Happy 44th National Day, Oman!

Sultan Qaboos's birthday is November 18th, which is why the road outside the Wave is named November 18th.  When we first arrived, it sounded strange to have a conversation like this:

Me:  "Do you think I should take November 18th to go to school?"

Eli:  "Sure."

Now, I'm on that road multiple times a day and the name sounds lovely and normal.  

Anyway, today is the Sultan's birthday, and we we get a day or two off next week to celebrate and all went to school and work today.  (Eli will go to work next week as well, I am sure.)  Our school normally does a really nice job on National Day - with an assembly that helps us all to understand how far Oman has come in 44 years, coffee and dates for the parents.  But this year, we also had Omani Tent Day on National Day.  Here are some photos of the Lu.  She has an Omani flag on her cheek, henna on her hand and can't stop talking about how yummy Omani bread is ("it's so sweet!").  She's dressed in a little Omani outfit that I bought at the grocery store and which feels as unbreathable as if I had just used plastic bags from the grocery store to make her a dress and some leggings.  We bought the hat at the souk a while ago and I have no idea if it's appropriate to wear the hat with the outfit.  Also, she added the mardi gras beads because there is no such thing as overaccessorizing and Aunt Betsy brought her enough beads last spring to last a lifetime (thank goodness).

Sorry about this wonky spacing between photos.  SO GROSS.  Anyway, Tommy's class went to the Centre for Omani Dress as part of Discover Oman on Sunday.  I didn't go but his friend's mother sent these photos to me and I think they are too cute not to slap up on the blog.  He wore a kuma and dishdasha to school but as there was only one other boy wearing them, I am pretty sure they were stuffed into the locker quickly...