In my last post, I forgot to tell what I did over Thanksgiving break. So here it is...
Inshallah - Plymouth Rock to Masirah Island
I'm sure the pilgrims had never heard the word "inshallah", but they understood it perfectly. When they sailed to the 'new' world and met and dined with the natives, they were probably saying their own "inshallah" - Allah willing.
The foundation of the Omani culture, and it seems like most of Arabic culture (if I may make a huge generalization), is "inshallah". Which sometimes actually makes sense, like, when I say "Ok kids, see you tomorrow!" In Omani schools, I am sure they would all respond, "Inshallah", because, who knows what could happen between now and then. This recently happened, when, last week Wednesday we had school cancelled because it rained through the night and there were a few floods. So, I was wrong to make that promise when Allah has ultimate control. Then, again, it happened after Oman won the Arabian Gulf Cup championship and the Sultan gave us yesterday off. But, we were prepared for that one, and at our inservice, we all said, "See you tomorrow, Inshallah!"
I digress. I am sure the pilgrims understood this perfectly well. "We'll make a new life in the new land, inshallah" or "we'll make friends with the natives, then manipulate them to take over the continent, inshallah". Well, our entire Thanksgiving weekend was up to Allah as well. As I 
mentioned, we had National Day, which is supposed to take place on the same days as His Majesty's birthday, but, as the Sultan thought if National day were actually planned, well, then people might leave and not celebrate Oman or his birthday. So, the ironic rule of inshallah was in place. The Sultan kept it a secret until about a week before. I would like to stop for a moment, and just say, I am in no way criticizing the culture of inshallah, on the contrary, I think it is good fun for the most part, although it would be nice to plan ahead if we were leaving the country. So, we ended up having a full 4 days off during Thanksgiving because of National day.
mentioned, we had National Day, which is supposed to take place on the same days as His Majesty's birthday, but, as the Sultan thought if National day were actually planned, well, then people might leave and not celebrate Oman or his birthday. So, the ironic rule of inshallah was in place. The Sultan kept it a secret until about a week before. I would like to stop for a moment, and just say, I am in no way criticizing the culture of inshallah, on the contrary, I think it is good fun for the most part, although it would be nice to plan ahead if we were leaving the country. So, we ended up having a full 4 days off during Thanksgiving because of National day. A pilgrim? No, a typical Omani woman waiting on the ferry across from us. Which one will leave first? Inshallah, ours, if it fills up with cars first!
In the spirit of crossing a body of water to... well, that's kinda where the parallels stop between
us and the pilgrims, although we were invited to dinner with the natives, but that plan was dropped when the women inviting us never showed up to the gas station where we were waiting (Inshallah!). Anyway, for Thanksgiving, Sara, Jenelle, Jeff and I took Taj and Jenelle's care on a 5 hour drive down through the middle of the desert to a small dock where we jockied and positioned to get on an overcrowded ferry to take us on a 1.5 hour boat ride to Masirah Island.
In the spirit of crossing a body of water to... well, that's kinda where the parallels stop between
us and the pilgrims, although we were invited to dinner with the natives, but that plan was dropped when the women inviting us never showed up to the gas station where we were waiting (Inshallah!). Anyway, for Thanksgiving, Sara, Jenelle, Jeff and I took Taj and Jenelle's care on a 5 hour drive down through the middle of the desert to a small dock where we jockied and positioned to get on an overcrowded ferry to take us on a 1.5 hour boat ride to Masirah Island.The ferry ride was easy enough. When we arrived we were starved, so we found a nice spot near 
a green patch, set up our cars for some shade and set up a picnic on our Wadi-mats for a nice picnic of Hummos and arabic bread with capsicum and a beautiful view of flamingos, the ocean, and Dhows.
a green patch, set up our cars for some shade and set up a picnic on our Wadi-mats for a nice picnic of Hummos and arabic bread with capsicum and a beautiful view of flamingos, the ocean, and Dhows.After lunch we drove down the Masirah coast to try to find a camping spot on the southern tip. Masirah is 
about 40 miles long and 5 miles wide, with a small mountain range in the middle of it. When you are trying to find a campsite on a desert island, or anywhere for that matter, in an Islamic country, you need to take a few factors into consideration. On our way, we followed a guy on a horse for a while, very cool.
about 40 miles long and 5 miles wide, with a small mountain range in the middle of it. When you are trying to find a campsite on a desert island, or anywhere for that matter, in an Islamic country, you need to take a few factors into consideration. On our way, we followed a guy on a horse for a while, very cool.1) Are there women with you? If so, and you need to find a secluded beach (usually not a problem, especially on Masirah) that has very limited visual access to drivers from the highway and as small as a window as possible for the fisherman who don't often get to see much skin on a woman. All this, while there are no trees and you are trying to optimize your camp's vista of the ocean and mountains.
