I've been remiss in posting lately but mostly because I've fallen into the daily habits of life here. Even when you live somewhere exotic, life gets full of the basic things like work, grocery shopping, watching tv, going to movies, hanging out with friends, etc. And as much as I want to do all the exciting things there are to do in Oman, on the weekends I find that it's just so hard to get up the energy to go hiking or exploring and it's so much easier to catch up on movies or tv or try a new restaurant.
Sounds kinda like life back in the US, huh? While there are a lot of things that are so different about living here, much is still the same. My job is practically the same, although there are certainly different legal issues that we face here than back in the US and the office politics are always different in each location (this is my third location with my company in three years). While I don't have to worry about household tasks like laundry or cooking (thanks to my part-time maid), errands still stack up. TV shows still clog my DVR and new movies are still released (this past weekend I saw both Guardians of the Galaxy and Expendables 3, much like I would have done if I was back home because I'm an action/comic book movie nerd).
A lot of you have asked about my social life here, which is actually going really well. Once upon a time I interned with the Army JAG Corps and the thing I liked most about the military (and that almost convinced me to join up) was that everyone was so welcoming to new people since they were used to getting moved around a lot and therefore used to being the "new person". Well, the oil industry is pretty similar, especially overseas since everyone's been the new guy at some point. Within a week of being here I joined the weekly Thursday night expat gathering at the sole Mexican restaurant in town - the food is average, the margaritas are strong and the company is great. A few of my coworkers also host semi-regular BBQs and other gatherings, so my social calendar manages to remain fairly full despite being new and on my own.
This is such a marked contrast to Houston, where everyone ran out of the office as quickly as possible to beat traffic and get home. It took me almost a year of living in Houston before I even had a group of work friends to grab a drink with after work or occasionally go out to lunch with, so expat socializing is much easier and getting a social life here was a relatively quick and painless process.
I've got a few topics rattling around in my brain for some future posts, so I promise to start writing more soon. And if nothing else, I'm off to Japan in 11 days, so I'm sure I'll have some Japan-related posts soon!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Thursday, August 7, 2014
My Two Cents on Traveling
With my recent trip to Borneo I've been to over 60 countries and still have plans to visit two more countries (Japan and Romania) before the end of the year (which means I'll hit 65). Between all of my travels and now living abroad in Oman, I've picked up a few nuggets of travel wisdom that I figured I'd share (and this isn't going to be the silly/obvious advice like "keep your passport in a safe spot", though you should totally do that).
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| Because I'm obsessed with maps and obsessed with filling the map with blue! |
- Be Complimentary of the Country: I've been to plenty of countries that might be referred to as third world shitholes; but, shithole or not, most people are proud of where they're from. No matter how awful a place might be, try to think of something to compliment that country, especially when you're talking to locals. Almost every time I meet a new Omani they ask me how I like it here (probably expecting me to complain about the heat or culture shock or anything else) and every single time I proclaim how much I love it here, what a beautiful country it is, how nice everyone is, etc. Whether you mean it or not, complimenting the locals will go a long way towards them accepting you and appreciating your company.
- Learn Something About the Local Culture: This almost seemed too obvious to include, but then I thought better about it. I know plenty of people who have gone to South Africa solely to hunt big game or Bali to sit on a beach and never once met a local (aside from people waiting on them). Learning about the local people and how they live is not only potentially interesting, but may help you appreciate their hardships and complain a little less. So you think the beef is really grisly in Southeast Asia? Would you complain less if you knew that the locals only got to eat meat about once a month and beef far less frequently than that? If you're tempted to complain that the hotel only gave you one towel, would you be less likely to complain if you knew the area was having a water shortage or that the hotel didn't possess a washer or a dryer and instead had to do all laundry by hand? (This sort of goes hand in hand with No. 1 above).
- Bring a Decent Camera: I'm not suggesting you schlepp along a very expensive DSLR camera, but make sure that whatever camera you bring can adequately capture the memories you want. There's nothing worse than seeing or experiencing something spectacular and then only having a blurry photograph to remind you of the experience. On my recent trip to Borneo, only my roommate and I had real cameras -- everyone else was awkwardly trying to take pictures with an iPad (the absolute worst - an iPad should not be used as a travel camera) or an iPhone. But when you're trying to capture wildlife photos, you absolutely must have a telephoto lens and an iPhone just can't cut it. So of the 13 people on my trip, only my roommate and I were really able to get photos of the wildlife in Borneo. And why go all the way to Borneo if you can't get a single decent picture of an orangutan?!?
