Today was another great day of spending time with my uncle and the family. We started off the morning with a big breakfast and then coffee at my uncle's restaurant while he delt with a few administrative things. We returned home to eat a delicious lunch of macaroni and ground beef. We then went with my cousins to a near by hotel and spent a couple of hours swimming and playing in the pool. Here everyone ganged up on me for the majority of the time throwing me around the water and trying to drown me. We came back home for naps and Tyson and my uncle went back out to run some errands. They came back with a new car. My uncle had thought it was necessary to buy us a car for the time we are here in case we wanted to go out alone.
After we all went out for some more shopping we watched movies while my uncle and aunt had the local spiritual assembly meeting in their front hall. We all had dinner together and then watched the Barcelona soccor game over gallons of ice cream, cupcakes and sprinkles.
The next morning my Uncle and Tyson woke up early to take his car to get insured and for a tune up. I slept in and finally woke up only a few minutes before they returned, three hours later. We sat down and enjoyed a lovely breakfast together than headed out again. When it was time to pick up my uncles car the boys left again for another couple of hours and they returned clean shaven and looking good. They had gone to the barber for straight blade shaves. They said it was because my mom was coming the next day and they wanted to look good for her. The local Baha'is came over for the 19 day feast that night. Seeing how it was all in Arabic my uncle had to translate for us. The meeting was great and it was nice to meet the local community. The Bahais have many problems living in this country as it is an Islamic nation who is in cahoots with the Iranian government. They are deprived of many things including being banned from ever getting an Omanian passport or citizenship even if they are born here. This is a problem for people from the Bahai Faith in nearly every Muslim country. We ended the night as we always do, stuffing our faces with ice cream and watching movies.
Finally the day arrived, the day my mommy came. We went to the airport with my Aunt and Uncle and arrived shortly before my mom. Just as we were sitting down for coffee we spotted her coming out of customs!! Everybody ran over to greet her and Tyson got the whole emotional welcome on tape. We were so happy to see her.
A couple days back, my uncle was talking on the phone with my grandma, he asked her what time my mother would be arriving in Oman? She replied THEY are coming at 1230pm. She slipped up and we immediately suspected that someone else was coming with my mom. We were trying to figure out who it could be and the anticipation was killing us.
At the airport as we were greeting my mother, we were all looking around for another family member behind her. As we did not see anyone at first, we wondered if maybe she did come alone. About five minutes passed and we looked over at the door and there was my other uncle from Maple Ridge walking out. It was such an exciting surprise! Both my uncles were crying as well as all of us while everyone around us stared at the scene. This was all caught on tape. After the emotions settled, we piled into the truck and headed back home. We spent the rest of the day together talking and laughing and reminessing about the past. It is so good to have them here. We were up late eating and laughing through the night.
Tyson and I had to sneak away periodically to work on filing our taxes and other tedious but necessary paper work to send home with my mom. During the day, we went to town and showed my Ridge uncle his modelling shots. During a previous visit in Oman, my uncle had taken some photos of him while he was trying on glasses at the optical shop and used the images for advertising purposes all around the shop. My Ridge uncle did not know about these blown up photos of himself until that moment and it was hilarious. We also went to the restaurant and we got a tour of the kitchen and some of the foods. We did some shopping and spent a lot of time at home visiting with my cousins and, of course, eating our hearts out. Tyson's mother had sent, among other things, tons and tons of baked goods. We ate rice krispies, brownies, cookies and peanut butter marshmellow squares, and lots of chocolate. We slept late and the next morning we woke up to head to Muscat because my Oman uncle had bought a new 2000cc motorcycle.
We spent the day in Muscat at the beach and cafes in the area waiting for the bike to be ready. In early evening, the seller called and backed out of the sale. It was very disappointing for my uncle and we head home. On the way home we passed a bad motorcycle accident and took it as a sign that the unfinished sale was a good thing. That night, I don't have to say that we ate and chatted and watched movies and ate.
The next morning bright and early at 12:30pm we left for Salaleh and town South of Oman by about 1000km. My two uncles, my mother, Tyson and I piled in the Charger and drove for the rest of the day. We made pitt stops for lunch, gas, tea and stretching but other than that we drove at the speed limit of 160 kilometers per hour the whole way. The entire road was in the hot desert and the thermometer on the vehicle read 45-60 degrees outside. Of course we did not feel this inside the air conditioned car but we did pass poor souls who were working on oil rigs and construction sites outside. The scenery outside never changed, it was just dust, sand, rocks and brown mountains. There were scattered cactuses and camels periodically and a restaurant every few hours. We enjoyed the scenery as well as making jokes at each other's expense as we drove on. When we stopped for lunch, it was Indian food and seeing as Tyson and I had just completed a five week stint in India (being sick most of the time), we did not eat much. We filled our tummies with doritos, pumpkin seeds and potato chips.
