Tales from Arabia

Happy Holiday update

2011-12-26T03:08:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to you all. Where has the time gone?

The last few months have been a whirl.

I have been working like crazy to finish my university project. I finally handed it in at the beginning of December and not sure what will come out of it; but at least I’ve got my life back.

We have moved to a new house and we like it very much. The move: I didn’t like it at all. Basically the usual shambles: movers coming without the right tools, asking me to use our curtains to wrap furniture, moving an entire house with a small pick up truck, scratching things and breaking one of the knobs on the cooker; and finally asking for more money than they had originally quoted at the end of it all (!?) Alas, nothing out of the ordinary.

In October I lead a marine expedition. It went very well, apart from some rough weather hindering the start and one of the elderly volunteers having some kind of a freak panic attack under water on the last day. It was a good experience nonetheless and I have been asked to do it again next year in the Maldives and Oman.

Muscat Opera House (exterior)

The Opera House has opened and we’ve been to four performances for the season. Very, very nice.

I have started a painting class, which I enjoy very much. The class is now finished and we did an exhibition at the end of it to show our work. Both my two paintings had interest from potential buyers. Quite encouraging considering that this is my first attempt! There are some doubts on whether the class will run again in the new year because we don’t have a venue any more but I hope it does. I really enjoyed it.

Italian fields

Arabian Dhow

Art Exhibition

I have given up piano lessons, which I wasn’t enjoying at all. Mostly I think because of the tuition style, but also because it seems something that takes too long to master to an enjoyable level and my motivation dwindles quickly when I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just couldn’t see the point of continuing something that I was not enjoying. Maybe some other time.

Art Exhibition

So here we are at Christmas. The third one in the Tropics. Not much to say other than it is very hard to feel the festive mood over here. No detectable change from every day life and although some shops have some form of decoration and Christmas gizmos and food are sold around town there isn’t much of a festive vibe; well that’s because of course it is not a festivity here. We spent Christmas Eve out for dinner with friends and then Christmas lunch at their house: a lunch that extended until 11 pm! It was nice. Today S. is at work. Just like any other day.

The start of the New year will be another story though. Singapore and Malaysia here we come.

Health and safety

2011-09-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Health and safety is often the subject of hilarious conversations here or at least it is often the subject of my thoughts. The thing is that, no matter how used I am to the fact that the concept of safety or even simple self preservation is apparently non existent here, there will always be something that startles me and makes me recoil.

In my three years of highly scientific observations and behavioural analysis which were only possible thanks to the abundance of material for study, I have come to the conclusion that it all boils down to a lack of common sense and the inability to learn from mistakes (own or others’). AKA stupidity.

I have witnessed or heard accounts of the lack of the most basic common sense with the result that people die or seriously injure themselves in the most stupid ways.

I have seen labourers dangle 30-50m above ground on a wobbly scaffolding with no form of safety on, seen tiny children let freely and happily bounce up and down the inside of fast cars skilfully swerving their way around obstacles on a motorway, heard of labourers flattened down to the ground by stone crashers guilty of having selected the wrong place to sleep under, seen uncovered holes in a middle of a path, electric wires laying on puddles. The list could go on.

I have talked about this subject before so why bring it up again now?

Well, because I have finally come across something that has startled me and made me flinch, again.

Finally, after three long years, I have got around to order another bottle of gas for the cooker. A spare. So that I don’t end up again having to make desperate calls to the gas man in the middle of a roasting session.

So the man comes with his tools and the bottle. He sets up an ingenious system of pipes and taps so that when the main bottle ends I can simply pop out and turn on the tap of the spare one.

It seems quite impressive. So far so good. The chap ends his trafficking of pipes and tools and declares that he wants to check for leaks. That’s great! I am genuinely impressed.

Until he turns towards me and asks me: “do you have a lighter?”

Royal Opera House - soft opening

2011-09-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

You may or may not be aware but Muscat is about to open the doors of its beautiful and impressive brand new Royal Opera House.

The past weekend Muscat was flooded with Italians: a whole Opera cast, staff and orchestra had been flown to Oman for two evenings of performances for a prestigious soft opening event.

I was going to tell you the story of how we managed to get our fidgety fingers onto the oversized gold embroidered tickets for the “by invitation only” event but … naah. Let’s just say that sometimes being Italian with a shiny “faccia di bronzo” can help a lot.

Last Thursday night we had the pleasure of watching an amazing performance of a Gulf-adapted version of Rigoletto by the Teatro Regio di Parma.

Talented artists, amazing costumes, breathtaking sets and an outstanding venue made for a very special evening. Especially if you count that we had some of the best seats in the house (the ones from where you can count the buttons on the Tenor’s costumes).

We are immensely honoured to have been given the opportunity to be there for their fantastic performance and as an Italian I am especially proud that our talented artists and finest productions have been chosen to launch this outstanding and incredible new cultural venue in Oman.

I am afraid I have no pictures to give you (phones and cameras were duly confiscated for the duration of the performance - thank goodness) although I could show you a couple of pictures of the wedding style invitation and a couple of photos of us with the Duke of Mantua who we found in the bar playing pool after the performance.

What can I say? I guess only in Oman you can go to a special Opera event and then spend the rest of the evening in a pub across the road with some members of the cast fresh off the stage, as if they were old friends!

Anyway, we have an amazing theatre season coming up with top artists from all over the world in a spanking new and beautiful Opera House.

I am peeing my pants from the excitement and everybody seems to be in a bit of a ticket purchasing frenzy.

The grand opening is next month with Turandot and the Arena di Verona.

I hope I can make it as I will be coming back from the Musandam expedition on the day. of their last performance.

Yes I am going back and I almost forgot to mention: I’ll be the expedition leader this year.

Lots of exciting stuff coming up! Bear with me, I’ll try to bring you up to speed soon.

Summer

2011-08-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

The summer over here is never a particularly eventful time of the year. There is the heat and at the moment there is also Ramadan. Although at least it is about to end: just a few more days then finally back to normality.

In summer (and particularly during Ramadan) most of the expats escape; it is very quiet in town. We also went away. With a few trips back and forth to Europe I have clocked five weddings (great occasions to spend some nice time with people we hadn't seen in a while), a lot of air miles and an inflated credit card bill.

So now we are back and relatively settled for a little while (although we are already planning a holiday. The proper one I mean). The weather is already a lot milder, we have already started going to the beach. The good season is upon us and fun activities will start again.

For starters we are going to visit Salalah for Eid (the public holiday period that signs the end of Ramadan. This year it's 4 days off): finally we are going to see Dhofar in the Khareef (the monsoon that hits the south of the country transforming it into green land). Apparently it is about 30c and drizzly over there.

Amongst other news I have also been asked to lead the next expedition in Musandam with Biosphere Expeditions in October. Very excited to be going back.

The uni project is proceeding and hopefully I won't go into a fit when the deadline approaches (2nd December). S. says that of course I will.

I guess I am trying to be optimistic. Life is good, as usual, just a little bit uneventful at the moment. My hunch is that it won't stay that way for long; in fact I can feel change in the air and.. as we say with Chiaruga "la stagione di Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo sta per iniziare". :)

The concept of beauty...three years on

2011-06-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

The topic of "arabisation" is a recurrent subject amongst friends when we come to the realization that we may have been living in this part of the world a little bit too long. This realization usually strikes when casually noticing (and finding it totally normal) a certain tendency to be attracted to bling accessories and knickknacks.
This was exactly the subject of my friend A's very recent post after she went out and ordered a "Middle East Edition" of the the otherwise sober looking Sony Vayo. To see this wonderful piece of art you may visit the aforementioned post and figure.

In my mind I like to think that I am immune to this slow (yet dramatic) transformation in taste however today I surrendered that illusion after realising that for the last 2 days I have been fighting to desperately fit my Jeep with the beautiful steering wheel cover depicted below.

Yes that's what I shamelessly drive around with (also notice the shiny blue furry cushion I placed on the seat for added comfort).

Now, before you jump to any conclusions let me tell you that there is a (to me) plausible explanation to all this:

1. I did not purchase the furry object. It was a present given to husband as a joke; It had been laying with no purpose around the house since last Christmas.

2. The steering wheel gets really hot while the car is parked under the summer sun. With hot I mean that it literally scalds your fingers! Which makes it quite challenging to maneuver the car for the first 10-15 minutes when you drive off.

The other day seeing this thing laying around in the house I had my Eureka moment...

I admit that it is not exactly my idea of beauty but somehow I worry that it doesn't bother me at all to be seen sporting this stuff around.

I will not comment in the cushion.

3 years ago, around this time of the year, after stumbling upon her blog, I was writing an email to my, then to me unknown friend to be A. asking what life in Oman was like.... I realise now that should have asked the right questions!

Stuff

2011-05-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

What have I been up to? Stuff (as S. would say)

Amongst the things that have kept me busy and away from the blog recently are:

Diving: lately teaching has also led me to understand a little bit of myself better. Quality and integrity are not something I am ready to compromise no matter what. I'd rather not teach.

Climbing: I'd been planning for about a year, since the exhilarating trip to the 7th hole, to tackle the via Ferrata at Snake Canyon. This one has been physically tough but I enjoyed the challenge very much. I'm not going to describe it into detail: images are stronger than words and the video below plus the photos on flicker give u an exact idea of what I have put myself through.

On this trip I confirmed to myself once and for all that heights do not affect me at all (as long as I have a safety) and that my mind is highly rational despite what people may think judging by the kind of activities I sign up to. Hanging down, double strapped to a metal wire 100+ m from the ground is safer than crossing a busy road; you just have to convince your mind.

Conservation: I have popped to the UAE to help the Reef Check team from Dubai with some reef monitoring activities in Dibba a couple of weekends ago and delivered my first talk on conservation volunteering and the expeditions in Oman to a group of 60 5th grade pupils at a local school. Hopefully I will be able to do some more talks to the public in the near future.

Studying: amongst all this I am still hammering on with my project. I am teaching myself to program with visual basic .NET, researching (lots of reading!), writing, project managing and pushing my boundaries.

Piano lessons: I need to balance the logic with some art and creativity. I’ll be honest: I am finding it hard. Plus I see very little art in learning to read music and try to coordinate fingers that have a life of their own but this quote I heard today seems appropriate “ believe you can or nobody else will” and that is so true for many situations in life. The determination I need not to feel disheartened brings back memories of a very defining moment when my dance teacher pushed me to come out of my shyness shell as a child. Since then whenever I hesitate I think: I can.

This brings us to today. Today like any day was another inspirational day. Specifically today we attended the first TEDx event in Oman. For those who don’t know what TED and TEDx is about have a look at this link:

http://www.ted.com/tedx

S. and I often watch TED talks over breakfast to start the day in an inspirational way. It was a privilege to be able to attend a live event.

Today we were prompted to think (and write) about our idea of change so this is how I framed it. It is a bit raw but I only had a few minutes to think about it:

Change is evolution, renewal and hope.

Evolution is the force that pushes humanity and the world forward
Renewal is the energy that brings about new ideas and makes room for new ways for looking at (old) things
Hope is what helps us win the fear of change, without hope for a better world there is no (positive) change.

And now, in the knowledge of what has led me this far, I add:

Change is what gives me the drive, because change is the essence of life.

Lost in translation rules

2011-04-16T02:57:00.000-07:00

The other day I visited one of the Ministries to obtain a permit to visit the Daymanyiat Islands with our boat. They are a nature reserve so a permit is required. Unfortunately we didn't go to the islands in the end because of the (incorrect) forecast and changeable weather that we have had during these past couple of weeks so we remained cautious and kept to the familiar waters of Bandar Khyran. Nonetheless I would like to share with you the rules for visiting the islands which I discovered last week and which I think are important:

My favourite is rule number 4 - I have heard that this is an issue that has caused some frictions between fishermen and divers lately. Personally, despite my strong views about conservation I am not a big fun of activist style action. I do believe that conservation is about education and awareness - like everything it requires a sustainable plan and suitable alternatives for people who make their living out of the sea - but that's another (long) story. However, apart from the fact that I fail to understand the role of cages and fishing nets in a marine reserve (other than maybe the fact that fishing is allowed on a seasonal basis?) I cannot remove from my head this image of divers/snorkelers suddenly disintegrating with fishing equipment.

In my imaginary world I have created a wicked version of battleship: I am placing diver in cell A4; diver activates self-destruct button on BCD while touching net - boom - net and diver disintegrated. Fish wins!

Ah... how boring would the world be if things didn't get lost in translation ~~every now and then~~?

Trip to Dhofar - tracking down the Arabian Leopard

2011-03-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

I’m always excited at the prospect of travelling and exploring new places but when to that excitement you also add the feel-good factor of knowing that your trip has a purpose and that your being there contributes to the better good, the intensity of that excitement spikes to a level that is hard to describe.

View on landing

This time I didn’t have to venture too far: 1.5 hrs after boarding my plane from Muscat, I was gliding with my fellow passengers above a grovel of dry Wadis (river beds) that seen from the air looked like a section of the human brain to me. Those scars on the land are a clear indication that this landscape, although so dry now, it’s chiselled regularly by the unstoppable works of flowing water. I was about to land in Salalah, the capital of Dhofar.

The region of Dhofar is known for the Khareef season, the seasonal dampening effect brought by the Asian monsoons whose arms reach the southern coast of Oman for a few months during the summer transforming an otherwise arid landscape into a verdant and vibrant land and attracting flocks of tourists from the surrounding countries looking for a break from the unforgiving summer heat.

Frankincense Tree

This is also the land of the Frankincense tree, a sturdy plant solidly rooted to the dry ground and a proud reminiscence of a glorious past of trades and traditions (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1010).

The flanks of the hills surrounding Salalah are covered in thorny bushes and trees, they are dry now but it is not hard to imagine the transformation during Khareef (I reinforce my resolution to come back in summer). Here herds of camels and cows regularly claim supremacy of the roads, eagles dot the sky and birds weave their intricate nests up the coconut palm fronds that rise up high in plantations right in the middle of town.

As the drive to base camp takes me through town and then up and down rocky hills and grazing land, I surrender to the feeling of wonder that this country keeps magically stirring inside me even after two and half years. So many different landscapes moulded by wind, sun, water and man.

This visit however, is not about watching the landscape, visiting historic sites, lazing on the white long beach or exploring the depth of the sea (for as much as I would like to). On this occasion I am joining a group of volunteers lead by an experienced field scientist, an expedition leader, an official from the Oman Royal Diwan and the rest of the crew on a quest to track down the almost extinct and critically endangered Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr).

As some of you may remember, last October I joined Biosphere Expeditions on the Musandam marine expedition after winning a scholarship. I have kept in touch with the organization since, so when they needed a person to help drive one of the expedition vehicles back to Muscat I volunteered. Later on, as I pondered whether to fly earlier to explore a bit of the country that I hadn’t visited yet, I was offered the opportunity to actually join the last week of the expedition to get a taster. I never let these kind of opportunities pass me by so a month later I was setting my tent up in Wadi Ayun (the expedition base) to spend a week looking for tracks, scat (or poo as we know it), checking camera traps and interviewing the locals; providing my contribution to an important ongoing research project that started back in 2006.

Unfortunately we didn’t actually see the “cat in pyjamas”, not even a fresh picture from the camera trap but that wasn’t a reason for disappointment. Volunteers come on the trip aware that they may never see an actual Leopard. It is indeed a rare animal and the expedition is not a safari holiday in a reserve where animals are used to humans.

Eagle

This specific expedition is run in collaboration with the Diwan of Royal Court of Oman and its aim is to establish the presence of the Leopard in a specific area of Dhofar. A corridor of territory that geographically links the area of Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve with the area across the border to Yemen, where, in both cases, the Leopard is protected and a few specimens are known to exist.

Establishing Leopard presence in this specific area would represent an important step in the advancement of knowledge of the Leopard’s whereabouts and would provide scientific information so essential for decision making on conservation management by the local government.

Proof that the Leopard crosses this corridor could imply the possibility of cross breeding between the individuals in the two confirmed areas, a factor that could be vital to the survival of the last remaining wild cats in this region.

Having a photo, although amazing, is not essential to this quest: an analysed piece of scat which is carefully marked to a precise GPS location by the volunteers who find it, can be enough to confirm the cat’s passage; while the study of the territory, human impact levels and the presence of sufficient indicator species the Leopard feeds on could be enough to confirm whether this territory constitutes indeed a suitable habitat for the animal.

I never though that one could get that excited about finding a bit of poo!

After I was given a tour of the camp, briefed on the camp’s rules and ramped up on the science and daily routines I was able to go on my first excursion.

Briefing by the camp fire

A typical day would start with an early briefing at breakfast listing the tasks for the day. The group then would split into small teams taking up specific tasks which could range from trekking an area looking for tracks to retrieving one or more of the cameras set up the previous week or interviewing the locals to document sightings, locate candidate areas for study and raise awareness.

At the end of the day we would gather around the fire before dinner and report on our findings.

Collecting camera traps was my favourite activity: you never knew what you were going to find on the pictures and the remote chance that there could be a Leopard was a very exciting prospective indeed.

Even in this case unfortunately the Leopard kept truthful to its elusive nature however it was rather exciting to see photos of a Caracal, wolf, hyena, genet and other local fauna. Before coming on this expedition I didn’t even know that this variety of animals was present there.

Shining Sunbird

The work is quite physical and requires quite a fair amount of trekking up and down wadis, in hot and dusty conditions; you do need some level of fitness; however it was refreshing to see a mix of ages and backgrounds in the group of volunteers.

At the end of the expedition, the scientist analyses the data collected, ensures that collected specimens go through specialised DNA testing and produces a scientific report for the stakeholders.

For a volunteer coming to an expedition like this there is a lot to learn and experience. On top of the science stuff, recognising tracks and recording data, some people enjoy driving off-road up and down dry river beds for the first time, everybody gets to use GPS and other specialised equipment and in a number of occasions we spotted animals in the wild like Hyrax, Gazelle, Eagles and many other species of birds and critters.

These kinds of expeditions take enthusiastic volunteers with no scientific background or prior knowledge to experience scientific field research. The funding and time provided by the volunteers contribute directly to a project that otherwise might have not been possible.

This kind of field research can be resource intensive. Finding the money and people is not easy so companies like Biosphere Expeditions bring science and the public together and both groups benefit from such effort while contributing to an increase in awareness. It is hard to find a volunteer who does not return enthusiastic from this kind of experience. Individuals feel truly engaged and compelled to talk about it.

In the past taking part in these experiences required a lot of time, a lot of funding and a bit of an Indiana-Jones’ personality but nowadays there are options for everybody.

While as a personal preference for this kind of experience I tend to lean towards somewhere off the beaten track and prefer something a little bit more adventurous than my standard holiday, you don’t necessarily have to rough it. Expeditions like Biosphere’s Western Australia Flatback turtle research project for example promises a very comfortable and idyllic expedition base.

So next time you are looking for an idea for a holiday, think about using a week or two to volunteer on a worthwhile project. I can assure you that what you will come back with will be much more than some pretty postcard photos and a healthy glow.

And now if you haven’t had enough of reading, you may also have a look at the article and watch the video published by a Gulf News reporter who came to spend a few days at base camp while I was there:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/offbeat-track-to-conservation-in-arabian-peninsula-1.778173

Or if you are bored of reading you can always switch to my photo reportage.

Enjoy!

Back from Salalah

2011-03-08T01:38:00.000-08:00

Things have been happening while I was away so my adventures down in the deep (beautiful) south tucked away in a Wadi looking for traces of the elusive Leopard, removed from phone reception and sheltered from the news of ongoing unrest may not be at the top of your priorities. I am sure that most of you will want to know what is going on over here and what the situation is. To be honest I am catching up and I probably know just about as much as you out there or maybe even less.

I left the expedition camp on 4^th March and Salalah on 5^th March on an epic journey that saw us driving from about 8:30 am to 1:30 am when we reached the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve! What a killer! We started in a convoy of 4 cars, one of which left us to proceed directly to Muscat while the rest of us headed to the UAE (to drop all the expedition equipment before making our way back to Muscat on a separate schedule).

We were supposed to do the drive over 2 days with an intermediate stop but for some reason one of the people tasked with the drive managed to complicate things with an optimist flight booking from Muscat pushing us to do it all in one day (even though he eventually changed his flight – long story and very boring too). I felt a bit homicidal at times but in general I actually enjoyed the drive. It may be because I was driving a very comfy car (a super techy brand new Land Rover LR4 V8) or maybe because I do actually like driving, especially if there is nobody else in the vehicle forcing me into some mindless polite conversation. Just me, the desolate landscape, the sandstorms, the straight roads and the music. Brill!

I spent one night in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (and saw the beautiful Arabian Oryx too) and then set off again to Muscat on 6^th March. The four hours drive required to do this last stretch at seemed so fast after the drive from Salalah to Dubai ,although I was really tired and had to stop on the roadside for a nap half way through.

The route from Dubai to Muscat takes you past the now probably famous Sohar Globe Roundabout which you may have seen pictured on the papers over the last week or so.

The roundabout itself was closed and there were people sitting or wandering about in the middle of it and on the roads around it, with banners, big picture of the Sultan etc. but everything looked under control.

There was heavy military presence along the roads there: armored vehicles, huge machine guns in display, helicopter flying low over the area (I could actually see the people inside it from the open side door); but once again it all felt calm and under control. I actually felt tempted to stop and take pictures/video but I thought better of it and drove on.

I am now in Muscat and from a daily life perspective I cannot say that anything has changed. We still go about our usual business and we are not particularly concerned about the situation.

There are plenty of blogs talking about what is happening so I am not going to add to that. If you are interested in reading some first hand real stories from some local bloggers (as opposed to – impersonal - international news) you may visit the following links:

Muscat Confidential: probably the most read and talked blogger in town (even now that he’s left the country)

Dhofar Gucci – the blog I’m using to find out what was happening right on my doorstep while on the expedition!

From two teachers who work in Sohar: http://danandjillian3.blogspot.com/

Next I’ll tell you about the expedition I have just come back from, which was all very interesting.

Conservation volunteering

2011-02-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

I am a diver and a diving instructor so I am all very sensitive to marine conservation chatter and maybe a little bit passionate about the sea.

But I am sure you have all heard and keep on hearing about it: the reefs are dying, pollution, coral bleaching overfishing, global warming.

