June 20, 2012

Today was Linda's last day in Oman. She certainly had a great time, I really wish the rest of our family could have come. The heat isn't that bad, really nice for a person who is always cold. The times I'm in the heat it is just like a big sauna and I do like the sauna. Today was in the mid to high 40s. I took Linda to the airport and found my way without any problems. Thinking back to when I first arrived, I never imagined than I would be driving and actually finding my way around.

June 19, 2012

This evening the female elementary staff were invited to a dinner party at the house (palace) of one of the school administrators. Wow is all I can say, the house is huge, 3 stories I think, with so many sitting/rec rooms I lost count. They are all beautifully decorated with antique collectables and expensive things. We lost track of how many maids there were. We were all ushered into the first sitting room as we arrived but when that room was full we moved downstairs to a large room with built in seats/couches all along the walls. The guests were the Arabic staff and English ladies on staff. At school the Omani ladies are all covered with scarves and a black abaya.  We can only see their faces. Imagine the surprises we had to see the ladies dressed to the nines, in very flashy and fashionable clothing with their hair down, some were hard to recognize. Then they put on the music and the dancing started. Lots of hip movements and then out came the scarves, which they tie around their derriere to accentuate the hip movements when they dance. And can they ever dance. Then that meal was served, what a spread, the best I have had in a long time.  On the way out we were taking pictures of ourselves standing on their ‘Titanic’ stair case. 

Good friends

Beautiful house

Titanic Staircase

Outside entrance

June 17, 2012

look close and you will see all the nasty little crabs on the beach

The beach is covered with these large holes dug by the turtles

Hobbled camel crossing the road.

We started off Friday with a long breakfast at the hotel and then swimming and games in the pool. After soaking up the sun we left Sifa by water taxi. No dolphins this time just a nice ride to the marina where we picked up our car. Since we were passing by we stopped in at the Mutrah souq and did a bit of shopping.  Saturday morning we left for Sur and the Turtle Reserve at Raz Al Jinz. We drove up the mountain behind our apartment and through Amarat and down the coast road toward Sur. The sea on one side and the mountains on the other. Another scorching day but it cooled down when we reached Raz Al Jinz. We stayed overnight at the Sea Turtle Reserve, a place especially built by the government for research and to show visitors the turtles in a controlled manner. At 9:00 Saturday night we went to the beach with the guide, walked down in the dark and he showed us a huge turtle in the process of laying her eggs in the sand.  The female turtle comes ashore at night and with her flippers scoops out a large hole for her to lie in when she is laying her eggs. Then with her hind flippers, she scoops out an egg chamber and proceeds to lay about 100 eggs. When she is finished she covers the eggs with her back flippers first and as she moves forward she scoops up sand with her front flippers, and throws it over her back to cover the eggs behind her. She gradually moves ahead with the eggs behind her covered up.  When finished she climbs out of the hole, in front, she has made by covering the eggs, and leaving the eggs safely behind covered by about 3 feet of sand, she  drags herself down the beach into the surf and out to sea.  The beach is covered in exit pits and turtle tracks. The babies hatch about 2 months later and we saw two cute little ones on the way to the sea. It is a dangerous trip, they have to get past the foxes, sea birds and nasty little crabs half their size, which are running all over the beach.  Next morning at 4:00 AM we dragged ourselves out of bed to see it happen all over again and to take pictures this time. I am amazed at how many turtles came to the beach. This is one of the few beaches in the world where sea Green turtles nest all year round.  After it was over we flopped back in bed for a few more hours sleep and after breakfast we set off for Muscat this time taking the interior road leading to Muscat which is about 400 km.  We saw so very many goats and camels by the side of the road, they all roam free. And keep in mind all this is in 40 + Celsius.

