In Oman after lunch with the family we each head to our rooms and relaxed. Our room is large with a private bathroom and very nicely designed. We have not even had a full tour of the whole house yet but we are already very impressed. In the early evening Tyson, my uncle and I went out to a restaurant he owns to have coffees and shwarmas. We also drove past his mobile phone shop, several optical shops and office that happened to be on the way to a sports bar that we hung out at for a while. Apparantly, poverty does not exist here for the Omani people. They are taken care of very well by the King who gives them money and land for free. They would be able to live comfortably without working at all. The expats however (that make up over one third of the population here and 95% of the population in Dubai) do not recieve anything from the government. Even people like my uncle who has been here for decades still owns all his properties under a sponser's name. Still it is a very comfortable place to live and people travel from all over the world to work here. Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos, Nepalis, Sri Lankans and Indonesians in particular come here to work and send money home. Of course the pay will be different depending on which country you come from. A Canadian expat would get paid much more than an Indian one for example. We discussed the good and bad points of the country and learned a lot about the culture of the Arab people. Apart from the truck we drove home from the airport in, he also drives a brand new Dodge Charger and there's a bright yellow hummer in the driveway. Gas costs twenty five cents a litre so the fuel is a non issue here.
We stopped at a super market which was bigger than the average superstore but very clean and pleasant. Everything imaginable was available there and we selected some of our preferred foods. When we got back to the house we met with my Aunt's family who had come to see us. We all had a lovely dinner together while my cousins worked on homework. After dinner, fruit and ice cream we watched movies and head to bed after one in the morning.
In the morning, we were the last to wake up. My cousins had already gone to school and my aunt was at work. In fact my uncle had already gone to work and came back home by the time we crawled out of bed. Breakfast of fresh bread, cereals, juices, fruit and tea were already set out for us. We are so spoiled here. After breakfast we got ready and went to see the old city. There are many tourists in Oman, most seem to be from European countries here to enjoy the history and culture. We went to the fort and explored for a couple of hours, seeing how people used to live many years ago. It resembled the Agra Fort but it appeared much newer and better kept. It was also much cheaper to enter. We then met my uncle at his restaurant and did some shopping before heading home for lunch. Lunch is by far the biggest meal here, similar to dinner in Canada. Their dinner is a lighter meal later in the evening. We were still full from breakfast and could not eat a whole lot but it was delicious meats, rice and salad.
After lunch it was resting time again and we watched television and lounged eating ice cream until early afternoon when we went out. Tyson picked out some new sandals and when it came time to pay my uncle said not to worry about it and we walked out. The population in this city is only 10,000 and everyone is very close. I guess they run tabs with each other and it all works out in the end. Much different than back home. At my uncle's optical shop, he told us to choose several pairs of designer brand sunglasses as a gift. He also gave us a cell phone to use while we are here. Yes, we are spoiled.
When Tyson went to shake hands with the female staff at the optical shop he felt them hesistate before putting their hand out. I felt something similar with the males that we were meeting. It was then that I decided it was time to ask what appropriate greetings look like here. It was a good thing too because males shake hands, air kiss three times or touch noses with other males in greeting and do nothing with woman but say hello. Women shake hands with other women and do nothing with men. Now we were clear and can avoid further embarrassment.
We then went to the fish market and saw all the tropical fish for sale. They had spearhead fish, marlans and massive tuna fish. My uncle bought several of them and had them cleaned and cut while Tyson ran back and forth to any bathroom he could find to hopefully release the last of the Indian food and water in his system.
Back at home we ate an authentic Omanian dinner. What you do is spread creamy cheese on white pita bread and crunch up barbeque potatoe chips onto it and eat it as a sandwhich. We had this with garlic and mint yogurt. It was marvelous and definitely something to bring back to Canada with us despite the awful garlic breath we suffered through for the rest of the night.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
We stopped at a super market which was bigger than the average superstore but very clean and pleasant. Everything imaginable was available there and we selected some of our preferred foods. When we got back to the house we met with my Aunt's family who had come to see us. We all had a lovely dinner together while my cousins worked on homework. After dinner, fruit and ice cream we watched movies and head to bed after one in the morning.
In the morning, we were the last to wake up. My cousins had already gone to school and my aunt was at work. In fact my uncle had already gone to work and came back home by the time we crawled out of bed. Breakfast of fresh bread, cereals, juices, fruit and tea were already set out for us. We are so spoiled here. After breakfast we got ready and went to see the old city. There are many tourists in Oman, most seem to be from European countries here to enjoy the history and culture. We went to the fort and explored for a couple of hours, seeing how people used to live many years ago. It resembled the Agra Fort but it appeared much newer and better kept. It was also much cheaper to enter. We then met my uncle at his restaurant and did some shopping before heading home for lunch. Lunch is by far the biggest meal here, similar to dinner in Canada. Their dinner is a lighter meal later in the evening. We were still full from breakfast and could not eat a whole lot but it was delicious meats, rice and salad.
After lunch it was resting time again and we watched television and lounged eating ice cream until early afternoon when we went out. Tyson picked out some new sandals and when it came time to pay my uncle said not to worry about it and we walked out. The population in this city is only 10,000 and everyone is very close. I guess they run tabs with each other and it all works out in the end. Much different than back home. At my uncle's optical shop, he told us to choose several pairs of designer brand sunglasses as a gift. He also gave us a cell phone to use while we are here. Yes, we are spoiled.
When Tyson went to shake hands with the female staff at the optical shop he felt them hesistate before putting their hand out. I felt something similar with the males that we were meeting. It was then that I decided it was time to ask what appropriate greetings look like here. It was a good thing too because males shake hands, air kiss three times or touch noses with other males in greeting and do nothing with woman but say hello. Women shake hands with other women and do nothing with men. Now we were clear and can avoid further embarrassment.
We then went to the fish market and saw all the tropical fish for sale. They had spearhead fish, marlans and massive tuna fish. My uncle bought several of them and had them cleaned and cut while Tyson ran back and forth to any bathroom he could find to hopefully release the last of the Indian food and water in his system.
Back at home we ate an authentic Omanian dinner. What you do is spread creamy cheese on white pita bread and crunch up barbeque potatoe chips onto it and eat it as a sandwhich. We had this with garlic and mint yogurt. It was marvelous and definitely something to bring back to Canada with us despite the awful garlic breath we suffered through for the rest of the night.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
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