First impressions

Less than half an year ago I did not even know where exactly Oman was situated. I had heard the country's name but that was it, I had not any imagination either knowledge about the country. When Andres left to Oman in the end of September i read a book about the country that was written by an Estonian woman who had worked here and I got some overview about the country and it made me wish to visit the country one day as well. When Andres returned he told me more about the country and I got some picture in my head but only a month ago I still had no idea I could see the country with my own eyes so soon!

After all the packing and planning we – Andres, me and our boys – left Tallinn by plane in the morning of 30^th November. We travelled via Stockholm and Doha (Qatar) and landed in Muscat, the capital of Sultanate of Oman, in the late evening. The boys managed the long flying day pretty well, even if it was rather tiring for all of us. For our bad surprise Andres' suitcase did not make it, they said it was still in Stockholm and that they would bring it only two days later. But yesterday it was still travelling around, from Stockholm to Dubai and from Dubai back to Stockholm and only today (3^rd of Dec) it arrived. And since Andres's suits were in the suitcase he could have an extra day off today and could not go to work.

We arrived here for the weekend because here Thursday and Friday are the weekend. For the first two nights we stayed in the rented villa of Andres' cooperating company but since there were more people arriving we had to move out. They had found us kind of bed-and-breakfast where we moved in yesterday. So now we stay in a garden room of a nice lady and her family. It is very beautiful here: there is a nice garden with trees and bushes, small ponds with fish and turtles and our room is rather small but cosy. We will stay here for at least 2 weeks and then we will see if we can move back to villa (if there will be any empty rooms by then), stay here or move somewhere else.

After moving in here we discovered the surroundings by foot (we do not have a car here, not yet, we probably rent a car later). We tried to not get lost because most of the streets seems to have numbers as well as houses but they are not always in logical order. And since all the houses are white or with some light beige colour and the gardens look pretty similar as well it is hopeless to orientate following surroundings. Anyway, we found our way to the seaside (that is about a kilometre from here). But we also noticed not many locals go by foot here (they always drive and the cars are very new and expensive here), this is probably also the explanations why there are hardly any pedestrian crossing on the roads. That means when you want to cross the road you just have to wait patiently when there are not that many cars and run... Later in the afternoon we also found our nearest supermarket and some Turkish fast food restaurants. We do not have cooking facilities in our room (only fridge that is actually good enough as well), so we have to go out to have some warm dish for lunch or for dinner.

Yesterday evening was very interesting to me. I could see and take part in presents bringing ceremony of wedding. One of the lady's daughters is getting married and yesterday the groom's relatives brought the gifts. The relatives (women only! So Andres had to keep himself to the room) of the bride had gathered around 7pm and started singing and playing some instruments (like small drums but even big plastic bottles and big wooden spoons were used for making music), sometimes somebody dancing and throwing money to those who were singing or dancing. Over an hour later groom's relatives were arriving with the gifts, holding them over their heads. All the presents were nicely packed and when they entered the bride's relatives stood up and held a linen over their heads and presents. That's how they danced for some time until they handed over the presents to the bride's relatives until the presents were put on the ground and then taken away (we did not see the presents any more that evening). Then there were some more singing (always performed by bride's side) until a woman held a (long) speech about the marriage. Of course I could only hear Arabic language that evening but since all (or at least most of) locals speak very good English i could get some explanations afterwards. The celebration ended with lots of good food. And all this celebration happened without the bride herself, she was not allowed to see either take part in any of this!

This morning started with a nice breakfast and the landlady also joined us, so we could have a nice chat about various topics. We were offered a local breakfast with chai but do not ask me the names of all the food... Anyway, most of it is rather spicy. The landlady told us it was her intention to provide us local food and also her company in the table so that we could get a better idea about the local traditions and local life. Very fine for us:)

The weathers have been super for us. On day time it can be around +25C and a bit up but there is also some light breeze that makes it very tolerable. Evenings are also very warm, no need for long sleeves although for the locals it is winter now and they find mornings and evenings a bit chilly. And talking about the clothes, Oman really seems to be rather liberal. Of course you still do not see women wearing mini skirts/dresses either sleevless tops in the streets but yesterday at that celebration there were some women with loose and uncovered hair or wearing western style evening dresses. Though, most of them had very beautifully decorated colourful local clothes and beautiful jewellery.

Of course our fair haired boys are very exotic here and usually get lots of locals' attention. The locals – as much as I have met them so far – seem to be very open and friendly and interested in us. Of course our country Estonia is as less known for them as Oman is for us.