Arabic Customs

I'm sure most of you are wondering what the culture is like, as were we prior to arriving. The news feed we tend to get at home depicts a bunch of radicals, violence, gender inequality, dictatorship, etc.  After being here for almost a month, I'm starting to feel more comfortable with the customs and expectations, as they are vastly different from the West. 

Each arabic country has there own 'personality'. Usually this is a direct reflection of who's in charge. Which is odd since the countries are all so close, you'd think they'd all be the same, but it is not just to generalize. Oman has flourished over the past 40 years since Sultan Qaboos bin Said took the seat as 'Sultan'. He is referred to as your majesty. Oil was discovered in 1962, so it was great timing for a diplomatic leader to take seat. Just a bit of background - Qaboos attended a private school in England then went onto the Royal Military Academy. He serviced in Germany then went back to England to study administration.

Before 1970, there were 10km of paved roads and 3 schools Now there are over a 1000 schools, the Sultan Qaboos University and a couple of colleges. This is only a small example of the progression and just about every sector is the same - rapid growth over 40 years. Which may be why they are terrible drivers! Now that there are paved roads, and people have the means to buy cars which puts a bunch of new drivers on the roads all at once. No wonder they have the highest accidents per capita.

From physical appearance, middle easterners are obviously different in the way they dress. They follow Islam whole heartedly which is the driver of the culture. Though most arabic countries are Muslim, there are interpretations of the Quran, Omanis follow the Ibadhi sect. Which boils down to them being moderately conservative. The men wear a white gown, called 'dishdasha' and a brimless hat called 'kumah'...and sandals at all times. For casual occasions, men will wear different colors - beige, navy, purple, but modest, nothing bright! Women wear the 'abaya', a black gown that also covers the head, outlining their face. We haven't seen too many women wearing the 'burka', with only the eyes showing. Although twice now we've seen women with the whole face covered, and that seems strange! A faceless, black, person walking around. It's similar to seeing a ghost at halloween, only wearing black! Women do mix up the colors a bit more than the men, it is predominately black, but they will wear patterns, bright colors, or may be a more western look with a skirt, loose fitted-shirt, but they always have the head scarf. Some of the younger girls will be out in jeans, but have a head scarf. I often wonder how much time that must save by not having to do your hair everyday, or worry about getting that overdue hair cut!

They are very hygienic. Partly because of having to wash before praying 5 times a day, you can bet they have clean hands and toes. They also are big into perfumes. The men have a tassel at the neckline of the dishdasha which is sprayed with cologne. Some men even have a small bottle of cologne at their desk at work! We haven't quite figured out how the importance of perfume came to be, and you can find perfume shops everywhere.  I haven't quite figured out the facial hair yet either....Men are either well groomed, the hair and facial hair is always trim or haven't cut their beard in possibly years! But never an in-between, it's one or the other. 

...I have a funny story, this was my first week at work and I had to attend an all day orientation session at the Learning Center. Lunch is served buffet style in a big cafeteria. So I was in line with about 30 people or so, slowly making my way towards the plates. I kept seeing a bunch of ladies walk by, but I couldn't see the end of the line to see that they were going to the front of the line...So I waited in line, like everybody else, and then noticed everybody else was all men! Another group of ladies walk by, and then a gentlemen behind me tapped me on my shoulder and said 'you can go to the front too..'. It didn't occur to me that I had such a privilege!Lol. So to the front of the line I went, and I didn't get a single stare that I was a line cutter, they just let me in.     

