When it rains, it pours

We went to International School at TAISM this afternoon and guess what? There were camel rides.   The guys just tucked Lizzie's legs right into the saddle harness and showed her how to hold the green bars and called it good.

We were really early because I didn't want to wait in line for too long and there wasn't a rider on the third camel.  But that poor guy decided he missed his friends so he headed on out, too.  It really made me laugh to see that camel just wandering around the school field -- none of the camel handlers even went to get him, but he just calmly walked back with his friends.

Omani Tent Day

At TAISM, Tommy's school, each February, the entire school participates in "Discover Oman."  The older kids go camping in the deserts/wadis/mountains; the littler kids go on multiple field trips.  The post about the geology hike was the fourth field trip the kinders went on in two weeks.  (This is exhausting for everyone, even the parents who have detailed instruction about what to pack and what to wear, etc.)  For the younger kids, the last day of Discover Oman is Omani Tent Day.  The kids are encouraged to come to school in traditional Omani dress, and then they go out on the field and learn about Omani culture.

Here is Tommy in his classroom, in his Omani outfit.  He hated it.  (The long white dress is a dishdasha; the hat is a kuma.)

 Getting traditional Omani 'donuts' and juice.

Ruined!

 A handmade kuma costs 50 OR (which is a lot of money).  Needless to say, Tommy's was made by a machine.  I learned from this woman that they go over each stitch 40 times.

 Traditional Omani bread (crepe-like).

Then, they danced to music from an Omani band.  Very fun.

Tommy's Field Trip

This picture is Tommy and his friend Mingi.  (Mingi is from South Korea.  I can tell you where almost all of Tommy's classmates are from because they just did a unit about the places all of the children are from.  Tommy now considers this a basic detail; so basic that his new introduction at the playground is, "Hi, I'm Tommy and I'm AMERICAN.  What are you?")

This morning I went with Tommy’s class (and the other two kindergarten classes at TAISM) on a geology walk.  This means that we went for a hike with a geologist.  The woman who took our group is a Russian woman who now lives in Oman and who clearly knows a lot about geology but maybe not as much about how to make geology gripping for kindergartners.

Eli asked for a mid-walk update, and I replied:

“It’s like going on a walk with ten Tommys, each with a separate agenda unless there is a butterfly, beetle or lizard in which case they are all crowded around it.” 

The poor guide couldn’t persuade them to pay attention to her discussion of the rocks because there was always something else that was more interesting.

On the bus ride back to school, I said to Tommy, “It was sort of hard to pay attention, I guess.”  And he said, “Yeah.  But it was a great place to play!”

Regarding the photos:

First, I know Tommy’s hat is ridiculous.  He has better ones on the boat.  This was one rial at the H&M in the mall.  And is clearly for a bigger kid.

Second, my photos do not make Oman look half as pretty as it actually is.  I have photography books on the boat, too.

Camelccinos

On Sunday morning, the American Women’s Group had an outing to a camel farm.  This seems like the way an unemployed expat ought to spend her time, so I signed up. 

We drove to a place that is about five minutes from our hotel.  Muscat is not overly urban feeling sometimes, especially when a gate to what looks like a regular villa is opened onto a camel farm.  But there you have it.

The woman who owns the camels and farm is Dutch but has lived in the Middle East for 33 years.  She has beaten breast cancer and attributes this in large part to her habit of drinking two litres of camel milk each day.  So, the first part of the morning was about the benefits of camel milk.  Apparently, camels have only one stomach, which makes their milk more digestible for people.  It is also low in fat and low in cholesterol.  And, there are no known allergies to camel milk (which may be because not many people drink it?).  Anyway, there was a bowl of chocolates made with camel milk in front of me, and I was presented with a ‘camelccino’ shortly after sitting down (which was perfectly good), and so I happily listened to the talk about camel milk.  I will say that it seems like true dedication that her camels do not currently have any babies so she has to go to Dubai every two weeks for her supply. 

The fascinating part about this woman, though, is that she goes on really long walks (like months-long) through the middle east with her camels.  She has spent quite a lot of time walking through Iran and says that the people there are just lovely to her.  It is this part of her story that I wish she had spoken more about as this whole concept of walking alone apart from four camels through Iran pretty much sends my mind spinning. 

So, after the talk, we got to meet the camels.  I hope to have another picture to add to this post in the future but for now, I’ll just slap these not-so-good ones up.  There was a bit of drama during this bit of the morning because one of the ladies had a carrot in her handbag.  The problem was that the carrot was in a plastic bag.  One of these cheeky camels leaned over and helped herself to the bag+carrot combination, and of course, it could be fatal for a camel to swallow a plastic bag as it can block their digestive system.  So the lady who owns the camels and farm had to run into the enclosure and get one of the men who works on the farm to come and stop the camel (who was running across the pen so as not to be deprived of her hard-won treat), and there was screaming and swearing and we were all just watching, horrified.  BUT, all is well that ends well and they got the plastic out of the camel’s mouth in the nick of time.  The poor lady who had the plastic bag felt horribly but of course, the happy ending is all that matters in this type of situation and I told her that.  PLUS, who would’ve expected a camel to be that aggressive about getting a snack? Not me, that’s for sure.  (I wasn’t on the ball enough to even bring a snack for the camels, but it definitely would have been in a plastic bag.  Who knew that my lack of organization would potentially save a camel’s life?)