Films, documentaries, books, newspapers, environmental activists all out there campaigning for more awareness, more action, more conservation.

So we get it, the reefs are not doing well and we need to do something to protect them.

But what does this exactly mean?

When you talk about a land animal or forests people can visualize the issue. If someone mentions deforestation you know in practice what it is, because you may have seen a tree being cut or images on a magazine or documentaries on TV. But how close a problem do you feel this is to you? And what is the image that comes up to your mind when you think of an unhealthy reef?

Have you ever wondered how scientists assess the state of a reef?

How can scientists grasp what is happening under water?

Could you tell from a picture? Does the following depict a healthy reef?

Could you identify any problems on the next image?

When scientists first started asking questions about the global state of the reef there was no definite answer. Opinions on the general state of the reefs globally varied from person to person based on methodologies used and individual experience and personal perception of the health of their local environments. Up until just over a decade ago there was no compatible data that could be used to assess what the general health of the reefs is on a global scale.

The very first global reef survey was carried out as recently as 1997 thanks to Reef Check. A not-for-profit organization that, through the coordination and training of a global network of volunteers was able to collect data that formed the basis for a report confirming the status of crisis of our reefs globally and that shocked many marine biologists who until then had not realized the extent of the problem (“About Reef Check” 2007).

While this initial global survey enabled analysis of a number of reefs in many countries worldwide using a single methodology and was invaluable to start off the debate and raise awareness and interest globally, some limitations were identified in the subsequent report published in a scientific journal 1999:

• As part of the original project it was not possible to survey all the countries with reefs in the world. About 70 countries had to be left out; 80 were surveyed.

• The number of 300 sample sites surveyed, ideally should be increased to cover a wider number of samples for more representative data

• From a global perspective, some areas were over represented (e.g.: Egypt) while others were under represented (e.g.: the Caribbean)

Nonetheless this was indeed the first survey that enabled an initial global assessment of the reefs. Since then Reef Check has continued to grow and today it counts a network of volunteers in 90 countries and territories enabling the collection of invaluable data for ongoing assessment of the reefs. The data provides valuable insight for decision making on the establishment of protected areas as well as for assessments of the success of existing ones.

Why should this interest you?

Well, because these kind of surveys in such a global scale are only possible thanks to volunteers. If scientists were to use just marine biologists for this kind of work it would be virtually impossible or it would take much longer, because of the scale, the number of people required, time, costs and lack of funding.

This is how non-profit organizations have come to sprawl over the years to make ends meet: science meets the general public and this partnership is very fruitful. The best example of a win-win situation.

Volunteers who take part in these kind of projects do not need to have a scientific background. The methodology used is simple enough to be learned quickly and applied by anyone without a science degree. Volunteers are only required to put in their time, commitment and some funding to support the research; in exchange they get to learn new skills side by side to experienced scientists on the field, visit amazing places and locations sometimes very remote and come back with a luggage full of incredible experiences that will never be comparable to any other travel endeavors. Plus of course, the satisfaction of knowing that they are contributing to a collective worthwhile effort that will increase knowledge and hopefully result into some practical long-term solutions.

I can tell you because I have done it and from these experiences I treasure the most precious memories; from smiling children in remote fishing villages in Madagascar to angry territorial fish chewing through transect tape in Musandam.

Just a word of warning: make sure you research your organization carefully before you part with your hard earned money.

As you may have gathered we have these kind of projects in Oman too but this was just an introduction.

I will talk about my experiences as a volunteer in my next post.

In the meantime I am preparing to leave for Dhofar - the southern region of Oman - at the end of this week, to join Biosphere Expeditions on their project on the Arabian Leopard.

Stay tuned.

A random weekend

2011-02-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

This weekend was supposed to be spent under a canopy of stars, with sand in between the toes (and in the hair, the ears and everywhere else for that matter), driving up and down dunes and chasing the dung beetles away from the camp fire.

But we personally had to scrap the plan. Yes, because amongst the things that are a little different here, there are public holidays. Or better the fact of never knowing until the last minute whether they are going to be public (as in “just for the public sector”) or a true “public holidays” (as in “for the general public”).

Take this last occasion for the example, the Prophet’s birthday. A birthday: you may be tempted to think that it should always be on the same date. Think again.
Well yes a date is a date but the calendar the date is based on is not the one we are accustomed to and in this case it can be all a bit lunar.

Here is how it works:

everybody knew the rough date (some, thanks to modern technology or basic knowledge of moon cycles, can also guess the date with precision) but as with every religious occurrence here, the exact date will only be announced two or three days before the actual event after a committee of elders have had the opportunity to glance at the moon and officially confer on the exact date.

Once this happens the Ministry of Manpower (I think) decides whether everybody is worthy of a day off or whether only the public sector is entitled.

Just to make things more interesting there is also to take into consideration that the weekend here can fall over a variety of days depending on who you work for: if you churn numbers in a bank for example you may have Friday and Saturday off, ministries and other public bodies are closed on Thursdays and Fridays, if you work for a company in the private sector you are at the mercy of some obscure algorithm I have not managed to crack: you may have Thursday & Friday or Friday & Saturday. If you are in construction you may just have 1 day off but some maybe 1 and ½ at random between Thursday, Friday or perhaps even Saturday.

After almost 2 and ½ years I find it just as mysterious as black magic.

So up until a few days before the weekend we were foolishly counting on a 3-day break to join the usual suspects on an insane challenge in the Wahiba desert until this announcement at S.’s company came out on Sunday:

“For your information ministries, public authorities and other government departments will remain closed on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 on the occasion of Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday, according to a decision issued here yesterday by Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud al Busaidy, Minister of the Diwan of the Royal Court and Chairman of the Civil Service Council.
Meanwhile, Shaikh Abdullah bin Nassir al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, issued a ministerial decision to stop work at private sector companies and establishments on the same occasion on Thursday, February 17, 2011. Work will resume in private sector establishments on Saturday, February 19.
Have a nice holiday!”

Now while this doesn't mean anything to you. For us it meant just another “normal” weekend as opposed to a long one. Not enough to cover hundreds of kilometers for a desert challenge anyway.

So no desert for us; we had to come up with something else to do with the weekend.

That is how we ended up exploring a completely new part of town on a trek through the mountains at the back between Ryam and Muttrah. Now for those who do not know Muscat, these are basically mountains the city cuts right through, which meant that for about 1.5hrs we ended up on a snake infested trail (lots of fun) feeling as if we were in the middle of nowhere, while being just a stone throw from the hustle and bustle of the old town with souq, tourists and cruise ships!
Once off the trail we refilled at a local restaurant, jumped on our boat for a cruise along the coast and ended the day walking for what felt like the equivalent of the desert challenge to, through and from the Muscat Festival (the to and from just to avoid the gridlock of cars).

Today we took it easy brunching for hours at one of the usual joints at a top end hotel in town.

This is the end of a random weekend without a plan. Goodnight!

When indispensable things don't work

2011-02-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

It starts like this: you press a button on the remote control and nothing happens.
Or a puddle forms on the floor. Panic sets in.
You know it is time to call the service men to repair the AC.

So you call and they turn up, at some undefined time between Bukra and InshaAllah with their mysterious tool boxes.

One looks at the AC unit with a puzzled face.

I explain: AC is not working. You see it doesn’t come on at all. It looks as if there is no electricity reaching the unit; however the light on the switch on the wall is on (which suggests that electricity arrives there: I must be a genius).

AC man one looks at the AC, then plays with the switch, then with the remote and confirms my initial assessment (the one where I state that the AC doesn’t work). Then asks for the location of the main switch.

I think he wants to cut off the power to work on the unit, turns out he wants to open and disassemble the main electricity switch to search for some phantom fault there… It must be the main switch you see, if there is electricity in the switch on the wall but not on the actual unit on the opposite wall. I already visualise endless candlelit nights.

Finally I convince him to look elsewhere (I can be very persuasive); so he decides that it’s time to take the switch on the wall apart (the one where the light comes on).

I question his troubleshooting methods: he mentions something on the lines of checking first what works (??). I give up hope on a solution for the day. I let him open the switch hoping that he doesn’t break what works or cause a short-circuit. He places the screws back and half an hour past the useless checks he finally moves to the broken AC unit.

He tells me that there is electricity there but the motor doesn’t work. I wonder how he checked the existence of electricity and I imagine him sticking his tongue out like when I used to play with those old fashioned batteries as a kid.

It’s the motor, he finally claims with solemnity in front of the open unit with a grovel of hanging wires and then he entertains a series of reasons why it is better to replace the unit instead of just the part. I personally don’t care beyond having a functioning AC; costs and particulars are for the landlord’s perusal.

Then he turns around and goes back to look at the unit and fiddle with wires and other stuff scratching his head. The head scratching usually gets me but especially I never understand why anyone would continue to look at something once he has so convincingly diagnosed the problem and suggested a radical solution such as replacement.

Living here I’ve learnt how perception of time is personal and cultural and can be the basis for a lot of frustration.

So three days later they are back, with a brand new AC unit, an extra person and a lot more tools. Drilling through my bedroom wall, banging and changing electrical wires too (not sure why if they were working). I cannot fail to notice what sounds like some disagreements and head shaking when I pop my head into the room to ensure that they are still alive.

They’ve been there for the last 3 or 4 hours, maybe longer.

I hope they leave soon, that the AC works when they leave and especially that the unit doesn’t fall onto our heads during the night.

Finally I still think that issue might have been a faulty wire but it’s only a thought. The truth I will never know.

Oman Botanic Gardens

2011-01-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went on a guided visit of the Oman Botanic Garden organized by the Women’s Guild of Oman.

The Oman Botanic Gardens are still under construction and they are not open to the public yet; so I felt privileged to be able to go on this visit.

This is a huge project started in 2006 and expected to run for another few years and which will see the creation of the three main habitats of Oman (Northern, Central and South); a first of this kind.

http://www.oman-botanic-garden.org/project.html

The project is humongous. The majority of the plants that will be represented in the gardens have never been grown before, so the horticulturalists and students on the project have to scour for them around the country, collect and bank their seeds, plant and grow them and record all the findings and information as they learn about new species and how they grow .

The first habitat that has been created on the site is the northern gravel one. This is the natural habitat typical of the area where the site is located, so logically the first and “easier” one. More than 2000 plants have been planted while a number of plants are still being researched and grown in the various nurseries.

The site stands over 420 ha of ground. As the "plant experts" collect the specimens and experiment in the nurseries, engineers and workers are building the receptive structures, a cultural village (meant to serve as a link between cultural traditions and the surrounding environment) and landscaping and preparing the grounds for more plants to come and for the hosting of what will probably be an impressive bio-dome that will reproduce the unique habitat of Dhofar in the South of Oman.

I was surprised to learn that this southern region of the country is also home to the majestic Baobabs (for some reason I thought they were found only in Africa; although now only a few remain there and they are critically endangered) and my first encounter with the Desert Rose was love at first sight: I love the fat and sinuous body of this plant. It looks like a sculpture.

I think that when it's finished The Oman Botanic Gardens will be an amazing place to visit. People will be brought closer to nature and will have a chance to learn and get a deeper understanding of the beauty of nature and the need to preserve it.

It’s great to see that a wealthy country such as Oman is spending its resources in such worthwhile projects and for the benefit of its people.

Photos will follow as soon as I get some time to sort them out.

Holiday Season

2010-12-29T05:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you all, we hope you had a good one.

Remember that Christmas is not a holiday in this part of the world, however we have been lucky this year as the 40th National Day Celebrations have fallen around this time so S. has ended up with some extra days off announced just a few days before Xmas.

As a result a lot of people jet off to their home countries at the last minute braving the sky rocketing airline prices (and the unpredictable European weather) while we spent it with friends under the sun doing what normally one does over this holiday season: eating, drinking, eating, drinking, eating…and generally being merry.

For Christmas Eve we were at some friends’ house and we enjoyed a mix of international traditions from Italian starters to Argentinian BBQ to British extra alcoholic puddings not to be consumed before driving (and I mean in any country).

Amongst the most memorable moments was watching C. making a Brandy Sauce for a very delicious Christmas Pudding: on the claim that she could not taste the brandy and that “you cannot call this a Brandy Sauce”, she held the bottle up-side-down over the pan. Brilliant cook! Measures are for beginners: the lucky ones know that her puddings (and her cocktails) are legendary; and so was this one (and the Trifle too!!).

For Christmas Day we indulged in an extravagant buffet at the posh Al Bustan Palace Hotel, and then rolled for drinks to the beach bar. All in civilised style.

I admit that the concept of having a Christmas meal and pulling crackers while holiday makers paddle in the pool outside may seem a bit weird but then so is having a Christmas tree in the lounge when you roam around in t-shirt and flip-flops or turning on the Xmas Tree lights when you return from the beach with your hair full of sand (perform shrug here).

Now is the turn for New Year’s Eve (not before squeezing in a trip to the desert for what we expect to be a very unusual concert by a friend's band - the venue will be at least).

I don’t know what the fuss is about this NYE. It’s always the same dilemma: what to do to avoid that dreaded anti-climax feeling? With the extra days off we were really keen on jetting off somewhere nearby (we find that after 2 years living away from Europe “nearby” has acquired a completely new meaning). In a couple of days we travelled virtually to Lebanon, Istanbul, India and Sri Lanka and finally we got a quote for a 4-day safari in the Masai Maara in Kenya. We were really ready to book what would have probably been the most extravagant last-minute holiday that we could have not planned but we had to scrap everything when we realized that we needed a Yellow Fever jab which for me expired last year and that it was obvious I was not going to get over the National Holidays. Gutted! (by the way I am planning to get this done in the New Year and I am sure that the experience is going to be "interesting").

So here we are, left with celebrating NYE on a white beach along the coast somewhere, doing what we do best with our friends. As AZ always says: what a hard life!

Happy New Year to you all!

Season Greetings

2010-12-24T06:19:00.000-08:00

Wahiba Callenge - crossing the desert Diva style

2010-12-12T04:57:00.000-08:00

I have been too busy with studies and other stuff so no time to dedicate to the blog. Two university deadlines now at the beginning of December and exams in January I have no time to waste.
So I guess that a weekend of adventures in the desert, crossing the Wahiba Sands with the rest of the Divas team must have come pretty high in the hierarchy of my existing priorities.

I'll be brief. The video in the link gives a good summary of this past weekend. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWTJgPXnbN0

I have not been sucked into a black hole!

2010-10-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

Just things have been a bit hectic. Here are some highlights for the last 2 months

• I have learned that goats in Musandam commute by boat and use cars (their own way)
•    My mental in-sanity is reaching dangerous levels
•    I managed to lose my boarding pass at Dubai Airport between check-in and the departure gate.
•    Drove 450km and back to spend 3 days camping on a desolate beach backed by some idyllic white dune desert. Stopped twice at military check points I practiced my rudimental Arabic eagerly (to the bemusement of the local soldiers) only to find out that my vehicle registration had expired a week earlier.
•    I have finally stopped sustaining the local car rental company and am now the proud owner of a Jeep Cherokee Liberty.
•    Spent some lovely time in the company of Bro. & co. who just left after two weeks of holidays with us.
•    At the last dune-driving practice weekend I almost rolled the car over with all the family in it; the horrified look on their faces when they found themselves hanging sideways was priceless; my “oh-shit-how-do-I-get-out-of-this-now” expression must have been even better. Shame that in the midst of panic nobody thought of taking a photo.
•    I learned that going through an automatic car wash forgetting to secure the car roof top is NOT a good idea
•    I have also learned that the Cherokee must somehow be a little bit longer than the average Yaris after I unintentionally tested the front bumper against the wall of the house carving the plate into it
•    I have a month worth of studying to catch up with, balls and receptions to attend, camping weekends ahead, some work just to feel less guilty (who me?) and a lot of social distractions; it won't be long before it's time to go on a holiday again!

Seriously, I will try to find some time to update the blog.

Busy ahead

2010-10-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

You know I was away (longest break away from this country since I moved here) hence the long period of silence.

Now we are back but I’m busy with a few things:

Preparing for the imminent expedition to Musandam: I have won a scholarship and I will be taking part in a Marine Expedition courtesy of Biosphere Expeditions and HSBC. Very, very exciting to get back in the field once again!
Preparing for this coming weekend of desert driving (lots of equipment to put together): I have signed up to take part in the Wahiba Challenge which will see me driving across the Wahiba desert in my 4x4 with a team of only women so we have a number of weekends in preparation for the big challenge which is scheduled for the end of November.
Studying: university has started again in full swing. A bit overwhelming. With all these commitments, visitors and chores I feel already snowed under and it doesn’t appear as much fun as the rest! :-P I will have to find some time!!

I will have to organize a couple of talks about the experience when I come back from the expedition, I have been approached for some work during the Christmas period, the dive centre will want to see me at some point and we have more visitors in November.

So here we go, certainly I will not be short of stories to write about but not sure about the time.

I’ll do my best to keep you updated.

***

The event of the month

2010-08-09T04:09:00.000-07:00

In a recent post I created a list of signs that give away the fact that you’ve been in the Middle East for too long.

You may remember a vague mention to getting excited at the opening of a new supermarket in town, so here we go a whole post dedicated to the occasion. A brand new Al Fair has come to this part of town and this is something definitely worth mentioning.

Al Fair is the Gulf version of a grocery store half way between Waitrose and something else: (inflated) Waitrose prices & something else quality; the best you can find in town in terms of variety and availability of pricey western expat favourites; last but not least it has a whole craftily semi-hidden, “behind a narrow alleyway”, strictly for infidels PORK SECTION.

Yes, my eyes were watering at the juicy 20 EUR per gram pork on display, still pink and fresh as it had just been placed on the shelves. I am curious to see how long before it starts turning green because of the poor turnaround.

Any how this is really the event of the month. Having a proper supermarket near home is a big thing. The brand spanking new shop opened this morning and it comes filled with an incredible amount of yellow & green balloons and a free yellow rose at check out.

Now we have food, pork and alcohol all round the corner and a number of establishments are opening in this side of town; who needs MQ any more??

Ale my dear, I know you like teasing us for living in the “piccolo deserto” but I think Muscat is slowly moving this way. ;-P

Another thing: my search has finally ended; I leave you with a photo of the car of my dreams.

Why I like it here

2010-08-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

In the last post I mentioned that this year marks (already!) the second anniversary of our life in this country so it is time for reflection. In the last post I made some humour at how different life in this corner of the world can be and how it can make you smile at best (when it doesn’t frustrate you…). Now how about the good things?

Here is a little list. I’m sure after this you’ll understand why I like living here.

The sun shines virtually every day of the year (and I like that very much!!): the alarm goes off, you open your eyes and there is the light to fill you!
When the clouds come it’s a nice diversion (and I like it much better this way around)
Wilderness is on your doorstep
Flamingos come to the mangrove in town in winter and you can watch them while sitting at a café
We can go dolphin, whale and turtle watching
We can go diving any time of the year
Every weekend feels like a mini holiday
People are relaxed; it’s always “ma mushkila” (no problem)... even when there is a problem :D – It’s frustrating at times but it’s a much healthier way to live! (unless you have a real problem; then you’d better leave I guess)
You can go for ~~sun downers at the Crowne Plaza~~ a stroll on the beach at sunset to unwind after a working day
You don’t need to “book” your friends months in advance
Life is simple and simple things bring happiness
You can find the most amazing spot in the middle of nowhere, pitch your tent and it is safe
The news are either good or no news but whenever you feel like taking the red pill the internet is there to fill you in (about the rest of the world)
A lazy weekend means a bubbly brunch with friends at a 5-star establishment and crash on the beach
Coming back from holidays is not depressing any more: you just have to ~~pretend you are working~~ wait for the weekend to resume the holiday life
We can afford to own a boat
Filling our 4x4 costs near to nothing
You get to see and understand what 4x4s are actually made for and how powerful they are
The maid cleans all the mess after the parties and she’s always a call away when you need her on an “emergency” (hail to the maid)
You can throw a catered party with waiters, tables and all the rest (they also come to collect the washing up) and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg
The washing dries outside in 20-30 minutes: in theory you could wash something to wear it an hour later.
When we want some diversion or a shopping spree Vegas of the Middle East is only 4 hours’ drive away ;-)
We live in a big villa that doesn’t cost us a penny
Bills are a thing of the past
Taxes? Uh?

We have lots of things to laugh our heads off about with our friends….

I like it very much.

You know you've been in the ME for a while when...

2010-07-28T04:45:00.000-07:00

This year marks our second anniversary in this country (time really flies!). In fact S’s is just around these days while my second anniversary will be in September. We still love it (and that's why we are still here) but of course such a milestone calls for some reflection... Here we go...

You know you’ve been an expat in the Middle East for a while when:

You don’t feel there’s a lot to blog about any more as you get used to the daily oddities
You think it’s normal to have goats wandering freely around the outer perimeter of your house (outside your tent or anywhere in fact), cats serenading you when sitting outside at restaurants and dogs chasing you on a fitness run.
You think you are getting the best service in the world if you didn’t have to explain your order at least twice at a restaurant or bar and your waiter delivers exactly what you asked for first time around
You are disdained if there is nobody to pack your shopping at the supermarket till but you re-pack everything from 10 to 1 single carrier bag when they are there to assist
You open the paper & jump straight to the photo pages at the back to see if you or anyone you know is pictured there
You know exactly what a Bebsi is
You are surprised if you call for assistance to fix the AC and only one man turns up with all the required tools; additionally you feel the urge to call one of your friends to boast about it if they actually fix it successfully at the first call.
InshaAllah is your daily mantra
You don’t think much of it when a lorry overtakes you on the motorway and you are travelling at 120 kmph or when you see one just overturned on the side of the road with all its contents scattered around
You get used to brushing your teeth in hot water during the summer
You are completely taken off foot if a service man arrives exactly at the time he stated
You keep a stock of 300 spare light bulbs in the house
You get all your towels ready around the house and tape up windows & doors if the forecast predicts some rain
You get really excited about a new supermarket/shop/bar opening in town: when the “opening or coming soon banner” comes up you normally estimate between a couple of trimesters to a couple of years to the official launch.
You wait for an official public announcement to know if you are going to be off on an expected public holiday and to find out exactly whether it’s going to be in 2 or 3 days’ time & how long for.
You think it’s perfectly normal to be sent home early because it’s a rainy day or to be granted a day off in case of rain forecast

This could go on indefinitely…..