That was a positive experience...I also had another gender difference issue at the ROP (police station) while getting our drivers licenses. (In every establishment, there is a ladies section to sit, wait, be served, a separate checkout counter at the grocery store, whatever). So me and Adam were sitting down in a room with a bunch of benches waiting for our number to be called. I saw the Ladies section sign, but thought, forget it, we'll just sit together. Besides that, there was only an isle separating the sections, literally 2 feet. After about 10 minutes, one of the more senior officers had noticed me occupying a seat in the mens section. He pointed and said 'You!' Everybody started looking around, 'he is pointing at us?' Then the 2 men in front of me parted, the officer repeated and pointed 'You!', I was like uhoh, he pointing at me! So I stood up, he said 'You sit over there, for ladies'. Haha. So I sat on one side of the aisle and Adam sat 2 feet across the aisle from me. I'm sure he was thinking....Ahhh society is back to being balanced.

I have plenty more to say about my encounters at the office, but will leave you with the hand shake. Hand shaking for one is not to be done with women. Although they see that I'm Western, so they never know to go in for the hand shake or not, so it's always a bit awkward. Of course on my first day, I was introduced to a bunch of people, it was too much at once! I put my hand out there unknowingly for the first 2, then their reaction was strange, so I backed down, and then some would put there hand out, not knowing if I would shake their hand...then I had a slow reaction not expecting a hand shake...then I wondered if I offended them...so confusing!!   I'm getting better at reading who's used to Westerners and who's not sure what to do. So I had my shares of failed hand shakes...

January 26/27 Bike to As Sifah

We had tentatively accepted to come on this bike trip earlier in the month contingent on our air shipment arriving in time. Thankfully it came just in time, 2 days before and lucky for us it did because the bike trip was fantastic!


There were 2 options for the weekend, the first being a road bike ride to Sifah from Bandar Marina in Muscat and the second being to drive or take the water taxi to Sifah and go mountain biking once there. We went with the road bike option and met the group at 10am. It was smaller than we thought with only 7 riders, Tom and Donna who you've already heard about, Michelle (the grandfather of cycling in Muscat we were told, he's 68, been in Muscat for 17 years and is from France), Neil (from the UK) and Robin (from RSA). Off we went on a beautiful day, blue sky, sunny and almost no wind. The entire ride was around 50 km and we had 2 support cars following us with our bags. Now coming from Calgary and having biked in the mountains and foothills we figured we'd seen hills before so when we were told in the first weeks here that you will never have ridden hills like there are in Oman we thought "ya right, how much worse could they be". Boy were we in for a surprise. We have never ridden climbs like there were on this ride, 20% gradients and roads going places you would think there is no way you could go, even with a car. Climbing aside the day was absolutely amazing, fantastic views and unbelievable roads. After 5 or 6 of these climbs and one last really steep one we were almost in Sifah and cold beer awaited. However there was one last downhill that was the steepest hill we had ever scene. Going down Janelle said it felt like having vertigo because it was so steep. You were on the brakes the entire way and had this feeling you were going to go over the front handlebars. To put an exclamation point on how perilous the hill was a truck laid in the ditch crushed from going over the edge.


Steep decents and climbs behind us we pedalled into Sifah and the Sifawy 5 star hotel. The hotel had only been open for 6 months and is part of a much larger resort development planned for the area that eventually will include a golf course, numerous villas and 3 more hotels. Walking into the lobby of the hotel we were greeted by the wonderful smell of incense and a Omani playing an Arabian guitar. Needless to say the rest of our stay at the hotel was even better, the rooms fantastic and the food absolutely outstanding. As part of the bike package we got the hotel room including a buffet dinner and brunch for the 2 of us for only 60 OR (150 dollars). We left the next  full from the great brunch and feeling completely relaxed. Rather than riding back to Bandar we opted to take the water taxi and enjoyed the view of the coast from the ocean. 

All in all a great weekend and one that we would both gladly repeat!

20% grade, tough cycling!

Sifawy Boutique Hotel

Cycling to As Sifah

View of the marina at Sifawy Hotel

Village traffic jam

Car Shopping (or Hunting in Oman)

Before we left, the car policy was a bit of a gray area. Janelle wasn't sure if we had a company car for a few weeks or for the year.  It is for the better that we don't have the pool car for the year! Although it is convenient and would've saved us some cash, the car can't have more than 2 cylinders and a gearbox that is almost 'capute'! This is a bit of a long story...may want to grab a coffee or tea...

