Stateside Spree

Brian is right, I was gallivanting around the globe recently, but it was not all fun and games.  For starters, I flew to NY on Tuesday, after already working Sat-Mon in Oman to finish out the US work week (Wed -Fri).  After spending the weekend in NYC with a couple friends, I worked a few more days in NY, then took a 2-day jaunt to see my family in Texas.  I just couldn't fly 20 hours to the US and not fly a few more to see my family.  It was a lot of flying, but worth the trip and it was a productive work week. But, let’s talk about the fun stuff.

After working several days in White Plains, NY, I met two girlfriends in NYC where we mainly walked around and people watched (best done over a cold, delicious beverage).  The people watching in NYC is fascinating. For example, where else can you find a 65 year-old woman with huge blonde hair in a black bikini and high heel boots standing in the street with a guitar and charging $2 to take a picture with her (except Vegas)? She said, and I quote, “It took me a long time to find a career I really enjoy and that I am good at.” This made me laugh, but some quick math indicates this little lady probably makes a good living. Let’s just take a typical Saturday for example. People were lined up to take pictures with her – she at least had 60+ pictures taken of her in an hour. That makes - ($2/picture x 60 pictures/hour x 6 hours/day) = $720. If she only works Saturdays, that’s ~$37,000 per year. Not too shabs….

We also saw a show on Saturday night – 9 to 5.  Yes, the Dolly Parton one.  Even I was hesitant, but it was great!  Made even better by the second row orchestra seats Jamie scored for half price!  (A good ole’ Texas girl is never afraid to take a chance at angering 1,000 hot New Yorkers and Europeans to get a good place in line for good show seats.)

After a few more days of work in White Plains, NY, I headed to Concan. Danny (little brother) picked me up at the airport in Austin and after a quick stop for some bean and cheese tacos from a taqueria we took the 3-hour scenic drive home. Now, I must pause for a moment to exalt tacos from Texas – homemade tortillas and refried beans (with lard, of course), cheddar cheese, and two types of homemade salsa, all for the low price of $1.00 each.  Why is this so hard to replicate in the rest of the Union!?!

Danny and I stopped on the way home to take pictures of the Frio Canyon – the northern gateway to Concan.

I was happy to see upon my arrival in Concan that life is kicking along as usual.

Dad walks Chloe (the parents are watching our basset until we return to the States). As evident by the amount of tongue hanging from Chloe’s mouth, she is still acclimating to the Texas weather – just a tad warmer in TX than in our beloved Colorado.

Mom feeds Henry. Henry is a 3-month old calf and one of the most recent additions to the family. He has a fan club in the kids that spend the summer at my parents’ place in Concan. (Yes, Henry is sucking on my mom’s fingers.)

We take trips into the big city (San Antonio – 90 miles away) to have dinner with friends and see Paula’s new art show.

We watch it rain from the back porch in Concan. I just want to point out that Texas is in the midst of a serious drought, but it rained both times I visited Concan this year. 

After two days in Concan, I drove back to Austin to catch my flight back to Oman. After a 30+ hour trip, I went to bed at midnight in Muscat and woke up at 7:30 the next morning to catch a plane to Amman, Jordan, where we currently are. Jordan is great and we will post pics soon. In the interim, however, here are some more pictures of Texas to satiate all of your Texas-loving appetites.

Sunset over the Hill Country – view from my parents’ front porch.

Seven Bluff

Chloe cooling off in the trough by the barn

White tail deer in the pecan orchard

Holiday Week

Things have been busy ‘round these parts the past 2 weeks or so – hence no posts. Bree has been prancing around the globe, leaving me to fend for myself here in the sultanate. Good news though, as tomorrow is a holiday!

From Oman Tribune:

“ Holiday on Isra’a and Me’araj

MUSCAT A holiday has been declared on July 20 (27th Rajab, 1430 AH) for public and private sectors on the occasion of the blessed anniversary of  Isra’a and Me’araj.
The official holiday was announced by HE Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Minister of Diwan of Royal Court and Chairman of the Civil Services Council, on Saturday.
The minister extended his greetings to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said on the occasion, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty, grant him good health, happiness and long life and the Omani people and Muslims progress and prosperity.
HE Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, issued a ministerial decision declaring July 20 as official holiday for employees at the private sector establishments. The decision allowed employers and employees to agree on compensating this holiday if necessity arises.
All employees in the private sector extended their heartfelt greetings and best wishes to His Majesty on this blessed occasion, praying to Almighty to protect His Majesty, grant him good health, happiness and a long life and the Omani people and Muslims all over the world further progress and prosperity.

Oman News Agency”

When was this officially announced? Thats right – today. Several weeks ago Bree and I rolled the dice hoping the holiday would fall tomorrow and got plane tickets to go to Jordan leaving tomorrow. I love it when a plan comes together! The official announcement of another holiday on Wednesday should come tomorrow. We’re taking advantage of the several days off to dive the Red Sea, check out some very old buildings, and generally wander around the Kingdom of Jordan:

Pictures to follow!

