©2010 HMB Photos
Hello family,
Sorry I have been a while since I have been able to write. We have just now finished our classes and have our finals soon. Once finals end, we will be sitting in our office for 2-3 months doing…. well nothing. We have gotten a taste of it over the last few days while our students have been preparing for their exams, and not attending classes…. and we are getting so bored. We leave work early nearly everyday, and would go out to shoot, but it is unbelievably hot these days. We are loving it here though, despite the weather and look forward to being here next year. We can’t believe that we have been here for 8 months and it feels like we just stepped off the plane.
Korea was a country filled with never ending sea of people who worked easily
10 hours a day in an environment of neon signs, soju bars and norae bongs, not to
mention the overwhelming population. Oman could not be any more different. Oman is a laid-back country where shweh shweh “slowly slowly” is the motto, and
desolate, subtle browns and greens of the environment mixed with the national
dress, uniform black and white robes, could make a double ADHD kid on crack
calm to an afternoon nap. This country is so tired that it shuts down from 1-4
everyday, no joke. Don’t run out of toilet paper or something else essential at
that time cause not a thing is open, that’s time to drink Arabic coffee, eat
dates and seek shelter from the relentless sun, a tradition which continues
despite the introduction of AC. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the
desolate atmosphere is relaxing and the people are much happier than other
countries where the work hours are longer. No one locks their doors, people
leave their cars running when they go into the store, and the biggest threat to
Omanis are deadly car accidents, or death by laziness if there is such a thing.
©2010 HMB Photos
If a student was asked to compare two countries which had nothing in common,
Oman and South Korea would be good choices, which is why we had such culture
shock when we first moved here. South Korea’s 48 million population lives on
an area of land 1/3 the size of Oman, which boasts a population of 3.5 million,
of which 1/3 are foreigners. In Korea we would go days without seeing another
waegooken, (foreigner) but in Oman you can’t go a second. The Omani’s have
become disgustingly spoiled with their oil findings in such a short period of
time that consequently Oman emerged from it’s time capsule and began to advance
so rapidly, and is now trying to desperately put the breaks on. His majesty,
Sultan Qaboos has run the country since he overthrew his inward thinking father
40 years ago and the people hail him at any cost. He built school, colleges,
roads and hospitals, all new additions to the country. With no background in
such things, he imported labor to work as doctors, teachers and manual workers,
as the country was literally void of skilled workers. This is where the
foreigners come from. With a short history, Omani people are best at raising
camels, farming dates, and hiring people to work for them. Nearly every house
hold, which consists of 1-2 (in separate houses on the same property) wives and
10-12 children, have at least 2 servants working for them, delivered from
India, Pakistan, Malaysia, The Philippines or other countries which don’t have the revenue which oil brings. They cook, clean and take care of the children, and
wives are for childbearing, although the old ways are fading fast, and despite
the governments block on TV, movies, music and well, all media forms, the
people find ways to unlock satellite channels, download music and import books
from Lebanon. Most Omani’s go to college these days, some what choose their
spouses, and young women refuse to allow multiple wives. Of course the society
was not always like this, previously women did the house work, but with new
servants to work in the house, they are left to sit at home and do… well
nothing once they have been married.
©2010 HMB Photos
Since the discover of oil and the advancement of the country, 40 years has been like 300 in the eyes of progress, such as infrastructure and industry. But the further you drive from the capital city of Muscat, the further back in time you
travel. The towns and villages are very conservative and an average scene in
the evening would be a small town suq (city center) full of men smoking shisha and drinking tea, and not a woman in sight. It is not common for women to go
outside. In fact in every Arab house there are two living rooms, one for women
and one for men, and when guests come over they are segregated. A man could
have a best friend for 20 years and never once seen his wife. Men and women are
forbidden to touch, and that includes shaking hands… a mistake I have
continuously made in offering my hand to new people I meet.. oops. Ladies are
rarely seen out and about, and when they are, they cover their face… aside
from Muscat that is. Muscat is a sort of modern twilight zone of the real Oman,
where women are seen out in masses with their two nannies and 7 children
following them while they shop for the newest Gucci sunglasses, with tight
fitting abyas (black robes) and very loose hijabs (head scarves) even showing
some, or a lot of hair.
With all that useless information being said, Oman is a fascinating country,
and we are enjoying living in the Middle East. There is something captivating about this part of the world, and to be honest, I can’t pin point it. I don’t know if
it is the aroma of frankincense and shisha in the streets, and remarkable
minimalist, Arabic architecture, or the happy, friendly atmosphere of the
Arabic people. I love wandering around the old forts and visiting the other
cities. Although at times we suffer from extreme home sickness, and sometimes
that is the US and sometimes it’s Korea. It is hard to imagine that Korea
became like home, but sometimes we just miss the conveniences and lifestyle
that we enjoyed there. But we miss the states as well… me especially. After
two years of being gone, I am a bit worried about just how much reverse-
culture shock we will experience when we go back. It is continuously amazing to
me how quickly human beings are capable of adjusting to new environments, and
how easy it is to change Your society; Your “norm.” After all, if you always
walk around wearing a hijab and an abya, it is the other people who are
strange, or crazy.
So the dessert, camels, never ending sand dunes and overwhelming friendliness
have us intoxicated here. Every time we go out of our small city and see the
country, coast and mountains, we just love it. So for the next year we will be
here, and trying to get in to Grad school in the states, as soon as we save the
2 million dollars that it costs…. We have had a few opportunities to get out
and make pics, which has been nice, and we hope to continue shooting when we
get back. Nowadays it is about 130 degrees out by 8 am, and we have been
confined to our AC. Sky has continued to shoot however and I have tried to be
as driven as him. It’s hard though, because he is REALLY driven. He wakes up at
345 to get out before sunrise and work on his nature pics, before we make it to
work at 730 to start our day. But we really can’t complain too much, as the
shweh shweh effects every aspect of business here and we only taught about 3
hours a day before our classes ended.
©2010 HMB Photos
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing good, and that you enjoy these pics. Please
send us a letter or drop a line to say how everything is with everyone. Love
you guys, Love Heather
©2010 HMB Photos
©2010 HMB Photos
Mars
October 6, 2010
I love reading this even how long it is, i got a lot of information about Oman, even if i am staying here for 3 years now.
Good thing i found this blog