Within the first day of touring around that we noticed the majority of vehicles were SUVs and cars. There is hardly a pickup truck to be seen! A vast change from AB/SK....The brands are similar - Toyota, Jeep, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, and BMWs. However, they have models that aren't offered in North America. By far the Prado (Toyota, similar to a 4-runner) and Jeeps are the most popular.   There are 2 reasons for that - 1 so that you can off-road, and 2 so that you are up a bit higher up and have more metal in case of an accident. I won't digress about the driving just yet, but it is pretty bad. One of the highest motor vehicle accidents per capita (I have a theory for this which will come in a later post;).


We had discussed options with fellow expats, but basically no one could relate to being here for only 1 year.  Most people go down to the dealership and buy a new or slightly used SUV. They also advised to buy from an expat.  Easier said than done, most expat own vehicles were out of our price range. We started looking through used car websites and found that people don't start selling vehicles until they hit 180,000 km +! 
We found a Jeep Wrangler with 160,000 km and decided to meet the seller. It was the perfect off-roading Jeep with big tires, soft top, and all black. It was pretty cool but after a test drive, we could tell it was in rough shape. (It all made sense after learning that the locals tend not to maintain their vehicles and drive them hard). The seller was a reasonable character, we could understand each other ok, and he was a used car dealer who had 2 branches, 1 in Ruwi and 1 in Barka (map below).
We decided to continue looking on the generic used car website and a few days later saw a Land Rover Discovery come up for sale. Wouldn't you know it, we called to inquire and it was the same guy! So we agreed to meet in Barka, which we though we just on the outskirts of Muscat. Turns out, it was 45 min out of town! 
Oman isn't very big, naturally we wouldn't think twice about driving to the next major city or even across the entire country for a long weekend trip....however, throw in huge speed bumps on every single residential road and roundabouts every 5 km on the major highway...it turns your 30 km trip into 45 min of stop and start. Back to the story -  
We had a communication breakdown, I had heard Barka (knowing that he had a dealership there), but he had said Bousher, which is within Muscat...45min drive later, 30min of waiting, and a dead cell phone, we decided to call it a day and head back to Muscat. We connected with the fellow later on that evening and decided to meet the follow day, same place - Bousher, which we found just fine. The 2004 Discovery had 176,000 km, needed new tires, and the 4x4 was a bugger to get into. I didn't trust that the 4x4 was going to work when we needed it or at worst would be buying a new transmission or gearbox.
We decided to pass and were getting discouraged about finding a used car. We had also called a few people, but couldn't understand anything after hello.  The reasonably new cars (2005-now) all had minimum 150,000 km and were asking an exorbant amount of money compared to what we were used to at home.

We decided to head down to the Chrysler dealer to look at leasing, knowing that the Jeep was a good starting point for SUVs. The dealer was too funny, he said 'What are you looking for?'...in reply.."a Jeep, preferably used if you have any." He kind of looked at us,"I have 1 used - the one right there for 10,000 rial. You take it?" We were taken aback..."uh no, we are just looking". He said "oh, how about new? I have a shipment coming in on Jan.25th and they are all sold. So you'll have to wait until Feb.3. 11,000 rial new." We finally got through to him about 'just browsing' and found out that he didn't offer leasing, but he did give us the name of a company and the fellow to contact that buys Jeeps and leases them, called Zubair automotive. We were starting to see that 'one stop shop' establishments are very North American.
So down to Zubair automotive...took us a bit to find the right building and fellow, but we finally found him. We assumed that a year lease wasn't going to be great and that pricing will likely be slightly higher compared to at home. Nope, double! And ziltch for selection, only 2 options. A used Cherokee or Patriot for $800/mth.

