The Grand Mosque

Several weeks ago, Zach, Sara and I went to the Grand Mosque. It is about 5 minutes from our school and on Thursday mornings it is open to visitors. We dressed very conservatively, covering ourselves with long sleeves and pants and Sara even had to cover her head. It has four corner minarets and a central one which represent the 5 pillars of Islam. There is a huge persian carpet in the main prayer hall that measures 70m by 60m. It was made in Iran and occupied 600 female weavers fully for four years. Inside the prayer hall is a dome which houses a Swarovski crystal chandelier with 1122 lights.

As we walked into the main prayer hall, we removed our shoes and were amazed at the size of the hall. We were only allowed to walk around on specific carpets around the outside edge and one down the middle. There were several other tourists there from Europe and elsewhere taking in the sights. This was my first visit to a mosque as I never visited one when I was in Jakarta.

Amman, Jordan

I am so glad it's the weekend. I started off this week by arriving home at midnight the night before our school week started. Last week, I flew from Muscat to Amman on October 20 for a math conference. The conference was only two days, but we flew out the day before and I stayed an extra two days to see some sights.
Petra and the Dead Sea were the top two highlights I had researched to visit and I was able to see both. I rented a taxi both days from the hotel and although it was more expensive than taking a bus, it was also more comfortable.
The cab ride to Petra was about 3 hours from Amman. There wasn't much to see once we left Amman and headed south. The desert highway is just as you might imagine, stark. Upon arrival, I payed the entrance fee, 21 dinars, which is about $30, and made my way to the siq while offers for horse rides were shouted to all the visitors. The siq is a long narrow passageway that leads to the city of Petra. To get to the Treasury, which is the first major feature, it took me 20 minutes to walk through the siq. The walk was well worth it when I came to the end and the Treasury appeared. After the Treasury, I wanted to see the high place of sacrifice. This trek was tough. I spent about 30 minutes walking up stairs and trails to reach it. The view was spectacular. You could see all of Petra and the people looked like ants. I walked around to the other sights and spent about 3 hours there.
I moved to a new hotel this night because the school was no longer paying for it and I knew I could find a hotel for a lot less than the $225 a night the school had payed for the La Meridien. Casa Bonita was where I ended up and it was a cool place. It had 6 rooms above a Spanish restaurant and tapas bar. The food was superb. The room was preety small, but I didn't spend much time there, because I walked downtown to search out the cheap DVDs and some other souvenirs. I bought a few DVDs, about 100 of them and ate at Hashem, which is a famous restaurant that is basically a bunch of tables in an alley. The hummos and greasy falafels were cheap and super tasty.
The next day, my last in Amman, I headed for the Dead Sea. I caught a cab for the 45 minute ride outside my hotel about mid morning. The driver was a young guy who knew some English and wanted to practice. We talked the whole way down. He was a student at the local university studying global position technology.
When we got there, we went in at the public beach, Amman Beach, for about $10. He took a couple of pictures for me and then took off for a while. I floated around until something funny happened. I was floating aroud as most people do and bumped into a guy. Well, he discovered that he could not touch the bottom and he could not swim! This is not a big deal in the Dead Sea because it is impossible to sink. But he grabs ahold of me and starts speaking in Arabic while pushing me under. I wasn't to worried as I knew I would not drown, but I couldn't get him off me. His friends swam over and I thought they'd settle him, but they grabbed onto me as well. So here I am in the Dead Sea with 3 guys from Jordan who are trying to hold onto me and I am trying to fight them off. While this is happening, I am watching my cab driver laughing hysterically on the beach as he knows exactly what's going on.Well finally, they figured out they could float and which arms were there friend's and I was able to push away. I wish he had grabbed my camera, but no such luck. Does this kind of stuff happen to everyone or am I just lucky?

Nizwa road trip

Back in September, Zach, Sara, and I took our first road trip in Oman to Nizwa. Nizwa is known for its fort and a happening goat market. We went on a Thursday and found out the goat market only happens on Fridays. We were however, able to see the fort and it was spectacular. It has been totally redone. The forts in Oman were usually built to protect a nearby water source. We went to the top and were able to see all over the city.

