Well, it's been a long while since I've posted. I apologize to those of you who got in the habit of checking in here. You know by now that Cyclone Gonu put a dent in Gus' and my internet usage. I think it's the ethers way of saying, "Amanda, don't be so obsessed with quick communiques & instant information!"
We certainly survived the cyclone with no damage. It wasn't a pleasant experience for us but worse than that the cyclone did billions of dollars of damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. Even more devastating was the unnecessary loss of lives. The last official report I read said 49 had died due to the storm. The unnoficial count is now between 500 - 1000. These were people who were living close to the wadis (the usually dry riverbeds)in bungalows or shacks.
And now their families - uncles, brothers, cousins - are all laboring long days to put it all back together. The availability of day laborers, mostly from India and Pakistan, is huge. The speed with which water, electricity and highways are being put back together is phenomenal.
Gus and I escaped Muscat for 5 days and nights total on our quest for jobs. We spent 3 nights in a mountain city called Nizwa where we spoke with 3 directors of English programs for 3 different colleges. Each visit was wonderful. There were no appointments set up at specific times yet the directors took us into their offices and chatted with us for an average of 2 hours each. What a wonderful and humane experience. I will never again put up with a 20 minute interview where typical questions are asked without time for discussion! Even my interview at the American International School was like a visit with friends. The director there spent a good hour and a half with us. I am glad he's taken on more the style of the Middle East than to keep the American mentality of the quick, cold interview.
So, Gus and I were offered the job that we most wanted - at the University of Nizwa. We will both be working in the same school, same department. Just like we'd hoped. And we'll be working with a director whom we greatly respect. He is a Tunisian and knows how to bridge the culture of the Western teachers to the culture of our Omani students and their families. We spent a good 2 hours with him and talked like we were old friends. He gave us a good picture of what is expected of us and how best to connect with our students. We are looking forward to our return here on Sept. 1st.
And we are also looking forward to a summer in Bucks County. We miss the cool nights and the smell of green. We'll have all of July and August with family and friends. We'll use much of our time to unclutter our home to make more space for our boys, Aaron and Christopher. They are a Godsend - taking great care of the home and animals on Old Bethlehem Road. I also hope to fly on down to Ft. Lauderdale to spend time with Michela, Ameenah & Zaikiah. Hopefully they will come enjoy a long weekend with us up in PA as well.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Sat. June 2 - Monday, June 4
Saturday, 2 June 2007
It’s the first day of the workweek. We had a nice weekend with Ken and friends.
Wed. night we started out with drinks at the Grand Plaza Hotel just up the street.
Or was that Thursday night? No, that was Wed. night. Gus and I had a beer and Ken had sparkling wine. This, of course, is a novelty because if one doesn’t have a license to buy alcohol (wine, beer, hard liquor) one has to go to a hotel bar. It’s a good time to live without it! After our cherished drink we went off to an Indian Restaurant where Ken told the waiter to make everything very, very hot. I quote “Kill us!” Boy did they. Arghhhh. He’d been complaining to us that they never make it hot because of all the British residents who don’t like spicy hot. Well, the waiter & cook took him seriously. I managed to eat the leftovers with yogurt. Lots of yogurt. Yogurt is good here and plentiful.
On Friday we had some of Ken’s friends over, all English teachers. They are very helpful in giving us a good idea of what we are getting into and on giving us advice about who to talk to for work.
Saturday we were off to the races to go see the recruiting firms. We met with Edmund of GlobNet to urge him to place us . . . he said it was not up to him but would certainly place us once he got our CV’s with Ken’s signature on them. Ken had sent them to him months ago. So, we’re getting a bit of the run around but this is what it is like. We must play our cards right – have them all lined up in a row. We’ll visit with each deciding party of which there are 3 – the hiring firm, the Higher Education Ministry (which Ken is a part of) and the directors of the English programs. In the end Edmund said he and his boss both agreed that Gus’ age is not a problem but my lack of experience teaching adults is. They will then try to place us in either Shinas or Ibri, not Muscat.
We enjoyed our meeting with Edmund. At one point he asked us, out of the blue, if we were Republican or Democrat. Well, it wasn’t completely out of the blue. We had said we prefer to teach in a laid back country like Oman rather than a major business center like Dubai because we wanted to get away from commercialism and shopping malls. So, Dem or Repub? Neither. So then he asks, “Green?” He knows a lot about US politics it seems.