Littering - when people take no care

2010-07-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

In the little time spent here I have learnt that there are a few things that really push my buttons, some in a very explosive way. It takes a lot of self control because in some occasions I can really feel the steam building up and escaping from my ears while the face gets red from the effort I put into restraining myself. Take the scene that I witnessed just a few moments ago just round the corner from home. This is not a first and I know that it is not unique nor unusual & that’s in my view what aggravates the situation.

I am driving back home. A car slows down and strangely drives close to the left side of the road, close to a wall. I stop wondering for a few seconds on the possible reasons. They could be millions; unusual behaviour on the roads is the norm here. It is an unpaved stretch of road; maybe the driver finds the ground smoother on that side is what I think to myself, he is driving a shiny 4x4 after all; you have to be careful. Then the answer becomes clear: a little blue plastic bag puffed up by its unwanted contents and neatly tied into a knot swings lightly into the air and lands on the side of the road. I stand there numbed by the sad scene: there is a bin only 30m away and the idiot doesn’t even have to walk, just drive there and spend the same amount of energy to drop the bag into the bin. I can think of a number of other big bins along the way where he could have dropped his damn rubbish but no, he had to dump it along the road. I have seen this before, in the middle of town too. Now this is not the only country where this happens (littering is a big problem worldwide and sometimes it is also a (mis)cultural thorn: people just think it's not their problem or responsibility) but seeing it happening regularly and knowing the amazing beauty , natural spots and wildlife this country has been blessed with... well, seeing these scenes anywhere really pushes my rage button!

You would think that Muscat is a dirty city: it is immaculately clean. An army of Indians in orange uniforms cleans the streets every day; get out of the city on beautiful beaches and it is a completely different story: anywhere where it is too far for the little Indians to reach and where the sea delivers everything back (like for like) you can find a varied collection of rubbish scattered around. People camp and leave the rubbish there, neatly packed as if anyone was going to pick it up (???)…you see it smells in the car better out there. Of course it’s ravaged by animals by the end of the day and the rest is history.

I always wonder what these idiots feel like after they engage in this kind of careless living, setting the example and making sure that the next generation follows. I remember as a child when my parents would make me pick any bit of rubbish that I dared to drop making me feel small and guilty: once or twice was enough for a lifetime learning; the kind of lesson that I will pass onto my kids one day.

I can only think that people like these are completely oblivious; dirty, careless and also a bit stupid or maybe just unlucky because nobody has ever taught them differently. Now who knows if there’s a way to report this here? Because I have the shiny car model, the colour and the number plate.

Want to do your bit?

Do not throw rubbish from your car or anywhere (including cigarette butts & chewing gum!)
Take your own rubbish with you and dispose of it appropriately at the nearest facility
Burn your used toilet paper when camping (or take it in a small bag with you: less gross to leave it there for someone else to find or to fly around freely)
If you camp try to use washable plastic cutlery, plates and cups (so that you can re-use them instead of throwing more plastic away). If you can, wash them back at home.
If you have to use soaps when camping make sure they are non-toxic, biodegradable, phosphate-free (there are some brands available in supermarkets). Use as little as possible and as far away from sea and wadis as possible.
Google “green camping” for other ideas
Ever found yourself picking up someone else's rubbish? Be proud.

Borneo dream

2010-07-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

So we are back from another beautiful holiday. Borneo had always been on my wish list so very glad we did it. We've just visited Malaysian Borneo and more exactly Sabah. It is a beautiful corner of the world with a lot to see so it seems a lot to squeeze in for two weeks but it worked out well (of course I would have loved to stay longer). This was our itinerary (in case you are after some inspiration):

Day 1 – Land in Kuala Lumpur and connect with a flight to Kota Kinabalu AKA KK (the capital of Sabah). We spent the evening sampling street food at the local Philippino market where there are tons of food on display: from fresh fish to meat stretched along counters under humid and hot air and no ice on sight. The fish was very fresh though so no toilet mishaps. Our “hut” in KK was Le Meridien: it is very central and offers great service (as one would expect). We stayed there 2 nights: the first when we arrived and then on our return from the climb from Kota Kinabalu. The best thing is that both nights we were upgraded to a suite (lavish! hehe the holiday started well): the first time I think because of some “complaint” that we made at the time we reserved and the second night because when we checked-in rain was leaking dramatically over the otherwise immaculate bed. Lots of apologies and a lavish suite later we were more than satisfied although I always wonder why anyone would need such a huge place to spend one night in bed. How sweet.

Day 2 - 3 Mount Kinabalu (my nightmare). Although some may be surprised to read this it was never in my master plan for the holiday. Despite my adrenaline junkie spirit I was never planning to break myself climbing a giant all the way to +4000m above the sea level. I am more comfortable in the sea you see… But S. thought one could not visit Sabah without doing this. In retrospective, forgetting the hours of agony through a total of 17km (8.5 up and then back down) of steep and interminable steps and uneven ground sunrise at the summit admittedly did look good. Also if one does not count the sore knee ligament (me) and the twisted ankle (S.) that slowed our descent to a torturous 5 hours we were relatively lucky with the weather as it did not rain until the very last hour of our ordeal. It took us about 6 hours to get to the summit: the last 700-500m of which took me about one hour (small step after small step and long pause to breathe oxygen starved air) while nausea battled and inexplicably lost against my will power.

Day 4 – At leisure in KK (lots of rest!).

The following 5 to 6 days we could be both seen struggling with sore muscles wandering about the dive resort looking like an old couple in a retirement home.

Day 5-9 Sipadan Kapalai Diving Resort. A water bungalow resort on a shallow sand bank (no beach, no land) from where we based all our diving activities. This is the closest resort to Sipadan (one of the top diving destinations in the world) which is now a protected island and can only be dived with a permit. It is also very close to the island of Mabul (which can be seen from the resort). Because of the permit restrictions on a 4 night stay we were only guaranteed 1 day diving in Sipadan which gave us 4 lovely dives there. Diving Sipadan is like throwing yourself into a fish soup. I lost count of the turtles, sharks, barracudas and all the rest of amazing creatures the reef was teeming with. The rest of the dives were around Kapalai and Mabul. The dives in Kapalai were also very good with lots of good macro life. Both S. and I preferred the dives around Kapalai to Mabul. The dive operation is good if one excludes the fact that they insist on preparing and handling the equipment for you. Not a bad thing per se (although I prefer setting up my own gear and hate when people stick their hands in the way while I am working at it: I don’t even do it to my students!). Nonetheless I allowed it very reluctantly with the result that they flooded my regs on the very first day. I will not provide any details on the scene that followed. After that I made a point of detaching the first stage from the tank myself at the end of the diving day to make sure that the dust cap was on while letting them do the rest of the hard work.

Day 10 – long bus journey from Semporna to Sandakan (6 hours yawn) and night in Sandakan; an old colonial town that was destroyed during the world war and rebuilt to what today looks like a decaying concrete jungle. Had a nice tea in the gardens of a colonial tea house on top of a hill and visited the reconstructed Agnes Newton Keith's house which was possibly the only nice place in town: http://www.sabahtourism.com/sabah-malaysian-borneo/en/destination/92-agnes-keith-house/
Also had a peep at one of the water villages, where people live with no proper toilets and mounds of floating plastic (the sea takes it all and it all comes back to us into the food chain, nice!).

Day 11-13: delve into the jungle. As our guide drove us through the region to reach a corner of the last 45% of rain forest left, extensive plantations of oil palm stretching as far as the eye can see were a clear mark of how unsustainable the growing human species is. Palm oil is a precious commodity dubbed “green” gold in the region. It is exported worldwide and it has a multitude of uses: from alimentary (think Nutella and kit-kat just for a quick example but it is also used for cooking) to cosmetic and bio-fuels.

On the way we stopped at the Gomantong Caves famous for the swiftlet nests; a delicacy on Chinese menus (what isn’t?) that carry heavy price tags on the market and which of course (money is almost always the driver) explains why humans are ready to make incredible acrobatics and put their lives at risk to fetch. As the government now regulates nest collections we did not witness any collectors yet the visit to the cave was interesting: it is full of bats, swifts, hairy millipedes and humongous cockroaches (my nightmare). The opening is huge and you walk over a boardwalk that protects your feet from the deep dung, the roaches and the other creeps (apparently also scorpions) but it’s impossible to escape the sharp stench. Not recommended for asthma sufferers.

We spent the first two nights in Mayne Resort on Kinabatangan River having a wonderful time on river cruises in search of wildlife: we saw lots of beautiful birds, a croc, monkeys (proboscis, silver leaf an long tail), a wild boar and Borneo Pygmy Elephants; lots of them. The last day in the region we transferred to Sepilok Nature Reserve: a beautiful bungalow resort 2 minutes from the Orang-Utan rehabilitation centre set on the edge of a protected patch of rain forest. Orang-utans are amazing creatures and coming so close to

them is an experience that is hard to describe. They look like children so similar to us and at times so mischievous. When we arrived at the centre for a stroll we witnessed a girl reporting being bitten by one of them while the ranger told us that one earlier stole the camera from one of the tourists and broke it. To me all these stories sounded extremely funny especially when faced by their funny expressions and expressive beady eyes. We kept our respectful distance while interacting with them and we had no issues. We also did a 2-hour guided night walk during which I saw my first huge scorpion in the wild as well as a viper and an owl. I love the forest and the amazing sounds that progressively become louder as night falls. I also saw my first monitor lizard swimming in the resort’s main pond: basically an oversized reptile that must have been at last 1.5m long judging by the huge head.

Day 14-15: back to KK for a ferry across to Gaya Island. An island part of a National Park very close to the coast where we decided to splash out on a lavish resort: Bunga Raya. Beautiful island with white beach backed by a jungle, a big and luxurious bungalow surrounded by wild vegetation, Royal treatment and a SPA: just bliss.

Day 16-17: 2 nights (1 full day) in Kuala Lumpur ended with a lavish dinner at Frangipani. Probably the best dinner and service we have had for a while; reminiscent of London's top restaurants.

The following day flight back home on one of Oman Air new Airbus A330: really nice aircraft and great in-flight entertainment system. The flight went really fast. By the way The Invention of Lying (by Ricky Gervais) and Shutter Island (by Martin Scorsese) are two really great movies!

The climate while we were in Sabah was mostly humid and it rained virtually every day (even if for just an hour). We had some dramatic storms but the rain never hampered any aspect of our holiday. In fact most of the time it seemed to come with perfect timing apart for the last night in KL when we had to buy a couple of umbrellas at the shopping mall to get back to the hotel. The actual temperatures were not too high (high 20s, low 30s c) but the dampness of the air made it feel much hotter and at times (especially during walks in the forest) it was particularly muggy and unpleasant. If you are planning a holiday there prepare to sweat! All in all a varied and really exciting holiday. Beautiful places and lovely people.

***

Cyclone Phet

2010-06-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

Now we can tell you: we spent the last couple of days barricaded in the house while under cyclone alert. A few days ago a tropical storm formed in the ocean and grew in intensity until it became a strong tropical cyclone (Phet) meant to veer towards Pakistan but that until the last minute stayed on course towards Oman. It didn’t reach Muscat but it did hit the Omani coast south of it bringing a lot of rain and some wind to the capital. Yesterday was the worst: we spent the whole day indoors (apart from a quick peek around the block to get some fresh air and check what was going on) and it rained for the whole day. In our area (or at least around our house) it wasn’t too bad and to be honest at times I felt I had seen some worse conditions than those but deeper into town it was a bit worse. For us it was an unusual weekend, gray and spent indoors, reminiscent of the ones we left behind in the UK. If it wasn’t for the fact that the water seeps through all the windows and under doors and that flash floods from overflowing wadis can be a real threat it would be even quite exciting but spending the day worrying whether your ground floor is going to become a mud river or trying to catch water falling through every imaginable gap between the wall and the windows is no fun.

This time we were a bit luckier at least as the wind was coming from the sheltered side of the house and I have learnt from previous experience how to prepare the house for a big drip but a friend spent the whole day and half of the night changing towels at hourly intervals while new leaks would form as soon as she sorted the previous.

Today the cyclone has moved over the sea and towards Pakistan leaving a beautiful sky behind and a bright sun under which to asses the damage around the city. A whole shopping centre and some other business in the Qurum area were under the water yesterday (and under mud today) so the clean up has started. The sea was very swelled today producing some impressive waves, there is a lot of rubbish along the beaches churned up by the sea and most of the sand has disappeared. We went to the yacht club to check on our boat and on a dry dock it was all OK but the club has literally lost the beach to the sea. They tell me that it should form again in 2 or 3 months.

So a little bit of damage here and there but nothing compared to Gonu I guess. The cyclone didn’t come all this way and the force that hit Muscat wasn’t as strong as the devastating cyclone back in 2007. I guess this time the city was also a little bit better prepared. Or at least that’s what I like to think. We are lucky: we are well and virtually unaffected, if we don’t count the extra day off granted by the government today; a tradition that is religiously applied on the occasional rainy day.

You should ask the UK government to do the same when it’s sunny ;-)

The 7th Hole

2010-05-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

We have been rather busy so a bit out of touch but things are fine here. Getting really stressed with the studies, mainly because I have been a little bit too lax with time (it always looks like you have lots and then… ooops it’s up!) ending up a little bit too behind schedule. Now I am playing catch up till the exams and coursework deadlines. All this month!! This means I get up with S. every morning and spend the rest of the day stuck behind a computer and with my head in books... a bit lonely and mind boggling but I am sure it will go very fast!

The worry that I am not prepared enough keeps me going like a machine. I have slowed down the diving activities (basically they have come to a halt and have had to say no to people who ask me to teach them or to the centre who calls me when they need me).. I just can’t play around.

I am only honouring some of the weekend commitments that I have already taken. Like going caving this past weekend which involved slowly and carefully lowering ourselves down into a cave (a huge underground cavity called the 7th Hole and part of an extensive underground cave system) hanging down a rope high over an empty hole 120m from the ground (and of course then climb back up to get out from a different opening). It’s like my morning coffee. I always need my regular burst of adrenaline... It was awesome and I have to say, not as scary as it sounds. (I think the training back in Muscat was scarier). To my surprise I was as cool as an icicle.

Possibly because I was concentrating so much on using the equipment correctly and not making any mistakes that my mind had no time to compute exactly how far I was from the ground (that dot suspended in mid air in the photo is me and here I am well past the half-way mark!). Even when I looked down at the start of the descent the boulders just looked like pebbles, it was only when I reached the ground that I realised that each of those "pebbles" were as big as a car (or even bigger).

I did not experience any jelly legs or racy heart and the sweat was only due to the effort and the heat.

We were high up the mountains so it wasn’t as bad as down here but it is starting to heat up considerably down at sea level! We have now touched the 40+ and humidity has crept up in the last couple of days. This is the start of the temperature hike, we have already resigned to washing salads, veggies and teeth in hot water (there is no cold water coming from the taps any longer) and A/C has come on for its 24/7 activity for the rest of the summer in some of the rooms.

After the exams hopefully we will go on holiday. We are thinking of Malaysia.

At some point we'll also pop to Europe although not sure when yet. I guess towards August when we will need to escape from the heat and Ramadan.

We’ll keep you posted, InshaAllah ;-)

Useful links:
BA Inflight magazine: where I got the inspiration from!
Some background info on the caves and the cave system up the Selma Plateau.

So it's April...

2010-04-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

It’s been a little while since my last update. What has kept me away? Well, well… a bit of panic as deadlines for assignments and exams approach meaning that any time for writing has to be dedicated to essays. Then as the heat season steadily approaches and makes itself announced with the random days of high humidity and heat, one has to prioritise and make the most of the time we have left for outdoor activities.

Amongst the latest adventures I can mention a camping/diving trip to the Daymanyiat Islands. Nine beautiful islands 1-1.5 hrs by boat off the coast from Muscat. Now this was supposed to be some kind of an amazing trip on an idyllic desert island although unfortunately rough seas and a series of unfortunate events mainly triggered by a group of “others” who seemed to be under the influence of a jinx meant that we had to put up with some undesirable incidents. Although nothing was bad enough to stop us from making a lot of fun out of the whole situation so we still ended up laughing our heads out while still waiting for food at 10pm at night and emerging from the darkness after a very late night dive at 2:00 am in the morning. Amongst the things that keep on resurfacing to memory about the trip are funny conversations around the table while waiting for a late BBQ dinner to be served, a friend falling off her chair every two minutes allegedly because of the uneven sand surface (more likely because of the amount of mind-clouding beverages consumed), one of the leaders coming over from the “others” camp reporting that two had been bitten by scorpions, another resurfaced from a dive with a hand covered in sea urchin spines after deciding to grab it to control his buoyancy under water (never a good idea) and that their gazebo unexpectedly collapsed over them. The following day I also assisted to someone on the brink of drowning after he decided to jump off the big boat for a swim forgetting that maybe he didn’t quite know how to swim. There was lots of other stuff that read here may not sound so hilarious but I can assure you that the whole weekend was nothing short of comical if not a little bit tense at times when I remembered that in fact this was a trip I took the bother to organize and felt responsible for.

After the commotions of the previous one, last weekend we decided to take it easy (or so we thought) so on Thursday we headed off to visit a wadi we have never visited before. This is known on the off-road bible as “The Chains” basically because at some point along the trekking path there are some metal chains to help you make your way over a massive boulder (well not as easy as it sounds). In reality the trek is not very long although with the thousands of stops for photos and the heavy scrambling it took us 1.5 hrs going up river. The landscape is spectacular and the “path” unwinds along a beautiful narrow canyon carved by the water with dramatic tall walls climbing high on each side. Nothing to be tackled during seasonal rains I guess. Luckily 3 local kids that came out of nowhere (as usual) followed us and helped us along the way and I could not suppress some hysterical laughter when S. got his feet stuck on the metal loops and the kids were trying to help him hanging in all sorts of positions from a steep rock. Probably seen from the fly on the wall the whole excursion wasn’t exactly the fruit of common sense but it was fun nonetheless. The photos don’t quite do it justice.

After all these adrenaline packed activities maybe it was time for something tamed and relaxed so we ended the weekend yesterday with bubbly brunch at one of the fancy hotels in town. This basically meant stuffing our faces and then rolling out onto the hotel grounds for some more “chilling” (or should I say sweating). For some reason we later ended up at our friends’ house on a mission to seriously compromise our vocal cords while “singing” completely out of tune into the small hours enthralled by SingStar (ah the power of Karaoke!). Hail to the thick walls of big houses!

Ah, I hope you all had a great Easter. Here it was just a working day like any other.

Cost of life in Muscat?

2010-03-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

Now I know that this topic is probably going to attract a few people to this blog and sorry to those who are actually not going to get a straight answer to their question. This post is inspired by a recent post published in Italian by a friend who rightly confirms that the answer to the question at the top is all relative.

I know too well how badly one wants to know the cost of life in a city where he/she may potentially move to. If someone makes you a job offer how are you going to know how far the monthly dosh is going to take you? And more importantly, are you going to be able to save?

These are the same questions that we had before moving over here and despite the large amount of blogs available in the cloud and the discussion forums on this topic it is in fact all a little bit confusing.

The kind of answers that you may get to the above question in fact could be an immediate "expensive" or a more frequent "it depends". I tag along with the "it depends" with the needle leaning heavily towards the "expensive" because, no shame in admitting it, that's the kinda life we are leading here.

In her blog my friend posts a table of expenses summarised by someone who obviously leads a (waaaay) more frugal life than us and our circle of friends considering that tonight's dinner event alone will blow and over the entire monthly leisure budget suggested for a couple.

The thing is that local stuff and local food can be incredibly cheap but set your eyes on any of the imported western standard commodities we so take for granted (things as simple as toilet paper, cakes or even greens.. nothing too extravagant hey) and you may end up blind from the shock.

I am sure that every expat or anyone not paying too much attention sooner or later will have gone to the till and either realised too late that they paid over the odds for something as humble as a familiar looking bottle of water (not me I only buy local) or decided to leave at the till (I did) the packet of "washed and ready to eat" spinach when they realised that it was priced at the equivalent of 10 Euros (washed in gold?).

Yes it is not a joke (though this is often the subject of hilarious conversations with friends). Since the day I once discovered (horrified) that the price of a 9-roll packet of a popular European toilet paper brand is almost the equivalent of 12 Euros (if I had ever bought it by mistake I would have probably framed it like precious archaeological grade papyrus after discovering that it doesn't even come with the dog!) every now and then I take photos of the extravagantly priced items that I come across when shopping (because I am sure nobody would believe me if I just told).

So considering that the local currency (Rial) which by the way is expressed in 3 digit decimal point, is roughly the equivalent of 1.95 EUR or a weaker 1.74 GBP see what you make of the items in these photos.

Now for some of these things there may be cheaper workable alternatives but sometimes if you really want a treat of 6 rashers of bacon for breakfast you may have to bite the bullet and pay the price of gold for it.

Desert crossing, flying food, moody cars and sugar dunes

2010-03-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

I am sitting on the passenger seat of a comfortable 4x4. My jaw has dropped slightly, my eyes are wide open behind the sun glasses that protect me from the strong glare and I keep on repeating the same sentence over and over again: “wow, it’s unbelievable. Wow.. wow.. wow”. In the car I am excited like a little child anticipating a wild ride at the fun fair. I run out and jump around white dunes… getting sunburnt too in the process.

It’s our third and last day of a long weekend spent on a desert crossing / Indiana Jones’ style adventure. I kinda knew what to expect from the final destination as I had previously seen some photos but seeing the spectacle of the sugar dunes for real is just an experience from another planet. Plus with all the diversions we had en-route I wasn’t sure any more whether we were going to reach this dream-like landscape of floury sand.

Our adventure started with a set plan (that had to be revised a few times) with a night stay at one of the established desert camps in Wahiba Sands. We hit the road the following morning with other 5 cars to head south and came back 3 days later with all sorts of grains of sand lodged in every nook and cranny of the body, clothes and cars. Dust on the face and hair coated us like glitter. It was all worth it.

It is hard to explain what these experiences are like and the photos never quite convey the real sense of adventure or the awe we experience when seeing new paradise-like places for the first time.