On the way, we were listening to the radio and we heard them annouce that there had been an earthquake in the sea measuring 8.1 on the richter scale near where we were headed. They also mentioned that they were expecting a tsunami at around 7-8pm. This did not seem to worry my uncle but the rest of us unsure if it was a good idea to continue on. This did not seem to matter to my Oman uncle who drove on despite my mother's doubts.
We reached Salaleh safely and waited until our host got home. The couple we are staying with are related to my aunt in Oman. They are a lovely young couple who we got very close with during our time here. We went out to see my uncle's optical shop here in town and then we pigged out on buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, fried potatos and coleslaw. We then went to a lovely cafe on a mountain. They had seating in several smaller bungalow type (open air) rooms and the whole place was lit dimly with gold lights. It was very beautiful.
The next morning, after breakfast, we went to a lake surrounded by caves. We spent some time exploring while trying to stay in the shade to avoid the heat. We drove around town and stopped to take pictures of camels on the side of the road and drink fresh coconut juice. We travelled through the desert and stopped at some booths that were selling whole goats that were freshly killed. It was pretty nasty for us from Canada to see but it was very normal for the Arabian folk. They had a whole one sitting on some hot rocks cooking in the sun. We went for lunch at an authentic Yemanese restaurant where no cutlery was provided. We had a choice of chicken, beef or fish with loads of seasoned clay cooked rice. One person's serving could easily feed three people and we ate ourselves under the table. After eating about one quarter of my portion I had to stop, otherwise I would have exploded. After lunch we went to an air conditioned mall to have coffee but we all fell asleep on the couches that were for sale. We left and went to an outdoor cafe for coffee and Shisha.
In the afternoon we went to the gravesite of a holy Muslim man who died many years ago. Women were not allowed inside without headscarves and covered legs so my mother and I had to wait for the guys to take a look. Apparently the man burried here, was a very tall (over six meters) and very patient man. There are beautiful fruit trees surrounding the area and we sampled several new tropical fruits. There is also a beautiful view of the mountains. I got bitten by a black ant and it was a very painful experience. The teeth marks burned like needle pokes for almost an hour following the tragic event.
We stopped for fresh sugar cane juice and camel milk on our way back to the house for "nap time". The locals tie the breasts of the camels so the children cannot drink its milk so that they can sell it to people to drink. It seems quite cruel but we tried the milk with tastes creamy and irony. We continued home where some people napped and we watched Arabian Idol on television.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
After we all went out for some more shopping we watched movies while my uncle and aunt had the local spiritual assembly meeting in their front hall. We all had dinner together and then watched the Barcelona soccor game over gallons of ice cream, cupcakes and sprinkles.
The next morning my Uncle and Tyson woke up early to take his car to get insured and for a tune up. I slept in and finally woke up only a few minutes before they returned, three hours later. We sat down and enjoyed a lovely breakfast together than headed out again. When it was time to pick up my uncles car the boys left again for another couple of hours and they returned clean shaven and looking good. They had gone to the barber for straight blade shaves. They said it was because my mom was coming the next day and they wanted to look good for her. The local Baha'is came over for the 19 day feast that night. Seeing how it was all in Arabic my uncle had to translate for us. The meeting was great and it was nice to meet the local community. The Bahais have many problems living in this country as it is an Islamic nation who is in cahoots with the Iranian government. They are deprived of many things including being banned from ever getting an Omanian passport or citizenship even if they are born here. This is a problem for people from the Bahai Faith in nearly every Muslim country. We ended the night as we always do, stuffing our faces with ice cream and watching movies.
Finally the day arrived, the day my mommy came. We went to the airport with my Aunt and Uncle and arrived shortly before my mom. Just as we were sitting down for coffee we spotted her coming out of customs!! Everybody ran over to greet her and Tyson got the whole emotional welcome on tape. We were so happy to see her.
A couple days back, my uncle was talking on the phone with my grandma, he asked her what time my mother would be arriving in Oman? She replied THEY are coming at 1230pm. She slipped up and we immediately suspected that someone else was coming with my mom. We were trying to figure out who it could be and the anticipation was killing us.
At the airport as we were greeting my mother, we were all looking around for another family member behind her. As we did not see anyone at first, we wondered if maybe she did come alone. About five minutes passed and we looked over at the door and there was my other uncle from Maple Ridge walking out. It was such an exciting surprise! Both my uncles were crying as well as all of us while everyone around us stared at the scene. This was all caught on tape. After the emotions settled, we piled into the truck and headed back home. We spent the rest of the day together talking and laughing and reminessing about the past. It is so good to have them here. We were up late eating and laughing through the night.
