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.