Desert crossing is desert crossing: it is a lot of fun with often a lot of unexpected surprises. Getting stuck is at the order of the day (although I have to admit with pride that I was the only one who didn’t and I had trouble suppressing my grin when S. took to the wheel after me and got stuck literally 2 minutes later.. :-P )

Amongst the notable events while crossing the desert I can quote: a friends’ car jumping in the air as they went over a dune loosing all the contents of their cool boxes (meat, eggs, salads and tortillas) all over the inside of their car. I mark the words of my friend once out of the car with jelly legs and in a fit: “I saw something flying past my face and splattering violently against the windscreen. My sunglasses fell off my face and for a moment I wondered if that mushy stuff on the windscreen was in fact a piece of my brain”.

They lost all their food on their very first experience of desert driving while the jerry can spurted its contents inside their car leaving them to continue the rest of their journey accompanied by a pungent smell of petrol. All I can say is that from the comfort of our 4x4 that was following behind, their car jump looked extremely spectacular.

Luckily at that time their dog was in our car.

Another event that almost threw the whole trip upside down was one of our friends’ Range Rover becoming a bit moody and threatening to leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere afloat on the sea of sand. We decided to set camp and spend the night engulfed in the total quietness of the desert just a little bit ahead of where we had planned to. We though the car would need a rest.

The following day didn’t start well: the car was overheating, the fan stopped working, the engine was losing power. We all held our breaths as everybody tried working out the cause of the problem and attempted some repairs. Finally while us girls lost ourselves in chit-chat one of the guys found what was jamming the fan: the fan brush melted under the heat of the engine. The car was still losing power so one of our cars towed it (up and around dunes…) to the nearest Bedouin track. We were forced to change our initial plans and try a different route in case we needed a pick-up truck to rescue us.
For some reason after 40 minutes of towing the moody car decided that it was time to reveal the early April fool and started working again as if nothing had happened…. S. has a theory of what might have happened but I am not going to bore you with car mechanics.

Although extremely late on our schedule we continued with our journey. By the time we reached the coast we had missed the low tide needed to drive on a beach so we selected a different route and finally at sunset we reached the beach we wanted to camp on…. Or almost.

We had reached a headland and our path was interrupted by water. It seemed there was no way around and convinced that we could not cross it until low tide returned we resorted to stop there. Not before spending ½ hour arguing on the exact spot we should set camp…. I think everybody had kinda had enough by then.

So we camped there. While paradise was literally round the corner. As we found out the following morning. Not that the spot we camped at had anything wrong; but 5 minutes ahead were miles of uninterrupted white sandy beach backed by a white desert!

In the morning while the others left to head back towards Muscat us and another vehicle decided to linger a little bit longer and explore the area.
That’s when we found the track to circumnavigate the headland and found the sugar dunes.

The photos speak for themselves. Another fun packed weekend.

The art of holding your breath...

2010-02-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Those who know me well won’t be surprised when I say that I am used to breathing under water. In fact I also have a licence to kil... hem... teach it, hence when I found myself face down in a pool completely zonked out and motionless like a dead body it just didn’t seem right. Yet it was out of my choice.

It’s been just about a week since our return from the neighbouring UAE where we spent 6 whole days training to maximise our breath hold under water and learn about the physiology of diving (even more than what I know already!).

Why? You may ask. That’s the same question I have been asking myself while fighting diaphragm contractions, psychological blockage and the mild fear of drowning by my own doing. The thing is I like a challenge and I wanted to see what it is like to push my body beyond my normal comfort zone. Yes it is a little bit daunting but I guess I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie… yet adrenaline is the last thing you’d want before or during a breath hold! It's almost a form of meditation.

I had been thinking about trying it for a while so, aware that there is no free diving teaching facility yet in Oman I made a few enquiries and less than a month later we headed to Abu Dhabi to train for the 2-star and 3-star AIDA free diving certification.

Results: I still have to conquer the 3-star performance requirements (nothing for the faint hearted) but I have climbed to my 2-star status. In practical terms this means that I have managed to hold my breath for 2’15 minutes (static), swim on one single breath for 40m back and forth in a pool (banging my head a couple of times in the process…idiot!) that’s called dynamic, one of the disciplines of free diving and push myself down to 16 metres and back up on a single breath fighting contractions, mind games and an incredibly high number of jelly fish of all sorts of shapes and sizes (I still have a couple of burns) in what is known as the constant weight discipline. All in the name of fun.

And fun it is. I was a bit sceptical when I researched about free diving before going on the course. It seems that there are a lot of people talking about these mystic experiences and it all sounded a bit arty farty to me. Many refer to free diving as a personal journey.

Whatever you take from it and however you look at it, it is a personal experience that is hard to explain.

For me it was a step into a rather unfamiliar domain, mentally and physically.

The only way to truly understand it is to try it. Personally, I like it!

Weekend or holiday?

2010-02-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Another weekend draws to a close. As I lay lazily on the lounger outside in the front yard waiting for the night to fall, wrapped in the soft sunset light another Friday comes to a close and I reflect on the last couple of days, spent at leisure in the perfect climate typical of this time of the year.
Every time I find myself lost in this little exercise of gratitude it is not hard to understand why I feel so lucky to be here.

Take this weekend: yesterday we got up at leisure and headed to one of the cafés on the beach road. From there you can sip your moka looking at the glittering sea while behind you flocks of birds get on with the hustle and bustle of their daily activities in the mangrove. We enjoyed a relaxing breakfast with a couple of friends while their children busied themselves creating havoc around the establishment. We left our friends and proceeded to the Yacht Club, jumped on our boat and headed to one of the most beautiful bays in the area. There was a gentle breeze and the sea was flat. Tere is no better way to enjoy the divine temperatures we are blessed with at this time of the year. We stayed until sunset and then we headed back wondering why we didn’t get ourselves organized to float overnight… next time.
Once finished with the boating chores (like cleaning the engines from the sea water) we parted with the boat and headed to a friend’s house for pancakes (Pancake Thursday, why not?) followed by a meal under the stars at a new fish restaurant we’ve discovered in the Qurm Area.

Today it was again a lazy morning; then in the spur of a moment “someone” had the brilliant idea to suggest a walk on the beach. OK let’s go to the beach. So we walked, we walked and walked for a total of 2 hours (about 4.7km!). By that time I was hungry and bothered so we decided we deserved a decent meal and ended up indulging in a buffet lunch at one of the 5 star establishments in town.
We then rolled to one of our favourite cafés by the beach, had a tea under the palm trees and watched the rest of the day unfold.

We drove back home as the sun was setting.

Next weekend we are off on a 3-day desert crossing adventure.

I am sure you’ll agree that it’s not hard to see why we like it here. Every weekend is a bit like a mini holiday!

Now it's the start of your weekend. What will you be up to in the next couple of days?

How a game of Petanque can affect your health

2010-02-16T03:40:00.000-08:00

As you know we always keep ourselves busy with the strangest events and the most colonial pastimes.

As March approaches so does the annual International Boules tournament in which I took part last year with a few other Italian friends and to which we intend to participate again this year with a slightly modified team; still strictly Made in Italy. Following the disgraceful 2009 performance against the professional French (they come with measuring tape and all while we get merry between one boule and the other) we have unanimously decided that this year we are going to attempt some practice runs before the start of the event. Training is a suitable pretence to keep up another of our favourite colonial diversions such as sipping Pimm’s at dusk in this beautifully favourable winter climate.

Without realising it I have ended up with the title of captain of the team which apparently leaves me in charge of coordinating the games with the other teams and organizing the pre-tournament training. I try to make myself useful.

I know that the Intercontinental Muscat has a number of Boules fields (or whatever they are called) as that is where the tournament takes place every year. Today armed with very little faith I called the hotel in an attempt to reserve one of the pitches:

It all starts with a call to a common entry point for every hotel establishment: the front desk.

FD: OK ma'm; I'll transfer you to the food and beverage department

ME: no, no, not food and beverage I am talking about BOULES, the playing facility you have outside; in your grounds... (I am still hopeful)

FD: OK ma'm I'll transfer you to the beach fun club

ME: (I think) wow that sounds promising. I’m impressed.

BFC: (after I explain what I am after) ok ma'm I'll transfer you to the control tower

ME: "control tower'? (WTF now they are sending me to the airport! … never mind)

…

Control T: OK ma'm I'll transfer you to ... (I’ve lost interest)

Some guy: boules pitch ma'am, no I don't understand: football field? basket ball?

ME: No no, boules, the french game!

The guy: No ma'm that's khalas. No more. it was only for the French.

ME: No more? What do you mean? You removed the pitches? There were a few and there is a new tournament coming up, what happened to the fields?

The guy: no ma'am that was just for that period. When they finished playing the French TOOK THEM AWAY.

ME: ???? (WTF) How? What do you mean? They took the pitches away? (I try to imagine the French with shovels and pickaxe dismantling the grounds of the Intercon). They are sand pits!! (to myself: surely they haven’t destroyed the pits to rebuild them again for this year’s tournament or have they? This hopeless man obviously hasn’t got a clue what facility of the hotel he works for I am talking about! I'll have to go there!).

The call has gone exactly as I expected, nonetheless I am in defibrillation!!

Mayday, mayday we are lost in translation!

2010-01-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of the weekend and after a lazy morning we decided to head to the beach to spend the rest of the afternoon there.

I was at the bar to place an order for food and while waiting for a friend to come back from the restroom I decided to occupy my time studying a club membership card that happened to be in my hands. My eyes were caught by a puzzling rule at the back. The rule read as follows (exact words transliterated here):

Alcoholic from outside are not allowed to consume the premises

I could hardly contain the loud burst of laughter.

As I looked around alarmed (it always looks a bit odd if you laugh so animatedly on your own and for no apparent reason) I noticed the man on the phone behind me. I unintentionally (for once) found myself eavesdropping on a conversation that made him repeat the same sentence over and over to whoever refused to believe him at the other end of the line: “I’ve sank the boat.. (pause) … yes! I'm telling you, I’ve sunk the boat; I’m not kidding. It’s under the water, at the bottom of the sea”.

I turned around and glanced at the table a few meters away where his friends were sitting, all composed and seemingly unperturbed in front of their large beers. Their clothes had obviously already dried up under the warm midday sun although on a second look I could notice some random wet patches on one of the guys’ shorts, then my gaze moved over to the ground next to them: there they were a bunch of life jackets slightly dusted with sand and partially covered by a few scattered belongings.

My mind wondered wildly trying to imagine what the boat looked like, how it sank, where it sank, how the party bobbed around on the surface in their life jackets on the immediate aftermath and how on earth the party got back to the club. In my head they all landed on the beach from ashore in true shipwrecked style but most likely they were collected by a local fisherman passing by. I guess we'll never know the juicy details.

When my friend came back I was relieved that I could finally share the exciting gossip with someone who I knew would be burned by curiosity just as much as me. She joined me in the eavesdropping for a moment. For a short instant we were tempted to go and ask a few investigative questions but then we thought better of it. Had you met this friend of mine you would probably be surprised that she did not engineer a ploy to actually stick her nose into the whole business...

I guess this time it just didn't seem appropriate so we returned our attention to the “lost in translation” sentence on the back of the membership card and we made our way back to the sun beds laughing out loudly.

My question remains unanswered: "how on earth do you sink a boat?". I guess there are many ways and it can't be that difficult for this is the second "home made" nautical disaster we witness/hear about in a short period of time.

Priceless anecdotes filling our lite expat beach bumming days!

Look who's here!

2010-01-21T01:51:00.001-08:00

As we approached the entrance to the swanky 5 start establishment where, once again, we had decided to consume our Wednesday night dinner (equivalent to a Friday night in the “regular” world) we could not fail to notice the two police cars parked outside, the somewhat alert atmosphere and the main big door wide open. We made our way to the middle doors. After all they seemed to have been left invitingly spread open just for us. We were obviously mistaken: we were quickly ushered to the side entrance which forced us to go through a metal detector.

A metal detector? That’s unusual before dinner.

We started wondering what kind of personality may be hiding in the fortress. This venue is often used for political and high profile meetings. If it wasn’t for the unusual time (it was dinner time after all) I wouldn’t have been so surprised.

So we go through the metal detector and I let the lady search my bag. We walk into the opening not thinking too much of it any more. These things happen here. Yet a few more steps and our gaze is immediately captured by a subject walking with a steady step towards us (and the main exit) chatting fervently to a local man looking very official dressed in the usual formal attire.

The face looks incredibly familiar. In fact it’s so familiar that we both hesitate for a few seconds on whether we should butt in and say “Hello Tony, what are you doing here?” Then we think better of it.

There he was the cause of all the fuss.

Tony Blair, suited and booted and clearly on some kind of business visit.

Just the last person we would have thought of bumping into on our way to dinner.

Phone calls and more oddities

2010-01-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

One thing at the time. First an update on the works out in the patio: so they came, with their shovels and their witch broom (only AZ here will know what I am talking about) and they dug a trench. On the doorstep there is a pile of soil and dirt is everywhere (as expected). A massive hole on the other side of the gate is now where once the driveway was. So they came...and they went (on their broom?). Puff! No trace of them today for the whole day. Only the flies are left wandering about my wrecked front patio. The weekend starts tomorrow so it can’t be that and anyway in this country labourers work 6 days per week. So where are they? Mystery. Possibly looking for material.. as you know, you always start digging and then check that nothing is missing…

On another note. This morning my phone rang and it rang and it rang; teaching me the invaluable lesson that switching the phone to vibrate to prevent it from disturbing everybody during a peaceful Yoga class is .. not as effective as switching it off (or at least silent and still).

Anyway at the end of the lesson, once far enough from the class so not to give away the fact that the phone that was vibrating was in fact mine I checked the missed call. It was a 24 number which here means a call from an office or a home. I tried to think hard about who might have wanted to talk to me so desperately (the phone went on and on for what seemed an eternity while I was trying to ignore it and concentrate on my contorted pose.. ending up in totally the wrong position.. but that’s another story). Anyway, I never do this usually (my idea is that if it’s important people will call back) but I was weak and curiosity got the better of me so I called back. As soon as the voice answered at the other end I knew I had made a mistake but for some reason I continued…

A man with a local accent answers.

-    Me: hello?
-    Man: Hello
-    Me: hello my name is xxx I have a missed call from this number. Can you help?
-    Man: where are you from?
-    Me: (a bit confused) uh? I’m from xxx (I give the country – in retrospective I think he wanted to know which company, but what did I know??)
-    Man: Very nice. Hello.
-    Me: (irritated) excuse me but who are you? You called my number earlier!
-    Man: we are bank xxx
(it’s my bank.. hmm I love their professional ways)
-    Me: OK. What did you call me for?
-    Man: We are bank xxx. What’s your name?
I give my name but I don’t think it makes any sense so he also asks for my telephone number. Thinking technology I give that out too… maybe he will finally type it into a system and understand who I am and tell why he called me.
Man: where is your branch?
(The technology image instantly dissipates replaced by him scribbling on a piece of scrap paper.)
I give him the branch too. Then I start wondering if I am giving too much information.
Man: ah you work there? (the place near the bank)
Me: (still a little irritated) no, I don’t. My husband does.

So we go back and forth for another few minutes while I am still wondering why on earth they called me.
He asks me to hold for what feels like an eternity while I hear him fidgeting with the phone keypads (possibly trying to transfer a call?).

I hear all sorts of conversations behind and further attempts at keypad fidgeting until I give up and hang up. “He’ll call back” I think to myself.

So he does. While I am driving. So I park on the side of the road and answer (I am not going to say otherwise, am I?). The man is back, this time he makes amazing offers about this special account that provides the opportunity of a 1 million Rial draw*, every month or something like that.
He goes on for a while with a list of all the amazing draws I would be entered into if I open this account.
He asks me if I have this “super duper” account. I haven’t got the foggiest. He asks me for my existing account number so that he can check.
Me: sorry mate. Ain’t giving you any account number over the phone. I’ll pop into the branch when I have time to check this amazing offer. Thank you.
Man: OK!

End of the random conversation.

For the next half hour I drive home wondering whether I gave my few personal details to some fraudster who was trying to get to my bank account. But then thinking about it again I don’t think so. I think it was a genuinely professional marketing call from my bank.

Does your bank in the UK reward you with such delightful telephone exchanges? Next time you call them or they call you, they introduce themselves by name, read a script and force you to go through the ridiculously long security check questions be grateful!

* A note on the draw system for those who don’t know: here (by law) banks cannot pay interest on any account. Under Shariah Islamic law, making money from money, such as charging interest, is usury and therefore not permitted. But obviously the bank still needs to make money out of your dosh so it offers “saving” accounts. It wouldn’t be right if they didn’t share the profit and also why would you give them the money to play with in the first place anyway? So they have created this interesting draw system where one lucky winner each month (and sometimes on a weekly basis) ends up with an incredible amount of money in their account. Not sure what the odds are but somehow I think better than the UK Lotto. Brilliant! ;)
If you want to know a bit more on this just Google “bank interest and sharia law”. There is a lot to learn!

Sense of humour and wasterwater project

2010-01-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

Today, as I was reading yet another extremely funny post from one of my friends’ blog it dawned on me that maybe, despite me thinking the contrary; I don’t really posses a particularly good sense of humour. I mean, yeah I laugh at other people’s jokes, I attempt to crack jokes too and sometimes I do make people laugh too (especially if it is at the expense of someone else - c'mon I'm joking ;) but what I realized is that I am not so good at making fun of myself and let alone laugh at the vicissitudes of life.
The revelation came at once today. After reading my friend’s blog and then thinking about another friend’s (AZ) blog (another equally funny appointment, if you are fluent in Italian that is) the flow of thoughts went this way:

-    How ridiculously funny!
-    As usual.
-    Where did Eternally Distracted (ED) get that photo?
-    That’s not one of our hospitals… but sure it would be possible to find some equally odd departments.
-    Next time I happen to be at a hospital... I’ll pay more attention
-    So funny… how is it that all these funny things always seem to happen to ED and to AZ on a regular basis?
-    Hmmm actually…thinking about it...

That’s when it cracked. These things DO happen all the time, to me too… Yep!
The difference is that usually… as soon as I have to repeat myself a couple of times or I detect a wrong facial expression that betrays complete incompetence... my jaw drops, my face turns red and my ears start steaming. It’s just a chemical reaction that I am learning to live with but that’s it. The comical moment is instantly lost because of my homicidal instinct. By the time I'm over it, it's all too late to see the funny side because I'll have skillfully removed it from my mind while dealing with some other equally frustrating incident of the day.

Hold on someone’s ringing the bell. I’ll be back in a moment.

…. …. …. …. zzz..zzz…zzz

I peek from the bedroom window coze I can’t be bothered to go downstairs to the door or to the intercom. There are 3 labourers at the gate. So I shout from up here.

-    Me: . Yes?
-    Ma’m have you lead infolmation liflet?
-    Me: Uh?
-    This! Infolmation liflet (shaking a green piece of paper taken from the small front gate, the one that I hardly use)

-    Me: One moment I’ll come down.
-    Ma’m we staltin woks for waste watel. See (again shaking the leaflet in question).
-    We connect septic tank to main sewage system. See liflet explain. We need access to plopelty. Stalt date 18th but we stalt today.
-    Me: (trying to work out what day it is today). Hmmm, OK. What do you exactly need to do inside my property? (it’s not truly my property but it is the place where I live so it’s somewhat mine).
-    We going open glound, make small tlench, 1 metel, then put pipe in, then close tlench and put tiles back. Vely good. Connection to main sewage. Mole hygienic.
-    Me: imagining already the floor with missing tiles, a garden full of mess, stench and who knows what other surprise. I guess I have to co-operate… hhmm.

After a lengthy discussion on why I am not going to leave the electric gate permanently open for over a week We agree that they can start today and they can use the small gate.

And so they start: another guy turns up 5 minutes later with a bag of chalk, spreads it around along where I guess the “trench” is supposed to be dug and leaves…

End of the working day…

Yes. I am not immune to the oddities and comical events of a life lived in this corner of the world.

36 hours in Dooobai!

2010-01-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

(for those who have read the Italian version... this is a slightly different post... to expand on the experience ;)

I jump off the car and hand the keys over; it’s valet parking here. I still need to get used to these ways. These boys have parked all sorts of cars, no matter how expensive. You can see them: Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and the entire sort lined outside in the VIP area; our beloved Land Cruiser Prado is really just another car. I shrug off the hesitation and walk away with my parking receipt. We are off to Pierchic, one of the fancy restaurants in Dubai, where we have come to spend the weekend.

It’s going to be another of those plush meals we treat ourselves to every time we come to the Vegas of the Middle East.

We enter the hotel, glitz and blitz blinds us a bit in the big atrium still covered with Xmas decorations (don’t they know that it’s all over?) we follow the instructions, we walk through the corridor on the left, then the lift, then another corridor, then outside into a cart. Yes a cart is waiting for us outside so that they can whisk us to the restaurant through the huge grounds of the hotel.
It’s amazing. We go through lit up palm tree gardens, villas and bridges and over canals (everywhere everybody mimics our Venice..). Then we reach the beach side (the driver informs us that the beach of this hotel is 1.2 km long… I see). We turn left at the biggest pool in the Middle East (of course biggest and tallest are all to be found here!) and onto the boards of the pier; the cart driver leaves us half way through and we walk the rest. Our restaurant is at the end of the pier, the tables softly lit and blue lights illuminating the sea underneath, a funky bar changes colour every few seconds; there is a nice candle lit atmosphere and that level of detail that designates luxury.

Al fresco dining, which in the evenings at this time of the year is more "fresco" than I actually like. Good luck they have the good sense of spreading a few gas heaters around and yes sorry, we are contributing to the global warming that is bringing such colder and colder winters up there in the UK). But hey, it's just perfect!

Places like these inebriate you to the point that you temporarily forget what you are paying for the privilege of taking advantage of them.

It may not come as a surprise Pierchic is a fish restaurant and when the food comes is enhances all the senses. Time Out was right again. We loved it, so we may go back; as when we visit Dubai we never leave without having had at least one extravagant meal.

So you gather we’ve just come back from a weekend in Dubai. That’s what we Muscat dwellers do every now and then for a change. This time we did a bit of the tourist thing as opposed to just concentrating on the shopping.