- Have a Reason to Go Somewhere: People tend to ask me why I picked specific countries to visit, and I'll admit my list is pretty random. But I pick a place to visit based on the experiences I want to have. For example, I wanted to see gorillas in the wild, so I went gorilla trekking in Rwanda. If it weren't for gorillas, I wouldn't have necessarily gone to Rwanda. And yes, while I kind of want to go everywhere, I can usually think of an experience I want to have in that country, rather than just feeling like I need to check countries off a list. I also try to learn a little something about everywhere I go, whether it's reading a travel guide, reading books based on the area or even just using Wikipedia.
- Be Aware of the Impact You Have: Be aware of the impact your trip has on the local people - if you give money to begging children in Cambodia, are you encouraging them to continue begging rather than go to school? If you eat meat for both lunch and dinner in rural Vietnam, did the local community have to slaughter more animals than otherwise necessary to meet your demands? And if you want to hold an orangutan in Indonesia, have you now encouraged people to capture orangutans so that they can make money off tourists (and trust me, I'd like nothing better than to hold an orangutan, but I can't support capturing the animals just so I can have a cute picture)? There's not always an easy answer to these questions, but they are certainly things that should be considered when you think about the experiences you want to have.
- Be a Traveler and Not a Tourist: This is actually my main point and can partially be accomplished if you act according to the first five points. To me, the difference between being a tourist and a traveler comes down to not only being courteous and interested in the country, but also in preparedness. If you're going to a Muslim country, make sure you are dressed conservatively and appropriately (and I guess you'd first have to know you were going to a Muslim country -- there were plenty of people on my Borneo trip who didn't seem to know Malaysia was a Muslim country). If you're going jungle trekking, make sure you have waterproof hiking boots, long pants/long sleeves and mosquito repellant - your flip-flops will not be sufficient. At least looking like you know what you're doing might help avoid being considered a tourist.
What about you guys? Any travel advice you'd add?
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Borneo Adventures
Well, I survived my trip to Borneo and didn't get kidnapped or sick! I'm still sorting through about 1600 pictures, but I thought I'd fill you all in on some of my adventures and a few of my favorite pictures.
So first off, no post of mine would be complete without a map:
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and three countries are located on Borneo: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. I visited the Malaysian portion in the Sabah (the northeastern part of the island), which is the most developed and most visited portion of Borneo. Some of you wondered why I picked Borneo and the truth is that I wanted to see orangutans, I like trekking in jungles and Borneo is where the head-hunting tribes lived (before the silly Brits outlawed the practice). I also think I had some romantic notions about how wild and untamed Borneo would be, but I was sorely mistaken. While Sarawak and Kalimantan might be a bit wilder, Sabah was very developed and pretty touristy. I don't consider true jungle trekking to involve paths or concrete stairs...
While Borneo might not have met all of my expectations, I did accomplish my goals: I saw wild pygmy elephants and oodles of monkeys and orangutans and I also got to experience some culture and history.
So first off...orangutans! Orangutans are only found in the wild in two places: Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia. After seeing wild mountain gorillas and chimpanzees earlier this year in Africa, I knew I had to finish out the great apes by getting to see orangutans in the wild. Like wild gorillas, orangutans are endangered because of loss of their habitat and because orangutan babies are adorable and humans keep stealing them as pets. Unlike other monkeys, orangutans don't jump from tree to tree but instead must slowly swing along branches. So as humans start to chop down trees for agriculture or housing, orangutans can't swing fast enough to escape the falling tree and are often crushed on the ground.
Because many baby orangutans are orphaned in this manner (or babies are adopted as pets and then abandoned when they get too big), there is a need for rehabilitation centers to take in these orphans and help them until they can be released back into the wild. We visited the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center, which is perhaps the most famous in Borneo. At Sepilok orangutans can receive medical care as well as training on how to do basic things that a mother would typically teach the babies (like how to swing and feed themselves). Once the orangutans are healthy and trained, they are semi-wild, which means that they can come and go as they please, but the center puts out food twice a day to help supplement the orangutans' diets. These pictures show the feeding platforms and the ropes that the orangutans use to swing about.
