In the news

I thought it would be an interesting diversion to take a look at the local newspaper and share some of the published articles and advertisements. It gives great insight into daily local life and in many ways is quite different from what we see in the U.S.

Eid Al-Adha

Since these newspapers were published before Eid al-Adha (prounounced eed), you will learn a little about this religious holiday and culture. Eid al-Adha is the second Eid celebrated by Muslims world-wide, commemorating events regarding the life of Abraham and Ishmael as recorded in the Quran. For more info on this holiday, I suggest you search on the Internet. It is quite interesting.

Part of the Eid holiday involves a sacrifice. Since this is a holy holiday, the sacrifice must be performed according to a defined ritual. Living in a city poses certain problems for ritual sacrifice, so below is an article describing how they are dealing with this problem in the city by setting up a mobile abattoir to drive throughout the neighborhoods to perform the ritual sacrifices without sacrificing sanitation. (Abattoir: slaughterhouse for animals for the purpose of human consumption).

The central abattoir gets backed up with requests during Eid, so they set up mobile units.

Here are some more pictures of Omani citizens preparing for Eid al-Adha.

Classified Ads

These are a sampling of some of the ads found in the paper a few days ago. Of course, in the U.S., it would not be allowable to state one's gender or race, but it is common-place here.

I'm not sure what kind of nursery they are referring to, but I think it's children...

Advertisements

Have you had a McArabia lately?

Shari'a-compliant means that the charge card conforms to Muslim Shari'a law.

Cultural Diversity

I don't recognize most of the actors/actresses
mentioned on the entertainment pages!

The two pictures above are showing celebrations of the Hindu religious celebration of Durga Puja. 

General Information Articles

This state of the art eye operation center--quite different construction from what we might find in the U.S.

This article refers to the expat laborers brought in from other countries
(India, Pakistan, Philippines, etc.) and the crowded living conditions
 under which they live. It is an interesting read.

The flight schedule out of Muscat is small enough to be "memorized"
as well as published daily in the paper.

The newspaper also carries a few comic strips, horoscopes, local news as well as news from around the world. I hope you enjoyed browsing through a sampling of newspaper articles. Living in another culture requires an understanding and sensitivity to the people and their practices. There is not a right or wrong, just different.  I am constantly learning how even though we are all human, our upbringing provides such a different way of looking at things, and that we should continually strive to understand one another.

You know you've lived in Oman for a year when...

We just passed our one-year mark here in Oman. Here are some of my observations about living here in Oman and the Middle East in general. It should give you some insight into the daily life we experience here.

You know you have lived in Oman for a year when...

• This looks (and tastes!) like a gourmet meal. (Hint: it includes pork, too!)

You have no idea what a treat it was to find these Oscar Mayer Weiners on the grocery store shelf!

• Spotting this t-shirt at a mall kiosk, I was tempted to buy it and wear it every day because this has become a mantra for all those expats living in Oman!

• Seeing this ladder being used to access the roof at a major construction site does not surprise me.

• Your precious doggie that was once a princess is now sporting KU gear.

• A shower, sink, toilet and toilet spray nozzle, and a window ventilation fan all closely together in one room no longer surprises you. (No, thank goodness, this is NOT my personal bathroom.)

• The fragrance (?) of frankincense burning in your house is preferable to the smells in the stairwell of the apartment building... (there is no picture for this experience--but if you were at GA's or RA's last fall at FBC, then you KNOW what frankincense smells like! All you FBC'ers need to find one and ask them how it smells!)

• You expect the grit of sand in your mouth. 

The clouds may be low, but that's not rain clouding the view of the mountains--it's sand! Those are the sand
dunes that you can see from the deck around the swimming pool in our complex. Sand blocking
the view of the landscape is quite common. Sometimes the visibility is down to less than 1/2 mile.

• You own a variety/collection of electrical converter devices.

Note that the wall plates have on/off switches. Every outlet plug in our house looks like these!

• You finally break down and get a water dispenser with home delivery because you are tired of buying and carting water jugs up a flight of stairs.

• You are very grateful for Chacos that can be easily washed in the washing machine to remove the sand that is everywhere!

Sand left on the shoes after just one casual walk in the neighborhood...

• The kleenex box on your kitchen table is there for use as napkins as well as blowing your nose. 

Napkins are easier to find now than when we first moved here, but we just got used to having the kleenex box on the table like you find in many restaurants!

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea! Living here is in and of itself an adventure. Some of these quirks just add even more to the adventure!

Exploring Hospitals and Medical Procedures Throughout the World with Debi

Of course, many of my U.S. friends know that I just spent a little time in the hospital here in Muscat. I received excellent surgical and anesthesiological care for gangrenous gallbladder. It was emergency surgery, and it had to come out immediately! I had no choice but to submit to the procedure even though the prospect was somewhat daunting.

Some of the treatment of patients is the same and some is a little different here due to cultural view-points. For instance, nurses still wake you up from a sound sleep to administer blood pressure tests and take your temperature. But other than during my surgery, no narcotic pain relievers were administered. I basically survived post-op on tylenol and ibuprofen! Now, for some of my readers, that may be par for the course, but as the survivor of several surgical procedures in the U.S., I can tell you for me it was definitely not par for the course!

I did survive, however, and am doing better. I have a few images from my time in the hospital just to satisfy the curiosity that many of you have expressed.

Here are some images of my room:

Don sleeping while waiting for my test results
(per his usual!) and where he spent a couple
of nights--refusing to leave my side!

The foot of my bed facing the TV. Door to the room is on the left,
Don is on the right.

Hospital food tastes similar the world over, I guess! I was on a liquid diet in preparation for the ultrasound and surgery.
I can honestly say, thought, that I've never been brought a carafe of hot water in order to make my own
cup of tea!

 Television in an Arabic country, third-world almost at that, is definitely a hoot. Just to give you an idea of the variety available, here is a sample of what I had to watch in my room:

Japanese cartoons in Arabic

Arabic-language version of a paid advertisement.

Live action of Muslims making pilgrimage to their holiest place in Mecca.

"Football" action in Arabic

What I call "snowy-vision." Sound was just as bad as the picture!

BBC--at least I could get weather from the U.S.!

Arab talk show

Chinese television in Chinese with Arabic subtitles.

Needless to say, there was very little TV watched during the 3 or so days I spent in the hospital! Thank goodness I had downloaded some e-books to my iPad!

Here is Don's favorite picture--taken of me just a few minutes prior to be hauled off to surgery. Thankfully, I didn't remember much for several hours after that! I can promise you I was not as chipper upon my leaving the hospital as I was for this lovely picture! Hope you enjoyed my trip to one of the best hospitals in Muscat!