We HAD to visit the recently opened Burj Dubai (or Burj Khalifa as it’s been recently renamed); the tallest skyscraper in the world. Apart from the annoying and understandable queues (it only opened 5 days ago) it was amazing. From the top you can see the unfinished World project with sand dotted around the turquoise sea (maybe that wasn’t in the plan..) and you can even make out The Palm in the distance.

At night the building stands tall like a huge Christmas tree while an incredible display of lights and flashes goes off illuminating the contours of the structure (exactly like a giant Christmas tree). Of course S. couldn’t spare a thought on whether the building is actually safe; a thought that cannot fail to insinuate one's mind once you’ve learned a thing or two by living in this corner of the world.

The Burj Dubai is next to one of Dubai’s biggest mall (maybe the biggest?), The Dubai Mall. A mall of epic proportions with a staggering +1200 shops that has earned me a painful backache trotting around who knows how many miles for hours! Ah the pains of shopping! ;)

Inside you can find an Olympic Size Ice Rink, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater zoo (?!) which can also be “visited” in full scuba diving gear and cinemas while an outdoor promenade provides additional cafés and restaurants to the ones inside, some watery features with an amazing fountain that goes off like a cannon!

As you can imagine with all that Dubai has to offer we were not bored for one second, we took lots of pictures, slimmed our bank accounts and pleased a few senses. At the end of the weekend, on our 4-hours drive back home we were very happy and yet refreshed to know that we were coming back to the sanctuary of our home in beautiful Muscat.

New Year Resolutions? What for?

2010-01-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

So another year has rolled out and another has begun. Again. I still have to understand what the fuss is all about. I used to get so excited about this special day when I was younger, so full of expectations; now it is almost like a second birthday… it reminds me that another year has gone, rather than another one is coming. This is the time of the year when most people go through the bother of making a load of resolutions. Stop drinking, stop smoking, detox, lose weight, sign up to the gym. Imagine the gym almost empty around the end of December and then a week later the same room is suddenly full of all new wannabe fit hopefuls trying to work out that last slice of Christmas pudding they feel so guilty about. Of course the majority will have miserably dropped out by mid February.

I am lucky I don’t have that problem of having to compulsively burn calories at least (my body seems to do a good job on its own anyway) but I wonder if, despite all the resistance, in the end I’ve fallen for this craziness too.

Today inspired by chance and taken by a moment of revelation, I went running (and now I’m aching too). It sounds like a New Year resolution but I can assure you that:

Getting back into training has been in my mind for the last few months. I have just been extremely lazy
I really don’t like running but some friends do this regularly and I happened to meet two of them this morning who told me they were going tonight so I thought that this was my chance to dust the sofa off my bum once and for all.

So here we go, going running is definitely not my resolution for the New Year although I am determined to improve my stamina, beat the laziness, take on a few challenges and learn something new.

Oh cool I have plenty of time… another 12 months! Now where is my pillow?

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

The sun was already shining outside. It was progressively getting very hot under the dome so I unzipped my sleeping bag, a few minutes later I removed my fleece, then my long sleeves cotton top, then my t-shirt. Next to me the human lump was still lying lifeless wrapped up. I prodded him to check for any sign of life. A feeble noise confirmed that he was still alive. There is a saying in my country which doesn’t quite rhyme in English that goes “Notte da leoni mattino da ..” you google the rest!

The night before (Christmas Eve) was a lion’s night; for some more than others.

I wasn’t feeling 100% so after witnessing crazy dancing, crazy talking, skinny dipping and other stuff that I shouldn’t mention here I made it into bed at about 2 AM.
I remember being woken up by a text message from my brother at 4:30 AM (thanks bro!) seeing an empty space next to me and thinking that someone had passed out on the beach I went for a exploratory tour. S. was still around the camp fire making tea with the last survivor. They stayed up late. Possibly until around 5 AM (they don’t remember exactly… and I can understand why). So this was the result in the morning.

I couldn’t take it any longer; it was really getting too hot. I unzipped the front door, I walked hurriedly and dived into the refreshing sea.

Yes that’s how I woke up to Christmas day.

The rest is all the usual: a lot of eating and cheering with good friends; a full Xmas lunch in stile, Turkey and all the trimmings. All served on a beach.

We hope you had a fantastic one too and we wish you all a very happy 2010!!

Living the dream

2009-12-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

Warning, this next post may make you jealous.

After another day spent under the sun and below the sea I look back at my week and as I reflect upon my working days I am unable to describe the feeling of elation that gently leads me towards the end of today.

My non-rest days start early in the morning; early means that the alarm clock goes off at 5:50 giving me those extra 10 minutes of snooze time to fool my body into believing that I am actually sleeping longer, when in fact I have interrupted my dreams 10 minutes earlier than I could have done. Never mind, it works better for me this way. Early means just before sunrise at this time of the year, which translates into a terrible feat trying to open the eyes and unsteadily step off the bed when the room is still dark and the body rightly thinks that it’s still time to lie in. Nonetheless when I think about the cold dark mornings I endured back in the UK I consider myself lucky because here I don’t have to recoil when the duvet slips off to the side and I know that the sun will be kissing me in no time.

I wake up slowly over breakfast and pack my few things. My eyes still a bit stuck together I set off in my t-shirt, shorties and flip-flops. As the city wakes up so do my senses, by the time I am sitting in the car around 7 am the sun is already glowing gloriously across the blue sky unveiling the jagged silhouette of the mighty mountains in the background.

The morning drive takes me through the city jammed with white houses then over and across dramatic mountains. After leaving the long motorway, the road bends, rises and descends. About 40 km from home the view opens up over the beautiful bay of Qantab; usually unveiling a perfectly still and turquoise sea that contrasts sharply against the golden rocky coastline. Everything looks still, the rocks, the air, the sea; like a snapshot suspended in time.

That’s how my day unfolds; the variables that determine how the rest of the day develops can be many. It may be a day teaching, which in turn can mean “yaky-yaky-yaking” in the classroom, soaking in the pool for hours (and gaining a ridiculous shorty wetsuit suntan), diving in the open sea in the afternoon, a day spent on 3 straight dives in the open sea, sitting at the bottom of the marina supervising students perform their skills or guiding already certified people out in the wondrous sea (which in case of experienced divers it means an event very close to a fun dive for me).

Repeat this several days in a row and neither will ever be the same as the previous one.

The sun almost always shines, the sea has always interesting shows on display, people are always so interestingly different.

Looking back I have nothing to miss from the office job. Seriously and absolutely nothing. That is why, no matter whether I am working like crazy or chilling out on a day off, you will often find me wandering around with a permanent grin painted on my face lost in thoughts about how wonderful life is and how green the grass looks on this side of the fence (even despite the little rainfall ;) …

Art Spa

2009-11-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Imagine if someone put a bottle of paint in your hands and told you: “Go and squirt. Release your inner child. There is no right or wrong, just mix, overlap, superimpose, juxtapose, express yourself with the colours...”

It happened to me: I am re-emerging from an Art Spa.

An “Art what?” I hear you say…

A friend who will be soon leaving Muscat for new shores recently organized a little get together with a difference at her apartment. She invited an artist friend who provided the materials and under her guidance we unleashed our creative geniuses.

The last time I attempted at producing some form of art was in my childhood when someone had given me oil paint and canvas as a present. I never quite got to produce anything worthy of an exhibition and I never took it any further than squeezing out the last drop of colour from the last tube of paint.

Somehow at that time my idea of art was very rigid and a bit bi-dimensional. Years have gone by and I haven’t come close to any more paint since then, not even to give a new lease of life to the walls in the house (paid someone for that too!). However my creative inner spirit has always secretly dreamed of giving it another go and maybe enrolling onto some art class. Another of those things for which I keep on waiting for “the right time” (?).

So when the Art Spa invite came along I thought it sounded like an interesting experience and a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends and I signed up.

I didn’t quite know what to expect but of course in my head, under the guidance of a seasoned artist, I was already producing some art worth of Raffaello or Michelangelo so you can imagine my puzzled expression when Jenny explained that we were there to squirt paint around without looking for any specific representation if not the expression of our mood and inner guidance.

What the heck? Here we go again “modern art”: take some elephant dung, stick it onto a canvas, spray some glitter here and there, place it next to an undone bed and call it talent.

Only kidding. I did see the fun of it all and the potential: I was going to come home with a canvas full of mismatching colours and would just have to explain to everybody who asked what I actually tried and miserably failed to produce.

Whatever, I was there to have fun so I quickly dropped my preconceptions and just gave it a go.

After a timid start I actually begun to be transported by the colours, the texture and the smell of paint, inks and sprays. Images would come and go, colours would bleed into each other, lines, curves, drops and splashes would create shapes. Paint was leaking onto the canvas, hands, feet, it was everywhere.

Luckily we had been warned to wear grubby old clothes we didn’t mind chucking away and the floor had been covered up although at some point a wild squirt made the wall participate into the experience and my old t-shirt has now a couple of arty hand prints…

We first practiced on some long paper sheet, just to see how colours play together, to get the feeling for different textures and types of paint, then we moved onto our very own canvas and started producing our masterpieces.

I always philosophise on the concept of a white canvas. To me it represents possibilities. It’s the beginning, it’s birth, it’s a vacuum and yet it can become anything.

Interfering with the vibration of that white space is empowering and letting the first drop of colour plummet onto it is daunting.

Yet, I let myself go. I had no image in my head at first. I let the colours and the random shapes guide me; inspired by the colours that I am always drawn to: yellows, oranges, reds… an explosion took place and ended up with my very own version of the mighty sun.

Sunset, sunrise?

Whatever, it is energy, it is life. It is who I am. It is the child of an Art Spa.

***

Click here for info on the ArtSpa and Jenny's work.

Just an ordinary day

2009-11-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

More and more often my mind wonders over this blog or better over the fact that lately I am finding it hard to keep it updated. I could blame it on time however the thing that bugs me the most is that time is not the only issue (time can always be found I guess). The reality is that sometimes I feel like I have run out of topics.

It seems that some friends who update their blog regularly have an infinite amount of interesting subjects to delve on, as for me I am not sure whether I have run out of creativity, my world has become increasingly “normal” and bare from striking events or maybe I have just become so accustomed to the unusual that all is looking very “usual” to my eyes.

Has my life really become routine? Not sure.

Maybe I am just suffering from a “writer’s block”.

I have taken some time to ponder over this today; re-living the past few days trying to find some event or fact that may have happened that could be classified as, “unusual”, striking, surprising, strange, funny, witty; anything worth mentioning in the blog.

I guess back home you want to know what goes on over here and how we spend our days but then I think, do you really want to know what mundane things I have been up to today?

Sometimes in life someone will casually throw in a sentence in the middle of a conversation and that seemingly innocent sentence will stick forever in your mind; once a friend talking of people wanting to write books and biographies said: “for some reason people think that their lives are the most interesting thing to talk about but really who wants to read about someone else’s life”. It is a bold statement and it has stuck to my mind for many, many years. I find it so applicable now.

Surely from my point of view I lead an interesting life out here in the Middle East and I enjoy it very much; but going from enjoying it to actually believing that it is something of any interest for someone to read about is a completely different story. So here I am trying to find remarkable events to recount that could be remotely entertaining for you back home.

BLANK!

So what is happening? A lot but it seems that nothing is out of the ordinary any more.

Take today. It is a normal day off like others. I struggled to get up as it happens on my first day off of the week… it’s amazing the amount of tiredness that builds up in just 4 days!

I would have stayed in bed a bit longer but a friend suggested breakfast at 9:00am. So by 8:30 I was out in the car negotiating the already dwindling morning traffic. Life here starts very early, most schools and jobs start at 7:30 so by 9:00 am a lot of the people who sit in cars (generalizing a lot) are late starters or expat wives starting their round of breakfasts, brunches, coffee mornings, fashion meetings, plastic surgery consultations, shopping and who knows what else.

I dodged the usual car unpredictably breaking because the driver was lost in his own world of phone calls, observed the meticulously made-up lady texting at the red lights, got slightly (it’s my day off after all) hot blooded over erratic drivers with no clear destination or deadlines and finally made it to the beautiful area with the popular coffee venues.

It was a beautiful morning. I was sitting at the café outside, under the palm trees, the beach just below, temperatures probably around 23c and the gentle noise of the sea setting me right into the mood for a lazy breakfast. It felt like the beginning of summer in Italy. So nice!

My friend arrived and we spent two fabulous hours chatting over whatever crossed our minds.

Of course I can leave it sounding all picture perfect or I can add some more revealing details like: she had to order her hot water 3 times before she could take a sip of a morning drink, ending up with a non required bottle of cold drinking water and with me finishing my coffee before she could even start brewing her tea; she had to chase the persistent (and noisy) stray cat with the shoes in her hands and I “had” to haggle with a man at the car park when I arrived to have my car hand-washed during my meal for the equivalent of 2 or 3 euros (I am too “emotional” before breakfast for any kind of negotiation). All normal!

The rest of the day was also quite mundane. A quick stop to the dry cleaners to have the dresses used at the last balls cleaned, a telephone call to book a couple of treatments for tomorrow at my usual SPA where they now recognize me and call me by name (well, more like ma’m xxx) when I walk in, another call to book a hotel room for a romantic weekend in December in one of the most exclusive hotels in town to take advantage of a REALLY good offer, spending an expensive hour chatting to my life-coach (should I actually mention this here?) and booking the restaurant in another 5-star establishment for tonight.

Add fretting over a message from the landlord saying that the company is taking time to renew the lease for the house and that the company told him that S. no longer works for them (WTF? He definitely left for work in the morning, or.. is there something he's not telling me? ;) and that's the day done.

Yes that’s it and it is all pretty much normal. The rest of the week may be a different story. Who knows?

Now do you believe me when I say that nothing out of the ordinary is happening lately?

No time to get bored

2009-11-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

How are things over there around more northerly latitudes? I guess that winter has now settled and you are swiftly entering into the festive mood.

Mulled wine, skiing holidays…snow, hail? Maybe.

Personally, every now and then I still catch myself marveling at the fact that we are already in mid October… no November oops it’ll be December in no time. The other day I noticed the first Christmas decorations for sale in the shops. Where has all the time gone? Not sure.

The strangest feeling of all is that while at the same time last year I was still exploring and everything felt new and unfamiliar this time round all the sudden it feels as if I am circling the same block again. It is not exactly the same at all but there are a number of recurring events throughout the year which I guess we have now caught up with (annual parties, balls, national festivals and celebrations).

Yes, although it bears no negative connotation, the novelty has worn off and we are no longer the new kids in town.

The unfamiliarity has been replaced by the still surreal feeling of realization that although we’ve very much grown used to it (and enjoy it very much) we are living in the Middle East and conducting some sort of surreal life that doesn’t have any resemblance to the old way of life back in Europe. Setting aside the obvious weather differences or even the different cultural background (which doesn’t disrupt the extremely western-oriented way of life we are leading in this country) I still stop every now and then and think that maybe I should pinch myself. I can’t cease thinking that maybe one day I am going to open my eyes and realize that I am late for work, it is dark and wintry outside and I have to drag myself out of the bed and into the tube across town to start another day in the office.

Luckily that hasn’t happened yet, so we are still living the dream.

I’ve been asked before whether it gets boring living in a country where the climate bears little variation and where it is virtually sunny all year round. My reaction is always the same: “no, why should it be?” Also variation is here, we range from 50c+ in the summer to the current pleasant temperatures. I have to say that tonight for the first time I actually felt a little bit chilly at home wearing just a little shoulder strap dress and flip-flops and this morning it felt “cool” when I stepped out of the house. Yes winter is upon us, which more or less means evening temperatures similar to a summer day in England and a beautifully comfortable and dry 28c or so during the day (although it can get a bit too breezy on the boat at the end of a dive). :D

Of course we are trying to make the most of what we can. The latest addition to the diversions in our life is a boat. We’ve recently purchased a boat in co-ownership with a couple of friends and we have taken it out for a christening outing to a beautiful bay not far from Muscat all together. Useless to say that we had a blast of a time!

In addition to that we are now in full party season. This means that we have already been to a number of balls with ambassadors, military attachés and other official figures so this week we should also appear back in the party pages of the local press.More parties and holidays scheduled for the next month and 1/2 too. Diaries are getting crammed!

On another note, the other day I was back in a business suit (after almost a year!). I was asked to provide some assistance with a delegation of people from my native land over here on business so I turned into an interpreter for 2 days accompanying a business man and a business woman on a series of meetings across town culminating, as always, into a dinner at one of the plush hotels in town where I ended standing up in front of a crowd of business people of all nationalities, the ambassador and other embassy officials translating one of the delegate’s speeches.

If I think that I once wanted to do this as a career I can consider myself very lucky that I have finally had the opportunity to try this out.

As a plus I got the chance to see the swanky suites of the hotel as that was the type of accommodation arranged by the company organizing the event and some of the meetings took place in the actual the suites. I never miss a photo opportunity! ;)

Anyway I think I have rambled a bit too much again. My fault for not updating the blog more often but it is getting increasingly hard to find the time.

Please do send us your news every now and then. We may not have time to reply immediately however we do enjoy receiving your updates.

In general all is good and as you can imagine we have no time to get bored.

The mystery of the disappearing tree

2009-10-27T04:02:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that I am rubbish at gardening; my plants suffer the pains of hell gasping for water or drowning, lacking food and in general time, attention and tender loving care. It shows. The only reason our few shrubs survive is because we are now entering winter with its more forgiving climate and the maid waters them every other day, with the exception of the ones in the flowerbed outside which she inexorably manages to neglect too.

So the potted plants in our little courtyard look just… ok, the flowerbed on the outside in the other hand looks like the front patch of an abandoned house inhabited by ghosts (see photo on the side).

I have my excuses, such as I work very long hours for 4 days a week and the last thing I want to do when I come back home in the late evenings, hungry and with hair hardened and encrusted with sea salt is to spend half hour watering the plants, battling with a cheap hose that gets stuck under the car wheels and negotiating my way between the car and the perimeter wall to reach those damn rachitic shrubs on the outside…Yes, you’ve got it; gardening just doesn’t motivate me enough; or at least until now.

Suddenly in the last few weeks, maybe taken by the sense of guilt when seeing these poor two little trees every morning on my way to work hanging on dearly to their lives against all the odds I decided it was time to take some care.

It is amazing how resilient nature can be. I have always known that nature has its ways of recovering but that plant looked absolutely dead beyond any hope so when I started watering the two little trees and the small tree started coming back from the dead (see picture of recovering tree on the side) I was more than excited to see that maybe not all was lost so I made my resolution.

The plan was to go and buy some tools and sort this front patch once and for all, planting new flowers, clearing it up from the dead stuff, killing the weed and look after these resilient trees that showed me so much hope so that eventually the flower bed will again look like a respectable green patch.

Now here comes the dilemma. I am not sure whether one of the trees fed up with the treatment received grew some legs overnight and walked away or if (more likely) some scumbag decided that they could just eradicate it and make it theirs but the fact is that one of the small trees has disappeared (the one in better condition). Just like that!

In its place just a small hole in the ground (again see photo on the side).

You have no idea of the sense of abuse that I felt when I noticed the empty space walking out of the house this morning! I really miss my tree.

It is amazing how attached one can become to living things, even plants. After all the time spent making sure that it would survive I cannot believe it is no longer there. It had become like a pet to me. So at the moment, I am really annoyed (to the point that I think if I ever found out who removed it I may become seriously abusive).

You should have seen me this morning on my way to the key cutter to cut a copy of the keys for the engines of our new boat (but that’s another story for another post) driving around the neighborhood looking at other front houses to see if I could recognize my rachitic tree..

How pathetic can I be? Yes I think I have lost it altogether!

The mystery now remains… who on earth would steal a tree and why? and is this a crime that should be reported to the police? LOL! The world is full of weirdoes and every day there are new reasons to believe it!

As for what’s next, it’s really time to take action on that flower bed. It looks ever more desolate now, without my beloved little tree!

Oman a year on

2009-10-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

Time flies! That's what I hear everybody say. Let me add that apart from those 3 infernal months in the summer time seems to fly even faster over here.

The year milestone of our lives here in Oman has come and gone. So what's the verdict? Well let's see. After a year no doubt we have settled.

Here are a few highlights of the last 13 months in a country that we now call home

Making lots of new friends of different nationalities and backgrounds and learning about so many different ways of life
Moving into a big house and going shopping for furniture with the company's money :D
Beach bumming at the Yacht Club when we feel lazy at the weekend and can't be bothered to do anything
Playing boules against the French at the annual international boules tournament and lose miserably ;)
Crossing the desert and the salt flats to end up in one of the most beautiful beaches in Oman down in Bar Al Hickmann
Getting lost up around the mountains on a camping trip to Ibra Tombs and having our friends start a search and recovery tour to try to find us then seeing their faces when we turn up at the camp and explain that the true reason for being that late was that we left hours later than planned and that we actually stopped for lunch.
A visit to the Public Notary with Maura which saw us floading the notary's office with a bunch of men willing to help us with instantaneous tranlation
Watching turtles laying eggs and small hatchlings running for life in the early hours of the morning at Ras Al Jinz (many times)
Laying around a bonfire under a perfect canopy of stars during the night in the desert
Feeling the heart racing on my first go at dune bashing climbing up a high dune on our 4x4 in the desert
Screaming like a kid and sensing the need to open the door and jump out of the car at S.'s first attempt to come down a huge dune ;)
Finally attending my Instructor Development Course, graduating succesfully and crowning the dream of working as a Diving Instructor in tropical waters
Learning how to read Arabic script and munching a few basic words of Arabic
Our pit stops at the Crowne Plaza for sundowners after work
Popping to Dubai for a shopping spree and generally spending stupid money on meals and treats and not feeling guilty about it
Going on holiday and still feeling happy about coming back home when the holiday is up because really our time off back home is like a permanent vacation
Soon becoming the proud owners of a leasure boat :D

In general living a life of comfort for a bunch of acceptable compromises

Something to look forward to: winter

2009-09-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I know it’s been quiet on the blog front.

My excuses are: summer is a time for reflection (too hot to do anything else), I have dozed out under the spell of the unbearable heat and the constant humming of the A/C, I’ve been away (every respectable expat cleverly plans the escape around the month of Ramadan) and I plainly couldn’t be bothered. So I took a holiday from the blog.

