I started this blog while I was actually in Oman. I stopped when I realised that Sharia law, Islam’s legal system, is very different to ours and I might inadvertently break it. I had no wish to do so but I kept diaries through those years and now I am back in England, and I thought it might be helpful and even interesting to ex-pats to revive it. It’s a wonderful country and I feel honoured to have lived there.
Resolutions
New Year has started both b
Two lives – two worlds
New Year has started both badly and well depending on who you are. Well for us because we took a relaxing cruise on a dhow with a party of friends – saw dolphins, snorkelled where there were amazing fish and even turtles (is snorkelled really a verb?) and returned to a sunset cruise. Tragic for our maid Karuna’s 31-year-old son is fighting for his life in Sri Lanka having caught tetanus from a rusty nail. He is in a coma. She flew out to be with him last night. If only this was an episode of Eat, Pray, Love then everything would work out happily. Sadly it is not. tetanus is entirely preventable with a vaccine but it was too expensive to administer in Sri Lanka.A five-year-old child could be left fatherless as a result. Please pray if you believe and think of Karuna and family.
Driving test update
“You’ve failed,” said the Royal Omani Police examiner when she finished her test.
“But I drove perfectly,” snarls daughter with attitude. She was pretty confident about this as she had only been round a roundabout and back to the test centre.
“Your phone rang during the test. No mobiles.”
“But I didn’t touch it!” she shouts.
The Omani smiles like an indulgent parent. “Only joking. You passed.”
So the comedy that has delighted us all is now over.
Clearly the planets are all in daughter’s favour today. She also got a job as a trainee dog trainer for a company that trains all the police and army dogs (how many times can I get the word ‘train’ into one sentence.
Moving abroad checklist – top ten
There is so much to do when preparing to live abroad, you may well wonder what to first. Well, I’m no project manager but you might be interested how real (dysfunctional?) families assess their priorities. We started with best of intentions.
- Asked letting agency to advise us on letting the house. Beautiful blond barbie-doll handed attractive but professional array of literature, opened it and say lots of formidible and expensive tasks such as ‘energy certification’ and registering as a landlord. Now gathering dust somewhere under ‘important but need to feel like it’ in-tray.
- Official medic checked out my fair skin for sun damage and suspicious moles. This sounds the sensible thing to do but really is just a front to accomplish life-long dream – look better on the beach. Dermatologist (another barbie-doll) and I agree to take off moles even though they are perfectly safe.
- Do the same re: lazering bikin line. Not enough time. Top tip to reader – do any permanent hair removal NOW as you never know when you might need it.
- Moving away from health and beauty, Beloved has a rather impressive selection of wine. It cannot possibly be shipped to Oman. A top priority for me has been to drink it and applied myself with gusto to this task. Sadly for me and joyfully for my liver, Beloved has found a supereb wine storage company who will come and collect it from Edinburgh and store it not too far from his family in Wiltshire.
- Posh car that we could never afford to replace because new it costs over £100,000 and we got it for £20,000 (pension windfall if you must know where we got finance from) will also be stored in garage @ £12 a week.
- Enrol child in new school. Child placed on a waiting list. Serious chance we may need a private tutor until place comes up. Major addition to the expenses spreadsheet.
- Think about leaving party – and will one do? I think not! How about one for work, one for familly, one for friends and one for daughter Attitude’s scary tatooed peer group.
- Tell friends by e-mail, Facebook and face-to-face gloating.
- Think about pets and put in ‘Important but too painful to think about’ pile.
- Organise recci of country we are intending to reside in. We have never been there before and it is somewhat disturbing that this does not cause me or Beloved any concern.
Sold: one pair of ice-hockey skates and one pair of white figure skates Total £15.
Looking a gift horse in the mouth
For my birthday we cashed in on the vouchers for a free night at the Grand Hyatt, Muscat. It’s a stunning building – opulent and rich with atmosphere. The entrance is an Arabic tent. Arabs and tourists from all over sip tea or coffee listening to the grand piano. By the time we had dinner, breakfast and lunch hundreds of pounds had disappeared from our account into their company profits. Well, we expected that.
However, even a free room can be a rip-off. They put us in the smelliest nastiest room in the hotel, by the bins. The shower had big brown stain in it. They had the nerve to bash our door waking us up at eight ‘to check the mini-bar‘. Then they charged us sixty pounds for two breakfasts. For this breakfast – equivalent to the price of a decent hotel room in most countries. the tea was weak as a Zimbabwee dollar. They ran out of eggs. When they finally got them back again, demand was so high the crush was unpleasant The pool was freezing. The baby pool was even colder and unusable.