Monday 4 June 4, 2007
Another day with early morning brisk beach walk and a swim. I swam over 100 breast strokes. And a much needed afternoon siesta! After my siesta I couldn’t bear to put on any of my heavy linen clothes so I put on my new Indian tunic and pants, turned on Indian radio and prepared an Iranian eggplant appetizer with saffron, walnuts and yogurt (mint, turmeric, garlic, onion, lemon juice, fresh mint, lots of oil to fry the eggplant, salt & peppah). Now it chills. To serve, sautee a small amt. of onion, pour small amount of olive oil over top of dip, sprinkle onion on and garnish with mint. Should be good, eh? It was a little more labor intensive than I like. The recipe called for using corn oil, mayonnaise and butter. I skipped the mayo and butter. Next time I’ll brush the thin eggplant slices lightly with olive oil and broil. Then chop it up and mix in to my tastes – garlic, saffron, pine nuts, yogurt, and whatever else is at hand.
Things I find pecular:
• Water usage seems a bit high – irrigation of landscaping, the need to keep one’s
car clean (there are fines for having a dirty car in Muscat)
• Wearing black in the sun on a day that is above 65 degrees F, let alone above
100!
• Over use of plastic bags.
• In a country preparing for living with less oil I am surprised they are not building
public transportation systems and conserving paper, electricity and
plastics (less dependence on plastics is needed)
It’s the first day of the workweek. We had a nice weekend with Ken and friends.
Wed. night we started out with drinks at the Grand Plaza Hotel just up the street.
Or was that Thursday night? No, that was Wed. night. Gus and I had a beer and Ken had sparkling wine. This, of course, is a novelty because if one doesn’t have a license to buy alcohol (wine, beer, hard liquor) one has to go to a hotel bar. It’s a good time to live without it! After our cherished drink we went off to an Indian Restaurant where Ken told the waiter to make everything very, very hot. I quote “Kill us!” Boy did they. Arghhhh. He’d been complaining to us that they never make it hot because of all the British residents who don’t like spicy hot. Well, the waiter & cook took him seriously. I managed to eat the leftovers with yogurt. Lots of yogurt. Yogurt is good here and plentiful.
On Friday we had some of Ken’s friends over, all English teachers. They are very helpful in giving us a good idea of what we are getting into and on giving us advice about who to talk to for work.
Saturday we were off to the races to go see the recruiting firms. We met with Edmund of GlobNet to urge him to place us . . . he said it was not up to him but would certainly place us once he got our CV’s with Ken’s signature on them. Ken had sent them to him months ago. So, we’re getting a bit of the run around but this is what it is like. We must play our cards right – have them all lined up in a row. We’ll visit with each deciding party of which there are 3 – the hiring firm, the Higher Education Ministry (which Ken is a part of) and the directors of the English programs. In the end Edmund said he and his boss both agreed that Gus’ age is not a problem but my lack of experience teaching adults is. They will then try to place us in either Shinas or Ibri, not Muscat.
We enjoyed our meeting with Edmund. At one point he asked us, out of the blue, if we were Republican or Democrat. Well, it wasn’t completely out of the blue. We had said we prefer to teach in a laid back country like Oman rather than a major business center like Dubai because we wanted to get away from commercialism and shopping malls. So, Dem or Repub? Neither. So then he asks, “Green?” He knows a lot about US politics it seems.
Monday 4 June 4, 2007
Another day with early morning brisk beach walk and a swim. I swam over 100 breast strokes. And a much needed afternoon siesta! After my siesta I couldn’t bear to put on any of my heavy linen clothes so I put on my new Indian tunic and pants, turned on Indian radio and prepared an Iranian eggplant appetizer with saffron, walnuts and yogurt (mint, turmeric, garlic, onion, lemon juice, fresh mint, lots of oil to fry the eggplant, salt & peppah). Now it chills. To serve, sautee a small amt. of onion, pour small amount of olive oil over top of dip, sprinkle onion on and garnish with mint. Should be good, eh? It was a little more labor intensive than I like. The recipe called for using corn oil, mayonnaise and butter. I skipped the mayo and butter. Next time I’ll brush the thin eggplant slices lightly with olive oil and broil. Then chop it up and mix in to my tastes – garlic, saffron, pine nuts, yogurt, and whatever else is at hand.
Things I find pecular:
• Water usage seems a bit high – irrigation of landscaping, the need to keep one’s
car clean (there are fines for having a dirty car in Muscat)
• Wearing black in the sun on a day that is above 65 degrees F, let alone above
100!
• Over use of plastic bags.
• In a country preparing for living with less oil I am surprised they are not building
public transportation systems and conserving paper, electricity and
plastics (less dependence on plastics is needed)
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