Sink hole on the way to Sur

Ever present goats

At least this bunch were using the side walk

Mamma turtle

On the way back to the sea

June 14, 2012

This morning we met 6 friends for breakfast at the Marina and at 12:00 met the water taxi to take us to the Sifa Hotel. The hotel is situated about 40 minutes South of Muscat an a beautiful beach with a huge resort which is still under construction. The taxi ride was wonderful, for the driver spotted dolphins and pulled over so we could see them. Awesome, they were doing triple flips and lots of jumps for us.  The ride to the hotel gave us a view of the Muscat area coast, from the sea. Arrived at the sprawling complex and found our rooms all poolside and didn’t take long before we were all in the water. Later on we hitched a ride on a golf cart and went for a swim in the ocean. The hotel had a promotion where we got a special deal which included water taxi, supper and breakfast and a night at the hotel.  At 7:00  we went in for supper, it was a buffet and we took our time and finished at 10:30, an excellent meal.

Water taxi

Sifa Resort poolside

Dinner friends

June 14, 2012

Last day of school with children was yesterday, Wednesday. Teachers and students were overjoyed! It is getting so hot, but the boys still play football (soccer). Yesterday I watched them play for about 1 ½ hours and it was exactly like sitting in the sauna at home. Very hot and humid, dripping sweat and drinking lots of water.

Last night another dinner of farewell, at last assembly the principal announced the leaving teachers, I counted 23 and I sometimes more as the summer progresses. It is sad to see such a wonderful group of people scatter. I’m so very happy to have had the chance to work with them, they enriched my life.

A few days ago we arrived home to see this huge, candy apple red classic car parked out front. It has German lettering on it and looks like a car that would be in a war movie. It has a Florida sticker on it, must have come here by container and it is attracting a lot of attention.

Linda leaves the 20^th for her graduation in Vancouver, mechatronics/robotics. Wish I could be there to celebrate , it is quite an achievement.  I ordered my Vesey’s seeds, so I will be able to plant my mini garden when I get home.  Linda and I spent 2 hours in the Souq yesterday. It is a warren of little passageways, so much bigger than I thought. Will be going back several times before I go home.

June 8, 2012

Wednesday afternoon and evening we went to Majan beach as usual with a picnic lunch to share. The day had been very hot (40s) and humidity was about 87% which makes for an uncomfortable situation.  The beach was much cooler and the water was just about bath water temperature. One of our friends brought her three little girls to the beach and some of us were trying to help them learn to snorkel. We stayed in the water a long time and I was thinking about the cold water at home.  Thursday morning I was up early and finally figured out why my marks would not save on the school system. Finished entering them all and went back to the apartment and packed to go to Niswas.  Niswas is a town about 180 km inland from Muscat and there is an interesting fort and souq there.  We arrived in the afternoon and found a place to stay, at “Majan Guest House” and checked in.  We needed a bite to eat so we stopped at a restaurant. Looks like we were their first customers in a while. The waiter came and placed a clear plastic tablecloth where were sitting and set the table.  No menu, they asked us if we wanted chicken or meat. The  ½ chicken was BBQ with a salad and rice and it was very good. When he came to clear the table he picked up the four corners of the table cloth and lifted everything and took it all in one motion. We did some exploring and found the souq and some of the shops were open and then took a side trip to Lulu’s a large department store to pick up fruit for the ride home.

Next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and went to the goat market at the souq for about 7:30. People were parading their goats around the square to auction them off to the highest bidder. There were big goats, little goats, stubborn ones, tiny ones and multi coloured goats…. so many goats.  There were also cows and bulls with the big hump on their back, similar to the Brazilian cattle. Mature goats sell for about 45 Rials and a small one for about 30 Rials.  The people there were mostly men with a few Omani women dressed in Omani dress, some with their faces covered. Linda was dressed modestly, she thought, with pants just above her knee and a shawl over her shoulders, but it didn’t stop quite a few of the men/boys from accidentally patting her on the behind.

