All New FAQ

A lot has changed since arriving in Oman/UAE. One of those is that I'm settling into what is, well, actual life somewhere. It's not quite like the three months of our engagement when there was so much to do to get ready for the transition, nor like the six weeks of Morocco where we were trying to experience things and figure out how to live with an eye on the next move...this is actually my life. It's hard to believe and, at times it's been hard to get adjusted. I currently have at two blog entries in the queue and more than that in my mind and I just haven't been able to get my mind around a feeling that I can share. It's a whole different experience here and so I figured the best way to really commence blogging here is to update the FAQs....

So, what the heck are you doing there?
Still school, same as last time in a way, but this round I'm a student, too. Not quite the same time commitment as Jacob, but I'm in some private tutoring and have learned the alphabet (Yea! I'm officially as educated as a toddler).

Are you coming back to the states?
We're still planning on being home for Christmas until internship time and the last two semesters in Columbia, but we're also planning a trip home for the August recess as well! Yea!

How long have you been married?
This is totally unnecessary but fun to say. Nearly four months!

Are you crazy?
THAT answer certainly hasn't changed. Still a big yes.

How's married life?
Still fabulous and fun. I remember his mom telling me once that being married was like a slice of heaven and, as much as I loved Jacob before we were married (and even with the great marriages I've seen in my life!) it seemed like a lot to live up to, but she's absolutely right. It's also a lot of fun to have our first "real" place. An actual apartment with more than two rooms and a kitchen and living room all to ourselves!

What's it like there?
Holy cow. This is the biggest change in an FAQ. Reading the Morocco responses, it's so funny how different it is here and how quickly I forgot what "cold" is! First off, all my girlfriends were really fond of saying I was moving to the deserts of Africa. Morocco was not the desert. Oman most certainly is! We are surrounded by sand and dust that occassionally kicks up in furious winds that drive it right through the window cracks and under doors so that we and all our posessions are constantly powdered with desert earth. Unless, that is, it's storming furiously. We discovered that the spring storms here rival the nastiest and most surprising midwest/midsouth disturbances. Complete with flooding, hail and power outages (and that was just our apartment).

The GAP (Gulf Arabic Program) school is a lot different from ALIF (American Language Center in Fez), too. It's full of a much more diverse crowd (People from the states and Americans who grew up and were living in other places like Saudi and the Sudan, Koreans and Swedes) and most of them are either grad-level students or adults pursuing professional education or those who are simply pursuing a self improvement. The classes are taught by Omani professors, both men and women, a few of them show up in photos you'll see from us. They are very social (two, Muhammed and Hussein are both in shots from The Sacrifice).

Oman and UAE, despite what many people hear about Dubai, are both much much more conservative than Morocco was. Though there is a large expat population in the city of Dubai, the Abu Dhabi province and even the Dubai province outside the city, are less diverse. The Muslim religion is also much more common and is observed in the great majority and with dedication. The calls to prayer are about the same as Morocco, but you see a lot more people responding to them. We've even encountered taxi drivers stopped on the side of the road arranging a prayer mat to face toward Mecca. Nearly all women in Oman are covered, wearing a Burka or an Abbaya. In UAE it's a little less conservative; some 80s-inspired (very styled) bangs peep out of the headscarves and fewer faces are covered. Sometimes they switch things up a bit with colors of scarves. The men typically wear a Kandura and headscarf. Most people in UAE speak English as well as Arabic, it is very common to hear and there is a rare sign not written in English, too. It's more Arabic in Oman, but not out of the ordinary to be able to speak about as much English with someone from here as they could speak Arabic to us!

We are attending a church in Al Ain, one of several on a private hospital's compound. They are all evangelical christian churches, but each one caters to a different cultural preference. Our "western-style" service rotates contemporary with traditional worship and teaching is in English. I'm not sure of all the other services, but I know there are a couple of African services and I think Chinese. Though, as in Morocco, Islam and Mosques dominate, there is also a prominent Catholic Church in Al Ain, near our church.

