weekly photo challenge: arranged

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postaweek2012, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, March 31:  Arranged: (adj) – disposed or placed in a particular kind of order: “the display of painted pottery happily arranged in a hotel lobby”; “flower petals arranged in a bowl of water”; “snacks colorfully arranged in a Korean bus terminal,” “Turkish lamps artfully arranged in a shop in Istanbul,” and finally, “nuts, grains and dates neatly arranged in a Turkish market.”

Here is my little photo gallery of arranged items, found in the unlikeliest places all over the world.

painted pottery arranged in a hotel lobby in Al Musanaah, Oman

flower petals in bowls of water in a hotel in Varanasi, India

snacks for sale colorfully arranged at a South Korean bus terminal

Turkish lamps artfully arranged

nuts, grains and dates neatly arranged in a market in Istanbul, Turkey

a little BBQ for the visiting wives

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Nizwa, Oman

Friday, March 30: Tonight James has organized a BBQ to celebrate the visit of two of our neighbors’ wives from faraway lands.  There are five of us from the university who all live quite happily in the Abu Nooh Building in Nizwa: James,  Malcolm, David, Stephen and me. James, Malcolm and David are British (well, James is officially Scottish), and Stephen and I are the token Americans.

James and his asador

This weekend, Malcolm’s wife Sandy has arrived from Great Britain; she is on spring break from the university where she teaches.  And Stephen’s wife Meri from the Philippines, with their daughter Stevanna in tow, has arrived for a visit as well.  Since James deems my apartment, with its ground floor stoop and gravel backyard, to be more appropriate for a BBQ than his second story balcony, he asks if we can have the party at my flat.  I agree.  Henceforth, the fun begins.

Stephen, happy to have his wife here… 🙂

James comes early to set up his tiny little BBQ in the corner of my “backyard” near the wall. He calls himself the asador, a word which I’ve never heard before.  I say to him, “I don’t know what an asador is, but I do know what an “ass” is!”  Later, I find through Google that asador is a Spanish word that means spit or rotisserie.  Another definition from Recipes to Go is: a wire mesh stovetop grill which can be used to roast vegetables over an outdoor fire or on the stovetop.  Hmmm.  So James is calling himself a rotisserie? Not the griller, but the grill?  Very strange, that.

James in his element

James is quite the cook, as I know from tasting his culinary experiments in the past. He has prepared quite a feast: steak, sausages, kidneys (a very British thing that is NOT to American tastes…Yikes!), ribs and chicken.  All the meat is served with a sauce James calls chimichurri,  made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, white or red vinegar, and red pepper flakes.

Malcolm & Sandy

Sandy arrives with Malcolm; she has two excellent salads in hand.  She hands me some special gifts from England (things I requested from her): the DVD of Shirley Valentine (since I’m going to Greece this summer) and a book called One Thousand Chestnut Trees, a book about Korea by Mira Stout. She also brings me some lovely mixed field flower seeds to “create a wonderful carpet of color.”  She’s the greatest… 🙂

Sandy & James

Stephen comes with his tiny Filipino wife Meri and his adorable little girl Stevanna, who I think is 2 or 3 years old.  James has already fired up the grill, and once everyone arrives, he begins the grilling, serving up different varieties of meat at intervals throughout the night.  Sandy shows us photos on her iPad, James plays tunes (loudly) on his iPod, and Malcolm gets out his old-fashioned guitar and plays us some tunes, including Little Feat, which he seems to be quite fond of.

Sandy & me

Later, David drops by to join the fun as well. Now everyone in our building, except the Omani families, is here. We enjoy each other’s company, some wine, good food and nice (loud) tunes!  It’s so nice to have friends in a foreign land… 🙂

the candle changes like a lava lamp! Ok, I’m showing my age!

Sandy’s chameleon candle

return to al musanaah & a hike through wekan’s garden of eden

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Oman, Travel

Thursday, March 29: Tonight I go back to Al Musanaah, where I stay again in the little “chalets” at the Gulf Sand Hotel.  Mario wants me to meet his long-time friend Elaine, from the Al Musanaah College of Technology.  Elaine is quite a character, and talking to her makes me think that her college might be a good place to teach someday.

the lobby in the Gulf Sand Hotel

Elaine lives at the Millennium Resort Mussanah, in an apartment luxuriously decked out with modern & posh furniture.  She didn’t come by this apartment easily; it costs her a pretty penny out of her salary each month!