At this point we weren't sure what we were going to do...surely renting would be even higher, why even bother checking.
Within the week, we saw a new For Sale ad at Club notice board.  A 2006 Subaru Forester, expat owned, lady driven, just over 100,000 km, servicing done every 10,000km, and with our price range! The ad had been posted that day, so we took the number and called right away. It was owned by a Canadian, who had spent the previous 6 years in Oman and was getting ready to head home. We were sold after said she took the car everywhere - Wadis, through the mountains, to the Wahiba sands... that cleared my only skeptism about a car over an SUV. Sure, we can't do the extreme sand duning, but it fits our basic adventure needs!  We take ownership Feb 3 and are looking forward to having more than 90 hp!

January 20 - Muscat Road Runners Marathon

Since coming to Muscat we've been trying to get our names onto just about every email list to stay on top of things. After our 3rd day we joined the weekly 6k fun run and also found the local running club, the Muscat Road Runners, were hosting their first marathon on January 20th.


So no surprise to anyone, of course we said sign us up. We were still suffering from our Christmas hangover so we signed up to run as a team with each of us completing a half marathon. Up at 5am off we went to the Intercontinental Hotel for the start. Janelle took the first leg running a 1:48:54 while Adam finished with a 1:46:36 for a total team time of 3:35:30. That was good enough for second in the team event (granted there were only 4 teams, only 3 finished and the first team actually had 4 people so really our place really didn't reflect anything). All in all we had a great morning and will definitely run this race again next year if we can. Following the race we were treated to a wonderful brunch by the hotel and of course the weather was fantastic and the hotel grounds immaculate.

Now the race was one highlight of the day, but the memory that will probably stick with us was driving down Qaboos Street (essentially the freeway through the city) and seeing a camel laying in the back of a pickup truck doing 80 km/h. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera but based on the things we've seen so far since being here there's a good chance we'll see something that bizarre again.

Jan 12/13 First Weekend

Starting work on Monday meant Janelle only had to put in 3 days before the weekend. The work week here is Saturday to Wednesday as Friday is the holy day. We're still getting used to thinking that Wednesday is the new Friday, literally! Work hours are 7 to 4, and most people go home or to the Club for lunch. 

It took a few days for the jet lag to wear off and by the weekend (Wednesday night) we were both getting into more of a routine. We've been able to swim in the ocean, run or go to the gym. Once our air shipment arrives, we'll have our tennis rackets, snorkeling gear and bikes! Every Wednesday night there is a 6k Fun Run through the camp so we jumped right into that. Following the run people head down to the boat club for drinks and dinner. 

Thursday Jan 12 we decided to go touring (we have a PDO pool car for the time being). Early morning we headed to the Muttrah Souk (Central Market) which is the old part of Muscat. The souk is the market area where you can buy anything from spices, to perfumes, to gold, to all kinds of fabrics. As well as the souk, there is the fish market and many tourists in this area. Tourism is something that the Sultan of Oman (Sultan Qaboos bin Said) is working really hard to promote. All through Muscat there is construction on-going to beautify and upgrade the parks, roads, sidewalks as well as building a brand new international airport terminal. After spending the morning touring the souk, we continued a driving tour of Muscat and stumbled across the Sultan's old palace. We continued through Ruwi and ended up at a small cafe called Tche Tche where people were smoking sheesha. The only thing missing sitting in Tche Tche's which is situated along Beach road and has fantastic views, is a cold beer, so off we went to the Crowne Plaza, one of the many gorgeous hotels here. 

