Happiness is a Way of Travel: Spreading the Joy of Pancakes to Oman and Talking Politics

After an incident at a cafe in which my host dad received crepes that were "pancakes just not the American ones" I decided to make my host family pancakes at some point in time during the trip. I got to make them on Friday for a small iftar my family was hosting and I also made them on Sunday for another iftar we had at the house. Fortunately the pancakes turned out well, and I was successfully able to bring pancakes to Oman.

On Sunday a man that I think had been secretary of state for Oman, he had previously held some important secretarial position in Oman. He managed to just slip in his previous job title without making a big deal about it at all. Either way he did work in a job that had him thoroughly involved in Omani and Middle Eastern Politics, and we were fortunate enough to have him come to the Amideast center and discuss politics in Oman and a little more specifically the causes and effects of the Arab spring in Oman. The presentation was very detailed, and we did have the opportunity to ask questions, and of course it was extremely interesting. It was dissappointing to find out that in Oman not much is being done to stop the human rights violations in the country, especially considering the house workers. All they can really depend on is that people will follow the immigration rules set by their countries. Right now the idea of human rights isn't a wide spread idea in Oman, but hopefully with time things will improve.

Unfortunately my time in Oman is nearing it's end, yesterday the one week mark was passed. I am really not looking forward to going home, I have really come to love Oman and the idea of leaving it at this moment is something I'm not quite ready to accept. For now, I am making the most out of my time here. Today an abaya photo shoot has been going on in my house, and I have really been enjoying watching it. I love photography and seeing all its workings, and the clothes that is being modeled is absolutely amazing. Talk about an afternoon full of art!