As we were waiting to head out to the feeding platform in the morning we were surprised when a single orangutan sauntered through the parking lot at Sepilok, hopped a fence, walked through the registration center and headed out to the jungle. Here's a picture of the little guy heading towards the buildings:
While the great apes are the most fascinating to watch because of the close genetics ties they have with humans, I love all monkeys and apes. In fact, I'm pretty sure I love monkeys the way that most people love baby humans. As many times as I've seen monkeys in the wild it never gets old and this time I was even lucky enough to touch some. Near Sepilok is the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary where the local proboscis monkeys are also fed twice a day. But far more exciting to me than the proboscis monkeys were the 30 or so silver leaf monkeys hanging out in the visitor area with their babies. The place was literally swarming with monkeys, all of whom had no fear of humans and didn't mind being touched.
Ok, so maybe I got a little carried away with the monkey and ape pictures, but I just can't pick one or two favorites. But really, the trip wasn't all about monkeys. We also visited the Gomantong Caves, which is where the locals climb up to the very top in order to reach the valuable swiftlet nests. The ceilings of the cave were covered in thousands of bats and the floor of the cave was covered in mounds of bird/bat shit and cockroaches. But despite the smell and the monstrous cockroaches, the cave was pretty awesome.
So finally, I should also comment on the security situation in Borneo. Before I left I cracked a few jokes about getting kidnapped in Borneo and I wasn't totally joking. Eastern Sabah is a declared security zone and many of the cities are under curfew (including Sandakan, where we visited) due to a recent rise in kidnappings and terrorist acts. In fact, during my layover on the way to Borneo I got yet another email from the US State Department warning me that Eastern Sabah was dangerous and they were predicting a rise in terrorist acts for the last few days of Ramadan. And due to security concerns, while we were on Manukan Island off of Kota Kinabalu we had armed guards patrolling the island.
The threat to Eastern Sabah comes from militants from the Philippines. As you can see from the below map, the Philippines are just northeast of Eastern Sabah and there's a large Philippino community in Eastern Sabah because Malaysia is much better off economically than the Philippines and many emigrate to Sabah for work.
So first off, no post of mine would be complete without a map:
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and three countries are located on Borneo: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. I visited the Malaysian portion in the Sabah (the northeastern part of the island), which is the most developed and most visited portion of Borneo. Some of you wondered why I picked Borneo and the truth is that I wanted to see orangutans, I like trekking in jungles and Borneo is where the head-hunting tribes lived (before the silly Brits outlawed the practice). I also think I had some romantic notions about how wild and untamed Borneo would be, but I was sorely mistaken. While Sarawak and Kalimantan might be a bit wilder, Sabah was very developed and pretty touristy. I don't consider true jungle trekking to involve paths or concrete stairs...
While Borneo might not have met all of my expectations, I did accomplish my goals: I saw wild pygmy elephants and oodles of monkeys and orangutans and I also got to experience some culture and history.
So first off...orangutans! Orangutans are only found in the wild in two places: Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia. After seeing wild mountain gorillas and chimpanzees earlier this year in Africa, I knew I had to finish out the great apes by getting to see orangutans in the wild. Like wild gorillas, orangutans are endangered because of loss of their habitat and because orangutan babies are adorable and humans keep stealing them as pets. Unlike other monkeys, orangutans don't jump from tree to tree but instead must slowly swing along branches. So as humans start to chop down trees for agriculture or housing, orangutans can't swing fast enough to escape the falling tree and are often crushed on the ground.
Because many baby orangutans are orphaned in this manner (or babies are adopted as pets and then abandoned when they get too big), there is a need for rehabilitation centers to take in these orphans and help them until they can be released back into the wild. We visited the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center, which is perhaps the most famous in Borneo. At Sepilok orangutans can receive medical care as well as training on how to do basic things that a mother would typically teach the babies (like how to swing and feed themselves). Once the orangutans are healthy and trained, they are semi-wild, which means that they can come and go as they please, but the center puts out food twice a day to help supplement the orangutans' diets. These pictures show the feeding platforms and the ropes that the orangutans use to swing about.
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| These two were my favorite -- between sharing food and kissing, they were beyond adorable! |
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While waiting for food, this guy entertained himself by collecting leaves and swinging around. |
But the most amazing part was that we actually got to see three completely wild orangutans - one male on the Kinabatangan River and a mother and a baby outside the Gomantong Caves. The mom and baby happily snacked and foraged for food while we snapped photo after photo:While the great apes are the most fascinating to watch because of the close genetics ties they have with humans, I love all monkeys and apes. In fact, I'm pretty sure I love monkeys the way that most people love baby humans. As many times as I've seen monkeys in the wild it never gets old and this time I was even lucky enough to touch some. Near Sepilok is the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary where the local proboscis monkeys are also fed twice a day. But far more exciting to me than the proboscis monkeys were the 30 or so silver leaf monkeys hanging out in the visitor area with their babies. The place was literally swarming with monkeys, all of whom had no fear of humans and didn't mind being touched.