On our way out of town, we had our first camel sighting. It may become commonplace at sometime, but this was our first and we were really excited. We weren't sure how close you could get to them, so we kept our distance and took lots of pictures. Each camel had their front or back feet tied together and we guessed it was to keep them from running. Who knows.

Our next stop was at a nearby wadi. A wadi is the name given to anyplace where there is water. We new we were in the right place when we saw all the cars. Omanis and everyone else that lives here like to take a picnic and head to the wadi for the day. You see large families eating and playing in the water. Mostly just the guys playing in the water, but the ladies are close by eating and chatting. We walked around for a little while, but it was just too many people for us, so we left. On our way back to the highway, we ran across some abandoned mud brick houses that supposedly had been bombed during the last war in Oman back in the 7os, but not to sure if that was true. This last pictuture is of a date tree we saw on the trip. Oman is well known for it's dates and it is also one of it's biggest exports.

That's all for now, but check back next week as I am headed to Amman, Jordan for a conference and have made plans to go see Petra and float in the Dead Sea.

Smells Fishy?

Last weekend, Zach and I went down to the fish souq to check it out. We went at about 10 am and as such, it was slowing down a little, but there were still plenty of sights to see and smell. As we walked in, I had second thoughts about wearing flip flops, however, it was too late. We walked up aisle after aisle checking out the different types of fish. I couldn't tell you what kinds there were as I know nothing about fish, except that there were big and small. There were also squid, sharks, crabs, and eels for sale. In the back, you took your fish purchase to one of several gentlemen to have it cleaned. This area what interesting to watch the different characters and their cutting techniques. We even saw one gentleman holding the fish with his feet while cutting. We asked to take his picture, but he said no. We're not sure if it was because it was during the holy month or sometimes the muslim followers do not want an image taken of them. Whatever the case, it was still cool to see. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Golfing Oman Style

Having not taken any recent trips, I thought I'd give you some insight to my daily life in Muscat, my new home.

As many of you know, golf is a regular part of my daily routine and as such, I thought I'd show you what it's like to play in Oman. The golf course I play has 18 holes and a driving range. The course is a sand course and play is from a mat when in the fairway and off the sand when not. The fairway is outlined by posts that are set every 10 yards apart to help with distance and club selection. The tee boxes are built of concrete with circular, rubber mats which have holes for tees to be placed in. The greens, or browns as they are called here, are made of a mixture of sand and oil. Before you putt, you use a broom to sweep a trail from your ball to the hole. One of the pictures I've added shows this. The club is very active with tournaments most weekends. I've played in three thus far and have met some great people. For my non-golfing friends, I will be adding a post soon on some other sights around Muscat. Check back soon.

Turtle Weekend

This weekend we travelled 3 and a half hours along the coast past Sur to an area called Ras Al Haad. This is an area that is known for it's turtles, but still difficult enough to get to that we were the only ones there. There were 12 of us who travelled together and plenty of room to ourselves. We camped on a cliff above the beach and slept under the stars. The pictures are better than any description I could ever give it, so I'll let you take a look and see what you think.

My new wheels!

Well, I had this grandiose idea that I would come to Oman and be able to live as I did in Jakarta without a car. It's just not possible here. Taxis and buses are harder to catch and less prevalent. So I've decided to share a car with another teacher here at school. Sara and I split the cost of the SUV and are working out the details as we go. Many people have said that it won't work, which has given us even more determination to make it work.

So this week we purchased a 2001 Mitsubishi Pajero from the parents of a student at school. Neither of us wanted to shell out the cash for a new vehicle, so this is what we decided upon. I especially like the white rims! Let me know what you think.

The latest injury

I must be getting older. Playing ultimate frisbee is not supposed to be a contact sport, but when you dive for the disc, you have to land somewhere. I, luckily, was playing on our very soft field at school and landed on my elbow. It hurt a little bit, but of course I continued to play. The attached pictures will show you what it looks like when your bursa sack bursts. I have since found out that your bursa sack surrounds your elbow and allows it to bend and move freely. It is also filled with fluid. It has since shrunk back to nornal size, but was the size of a softball at it's greatest moment. Check out the pics.

