Turkey for Thanksgiving

It just so happened that our Eid al Adha holiday was at the same time as American Thanksgiving this year and several of us decided to take advantage of it. Mark & Stacey, Zach, Courtney and I went to Turkey for 8 days to celebrate. We flew direct from Muscat to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines and were delayed on both ends.
Stacey had done a lot of research and knew exactly what to see and do. She booked us into a room for the first two nights near the Grand Mosque and many of the other main sights. The only drawback to being so close to the Mosque was the call to prayer that woke us each morning.
We spent the first couple of days exploring Istanbul. The have a great train system that was cheap and well used. One of our first excursions was a boat ride up the Bosphorous River. There were several palaces, forts and ancient buildings to see and when we finally got off, we were at the entrance to the Black Sea. A fort was at the top of the hill, so we climbed the hill for the views and found a great fish restaurant for lunch. A few of the other sight-seeing highlights were the Aya Sofia, The Sultan’s Palace, and the Grand Bazarre.
In the middle of the trip, Zach and Courtney went to Capadocia and Mark, Stacey and I went to Bursa and Iznik. Bursa was great, but Iznik had little to do. We all enjoyed our first Turkish Bath in Bursa and came out feeling fresh and having much less skin. It was quite an experience and something everyone should try if they go. We also had our best meal here as we enjoyed Kofta which was lamb meatballs, with a tomato sauce and sour cream on flat bread. It was spectacular!

The Friendly

On the 30 of May, Oman was playing a friendly match against Egypt. I am just writing about it now, because I did not want to forget what took place.

I had just returned from the states a few days earlier and found out about the match by reading the newspaper. That's usually how you have to find out about events that happen here in Muscat because there is not a lot of advertising. Or at least not a lot in English. And usually you find out after an event has taken place.

In May, the temperature is heating up and is regularly between 100-120 degrees. Today it was about 110 and I'd hoped it would cool down for the game by the 7:30 start. That didn't happen. The outdoor stadium is all cement and plastic seats. The floor retains the heat and probably doesn't cool down until right before sunrise.

The match was competitive and the group that went enjoyed the action. Even the band that played at halftime. But the best part of the match had to be the moment after Egypt scored and began celebrating. Two players had jumped up together and one head butted the other. He was ok, but probably needed some stitches. It was so funny that it even made Belgian TV in a blooper broadcast. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. How not to celebrate a goal.

The Sultan Qaboos Sports complex is less than 5 minutes from my house and if I see the lights on from my house, I usually go over to check out what's happening. It never cooled down that night and when I checked the temp afterwards, it was 115! Not sure how that's possible, but that's what the weather channel said. One of those memories that I will not forget from living abroad.

Kayaking the corniche

Thursday morning, Sara and I took a kayak from school and headed down to the corniche. We were trying to kayak along the coast and see the back of the palace. What we found was spectacular. We did see the back of the palace, but we also got to snorkel a bit and hiked up to an old lighthouse. The view was spectacular and all along the rocks the ships that had entered Muscat had left their signature. There were several ships that had stooped multiple times and they had carved or painted their ship names into the rocks. I've told several people about it and it looks like I'll be going back sometime soon.
The whole trip took about 4 hours from door to door. The pictures won't do it justice, but at least you can get a little idea of the sights. The forts you'll see are everywhere in Oman, but not all of them are as well maintained as these.

During the past two weeks, from Jan. 24 - Feb. 4, we celebrated the life of Terry Fox. He became famous for the Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money forcancer research, which Fox ran with one prosthetic leg. He is considered one of Canada's greatest heroes of the 20th century and is celebrated internationally every September as people participate in the Terry Fox Run, the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research. During the two weeks, we raised over 600 Omani Rials or $1500 US, to support cancer research foundations here in Oman. The money was raised through bake sales, an obstacle course and donations. The two week event culminated with our own Terry Fox Run on Feb. 4, as we raced around the school to complete the run Terry was unable to. After the run, we ate snacks from the bake sale and showed off our Terry Fox tattoos. Events like these make the experience of living overseas and teaching in an international school all the more memorable.

