Unfortunately I've had to cut short my stay in Oman and return back to the UK due to personal reasons. It's fair to say I'm gutted, but I had a great month and a half in Muscat - it's a part of my life I'll never forget. So thanks to the staff and pupils of the Sultan's School for making me feel so welcome.
Ma as-salaamah!
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Unnerving Persistence
Upon glancing through our guide books a couple of weeks ago, both Marcus and I drew up a vague mental list of things we'd like to do/see whilst here. The Sultan's Armed Forces Museum deserved a visit, we agreed. That would be a nice relaxed trip on some future lazy weekend, we thought: the job's a good'un... Bob's your uncle, etc etc.
So we were somewhat bemused when we found out that the SAF Museum is closed on a Thursday and Friday (the equivalent Western Saturday and Sunday), and is on weekdays open only until 1.30pm. Why on earth would a museum be closed at the weekend and during the afternoon? Beats me. Thus we saw the presence of the school cross country event yesterday as a great opportunity to pay the museum a visit, since we weren't needed at school to marshal, time-keep, or, god forbid, run.
The museum is located in Bait Al Falaj, a 150 year old fort, the original headquarters of the Sultan's Armed Forces garrison. It explores Oman's military history, providing interesting information from the Pre-Islam Persian dominance of the country right through to the Communism-fuelled Dhofar Rebellion, which took place between 1962 and 1975.
After paying the 1 Rial entrance fee we were escorted round the museum, which was remarkably quiet, by an Omani soldier in full military dress. Alas he wasn't much use because we could only understand about 20% of what he was mumbling, and we just couldn't shake him off; he was loathe to let us explore the museum by ourselves: after he had raced through the outdoor section, which showcased military vehicles, planes, and boats (including the state Cadillac which was used to transport VIP guests of the Sultan in the 80s!) Marcus shook his hand and said "Thanks, we'll just have another wander around if that's OK," to which the reply was a stern "Oh I'll stay with you. How long? Ten minutes?"
It's not as if we were going to nick off with a tank or anything.
So we were somewhat bemused when we found out that the SAF Museum is closed on a Thursday and Friday (the equivalent Western Saturday and Sunday), and is on weekdays open only until 1.30pm. Why on earth would a museum be closed at the weekend and during the afternoon? Beats me. Thus we saw the presence of the school cross country event yesterday as a great opportunity to pay the museum a visit, since we weren't needed at school to marshal, time-keep, or, god forbid, run.
The museum is located in Bait Al Falaj, a 150 year old fort, the original headquarters of the Sultan's Armed Forces garrison. It explores Oman's military history, providing interesting information from the Pre-Islam Persian dominance of the country right through to the Communism-fuelled Dhofar Rebellion, which took place between 1962 and 1975.
After paying the 1 Rial entrance fee we were escorted round the museum, which was remarkably quiet, by an Omani soldier in full military dress. Alas he wasn't much use because we could only understand about 20% of what he was mumbling, and we just couldn't shake him off; he was loathe to let us explore the museum by ourselves: after he had raced through the outdoor section, which showcased military vehicles, planes, and boats (including the state Cadillac which was used to transport VIP guests of the Sultan in the 80s!) Marcus shook his hand and said "Thanks, we'll just have another wander around if that's OK," to which the reply was a stern "Oh I'll stay with you. How long? Ten minutes?"
It's not as if we were going to nick off with a tank or anything.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Happy National Day!
Yes, it's the 18th November - that can mean only... um... 3 things: it's Omani National Day, which coincides with the birthday of the Sultan, and it's our 40th day in Oman!
As a result (of it being National Day, not our 40th day), school finished at noon and we had the afternoon off. Unfortunately, the roads were reportedly chockablocked so it was inadvisable to drive anywhere. Thus we had a sunbathing session. In the middle of November. Who'd have thought?
This morning had that end of term feeling; the students came in wearing often very colourful traditional Omani dress, not in the mood for work and looking forward to their afternoon off, whilst some of the western members of staff tried to pull off the dish-dasha look. No comment.
So although today is National Day, the National Day holiday, which is in fact two days, falls next Tuesday and Wednesday. Confusing or what?
As a result (of it being National Day, not our 40th day), school finished at noon and we had the afternoon off. Unfortunately, the roads were reportedly chockablocked so it was inadvisable to drive anywhere. Thus we had a sunbathing session. In the middle of November. Who'd have thought?
