Thanks in Nizwa

I have a lot of things to be thankful for this year. But this year, without a doubt, family takes the cake. And yes, I do really love and appreciate you, my family. But I'm really thankful for the families that have made me feel so at home here in Oman. Being away from home has its difficulties, but I could not ask for better friends, who instantly were like family, here in Muscat and Nizwa.

Thanksgiving passed this year in Nizwa. I rejoined my Nizwa family, carting along my El Paso packaged tex-mex, planning on having a small Thanksgiving to myself and possibly cooking a small treat for my family. Admittedly, it was a strange Thanksgiving... but small and insignificant, it was not. The evening passed with my brother's surprise of dressing up as a pirate for me (partly because I gave them the Halloween costume set, partly because they knew my college's mascot is the Pirate-- hizzah!). My host mother, aunt, sister, and I cooked a half TexMex half Omani meal. Fajitas with goat meat isn't half bad! And 4 trips to the store to buy more bread-- since we ended up feeding 20 people. Oh, and I made Christmas cookies for dessert.

Quite a mix of holidays, granted. But when we sat down to eat, I didn't notice that I was sitting on the floor, Omani style, eating cold goat meat fajitas, or scraping the cookies off the plate since wax paper is no where to be found in the house.... I didn't notice that I was thousands of miles away, away from my family, away from my friends, in a Muslim country, with people who spoke a language completely different than mine. I didn't notice these things.

I noticed that I was surrounded by some of the best friends I could ask for. From my host grandmother- who constantly tells me to keep eating- from my host mom- who tries to explain everything to me, and when I don't understand, we just laugh- from my host uncle- who keeps trying to tell jokes in English- from my little host brothers and sisters- who are fascinated with making funny faces with me-and from my host brothers- who are constantly downloading movies for me to watch.... At that moment around the plastic "table" on the floor, I felt as close to home as I ever could be without the real thing. And when the entire family lifted their palms to pray together, I looked around at a wonderful group of people, said my "Marshall tradition thanks," and when my host mom looked at me, with her smile, asking if it was like home, I smiled back, and was almost the most thankful I've ever been in my life.

A Trying Day

Its almost been 1 month since I arrived in Oman...Today was a perfect example of some culture shock. Right on schedule, eh? Talk about feeling overwhelmed. Arabic today was quite trying.... we are starting to read more Arabic script, and today was full of worksheets all in Arabic. But the kicker... it was all in Standard Arabic and so far we've only learned colloquial Omani Arabic. GAH- Just when I started to get it, a nice curveball. The afternoon was a bit dull, with a professor from the water department of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) to talk about water resources in Oman. Lots of numbers, blah. Got a hefty homework assignment from both my Arabic prof and our program director. Really, its not near as large as the normal SU load... but when I don't have privacy, quiet, or a desk to do any work.. it takes all my patience (and some good headphones with non-rap music) to do it all.

One plus of the reading (about field participation and notes for our research project approaching in November) was that it really got me out of my funk. Reading about the hardships of researchers in other exotic locations was reassuring that, yes, I can vent about these things. However, it did bring to life that I have a research project starting in November. Crud.

Took a break from working to break my fast (iftar)- had rolls, grapes, spring rolls, beans- all finger foods. Then tackled the pile of clothes I've allowed to form a huge mound in the corner of the room. Nervous about sending my clothes with the maid to the washer- I'm still missing 2 shirts from my first load from the first week I arrived. So.... a bucket will do! Lots of refilling the bucket, shimmy-shimmy in the water, rinsing, and taking up to the roof to hang on the line. Very cool view up there... the white of the houses (they aren't allowed to be much variation), the palm tree in the front of the house, and the bold moon. Looked like a postcard, a little hot, but nice to look out over the neighborhood.

Tried to introduce some music other than Snoop to my host brother. He was pretty unimpressed by country, acoustic, or... basically anything without a clubbin beat to it. Eh, I tried!

OH! And if any of you are ever planning on joining this 'different' country- bring your chocolate chips, baking soda, and measuring cups with you. I thought my list was rather simple when I went to Carrefour hypermart last night. They are impossible to find.

I'm a Barbie Girl

Last night was the second night of Ramadan and our house was quite a busy one. Two sisters of my mom came with their families- so a good 25 of us were huddle around the floor mat for dinner. Yup, we sit down on the ground to eat big meals together. Foods were oh my gosh delicious- chipati bread, chicken cutlass, apples, pears, grapes, sweet bananas, chicken biryani, green bananas in a spicy sauce, salad, garlic bread, milkshakes, and vimto. Her family is so nice, and it is fun to meet all of them again. After we totally stuffed ourselves- or at least felt unbelievably full- we all sat around and talked, watched tv, etc. Saw a bit of this cartoon show in Arabic- the characters look like Bedouin women- pretty funny to watch.

But watching tv soon turned into a brushing my hair session- which progressed into making me a Barbie and braiding my hair. I had some wicked half-cornrows until I slept on em. One of the girls talked me into telling a scary story and I eventually broke down. Told the ol' Bloody Finger story- quite hilarious since when I told the opening door part, someone actually opened the bedroom door. The kids flipped.

Today, after coming home from school (yup, school on a saturday) I helped my mom cook rice for 100 people! They take it to the mosque when the guys go to pray, since the mosque hands out free food during Ramadan. (1) Lots of ghee (2) Onions for a mob (3) Handfuls of spices: pepper, cardamom, cinnamon (4) Chicken Stock (5) Garlic and ginger (6) Buckets of water (7) Boil it all together like a soup (8) Add rice and let it cook!

I guess the hardest thing about Ramadan is not the fasting.... but the hijab. Since I have decided to fast, I have to wear the headscarf all the time- even at home. Comical for my US friends who havent seen me covered thus far. And my host family thinks I look so beautiful in it.. I have to admit, its kinda fun to experience wearing it full time. Makes me want to wear the whole shibang out in public just to see how people treat me in relation to how I normally dress.