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| This was my main buddy -- I probably spent 20 minutes hanging out with him, petting him and snapping selfies with him! |
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| While adult silver leaf monkeys are black and silver, the babies are bright orange. This is a shot of the baby nursing. |
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| This little guy kept trying to escape his mom to go play with the other babies - she had quite the job keeping hold of his tail before he scampered off! |
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| This guy was a long-tailed macaque with an adorable overbite - he seemed just as interested in me as I was with him! |
So finally, I should also comment on the security situation in Borneo. Before I left I cracked a few jokes about getting kidnapped in Borneo and I wasn't totally joking. Eastern Sabah is a declared security zone and many of the cities are under curfew (including Sandakan, where we visited) due to a recent rise in kidnappings and terrorist acts. In fact, during my layover on the way to Borneo I got yet another email from the US State Department warning me that Eastern Sabah was dangerous and they were predicting a rise in terrorist acts for the last few days of Ramadan. And due to security concerns, while we were on Manukan Island off of Kota Kinabalu we had armed guards patrolling the island.
The threat to Eastern Sabah comes from militants from the Philippines. As you can see from the below map, the Philippines are just northeast of Eastern Sabah and there's a large Philippino community in Eastern Sabah because Malaysia is much better off economically than the Philippines and many emigrate to Sabah for work.
Prior to my trip I had heard that there were militant Philippinos who were kidnapping Westerners for money and I had also heard that there were Islamic terrorists also targeting Westerners in Borneo. It almost seemed like these might be two separate militant groups operating for separate reasons, so we asked our tour guide about who was perpetrating the attacks. His response? Terrorists.
"Yes, but are they Philippino terrorists? Or Muslim terrorists? And what do they want?" we asked.
"If I say they are Philippino, then you will think all Philippinos are engaged in these terrorist activities, which isn't true. Many Philippinos live here without causing any problems. Same with Muslims. And what they want is to create terror, just that. If we discuss more deeply what they want or are trying to accomplish then we are legitimizing their cause and their actions. So instead we just say they are terrorists without giving them the dignity of having a cause worth fighting for." (I really paraphrased his somewhat rough English, but this is the gist of his message).
I liked that message -- by describing why terrorists do certain things, or by classifying terrorists as a religious or ethnic group, we legitimize their message and cast doubt onto all the other members of their ethnic/religious group. But apart from our questions and the presence of armed guards, nothing seemed out of the ordinary and we felt very safe the entire time we were there.
I'm sure I'll find more things to post about Borneo as I continue sifting through my photos, but in the meantime I'll try to get back to the regularly scheduled programming of all things Oman.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Eid and Borneo
As Ramadan draws to a close, everyone in this part of the world is getting excited about Eid al-Fitr and the time off it brings. Eid is essentially the celebration that breaks the Ramadan fast and a time when Muslims are supposed to be particularly charitable to those in need. It also means that we get the entirety of next week off work.
To add to our good fortune, today happens to be Oman's 44th Renaissance Day Anniversary, which is the day that the Sultan took control over Oman from his father. Today would ordinarily be a holiday, but instead the Ministry of Manpower in Oman elected to give us tomorrow off, which means everyone gets a nice 10-day holiday.
I suspect Muscat will be pretty much a ghost town for the next 10 days, so I'm glad that I had already booked a vacation for next week before the announcement, since fares and prices have skyrocketed after the announcement came out on Monday of this week (seriously, I have no idea how Muslims plan vacations since their holidays are always determined at the last minute). So I'm off to Borneo for 10 days to traipse through jungles, see orangutans and relax on a beach! Here's my itinerary:
To put a little bit of a damper on the trip, I've been getting frequent warnings from the US State Department not to go to Borneo since there's been a slew of kidnappings of Westerners from the Sandakan region (see right side of the map above). The State Department has also warned me not to go because of an epidemic of dengue fever there recently. Oh, and I'm flying Malaysian Airlines, which hasn't had the best of luck lately.
