And I thought Day 1 Couldn't Be Topped

So, day two in Salalah was even better than day 1. We:

• Went to the tomb of Bin Ali and saw a local graveyard. If I didn't know it was one, I wouldn't really have noticed anything but a bunch of stones. There were hardly any markers... still, the arrangement of 3 stones for women and 2 for men was apparent at a closer look.
• Met a fisherman who caught 4 tiger sharks. They smelled.
• Walked around the ruins of Khor Roi, or the House of the Queen of Sheeba. It was a little unmarked and hardly any protection for the remaining ruins... but the view of the river/lagoon/shoreline was breathtaking.
• Defied gravity. There is a point on a sloped road that when you put the car in neutral, it will roll UP the hill. Pretty funny.
• Saw umbrella trees and 400 year old trees that are native to Africa, that have somehow thrived in the desert like mountains.
• Ate a picnic lunch surrounded by waterfalls. The Dirbat Wadi was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.... blue water falling all around lusch green. Lets just say I took a lot of photos.
• Stopped for our guide to pray at another part of the Dirbat Wadi. Had a zen moment sitting on the bank of the river with Kristin (from SIT) with green mountains shooting upwards on both sides, birds chirping, and a bright sky. I never wanted to leave.
• Pretended to be cliff divers (since we are forbidden) and watched for dolphins- and we found some!
• Ate dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the beach at sunset. Good food and a GREAT view
• Smoked some hookah at a cafe next to our hotel with all the students for Rebecca's 30th birthday. Shes fab, shes from Dallas, no more explanation necessary.

This morning, Kristin and I woke up at 8 to get to the souk one last time. I bought 2 new head scarves and a plethora of frankincense before we caught the plane home this afternoon. I can't believe how fantastic this weekend was- but I'm can't believe how much I missed my host family too. Darn it, I'm a sucker for my little niece... and my mom's cooking. Can't stay away!

Umm, the ocean is on the wrong side

Things you might not have known about Oman that I have learned in the last day and a half:

1. They have these sticks.. which when you put in water, can then use to brush your teeth. Seriously, they are twigs to chew on. Also, this was my mystery item... which did in fact stump everyone in the group.

2. Im glad I didnt eat fish at lunch yesterday, because one guy got food poisoning from his. HA, see why I don't eat it?

3. Wrinkles are a bigggggg no no. You must look sharp. And smell good. At all times. Even after hiking around all day in the heat.

4. The toilets, of the toilets are so stressful. Lets just say it involves a sprayer (or a bucket if in an old place), your left hand, and some toilet paper which must be damn clean when you are done. But lets just say it explains why the left hand is such a big taboo.

5. THe left hand.. don't give anyone anything with it. Do not shake hands with it. Do not eat or drink with it. This is way more hard than you'd think.

6. The people are so very friendly. We went to the Sultan Qaboos University to tour today. We met the Dean of the Arts and Sciences, a few professors, and 3 women English literature majors. The girls were such a delight, so sweet! And the school is very beautiful..

7. Omani time is a relaxed time. Maybe even more so than Spanish time. So dont expect the buses to have schedules or lunch to be under 2 hours.

8. The hypermarts are a drastic change from yesterday's souk. Change smelly good spices and herbs for the US mall (but, in this one, everything has Arabic subtitles) and there was my evening at drop off #2.

9. Buses are hard to catch. And my gruop didn't catch one on our drop off trip. We walked a mile to the market... and then had a taxi driver take us to the wrong place on the way back... only to be noticed by the ocean appearing on the wrong side of the window. Luckily, we somehow figured it out.

10. The University has separate reading areas for men and women. Wonder if more work would get done at good ol SU if this was the case as well!

11. Omani coffee and dates are goooooooooooood

12. I am suddenly an alien. I am scarfless, and I am American, and I am a funny thing to stare at as you walk by. Boy, have I gotten some hilarious looks

annddddd

13. My group is so amazing. Total is at 15, and I think we all mesh pretty well. We all go to smaller, liberal arts type schools- we are all in some form of political science, history, or intl relations- and we are already looking out for each other. And heck, do we laugh a lot