Sunday 18th Temp 34c

Cirst and India India showing how women need to be dressed

This morning India, Cirst and I went to the Grand mosque. The mosque is open from 8 till 11 so we had an early start (about 9: 30), again the taxi ride cost only 2 Rials and it was still 3 or 4 miles (looking forward to getting my own transport though). If you are going to visit the mosque Dress very conservatively: Men, trousers and long sleeved shirt, women: trousers, long sleeved blouse and something to cover their head (pashminas are cheap to buy here). Read the signs so that you don’t offend any of the locals. It is free to wander round the mosque and the workmanship is fantastic. It is a massive place (see photographs) and you need to take your time as only the main temple is air conditioned. Although I took a lot of photos I am looking forward to going back for another visit.
Just chilled out this afternoon, going to watch the match at the Intercontinental Hotel tonight so will continue tomorrow.

Saturday 17th Temp 36c

Had a message last night to say we were going for our blood tests this morning, had to be ready for 7:15am, everything starts early here to avoid the main heat of the day. The school bus picked us up and so we got to meet a few more people. Still no schedule for an induction or for any of the immigration things we need to do, can’t really do much until we have our residency card.
After talking to Lucy and India we are going to hire a car for the first few weeks between us, this is just until we get settled and all the paper work done then we may look to buy a car.
Again we went shopping to the hypermarket mainly to show Cirst where it is but still needed one or two things myself. We made arrangement for us all (myself India, Lucy and Cirst) to go out to Ruwi tonight. Ruwi is a district in Muscat where there is a souk (traditional market area) and lots of restaurants of different nationalities. Lucy didn’t make it again as she is still tired, but Cirst , India and myself had a good look round and went for a meal in an Arabic restaurant.
Very interesting cuisine! India ordered the Kebab, Cirst the Bar B Que and I ordered the ‘Aries’ (Aries=Ram? = Goats meat?) from the dinner menu. We were given a soup to start with, a bit like a chicken soup with a little pasta in it and a lump of unidentifiable bony meat, which tasted quite nice, a side salad (carrots, tomatoes, shredded cabbage and limes) and then our main course. India’s was like the Shami Kebabs you get at an Indian restaurant, The bar b que was just beef (flame grilled) and mine was like very thin pitta breads stuffed with a thin layer of minced and spiced lamb. We were each given a side dish of homous and the girls plain pitta breads so they could make there own kebabs. We only had water to drink as that’s all other people were drinking and to be truthful that’s all I really wanted at the time. And the bill for this gastronomic feast? 4 Rials 700 Baisa, less than £7!.
From Ruwi we decided to go to Mutrah Souk (where Lucy, India and I went on Thursday night) just for another look around and also to get another of them beautiful fruit drinks!
From there we decided to go back to the Intercontinental Hotel for a drink before calling it a night. This is where it all went wrong! I had been wearing shorts all day, they were down to my knees but I was not allowed into any of the bars as were not long enough! So beware if your buying shorts for when you come out here make sure they go past you knees or as I am going to do in future wear trousers or jeans if your going to the pubs/hotels etc.

Friday 16th Temp 34c

This is the Holy Day here so no building work was going on and it was quite quiet when I woke up. Spent most of the morning loading software on to my laptop and just generally chilling out. Still not had any word from school about induction or getting the Omani paper work done so time has been all our own. India came up for awhile and we made plans to do a bit more shopping but not till the afternoon. Although India is from Perth (Australia) she still doesn’t like being out in the sun too much and especially in the very hot hours between 9am and 2 pm, so we made arrangements to go out about 2ish. We are also trying to meet up with others (like Cirst and Michael who are in separate apartments some distance away) just to swap any info or have a chat.
Getting good a bargaining for a taxi! Got one for 2½ Rials (about £3.20) which is very good when you consider it’s about 5 miles to the main shopping centre from our accommodation! Got some more stuff in, it’s amazing the stuff that you feel you need.
India and I are going to meet Cirst tonight (as Lucy stills feels tired and wants to rest) at the Intercontinental Hotel which is near the sea front. Just to have a chat and compare notes on how we are settling in.
Met Cirst at the hotel but went next door to ‘Trader Vic’s’ (a Polynesian type restaurant and bar) for a drink and natter. We each had a cocktail (not cheap at nearly £5 but very nice) and talked about our first impressions of Oman. We then decided to go back to the hotel as there is an English type bar inside. Prices are reasonable there and they have a good range of beers AND I found out they have the premiership matches live so going to watch the Newcastle match on Sunday.