Tyson and I had to sneak away periodically to work on filing our taxes and other tedious but necessary paper work to send home with my mom. During the day, we went to town and showed my Ridge uncle his modelling shots. During a previous visit in Oman, my uncle had taken some photos of him while he was trying on glasses at the optical shop and used the images for advertising purposes all around the shop. My Ridge uncle did not know about these blown up photos of himself until that moment and it was hilarious. We also went to the restaurant and we got a tour of the kitchen and some of the foods. We did some shopping and spent a lot of time at home visiting with my cousins and, of course, eating our hearts out. Tyson's mother had sent, among other things, tons and tons of baked goods. We ate rice krispies, brownies, cookies and peanut butter marshmellow squares, and lots of chocolate. We slept late and the next morning we woke up to head to Muscat because my Oman uncle had bought a new 2000cc motorcycle.
We spent the day in Muscat at the beach and cafes in the area waiting for the bike to be ready. In early evening, the seller called and backed out of the sale. It was very disappointing for my uncle and we head home. On the way home we passed a bad motorcycle accident and took it as a sign that the unfinished sale was a good thing. That night, I don't have to say that we ate and chatted and watched movies and ate.
The next morning bright and early at 12:30pm we left for Salaleh and town South of Oman by about 1000km. My two uncles, my mother, Tyson and I piled in the Charger and drove for the rest of the day. We made pitt stops for lunch, gas, tea and stretching but other than that we drove at the speed limit of 160 kilometers per hour the whole way. The entire road was in the hot desert and the thermometer on the vehicle read 45-60 degrees outside. Of course we did not feel this inside the air conditioned car but we did pass poor souls who were working on oil rigs and construction sites outside. The scenery outside never changed, it was just dust, sand, rocks and brown mountains. There were scattered cactuses and camels periodically and a restaurant every few hours. We enjoyed the scenery as well as making jokes at each other's expense as we drove on. When we stopped for lunch, it was Indian food and seeing as Tyson and I had just completed a five week stint in India (being sick most of the time), we did not eat much. We filled our tummies with doritos, pumpkin seeds and potato chips.
On the way, we were listening to the radio and we heard them annouce that there had been an earthquake in the sea measuring 8.1 on the richter scale near where we were headed. They also mentioned that they were expecting a tsunami at around 7-8pm. This did not seem to worry my uncle but the rest of us unsure if it was a good idea to continue on. This did not seem to matter to my Oman uncle who drove on despite my mother's doubts.
We reached Salaleh safely and waited until our host got home. The couple we are staying with are related to my aunt in Oman. They are a lovely young couple who we got very close with during our time here. We went out to see my uncle's optical shop here in town and then we pigged out on buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, fried potatos and coleslaw. We then went to a lovely cafe on a mountain. They had seating in several smaller bungalow type (open air) rooms and the whole place was lit dimly with gold lights. It was very beautiful.
The next morning, after breakfast, we went to a lake surrounded by caves. We spent some time exploring while trying to stay in the shade to avoid the heat. We drove around town and stopped to take pictures of camels on the side of the road and drink fresh coconut juice. We travelled through the desert and stopped at some booths that were selling whole goats that were freshly killed. It was pretty nasty for us from Canada to see but it was very normal for the Arabian folk. They had a whole one sitting on some hot rocks cooking in the sun. We went for lunch at an authentic Yemanese restaurant where no cutlery was provided. We had a choice of chicken, beef or fish with loads of seasoned clay cooked rice. One person's serving could easily feed three people and we ate ourselves under the table. After eating about one quarter of my portion I had to stop, otherwise I would have exploded. After lunch we went to an air conditioned mall to have coffee but we all fell asleep on the couches that were for sale. We left and went to an outdoor cafe for coffee and Shisha.
In the afternoon we went to the gravesite of a holy Muslim man who died many years ago. Women were not allowed inside without headscarves and covered legs so my mother and I had to wait for the guys to take a look. Apparently the man burried here, was a very tall (over six meters) and very patient man. There are beautiful fruit trees surrounding the area and we sampled several new tropical fruits. There is also a beautiful view of the mountains. I got bitten by a black ant and it was a very painful experience. The teeth marks burned like needle pokes for almost an hour following the tragic event.
We stopped for fresh sugar cane juice and camel milk on our way back to the house for "nap time". The locals tie the breasts of the camels so the children cannot drink its milk so that they can sell it to people to drink. It seems quite cruel but we tried the milk with tastes creamy and irony. We continued home where some people napped and we watched Arabian Idol on television.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
I loved Oman, seems like you are having a great experience :) are you going to go to Raz Al Jinz to see the turtles? That was an amazing experience we even got to see and hold a baby turtle. Soo cool. Oman is one of my favorite GCC countries I'd love to go back. :) enjoy your journey, it looks like y'all are having fun!
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