December 08--yeah it's been a few months

I can’t remember where I left off, so I will begin with Scotland since that was where all the excitement began.
I went to Scotland right after the semester ended. I mean that night. It was a mistake. I accidentally booked my flight to Dubai 24hours early. Luckily Eid was declared a day early. I spent a day in Dubai shopping for warm clothes. I didn’t bring much to Muscat in the way of winter clothes so I had to buy a coat and warm socks.
I had an adventure on the way back from the mall to my hotel. As I was leaving the mall to get a taxi, two men at the exit asked me where I was going. (No I didn’t get arrested). I told them the area where I was staying and they told me that there was a free shuttle from the mall. Great!!! Free!!! Well they didn’t tell me that about 100 other people would be trying to get on the 30 passenger shuttle, and that the bus driver assumed you knew where you were going. It took about 45 minutes to get on the shuttle. The bus driver would enter the waiting area and people would rush him. “You won’t get on the bus unless you have a token.” As if by magic a select few revealed tokens and were able to board. The rest of us had to wait longer. “I will be back with the tokens,” the driver said. Sure enough about 5 minutes later he came back with tokens. I was able to procure one of these coveted pieces of plastic. The group of token holders waited another 20 minutes for the bus to return. I think there was only one bus. We watched one of those shows with home videos of domestic animals doing silly tricks.
When the bus driver returned it was mass exodus and the process repeated with new people rushing and only token holders being able to board. We boarded the bus and I sat in the middle. People had to use the pull out chairs blocking the walkway because there weren’t any bars or handles to hang onto. I assumed that the bus driver would call out a stop or an area or I would at least recognize the buildings around my hotel. But in the end I had no idea where I was. As the bus became empty I walked to the front and asked the driver the stop I needed. He said the next stop and he would tell me where to go. “Great,” I thought, “This is really easy.”
The bus stopped and the bus driver told me to get off here. We were stopped at a traffic light. He said, “At the light go left and cross the street. Then get on a boat.”
What? A boat? Did he just say a boat?
In actuality I calmly thanked him de-boarded the bus turned left. As I walked to the other side of the road I knew what he meant by boat. There are water taxis in Dubai that take you across the river for one Dirham. I only had one dirham, but I had carelessly chucked it into my purse and it was now in the depths of my handbag. I walked around trying to find an alternate route across the river. I asked the woman at the ticket booth to verify the price. No other way, it was one dirham. I started to dig and stood in line with about 50 other people, all men. In fact I don’t recall seeing any other women; just the woman in the ticket booth and me. As I frantically dug in my purse for that one coin, a man who was blocking an entrance to the dock ushered me out of line and through the gate where he had been standing, then told me to get onto the boat. I was very thankful for the gracious offer but I still hadn’t found the payment. I dug, I sat on the boat. I dug we were halfway across. I dug the man was collecting the coins for payment. I dug, the man said to not worry. I found it! When I tried to give it to him he refused to take it. So I owe Dubai, one dirham. And I got a “free ride” back to my hotel.
Of course the boat didn’t let me off right in front of my hotel, it wasn’t’ on the river. The dock on the other side was in front of the Bur Dubai Souq, and I had to figure out where to go from there. I didn’t have a detailed map, but I figured if I walked away from the river diagonally it would be there. Really at this point I was following divine directions because I had no idea where I was. Well the method worked and I passed a mosque that I thought maybe was close to where I needed to be and sure enough I came out into a circle of the road that passed right in front of my hotel. There it was. Halleluiah!
The flight to Scotland was uneventful, just as a flight should be. I ran into some collogues at the Amsterdam airport. The first day in Scotland I wandered the streets of Edinburgh. There was a Christmas faire with food and mulled wine. I partook in the festivities. It was so lovely to be somewhere with Christmas music and decorations everywhere. I didn’t really have a plan at this point. I saw the castle amazing. Became obsessed with Mary Queen of Scots and bought a biography, froze, met two women to tour with; one from Brazil and one from South Africa. Ines, from Brazil, and I decided to take a day trip to St. Andrews. We saw the ruins of the Cathedral and the Castle learning more gory details of Scotland’s religious wars and tumultuous past. We even climbed down the mines that were dug by the castle guards when it was under attack.
The next day I went on a weekend bus tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. IT was absolutely amazing. It was raining, it was gray and dreary. IT was great to be in the highlands again. This time I got to see the east part of Scotland from Perth up to Inverness (which is really more central). We went to a whiskey distillery, where I discovered I actually like whiskey! Then we went to Lock Ness, and didn’t see Nessie. Our tour guide, Neil, convinced most of us that Nessie does exist if you believe in God. Apparently Saint Andrew (I believe) saw Nessie and declared that if God could make such a creature, then he truly was the creator of the universe. Hmmm, I am still skeptical of the existence of a large aquatic reptile in a loch in Scotland, but I still believe in God.