Masirah Island

Most people get together with family and feast on Turkey and all the other goodies on Thanksgiving, but not me. I went to a little island off the coast of Oman called Masirah Island with Zach, Sara and Janelle. We had the the 25 & 26 off from school for National Day and then our weekend is on Thursday and Friday, so we had the 27 & 28 off as well. We decided to head out very early on the 25th and made it to the ferry by 10 AM. Getting on the ferry is a little crazy because you have to back on and as soon as the ferry pulls up, everyone cuts in front of it even before the other cars have a chance to get off.

The picture was of the ferry on the way back and we came back a day early to avoid the rush and to have Thanksgiving back in Muscat. The ferry ride took about 90 minutes and was pretty smooth. There were two life rafts at the back, but no signs of life jackets. Luckily we didn't need them!

Once on the the island, we drove down the western coast and searched for our camping spot. This is tricky in Oman because the ground is basically rock and even on the coast, sandy spots are hard to come by. We found a great spot and spent two nights there, taking daytrips and leaving our campsite set up. The only intruders we had were a few sand crabs who pooped in the tent Zach and I were using. We spent most of the two and a half days we were there just hanging out on the deserted beaches and playing in the ocean. One day, we were visited by some Omani girls, well, not really Zach and I, but Sara and Janelle spoke to them. They even invited us to their house for dinner, but then they never called the next day. Zach and Janelle brought their kite boards and kite surfed a little, but the wind wasn't really strong enough to do it. We made our own meals over campstoves and played cards at night.

On our last day, we packed up our stuff, hit the beach one last time and headed into town. The island is really pretty small. You can drive around the whole thing in a couple of hours. While in town, we ran into some camels, well not literally, but on the way home we kinda did. Janelle and I tried to see how close we could get to them and she won. It's crazy to see them just sitting around town or walking through the streets.

On our way back that day, we saw the fisherman repairing the Dhows, which are the ships they fish from and they were all on the beach being painted, stocked and cleaned. It's cool to see that they still use these traditional vessels. A few of the crew came and talked to Zach and I and they were from all over the Indian subcontinent. Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Burma were just a few of the countries they had left to earn a living.

The return ferry ride was much less hectic until we tried to dock. It was later in the day and the tide was lower, so we ran into a sand bar. Luckily, the ferry was not full and we all moved our cars to the front and the ferry was able to get loose. The drive back was about 4 hours and we only had about an hour of light, so we took off as soon as we hit land. It is highly advisable that you do not drive at night in the interior of Oman at night, due to the lack of light and the size of obstacles you may run into. We had a close encounter with one of those obstacles, a camel, but luckily we avoided them. If you kill a camel on the roads you have to pay the owner for it and camels aren't exactly cheap! We made it back safely and had a fine Thanksgiving meal thanks to Courtney. It was a fun excursion and one more reason why living here is unlike anywhere in the states.

Mini Courses

Yet another example of the advantages to teaching abroad has come to light. For the last 3 days of school before Winter Break, the middle school had mini courses. These courses provide an opportunity for teachers and students to interact with others they might not normally have the chance to. Each teacher chooses the courses they want to teach and the student have 4 - 90 minute classes each day in place of their regular schedule. I chose to teach competitive card games and miniature golf!

During our card playing class, I taught the kids how to play Dutch Blitz, Spoons, Rummy 500 and several other games. Their favorite was Dutch Blitz. I got to play as well, and it gave me a good chance to meet some of the 7th and 8th graders that I do not normally teach.

My miniature golf mini course was something I had always wanted to do, but never had the opportunity. This course consumed me for 5 days. I loved every minute of it, but I spent my weekend preparing for it and even my off periods where I could have been catching up or planning ahead. The kids loved it and we even opened it up for the school to play when we had finished. All in all, it was probably the best 3 days before Winter Break I have ever had and I am sure the kids would agree.

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.