It's time for you to get married

So I popped home for lunch today while my Sri Lankan maid happened to be there.  We were having a nice chat and seemingly out of nowhere she said, "It's time for you to get married." 

I was caught off guard but quickly said, "I have to find someone first!"

She shook her head in dismay and said "You are too old.  Time to get married."  Her tone of voice intimated that I was procrastinating against doing something inevitable, like paying a bill. 

"I'm trying, but it's not easy to meet someone.  I work a lot, move a lot for work..."

"Oman is a good place for a husband.  Find one."  Well, then, I guess I'm under orders to try harder...

But in all seriousness, my single status is something that many people find alarming here.  From a cultural perspective, I'm an old maid by Omani and sub-continent (what's a better term I can use when I want to refer to India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka?) standards.  Almost every older Omani I meet is shocked and concerned that I moved to a foreign country on my own and that I'm not married yet, since most Omanis marry in their early 20s.  But since everyone is so nice here, their first reaction is to try to help or offer advice, which is charming and embarrassing all at the same time.  The younger Omanis have generally spent a lot of time in the UK or the US, so they're not quite as alarmed by me. 

However, it's not just a cultural thing.  Almost every single expat wife I've met, shortly after meeting me, says "You're on your own? How are you going to date here?!?"  And my answer every single time, "I have no idea!" with a big smile on my face. 

The good news is that I think every wife I've met is now on the lookout for any eligible guy for me since they're so worried about me.  I think part of the shock is that I moved here on my own and the rest of the shock stems from the fact that there are very few expats in their 30s here and even fewer who are single.  And I'm sure it's going through their minds that I'm wasting my precious few years in my early 30s in a country where the dating pool is incredibly small and that by the time I move back to a place with a larger single population I'll truly be an old maid. 

To be totally honest, those are definitely thoughts I have from time to time, but I mostly find all the pressure/concern funny.  I'm on an adventure of a lifetime right now and having these experiences is far more important to me than worrying about whether I'll ever get married (and I've read the statistics -- I already had a less than 50% chance of getting married if I stayed in the US due to age, income, education, etc., so I'm sure it's much lower now that I'm outside the US). 

So while everyone else is worried about how I'm going to find a husband, I'm going to think about my trip to Borneo in a week and my trip to Japan four weeks after that.  And if a soul mate falls into my lap between all these amazing trips, even better.