The last few days have been filled with getting our house settled, shopping at local stores for supplies, and teacher get togethers. It’s been busy!
While some people were stressed by the shopping at local stores, I loved it. If you want to experience a culture first hand, go shopping. The first store we went to is called LuLu’s. It’s pretty much a middle eastern Super Wal Mart. It’s also three times as busy with customers as a Wal-Mart with numerous workers stocking at the same time. Getting through the aisles is a feat in itself! While there are many Middle Eastern brands, there are American brands mixed in, so it’s easy to find what you need. I was surprised how much I could get that I was familiar with. The best part of the store is that the entire back wall is fresh-butchered meats and fish. I am looking forward to getting meats there. The produce section is full of things I’ve never seen, but also many things I know. All the signs are labeled with what country the item came from, so I got to buy lots of stuff from Lebanon, India, Saudi, etc… There were a few things there from the US, but not many. There was an entire aisle dedicated to yogurt, and you can buy eggs from 6 count to the Costco size packs. I did not see any pork (it’s hard to find in the middle east with Islam), but thank goodness they carry turkey bacon (the brand we love!) and lunch meats. The other store went to was called Sultan Center which was similar but not quite as big. Both stores also have a 2nd floor that is dedicated to the housewares/appliances/toys/etc… It’s fun.
I bought a pot set the first day of shopping and found one of the pots dented when I opened the box. They have a 24-hour exchange policy, so we quickly went back the next day. Instead of giving me a whole new set like they would in the states, they find the one you need and just exchange that. It was great. And, it was more fun because next to us at customer service was a very irritated Omani man arguing with the lady representative. She got the manager to help and they went back and forth as he helped us. The hilarious part to me was that the upset man would argue with him in Arabic and English (they were both Omani so English wasn’t necessary) and go back and forth between the two languages. Maybe he was trying to make us feel bad for getting in his way of justice.
We also got to go to a traditional Turkish restaurant for dinner the 2nd night. Oh my goodness, it was awesome. So so so so good. Lamb kebabs in the states will never compare. We also got these drinks that are simply labeled iced lemon and mint. It’s blended fresh mint, lemon, and sugar. It’s AMAZING.
Besides that, we are slowly learning our way around the city. If you know how confusing Eugene can be, that’s what Muscat is like but worse since we are in a different country. And there is tons of construction going on throughout the city as they grow and develop, so there are detours, dead end roads, and gravel roads all over the place. There is no rhyme or reason to the roads and finding on/off ramps in the same area can be hard. Traffic circles are very popular here too. Luckily, it’s not that hard to drive here and they aren’t much different drivers than Americans.
Tonight we are headed to the City Center. It’s the huge mall downtown and we’ll have dinner out. I am hoping to explore the downtown area more soon since that’s where the beaches are, along with the children’s museum, parks, etc…
Here are a few fun tidbits to leave you with:
- It’s Ramadan right now, so Muslims fast between 7am and 7pm. It’s expected that expats respect that, so you don’t eat in front of them during those hours and it’s hard to find an open restaurant. Eating is done at home.
- We’ve met many of the other teachers and they are wonderful. We had dinner at the Rauk’s last night. They have a 4 year old girl and a newborn. Aberly loved playing at their house. They also have a trampoline. That was her favorite by far.
- Colin is in the midst of becoming an Omani resident (with me and Abs under him as family) and then we can get cell phones, wireless internet, TV, and buy a car.
- Most locals do where traditional dress, but there are Arab men and woman in modest western dress.
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