Sadly, she is leaving the country for good in April, so it’s doubtful I will see her again. She’s been in Oman for over 4 years and plans to go to Australia and then back to work in Korea, training teachers, for three years.

painted pottery in the lobby of Gulf Sand Hotel

She spent time teaching in Korea, as I did, through EPIK (English Program in Korea), in the public schools. We compare our experiences in Korea and you would think we had taught in two different countries.  She loved it while I didn’t so much.  There were times in Korea when I downright hated it, marking the days off in a thick pink marker.  She loved the food, especially kimchi; I hated it.  On the other hand, she hates Omani food, while I feel lukewarm about it.

chalet #4 at Gulf Sand

She loved partying until all hours with the 20-some-year-olds in Korea, while I spent time traveling inside and outside the country and doing more quiet things, like writing my blog or reading or hanging out with a small group of friends.  As a woman in Oman, Elaine doesn’t like the feeling of always being gawked at by men, while I don’t let it bother me; I’ve learned to just ignore it. It was all interesting conversation, comparing our various experiences, in different countries and in different universities.  It really is too bad she’s leaving as she would be a fun person to get to know.

I enjoy myself immensely, sitting on the balcony off her apartment chatting and laughing away with her and Mario.  A lovely evening…. 🙂

all roads lead to Wekan (variously spelled as Wakan or Wukan)

Friday, March 30:  On Friday morning, Mario and I get up before 8:00 and head to the little restaurant for omelets, chapati, salad, and fresh fruit juice (mango for me, orange for Mario).

ahead on the side of the mountain sits the village of Wekan

We head for a hike to a place both of us have been before, Wekan.  To get to Wekan, we must drive inland from Al Musanaah to Ar-Rustaq, past Al Awabi (where I went to the Omani wedding), and then on a dirt and gravel road for 25km through the Ghubrah Bowl, a huge, flat gravel plain, toward Wadi Mistal.  We climb a mountain, basically the north side of Jebel Akhdar, in my GMC Terrain, toward the little village of Wekan.

climbing up the watchtower for the big picture

At one point we lose our momentum, and suddenly the car won’t move up the steep incline.  I press my pedal to the floor to no avail.  The car won’t budge.  I start to panic, thinking something is wrong with my car!  That’s all I need!  Mario tries to calm me down; we slowly back up to a flatter area and try again. This time we’re able to get up the incline, slowly but surely.  In the little village of Wekan, we park the car and climb up the restored watchtower to get the lay of the land.  We then begin our walk through the village.

we begin our walk through the village

a door into paradise 🙂

The pathway to the village soon takes us to lush gardens of pomegranate, apricot, mango and walnut trees.  Butterflies flutter about the white fuzzy flowers of green onions; there is a huge field of these spreading to the edge of the mountain.

fields of green onions and butterflies

field of butterflies & fuzzy flowers

The pomegranate trees have the most beautiful little red flowers, with a kind of hard shell on the outer bud and lush red petals inside the shell.  The white bark of the walnut trees positively gleams in the sunlight.  We can see tiny figs on the fig trees and small green fuzzy apricots and peaches.

grapevines and pomegranate trees

I love the rock wall. Things just can’t stop growing in the crevasses.

rocks arranged into a wall, with all manner of plants peeking out

some flowers on the pomegranate trees

a single flower on the pomegranate

another little petal

grapes on the arbor

going up the Persian steps

pillows drying in the sun

up & up the steps through the garden, with the falaj in the center

a flowering mango tree

Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers, but the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms. ~ Ikkyu Sojun

my friend Mario does the Omani squat under a palm tree

Hundreds of grapevines already have tiny bunches of grapes on them. A falaj runs between the gardens. Near the bottom, the water flow has been blocked off, probably sent to one of the many side gardens.  But about midway up the steps, the falaj flows rapidly down; the soothing sound of the running water makes for a relaxing ambiance in the gardens. I love this place.  Both times I’ve been here, it feels like paradise.

the little village of Wekan from above

Today is hot, as it is getting to be in Oman nowadays, but up here on the mountain there is a strong warm breeze, slightly cooling. It’s not uncomfortable.  As we hike increasingly higher, we can look down and see the little village of Wekan below us, and far below that, the wide Wadi Mistal and the gravel road on which we came.  We continue walking and, as both of us love to take photos, we take our sweet time trying to capture these moments of peaceful bliss.

vegetation abounds in this place

A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today as it ever was. It does not need to adopt new and startling methods. ~ Robert Henri

But only God can make a tree. ~ Joyce Kilmer

I’ve committed to hosting a BBQ at my flat tonight, so sadly we must leave this place by 1:00.  It takes a good 40 minutes to drive back over the gravel road and then I have another 2 1/2 hours back to Nizwa.  Another time I will have to go back and do the longer hike all the way up to Jebel Akhdar.

