Finally in Muscat.

            I am currently sitting in the Indianapolis International Airport waiting to get on a plane bound for Detroit. I'll touch down in Detroit around 6:30. In Detroit I have about an hour to make my connecting flight bound for Amsterdam. Amsterdam...red light districts and debauchery for all...except me, I won't even leave the airport. Instead, I'll find my gate again and finally get some wings headed for Muscat.

             Iv'e been talking about heading to the Middle East for roughly two years...maybe even longer. I'm actually doing it now and I couldn't be more excited or more prepared. I've taken the language courses, read countless books on the Gulf region and slept with the idea of walking through the streets of Muscat for some time now. It's taken a serious financial and logistical commitment on behalf of myself and my family. I will not let us down.

             To date, I guess you could say this is my dream...I've always wanted to consider myself as being kinda "badass". The thing is, most everything in my life until now fails in comparison. Traveling half-way across the world solo, let alone to a region of the world characterized by oil sheiks and Jihad pretty much takes the cake. I'm ready...to immerse myself in a culture and a society that may or may not be entirely unlike my home. I’m ready to let my comfort zone stay here in Indianapolis. And I’m not worried about that, I’ll pick it up on my way back around.

             I started this blog in Indianapolis, at the airport, on the ground. I didn’t have time to finish it then and I was not permitted to take out my laptop for the subsequent 40 minute flight…I made it to Detroit. However, I had about 10 minutes to run from one terminal to the next… I went through additional international security measures/customs and boarded my flight just before it left without me. Currently, I’m 10,000 feet above the “Golfe du Saint-Laurent”. I know this because there is a computer screen on the head-rest in front of me that has an option to view the planes flight path, among other entertainment options.  “Duree restante jusqu’a’ Destination” is 5 hours and 6 minutes. And yes, my remote is broken so all of the wonderful entertainment options provided by Delta, are in French.

I read that Schiphol airport in Amsterdam is only 20 minutes from the city by cab…

Oman: Located on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman looks to the accession of Sultan Qaboos to the throne in 1970 as the day when modern Oman was born.  Over the last few decades, Oman has seen dramatic improvements in standards of living, education, and infrastructure, fueled by judicious spending of the country’s limited oil wealth.  Recent plans focus more intensively on trying to diversify the economy and

make the country more attractive to foreign investors. This effort to improve the lives and future of Oman’s population has been coupled with a drive to create a unified national identity amongst the country’s very diverse population. There are more than 12 languages native to the country, and significant differences in identity exist amongst people with backgrounds in East Africa, Dhofar, Baluchistan and the interior. Steps toward political liberalization have been slow, or “gradual,” as it is often referred to locally. Oman is a hot country.  From March through November, it is very hot (reaching 140 degrees or more at the height of summer), but it is quite pleasant from late November through early March (when daily high temperatures drop to the seventies or eighties by January). Muscat is also quite humid, which can make the hottest months seem even hotter.

            Two goals (maybe pipe dreams) I have for my stay in Oman :

1.) In the early 1970’s, the Omani government under Qaboos fought a rugged civil war in the region of Oman known as Dhofar. The Dhofari rebels received aid from Marxist regimes in southYemen and China. Ultimately, with the aid of Great Briton, the rebels were defeated and granted amnesty in 1975. I think it would be amazing to interview a former Dhofari rebel and ask what he thinks about his youthful actions of insurrection nearly 40 years ago. What would he say about risking his life for an idea? Was it worth it? Is he content with contemporary Oman? Can any lessons be applied to current ‘youths in revolt’ across the world? I’m not sure. But I know it would make for an interesting story.

            Dhofar compromises about 1/3^rd of the area of Oman and blends unnoticeably with Yemen to the southwest. The fertile Salalah Plain runs about 30 miles along the coast and 10 miles inward. It is widely considered one of the most beautiful and majestic places in all of Arabia. The Dhofari people maintain their own cultural habits and lingual dialect. They deeply resent Northern Oman and believe that the reforms under Qaboos have not yet taken hold in their society. I want to go there.

2.) On a different note, I read that Oman is the last remaining home to several species of animals… - The Arabian Wolf and the Arabian Leopard have recently been reintroduced in Oman. The Arabian Tahr is a small mountain goat found only in the Hajar Mountains around the Jabal Akhdar region. The real treat would be to see an Arabian Oryx, a very long single horn stretches from the Oryx’s head…this antelope probably inspired the myth of the unicorn. It is found ONLY in the Jiddat al-Harasis region of Oman. It would be so cool to get a picture of one of these. Similarly, the Daymaniat Islands are home to a splendid migratory bird reserve and the region of Ras al-Hadd is one of 3 nesting sites in the world for the Indian Ocean turtle population.

Just sitting in the plane at Abhu Dhabi International right now…plane is about to taxi onto the runway and head for Muscat… its 11:20am back home and 8:30 at night here, around 112 degrees outside the plane. 40 minute flight…

Wow. Now I’m sitting in bed in this little room at the Al-Naseem Hotel in downtown Muscat in the region of Matrah. I arrived at the airport and met up with the rest of my SIT group. We were greeted by the program’s academic director Issam Khory. He’s a nice guy and he’s really knowledgeable about Oman. We dropped everything off at the hotel and walked around some of Muscat. From what I can tell, this place is a mix of dirty and disgusting alley-ways mixed with majestic architecture. There are mountains surrounding the whole city…I believe they are the Hajar Mountains or the Jabal al-Akhdar, I’m not quite sure. Our hotel is right in front of the Mina Qaboos port facility and although we don’t have a view of the water…I can hear ship horns and smell fish from under the covers. It’s also about 90 degrees here at night…they say you get used to it. As we walked around town, I noticed a few things…there are a lot more than just Arabs here…Americans pop up ever now and then. I see a lot of Indian people and some Asians. Women drive and travel outside in groups with and without men. Almost everybody wears traditional clothes…long white robes with a hat that wraps around the skull and sits about 4 inches or so above your hair... and sandals, most women wear traditional black robes which cover all of the body except the face and in some cases only the eyes of a female can be seen. Men seem to only socialize with men and women with women when out in public, this is simply just apart of the Omani culture. 
            The shopping district or "sook" is a vast maze of alleys and tunnels, yes, underground tunnel shops… filled with every Arabian trinket imaginable, hookahs, long currvey daggers, perfumes, rugs…they have a lot of cool stuff that I’ve only seen here in Oman. Seriously high pressure sales come from all angles when you clearly look like an American. I ate dinner at a little place on the bay…I had chicken shwarma and a juice drink called ‘spicy lemon mint’. I’m still burping up the mint.

            They have Mcdonalds and Starbuks in Muscat. I’ve seen Porsche and Landrovers as well as Hondas driving around…mostly some little Euro cars I’ve never heard of. I saw one mustang.

            My satellite phone from Inmarset technologies is not online yet, but I called them and they said they would make sure it happens in the next day. The iphone works here better than anything but I’m sure it is pretty expensive. I am not staying with a homestay family yet, so the only internet connection I have is at the SIT World Learning Center.