You know when you have so many things to do! ;)

Although summer IS certainly a quiet period things have nonetheless been happening. Amongst the ones worth mentioning is that the anniversary of my move to Oman has come and gone, yes just like that! September 15th 365 days later!

I’ll try to dedicate a post to the highlights of the past year soon.

Other events include an impromptu holiday to Egypt which saw us experiencing the worst flight of our lives (you know that the plane you are flying on is old when bits fall off the emergency door during flight (and one of the pilots alerted by the alarm comes out to check it and sort it out.. uh?), you still have ashtrays on the armrests, the seat covers are ripped and hanging off the seats like old theatre curtains and you hear a worrying sucking noise through a whole by the emergency door as you glance at the wing and hope that this is not going to be your last landing!!!). The same holiday also saw me slashing my foot open in the attempt to try out kite surfing (no, honest it is good fun) and believing for 24hrs that my iPhone and my designer sunglasses had been stolen respectively from my bag while in a bar and from my hotel room on our last day of the holiday (just to find out that one was carelessly thrown into the suitcase while packing at 3am in the morning and the other had somehow gone walking around the bar and found its way back to my Regional Manager who lives in the area .. so while I write my iPhone is still on holiday in Egypt until the boss brings it here on his business trip at the end of September).

Therefore things do happen! Just I have had no energy to write about it. Summer has truly worn me out so while you are dreading the long winter already announced by the first few cold days and the usual rain here we are very much looking forward to it and we are already starting to feel the bliss. Lots to look forward to.

The end of Ramadan (tomorrow is the last day) marks the beginning of the new winter activities, I start working and the good weather will see us beach bumming for the next 8 months. J

Amongst the projects for this winter we are back into the idea that owning a boat is a good one so today we went to test one out at sea with a friend and we were rather pleased with the experience (a glimpse of it on the side). So watch this space.

The busy season is starting again…and let me add: at last!

You've got mail and it's 8 months fresh

2009-07-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Oman has an interesting snail mail system. Post is not delivered to your 8 digit home address consisting of a home number and way number but only to a PO BOX.
I guess it is easier, or instead of writing the address you'd have to draw a map!

Apparently it is notoriously difficult to get your own PO Box. I have heard that there aren't many free and you have to put yourself on a waiting list. We never bothered and we use, like most of the people we know, the office PO Box. It seems to work or anyway, if paper mail is missing I am not too sure we'd notice...

I am used to S. coming back home every now and then with a bunch of paper and useless junk that miracolously works its way through from the UK with the mail redirection. Will I ever get rid of this junk mail??

So today was one of those days. I got my mail, including a payslip for a UK job that I no longer hold. Yes the one that terminated at the end of January.

I thought it would be the P60.. but when I started looking through it I thought... "wow! it's Christmas again! What's this for?" I searched for the date... it was my November pay, unfortunately the one I have already spent.

I turned the envelope over: the stamp reads LONDON 21.11.08 - a true blast from the past!

To be fair I do not think the problem lies with the Omani post system. The delivery address has been printed correctly but the country was omitted.. it is scribbled on the side of the envelope... probably a recent addition.

I wonder where on earth this envelope has been before someone worked out which country it had to go to... did it sit somewhere in England being looked at over and over again until some 8 months later someone's bulb lit up and worked out where Muscat is on the map?

ahhhh, things I have to live with without ever knowing!

No, really. Leave me alone!

2009-07-14T10:31:00.001-07:00

So I am back..

Things have been hectic but all the sudden I have gone from 15hrs days to total nothingness which has thrown me into complete confusion over a week or so.

I think that this was the turning point: my honemoon phase with laziness has come to an abrupt end. I am ready for a new beginning which hopefully is not too far ahead in time (if only could I tame my impatience).

Don't get me wrong, I'll probably be regretting these words in a few months time when I have to juggle all the little projects that I am planning to throw onto myself but right now I crave stimulating activites that go beyond picking stuff off the shelves in spermarkets, filling the car with petrol, straightening pictures on the walls at home, cleaning the cats' litter, choosing the nail varnish colour or ruminating after the maid.

The problem is that the rest of the world works and I am no coffee morning type (especially because I do like a lie in if there's no good reason to get up) and it is too hot right now to go to the beach during the day. So we're here, me and the cats, in the empty house, most of the time and the conversation is hard to get going. Even my imaginary friend is starting to get bored.

Work kidnapped the husband recently. As I spend a fair amount of time on my own these days I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of what Muscat has to offer and headed for the local beach near home for a stroll at sunset. Temperatures are just about bearable at that time of the day and there are a few people around. It's a pleasant way to let the thoughts roll and feel at one with nature.

With music pouring into my ears, the colourful sky slowly unvealing its night curtains, the placid mass of water gently following its dance and tickling my feet, I was really enjoying this moment for myself. It is a great antidote to any mood: good music, the sea, the sunset.

Until something gets in the way that is. In my case it came in the form of a white DD (the local male outfit). Like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland this misterious guy jumped right next to me from out of nowhere. Just I wasn't going to follow him into the rabbit hole rather I must have looked like a giant carrot with legs.

My tactic is usually to ignore them, pretend they ain't there. Normally it works.

I immediately shifted my body to get the shadow out of my sight and to ignore what was coming. Then I heard it, the muffled call to attract my attention.. a barely recognisable human voice under the sound of my music. I pretended not to notice, even when it became louder but the white shadow never gave up and followed me like a ghost, despite my sustained walking pace. I don't know how long I ignored the guy for... at least 10 minutes.

Now this must be cultural because I am sure in Europe anyone else would have been deterred.

I decided to change tactic. I stopped, lifted my face and without hiding my irritation I paused my iPod, turned around and said "what?" - my temper recently earned me and interesting title amongst my course colleagues and the trainer; I can feel it coming all back out in the heat, the many years in London had only put it to sleep. I have been told that I can be pretty scary when I lose it, which ain't that often anyway, but this guy was on a mission to get me annoyed.
Completely unperturbed he asked me the time!!!

Time for you to move on I should have said but I was polite and I read him my watch. Then to my dismay it turns out that what he really wanted to do was conversation to practice English!!
Now, I know I long for a new occupation but somehow I had better plans for the end of this day. I was tempted to recommend him a college.

As I stuff my headphones back into my ears I tell him that English is not my mother tongue, I do not do conversations, I want to listen to my music and in short I want to be left alone... it must have been the lingo because he didn't take a word of that.

No, no worries, I am not turning into a bitch, in my desert-inspired forced meditation hours I've discovered that I've always been one. ;)

He kept on talking over my music... he really was desperate to practice his English.

That's how my beach stroll ended, I went back to my car, forgot about my music, gave up my magic moment and started considering a career as a TEFL (not).

Just an insight on what it can be like here for a girl on her own (let's say that today I was undercover). One thing is for sure, you're not going to be left alone for too long!!

If you go to the public beach have a strategy! It's not dangerous but it could seriously spoil your moment.

Busy bee

2009-06-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

You may be thinking that not much is going on over here because of the sporadic posts.

The reality is that we're doing a lot: decadent camping trips up the mountains, social events, busy weekends. In all this there is also work for S., while for me studying for my course and scheming up for the upcoming Birthday party and lots of other small things... I have a lot on my plate lately... and not enough time to upload the latest photos or update the blog.

I'll try to upload the photos of our latest extravagant camping trip to the mountains soon.

Maybe things will return to normal in July (I hope.. for my sanity).

On being an expat

2009-05-31T03:31:00.000-07:00

I've been an expat for the last 13 years. First in Europe and now in the Middle East and who knows where else I may end up.

Today I have been pondering on what being an expat means to me and here are a few thoughts.

I have friends from all corners of the world
tho my friends come and go all the time
I don't consider “going back home” a holiday
I have a very lose concept of what is home
I think in a different language than my own
my everyday language is not my native lingo
flying between continents feels just like jumping on a taxi, distances have become relative
every day is a new adventure
the internet is my lifeline (to keep in touch, to feel connected)

The emigrant's destiny: The foreign country has not become home, but home has become foreign (Alfred Polger)

Ibra Tombs

2009-05-17T02:59:00.000-07:00

We had planned to leave early, ahead of everybody else, just to explore the area a bit and maybe find the best camping spot. Or at least that's what everybody else thought we were doing when on a sleepy weekend morning, stirring in bed, we realised that the plan was more ambitious than we had originally envisaged. We hit the road well beyond schedule and way beyond the rest of the group.

Then there was lunch. For those who know us well this will come with no surprise: we just can't skip lunch. We had to stop for a quick bite in the family section of an anonymous restaurant alongside a petrol station on the motorway. So we were truly on our way around 12.30, perhaps 1pm instead of the planned 9:00 am.

Hooray! We were starting our weekend, heading towards Ibra for a camping trip with a group of friends high up on the mountains on the Eastern Hajars. Did it really matter if we were late?

Not really. Although it almost did.. All of this could have been irrelevant if.. well if.. S. hadn't decided to set off without the exact GPS coordinates or at least appropriate instructions on how to reach the agreed place. We had to make do with some random and vague instructions I had found on the web and scribbled down casually on a piece of paper the day before, just for added info.

At least that set us in the right direction. As instructed, after 16km from the turn off to Wadi Naam we turned right into the Wadi, just before Anniba Plantation. We did, well we did turn right into what looked like a dry Wadi, just before a plantation. I started to suspect that the directions were wrong when instead of getting closer to the mountains it looked like we were driving away from them back towards route 23.

We drove for a while on soft gravel ground. A camel resting under the shade of a tree gave us a curious look. When we ended up back on a paved road not far from the main one we started from, we were sure we were not where we were meant to be. We ended up in a loop back to the plantation. We decided to go back on the gravel road thinking that maybe we missed a turn. We hadn't. We did it a second time and half a third time. We tried to call our friends but by then we knew they had already reached the mountains because none of them had reception. We were lost, late and had no idea where to go and on top of that we had forgotten our good road map at home... we couldn't have been more unprepared.

I couldn't see how taking random off-road tracks would help, nor did I think that S.'s maniac driving could get us anywhere any faster. The 3rd time on the gravel S. almost lost control of the car as it swung from one side to the other. I thought we were going to end upside down, 4x4 have a high centre of gravity which makes them more prone to rolling. Having recently heard a first hand account of a Prado being rolled 180 degrees by an ex-class mate from the Arabic course didn't add any comfort. The image of her and her passengers hanging upside-down held by the seatbelts kept on visualising in my mind. They got out of the vehicle alright but had to wait 45 minutes for rescue. She got away with a few stitches and a bit of a shock while the car, borrowed from a friend, was a total write off.

No, I wasn't interested in that kind of experience so I must have sounded like one of those old ladies who keep on nagging to the driver, my body all stiffened up on the passenger's seat. I am normally quite adventurous but that afternoon I just wasn't enjoying S.'s driving.

Finally we decided to take a different route, on a paved road. We were getting closer to the mountains but we still had no idea where the turn off to start the climb up was. We drove through a road construction site until one of the workers had the good sense of telling us to get off... taken by speed S. missed the diversion sign. Not that they are usually very clear down here.

It was almost 4pm, the light softening in the sky, we had been going in circles around the same area for a while and still had no idea where to go. We had all the meat and charcoal for the rest of the group. It really could have turned out a fiasco of a trip.

Finally the bulb lit up! We called one of the friends who had to pull out at the last minute. The only one who knew where we were going and who luckily had phone reception. With directions and GPS coordinates we were soon outside of GSM reach, climbing up steep and bendy roads, surrounded by beautiful sceneries that unfortunately we couldn't stop to admire.

We reached the top around 5 or 5:30 pm, not long before sunset. After 5 long hours of driving! Some of the others, who still thought we'd left early in the morning had got a bit worried and had gone off on a search for us. They were worried they were going to find us down one of the steep drops along the road...

Luckily it all turned out well. We pitched our tents and we enjoyed the rest of the weekend. The following day we drove to the other side of the mountains down steep tracks towards the sea. 1700 m lower and 10-15c later we were around Tiwi beach soaking in the warm sea.

It was an adventure with a happy ending and it's definitely taught us something. At least to me not to trust a project manager to plan a trip.

Note - The roads to and from Ibra Toms are challenging, with narrow and steep gradients at points. The site can only be reached with a reliable 4x4 and some skilled driving. It's always advisable not to venture out on such trips on a single car. There is no mobile phone coverage from when you start venturing up the mountains until you come back down. Out of interest these are the GPS coordinates/directions we used to get to the top. If you decide to use them, you do so at your own risk. Do your own research before venturing out on an off-road trip. Roads change all the time and conditions can vary dramatically depending on weather.

From Muscat take highway towards Nizwa and turn off onto Route 23. (Ibra exit just past Bid Bid).
At Ibra take left turn at the sign to Wadi Naam.
Follow this road and turn right into dirt track at first GPS point below.
Point 1 – N22.53.437 / E58.53.074 (turn off into Wadi)
Point 2 – N22.50.124 / E58.59.590 (start of the ascent)
- at junction take track to the right
Point 3 – N22.49.239 / E59.00.993 at water tank refilling point turn left up the mountain
Point 4 – N22.48.924 / E59.03.335 (Ibra Tombs)

May activities

2009-05-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

Life proceeds smoothly on the hot side of the world. I am now used to the idea that 40c is the norm and I have to say that some days I am secretly disappointed when I realise that despite feeling as comfortable as in a baking oven, it's still spring after all and we haven't reached the extraordinary temperatures that are expected over here..yet.

Humidity has arrived, so the beautiful mountains on the background of Muscat are barely visible now and the blue in the sky has been replaced by a milky haze. I think it will stay like that for a few months.

Anyway despite what you may be thinking, it is not all that bad. Air con is everywhere here so apart from the short and frequent shocks to the system rushing from an air conditioned environment to another, there is little suffering from these extremes. Certainly less than when we have extremely hot summers in Europe where we are less than equipped for it. We still enjoy the social life and try to explore somewhere new when we can.

This is a very diverse country and we are lucky that during the summer months we can still escape to the high mountains not far from Muscat where temperatures, are always at least 10c lower than down here.

Work for S. is going well. He is quite busy and he has long days that normally start at 8am and often don't end until 6pm. I keep on thinking that with the commute that's not far off from a normal working day in London. Anyway, he tells me that he is enjoying his job despite some frustrations and office politics; he has only a 15-minutes commute to and from work, he loves the chilled-out lifestyle outside work and the sun is always shining. So far the pros make the cons insignificant which I guess is a good recipe for sustainable happiness.

In fact life outside work is a very intense and activity-packed business. Yesterday we went to Wadi Sahtan with some friends who are here on holiday from the UK. It is a very big area and we only drove to one of the villages. There was no water in the wadi itself but the drive was extremely scenic, if not a little audacious.

The road climbed from 800m to 1700m in only 4 km. Narrow and steep in places we really put the car to the test. We noticed an interesting smell of brakes when we stopped on the way back. Not sure S. has worked out yet exactly how to use the different settings for 4x4 driving yet. I am sure he will read the manual if anything breaks down ;)

On the way back we also took a diversion onto the rough track along the dry river bed, just to make it more challenging (!?), so now we have a twisted hinge under the car and a damaged exhaust protector after S . drove over a massive boulder when he decided to ignore me pointing and saying “there's a rock there”... Small stuff that adds to the scratch I managed to shape under the front bumper a couple of months ago while parking in town. :D

For what concerns city life we can be seen out and about town at the usual watering holes, always accompanied by a loud crowd. We now have our trusted taxi driver who we call whenever we are on a mission night. At times I wonder whether it would be safer to drink drive than swish home on the motorway at the speed of thunder making a 45km drive across town a swift 15 mins hallucination, but then drink driving may earn you jail and other related trouble so we ride the cab. At least this driver doesn't text or talk on his phone while speeding away and has a plush car with dvd player and all sort of other gadgets that keep us distracted from the road. Definitely a step above the rest!

This past weekend we've also been to a ball at the Grand Hyatt hosted by the Environment Society of Oman. It was great to hear about the projects they are working on. Amongst the guests was Nabs Al Busaidi who is now a celebrity over here but you may have heard of him over BBC news. He's only just come back to Oman from his recent adventurous expedition. He is the first Omani and the first Arab to have walked to North Pole and it was great to be able to meet him, shake his hand and congratulate him personally.

As you know the purpose of these balls is to raise some money for charity so he personally auctioned off a special watch that he used during the expedition for charity. Some of you may have already seen this on the photos on Facebook so bear with me when I write it again for the benefit of those who are not enslaved to the infamous networking site. Apparently this watch was designed by NASA for expeditions to the dark side of the moon. It was the auction item that fetched the highest amount of cash: a whopping 14,000 OR; now that's about £28,000 or if this makes more sense the amount of money you need to buy one of the top of the range 4x4 over here. Now if you are interested I have found that online this limited edition Omega watch retails for £2,975.

A solar panel system for the house sold for about 12000 Omani Rials. The locals show us how it's done.. Good job there are people who can spare lots of money for charity! For everybody else there's Mastercard. ;)

I am still talking of the same weekend when I mention a night at the Intercontinental Hotel to watch a play/comedy by Muscat Amateur Theatre over dinner. It's a group of talented actors who do a very good job at keeping us entertained in town.

Recently we went back to the Al Bustan Palace Intercontinental Hotel auditorium to listen to the Royal Omani Symphony Orchestra. The concert was sponsored by the Spanish Embassy and Qatar Airways (if I remember well). The orchestra, conducted by talented Spanish conductor Jose Gomez, played beautiful Spanish/Moorish themed music and a selection of pieces from the famous Carmen. It was the best performance we've witnessed to so far, possibly encouraged by the fact that some members of the Royal Family were sitting in the royal box.

So as you can see life proceeds smoothly. We keep ourselves busy and entertained. Yet, amongst this mayhem of activities, we are always thinking about all of you back in the world we come from, so don't forget to drop us an email to let us know how you are doing every now and then.

We welcomed with enthusiasm and dropped jaws the recent news from John and the happy message about a stork reaching the far kingdom of OZ; now we wonder about those who are lagging behind.. and I am sure those in question know who we are referring to. ;)

Summer is coming!

2009-05-03T03:11:00.000-07:00

Yes while you look forward to the long bright days, a break from the rain (hopefully), some sun and enjoyable temperatures here we start hiding indoors. There's not much to say: it's officially too hot to go to the beach now.

I tried today with a friend who's visiting. We went to the Yacht Club at 9:00 am; not a soul around. We stayed in the shade until the wind became so hot that it felt like having a giant hair dryer blown onto our face. It is a completely new concept for me not getting any relief from the blowing wind.

Bathing in the sea is still nice but you have to watch out for sun burns. We had a small child with us today and hunger struck quite early so at 11:30 we decided to flee to an air conditioned restaurant in town for an early lunch. Now I understand why they have afternoon naps in hot countries..

I went diving yesterday, that is probably one of the few outdoor activities that can be still sustained. It was a nice diversion and a great way to cool down. I love diving, it's so relaxing. The water temperature is around 26c (perfect!). Coming up, the last few meters on the surface feel like a bath tub and I didn't mind the hot wind on the boat in between dives; that's when I normally suffer because it gets too cold.

So diving it is from now on!

On the way to the dive centre early in the morning I passed the thermometer by the Souq (market) in Muttrah: there were 41c at 7:50am!

Shall I say more?

Summer is coming, enjoy yours!

It's hard work but someone's got to do it

2009-04-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Good Monday everyone!
Shame you cannot see the grin on my face... hi hi

The fact that here Monday means the middle of the week is immaterial, I no longer work. As most of you know my stint of remote working from home for a UK company came to an end in January so now I am free, free like the air.

So how do I spend my days? I hear many of you saying. Don't I get bored? Sometimes, but then that can happen at work too so ain't complaining. For now anyway.

Back to “How do I spend my days??” Good questions because I haven't quite had the time to think about it ;until now that is. With the maid that sorts out the house chores, apart from those that I have stubbornly kept mine for some reason, like feeding the cats, cleaning their litter tray and doing the clothes washing (I have resorted to never leave the laundry to a maid again after the one in the last house we lived in managed to turn my favourite yellow t-shirt into a blue-ish green optical aberration!), with the Arabic course finished and level 3 not starting until after July (I passed level 2 with over 80% marks by the way which makes me really proud even if I still can't understand more than a couple of words here and there when I hear the locals talking..), a break from Yoga since my mum was here recently, I really don't have much to do these days.

Take today: I've just come back from lunch at Caffe' Vergnano with my Italian friend, will now spend a couple of hours compulsively surfing the internet, spin a little bit more of my network web, finish my manicure, read the local free paper, watch a bit of trash on the Italian TV this evening (yes we have two satellite dishes now and all the trash that comes with them!!) and then another day will be done.

OK it is not always like this but this week that's it. I've found that it's not easy to find work over here unless you are in some niche field (construction??). The reality is that you don't look for work, it finds you, through networks and luck. I had an interview with an IT company a little while ago (again through a friend) but when I heard what IT pays here my mind wandered elsewhere; it's the downside of living close to the Asian subcontinent; ain't going to get out of bed for that, let alone spend a minimum of 45 hours a week locked in an office with the key thrown away. ;) although I'd probably do it for something else more fun... like diving for instance. :D

Last week an opportunity came up to accompany some Italian people on a business trip around the Chamber of Commerce to help with the lingo (isn't it great that at this day & age there are businessmen that engage into international business without speaking a word of English? It gives work to everybody!). Unfortunately it was all called off just the afternoon before so I didn't get a chance to go. That's the way here, always factor in the unexpected. Shame I was looking forward to that diversion and an opportunity to expand the network.

Opportunities are out there waiting to be found or to find me so I don't worry too much.
I am moving my little octopus tentacles slowly around the Muscat community so that I can feel the water without stirring the bottom too much. In the meantime I will continue to enjoy my freedom while it lasts, having a go (and fun) at playing a Muscat (not too) desperate housewife (with sunglasses).