Getting my driver's license

Part of the fun of moving to a new country is experiencing events of the everyday Omani. During our first week, all of the new teachers went to get our driver's licenses together. We did not have to do a driving test or a written test. We did however have to take the eye exam. I wasn't worried about this because I had just had my eyes checked in Colorado before I left and the doctor said my prescription had not changed. I just happened to be the first one in line for the eye exam. I placed the piece of plastic over one eye, then the other. It was a bit difficult, but felt I could see the letters well enough. It seemed odd that all of the letters were in the same shape, a capital E. So I went through the test saying E, M, W and backwards E because when they turned the E, that's what it looked like. After talking with everyone else, I found out that I was the only one that was given this test. When I got my results back, I asked Nasr, who was our Omani get things done man, how I had done. He said that I had missed several, but not to worry. I later found out that the reason the letters looked the same was that they were, but you were supposed to say in what direction they were facing. (left, right, up, down) After me, they changed the test to the English alphabet because I had done so poorly. In the end, I received my license and helped everyone else even though I most likely failed the eye exam. One of those experiences, I will not forget. Here are a couple more random photos from my first days. I am working on my first week post and will update soon. The pics are form my first visit to the beach (10 min. away) and the Mutrah souq. (20 min. away)

My First Days!

Wow! What an amazing place to be. Muscat is unlike any place I have ever been. The school is pristine and the staff have been unblievably welcoming. The landscape is stark, but beautiful in it's own way. The heat is indescribable. Yesterday I checked the weather channel website for the temperature and it said that it was only 88, but it says it feels like 104! I don't know how that's possible.

My house is even better than the one I had in Jakarta. It has 3 berdooms and bathrooms along with living and dining rooms. I've added just a few pics of my house and the sunrise was my first morning in Muscat. I should say it was my first night as I was only able to sleep two hours due to the jetlag.

I have made some great friends already. Sara is my 6th grade teammate and also plays ultimate. Zach is from Colorado and we have hung out everyday thus far. We have spent the majority of our first week settling in. Getting driver's licenses, residency cards, blood drawn and even liquor licenses. Sorry, Mom. You'll have to read my next post to find out about all of these in greater detail.

The journey begins!

Well, I am on my way to Oman. The trip began at 9 am this morning as my dad drove me to the Akron-Canton airport. The flight to Chicago was short, about 1 hr, and no one sat in the seat beside me. I would love for that to happen on the next flight, but I doubt it will. I've got about 5 hours here in the Chicago airport, so I will try to keep myself entertained. Next destination: London.

The flight to London was about 8 hours, but I was lucky enough to not have anyone sit next to me again. When I left Chicago it was 5:30 pm and when I arrived here it was 7:30 in the morning. If I can stay awake on my flight to Muscat it will go a long way toward getting over my jetlag. On my flight, I was reminded of a friend from Jakarta, Bruce the Aussie, when I heard a couple of words we seldom use in the states, rubbish and queue. He always thought it was interesting to hear English expressed in different fashions around the world.

I am new to this blogging, so I am sure I am writing more than I will later, but for now it is filling up my downtime.

Well, I made it to Oman. My bags were not so lucky. One arrived today, so I can finally shave and change my clothes, but my golf bag has yet to appear. Nearly everyone that came through London had the same problem. Such is the experience of living abroad.

Moving

Before I move to Oman, I had to get everything to Ohio. This is where I am flying out of on August 6. I loaded up the prelude with everything I thought I'd want or need. My first stop along the way was in Normal, Illinois. This is where Grant, Leah and Judah live during the summer. They were great friends in Jakarta and I had not seen them since last summer. We hung out for the day and went out for Indian that evening. That was something we enjoyed together in Jakarta. I left the next day for Ohio and am there now. My next move will be the big one, off to Oman!

My next adventure

As many of you know, I am off to Oman. My experience in Jakarta has inspired me to venture out again. I will be using this blog to update everyone on my experience and to remember everything that takes place. The school I will be teaching at is called TAISM and is located in the capital city of Muscat.