More sights from around Muscat

The emotional arc of the past few months has gone something like this: At first – apprehension about what this whole thing would be like. Then - excitement that shines a light on everything, making it all sparkly and intriguing. Finally – slow acceptance that this is, in fact, your life, and in some ways not much changes.

When I say that we have moved into the acceptance stage I’d like to point out that its not a bad thing, on the contrary I would argue. I have moved around a fair bit over the course of my life (Oman makes it major move #8 for me), and I would say that this stage is something I personally look forward to. Only after you get over the apprehension and the excitement can you really settle in, get comfortable, and really get to know a place.

I wouldn’t be so bold as to say I know Muscat, but I think I am starting to develop that newly arrived outsider’s perspective. Muscat is not quite a town, not quite a big city either. There are things to do, but maybe not the ones we’re used to.

Since a picture is worth a whole big bag o’ words, I’ll let some pictures do the talking, or some of it at least.

The other day we went and took a look at H.M.’s pad – not too shabs. H.M. Qaboos is revered by Omanis, and for good reason. Prior to his taking power, Oman had no roads, electricity, running water, hospitals – this was all as late as 1970. In 40 short years, it went from that to shopping malls with Forever 21 and Starbucks.

H.M. has imposed some basic codes in an attempt to maintain the culture – like all buildings have to be approved colors, there are height restrictions on them, and he has adorned the main highway with not-so-subtle homages to Oman’s history.

 

Yes, that is a giant ring and treasure chest at the entrance to one of the grand roundabouts.

As a country, Oman has some money, but is not exactly awash in cash from oil. The people here work, and you get the sense H.M. has impressed upon them the need to develop a non-oil economy. Their big target is tourism, and I must say, they have some nice places:

We go to these places often on the weekends. They are probably much nicer when its less than 110 degrees (and humid), but not bad even in the summer. Bree and I have a running joke that diving/going out on the water is all we have left (because our social life is still a little slow, and its hard to spend extended periods of time outside). But last weekend, while on the dive boat, we were saying that it may be all we have left, but it isn’t too bad.

But I digress…. here are a few more sights around Muscat.

My tailor (the pants worked out! – he’s making me two shirts now.)

So – acceptance. I think we’re starting to understand what life is like here, get a feel for the town, and working within that. With acceptance, I am starting to lose the yearning for things from places I used to live (like having a casual beer on a patio, or, for Bree, wearing shorts in public) but gaining appreciation for the uniqueness that is this current place – like trips to the souk, hearing the call to prayer, diving on the weekends. Maybe acceptance is the wrong word – maybe its better to say balance. We’re balancing these things, and striving to have fun all the while.

When in Muscat….

One of, if not the biggest, motivation Bree and I had for taking this assignment was our love of travel. As you may recall, we actually mortgaged another month of travel in Indonesia for 6 months of working here. Part of the thought process was that living in another country would provide a different experience than simply visiting it. And how…

Its a strange cocktail when you mix the excitement of traveling along with the menial tasks of day-to-day life. Sometimes, its hard to maintain a spirit of adventure when you are stuck in a Muscat traffic jam. Its hard to take in new surroundings when you’ve just missed your exit on the highway, thereby adding 30 minutes to your trip due to the ridiculous (lack of) design of the highway here. Or the novelty of exotic foods is stifled by the reality that you can’t find a single italian restaurant that you really, really like. Such are the realities of committing to living on the other side of the world.

Feeling a little downtrodden by some of these realities, I felt the need to get out a little, to experience the culture, carpe the diem, maybe add a local twist to some of the menial tasks…

What could be more local that heading for the local souk?(note: I did not have the camera so representative pictures stolen from the google)

In the souk near our house, there are an abundance of tailors (and knock-off luggage, and fake watches, and chinese electronics of questionable quality). Finding myself in need of clothes, I set out to get some made by these fine craftsmen.

With all these tailors, getting someone to make clothes for you is not as straightforward as you might think. Not many of the tailors of Seeb speak english it turns out. Even fewer make western clothes (“Sorry sir, only dishdasha”). I criss-crossed the souk about a dozen times, with nothing but vague waves of the hand and pointing to guide me to what I was looking for.

After half an hour of this, I learned I must first obtain fabric (who knew?)… Back across the souk… and I arrived at a fabric store. I found a fabric merchant and broke the first rule of the souk by not even trying to haggle – he gave me a sad look and a 10% discount without me even asking. He then told me where to find a good tailor. I paraphrase: “Look for the dark, dirty stairs behind the guy selling counterfeit watches on the sidewalk across from the other guy selling watches.” He saw the befuddled look on my face and told his assistant to take me there.

To make a long story medium length… I found the tailor. I dropped off my fabric, told him what I wanted, and was assured he could make a near-replica of my favorite pants. Fabric = 6 rials (I think i over-paid), labor = 3 rials. Total bill: 9 rials (~$25). If this actually comes to fruition, I may start drastically cutting back on trips to the mall in favor of trips to the souk.

Maybe not for electronics though…