need gas, you flag him down & he will deliver it to you.
We ran out of gas last week for the 1st time in almost 10 months & Rob actually found a number to ring for delivery.  But, as usual, he had to ring a different number & yet again 1 more.  Things always seem to happen after 3 tries.
When he spoke to the 3rd person, they were like "how did you get this number???"

:-)

Playtime in Birkat al Mouz

My girls are outside with a group of kids right now.
I snuck out on the roof & got a few pictures of them.
Mira said they usually play Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt or another game kind of like hot hands--you sit in a circle & put your hand in the hand of the person beside you, palms up.
You clap 1, 2, 3, and so on around the circle & when it gets to 10, the next person has to move their hand before you clap it. If not, they are out & the circle gets smaller.
No toys.  Well, other than rocks, sticks, dirt, and the occasional goat.

Behind the wheel

Driving here is a very scary experience.
I honestly fear the road.
Many factors attribute to this fear.
& since I am a list-lover, I will jot down in list form why driving in Oman scares the heck out of me!

1.  Excessive speeds.  Most everyone drives a minimum of 120 Km/hr (that is about 74 MPH). And this is not just on the motorway--this is in town, everywhere!

2.   Tail gating.  This is the worst!  Cars, especially taxis, love to get right behind you!  Someone here told me that apparently they think that is if or when you collide, the closer you are to the other car, the less damage.  Not sure about that theory.

3.  Horn beeping.  And once they are within feet of your bumper cruising at high speeds, they honk if they think you are going too slow.

4.  Passing.  After riding you & honking, they will then go around you...yes, on 2 lane curvy roads! Many times you see a car headed right at you in your lane.  Not much of a shoulder to get off onto either.

5.  Brake lights mean nothing.  If you don't want to be rear ended, you better use your hazard lights any time you slow down.

6.  Roaming goats.  With all of the above, you better watch out for animals crossing the road too.

7.  No child restraint laws.  Kids are bee-bopping all over inside the cars.  I see babies on the laps of the drivers and kids hanging onto dashboards-daily.  We get so many "what, are you crazy?!" stares while buckling in our 3 into carseats & boosters.

8.  Many, many deaths here that are related to auto accidents.  A weekly newspaper actually has a section of the reported number of collisions & deaths for that week alone.

So, each time we drive anywhere I say a prayer, buckle up & stay alert.

Heaven forbid I may have to sneeze!

Something I still can't get used to here.

The 1st day of the work week is Saturday.
So, the weekends are on Thursday & Friday.
(Wednesday is Friday & Monday is hump day...etc....)
Confusing!!!
Day 2 of our weekend right now.
It is always so nice to have Rob home. 

Dinner talk

 We take turns nightly on who gets to pick the topic of conversation while we have dinner.

Two nights ago Camilla picked FAMILIES.  We discussed different types of families, why family is important, how can we improve our family time...etc.  It sparked a lot of good ideas. Everyone agreed that we would enjoy games together much more than movies.  Camilla said that once the TV goes on, it is hard to turn it off.  Very true, my 5 year old.

Last night Mira chose "From church bells (in the USA) to the call to prayer (at the mosques here)". Pretty cool topic suggested from my 9 year old.  We asked how those things were alike and how they were different.  Mira said that they are both reminders to go worship God.

  Rob & I started a side conversation about the NYC ground zero/mosque controversy & Mira wanted us to explain.  We did.  We told her the facts.  We didn't allude to where we stood on the position, probably because we can see both sides to it.

We asked her what she thought about it all.
Her response really made sense to me.
She said that if it were up to her, she would make the mosque as close to Ground Zero as possible.  Why?  To remind Americans that not all Muslims are terrorists and that they just want a place to go to pray & to remind the Muslims of where a very bad thing happened & to never want to be that kind of Muslim.

I like the way she thinks.

I hope this post doesn't trigger any ill feelings.  I just wanted to share...

Temperatures don't seem to be as hot this summer in Nizwa

Todays high is 42 C or 107 F. and the low (after sunset) is 24 C or 75 F.
Not bad actually considering there is very little humidity.
I think it is hotter in Texas right now!
Last year I remember burning up when we got into the car.  We would take frozen bottles of water with us & they would be thawed out within minutes.

We are all in this together

Sometimes I genuinely like it here---even love it. (I will blog about that another time but for now, my uggghhhh post. Sorry in advance.)
But other times, I look outside at the bleak, dry, dusty, rocky environment & realize just how far away from home & family I really am & I get sad. 



I think after spending 3 months in the USA with a very active schedule to coming back here with not much to do, I am suffering from major holiday let down.
It was literally go-go-go in the states and the conveniences there are amazing.  Here, every day is much like the last and the next & I have slowed down to a crawl.