Buraimi, where we live and study, is an odd place, a border town that has a burgeoning population because of the proximity to the UAE. It's well developed in that utilities function fairly well, there are many businesses and restaurants (although most are annoyingly similar to the seven just down the way that do the same thing) and a couple of institutes of higher education. The roads are paved and well-maintained, but none have names (...). The roundabouts, however, are named for their decoration or proximity (the mosque roundabout, the coffee roundabout) and are so common there is literally hardly a single left turn in the entire city! Despite it's proximity to the UAE, Oman is less westernized in its offerings as far as commerce. The entire country of Oman, in fact, has been very dedicated to preserving it's traditional roots. It's an older, more established country than the UAE and is a Sultanate, ruled by Sultan Qaboos, who is much beloved in the country and credited for the country's progress in recent years.

Al Ain, in the UAE, just about 10 minutes by car (depending on the border crossing, which is intermittantly inflamed and swollen, depending on the tempraments of the guards and the relations between local politicians), is where we go to church and have experienced a couple of cultural events, has good restaurants, hotels that are expat havens and more expanded grocery shopping. There is one great word to give you a picture of Al Ain (and if you know me, you'll know how I feel about it as anything other than an escape): Malls. They love their freaking malls! Malls and foodcourts, foodcourts and malls. Malls and foodcourts and souks. I guess when it's 120 degrees in the summer, it's good to have a place to go away from home with A/C. I grudgingly admit that the malls do provide a place to purchase nearly every critical thing (except pork, alcohol and the New Yorker magazine) familiar to home stores. UAE is a recently developed country that formed when several smaller Arab states (emirates) joined together. They are ruled by a central government comprised of regional leaders. Abu Dhabi is ruled by on Sheikh who is also the President and Dubai is ruled by another Sheikh who is also the vice president, and so on.

PS-In the UAE, they love their cars. Love them. Mostly fancy schmancy cars or trucks, which they plaster with hearts and faces of the Sheiks and drive in such a haphazard manner (Islam is very fatalistic, so hey, why not? Insh'allah-if Allah wills it-after all) that it's hardly advisable to drive anywhere near them. Especially since, even if an Emerati (or Omani) person smashed their Benz/Range Rover/Beamer into you head-on at 60 km/h while you were sitting still in the back seat of a parked Hyundai, it would be your fault (If you weren't in the country, it wouldn't have happened. Duh.).

We've had the opportunity to meet lots of new people, but we spend the most time with Omanis. The men and women are frequently separated here, and that goes for social and meal times, too, so when we hang with our new friends (like Abdullah and Amal, pictured right) it's usually with Jacob in one room with the boys and me and the girls in another room, the two are usually separated by a curtain. At first, as with the attire, I was a little dubious, but turns out...not such a bad thing. It's easier to relax and having some private time to eat, chat, giggle and, especially for the Omanis, they can (literally) let their hair down when it's just the girls. And, don't get me wrong, I love being married, but it's always good to have girl time, right! It's not a hard and fast rule, especially in public, but it's common in homes.

One thing that is kind of funny, though, is that the hosts will frequently prepare food that is amazing and then not eat it...or at least until they're sure that you've been sufficiently stuffed and "strengthened." They think that being thin makes you weak, and they are ultrahospitable, so they're constantly picking the best parts of the fish or chicken off the bones and mixing it with the spicy rice, then pinching great portions into the fresh bread before shoving it at you insisting, "Cooli, cooli!" (Eat! Eat!).

Do you like living there?
Most of the time. It's not home, so there are times it's easier and times it's not (we both miss our family and friends and I miss my dog!). The times it isn't fun are eased by the other good times we have, a package arriving from a friend (thanks Elisabeth!) or a pending visit (can't wait Warren and Michelle!)

Are you homesick? Do you miss things from home?
Yep. Not in a debilitating way, but the things I had pangs for in Morocco are missed a bit more acutely now. Mostly the family and friends (and schedule!).

What are you doing there?
Taking some private tutoring and then an intensive summer session in colloquial Arabic. I'm still looking at some opportunities for freelancing and have also opened myself up to do some English teaching or tutoring. We're also having a lot of fun with our freedom of schedule!

Are you going to travel while you're living abroad?
Still "Duh." During our time in Morocco we saw Meknes, Volubulis and Marrakech in addition to Fez. After Morocco we took a quick trip to Rome and we've spent time in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Emirates as well as Sohar and Muscat (new photos!) in Oman. There's a lot more to see of Oman and other spots that are close, affordable and desirable like Bahrain, Egypt, India, Qatar and locales in Africa. We hope to take one more quick trip (location TBD) before our August visit home and we'll see where life takes us after that!