And since bad things happen in threes, that means I'll be totally fine, right? Three bad things have already happened (or are happening, in the case of the first two), so I think that means I'll have a fabulous time and see lots of orangutans. However, since I'm totally Type A, my mother has every single emergency contact number I could possibly think of (including my company's security guy, in case I need a rescue mission (how cool would that be?!?)) and a promise that she will come to Oman and retrieve my cat in the event of my unlikely demise on a beach in Borneo.
So I'll be back in August with [hopefully] fabulous pictures of fuzzy orange primates to share and maybe a funny story or two about my kidnapping experience (Mom, I'm totally kidding - I won't be kidnapped)!
To add to our good fortune, today happens to be Oman's 44th Renaissance Day Anniversary, which is the day that the Sultan took control over Oman from his father. Today would ordinarily be a holiday, but instead the Ministry of Manpower in Oman elected to give us tomorrow off, which means everyone gets a nice 10-day holiday.
I suspect Muscat will be pretty much a ghost town for the next 10 days, so I'm glad that I had already booked a vacation for next week before the announcement, since fares and prices have skyrocketed after the announcement came out on Monday of this week (seriously, I have no idea how Muslims plan vacations since their holidays are always determined at the last minute). So I'm off to Borneo for 10 days to traipse through jungles, see orangutans and relax on a beach! Here's my itinerary:
To put a little bit of a damper on the trip, I've been getting frequent warnings from the US State Department not to go to Borneo since there's been a slew of kidnappings of Westerners from the Sandakan region (see right side of the map above). The State Department has also warned me not to go because of an epidemic of dengue fever there recently. Oh, and I'm flying Malaysian Airlines, which hasn't had the best of luck lately.
And since bad things happen in threes, that means I'll be totally fine, right? Three bad things have already happened (or are happening, in the case of the first two), so I think that means I'll have a fabulous time and see lots of orangutans. However, since I'm totally Type A, my mother has every single emergency contact number I could possibly think of (including my company's security guy, in case I need a rescue mission (how cool would that be?!?)) and a promise that she will come to Oman and retrieve my cat in the event of my unlikely demise on a beach in Borneo.
So I'll be back in August with [hopefully] fabulous pictures of fuzzy orange primates to share and maybe a funny story or two about my kidnapping experience (Mom, I'm totally kidding - I won't be kidnapped)!
Thursday, July 17, 2014
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Ramadan in Oman
We're about smack dab in the middle of Ramadan right now, which I figured warranted a post since this is probably the toughest time to be an expat in a Muslim country (at first I typed "Middle East", but then recalled my previous advice and thought of a better phrase).
The Islamic month of Ramadan began on June 28, 2014 and is a month of fasting and spiritual discipline for all Muslims. (Actually, to be a Muslim one has to comply with the 5 pillars of Islam, and Ramadan is one of those 5 pillars, so that tells you how important it is.) During the daylight hours of Ramadan, a Muslim is required to abstain totally from food, drink (even water), tobacco and sensual pleasures. So for an entire month, Muslims wake up before dawn (around 4 am right now), eat a large breakfast and then fast all day until sunset. At sunset there are usually large dinner banquets and large celebrations, which is called iftar (iftar actually just means breakfast in Arabic, but during Ramadan it represents the break-the-fast feast). Since everyone is staying up late at night and hungry during the day, the working day is shortened for Muslims during Ramadan -- most work from 7 am to 2 pm and then go home and sleep until iftar.
Because people are working shortened days, the open hours for just about everything is screwed up during this month. I went to the mall last week to find a pharmacy and the only two stores that were open during the day were the pharmacy and the grocery store. So I guess even if you wanted to shop instead of eat, you're shit out of luck.
I was familiar with the rules regarding Ramadan before I moved here, but I didn't fully appreciate the impact Ramadan would have on me. Despite the fact that only around 50% of the population here is Omani and despite the fact that many of those Omanis don't fast due to age, sickness or menstruation*, it is forbidden for anyone, including non-Muslims, to eat, drink, or smoke in public during the day. As a result, restaurants and coffee shops are closed during the day, so we can't so much as buy a cup of coffee during the day, much less lunch. We are also advised to wear more-conservative-than-normal clothes and no perfume, since Muslims are trying to abstain from sensual thoughts and we don't want to make it more difficult for them. The entire country is also dry during Ramadan (except for some hotels), so many of the restaurants that ordinarily would serve alcohol just shut down for the month of Ramadan. It also means you can't do things like drink a bottle of water in your car or chew gum in public -- or risk a ticket from the police if you do.
