A while ago, my Aunt Sue started sending me emails suggesting that she and my Aunt Betsy and cousin Josh might make a trip to Muscat on their way back to the US from Ghana (where Josh does some impressive work). Eventually, they booked tickets and we were all so excited to have more people come see us in Muscat.
On Friday morning, I headed to the airport. This is important because I've never actually done an airport run by myself and I was consequently shocked when I got there and the backup out of the parking lot was huge. I drove around the airport once, looking at the parking lot the whole time, and decided that it was not worth waiting in the line to enter as there didn't appear to be any parking places in the spot anyway. Cars were parked in places that were clearly not official parking spots, and the cars that had made there way into the lot had not escaped the line, they had just moved a bit forward.
Anyway, I got to the airport an hour before they came out and in that time I became panicked that they were not coming out because they were waiting for me in the airconditioned terminal building (it has become very warm here lately). SO. Because I could not even enter the parking lot, I pulled over to the side of a random road in the airport, put on my flashers, and went into the airport. In the US such a thing would be unheard of, but so would having a parking lot that was so inadequate, so I decided it was fine.
And I got a damn parking ticket. So that's two tickets in Muscat so far.
LUCKILY, this bit of bad luck did not set the tone for the weekend. Nope, it was a lovely visit and we were all so happy to have them. In fact, I have just come from a conversation with my two children wherein they explain their sadness as due to 'missing Josh'. (Lizzie even calls him 'Joshie' but it sounds like 'Jossie' and I'm pretty sure she made that up on her own.) We did a lot of just hanging around, but they got to see a bit of Muscat and definitely tried all our favorite places for take-out (as will anyone who comes to visit us because I am only half-way good at menu planning).
It's funny because I didn't spend lots of time with the Whitmores when I was growing up, but somehow they still really feel like my people. Tommy, as he looked at Aunt Sue, said, "well, she does remind me a bit of Grandma Nancy, that's true."
Here are the only photos I took but perhaps one of them will have taken a great one and send it to me.
On Friday morning, I headed to the airport. This is important because I've never actually done an airport run by myself and I was consequently shocked when I got there and the backup out of the parking lot was huge. I drove around the airport once, looking at the parking lot the whole time, and decided that it was not worth waiting in the line to enter as there didn't appear to be any parking places in the spot anyway. Cars were parked in places that were clearly not official parking spots, and the cars that had made there way into the lot had not escaped the line, they had just moved a bit forward.
Anyway, I got to the airport an hour before they came out and in that time I became panicked that they were not coming out because they were waiting for me in the airconditioned terminal building (it has become very warm here lately). SO. Because I could not even enter the parking lot, I pulled over to the side of a random road in the airport, put on my flashers, and went into the airport. In the US such a thing would be unheard of, but so would having a parking lot that was so inadequate, so I decided it was fine.
And I got a damn parking ticket. So that's two tickets in Muscat so far.
LUCKILY, this bit of bad luck did not set the tone for the weekend. Nope, it was a lovely visit and we were all so happy to have them. In fact, I have just come from a conversation with my two children wherein they explain their sadness as due to 'missing Josh'. (Lizzie even calls him 'Joshie' but it sounds like 'Jossie' and I'm pretty sure she made that up on her own.) We did a lot of just hanging around, but they got to see a bit of Muscat and definitely tried all our favorite places for take-out (as will anyone who comes to visit us because I am only half-way good at menu planning).
It's funny because I didn't spend lots of time with the Whitmores when I was growing up, but somehow they still really feel like my people. Tommy, as he looked at Aunt Sue, said, "well, she does remind me a bit of Grandma Nancy, that's true."
Here are the only photos I took but perhaps one of them will have taken a great one and send it to me.
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| Eating dinner the first night. This is not a great photo of anyone but nobody else looks so desperately in need of a hair wash as I do. |
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| Walking to the souq. |
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| My aunts spent a fair bit of time working on my yard - which was lovely! (Aunt Sue went ahead and 'thinned out' some of the plants lining the street and planted them in my yard.) |
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