I should mention that these are Saudi Arabian camels, not Omani camels. 

 Drinking the 'camelccino' (coffee with camel milk)

This is the only male camel (bull) and he is not very nice, apparently.  He's also much bigger than the females.

I realize that this story has gone on long enough, but I need to tell you that we also see camels each night on our way back to the hotel.  I have no idea who owns them, but the camels just sort of roam around between the ocean and the highway that we use most often, and the kids make a big game out of spotting them.  

Friday at the Beach

We went to a new beach this weekend.  It was lovely, although a bit windy and perhaps not quite hot enough yet.  Enough people tell me every day that I will be amazed at how hot it is in a month; you don't need to send an email.

Here is where we went.  Of note is that you can see "The Wave" which is where we will live once our container arrives (to the west of the main part of Muscat).

 The water was filled with eggs of some kind.  Tommy figured out that they were eggs first.  They grossed me out but did not bother the other members of my family.  Here is Tommy showing some to you.

 Sort of a pretty beach, don't you think?

 We dig holes to the US (rather than China, remember how you used to do that when you were a kid?) from here!  Isn't that crazy?

 Lulu was "reawy, reawy cold":

 This was on our way home.  Eli wanted to explore a bit, so we drove up the steepest road I've ever been up in a car.  I worried we might not make it, and at one point, I didn't know if we were going to drive over a cliff or if there would be a road on the other side, and my husband kept right on driving, commenting after, "boy, I felt that in my knees!"  But, it was pretty:

 For interest.  Our new-to-us car.  It's a Hyundai Santa Fe and was given to us without a speck of dust or sand on or in it.  We certainly fixed that over the weekend!

I'm still here!

We have been busy but that's not my excuse for failing to blog.  My excuse is that the internet connection at our hotel is so crappy that it's frustrating and I don't spend as much time doing anything at all on the internet, let along blogging.  My online shopping habit is suffering, but I suppose this is part of an international move.

We are doing well, over here in the Gulf.  That's how people refer to the region, as the Gulf, for example the lady at the furniture shop yesterday said, "at least you got to come to Oman, it's the best place in the Gulf because the people are friendly."  "Oh, yes, of course," I replied.  Because what does one really say to that?

The kids and I had a nice 'Saturday' today.  We went over to Miss Katherine's house (soon to be ours, I think) and skyped for about forty-five seconds with my parents before we had to run off to Tommy's swimming lesson.  The kids were not overly compliant on Skype; they mostly wanted to play with the cat on the patio.  I got them packed into the car and we had been driving for about a minute when Lulu said, "I am going to be a condor for Halloween."  I said okay, because the truth is that she has been alternating between playing condor and river dolphin (usually she is only a river dolphin when she is in the water but she did play that one on the couch yesterday, too) of late and I should've known that costumes would be demanded shortly.  When I told her father, he said "where does she come up with this stuff?" and I said, "obviously your work is causing you to forget all you know about children's television because hello! she plays the animals from her favorite Diego episodes."  Tommy wants to be a ninja but that is predictable as he recently did a report on Japan and one of his three facts about the country involved ninjas, he has asked me now three times to go on vacation to Japan because that's where ninjas are from and he reads the Lego Ninjago encyclopedia all the time.

Here are photos from the swimming lessons.  Lulu lounges; Tommy gets a very small amount of his seemingly endless energy out.  He moved up a level between last week and this week, which is nice only because we are practically in debt from his London swimming lessons and it stung a bit to have him put in the lowest level when he was assessed.  (Not that I disagreed with the assessment.)

(I like that you can see our room key in Lulu's pocket in this photo.  She likes pockets and I find the strangest stuff in them.  Both kids are also obsessed with the new-to-us car and it's endless secret hiding places.  There is strange stuff in there as well.)

 After swimming, we came home so I could exercise and the kids could have their weekend television time.  Actually, we stopped at the mall, which is something I'm proud about as it is only recently that I am not scared to drive in that parking garage.  I had to buy Tommy a hat for his traditional Omani dress day (never fear, a photo will be on this little blog for all to see).  Also, we bought some jelly bellies.