And from a safety perspective, you've got a bunch of really hungry people driving crazier than normal. The American Embassy and my company actually warned us not to be on the roads from 1:30-2:30 pm (when Omanis are going home for the day) or from 6-7:30 pm (when Omanis are racing to get to their iftars) because the driving is so terrible. And as terrible as the driving here is on a normal basis, it's definitely worse during Ramadan and I'd love to see some statistics on how many more accidents there are this month than normal.
Most expats, especially the spouses of people working here, leave for the entire month of Ramadan. Socializing pretty much grinds to a halt during this month and no one wants to risk getting a ticket for being forgetful and chewing a piece of gum. I can only imagine the impact this has on small business owners of stores or restaurants -- you'd pretty much lose all business for one month, or only have business at night.
For the most part, I don't mind it. I rarely go out to lunch and I have my own office, so I've continued to eat and drink at my desk (I think my Omani coworkers in my department just figure that they enter my office at their own risk), though the biggest problem is that people keep scheduling meetings during lunch. I'm also not much of a drinker, so, other than a lot of restaurants being closed, I've barely noticed that the country is dry. And since all the Omanis leave the office around 2, it's really nice and quiet in the afternoons here, which leaves me free to work on my Rosetta Stone Arabic lessons.
Last weekend the restrictions were really noticeable since I had a friend from the US in town. I figured that we would eat lunch at home each day, but as an avid coffee drinker, my friend was pretty devastated that he couldn't get his Starbucks until sundown each day. It was also awkward since we went on a day trip to Wadi Shab, which required us to pack a lunch and drink plenty of water while hiking. During the hike we only saw expats, so we drank our water without concern. But after the hike we were starving and dehydrated, so we had a picnic in the car even though there were a number of Omanis nearby. I was too hungry/exhausted to care about getting a ticket, plus I figured that they were choosing to hang out in an area where they knew they'd be seeing expats in bathing suits or expats eating in cars, so they had to accept some amount of risk (I don't think my legal arguments about accepting risk would work over here, but it's still how my mind works).
So all in all, I don't mind Ramadan that much, though I can see why most expats get the hell out of town. Mostly I'm just ready for it to be over so that more people are in town and so that we go back to our regularly scheduled socializing.
And finally, a terrible-quality picture of one of our spectacular mosques lit up at night (it's really hard to take decent pictures while stopped at a light!).
* During menstruation a woman is deemed as "unclean", so therefore can't participate in holy fasting. As I understand it, a woman doesn't fast during her period but then must make up that period of time afterwards (i.e., keep fasting for a few days after Ramadan).
The Islamic month of Ramadan began on June 28, 2014 and is a month of fasting and spiritual discipline for all Muslims. (Actually, to be a Muslim one has to comply with the 5 pillars of Islam, and Ramadan is one of those 5 pillars, so that tells you how important it is.) During the daylight hours of Ramadan, a Muslim is required to abstain totally from food, drink (even water), tobacco and sensual pleasures. So for an entire month, Muslims wake up before dawn (around 4 am right now), eat a large breakfast and then fast all day until sunset. At sunset there are usually large dinner banquets and large celebrations, which is called iftar (iftar actually just means breakfast in Arabic, but during Ramadan it represents the break-the-fast feast). Since everyone is staying up late at night and hungry during the day, the working day is shortened for Muslims during Ramadan -- most work from 7 am to 2 pm and then go home and sleep until iftar.
Because people are working shortened days, the open hours for just about everything is screwed up during this month. I went to the mall last week to find a pharmacy and the only two stores that were open during the day were the pharmacy and the grocery store. So I guess even if you wanted to shop instead of eat, you're shit out of luck.
I was familiar with the rules regarding Ramadan before I moved here, but I didn't fully appreciate the impact Ramadan would have on me. Despite the fact that only around 50% of the population here is Omani and despite the fact that many of those Omanis don't fast due to age, sickness or menstruation*, it is forbidden for anyone, including non-Muslims, to eat, drink, or smoke in public during the day. As a result, restaurants and coffee shops are closed during the day, so we can't so much as buy a cup of coffee during the day, much less lunch. We are also advised to wear more-conservative-than-normal clothes and no perfume, since Muslims are trying to abstain from sensual thoughts and we don't want to make it more difficult for them. The entire country is also dry during Ramadan (except for some hotels), so many of the restaurants that ordinarily would serve alcohol just shut down for the month of Ramadan. It also means you can't do things like drink a bottle of water in your car or chew gum in public -- or risk a ticket from the police if you do.