After Loch Ness, we saw Eileen Donan Castle. I need to return in the summer. I believe this is one of the most beautiful castles in Scotland. IT is right on a loch and it is magnificent. Next stop Skye, where we stayed the night in a cozy hostel complete with a Christmas tree, fireplace and a guitar. We all went to the popular pub for dinner, although the next night some of us discovered that the less popular pub has much better food. IF you are ever on the Isle of Skye go to Saucy Mary’s Pub in Kyleakin, have the fish and chips. They are fabulous. I haven’t found any that compare. It may even be worth the trip to Scotland just to go to the Isle of Skye. Between the fish and chips, Fairy Glen, the river of youth, Kilt rock and our tour guide Neil, I was enchanted. I was in Scotland for another week, but that was certainly the highlight. Check out the album, “Scotland 2008.” I am having difficulty expressing my experience in words. I will never make a great travel writer, I am speechless by most sights I see.
My Scotland trip concluded with a brief phone call to my parents and the Edinburgh airport, the easiest airport to get to and fly out of in the world, okay except Santa Barbara. I flew to Paris, then onto Dubai where I was to meet Noël. I waited and waited for my sister at the airport. I knew that her flight came in with three hours to spare before our flight to Muscat left. Mom and Dad would fly out the next morning. The plane was late and they don’t really announce that so all of us were waiting for the gates to open when two airline workers arrived at the gate and let us wait inside the gate. Then the plane still hadn’t arrived. This is the difference between flying in the U.S. and everywhere else. Americans freak out when the plane is late. The poor ticket agents at the gate are being yelled at and everyone needs to know the minute by minute update. Why is the plane late? How late is the plane? I have no where to be, but I must be there on time!! Every other country I have been so far, you have no idea what is going on, short of where you are supposed to wait for an indefinite amount of time. Yes I had time to contemplate this while waiting for my sister and the plane, which was only 20 minutes, but seemed longer because of the uncertainty. I saw Noël coming towards the gate, she didn’t look happy. She had run from the ticket counter, fearful of missing the plane. She didn’t know it was late. The counter had closed in the front of the airport and of course there is no indication of what is going on at the gate. No announcements, no one to ask. But here is what happened. The itinerary that my sister had, indicated that the flight was supposed to leave about two hours after it was supposed to. So my parents and sister were taking there time to get to the next terminal from their flight in from San Francisco. Well she made it, sick from running so fast, but she made it. And we waited another 10 minutes for the plane to arrive.
The Elmore’s were in Muscat reunited by December 22. We had to stuff all of the suitcases in my little Yaris, but it fit. We went to brunch at Darcy’s Kitchen and then headed to the Muttrah Souq. Christmas eve dinner we went to Bait Adam, a private museum in Madinent Sultan Qaboos. Before dinner we were led through the private collection of Latif the owner of the museum. He has converted part of his home to the museum. After the tour we ate outside. We enjoyed the feast and chatted with Latif and his family. I highly recommend going to this museum if you come visit, although you do have to have a minimum of 8 guests. We found out that Latif had made an exception for us.
We attended Christmas Eve services at my church PCO where my mom, dad and Noël met many of my new friends. It was nice to be back in my new home worshiping with an international congregation. They were very tired due to jet lag and we hadn’t rested much since they arrived. We had a lovely Christmas morning in my apartment, although we had a lamb roast emergency since the barbeque wasn’t lighting. Dad still was prepping the stuffing while I tried to find enough cardboard in my house for kindling. Armed with only box pieces, matches and a small Weber, I failed to light the charcoals and we decided to bake the roast instead. Except Dad and I miscalculated the temperature proportions on my stove the the lamb was very well done. Edible, enjoyable, but dry. After opening presents and eating our fancy lunch we headed to Nizwa on Christmas night. We had to be in Nizwa early Friday morning to see the goat market. I don’t have direct permission to post the pictures that depicted the chaos, so you will have to check out my facebook page, or ask Mary at Colfax High, or my Mom to see the pictures. And if you still haven’t seen them by June, I will be back in California/Oregon/Arizona/North Carolina with my computer. You can check them out at that point. We witnessed more of Omani culture as we watched sellers circle their goats, sheep and cows around as people bargained for the best buy. Later we wandered through the craft souq to see the fort. We learned about the indigo dying process and how the fort was defended.
After a day in Nizwa learning about the murder holes and date syrup, the fort and indigo dye, we returned to my apartment for one night. The next day we departed for the Sur road to see Wahiba Sands, Turtle Beach and Sur ship yards. Not too far from Muscat we stopped in Linzgh at the Shell station. Our plan was to find a place to eat lunch. As Mom, Dad and I were heading out of the gas station through the pumps, a man yelled at us from a car as we passed, “Hello! Where are you from?” My American paranoia took over and I was going to ignore him and maybe smile a bit, but my parents walked right up to the car and told him we were from California. He asked, “Oh is Hotel California still there?” I yelled back, five feet or more from the car, “Yeah, but only as a state of mind.” He also wanted to know about the Golden Gate and Catraz. Now this is interesting (Alcatraz means) and I never thought of it this way. Al in Arabic is “the” and often Arabs will drop and add “Al” to words. So he was saying “Alcatraz.” This was completely fascinating to me, because words that we see each day when said in a foreign country in a different context take on new meaning. I never thought of Alcatraz in San Francisco, so back to my story. My parents shared with him that we were going to 1,000 night’s camp and we were looking for a good place to eat, did he know of one?
