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.

Here is an interesting fact:

There is no such thing as cold water coming from your tap in the summertime here.
In fact it is almost scalding hot, as the water is pumped up to a storage container located on the top of the roofs!!

25 things i loved about my summer in the USA!!!!

1.playing cards with my Granny.  2.i liked going on a boat ride with my grandparents. 3.i liked going shopping with aunt Susie. Thanks aunt Susie!   4.i liked playing with my Cuz Jonna.  5.i liked watching Eclipce with Jonna.  6.i liked going to the Japanise steak house with my aunt Julia, uncle Terry,and cousin Justin!  7.i liked hanging out with Nancy and Nicky. 8.i liked seeing Dakota (my moms friend's son)   9.i liked seeing Dr. Braddock  (in st. Louis)  10. i liked going up the arch with Andrew.  11.i liked berry picking with grandmaw Clark.   12.going to the American Idol concert with my Mom for a 9th birthday surprise present!!! (Siobhan was my favorite!!) 13. going to camp Wyldewood in Arkansas and making friends with Sierra.  14.going to VBS with cousins and learning new songs.  15. i liked going to worlds of fun with cousins (i did not like the sea dragon):-(   16. i liked meeting Emma Aiden Ivy and Claire in Memphis.  17.i liked playing with Ashbie and Tomas in Raleigh /playing with Katie and Harper.  18.seeing Ian Colin and Ellie BBQ yum.   19.seeing Abby at grannys church.  20.the pool party at Chloe and Haleys house.  21.Virginia beach at the aquarium.  22.nature center with Judy i liked the bears.  23. watching Shrek 4 with aunt Julia and uncle Terry in 3D.  24.my dads arrival.   25.henna with Camilla and Jonna at Grannys house.

what is ramadan?

Ramadan is a special holiday of fasting and praising Alah (god). This year (2010) it goes from August 11th to september 9th. They wake up at 4:30am and eat a big breakfast called sahur. At about 5:10am as dawn breaks the first of 5 daily prayers fajr is offered (i dont know what fajr is )  They do this beacause it helps them realise how hungry people feel (and to praise Alah).  In many places around the world muslims will be looking at the sky at night and if there is a cresent moon in sight this will be a signal that it is ramadan.


SO HAPPY RAMADAN EVERYBODY!!!!!!!       (RAMADAN KARREEM)


written by Mira age 9

Early morning happiness

6:30am
Before it gets too hot, I can enjoy a big mug of coffee on our rooftop. It is the little things.

A different kind of beauty:

From this ----->

To this------->

From this -------->

To this------------->

And from this--------->

To this----------------->

I've been bloggin' in my mind a lot.

Now, to just get it written out!
I don't really know where to begin...
And I want it to be interesting reads---
Maybe some of you would like to propose questions to me or Mira & that will get the ball rolling & the writing to flow.


I guess I should start at the very beginning (a very good place to start!) .
We spent from May 2006 until June 2009 living in Dunedin, New Zealand while Rob worked on his PhD there at the Uni of Otago on the south island. NZ is amazingly beautiful & friendly & safe & childhood seems to last so much longer there & I could go on & on about all the pluses about living there! Before moving there, I had never left the USA, minus a spring break in Mexico with my oldest brother.  Never in my life did I think I would see as much of the world as I have thus far, and although remote & exotic, I haven't seen much still.


We missed family, sure. But it was a great experience for all of us.  Mira started school there just 2 months after arriving. In NZ you start school on your actual 5th birthday no matter when it falls in the year.  Camilla went to a wonderful kindy for about a year which she still talks about. And of course, our biggest souvenir from kiwi-land was our now almost 3 year old son, Noah!  Having a baby there was ideal.  I was able to have the birth I wanted (in the comfort of my home) with the best midwife around!


 About the time that Rob was finishing up his dissertation & getting ready to submit it ( & our funding would end, a big motivator for him to finish in just 3 years!) my Dad was getting very ill.  He had congestive heart failure & was deteriorating fast.  Rob had sent out many job applications all over the world, from Australia to South Africa, and all over the USA & in between! (about 30 in total)
 Lots of rejections which got him down, of course.  Who would've thought that the year he would be job-hunting the economy would plummet?!

One day in April he got a job offer!  "How do you feel about living in the Middle East?" he asked me.
"You applied  where??" (I can admit that I had no clue as to the location of Oman!)
 Well, if this is where the work is, then we will go...we decided together.  I remember telling my Dad the news on the phone during the few days Rob had to decide to give the Uni. of Nizwa here in Oman, a definite decision whether or not he would be coming to work as an English teacher by mid-August 2009.  He said TAKE IT.  Without any hesitation, TAKE IT.  I was fully prepared to hear him say how much he wished we were stateside & to hold out for any other offers that might come soon.  None did.


Our plan was to move to Oman from NZ in August but on June 4th I got word that hospice was coming in to help with my Dad's care.  I knew what that meant.  On June 6th we got tickets for our family of 5 to fly back to the USA so we could hopefully spend some time with him before he passed away, not knowing how much time he had left.  We gave away 3 years of belongings & packed 6 bags to take to the USA/Oman and got on a plane to Kansas City on the 10 June.  Clearing out a house in just 3 days and saying quick goodbyes to wonderful friends there was hard but...best decision ever!! Amazing friends (shout outs to RH & CS)  helped tie up the loose ends there in NZ.  These incredible ladies cleaned our house for us as we were renting & turned in keys, got our mail forwarded...etc.

We arrived in KC on the 10th still --yep, flew back in time, so surreal! And drove to Minnesota the very next morning.  We broke the trip up staying in Iowa for 1 night & when we arrived at my Dad's house on Friday the 12 June, that was the start of an unforgettable week.  My sisters were both there.  My oldest brother had just been there.  We got to talk to Dad.  Reminisce.  Let him know how much we loved him.  Say our goodbyes.
He died on the 19th .

We stayed in the USA visiting my family & Rob's family in NC until 15 August when we took off for our next adventure....OMAN!

And if you have read this far without falling asleep and want to hear anymore, I will continue with our story later today. Well, I will continue anyway! Am finding that I needed to start writing this all out a long time ago,  this is very therapeutic and healing for me.

why we moved to oman?

We lived in new zealand  for 3 years. I was in school  my sister camilla was in kindergarden and my brother noah was born there.

My dad wanted another job ( he finished his P.H.D )so he applyed for a lot of different jobs and he got 1 reply in oman so he took it but i really miss all of my friends. :-( New Zealand was beautiful! 

But i like it in oman too. Almost a year ago we moved to oman.

3 things i like about oman: 1.i like the way it smells. (the purfume) 2.i like going to the mall in muscat the capital.  3.i like going to work with daddy and getting atention  (beacause i dont get enough at home, haha) from the omani girls.

Written by Mira age 9

Our view

The view from our villa in Birkat Al Mouz, a small village in Nizwa, Oman.  Never seen more breathtakingly beautiful sunsets before!
~the Mom