And from a safety perspective, you've got a bunch of really hungry people driving crazier than normal. The American Embassy and my company actually warned us not to be on the roads from 1:30-2:30 pm (when Omanis are going home for the day) or from 6-7:30 pm (when Omanis are racing to get to their iftars) because the driving is so terrible. And as terrible as the driving here is on a normal basis, it's definitely worse during Ramadan and I'd love to see some statistics on how many more accidents there are this month than normal.
Most expats, especially the spouses of people working here, leave for the entire month of Ramadan. Socializing pretty much grinds to a halt during this month and no one wants to risk getting a ticket for being forgetful and chewing a piece of gum. I can only imagine the impact this has on small business owners of stores or restaurants -- you'd pretty much lose all business for one month, or only have business at night.
For the most part, I don't mind it. I rarely go out to lunch and I have my own office, so I've continued to eat and drink at my desk (I think my Omani coworkers in my department just figure that they enter my office at their own risk), though the biggest problem is that people keep scheduling meetings during lunch. I'm also not much of a drinker, so, other than a lot of restaurants being closed, I've barely noticed that the country is dry. And since all the Omanis leave the office around 2, it's really nice and quiet in the afternoons here, which leaves me free to work on my Rosetta Stone Arabic lessons.
Last weekend the restrictions were really noticeable since I had a friend from the US in town. I figured that we would eat lunch at home each day, but as an avid coffee drinker, my friend was pretty devastated that he couldn't get his Starbucks until sundown each day. It was also awkward since we went on a day trip to Wadi Shab, which required us to pack a lunch and drink plenty of water while hiking. During the hike we only saw expats, so we drank our water without concern. But after the hike we were starving and dehydrated, so we had a picnic in the car even though there were a number of Omanis nearby. I was too hungry/exhausted to care about getting a ticket, plus I figured that they were choosing to hang out in an area where they knew they'd be seeing expats in bathing suits or expats eating in cars, so they had to accept some amount of risk (I don't think my legal arguments about accepting risk would work over here, but it's still how my mind works).
 |
| This is one of the goat friends we made at Wadi Shab. We gave them our banana peels and other food debris, so we had quite the pack of goats surrounding us. |
And finally, a terrible-quality picture of one of our spectacular mosques lit up at night (it's really hard to take decent pictures while stopped at a light!).
* During menstruation a woman is deemed as "unclean", so therefore can't participate in holy fasting. As I understand it, a woman doesn't fast during her period but then must make up that period of time afterwards (i.e., keep fasting for a few days after Ramadan).
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Wadi Shab and Other Adventures
So I returned home from Europe with a cold. My normal routine would be to stuff myself full of cold medicine and soup and spend a week or so being a little whinier than normal. I figured being sick in Oman wouldn't be any different, but boy was I wrong.
In the US if you need cold medicine you'd go to the pharmacy (or the grocery store or gas station or pretty much anywhere) and peruse the cold medicine aisle, which would probably have 15+ types of cold medicine. Here, apparently you can only get medicine at a pharmacy and, at least as far as I've noticed, pharmacies are pretty much only in the malls. And for the month of Ramadan, the malls all have strange hours, so the first challenge was actually getting to a pharmacy. The pharmacies here are all really small and there's no perusing involved -- you go up to the pharmacist and tell him what you need and he hands you something. And cold medicine here comes in two types -- drowsy and non-drowsy. So once I had the non-drowsy medicine in hand, I went in search of soup.
Again, back in the US, you could go to the grocery store and find literally hundreds of types of canned, refrigerated or boxed soup. Here I found Cup O Soup and exactly two types of canned soup -- lentil (which is white here, not green) and tomato. Neither exactly screamed "I have a cold and need to feel better soon", but I guess they were at least hot.
And the worst part has been the tissues. Since there's no Puffs Plus with Aloe here (or anything even remotely soft), I've been blowing my nose for over a week with the tissue equivalent of sandpaper. By Friday my nose was a giant red scab that bled a little every time I blew my nose.
So being sick here left a lot to be desired, but yesterday I was reminded of how much I love it here by a bit of adventuring. I had a friend visiting from the US so, despite being ill, we set off into the desert to see two of Oman's most famous sights - the Bimmah Sinkhole and Wadi Shab.
About an hour and a half outside of Muscat is the Bimmah Sinkhole, which is a naturally occurring sinkhole that you can swim in. It's fed by a small hole from the ocean, so it's a saltwater pool that manages to remain fresh and cool even in the summer. There were about six other people there while we were there, but we were frankly in a rush to get on to Wadi Shab, so we didn't spend very long at the sinkhole.