A little balcony near the entrance to the village

the view through the latticed balcony to Wadi Mistal below

This is truly one of my favorite places in Oman. I think I’ll have to go back in a month or two when all the trees are bursting with fruit!  This little garden of Eden offers the closest thing to spring in Oman.

the cars of the day in the desert: a white dust-covered SUV and pickup truck in front of the watchtower

wednesday song title interpretation: “just the two of us”

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wednesday song title interpretation

Wednesday, March 28: The song title challenge by Rois this week is “Just the Two of Us” by Will Smith. 

Just the two of us, we can make it if we try
Just the two of us
Just the two of us, building castles in the sky
Just the two of us, you and I

I’ve featured my sons on my blog many times, especially since they came to Oman to visit in January.  But I haven’t featured my daughter, Sarah, who lives in Richmond, Virginia.  She’s got her own blog: Let me bite that.  Sadly, she hasn’t added anything new to it in over a year, but I hope she does soon!  It’s so nice now that she’s grown up; we can share fun times together… 🙂

Me with Sarah in Richmond, Virginia ~ February 2009

Sarah with me at Christmas a couple of years ago

Sarah in maybe 1989??

I love my little red-headed sweetheart. 🙂

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Here’s a hilarious post from my fellow blogger in Oman: Andy in Oman!

Andy in Oman

This is toofunny to be true!  A contract company in Egypt was asked to put “Diesel Fuel” and “No Smoking” IN ARABIC on a line of fuel-tankers.  This is the final product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

HA! HA! Priceless! 🙂 Talk about “lost in translation” or following something so literally that you miss the entire point!  And if you think I’m making this up, check out the source here at The Guardian in the UK.

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a-z archive: m! challenge (mosques)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, March 27:  A whole slew of “m” words comes along with a mosque, or masjid in Arabic.  Muslims worship in this place that has a minaret and a muezzin who calls out five prayer times each day.  Muslims pray in the musallah, or prayer hall.

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam.  The Arabic is masjid, meaning “place of worship” or “prostration in prayer.”  Here, Muslims come together for salah (prayer).  It is also a center for information, education, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the prayer.

a mosque near Sur, Oman

In Oman, you can find a mosque on nearly every corner.  Or at least in every neighborhood.  I feel that even small mosques are ubiquitous in order to make it highly convenient for Muslims to pray five times a day, as required in Islam.

the mosque beside Nizwa Fort

Mosques usually have elaborate domes, minarets and prayer halls, although the small mosques can be very simple.  The top of the minaret is always the highest point in mosques that have one, and often the highest point in the immediate area. Before the five required daily prayers, a muezzin calls the worshipers to prayer from the minaret.  Nowadays, many of these calls to prayer are recorded and played over a loudspeaker.

the little mosque in Firq next to the Shell Station

The domes, often placed directly above the main prayer hall, may signify the vaults of heaven and the sky.

another mosque near the Turkish restaurant in Firq

The prayer hall, also known as the musallah, rarely has furniture; it’s usually just a wide open carpeted space where men kneel to pray.  Many mosques are decorated with Islamic calligraphy and Quranic verses on the walls to assist worshipers in focusing on the beauty of Islam and the holy Quran.

the fabulous Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

share your world: cee’s life questions (week #16)

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share your world

Yay!  Another set of questions from Cee: Cee’s Life Photography Blog: Share Your World (Week 16)!! I love her questions that make me think about things I don’t normally think about… 🙂

If you had a choice, which would be your preference: salt water beaches, fresh water lakes, hot tub, or desert?

I love fresh water lakes.  They’re so refreshing and lovely, surrounded as they often are by trees and lakeside cabins.  I love floating docks and canoes, motorboats and sailboats.  Back in the day, I went often to Lake Gaston, on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, and stayed at a year-round tent my friend’s mother had set up on a lot there.  We used to play card games, sunbathe and swim from the floating dock, and water ski during the days. When night came, we would go skinny-dipping; usually we could be counted on to get into some kind of trouble. 🙂

me, Rosie, Louise and Charlene at Lake Gaston in 1973. Best friends then and still great friends today… 🙂

Last summer, between working in Korea and Oman, I went with my family to Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland.  The boys went wakeboarding and waterskiing.  We played games, took the motorboat around the lake, sat in the hot tub, ate homemade ice cream and walked around the lake.  I love lakes!!

Deep Creek Lake, August 2011

What book do you think everyone should read and why?

