Dunebashing with Amar aka Mr. Oman

     Perhaps one of the outstanding things in Omani culture is how easy it is to become good friends. Amar is a 23 year-old receptionist at hotel Husin al Khaleej and has recently become one good close friend. The first few days of our stay at the hotel the relationship started with a simple smile, a wave, and an “Es salamu alaykum” (the traditional Arabic greeting, meaning “Peace to you!”). During the first two weeks, I would go down and shoot the breeze and practice my Arabic with Amar. One thing I learned during those times is that Amar is a professional bodybuilder and has earned a good amount of awards for that. You wouldn’t be able to tell under his dishdashah (the Omani traditional white robe that men wear), but seeing picture proof on his phone assured me that he most certainly enjoys working out during his spare time. 

      Seeing Amar almost every day and enjoying each other’s company at random times was and is still great. Last week, he told me, “I want to be your friend.” I was thrilled - this Omani guy wanted to be friends. This past Thursday, Amar called me and asked if George and I wanted to go bowling with him. Of course! After playing a good game of bowling, he then invited George and I to go off-roading in his Toyota FJ Cruiser Friday. This was undoubtedly my favorite day here in Oman so far. We drove an hour west towards some sand dunes, where we and nine other off-road vehicles dunebashed for the next six hours. Dunebashing involves first deflating all four tires and then driving up and down large sand dunes at a reasonably fast speed. The evening culminated in forty shish kabob meat sticks on the beach, talking with Amar, his friend Maged, George, and I. Although I certainly am not fluent in this foreign language, a big smile and a firm handshake are easily understood in any culture.

Bikes

      The recent scoop here from Oman... 

Health is good. George and I have been going to the local hole-in-the-wall gym on a regular basis and we are seeing the results.

Abdullah, our shuttle ride from our hotel to CIL and back, continues to be a safe and reliable driver. Not only are his driving skills above par, but his hospitality in treating us to ginger tea several times a week is also praiseworthy.

      This is certainly a rigorous program, but I am learning the material quickly. In media class, we are learning a lot of court and law terminology, and in my personal facilitator time, we are studying cooking vocabulary. I think I am close to being capable of teaching a class on how to cook French toast and also understanding Judge Judy in Arabic.

What's missing here?

      Last Wednesday night George and I set off on a mission to purchase a couple of bikes. After a few hours of searching, we found a couple of cheap bikes from a nearby Pakistani shop. The owners were at first surprised that we wanted to buy bikes - in Omani culture, the majority of people who ride bikes are young children and ex-patriate workers. We decided to buy the bikes, but within the first 10 minutes of leaving the shop, the bikes began to fall apart. The first component to fall victim happened to be George’s pedal. We walked a mile back to the shop just as they were closing, and the owners tightened the pedal back on and made a few other minor adjustments. The next morning George and I set out on an adventure, heading straight for the beach. Over the course of the next six hours, we explored an oasis, spent an hour with some camel herders, and swam in the ocean. About four miles from home my pedal broke loose. Tired and hungry, we walked our bikes to the nearest gas station. While George concerned himself with satisfying his hunger pains with Snickers ice cream bars, I searched for a solution to our dilemma. Luckily, a Bedouin man came to our rescue. He was humbled that Americans would come all the way to Oman to learn Arabic, and he drove us to a nearby bike repair shop, where both the pedal and the gears were replaced. Since then, we have had other minor issues, but not worthy of mention here. Fortunately, everyone is willing to help us with our bike troubles. One lesson I have learned and will continue to learn as the weeks go on and our bikes sometimes prove unreliable: you pay for quality.

Nizwa

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Nizwa, the ancient capital of Oman and home of one of the more traditional animal markets. Here they bargain for cows, goats, camels.

Omani woman trying to sell her goat 

After the animal market, we went and explored Nizwa Fort. Back in ancient times, this fort was used to protect an oasis in Nizwa from the enemy. This oasis was so important that they built this fort to prevent the enemy from accessing it.

The main part of Nizwa Fort

Coolest part about the fort: this may be hard to see at first glance, but the wood in this next picture is the top part of a door, and the hole leads to the very top of the fort. If any intruder were to make it this far into the fort, soldiers at the top could pour scalding hot date syrup down this hole and severely burn them. Even if the enemy survived the burns, it'd be so embarrassing. Not only would they be burnt, they'd be sticky too...

Post office in Nizwa (check out those doors!) 

which slot to put a letter in?

This network of "aflazh" spreads the water from the oasis to all the fields and homes

The trip was great! We're planning to do some cool stuff tomorrow and Friday as well!

Fanja vs. Swik

Tuesday, 4th day of the week. One more day of class and we're off for the weekend. Weekends in the Middle East are on Thursday and Friday. Their Friday is actually equivalent to the American Sunday or the Jewish Sabbath. And you ask why. Just to be different? Well, Friday in Arabic is actually "el jumma," which literally means "to gather together." Most Arabic families get together for a big feast and all men and most women go to the mosque to pray the Friday prayer. Friday is the day the whole community gets together and worships Allah.