Then, we met friends at the beach at 3:30.  It was so nice to talk to a grown up for a couple of hours that I kind of didn't want to leave.  Also, she has a little guy Tommy's age but two older kids as well and they tend to be helpful with Lulu which is just so nice.  Tommy and his friend Luke found ALL OF THESE CRABS, behold:

 These photos are out of order -blogger why do you hate me??- and are from yesterday.  We let Lola out for a play, and she watched Lulu climb a tree while we waited for Tommy's bus.  Lola clearly felt obligated to show Lulu the proper way to climb a palm tree.  (For those interested, Lulu got really high -- palm trees are apparently good for climbing? -- but at that point I was over spotting her instead of taking photos.)  This is the street to the side of our new house.

Introducing Lola...

Hi everybody.  I have been meaning for a while to tell you all about our new kitty, Lola.  Here she is going up the stairs in our new house, where she lives by herself without any furniture.  She is very happy to see me each day when I show up to give her some food (does anyone else find the smell of wet cat food to be absolutely disgusting?) and she is very, very happy to see me when I do not bring my children with me.  The kids adore her (and show it by lavishing love and attention on her and squealing) and are the reason we agreed to adopt this kitty when her favorite person -- my friend Katherine -- had to move.  

Isn't she pretty?

Betty Jean Kent

 My very, very sweet Grandma died yesterday.  She was 92.

Today, I am so conscious of the fact that most people aren't lucky enough to have their grandparents alive when they are 36 years old.

But even though I am lucky, I am so sad.

I'm sure we all think this about our loved ones, but my Grandma was actually a special lady. There is no doubt that if you were lucky enough to meet her you would agree; her boatloads of friends are evidence and so is her very close and devoted family.  The truth -- and I would have told you this anytime you asked me during my life -- is that my Grandma was the best grandma ever.

She knew how to really laugh when something was funny (I have been carrying around with me these past days a memory of her laughing) and she was very clever and she did things right (when I stayed with her after she had knee surgery, to help her, she suggested that I get down on my hands and knees to wash the kitchen floor because, really, it was the best way to do it).  I hope I can be like her in her ability to make the best of any situation; she was so good at that.

I haven't lived in the same city as my Grandma since right after I graduated from college.  She heard from someone (possibly me) that I was eating garden burgers for dinner every night and so she started having me over once a week for cooking lessons.  I think she hoped I would actually learn to cook but really I came to eat her food and visit for a while and if I can make a pie crust now because of those evenings, that's just a bonus.

And she wasn't just kind to her family.  She was an ESL teacher and long after she retired, if she bumped into someone who needed help learning English, she invited them over for weekly lessons.

My Grandma taught me that playing cards and board games is fun, but she was very good at cards and board games.  (These things are more fun for those who are good at them.)  She also taught me that a glass of white wine makes them even more fun.   (And a glass of wine makes them more fun for those of us who are not so good at cards and games.)

I miss her already.  I really do.  She was one classy lady.

Driving, all day long...

Hello again from Muscat.

I'm sorry to be an irregular blogger the past week or so.  I'm not sure what's making it hard for me to want to blog.  I'm having a hard time thinking of things to write that are internet-appropriate, to be honest.  I mean, one can't just hop on the internet and complain (oh really, you're thinking, I didn't think you knew that rule, Laura).  And actually, I don't have much to complain about other than the damn shipment not even arriving in Oman for one whole month.  The house we're moving into is now empty -- I'm going to go see it tomorrow to do some laundry and just hang out, should be comfortable without any furniture -- so I really want furniture.  The kids sit in the back seat as we drive through Muscat, talking about all the things on the boat (and sometimes things which I don't think are on the boat, but rather than confront that now, I plan to just deal with it when the stuff arrives, or rather doesn't arrive).

Pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I hate driving but let me tell you the nice parts of my three plus hours spent in the car each day.

First, Eli got a cord that hooks my phone up to the stereo so I can listen to music.  My favorite is when a song comes on that the kids know and I hear them singing from the back seat (Lulu is loving "All the Single Ladies" right now).

Second, the kids love to sit back there and chat:  "Mommy lemme tell you a question what do chinchillas eat" Lulu will say, and then when I inevitably get it wrong (my goodness children can learn a lot about animals from Diego) she happily screams the correct answer.  Tommy likes to talk about death from his perch back there and highlight the inconsistencies in my answers.  We have been discussing the different Gods which is just nuts:  "and then there's the one with six arms and the one who's an elephant and the one who is Jesus's daddy...Mummy which one do I say prayers to?" And in my head I'm wondering if I know any religion professors who can come straighten things out for all of us?

Third, I love it when the kids are sitting in their seats, each looking at a library book.  They just LOVE to do this and while it initially made me nervous because Lulu was carsick at Seb and Inger-line's wedding, I now look back at them with their books and feel my chest tighten because I just love them so much and am so enamoured of their little personalities.  (My daughter's personality is a little much, just this morning when I said that no, she couldn't watch television as it's not the weekend, she stomped off to her room and shouted, "FINE! I RUN AWAY THEN!"  And I thought but did not say, good luck finding someone who will take you in you little pain in the youknowwhat.)