This morning had that end of term feeling; the students came in wearing often very colourful traditional Omani dress, not in the mood for work and looking forward to their afternoon off, whilst some of the western members of staff tried to pull off the dish-dasha look. No comment.
So although today is National Day, the National Day holiday, which is in fact two days, falls next Tuesday and Wednesday. Confusing or what?
Friday, 14 November 2008
The Desert
This weekend we went camping in the Wahiba Sands, a desert, with a few members of staff and the boarders - that's about 40 kids. It took us two and a half hours to drive to the edge of the desert, and by the time everyone had been ferried in a few kilometres by 4x4 and set up camp at the base of a great big sand dune, another hour had passed. This had better be worth it, I grumbled.
By this time the sun was beginning to set, so we decided to head up to the top of the sand dune, which was about 200m above camp, to catch the panorama. It really didn't look that high from the bottom, and the kids had earlier sprung up to the top like a herd of gazelle on steroids. All I can say is that they must be practised in the art of dune-climbing, because it's not exactly your usual hill walk - with each step, one's feet sink right down into the sand, and so the effort required is pretty hefty. After eventually stumbling to the top (I wasn't the only one) the view was magnificent, with the sun setting over an endless expanse of desert below us.
Dinner was followed by a good chat and a roaring little camp fire; then at 1am Marcus and I decided to climb up the sand dune again. Since the moon was full, there was a surprising amount of light, and so bizarrely we could see well into the distance as we roamed further into the desert and ran like idiots up and down the dunes. I do hope nobody was watching. Not likely.
By this time the sun was beginning to set, so we decided to head up to the top of the sand dune, which was about 200m above camp, to catch the panorama. It really didn't look that high from the bottom, and the kids had earlier sprung up to the top like a herd of gazelle on steroids. All I can say is that they must be practised in the art of dune-climbing, because it's not exactly your usual hill walk - with each step, one's feet sink right down into the sand, and so the effort required is pretty hefty. After eventually stumbling to the top (I wasn't the only one) the view was magnificent, with the sun setting over an endless expanse of desert below us.
Dinner was followed by a good chat and a roaring little camp fire; then at 1am Marcus and I decided to climb up the sand dune again. Since the moon was full, there was a surprising amount of light, and so bizarrely we could see well into the distance as we roamed further into the desert and ran like idiots up and down the dunes. I do hope nobody was watching. Not likely.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Nakhal Fort
Something really fishy is going on along the Muscat coastline - we're being overwhelmed by the most horrendous smell of dead fish washed up on the shore due to algae.
http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/10237715.html
Yuck.
Moving on swiftly, yesterday we went on a trip to Nakhal Fort, which is in the Batinah Coast region to the west of Muscat, with Year 3. The restored fort was pretty impressive, with some lovely views all round. It is also near to a warm water spring, the Ain Al Thawra, whither we had a quick visit before returning back to school.
http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/10237715.html
Yuck.
Moving on swiftly, yesterday we went on a trip to Nakhal Fort, which is in the Batinah Coast region to the west of Muscat, with Year 3. The restored fort was pretty impressive, with some lovely views all round. It is also near to a warm water spring, the Ain Al Thawra, whither we had a quick visit before returning back to school.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Phone Party
Last night we thought we'd totally indulge ourselves in Omani culture by taking a trip to the cinema to see the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. If you haven't already seen it, it's definitely worth a watch, although I do get the feeling that Bond's taking himself a bit too seriously these days.
Two things, however, caused annoyance to yours truly: firstly, the sex scene (apparently it was barely that) was edited out (taking titillation out of Bond is like getting rid of Q - oh wait, they've done that too), and secondly, none of the other audience members seemed to think it appropriate to turn off their mobile phones, or even to put them on silent mode. The duration of the film was littered with sound effects emanating from phones in all four corners of the cinema.
On a separate note, congratulations to Arsenal on a stirling job yesterday!
Two things, however, caused annoyance to yours truly: firstly, the sex scene (apparently it was barely that) was edited out (taking titillation out of Bond is like getting rid of Q - oh wait, they've done that too), and secondly, none of the other audience members seemed to think it appropriate to turn off their mobile phones, or even to put them on silent mode. The duration of the film was littered with sound effects emanating from phones in all four corners of the cinema.
On a separate note, congratulations to Arsenal on a stirling job yesterday!
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Kummah? No? Ok then...