2) There are no bathrooms... anywhere... ever. So, find a campsite with some nice boulders or dunes nearby. Hopefully it won't be too far of a walk from where factor 1 is ideal.
3) Is there a mosque nearby? If so, just remember that camping isn't always comfortable, so when you are woken up by the hazzan at 4:30 in the morning, you might have trouble falling asleep again.
4) If it is in the cooler temperatures, make sure you seal zip your tent up all the way as there are spiders, snakes and other insects and animals looking for warmth. Although, we've never encountered this (although and crab, or some small animal did leave us a little poopy surprise in the center of our tent one night, or day, we weren't sure) we've heard and read about it. Other than that, just make sure you have enough water and you can pretty much just drive off the road at any point to set up camp.
When we found a nice spot, we accidently got Jeff's car stuck on a dune, pulled it out, then set up 
camp. The first night was relaxed. We explored our little beach territory where we found some of the classics: trash, dead sea creatures, and crabs dashing with fear between us and the waves. Later on we made dinner, did some star gazing, drank some wine and headed for bed.
camp. The first night was relaxed. We explored our little beach territory where we found some of the classics: trash, dead sea creatures, and crabs dashing with fear between us and the waves. Later on we made dinner, did some star gazing, drank some wine and headed for bed. The next morning, Jenelle and I went for an 8 k run, then Sara and I went for a hike to one of 
the hilltops near the sea.
the hilltops near the sea. Masirah wasn't too different from Oman's mainland. We were invited for dinner after Sara and Jenelle help 8 Omani women get their one car out of the sand on the beach, and we went swimming and Jenelle and I tried kite-boarding with little success because of low winds and low tide. We did get to see dolphins off the coast about 150 meters!
On Thanksgiving day, we took another great journey - home, to have dinner at Courtney's as she loves Thanksgiving and prepared everything for us. As we were on the ferry to get back to the mainland, our fairy passed by the dock where we had gotten on the couple days before. We
thought that that was fine since the drivers seemed to know what they were doing. The ferry wasn't full so we felt free to wander around the small deck and up to the front gate. As we were out enjoying the view we noticed that the view began to remain the same; that is to say, we were 200 meters from the shore and the dock we were passing was no longer being passed. We looked down at the water and saw that the beautiful blue had turned into a muddy gray-brown. We were stuck! Inshallah. The engines struggled in reverse, then back to forward while black smoke spewed from the pipes above us. Then, the struggling stopped and a man came out of the cabin to tell us to move all the cars as far forward as possible to distribute the weight. We all did so eagerly, and soon the engines were at it again. And suddenly we were passing by the dock again! And soon, onto shore where Jeff and I in one car were determined to make it to Thanksigving dinner. We drove long and hard, leaving Jenelle and Sara in a town to dine on their own. But, we made it back to Muscat and ate with Keith (principal), Trish, Tommy, Courtney and a few others. It was a great meal after a long 6 hour drive home.
thought that that was fine since the drivers seemed to know what they were doing. The ferry wasn't full so we felt free to wander around the small deck and up to the front gate. As we were out enjoying the view we noticed that the view began to remain the same; that is to say, we were 200 meters from the shore and the dock we were passing was no longer being passed. We looked down at the water and saw that the beautiful blue had turned into a muddy gray-brown. We were stuck! Inshallah. The engines struggled in reverse, then back to forward while black smoke spewed from the pipes above us. Then, the struggling stopped and a man came out of the cabin to tell us to move all the cars as far forward as possible to distribute the weight. We all did so eagerly, and soon the engines were at it again. And suddenly we were passing by the dock again! And soon, onto shore where Jeff and I in one car were determined to make it to Thanksigving dinner. We drove long and hard, leaving Jenelle and Sara in a town to dine on their own. But, we made it back to Muscat and ate with Keith (principal), Trish, Tommy, Courtney and a few others. It was a great meal after a long 6 hour drive home. 
1 comment:
I love it.
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