In the Omani News

   Today I received an e-mail from my host Dad with this attached, the NSLI-Y group got featured in the Omani newspaper! I just thought this would be something to share on my blog!
     

Home actually more like leaving home

     I'm the last one in the airport. I have a nice 6 hour lay over for my flight to San Antonio. I can't believe that all of the girls have left for their flight, and I'm already realizing how much I'll miss them. I still haven't really been able to fully accept that I've left Oman. These last six weeks were absolutely amazing, and I feel so lucky to have ended up with such an incredible host family, teachers, and program managers. I am going to miss everything about Oman.

     In the airports I realized that I missed the hose so much. I'm seriously considering having a hose installed in my bathroom. A hose is just so much better than just using toilet paper. The analogy I like to make about the hose is to just consider what happens when you spill pasta on the counter. You get a wet wipe to clean it first and then a dry wipe, and that cleans a whole lot better than just the plain old dry wipe.

    I just Oman in its entirety, especially my host family they were so incredible, and I honestly tear up just thinking about the fact that I had to leave them. I'm nowhere near being ready to go home, and I have no idea how the whole readjustment process will end up going. I'm so glad I will have the rest of the girls that went on the trip to keep in touch with and remember our memories together. My host family got me a program to study Arabic with, and I also found out that one of the perks of being a state alumni is a free Rosetta Stone of your choice! I am looking forward to continuing my language studies!

   Thank you so much to everyone that made this trip so amazing for me!

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!

                              





Juju decided to try modeling herself!

      





My host dad busy working!

I think I'll stay for a few extra days...

      Seriously. I think my passport might get "lost" or maybe the cat will "eat it," or if all else fails I'll accidentally end up on the plane to Salalah instead of to the U.S. Everytime I meet someone new they ask me how long I'm saying and they never fail to tell me that I have to stay for eid and why can't I just stay for a few extra days.   Anyways chances are that I will definitely go back at the set time, but one can only dream.
   Host family life is great! I am with a pretty recently married couple (almost two years) and they are both some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I truly feel so lucky to be able to spend my time in Oman with them. Ramadan could be considered only to a certain extent like what Christmas is for people in the U.S it is super busy all the time. This past week I have gone out every single night, most of the time being for iftar (the breaking of the fast). We only spent two iftars in the house, but we ended up going out afterwards and eating more. There really never is just one dinner, leading to the gaining of some weight, but I don't really mind because the food is so good. In Oman family is the most important thing. My host parents live about ten to fifteen minutes away from their parents, and I was able to meet both sides of the family this week for iftar. My host dad's family is half Pakistani so the dinner at his house included some food that was different than the really traditional Omani food. Pakistani food is generally spicier that Omani food, but it tastes so good! When we visit my host mom's family they always have a thick soup called shorba. It's a thick soup made with flour and has some meat, usually you add lime and hard boiled egg to it. It's extremely rich and it's a typical Ramadan food because it holds you for such a long time. Also, I'm pretty sure a day hasn't gone by where I haven't had a samosa.

My host family's pet cat Juju!

  

During Ramadan you will find these candles everywhere! They hang candles in trees and all sorts of places. These candles are specially used for decoration during Ramadan.

This week we got to go to the museum Bait al Zubair it was previous This week we got to go to the museum Bait al Zubair it was previously a house that they turned into a museum that shows the typical Omani clothes and household items. My favorite part was this tiny Omani village they had outside.

   In Oman the Olympics aren't all that big, from what I can tell most people don't watch them, but today I got the chance to watch some of them. Tonight I will make some pancakes for my host family and inshallah they'll turn out well. School is going great and I'm fairly sure that I did well on my mid-term. Also, this week I got to go help my host mom at this program that takes care of girls while the mothers go to lessons at the mosque. The program's intent is to educate the girls while watching them so that the time is spent productively. Each week they have different stations cooking, math, science, and English. This week my host mom's class was on cooking so I got to help them make little nutella granola cup cakes type of thing. Fortunately I will be here for the English lesson day, and I am so glad to have the opportunity for teaching while I am here. The girls that my host mom teaches are in kindergarten to first grade and they actually helped in teaching me more Arabic.



Halfway through already?

     It feels like I'm embarking on a whole new program, and in reality it's just the middle of the program, and since it is the middle of the program we will of course be having a MID-TERM! Yes, a mid-term in the summer that's right. I have learned so much these last three weeks and it's amazing what good teachers can do. I'm actually really glad to have a check-up because I want to make sure and get practice with the Arabic tests before our final end of the program exam.
    The other most important thing that happens in the middle of the program is that we finally get to move in with host families! Tonight we will be going to some sort of activity(they haven't told us what it is yet) and meeting our host families and going home with them. I'm really looking forward to leaving the hotel and being able to immerse myself even more in the Omani culture, especially to learn more about Ramadan.
    On Tuesday I went to my first iftar with Omani's. It was an end of the program party for the access girls, and I'm so glad that we were able to go. The party started by the breaking of the fast, and that went well excluding one minor mishap. I had loaded my plate with veggies and curry, a fresh green salad is pretty hard to come by and I was feeling great about being to have some salad until I realized that the whole green bean I had just put in my mouth had a really really different texture. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was, oh wait, my mouth was burning, and so were my lips. I got slightly choked up and desperatly got some water, and the girls also gave me a yogurt drink. That green bean definitely wasn't a green bean, it turned out to be a green chili instead. Excluding the green chili's the food was pretty good. The games afterward were really fun. In the morning when we had gone to access I had helped with making a treasure hunt, and watching everyone look for the treasure was just too exciting. I can't believe that the access program is already over, in just a few weeks I felt like I was able to get to know the girls, and I really will miss them.
    I'm loving Oman, and looking forward to the experiences that will continue coming.
  