 

Al Alam Palace (where Sultan Qaboos lives)

View from the Crowne Plaza hotel

Scenery not far from the Corniche

At the Corniche, small Dhow (wooden boat) parked in the Harbor 

Muttrah - Central Old Muscat

Gate to Muttrah

Destination Muscat - Week 1 contd

We left off having just been dropped off by the driver and seeing our apartment for the first time. Luckily prior to arriving Janelle had been in contact with a Canadian couple who have been living in Muscat for 2 years. As such, upon our arrival our new friend Donna (from Estevan,SK orginally) came to give us an official tour of the Ras Al Hamra compound. The RAH club is spectacular, there is a private beach (where western attire is permitted), pool, boat club (which is very comparable to a pub, only cheaper alcohol), restaurant (which has a daily buffet for 2 RO!, or $6), tennis courts, sailing complex (full of lasers, catamarans, kayaks and motorboats), library, liquor store and gym. We both couldn't believe that this is where we would be spending the next year, it was hard to shake the feeling we we're here to work when this felt so much like a 5 star resort.

Donna also gave us a quick tour of the PDO camp (Petroleum Development Oman) before driving us to the nearest grocery store. Before coming we didn't know what to expect when we heard "camp", would there be walls, security etc, but that is not the case at all. The roads through the camp are public and there is also a public beach. You can be walking through the camp and not even realize you've left, there is no distinct transition which makes you feel very integrated with the rest of the city. 

Off we went for groceries and came to Carrefour, one of 3 big chains here in Muscat. It's very comparable to any grocery store you have in Canada, with the exception of some a few local items we would never see at home (fresh varieties of fish and goat to name a couple) but all in all you can get everything here that you can at home for very similar prices. The Carrefour is also attached to a shopping mall complete with an H&M, Starbucks, Coldstone Creamry and Dunkin Donuts. This sums up Muscat very well, there is stark contrast of a very old feeling city with the architecture and culture, but yet the stores, shops, cars and gadgets that we're used to are all here. 

Donna dropped us off back at our apartment with our loot and we began to unpack and settle in. Thankfully Donna and her husband Tom invited us for supper again to ease in the transition as we weren't feeling the energy to cook (going on 36 hrs now). Needless to say we enjoyed a great meal but by 8 we were both completely wiped and called it a night.

RAH Beach

Top of Adam's Head and a view of the private beach and bay

More Beach (sorry to rub it in) and the kids play area

 

Destination Muscat - Week 1

As-salaam alaykum! Welcome to the start of Janelle and Adam's adventures abroad! We've been in Muscat for a week now and are loving every minute of it. We've been warmly welcomed into the community from fellow Canadians, expats from around the world, and incredibly hospitable Omanis. 

We began our journey after Christmas, traveling to Phoenix for a week of R&R after a frantic 2 days in Calgary packing up the house and deciding what to ship overseas (only went over the air freight weight allowance by double! 160 lbs isn't much...) 
Phoenix did the trick and also allowed us to begin adjusting to warm weather. After spending New Years in Tempe at the Fiesta Bowl block party and rocking out to Sawyer Brown, we left on January 6th for San Fransisco, and then caught our Emirates flight to Dubai. 15 1/2 hours later we landed in Dubai a day ahead. The flight was fantastic, over 1000 channels to watch, great service and considering the lengthy flight, we landed feeling pretty good. Unfortunately we couldn't leave the airport due to visa requirements but lucky for us the 12 hour layover went by very quickly. The Dubai airport is like Vegas in that it does not sleep. At 2am it was packed, all the restaurants open, a full shopping mall and the glitz and glamour of Vegas minus the gambling. However, you could tell that we'd arrived in a region of the world unlike any other!
We boarded our flight on Oman Air and after a quick 50 minute flight touched down in our new home Jan. 8th - 2 days later!


First impressions were how clean everything was, flowers everywhere and how gorgeous the weather was. We were picked up by a driver sent by Janelle's work and a smiling familiar face, Rashid, who had worked in Canada the year prior.


The driver dropped us off at an apartment in 'Camp' and said "someone will pick you up tomorrow morning at 9" and that was it!

 Emirates flight at SF airport

Dubai Airport at midnight

Dubai from the air

Our new apartment, home for the next year

 View from our apartment deck