The good news is that we get our new car as of tonight!

The other good news is that Tommy got a place on a schoolbus, so he will start being dropped off at our new house starting later this week!  That will cut out a whole hour of the driving.  And when we move in, the bus will pick him up as well.

Finally, the best news which is totally unrelated to driving is that I think I might have a friend.  She's Scottish with the cutest accent and she just moved in December so she feels equally iffy about Muscat.  She has a daughter (with an even cuter accent but only because she's tiny) between T & L's ages and the three kids all play pretty well together.  Cross your fingers...

I shall end this post with a random story about buying pork here.  Eli and I used to go to a video store on Lombard Street in San Francisco which had a curtained off room to the right as you walked in.  One day, I wondered aloud why there was a curtain there and Eli explained to me that there was porn in that room.  I was shocked, but it all sort of made sense, once I thought about it.  Here in Muscat, there are those rooms in each grocery store.  They say, "FOR NON-MUSLIMS" above them in English and in Arabic, and do you know what's in them?  Not porn.  PORK.  I was telling my Scottish friend today that there was NO WAY I would ever go in one.  Not because I don't like pork.  But because it feels shameful, somehow.  And anyway, bacon costs nearly $20 and probably comes all the way from the US...

A post mostly about food

Some things in Oman are puzzling.

- For example, all the stores have regular winter clothes in them.  Like, puffy coats and long, warm trousers, and fleece snowsuits for babies.  I think it's probably too much trouble to have separate offerings for climates where the daytime temperatures never begin with a digit lower than seven, but it still makes me laugh when I see snowsuits.

- Also funny is the peanut butter we bought.  It's called "American Peanut Butter", that's the brand, and it's full of sugar.  I have since found a jar of just peanuts - peanut butter that cost about $7.  Yes, we'll be needing to cut back on our peanut butter intake but it's not something we could ever dream of eliminating all together.  (I am much too lazy.)

- When we planned a move to the Middle East, I assumed that I would adore the hummus.  But I actually miss the Waitrose brand we ate constantly in London and can't wait to make our own.  

- I noticed two days ago when I washed an apple for Tommy's lunch that he would be enjoying a Gala apple grown in Washington state.  I read that Barbara Kingsolver book, so I know enough to feel really horribly about this.  I am going to stop buying produce that has been in transit for as long as it was on the tree/in the ground/whatever.  I really am.  

- There is nothing organic.  

I am normally rather fixated on food but it is worse now because our kitchen is non-existant which makes mealtimes frustrating...

Want to see some photos of Yeti Beach?

 These are from our trip to the beach on Friday.

Lately...

Well, hello there.  I've had a few anti-Muscat days recently and I think I'm less inclined to post on those.  

We are doing just fine.  The 5:30am call to prayer at the mosque across the street doesn't wake us any more, and the kids don't freak out at the 7:30pm one.  Once we move into our house, we won't hear any call to prayers.  Maybe we will even miss them.

I blame my anti-Muscat sentiments on the news that our shipment won't reach Muscat until the tenth of March, and afterward will still need to clear customs.  I have not been able to ask Eli how long we ought to anticipate customs taking because I cannot bear it.  It is discouraging and frustrating to face living in a hotel for another month plus.  (I must note that this has nothing to do with all the wonderful people working at this hotel.  They are so nice and love the kids so much.  It's about not having a washing machine and about not having a kitchen.  Shockingly, even I can get sick of eating an egg for dinner.)

But it has not been all bad, not even close.  On Friday (that's yesterday, and our Sunday; today is our Monday), we went with another family to Yiti beach, which is just outside of Muscat (to what I think of as north, but is actually west, I think).  It was really lovely and the drive was lovely and we had a great time.  The beach was great for the kids except for the people driving their cars on the beach.  There weren't too many, but enough that it got a bit annoying.  The family are Belgian and spend part of their summers in the same town on the seaside we went to visit in October.  So it was fun to talk about that.  Also on Friday, we had dinner with one of Eli's coworkers and his family and they were very nice and we had a lovely time.   Finally, on Friday, my friend Katherine gave us half a bottle of gin.  That's a big deal here.

Guess what happened today? On my way to take Tommy to school, the car behind me at a stoplight was rear-ended.  For the rest of the ride to school, I kept telling Tommy that it must be our lucky day.  Now I will certainly remember to leave a huge gap between me and the car in front of me at lights so that I can move forward if someone gets too close to me.  Road culture here puts an emphasis on tail gating -- it's considered desirable.

I have about a million things to write about but I want to post pictures with most of them.  It really is beautiful here, with the mountains.  I promise to post photos VERY SOON.