Thursday, November 3: This evening my friend and colleague Kathy invites me for a traditional Filipino meal in her flat near the water tower and the Nizwa College of Technology. To get to her home, I must follow a convoluted set of directions, since addresses are nonexistent in Nizwa: Drive past the College of Technology, and at the roundabout near the water tower, turn left, then turn left at the next roundabout, then it will be behind some shops near the water tower. Her flat is out in the middle of nowhere actually, but it’s much newer than mine and actually fully furnished. Imagine that… 🙂

Kathy’s flat behind the Cold Store
It’s nice to get a glimpse of my colleague’s accommodation, since I’ve never yet seen the other new teachers’ digs. All I’ve seen is my villa and three other places that our housing guy Issa showed me; these I found of lesser quality. I’ve seen Marcia’s and Sara’s flats, but they’ve been here a long time and so have some “wasta,” or privilege, stemming from their longevity at the university.

Kathy
Looking at Kathy’s flat, I can compare the pros & cons of her place vs. mine. Mine is much larger, but also much older. My villa (well… my half-a-villa), has plenty of privacy as it’s not in an apartment building shared by many other teachers, as hers is. I like having a little courtyard and of course I love my bathtub, which no one else in Oman seems to have. But hers is nicely painted, has new furniture, and DOESN’T have, across the street, a huge, open, stinky garbage bin with 20 cats scrounging around in it. The Cold Store in front of her place does seem to have a lot of trashy boxes piled up in front though. The worst thing about her place could also be the best: its out-in-the-boondocks location away from the hubbub and traffic. My place in Firq is in the center of a bustling commercial area: a strip of car dealerships, building supply shops, Al Khamis Shoes, TJ Discount Store, Family Mart, Pizza Hut, Majan Furniture, and Bank Muscat, along with a bunch of other unidentifiable concerns.

Kathy’s flat from the rear view
Kathy offers me apple soda, which I’ve never tried before but find refreshing and apple-y tasting. We chat for a while about the university and our curriculum-less Post Foundation courses, which are endlessly frustrating to everyone who teaches them. We discuss our irritations, our love for our enthusiastic students, our experiences with different colleagues, and the floods on Tuesday. Kathy tells me our situation seems much better than that of our colleagues at the College of Technology and the College of Applied Sciences. Then we take a walk around Kathy’s neighborhood where I take pictures of the small gated villas and the mountains with the dramatic sky overhead.

me with a stop sign in Kathy’s neighborhood
Back at Kathy’s flat, she invites one of her neighbors, Dr. Said from the Pharmacy Department, to join us for dinner. He’s from Zanzibar and is waiting for his wife and daughter to get their visa approved so they can join him in Oman. Kathy has made a delicious traditional meal called Filipino Chicken Adobo: Chicken, garlic, peppercorns, soy sauce and some water in a large pot. She also adds some hard-boiled eggs that soak up the delicious sauce. Lots of rice, a tomato and cucumber salad, and for dessert a fruit and cheese salad. I can say without any hesitation that Kathy is an excellent cook!

one of the little villas in Kathy’s neighborhood
It’s a funny story how Kathy and I met. I started writing my blog about the University of Nizwa before I even came to Oman. I simply found information online about the university and put it up as an introduction to my upcoming trip to Oman. Kathy was teaching in Taiwan at the time and did a Google search about the university and my blog post came up. She wrote to me to ask about my experience here, and since I actually hadn’t arrived yet, I couldn’t tell her a darn thing! But we corresponded anyway, each of us sharing what little we knew about the university. I arrived nearly two weeks before she did, but I was on the lookout for her, and was able to greet her upon her arrival, as if I was a long-timer. Now here we are, both in the wonderful Nizwa, Oman, busy creating our own experiences in this foreign & endlessly mesmerizing land.
hi
i am NASIR I am from Pakistan -it is nice to read your experience -I have been posted in Nizwa as Lecturer in Marketing and will be joining soon in 2nd week of december 2011
I am in need of some advise regarding living , I am alone 50 years old and will be living single kindly tell me the best place and option to live in nizwa
Hi Nasir, I’m glad you enjoyed my blog. Where will you be a lecturer in Nizwa? If with the university or one of the 2 colleges, I’m sure someone there will provide your housing for you. My university provides mine, so I’m not sure how to go about finding housing yourself. I’m sure there must be agents who can help you. Good luck and early welcome to Nizwa!
thanks I will be posted in College of Technology ( MCT) which is one of the two colleges you mentioned.I will be flying in next week sometimes. I am quite excited and your blog has increased my interest in the place-Its quite amazing stories I love to be there and experience all this myself-
Hello Nasir,
I’m glad you’ve become excited about coming to Nizwa from reading my blog. Oman really is a great place and if you like to travel and are adventurous, there are multitudes of great places to explore. I’m sure you will like it here. I don’t know much about the College of Technology, but I hope you’ll find it to your liking. Anyway, an early welcome to Nizwa!
hello how are you this is Nasir -Well i have arrived in Nizwa on 12th Dec now settled on one aprtment new one in the area called Hay Al thurath which is 2 Km from Nizwa College of Technology and near moutains. I like it in here weather seems to be very good and i am told it will get hot in March then it goes up and up upto 50
Food is good and nice i have been able to taste some as there was lunch part today in college we had lots of rice, chicken and potato onion mixed stew very Oman style, Some Oman staff ate from one big dish togather -I hoe to explore Nizwa more in our coming ten days holidats starting 4th Jan -The architecture is facination the traditional castle touch in in every new building.
Hi Nasir, Welcome to Nizwa! I think you will like it here very much. It sounds like you’re already settling in and liking it. You’re right, the weather is beautiful right now. I hope it continues a long time, but I’m told it will get hot again in March. I dread the heat. Good luck and hopefully I’ll run into sometime in the Nizwa expat community! Take care, Cathy
hello i am also nizwa you meet me
I’m no longer in Nizwa, Kasuf. I live in the USA now.