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.
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