PS: On another note it's getting very hot here. Hot means:

I have to turn my car engine + A/C 10 minutes before getting on so that I don't evaporate as I enter the vehicle. Unfortunately because I have a C*@p rent-a-car it still takes another 10 minutes before the air is cold enough, so I loose two litres of water for the first 10 minutes while I drive off because I can't be asked to wait any longer.
You get 3rd degree burns from the steering wheel of your parked car
You go to the beach and stay in the shade (and soon that won't be bearable either)
You sweat faster than you can drink
You have to have your last dinner at open air restaurants before they all close for the summer by mid May.
The washing on the line is dry by the time you've finish hanging the last item... (almost)
No cold water from the taps but you can choose between hot (blue tap) and very hot (red tap)

Green Turtles

2009-04-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

The magic unfolds during the dark hours of the night. Visits times at Ras Al Jinz are 9pm for an evening tour or 4am, just before sunrise. We did them both, you cannot take chances with nature. When it comes to wild animals as always, a sighting is never guaranteed. Apart from the tiredness that resulted from this it was was all well worth it.

At 9pm we turned up at the visitors centre, got out tickets and waited patiently for our group's turn. You cannot use your own torches on the beach to avoid disturbing the nesting turtles or confusing hatching little ones that follow the light of the horizon to find the sea. With no moon on sight we stumbled towards the beach following the beam coming from our guide's torch.

Turtles turn up on the beach between sunset and sunrise to lay their eggs. They engage into an exausting feat lasting two hours during which they dig a meter deep hole to cover it again once the eggs are laid and then leaving another disguising hole a few meters away (to confuse the numerous predators that turn up with in the hope of finding a nutritious banquet).

It is a privilege to witness such magnificent creatures lay their eggs or the small hatchlings frantically moving about on the sand instinctively following the call of the sea. One cannot stop wondering at the amazing ways nature manages its caulderon of life.

It is an amazing story of survival, our guide gives an informative talk. Apparently from 1000 eggs only a handful turtles survive to reach adulthood; seagulls, crabs, foxes, fish, man (fishermen nets, boats and other stress), pollution (especially plastic bags in the sea) everything conspires against these magnificent animals that only start laying eggs at around 30-40 yrs of age and live to approximately 80 yrs of age.

Their name (green), the guide explains, is due to the colour of their fat caused by their mostly vegetarian diet. The eggs hatch after about 2 months and although they are laid at the same time (about 100-200 eggs per nest) it will take about 3 to 5 days for all the turtles to leave the nest as they leave in small groups.

They only come out in the darkness of the night. The guide explains that as they dig their way up they will only surface the last few inches if the sand is cool. Warm sand indicating that the sun is still shining.

The most amazing piece of information however must be that the sex of the turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand during the incubation period: if the sand temperature is under 29c the eggs will produce all male turtles, if the sand is over 29c only femails will be born; however if the temperature is 29c then the sex of the turtles from that nest will be mixed. That is why the nests closer to the water will tend to produce male turtles and the ones further away will most likely produce females.

Once the little turtles reach the sea they will have the energy to swim without stopping for 3 days. They will swim to safer places into the deep sea. They will wander the seas travelling for thousands of miles (tagged turtles from Oman have apparently reached Australia) to come back to the very same beach they were born on to lay their eggs every 3 years once they reach their mature mating age.

We finished our night tour at about 11pm. At 11:30 pm we were back at our hotel along the beach in Ras Al Hadd only to get out of bed again at 3:30 am for another visit to Ras Al Jinz.

The dawn viewing was very different. Firstly we had a bit more light with the moon up and the sun not far under the horizon and then we were allowed to stay on the beach at the end of the viewing, watching sun rise on this beautiful stretch of coast. The best bit however was probably seeing one last small turtle that having lost completely its way (probably from the night before) and incredibly surviving against all the odds a long way from the sea, it was saved by a spanish couple who was there with us. They placed it delicately on the beach near the shore and we watched it using its last energy to frantically reach the sea and swim away.

We'll never know if it made it but it was such an amazing spectacle to see it clearly under the light of the sun rising.

We spent the rest of the day swimming and hiking in Wadi Shab. Needless to say we were exausted by the end of the day and we were in bed by 9pm. It was all worth it!

Sand and sea

2009-04-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say that the rain went a while ago and left room to the usual beautiful blue sky.

Of course we've been busy taking my mum up and down the country and having lots of fun; that's why I haven't had time again to update the blog.

Some photos on flickr.

Back to the rain!

2009-04-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

A quick post to let you know that we are back.

My mum is here visiting and I have little time to spend on the Internet. I am taking advantage of the fact that she's crashed in bed, probably too tired after we were woken up by the heavy rain and thunderstorm this morning just before 6am.

Yes, rain. While skiing I smiled at the idea that now, going back home after a holiday means back to the sun, the sea and a relaxed lifestyle. Yet after 12 years in London the tradition could not be broken.

After just a few days we were back we were faced with a severe weather warning which also resulted in the government giving a two days holiday to the public sector. Can you imagine the British Government announcing a holiday because it's sunny?

Of curse those who benefited from this last minute holiday (that with the weekend meant a 4-day break) were more than happy to stay at home, others panicked and started rumors about a new cyclone...many rushed to the supermarkets and emptied the shelves in a food and water purchase frenzy.

For us it is just the usual worry of the leaking windows at home although this time I have stuck duct tape all over the place and although unsightly it seems to help a lot.

Yes for an entire week now it has been almost constantly cloudy and it has been raining heavily intermittently. On the day that I took my mum to the Souq there was a horde of Italian tourists just disembarked from a cruise ship on their guided tour of the city, I could hear one on the phone talking to someone at the other end complaining about the rain.."good job it never rains here" she was saying "we got soaked yesterday and so did our bags, we are exhausted".

Then I met a friend of a friend at the supermarket in the evening, he has a visitor staying with him for just a week. I cannot imagine anyone more unlucky, coming to Oman to get some sun and enjoy the sights and all he gets is rain and roads that flood due to the lack of drainage! It's been the worst week of the year so far!

We almost cancelled our trip to the desert this weekend but in the end we decided to go anyway so now we've seen the desert under the clouds and the damage caused by the rain at some of the wadis we decided to visit. A reminder of the fierce force of water and a good way to learn what the danger of flash floods in wadis during rain fall really means.

It seems that there is some more forecast for heavy rain today (although it was sunny today it may rain again tonight) and some drizzle tomorrow but hopefully (at least for my mum's sake) the weather should be back to normal after tomorrow.. (can't wait to go back to the beach and we need dry weather to camp on the beach this weekend!!).

If you ask me I've already had enough of this unexpected diversion but if you go by the local standards apparently this is "good" weather.....

<< Cloudy desert

The house

2009-03-07T02:08:00.000-08:00

I know a few of you are curious to see where and how we live so I have uploaded a few photos of the place we call home on Flickr.

The following link will provide you with a visual tour of the property.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidworld/sets/72157614834648183/show/

I have decided to keep these visible to friends and family only so you will need a pass or a flickr account to view these.

If you have a flickr account and you are marked as Friends or Family in my contacts then you will be able to see these from the above link. If you have an account and you cannot see them send me an email and I will add you to my contacts.

If you do not have an account and don't want to create one but you are still interested in seeing the pictures no worries, just send me an email and I will forward a special pass.

Portaloos

2009-03-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

Since the last post we've been paintballing (auch!), to James Blunt concert (and before you do: no need to comment on the choice, there is no choice here), to an environmental walk along the beach front followed by pork-based breakfast with a lovely view over the sun-studded sea at the Crowne Plaza.

The concert was on the grounds of the Intercontinental Hotel. This was a big event in town so we kept on bumping onto people we know, as it happens whenever you go out in Muscat.

This may sound a bit funny but I found myself intrigued by the temporary toilet facilities on site..
Ok have I run out of things to say? No. I always tell you about wonderful places and beautiful beaches I thought that maybe it is starting to get a bit boring for you. So I'll throw some other curiosity in.

The thing is that having eperienced the portaloos at summer music festivals in England I couldn't help to notice the differences with a grin on my face. I know it's a bit sad but it made me smile and if a toilet does that then it warrants some space on the blog.

First of all there were male and female portaloo sections: I don't remember well as it's been a while since I roughed it at a music festival in the UK but I don't think they do this in England (or do they nowdays??). Then there was a toilet attendant sitting outside the row of portaloos to make sure that the cubicles were sparyed with air freshener on a regular basis and toilet paper refilled (!?). Once you got in the toilets they were dry, as clean as you can expect a portaloo to be and also had a packet of dettol wet wipes to disinfect your hands after you had finished your business.
Ah and of course stepping out there was no mud.

I thought it was hilarious. I wanted to take a photo of the male/female set up but I thought I'd look like a bit of a weirdo photographing toilets. I have already been labelled a compulsive photographer. I think it's bad enough that I am putting this on the blog but I am sure that anyone else who has endured the rough reality of portaloos at an open air festival in the UK would have found this just as amusing ;) - maybe this is a sign that I may be turning into an uncanny expat or I am running out of things to blog on ;)

On another note, I know that a few of you have requested to see photos of the house. It is true that I am no longer working and should have no excuses but planning for the future and doing nothing seems to take much more time ;)

I'll get it sorted soon. :)

Theatre, diving, comedy? Life's a beach

2009-02-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend gone has been a frenzy of activities. The weather is perfect and as the temperatures hike steadily we may as well make the most of it before it is too hot to even step outside and everything slows down.

We started with a classical concert on Wednesday night at the auditorium of the Al Bustan, a colossal luxury hotel where I always end up getting lost looking for the right lift or the toilets! The Royal Omani Symphony Orchestra (AKA ROSO) composed of young Omanis and directed by a British conductor was good. We enjoyed the cultural evening: the single priced tickets at 10 Rials each (about 18 GBP nowadays) get you the best seat you can manage to find in the house (first come first served) and as usual canapés and drinks during the interval!

This was the second time we were in that auditorium since we moved to Oman a few months ago and I have to say that the experience is always interesting. If in London you need to check your friends' diaries months ahead to make sure you find an evening that everybody can make, here even without meaning to, you know you will surely meet someone you know or spot a known face amongst the “contained” crowd.

The most amusing part however is people watching. Of course everybody is watching! As you mingle around at the interval scouring the crowd for known faces you can spot the seasoned expats from afar. There will always be one or two who having completely lost the sense of measure or the will to fit in, stand out like a sore thumb in their extravagant outfits (which by the way will help you recognise them again at the next social do); you may also have a little scuffle with the grumpy misfits who have obviously spent too long in the country and have been worn down by frustration, yet they never go back to the beautiful perfect lala land their country is because they know that by going back they would break the spell (even if they refuse to accept it).

At first sight you would say that the multicultural backgrounds mesh together and yet differences are so obvious to your eyes. Even my very own background it seems, is slowly screaming itself back out (little episodes like queueing or driving in this country have unleashed my survival instinct). I am finding it all very interesting.

Enough of the Muscat expatriate society! I could write a whole post on this but I want to tell you about our weekend. I guess that if I don't write so frequently my long blurbs are excused (she thinks).

After the ROSO concert of course we could not shun some drinks with friends at the beautiful bar by the beach so we were in bed by 2am and up again at 6:30 for our next appointment in the calendar. Life is hard!

My first dive in Oman was around the Daymaniyat Islands. Beautiful pearls encrusted in the Arabian sea about 45 minutes boat ride from the Global Scuba dive centre.
We had two dives, both very nice (although I was totally annoyed that the people on the other boat encountered a leopard shark and we didn't!). We saw huge morays, coral in beautiful condition, tuna and a few sea snakes on the sea surface as we were riding back. In between the two dives we stopped for lunch on one of the islands.

The photos speak for themselves, this place is paradise!

I was the first to get off the boat (those who were with me on the expedition in Madagascar are probably very familiar with this drill of mine ;-). As I waded towards the beach schools of glass fish started jumping around in a frenzy. I stuck my hand out. It must be true what they say about fish being stupid because they kept on hitting head first into my hand! Now I understand what an easy feat it must be for big fish to feed along the sardine run in South Africa.
We were back home around 3pm and crashed full weight on the bed.

Since having a late night and an early following morning wasn't enough in the evening we were booked for a comedy do. Smartly dressed and trying to look sleek we headed to the “Intercon” at 7pm to join our friends at the table for an evening of laughter over meal and a few drinks. It was a blast, we had lots of fun and of course another late night! I also managed to get a photo with Bobby Davro (if you know who he is).

By the end of the evening it is only half way through the weekend so on Friday morning we pack our car, pick up our friend and join the others who had been camping the night on Assifah beach. We spend another glorious day on the beach under the warm sun, swimming in the blue sea. We also “played” a bit of chase the goat when the uninvited guests turned up lured by the smell of lunch. A classic on this side of the world.

Before moving to Muscat I thought that we would have to give up a lot of things living out here (like classical concerts, comedy dos and stuff like that) but now it feels we are doing more with our time than we did back in London. Maybe because it is less of an effort or maybe because we make more of an effort (seen that the opportunities are limited)... either way we could have not crammed more into our humble weekend!

And this week we are even going paint balling! (FYI it's only just got to Oman).

Maybe you can guess what the next post is going to be about...

Offroad fun!

2009-02-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

I have been quoted a 2-hours wait. I've learnt to be creative. So excuse this long post, I have plenty of time today. As I sit here on a bench at the side of the Al Maha car wash, waiting for the mighty 4x4 to be cleared from the caked salty sand under its engine and the dust to be washed away inside and out I'll use this time to tell you about our latest adventure. Ohh I love technology (sometimes).

The alarm went off at 6.10am. The room was still dark and my eyes still stuck together. As I snoozed the annoying thing I figured out that surely with 3 families with small children, even if we took it easy being late was not going to make us the last ones. I was right, in fact we could have taken it even easier. 4 hours later between pee stops and emergency car roof rack repairs we were still making our way out of Muscat. It didn't bother us. This is Oman, if you want to live a good life take it easy and relax. It is up to you how you take the inevitable unexpected diversions: you can have a nervous breakdown on a daily basis or just see the funny side. The latter works better for me.

About two hours or so from Muscat we were reaching Al Wasil. This is where you normally enter the desert but seen that we were nearing lunch time and we were nowhere near half way through to our final destination we decided to stick to the main road. By 1pm we were crossing a sleepy town with more goats around than humans. I liked it. It really felt like we were in a forgotten place that got stuck back in time. I was waiting for a bundle of dry weed to appear tumbling down the road but maybe the goats ate it before it had a chance. We stopped for a quick lunch and a leg stretch by the windy beach and then back on the cars.

After spending a few hours on a graded track and later racing against the lowering sun we decided to stop and camp for the night. I am not too sure exactly where we were. There were tradintional fishing villages dotted around and sadly a lot of rubbish as a reminder that despite the seemengly remote location in fact we were not too far from civilization and its plastic. After a while spent trying to find a clean spot on the beach we headed slightly inland towards the desert sand where we set camp on a lovely stretch of clean, soft sand.

The following morning it was our turn to make breakfast. As I wished I could sleep a bit longer for the second day in a row I dragged myself out of the tent at sun rise and dug my feet in the cold sand. It wasn't long before we were all packed and back in our cars. A full morning and early afternoon of technical offroad driving through difficult terrains and lots of excitement. It was a fun packed day which ended in a remote corner of paradise.

We headed straight into the desert and tackled huge dunes, the heart racing when our car span to the side as we descended the first one. Simon was driving, it was his first go at high dunes. I was literally shitting myself. The bottom of the dune looked so far below, with the car out of line the heavy back was dragging us to one side (mine). I kept on leaning towards Simon (as if it was goin to make any difference) an instinctive reflex more than an effective solution. At one point I was seriously considering opening the door and jumping out of the car, then I thought better of it, ok high centre of gravity makes these machines more prone to rolling over, but we were sliding slowly and surely these monsters were built for this (with a skilled driver at the wheel).

Yet the idea of the car rolling upside down the dune with all our heavy cargo of cooler boxes, pots and pans and other necessary junk loose on the inside was making me extremely uncomfortable. As we reached the bottom of the dune my muscles unclenched and I started breathing again.

It is hard to convey the excitement of the day in words. The desert was absolutely beautiful and as we crossed it in our convoy of 6 cars, sometimes stopping for photos, sometimes to get unstuck, others just to wait for each other, I kept on looking around at this immense open space and I felt so free, so small, so part of it and so excited. You may think of the desert as one samey boring landscape but it changes a lot as you drive through it. Sometimes you find a solitary tree standing proudly under the blinding sun, giving shelter to local birds (or us passing nomads), to remind you that there is water under that sand after all and that even such a harsh landscape harbours life.

Sometimes you have hardened sand scuplted by the wind, others lots of little bushes on top of sand mounds and at times you encounter some other unfamiliar vegetation.
As we neared the road towards the sea and we climbed the last dune the landscape opened up to an immense flat of hardened sand. We lined up, pushed down the accelerators and raced a few kilometers at the top of our speed towards the paved road at the far end.

We pumped up the tires up to get on the tarmac only to bleed them again a few kilometers down the road. We enetered the longest and most difficult terrain in our offroad itinerary.

As we headed towards the sea we had to contend with the vast salt flats, a layered ground of crusty sand surface covering soft wet sand and salty water bottom. As the crust broke under the tyres, the car would sink in the slushy sand underneath creating a lot of resistance. Sometimes the bottom would harden and sharp salt crystals and rocks would protrude so we had to adjust the speed and drive around them carefully to avoid a flat tyre. At some point we stopped, J. Had to check a leak under her car. We kept on sniffing it thinking it was petrol.

We were miles from any basic road and the thought of breaking down out there was daunting. I didn't think we could even dream of towing that far, let alone in that terrain. Luckily we soon established that it was condensation from the AC and we kept going.

The last part of the drive was long and tiring but still a lot of fun.

Finally the landscape opened up to blinding white sand and turquiouse blue sea framed by emeral green lagoons with pink flamingos that struggled into the air as we drove past, perturbed by our arrival.

We had reached our final destination, Barr Al Hickman. Mouth wide open I was awed by the beauty of this place, miles of white beach so remote and wild. It was a corner of paradise.
We drove a litte bit longer along the beach and found a spot to set camp.

It was hard to leave at 3pm the following day! But then we have other adventures to look forward to. That was just one way of spending a long weekend in Oman.

Oh the car is almost done and my laptop battery is dying, I hope it was a good read. I'll post some photos soon.

Climate derangements

2009-02-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

Dear all,

I have read the news and looked at all the photos on Facebook with interest..
Lots of unusual snow? That is so yesterday! ;)

While you are all snowed in by the greatest snowfall in England in 18 years, the temperatures here are already set on a constant hike towards the other end of 30c and while you play snowfights in the parks, grateful to old dear tfl for enabling you to skive off work, we are planning our next weekend adventure crossing the Sharqiyah Sands.

OK we had to plan this one because we were jelaous of all the fun you are having over there with the white powder... ;)

We have now turned the page on our winter: alas a couple of days of freakishly heavy rain and scarcely a week of inconsistent cloud cover and temperatures hovering around 20c by day and a "freezing" 14c at night.

The thing is, you may not believe it but you are not the first in hosting a freaky snow show.

I know, I know probably this sounds just so minor in the hype of the current weather craze in England but the world is not the same any more. We must have crossed the line with pollution a while back because the weather has become so unpredictable that it now even snows in the desert (yes that's right).

Could this be a sign that we are finally heading towards the so much speculated apocalypse? ;)

It happened just over a week ago, we had snow in some parts of Oman and in the UAE. Luckily nowhere near us but it's enough to spark some confusion and of course, fuel some new crazy ideas...

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/25/64949.html

Yes this is the Gulf for you, it always manages to take you by surprise! You see, if they are not making it bigger then they'll make sure they get it first, including some freak snow event in January.

Anyway, climate derangements apart, I have to say that the thought of London turned into alpine village overnight is quite exciting. Judging by the photos on Facebook it looks rather pretty under the thick blanket of snow.

Have fun for us too, won't you?

Rain!!

2009-01-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

If you thought it never rains in Muscat, think again. It DOES and when it does it is serious business.
We had confirmation a couple of days ago when a storm broke out.
I was alone at home, Simon was working rather late, typical that the first time had to be on a night like that. Hell broke out.
It started with lots of lightening, then a call from our maid telling me that she would not come the following day because her house was flooded and her things were floating away. Little did I know it was going to be us next.

I started unplugging electrical items as I realised the storm was coming but didn't manage to reach upstairs that the electricity went off. The whole area was in the dark. Things started bashing against the house outside, objects flying from the surrounding building sites lifted by the strong winds. Every now and then a flash of light would brighten up the rooms inside the house... then the water started flowing in. Huge pools of water formed at every window and with the strong wind blowing in a favourable direction water rushed in from under the kitchen and rooftop doors. In no time I heard water coming down the stairs like a waterfall splashing loudly on the landings all the way to the ground floor, the noise amplified by the echo. Running around trying not too slip on the wet floor and stairs I tried to stop the water coming in with every towel I could get hold of. Finally I found our torch. By the time I got to the kitchen the whole floor was covered with water.

I don't know who was more terrified: the cats scared by the noises were skidding around on the wet floors looking for cover or me worried that something might fly in through one of the windows.

By the time Simon was home after I called him in panic, the storm was over and gone. We stayed up till late to mop up all the water.

The following day the electricity was back. We had complete cloud cover and some more rain. It felt like being back in England. Although the wind had stopped and it wasn't as bad as the night before, more water came through every window.

If it wasn't for the wet floors it would have been even exciting but now I have had enough!

We knew the building quality here was bad but now we know just how bad. How hard it is to make windows and outer doors water tight is beyond my comprehension. I guess that although I hear that when it rains it is always heavy here, it is just not worth the effort (my opinion is not going to make the difference).

Today the sun is shining again. If it wasn't for the lower temperatures, some scattered clouds in the sky over the mountains, the puddles in the street and the mess brought by the wind, you'd think it was all a dream.

Health & Safety in Oman

2009-01-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

I hadn't mentioned yet that over the Christmas period (at last) we had the water connected to our house (until then we were having regular refills of our water tank over the roof by the blue truck).

The day of the connection, a guy, I assume an employee of the water company, turned up unannounced at the door asking if he could use our electricity, seemingly to run whatever device he was carrying to check the water pressure.

In the meantime as we had run out of water and I had no idea the water was being connected that day, the blue truck I had called earlier also arrived and started filling our tank.

The tank filling business always created a huge pool of water at the front of our house so the ground got a bit wet.

Undeterred the water company employee passed his cable through the puddle, over the front gate, into our flooded front garden, through our front door; plugged the wires (literally) into the nearest socket and got on with his job.