The souq sold fruit vegetables, meat, fish, dates, pottery, baskets, silver, guns, knives, spices, chickens, and many other meat birds as well as rabbits and pet birds. So much to see, I bought two palm frond baskets and a few other small items.  We arrived home about 12 and went out to eat with some friends and went to the beach for a swim in warm, warm water.

Pottery in Niswas

Our meal sitting on the plastic table cloth

Linda sitting in the courtyard

Birds for sale

Marveling as to how they can ride a bike wearing a disdasha.

Men at the goat market

Goat sold

Date sellers

Bought spices from this fellow

Bought 2 of these baskets

Yes it is a gun, they sell them at the souq.

Bump back bull.

Where we stayed.

June 4, 2012

Yesterday started with a big bang. I was going to do an experiment in school and I needed 3 hard-boiled eggs. When I turned on the stove about 6 in the morning I discovered my gas had run out. Since I wanted the eggs, I thought, I’ll use the microwave to cook them. I put them in a bowl half full of water and set it for 5, then I added 3 three more minutes…..just to be sure they were hard boiled.  Kaboom!! The explosion blew open the door of the microwave and splattered egg pieces everywhere, cupboards, wall, floor and some on me. I’m still scraping egg pieces of the walls…….and the microwave doesn’t work.

It was very hot and humid today which made it extra hot. We had supper at a friend’s apartment and later Linda and one of the teachers went dune bashing on quads they rented at the dunes near our apartment. It was very hot but they had fun.  Counting down the days, can’t wait to feel the coolness of home.

June 2, 2012

On Friday we took a drive to Barka and took a drive up the Rustag which is situated on a loop road. The terrain was scrubby bushes and rocky land. As we drove in the traffic we were meeting were flashing their lights at us, I assumed it was police as it is at home, so I slowed down. We soon saw the reason for the flashed messages, a group of camels were sauntering across the road. Linda was so excited her first wild camel shot since Egypt.  We continued on to an impressive old fort in Nakhal. We were two of five visitors hardy visitors at the fort, the only ones braving the sauna like conditions. We passed other forts but we preferred to stay in the car and be cool. We returned home in time to go back to the beach for more swimming in the most wonderfully warm water. We stayed late again and ordered pizza and enjoyed it sitting in the sand. 

Inside the fort

Linda and I

Linda at fort

Fort

Fort from a distance

Sheep or goats??  They must be goats, same eating preferences.

Coral

Same all over the world, people love jumping in the water.

The boys in red on the construction site on the dune by our apartment.

June 1, 2012

Linda is catching up on her sleep and doing well with her jet lag. She crashed about 7:00 on Tuesday evening after a short drive around Muscat. Wednesday is our usual beach evening so after school we went to Majan Beach. We ate a shared supper with friends on the beach and she went snorkelling and saw 2 sea turtles and the usual variety of reef fish. After dark she was able to see the phosphorescence in the ocean which looks like green sparks in the water. By the time we went home at 10:30 she was extremely tired and went straight to bed. Thursday (my Saturday) morning we were up early to see the fish market in Mutrah. She was able to see the variety of fish and get some pictures. We went for breakfast at the Marina and by that time it was hitting up in the 40s. We went to the Mutrah Sook and spent time buying a few things and looking at the shops. It is a large sprawling complex made up of many small shops all crowed together in winding alleyways under the sook roof. It is very large and we only saw a fraction of it. It is the same idea as the large sook in Egypt, with the vendors trying to lure you in to buy and expecting you to bargain. The temperature was so high, most of the morning was similar to a sauna. We had to drink lots of water and wipe our faces and our clothes were soaked. That evening  we went to  a very nice farewell party at the Dolphin Club, it’s the season of good byes for expats, for they are a very transient population, always someone leaving. Linda was fading fast so we came home a bit early.

Near Sultan's Palace

Near Mutrah

Small fishing village

Mutrah Sook

So many scarves

And accessories

Ceiling window

A sauna day

Linda at the Dolphin Club