We complained. They said the hotel was full (which it clearly was not) and promised us a better room next time. And why exactly do they think there will be a next time? We’re off to the Chedi (never tried but stunning Far Eastern architecture), the Crown Plaza (friendliest staff in Muscat and magnificent view) or the Shangrai La (voted world’s best beach resort and Oman’s only six star hotel a few miles out of Muscat).
Driving test update
“You’ve failed,” said the Royal Omani Police examiner when she finished her test.
“But I drove perfectly,” snarls daughter with attitude. She was pretty confident about this as she had only been round a roundabout and back to the test centre.
“Your phone rang during the test. No mobiles.”
“But I didn’t touch it!” she shouts.
The Omani smiles like an indulgent parent. “Only joking. You passed.”
So the comedy that has delighted us all is now over.
Clearly the planets are all in daughter’s favour today. She also got a job as a trainee dog trainer for a company that trains all the police and army dogs (how many times can I get the word ‘train’ into one sentence).
Karuna’s son
Last post I was telling you about the maid’s thirty-three-year-old son who had advanced tetanus – a disease that can prove fatal.
I haven’t been giving progress reports on our maid Karuna’s son as they were too depressing. When she flew back, the doctor’s wouldn’t let her see him because they were worried about her being too upset (and fear of further infection). When she did, he only had eye movement. His legs were paralysed and he was on a drip. There was fear of brain damage. However, last I heard the news was better. He had been moved off the drip and swallowing. Recovery would be very slow but the doctors were now hoping for a complete one. Apparently he is the first tetanus survival from that hospital ever.
So everyone – thanks for your thoughts and get your tetanus jab now.
Two lives – two worlds
New Year has started both badly and well depending on who you are. Well for us because we took a relaxing cruise on a dhow with a party of friends – saw dolphins, snorkelled where there were amazing fish and even turtles (is snorkelled really a verb?) and returned to a sunset cruise. Tragic for our maid Karuna’s 31-year-old son is fighting for his life in Sri Lanka having caught tetanus from a rusty nail. He is in a coma. She flew out to be with him last night. If only this was an episode of Eat, Pray, Love then everything would work out happily. Sadly it is not. tetanus is entirely preventable with a vaccine but it was too expensive to administer in Sri Lanka.A five-year-old child could be left fatherless as a result. Please pray if you believe and think of Karuna and family.
My first opera
I went to see Carmen at the splendid newly opened Royal Opera House Muscat. It opened a few months ago and I think we were the last people in Muscat to go.
I persuaded hubby to put on bow-tie and dinner jacket as I think nothing suits him better and that is what people wear to operas. Most men won’t be, says he. I disagreed. I’ll look stupid. I disagreed. He wore the DJ and, of course, He was quite right. Most people did wear jacket and tie but I thought he looked great and that’s what matters, isn’t it? The women however really went to town and one of the joys to me of going was to see everyone – Indian, Omanis, Scots – in their national costumes. Students – be warned. Jeans and flip-flops do not count as national costume even if everyone under 25 in your country wears nothing else.
Half the bloggers of Oman seemed to be there. Our chief blogger Andy was in the seat in front of me – Andy from Oman. We had a nice chat and I met his wife who has another baby on the way. Another – a nomad in the land of Nizwa – was in the 15 rial seats and couldn’t see properly which really is rather poor for a modern opera house. Andy and I could both see brilliantly. The auditorium is not that big so the singers seemed very close.
The show was incredibly long – four hours. A friend of mine said, “Well, that’s four hours of my life I’ll never see again.’ I enjoyed it thoroughly but … For me one of the problems with opera is by the time the singers have developed a strong enough voice, they are at an age where in another career they would be senior managers. The young and passionate Don Jose seemed like a middle-aged banker who enjoyed liquid lunches and even Carmen looked as if she would make a damn good Head of Sales. I could admire their technique but could never suspend belief and really involved myself in the unfolding drama.
This wasn’t helped by playing with the totally wonderful electronic displays that my husband set to French. I kept involving myself in the translation and bemoaning I didn’t work harder at school.
Frivolity aside. it really was a magnificent performance. The scenery was breath-taking. The production powerful and I have never seen such a spontaneous, heart-felt standing ovation.
Photo courtesy of aliberalslibretto.com