Day 2 (Thursday 14th August) Temp 32c

Seem to over my jet lag already! Woke up at 6am to visit the bathroom and then just dosed till 8am. Again just lazed around the apartment till India came up, we compared shopping lists (its amazing the amount of stuff you miss if its not there, like a tin opener that works!) Come 12, me, India and Lucy decided to go shopping!
First of all though we had to walk about 10 mins to get to an area where we could get a taxi. Needless to say it was boiling hot, you know what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen! The first taxi that stopped wanted to charge us 10 Rials (about £13) which didn’t seem bad to me but Lucy said ‘no’ too expensive and walked away. She then stopped a taxi/bus and asked how much to the main hypermarket and that was 500 Baisa (about 65p) each…….guess which one we got! Anyway we got to the Carrefore Hypermarket and started our shopping, with the amount of stuff we all got we would have needed a taxi/bus just for the stuff! But we got 2 taxis for 8 Rials, so if any of you are coming out remember to barter and never pay more than 5 Rials (and that includes the tip!) By the way 5 Rials is about £6.50p)
After getting back to the apartment we spent some time chilling out again, well mainly I was playing with my new laptop (prices aren’t bad a little cheaper than the UK). Then we decided to got to Mutrah Souk (this is like a market) and this is where Lucy really came into her own! Boy can that woman haggle……even the shop keepers ended up laughing! But she did save India a fair bit of cash! After the Souk we decided to have something to eat and chose a small café on the seafront. Nothing special you understand and I had a local kebab and absolutely gorgeous mango fruit drink all for ………………wait for it………………….about £1.70p ! The local are very friendly and are not out to ‘get what they can’ (unless your in their shop!) but will chat to you and even help you learn some Arabic sayings, the girls had a great time and had lots of people laughing at their attempts at saying things! Even the taxi drivers are very friendly and you don’t feel crowded by them (but don’t forget to fix your price first, then after that if you give them a tip they feel it’s for a job well done!). Again the girls felt tired so we came back to the apartment block and me and India had a quick nightcap on the terrace just chatting and looking out over the city.

First Day Wednesday 13th Temp 32c

Link to Photo album of apartment : http://picasaweb.google.com/Lezmcg54/ApartmentInOman

Today was just a lazy day! We were advised to rest and take our time unpacking, but being me I had done that as soon as I had arrived but I did have a lazy morning just reading and dozing on my couch. Come lunch time I was getting bored so decided to go for a walk to see what was around the accommodation. Well its turns out there isn‘t anything much and after only 5 mins in the sun I was dripping wet with perspiration, so I came back and had myself a lovely cold drink. Soon after I returned I got a phone call from the principle telling me that 2 other teachers had arrived at my apartment block after me. I asked him to tell them to come up if they felt like it and 10 minutes later I met India. India (27) is from Australia and a very outgoing and lively young lady, we got on like a house on fire and where soon chatting and making plans for going out shopping etc. Lucy (50) (South African by way of New Zealand) I didn’t meet till the evening.

That evening Nigel (the principal) picked us all up and took all the staff who had arrived for a meal in the city (excellent Italian) but people were still tired (although I felt quite good) so after we just came back to our apartments for a nightcap.

My journey out to Oman

I had a nice send off from the airport with both my son’s my daughter in law and my grandson (Leon) being there to make sure I got on the plane (my sisters had tried to meet me at the Metro station but just missed me).

Although I wandered around the departure lounge I couldn’t see anyone who I thought might be flying out to Oman with me, so I just read my book until boarding started. I no sooner got to the departure lounge than they started loading the passengers and I was one of the first to be called. The aircraft was an Emirates Airline plane and was very comfortable and I had a window seat in a row of 2 seats
(we were even given a pillow, blanket and free earphones for the in flight entertainment).

There was a few good movies to choose from, Narnia, Monsters Inc and Iron Man to name a few…..I settled for Iron Man!. The in flight service and food where excellent with free drinks as well (I only had 2 small bottles of wine! Wasn’t I good!)

I didn’t ignore my fellow passenger who turned out to be a doctor on her way back to Thailand. The flight was very smooth with very little turbulence and in fact we made excellent time arriving in Dubai over 40 minutes early! Dubai looked exciting and vibrant from the air but although I had almost 3 hours to wait for my flight the most I would see of it would be the terminal buildings! I had a good tour round the shops read a bit, got bored and went for a pint. WARNING for all of you who are coming out to see me it cost ₤5 a pint!. Anyway I thought what the hell. Had a look around the departure gate for anybody who looked like they could be going on to Oman but again, couldn’t spot anyone. Again we were quickly boarded and ready for take off. 30 minutes later we were still waiting! Seemingly it was rush hour and some planes had not met their slots so we had to wait for them! Anyway again it was a nice flight and quite cool when we touched down at 4.30am, ……only 35° (about 100f)

On arrival at Muscat Airport I had to go to collect my Visa and that’s where I met 2 other people who had travelled from Newcastle as well! There was no trouble getting through immigration or customs and we were met by the school principal who had everything arranged and even gave us a sim card for our phones so that he could contact us about any other arrangements. We then travelled to our accommodation but it turned out I was not in the same place as the 2 fellow teachers I had met at the airport! My accommodation was quite a bit further away (but nearer the school) and I have a penthouse apartment with my own terrace (pictures on the way soon) a large (Queen size) bedroom and living accommodation.

4 Days to Go

My 'Going Away Party'
Me and my 3 Nephews

Well everything seems to be going faster now. Time is flying by and the things I wanted to get done before I go away are starting to back up!. Still would like to see a few friends who haven't been able to make any of the get togethers and have got my fingers crossed that we can get together for a bit. Got a Wedding tomorrow and Sunday morning so thats a day and a half already accounted for (really means I have only got 2 days left!). Still got my packing to do, but got everything I need now so at least I don't have to go shopping!.