     
   

Ramadam Kareem!

   We decided to go out and try a restaurant other than the Lebanese restaurant that we have been eating at for quite some time(I ate there about five times), and we found a place that said it was an Iraqi restaurant so we decided to go in. It ended up being an Indonesian restaurant, it's relatively new so they haven't had the chance to change the sign yet. It's a really homey place, and the food was great. Some of the food was really spicy, but most of it had a really nice kick. On the plus side there was fresh fruit that really helped cool down everything, and just tasted really good.

They had colorful rice crisp chips, and amazing vegetables. We had some sauteed broccoli with squid and that was great as well.
     Of course we have been going to get juice after dinner each night even though we are completely stuffed. I've really been hoping for some pomegranate juice, but juice man doesn't have pomegranate and he has to make everything fresh. I'm really hoping that I will be able to have some before I leave the hotel. Today was pretty interesting because juice man and his friend that helps with the shop insisted that we take a picture all together, and once that picture was taken he insisted on everyone taking individual pictures.

Juice man is on the left and his friend is on the right

    Also, there is now a game named after me. Today we got to go to access in the morning and we helped the girls come up with game ideas for their iftar party. They decided to name the game I came up with "Stephanie's game" which I thought was pretty funny, but I guess it's a good way to be remembered. I also got to talk to the girls about Ramadan, and I found out that many of the girls had grown up looking forward to fasting when they were younger. My favorite explanation for the reasoning behind fasting is that it's a time for people to humble themselves and live in the simplest way possible. They take the time to focus on growing spiritually and be grateful for everything. During ramadan most Muslims try to read through the Koran. Another very important part about Ramadan is simply achieving equality among everybody by living in the same manner, and focusing on the same thing.

   Tomorrow I will get to sleep in and take a break from school because there's a vacation day! In Oman July 23rd is Renaissance day. It celebrates the day Sultan Qaboos Bin Said became Sultan of Oman. I will definitely be enjoying tomorrow, and in the evening we get to go to the souq!

    Laila Saida!

   

Arabian Nights

   This weekend we got to go "camping". Now, if camping were like this in the United States I would love to go camping all the time. The campsite we went to defined luxurious camping.



 Our tent

   

      In the main part of Nizwa we went to Fort Nizwa and the souq. We only had half an hour in the souq, but it was still enough time to find the good hand made silver that Nizwa is known for.

   On the way up we got to stop in a small town. The structure was very interesting because all the houses were built on rocks, they also had a stream of mountain water going through the whole town. I got to talk to a few girls their that asked our names and said hello, they seemed to be sisters.



    For lunch we stopped at a campsite/ bungalow type of resort and had lunch at the restaurant there. There were small hills and we walked around after eating and I met a goat. We gave him the original name of Billy. He was the only goat that would come to  me, and he ended up following me up the mountain. I really wanted to take him home with me, but I suppose it just wouldnt've worked out that well.

 We stopped by the Nizwa gourge, and it was absolutely astonishing. This picture doesn't come close to doing it any justice. The Nizwa gourge is larger than the grand canyon, and when you looked down you would see goats wandering around. Across from where we stopped there were a few girls selling bracelets and key chains they had made from goat and sheep hair. The girls were so precious, and very friendly as most Omani's are.

     When we arrived at the campsite it was raining! I was really excited because I can't even remember when the last time I saw rain(I think maybe April or May). It helped the temperature drop down to the perfect temperature for camping. When we had stopped at Fort Nizwa and the souq the temperature had been 44 degrees celcius(111.2 degrees farenheit). The weather was so enjoyable that we spent the whole time outside, and in the evening it got even better. I ended up staying up really late playing card games with a few of the girls in the group and one of the driver, but the weather was so amazing that I wanted to stay out as long as possible.

    Today we went on a short walk through some of the mountains and went swimming in the wadi's which felt absolutely incredible. Most of the time there were fish that were pretty small, but not small enough to be minnows that continually body slammed themselves into my feet. I was fortunate enough to not come in contact with a leech, but one girl did get bitten by a leech. Fortunately it was a small leech for her to get off.

    Today I finally got to meet the juice man. There is a juice shop near the hotel that just about all the NSLI-Y kids have been to, and they call the owner the juice man (in Arabic rajid asir). In order to get a juice from him he asks you questions in Arabic and makes sure to teach us several different things in Arabic. The juices are pretty good, and during Ramadan new juice flavors are offered so for the next week I'm considering getting a juice everday; I will be forced to practice Arabic more, and I will get a tasty juice. Ramadan is starting tomorrow and I am really curious to see the changes in routine and behaviors.