About another fifteen minutes further into the desert is Wadi Shab, which was a bit like showing up on the set of an Indiana Jones movie. Wadi means "valley" in Arabic, though many of the desert valleys also turn into oases since water coming down from the mountains collects in the valleys and creates pools of water and greenery in the desert. Here's a few of my favorite shots of Wadi Shab:
This is the view as you first arrive. For 1 Omani Rial, a local will take you in a boat from the parking lot across the water to the start of the hike.
The pictures don't do it justice, but the water was crystal clear blue and the rocky mountains on either side were pretty spectacular. The trip was about 50% walking (or scampering across boulders) and 50% swimming, though apparently in winter there's much more water and there's a lot more swimming involved.
After about an hour of walking/swimming/scampering, you reach a small cave. You have to swim through a tiny crack in the cave, but when you do you're met with a pretty awesome waterfall that you can climb up and jump off. I was pretty happy to take in the scenery, so no jumping for me, though swimming through the crack in the cave was definitely an experience.
Despite feeling a little under the weather, it was so nice to finally get to see some of Oman's spectacular scenery, especially since I could show it off to one of my friends from back home!
Stay tuned, I promise I'll start writing more now that I'm not traveling/sick/entertaining friends.
In the US if you need cold medicine you'd go to the pharmacy (or the grocery store or gas station or pretty much anywhere) and peruse the cold medicine aisle, which would probably have 15+ types of cold medicine. Here, apparently you can only get medicine at a pharmacy and, at least as far as I've noticed, pharmacies are pretty much only in the malls. And for the month of Ramadan, the malls all have strange hours, so the first challenge was actually getting to a pharmacy. The pharmacies here are all really small and there's no perusing involved -- you go up to the pharmacist and tell him what you need and he hands you something. And cold medicine here comes in two types -- drowsy and non-drowsy. So once I had the non-drowsy medicine in hand, I went in search of soup.
Again, back in the US, you could go to the grocery store and find literally hundreds of types of canned, refrigerated or boxed soup. Here I found Cup O Soup and exactly two types of canned soup -- lentil (which is white here, not green) and tomato. Neither exactly screamed "I have a cold and need to feel better soon", but I guess they were at least hot.
And the worst part has been the tissues. Since there's no Puffs Plus with Aloe here (or anything even remotely soft), I've been blowing my nose for over a week with the tissue equivalent of sandpaper. By Friday my nose was a giant red scab that bled a little every time I blew my nose.
So being sick here left a lot to be desired, but yesterday I was reminded of how much I love it here by a bit of adventuring. I had a friend visiting from the US so, despite being ill, we set off into the desert to see two of Oman's most famous sights - the Bimmah Sinkhole and Wadi Shab.
About an hour and a half outside of Muscat is the Bimmah Sinkhole, which is a naturally occurring sinkhole that you can swim in. It's fed by a small hole from the ocean, so it's a saltwater pool that manages to remain fresh and cool even in the summer. There were about six other people there while we were there, but we were frankly in a rush to get on to Wadi Shab, so we didn't spend very long at the sinkhole.
About another fifteen minutes further into the desert is Wadi Shab, which was a bit like showing up on the set of an Indiana Jones movie. Wadi means "valley" in Arabic, though many of the desert valleys also turn into oases since water coming down from the mountains collects in the valleys and creates pools of water and greenery in the desert. Here's a few of my favorite shots of Wadi Shab:
This is the view as you first arrive. For 1 Omani Rial, a local will take you in a boat from the parking lot across the water to the start of the hike.
The pictures don't do it justice, but the water was crystal clear blue and the rocky mountains on either side were pretty spectacular. The trip was about 50% walking (or scampering across boulders) and 50% swimming, though apparently in winter there's much more water and there's a lot more swimming involved.
After about an hour of walking/swimming/scampering, you reach a small cave. You have to swim through a tiny crack in the cave, but when you do you're met with a pretty awesome waterfall that you can climb up and jump off. I was pretty happy to take in the scenery, so no jumping for me, though swimming through the crack in the cave was definitely an experience.
Despite feeling a little under the weather, it was so nice to finally get to see some of Oman's spectacular scenery, especially since I could show it off to one of my friends from back home!
Stay tuned, I promise I'll start writing more now that I'm not traveling/sick/entertaining friends.
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