The following picture requires no further explanation....

Christmas season

2009-01-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all!

Following our trip to the UK things got very busy. Our long weekend to Dubai led us right into the Christmas period during which Angela and John (Simon's parents) joined us in Muscat to leave us on 1st January. Hence no time to update the blog until now.

Things are now back to normal. We are relaxing in the garden taking in the perfect beach temperatures, the blue sky and the beautiful sun.

I guess many of you will be curious to know how we spent our Christmas period in Muscat. Of course being a Muslim country Christmas is not a mainstream holiday here yet, if you ignore the sun shining and the beautiful weather, Xmas day was more or less a "standard" affair for us with food, family and even Xmas service at a Christian Church not far from our home.

On the 24th we went out for a nice meal at the Shangri-la where we even had a table-side show of Christmas Carols, ate turkey and lots of other lovely food!

For Xmas day we had lunch at home where to my dismay I realised that duck is indeed a small animal with very little meat! lol! Maybe it wasn't the best choice but it was nice nonetheless :)

We visited a Christian church not far from home for Xmas mass. It was a very interesting affair. The mass was in English.. or intended to be, although at times it sounded as if it had switched to some obscure foreign language. It didn't in reality, it was just the priest's strong accent and a slight lisp. I guess it made me concentrate more... maybe.
It was interesting to see how extended the Christian community is here, especially considering that the church we went to is not the only one in Muscat.
The majority of the people there seemed to be from South East Asia, a mix of Sri-Lankan, Indians and Philippinos. I think you could count westerners on the tips of your fingers. Probably because most tend to fly back to their own countries for this period of the year or maybe because the ones who stay aren't as bothered about going to mass or go to some other church...

Not sure, I thought I'd see more.

Although at times we were working in between Xmas and New Year we took some time to visit places and do some trips outside Muscat. We spent 26th December by a wadi, visited Nizwa on another day and also took the opportunity to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.

It was nice to spend Christmas with family!

Here is a link to the photos taken during this period.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidworld/sets/72157611995480911/

As usual the private ones will only be accessible to those who have signed up to flickr.com and who I have added to my list of contacts.
Send me an email after you have signed up to ask me to add you. For obvious reasons I will only add family and friends. If you have stumbled onto this blog by chance but you are not part of this trusted circle, you may still enjoy the public photos.

Happy New Year!

Muscat it is...

2008-12-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

Back in Muscat... It was really nice to see a few of you in London.. a real shame to miss some others, especially Clara, Martin and the children. :(
I hope you are all feeling better now.

We got back the day before yesterday. Left London early in the morning with the meter reading -1c and landed at around 10pm in 25c of glorious sea breeze. This is more my element.

Although I have to say that the weather here has somewhat changed in the last few days. We are having a few clouds around and today for the first time since I moved here I saw some "real" rain and crazy wind, yet it doesn't last too long so I guess it is just a diversion. The clouds over the mountains make a very dramatic backdrop.

The visit to London was great for a number of reasons: seeing friends was the top one. Thank you Mike and Debbie for Mike's lovely birthday bash at Bovey Castle, really something to remember!! Thanks a lot Alex and Julie for putting us up and for the lovely meals (I can't believe you still had the energy to look after us after the long days at work!). Thanks Joe and Alice for the amazing dinner on Sunday night... I almost struggled to get into my fancy gown for the Crystal Ball last night!

Thanks to all you who turned up at the May Fair bar on Saturday night. It was really, really lovely to see you all.

Many have asked how it felt being back in London and whether we miss it so I guess this must be the top burning question for most of you.

While living in London I always thought that I would miss it a lot once I left yet this trip made us realise even more how happy we are in Muscat.

It was certainly strange to be back but although familiar it didn't feel too much like home any longer. It felt busy and tiring with lots of people rushing about. I guess the cold and rainy weather didn't help.

Do we miss it? Simon and I are united on this front: apart from people there is nothing we miss from the cosmopolitan city.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great city and we both love it and have enjoyed it for a number of years while living there but Muscat is definitely ticking all the boxes for us at this point in life.

After all what should we miss? The beach is never too far, the sun shines for about 357 days of the year, natural wonders and places to explore are just a few hours away, the lifestyle is as chilled out as we wanted and now when we come to London we can enjoy it on holiday.

Mabe it's a new phase in life, maybe it's the sign of age progression but this life really suits us. And we can't wait to share it a bit with family and friends; hopefully see you again soon.

3-day weekend break

2008-11-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Between weekend trips, work, other chores, Yoga lessons and Arabic classes I'll try to give you an update...

The latest highlight: our recent 3-day weekend trip out of Muscat; it was awesome! It was my first trip away from the capital and although I still think Muscat is a fairly relaxing city (definitely nothing like the pace of London), coming back from the desert on Saturday afternoon it really felt like a big bustling city with all those cars and people.

We visited Ras al Hadd and watched nesting Green Turtles at Ras al Jinz, apparently the biggest Green Turtle nesting site in the world. We saw a big turtle laying eggs and small “turtle-litas”running towards the moon into the water... well there was one that looked a bit confused and kept on going round in circles!

On the way to Ras al Hadd we stopped at various places along the coastal road swimming in beautiful wadis (rivers) and stopping for a dip at the sink hole by Bamah, a deep hole in the ground filled with beautiful turquoise blue salty water.

After spending the night at the Turtle Beach Resort at Ras al Hadd we turned inland for our circular route back to Muscat, stopping at another beautiful wadi and then, icing on the cake, we headed for Wahiba Sands, the desert, where we spent the night at the Nomadic Desert Camp (www.nomadicdesertcamp.com) This is a desert camp owned and run by a Bedouin family.

On the way there (off-road desert track) we stopped for some Omani coffee and dates at the place where most of the family still lives, in the desert. We had a ride on their camels, who reluctantly took us on their backs and watched them being fed just before sunset. An interesting business animated by the young guy chasing an insistent free roaming camel (not owned by the family) who wanted to join the feast.. After witnessing the funny scene we got back into our car and followed our host's 4x4 deeper into the desert reaching the camp just after sunset.

After dinner we had coffee around the fire under the stars and the glowing full moon before going to bed. We got up just before sun rise (in reality we were woken up by a screaming baby next door but what the heck it was worth it!). We climbed the dunes and watched the sun raising: it was amazing. The colours of the orange/golden sand are so intense at that time in the morning it's hard to explain what a spectacle sunrise in the desert is!

The morning air in the desert is pleasantly cold (I was wearing my fleece for the first time since I moved here!). I even tried walking bare feet on the sand and it was painfully icy cold. It's incredible how cold it gets in the desert at night!

After breakfast we jumped on the car and went for some dune bashing with our 4x4 (following the guide in his car of course). I was the driver! My very first drive up and down steep dunes! My heart was racing, it was such and adrenaline booster. I loved every moment of it!.
We'll definitely be going back. Next time maybe we'll do the desert crossing....

Anyway, words are not enough to describe the beauty of the places we've visited. Have a look at the full set of photos and book your tickets. This is definitely a country worth visiting. I am loving it... every day a bit more... ma' as-salaama!

We have a pad!

2008-11-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

I know, it's been a little while. I have to give credit to Simon, it does take a little effort to keep the blog updated with so much going on.

To the delight of all those who have been asking (and to ours) we finally have a pad!
A 4 bedroom – 5 bathrooms (yes you read right) villa in Azaiba (or Athaiba or whatever other spelling this area, like all the others, may have). Well, actually it is a 3-bed plus maid's quarters but since we are not going to have a live-in maid it's 4 bed for us: plenty of space for those friends waiting to come out to visit us and get some winter sun! :)

As you can imagine I am really excited about spending the next weeks and possibly months making our allowance work hard on furniture and fittings to make it homely (just think of the big grin on my face). Of course this means that you may have to wait a little bit for the pictures as at the moment the place is just a big empty marble shell where your voice bounces up and down against the walls and back to your ears.

The other good news is that, after much pestering the shipping company, we have finally found out that our stuff is on its way and is due to arrive sometime in the next couple of weeks so it sounds like our life may shape into some sort of normality towards the end of the month.
For the rest there are lots of other things that have happened or are about to happen but I don't want to overload you with information.

We have been out quite a lot recently, now that summer is over and the temperatures are much more pleasant there is always something going on in and around of town. Today we even enjoyed fireworks along the coast for bonfire night!

Amongst the most notable of the recent outings has to be mentioned the posh reception held on the grounds of the Diplomatic Club in occasion of the Italian Armed Forces Day. Being invited to such dos is one of the privileges of being part of a small community such as the 80-strong Italian resident population of Muscat. Of course it was not just for Italians as other local dignitaries and international diplomats were amongst the guests.

It felt a bit surreal at first especially arriving and being personally greeted by handshake by the Italian Ambassador, the Military Attaché' and their wives all in a line receiving the guests. I wasn't quite sure what to do so we just followed in a beeline, I could see their eyes squinting trying to work out who the hell we were (maybe I just had the same expression on my face!). It was quite funny actually. Especially as the photographers from the local papers kept snapping away at each hand shake. I'll let you know if we end up on the mundane pages of the local press with big grins on our faces.

It was nice to dress up for the occasion, mix with the high society of muscat and enjoy some nice wine and lots of Italian food. Apparently there are about 3 or 4 of these sociable events organized by the Italian Embassy to look forward to every year.

In the meantime I know there will be some more exciting non Embassy related events coming up soon. So stay tuned.

A final note to those who don't know yet (I will be sending an email soon): we will be in London town for a brief visit at the end of the month.. I hear it's cold :-

We are planning to hang out at a watering hole in town on Saturday 29th November, so if you are in London, you still have space in your diary and you don't mind us showing off our tans... keep it free. I'll be in touch via email.

First impressions

2008-10-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

We are now over the first few days of over-excitement from the new car (just about).

Yes we really like it, even if you see lots of these in every corner and the immediate use of the unlock button on the remote at the car park is to reassure you that you are definitely walking towards your own car and not the twin sister parked next to it - I guess this may seem like a boring choice for some but after years of nonsense with the Barchetta in the UK this is the perfect car for us here. It doesn't even matter that I need a ladder to get in ;) - which reminds me that I need to have a photo taken of me at the wheel to see how small I look in it.

Alex I'm afraid you will need to get over here to get a real feel for it but I am sure Simon will bore you to death talking about it when we are over in London in late November...or maybe you will both bore Julie and me ;)

So time is flying, I can't believe it's already over a month that I have moved over (and that we don't have a permanent home yet: as usual we always follow the right priorities).

So what's the first assessement?

Well, after overcoming the initial overwhelming feeling of moving to a foreign land and forgetting the minor hickups with the house and the inevitable yet mild initial cultural shock/adjustment, things are looking good.

The fact is that I am getting a full load of the one thing that I have craved the most in the last 12 years: the SUN; and then the second one too: the SEA.
I mean, how bad can a day be when you can end it with a walk along the beach at sunset? When you can plan your BBQs and weekends without worrying about the weather? When you don't need to carry an umbrella and a warm top in case the weather changes later on?
I'm in my element!

Muscat is a beautiful city. Blue sea, white houses and a dramatic mountain backdrop. With the temperatures now down to a more bearable 30+ degrees and a light breeze on the coast the haze has almost disappeared giving way to a beautiful blue sky. As you drive around town now everything seems to be blooming, I guess this is a bit like spring, now that the harsh heat has retreated colourful flowers, green grass and trees are florishing.

Life here is comfortable; eating out means that you can splash out at a posh hotel (where expensive is more like the average price for a top meal in London) or eat so cheaply (and still decently) that it will cost you less than cooking your own dinner at home.

Going out in the evenings you could sometimes be forgiven for forgetting what country you are in after a few drinks that is ;). The drill is the same: a few cocktails in a bar, then move to the next have a few more and end up in some dubious club full of odd individuals from all walks of life.
Just no dancing with a drink in your hands or the bouncer will tell you off. (uh?)
Soon it will be 3 am, the taxi will be right there for you at the exit, the ride back home will only cost you 5 Rials and in the morning you'll be nursing your hangover.

This is just to say that life here is more “normal” than I had anticipated, just with some interesting twists every now an then :)

And the winner is....

2008-10-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

TV

2008-10-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tried endlessly to access blogger.com last night with no success. The site just won't come up.
Today I have found a workaround which I will not disclose here but I suspect that this has something to do with how all forms of communication and web browsing are monitored and heavily controlled here...

It may mean that soon I won't be able to update the blog.

Incidentally the post I was trying to publish was about censorship. Here it is...

Just finished watching a film on TV and let's say it was.. hmm an interesting experience.
Well nothing wrong with the film, in fact I really enjoyed it but now I fully appreciate the meaning of censorship.

Every single swear word in the film was wiped out from the sound and the end was cut short before the two main characters could kiss, which, thinking back, also explains why at some point during the film one of them mentioned something about kissing the other but couldn't quite follow because that scene was never shown.
Yesterday instead I experienced the visual censorship when the exposed buttock of a woman was covered with a black square.

... and I thought that British TV was a bit conservative when I moved to the UK from Italy ;)

What car?

2008-10-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Forget the financial crisis! We've taken out the monopoly money and order the much longed car.

As the locals say, Inshallah, our brand new spanking car should be with us in a couple of weeks' time.

So what car is it? Leave a comment if you think you can guess :-)

The photo has one small clue (click on it to open bigger size) and here are a couple more:

- it is probably the 2nd most popular model of the range here
- the model designation is used in Japan, Australia, South Africa, Middle East and Latin America but may be called differently in Europe
- paved roads ain't its limit...see if you can guess the rest.

The answer will come in a new post soon... You only have to suffer a little bit of wait, just like us ;)

Just another weekend

2008-09-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

I started working again on Monday (from home) so time now comes as a premium again and with additional to-do tasks like viewing homes and test driving 4x4s after work not too many exciting things happening (especially considering that my working day is spent segregated in our room in the empty house with nobody to talk to apart from the maid when she comes in to clean... I think I may become even crazier soon).

However the weekend is now coming to an end so I can fill you in: FANTASTIC!

Today we spent 6 hours at sea on a lovely boat that took us on a trip to Bandar Khayran a really beautiful bay south of Muscat where we did lots of swimming, snorkelling and generally had a great time.

I was impressed by the condition of the coral (saw quite a bit of hard and soft coral) even though the visibility wasn't the best. Lots of little fish, box fish, a terrified mooray who couldn't find a suitable hole to hide in when we approached, huge pipe fish, lots and lots of huge sea cucumbers (they haven't obviously been fished out for the Asian market yet here) and lots of other stuff I can't even remember.

It was really a lovely way to chill out (well if you can call it chilling with these temperatures!) and spend a weekend afternoon. Every now and then I wondered whether I was dreaming...

The photos speak for themselves....

Anyway, how are things over there? We'd love to hear from you.

Life is a beach

2008-09-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

While you slowly wake up to the lazy pace of the weekend, the equivalent of the Monday here is already underway.

My first weekend in Muscat was lovely. On Sat... hem Thursday we spent most of the day viewing properties with the hope to find one we can finally call home. At this stage we are still unsure although we both seem to swing towards a flat in the Oasis residence that with 3 swimming pools, gym, shops, sauna (do we really need a sauna in this country?) and all the rest of the amenities it feels more like a holiday resort than a residential block. Mainly we like the fact that the flat is spacious (yeah right). The one we saw was a 3 bed flat + small maid room (!) which will serve very well as a storage room.

While room size here is no issue (bathrooms can be as big as what in London estate agents attempt to describe as a bedroom), the quality of the homes and finish is different to what we are accustomed to and in all the properties that we've seen so far there is always some form of downside that makes the decision hard. There is the flat in the residence with the pools but you are in a block/compound with lots of other people and no private outside space, the spacious town house but finished to 70s council flat standards, the flat with a beautiful terrace and sea views but with bedrooms way too small and with a guest room with crap air con (our guests would hate us :), the huge villa in the middle of a building site (!) and so on... Here the leases last for at least 12 months and they are paid up front for the whole year so you want to be sure before you commit to anything.

After the excitement of looking for a new home, Thursday night we were invited to an Omani home for a party which was a good way to get to spend some time with the locals. After only a few days from my arrival I still felt really alien but it was good fun. Lots of carpets covered the patio outside the villa with cushions arranged around to sit on and enjoy lots of food. By the middle of the evening the edge of the carpet was covered with a mountain of shoes!

As we had a late night on Thursday, Friday morning we took it very easy. We got to the Oman Dive Centre towards 11 or 11.30 after a drive through the spectacular rocky landscape and we spent the rest of the day on the beach. The ODC is apparently the only place where you can wear a bikini, drink (soft drinks) and eat in public during the day throughout Ramadhan so it's a little oasis from the rigours of this month. There was a nice breeze and the water was pleasantly warm so we had a very relaxing day. We went back home to close the evening with a BBQ on the roof.

I haven't seen much yet, I think it will take some time to appreciate the many things this place has to offer however I can already tell that this is a country of exceptional beauty!

PS: More photos of this weekend on Flickr

Landed...

2008-09-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say that I have finally arrived in Muscat with Simon.

The last few days have been very hectic moving from place to place. In 3 days we have travelled thousands of miles both within Italy (to travel to a family wedding in Sardinia) and away from Italy all the way here.

We landed at Muscat aiport last night around 11 pm local time. On leaving the plane I was engulfed in 33c of suffocating, humid heat and then hit again by icy cold air on entering the air conditioned terminal, then heat again to reach the car, cold, heat and then cold again entering the house. I think my body didn't quite know what to do. This is going to be interesting...

Lounging around today. As you can imagine I haven't seen anything of Muscat yet. When Simon comes back from work I will venure out ... to the supermarket with him but I think I will have to wait for the weekend (Thurs, Fri) to get a first taste of the city. I don't have a car yet.

The sun is shining...

My turn to go..

2008-08-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

The last two days in London were a bit more stressful than anticipated however finally after a little bit of drama all fell into place.
Personal effects packed and handled by international shippers in 12 long tedious hours, house empty and clean, car dropped to dealer for sale...

I finally managed to turn up at the Porterhouse for drinks well past the originally planned time after the car left me stranded in the middle of the rush hour traffic on a hill in Stretham.

Thank you all for coming out on Friday night and really, really sorry for those I missed due to this unforseen commotion.

I flew out to Italy from T5 on Saturday and had a great time at the airport potting around the shops and taking lots of pictures.
As the plane took off leaving London and the English hills behind on a glorious sunny day I was overwhelmed by a cocktail of emotions.

2 and ½ hours later I was sweltering in 26c of humid heat as I landed in Rome at 9.45 pm (!!), better get used to that. I’ll be in even warmer Oman from 15th September.

Another beautiful day in Muscat

2008-08-22T07:29:00.001-07:00

What more can I say. Beautiful day spent lounging around at the Hyatt with friends from the guest house. The sea and mountains are beautiful here.

Greetings from Oman

2008-08-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers or Ahlan as they say in Arabic,

I normally do quick posts from my phone but today I thought I'd log on and write a more detailed update.

Life in Oman is great, it's been only four weeks but I'm fairly confident Rossella and I will enjoy our time here. Unlike other Middle Eastern countries the community is well integrated with Europeans, Asians and Omanis working and living together without a strong feeling of class divide - it does exist of course but not to the same degree found elsewhere and is largely as a result of economic imbalance between different countries around the world.

The weather is fantastic - every day is sunny and hot although luckily it has in general stayed below 40C which is rare this time of year. I'm looking forward to the winter when the haze will clear and the temperatures will be warm (i.e. less hot).

Muscat is an interesting City and much slower paced and easy going that Dubai. It's also a far more attractive city with a beautiful coastline on one side and mountains on the other. I've not yet ventured out of town but hope to do so in next few weeks with a trip into the mountains with a 4x4.

Cost of living is varied and you can live as cheaply or costly as you wish. The usual western shops are here such as Fat Face, Mango, Banana Republic etc which charge western prices or you can shop for significantly less with reasonable local brands. The cost of petrol is incredibly cheap at about the fifth of the cost of the UK and you can buy cars tax free... I've already been to see the Porsche and Audi garages!

That's all for now....

Simon

Petrol

2008-08-16T11:00:00.001-07:00

Just filled up my petrol tank from almost empty. Here's the receipt - it cost £6.40. Cheaper than a pack of bacon here. Amazing!!

Sunny again ;-)

2008-08-15T09:05:00.001-07:00

Great weather once again. Spent day with some friends at the Intercontinental hotel making use of it's facilities - way too hot for the gym though.

View from terrace

2008-08-12T11:28:00.001-07:00

Been very lucky with the weather as it's been cold by Omani standards. Highs of 36C until a few days ago but now reaching 45C. It's a bit like been in a sauna as it's also quite humid today. I've got used to it quite quickly though and it's great to see the sun every day.

Tap!

2008-08-06T10:46:00.001-07:00

Getting used to the water now. Looks like a normal tap but two settings - hot and not quite so hot!

Beach

2008-08-02T08:31:00.001-07:00

Stopped at the beach on the way back from work. Beautiful long beach with refreshing breeze blowing in. Great way to forget work.

Home and Car

2008-07-30T23:34:00.001-07:00

This is my current car in front of the villa that is being used as my guest house. It's quite spacious with 5 ensuite bedrooms. I'm sharing with a Faroese man (Faroe Islander), an Englishman and a Lithuanian couple. All very pleasant people.

Corn Flakes

2008-07-28T10:49:00.001-07:00

Whilst eating corn flakes for breakfast I spotted under the list of ingredients a notable exception. Good to know as they would taste horrible otherwise!!!

My Room

2008-07-27T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is my room in the guest house. Small with ensuite bathroom but also have big shared lounge, kitchen and dining room. Temporary accomodation until we find new home.

Awaiting connecting flight

2008-07-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

Arrived in Abu Dhabi and now waiting for my onward connection to Muscat. It's 1.50am and 38C outside :-0

The adventure starts here for Simon

2008-07-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks of leaving dos, BBQs and goodbyes to friends and family Simon has left for Oman today.

He will land in Muscat at about 12am BST tomorrow morning after a change of planes in Abu Dhabi. The adventure for him starts now.

It was hard to part at the airport today. I will join him in Muscat towards the second half of September after a 2-weeks detour to Italy.

Here are a couple of photos from our recent leaving do in Hammersmith. More photos here.

Rossella