Camping!

Camping is a huge activity in Oman, and most people we know regularly camp.   So far, our camping has been limited to "glamping" in the fanciest desert camp we can find.  But sometime toward the end of last year, our good friends convinced us that we needed to go camping - and so four families decided to go.  We only stayed one night (which in retrospect was a mistake because the whole process is a whole lot of work for just one night).  The kids had a great time - they roamed around the beach and climbed a nearby rock and played games, moving from one tent to another.  They built towns in the sand, collected rocks and shells and did cartwheels.

Now let me tell you what the adults did.  They worked.  They set up tents in strong wind, set up toilets, made food, found all the stuff the kids couldn't find because it wasn't in the normal place, and carried bags of trash to the dumpster.  I kept trying to convince my friends to go sit on the beach and look at the ocean with me, and sometimes they would, but mostly they kept right on working.  We had some nice relaxing time in the evening, and also the next morning before we all left.  And I suppose we also slept for a few hours.  But mostly, it was as much work as I had anticipated.

I would go again because (1) I love my children and they loved camping and (2) I love my friends and I will work all weekend to hang out with them.  (FYI:  I am the laziest of all my friends.  Eli says I think that because I'm a Kent and we are conditioned to feel lazy if we aren't working at every second, but honestly, I did the least work.)