Yesterday George, a few other Americans, Abdullah our driver, and I went to see a soccer match between two Muscat clubs, Fanja and Swik. Abdullah is one of the members of the club Fanja, and though he doesn't play, he wanted us to join him in watching the match. By the end of the first half, we were not having such a fanja time. Our team was down 2-0... and I don't know whether or not they caught up, because we left before the end. One interesting thing about an Omani club soccer game is the fans in the stands with drums and other Middle Eastern musical instruments playing and cheering for their respective teams. Though the stadium was not even a quarter of the way full, it got loud. I guess you could say they were comparable to a high school marching band or a drum & bugle corps. But they're just fans. Plus they're louder. And they don't take any breaks. Definitely an interesting experience!
Oman plays Syria in soccer in early February, and George and I plan on going to that game too!

Classes

Done with the second day of the week! Classes started on Saturday, and consist of three classes and a personal facilitator session. George, the guy who I am doing a semester abroad with, and I are in the same classes. First class is a one-hour media class with a guy named Jaleel. You would think that in media class we would watch some movies and eat popcorn. No, not the case. Instead, we have been discussing various political and economic issues in the Middle East and we usually take an excerpt from the El-Watan, an Omani newspaper, translate it and discuss. Next is a one-hour grammar class with Ustadhah Kather.  She is a terrific teacher, and this may be my favorite class, because it’s more on my level, that is, the “Arabic for Dummies” level. Following grammar, we have conversation hour with Sultan. He’s a great guy, but he chooses the most unusual topics. Yesterday the topic was “magic and sorcery” and today “handicapped people.” Today, for example, we went around the room and shared about people we knew who are handicapped. It is good Arabic practice and we are learning plenty of new vocabulary. In the future, however, maybe we’ll talk about more practical subjects like travel and food. These three classes are entirely in Arabic, and I am learning quickly. We break for lunch and afterwards have two hours with a peer facilitator (PF) – an Omani in your age group to talk with and answer questions. My PF is a twenty-year old girl named El-Anud who is studying English literature at the University of Sultan Qaboos. She is one of ten kids, and she invited me to meet her family some weekend. One interesting fact is that she can’t call say that I’m her friend. I’m her colleague. For a woman to say a man is her friend, or vice versa, is not acceptable, because the title of friend has the connotation of a person who you can spend time with and do fun things with, and guys and gals cannot do that here.

The past couple days it has been a bit unusual talking with a foreign girl who has had an entirely different upbringing than you. We have already had two 2-hour conversations on topics ranging from Arabic culture to the military to dating and how much money a young man will have to pay her father in order to have the permission to get married.

Everything has been going splendid so far. As you can see, the Internet’s working fine. Although it’s not dial-up, we are becoming accustomed to the much slower connection status here at the hotel and at the Center. Sultan Qaboos’s government has placed many filters on questionable websites, but mesh Allah, the Chive still works like a charm!

Jet lag

If you travel overseas, jet lag will most always get you. Once I had thought I had adapted pretty quickly to Omani time, yesterday night got the best of me. I couldn’t sleep for most of the night. I started to get drowsy by 7am, so I made the rookie mistake of taking a short nap without setting my alarm and then waking up twelve hours later in time for a late dinner. So I stayed up all tonight, browsing the web and reading the book “Islam” by Karen Armstrong (very informative book!). Once I heard the 5:28 Fajr call to prayer, I knew this was going to be one long day.

When you live near several mosques, you get to hear a few of the imams calling out the prayer at the same time, which is pretty interesting. I opened the window to hear it better and look outside. Some may expect, as I once had, that people on the street would immediately lay out their mats, face Mecca, and start praying. But that’s not the case! I haven’t once seen a Muslim do this during the call to prayer. I’d imagine there are many devout Muslims who do go to the mosque at the appropriate times and pray, but what I have observed is that as long as you pray several times a day, you’re fine. For example, one of my Arabic teachers went into the bathroom before class and spent a few minutes praying there, and that was good enough. Stereotype about the Middle East busted!

The hotel we're living in for the next couple of weeks 

The view outside our window (just makes you want to go free running)

Well, the sun is beginning to rise here, so I’m going to have to buckle down and stay awake the rest of today!

The Grand Intro

Recently, I decided to start a blog of my semester abroad in Oman. I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting – my goal is every week or two, in order to better keep in touch and let others know how my education here is progressing.

Some have asked me why I decided to come to Oman. I was in Oman last summer for LSAP (language study abroad program) training for almost a month and enjoyed it very much. I would have liked to explore someplace new, but I’m already familiar with the layout of Muscat, the Arabic program here is excellent, and living with an Arabic-speaking Omani family is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I arrived by Swiss Air in Oman yesterday night. From door to door, the trip was around 24 hours. The trip was entirely uneventful… No long layovers, no delays, no lost luggage, and no beautiful Swiss girls to sit next to on the flight… kind of a downer.

It’s great to go to a different country – any country! – and observe a different culture. There are a lot of things that I, and you too, may take for granted. What do you picture when you think of a toilet? … … Most public toilets in Oman are holes in the ground. Sometimes you’re required to squat. No big deal, right? Yeah, now how about shooting a stream of H2O up your butt instead of your standard double-sided Angel Soft toilet paper? Now that’s another thing entirely.

I'm about to head out for an orientation and a tour of the city, so till next time!