Of course they knew of one and wanted us to follow. I felt really uncomfortable doing this, but my parents didn’t seem uncomfortable and usually it is the other way around, we followed them. WE followed them for a few miles through a few villages to a fort. One of their cousins works at the fort which has been reconstructed and is a museum of sorts. After the tour, tea, and my sister and I being proposed to by the other guy that worked at the fort, we left. Our two hosts apologized for the strange behavior of the other guy. They didn’t know him. We then followed our new Omani friends to one of their family homes. We shared a feast of fruits, dates and Omani coffee with male family members. Then my sister, mom and I joined the women in the other room and they shared incense and perfume with us. They told us that it is traditional for the women to share these items with guests.
We had to leave since we still had to drive two more hours. But one of our hosts suggested that on our return to Muscat we meet them at the Shell station and they would have a barbeque for us. So we exchanged contact numbers and planned to meet in two days.
Wahiba Sands are beautiful. Bedouin camps dot the main “road” through the sands which will take you to the Arabian Sea. The actual camp was nicer and cheaper than our hotel in Nizwa. A few of my colleagues were staying there so my parents got to meet them and we had dinner with them. The food was fabulous: Chicken shwarma, barbequed lamb, potatoes and lamb, salad, hummus, moutabal (eggplant dip), just to name what I remember. I believe we had Kingfish as well, Noël’s new favorite. The desert was a simple bread pudding made with Arabic bread and sweet cream, Yum! Of course there were dates and Omani coffee laced with saffron, Rose water and cardamom. The dinning room was just an oversized area covered like a tent. Half had tables and the other half traditional floor seating with cushions.
We got up early the next morning to see the sunrise. It was cold until the sun came up then warmed up quickly. Breakfast was fabulous as well. Omelets, hard boiled eggs, Arabic bread, cheese, honey and fava beans in a tasty gravy.
We departed Wahiba sands and headed to Ras Al Jinz. That night, we got to see sea turtles lay eggs, and baby turtles climbing to the sea. The next day we headed back through Sur to see the dhow shipyards. We never found the dhow shipyards, but we did find some brown flamingos and really good cookies.
At 2pm we met our new Omani friends and brother and they took us on a tour of their village and a wadi barbeque. They said we were going to hunt for rabbits but apparently the “rabbits” were goats and there wasn’t really any hunting. Since there wasn’t going to be any hunting, we went to the side of the wadi with water. Thousands of tadpoles were swimming in the still water when we first starting waking down stream. Each pool was larger with more tadpoles and fish. Then we saw flowing water and the most beautiful pool. The water was a light green with a tint of blue. It was so clear we could see the bottom of the pool. It was so inviting. On the banks of the wadi private farms lined the rocky river bed and we could see date palms growing. On our way back to the car we saw a frog swimming in one of the small pools. It felt like a secret paradise.
IT was now time for the barbeque. Now this barbeque was not your ordinary Sunday afternoon with grills and chef hats. First we collected wood for the bonfire which was lit without lighter fluid. Then the bonfire was lit to make coals for grilling. Meanwhile we shared tea and my sister and one of our hosts made salad. I watched the process of grilling fish as my sister cut the tomatoes. Our master chefs had already broken the burnt wood and collect the coals into the grill. The fish was cooking nicely getting crispy on the edges. At last the fish was ready. Our hosts piled rice on a large platter with salad and placed the fish on top. We shared from the same platter sitting on the ground eating with our hands. We ate until we were stuffed. The fish was the most amazing fish I have had. So if you are ever in Oman, you must visit our friends with me and we can have the best barbequed fish you will ever taste.
After we cleaned up the wadi mats and waited for the 2nd course, my sister and I walked up a hill behind where we were eating with our hosts. I climbed to top with one of our friends while the others stayed behind. Climbing hills in Oman sounds easier than it is. Even this small hill was steep toward the top and covered with loose rock. I was wearing proper shoes but I kept slipping. But the climb was worth it. The village was peaceful and it was the first moon. We learned that in Arabic there is a name for each phase of the moon. The first moon is called hilal. The 2nd course began shortly after we climbed down the hill. Our hosts’ friend and cousin had arrived to join us, and in the Omani tradition we all ate with him. We found room in our full stomachs to eat more of the fish. Ask my parents and sister, they will tell you that the wadi barbeque was by far the highlight of their visit.
Mom and Dad stayed in town until Jan 8, but Noël left on the 2nd. The rest of the break went fast and I didn’t sleep for most of it.