We cannot just run out & grab a jug of milk when we need one here.  Hours of stores are all different due to Ramadan and nothing is open later than 11pm. ever.

There is Muscat.  And it is only just over 1 hour away from here. 
We go there often & always look forward to eating at a familiar establishment, hanging out at Border's bookstore, going to the beach, taking in a movie, or doing a bit of shopping.

I hope that family will visit us here but I am realistic to know that Oman does not sound as appealing as New Zealand did. Oh well.
In the meantime, we will make the best of it.

We look forward to some of the other teachers to return from holiday.  It will be so good to have our ex-pat neighbours back.  We are all in this together and need to rely on each other for support when the surroundings have gotten us gloomy.

5 things that are different than in the USA

1.there is not much grass or trees. There are a lot of rocks and dust .

2. we always have goats on our street and skinny dumpster cats.

3. we can't drink water from the tap it has to be bottles of water.

4. we don't have Walmart or target or Old Navy or Justice but we do have the Gap, Borders, and chillies.

5. the smell of the omani women's perfume.because it is not the same perfume as in america,

Camel sighting

We saw about 20 camel off the side of the road this morning!

There were several babies.  Sooo cute!

I got a bit closer than I should have & the man that was herding them motioned for me to get away & yelled something that I didn't understand.

These shots aren't that great but still...

Something magical when we see camel!

Sunrises are equally beautiful

14 more things about my summer

1.getting to spend time with Great grandmaw Reba before she died on July 4th.  2. Pops chickens and gardening lawnmower rides.  3.seeing Benny and Caroline. ( thank you for the gifts, Caroline!!!!)  4.being with Jennifer and baby shambles and Andrea. 5.Oklahoma city reunion cousins there was a pool and a bouncy castle!!!!!!!!!!! (i miss Carly) 6.straitening Grannys hair.  7.giving aunt Susie a pedicure 8.getting to see Spencer dog!!! 9.seeing Lexi.  10.Lauri's shaving cream on the table.  11. making a crazy cake at granny's house.   12.the water park in Gatlinburg. 13.my b-day party at Chuky cheeses.  14.staying in a lot of hotels!!!!!!!!!

Tell me what our electricity bill is, ok?

I told Rob that the most recent bill came in.
He asked "How much was it?"
I just looked at him & we had a good laugh!

We arrived in Oman just over 1 year ago

I will never forget that rush of going somewhere new.

Getting off the plane in Muscat & being hit with the heat. My camera fogged up. Muscat can be humid. Nizwa, not so much--at all.

The smell in the air was a fragrance that still appeals to me--mostly frankincense and perfumes.

The men all in crisp white dishdashas and the women in black abayas that at first glance, all look alike.  Not so.  The details, the decorative jewels, the details of stitching...so very different & so beautiful.  And the hijabs that cover the hair of the women...definitely a way to show your fashion sense and character.  Many wear black but again with as much individuality represented as the woman wearing it.  Others wearing bright colours, floral prints, ---anything!  And the women that choose to cover their faces usually have heavily made up eyes that just pop out at you--stunning.

Going through customs and walking through the exit door of arrivals was a sea of brown faces (mostly Indian) eagerly awaiting friends and family.  We were the minority.  I would say I had never experienced this before, but that is not true, growing up in south central Los Angeles. 


The people we encountered from the visa line, in customs, and the drivers of the van taking us to our hotel in Nizwa (about 1.5 hrs away from the Muscat airport) were very helpful, polite, hospitable, and doting on our 3 children.  Children are adored here by everyone!  All children. 

.





We waited for just awhile outside of the airport before 2 men approached Rob and said "Doctor Robert?" Guess we were pretty easy to spot.  White family of 5 straight off the boat!  They helped us with our luggage and we piled into the van along with another guy from Jordan coming to teach at the University of Nizwa too.  The ride was at night time so it was hard to see our environment and surroundings but being at our destination, just being in Oman...amazing.  There was an Arab radio station playing.  Hearing the 2 men speaking to each other in Arabic and not knowing a word they were saying...so very surreal.
 Here we were, not knowing what to expect.  But ready to take it all in.

We were taken to the Al Diyar hotel where we stayed for 3 nights until our flat was ready to move into.

Al Diyar is a beautifully decorated hotel with a fantastic restaurant, which we still get take away from weekly.

We were greeted warmly and shown to our rooms.  Those 3 days are somewhat of a blur as we were getting over jet-lag and sleeping a lot.


We ate well. We swam a lot.  We discovered that we knew absolutely nothing about living here!  Getting things in order as far as making phone calls (international and local), figuring out how and where to have internet access, how to go about hiring a car, -- all part of the process of finding our way here.  They sound like easy enough things to get sorted, but not so.  Mind you, we are dealing with languages barriers constantly and although things do get done in time...that is the bottom line....in time.

In sha'allah.