We were planning on going camping again this weekend, but for alcohol related reasons we weren't feeling too pretty on Thursday morning and instead decided to head into the city of Muscat, which is roughly a half hour drive from the school, for a poke around. Well actually we explored Muttrah, which is the in essence the port district, a short distance away from the main city itself.
Nothing too exciting to report - we had a wonder around the area, the highlight of which was a visit to the main souk. I was expecting to be pestered incessently by the shop-keepers, as was the experience in Istanbul, but in typical Omani fashion, they couldn't really bothered putting too much effort into it all. As we passed by they'd just offer a hopeful: "Kummah? ... Frankincense?" The "hard sell" definitely wasn't on the cards. I liked that.
Yesterday we just chilled at the gorgeous beach by the Dive centre, basking in the 38degC heat. In the words of Colesy, "Oh yeah, that's how we roll..."
Nothing too exciting to report - we had a wonder around the area, the highlight of which was a visit to the main souk. I was expecting to be pestered incessently by the shop-keepers, as was the experience in Istanbul, but in typical Omani fashion, they couldn't really bothered putting too much effort into it all. As we passed by they'd just offer a hopeful: "Kummah? ... Frankincense?" The "hard sell" definitely wasn't on the cards. I liked that.
Yesterday we just chilled at the gorgeous beach by the Dive centre, basking in the 38degC heat. In the words of Colesy, "Oh yeah, that's how we roll..."
Friday, 7 November 2008
Yellow Bird Project
I'd just like to plug a great initiative that I've recently found - the Yellow Bird Project. It designs t-shirts with musicians and sells them online, with proceeds going to a charity of the musician's choice.
Go to www.yellowbirdproject.com to find out more.
Go to www.yellowbirdproject.com to find out more.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Goodbye Mr Chips
And there we have it. After a seemingly eternal build-up, Barack Obama has won the US elections. Good - I could never trust someone who shares his name with a brand of oven chips to lead the world's most powerful country.
We spent the morning at the US embassy, where we watched Obama's victory speech and heard from the US ambassador to Oman. Then we, um, mingled, or shall I say attempted to mingle, which basically consisted of our trying to track down the British Ambassador, who we planned on cornering. Our mission failed - he was nowhere to be found. So instead we tucked in to the Dunkin' Donuts and McArabia burgers which were on offer.
We spent the morning at the US embassy, where we watched Obama's victory speech and heard from the US ambassador to Oman. Then we, um, mingled, or shall I say attempted to mingle, which basically consisted of our trying to track down the British Ambassador, who we planned on cornering. Our mission failed - he was nowhere to be found. So instead we tucked in to the Dunkin' Donuts and McArabia burgers which were on offer.
Monday, 3 November 2008
A Close Shave
Long hair in a climate such as this one is not to be recommended. It may well be November, but the temperature's still mid 30s (I know, it's a hard life). Therefore we decided to resolve this problem with a good old Omani haircut. There are loads of Barbers around, so on Saturday evening we got a recommendation from a member of staff and off we trotted, with some nerves on my part.
Those nerves enlarged somewhat when, upon entering the Barbers, I was greeted by a young Indian who had the most ridiculous greasy curtains for a hair style, who displayed a truly unnerving Sweeney Todd-esque grin, and who spoke next to no English. No turning back now, I thought, and so to the chair I went. Thankfully one of the guys who worked there spoke English, and after about 10 minutes of discussion between them, Mr Curtains set to work. To cut to the chase (excuse the pun), he was awful and I thanked Allah when the English-speaking Barber came along, shouted at him and continued with the job himself. When he'd finished, the cut-throat came out to play, and I was pretty shocked when at the end of all this he asked for just 1.5 Rials in payment, which is about 2 quid. Nice.
Those nerves enlarged somewhat when, upon entering the Barbers, I was greeted by a young Indian who had the most ridiculous greasy curtains for a hair style, who displayed a truly unnerving Sweeney Todd-esque grin, and who spoke next to no English. No turning back now, I thought, and so to the chair I went. Thankfully one of the guys who worked there spoke English, and after about 10 minutes of discussion between them, Mr Curtains set to work. To cut to the chase (excuse the pun), he was awful and I thanked Allah when the English-speaking Barber came along, shouted at him and continued with the job himself. When he'd finished, the cut-throat came out to play, and I was pretty shocked when at the end of all this he asked for just 1.5 Rials in payment, which is about 2 quid. Nice.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
