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!
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