The Art of Travel is a wonderful book by one of my favorite writers of all time: Swiss writer Alain de Botton.  He writes about various subjects in a philosophical manner, focusing on the subject’s relevance to everyday life. In The Art of Travel, de Botton explores why we should travel and how we can be less miserable and unfulfilled as we do so.  Traveling can be uncomfortable; it takes us out of our zone of familiarity and thrusts us into a strange world that can be disorienting.  But it can also teach us about ourselves, prod us to push the outer edges of the envelope of our lives.  Travel can be a discovery of who we are, the good, the bad and the ugly.  In all our questionable glory…..

He talks about travel from the first inkling that comes to a person.  The idea of a place takes hold of a person, then germinates.  There are dreams about the culture, based on something that has struck a chord, possibly a book, a movie, a documentary, music, a painting, a photograph, a person met at random.  Imaginings take hold.  He talks about how travel can be a disappointment, troublesome, irritating, highly uncomfortable and inconvenient.  Yet.  It can also be exotic, delightful, poetic, seductive.  Longings are awakened.  Curiosity blooms.  Boredom happens, but in the midst of boredom, awe and nostalgia and a new way of seeing are brought to life.

I write about how his book inspired me to be a nomad in my blog titled: becoming a nomad … the art of travel.

What’s your favorite way to wake up and what’s the first thing you do?

My favorite way to wake up is with the windows open, curtains billowing into the room, in a strange town.  I love to stretch my body every which way and imagine the whole day ahead to explore this new place. Then I like to lounge around in my pajamas for a bit, drink some coffee, and plan my adventure.

one of many favorite places to wake up ~ Siem Reap, Cambodia

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” 🙂 ~ Freya Stark (my heroine!!)

What do you do to relax?

I will squeeze in a relaxing activity at any spare moment I can find.  I have relaxation down to an art, and I can think of any number of ways to soothe my soul.  Writing my blog and reading, mostly fiction or travelogues, rate at the top of the list. Lately, I love taking walks anywhere with my camera in hand.  Having the camera along helps me to really SEE what is around me.  I love to watch movies, especially romantic comedies or sweeping historical romances like Doctor Zhivago, The English Patient or The Painted Veil. I adore pedicures and any kind of massage or body scrub at a spa. And I love browsing on the anthropologie website.  I find dreaming about and planning my travels relaxing. Last, I love to have a glass of wine or two at a nice bar where I can listen to live music, especially with someone dear to me.

To see my extensive reading list, check out goodreads: cathy’s books.

weekly photo challenge: through

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postaweek2012, weekly photo challenge

November 2011: I meander along through the curvaceous As-Siq, an impressive and breathtaking deep and narrow sandstone gorge in Petra, Jordan. It towers over me up to 80 meters.  This is apparently not really a canyon, though it looks like one.  It’s really a rock landmass that was ripped apart by tectonic forces. I see colorful rocks, bizarre-looking geological formations, agricultural terraces, and water channels cut into the cliffs (what we call falajes in Oman).  I see tombs, facades, theaters and stairways carved into the rocky cliffs. The sunlight spills like shimmery liquid into the gorge and highlights parts of the high cliff faces, artfully gilding the already painted walls.  It’s stunning.

I’m waiting for the surprise of the Treasury.  I can imagine it from pictures.  And then, around a bend, there it is, looming before me, through a sliver in the gorge, yes, there is a slice.  Al-Khazneh, the Treasury, with its Alexandrian Hellenistic columns, its unique Nabataean facade.  I feel dwarfed by its height, its immensity, and struck by its proportions, by its elaborate carvings. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb of an important Nabataean King.  Some scholars believe it was later used as a temple. Locals believed, misguidedly, that an Egyptian pharaoh hid his treasure in the top urn, thus the misnomer “The Treasury.”

the Treasury in Petra, Jordan

After taking a donkey up the 800-step rock-cut staircase, I reach the Monastery. I sit at an outdoor coffee shop, sip some tea and take in the view.  After, I walk up to one of the viewpoints on a cliff top, where I can see the rock formations of Petra from above, Jebel Haroun, and even Wadi Araba.  I find an interesting rock formation through which I can see the oh-so-blue sky.

A rock formation at the top of the 800-step staircase, above the monastery. You can see the sky THROUGH it!

I come to Petra by way of the King’s Highway.  Along the way, I stop at the ancient Crusader castle of Karak (or Kerak), the setting for 12th century battles between the Crusaders and the Muslim armies of Salah-ad-Din (Saladin). Karak is only one in a long line of castles built by the Crusaders stretching from Aqaba in southern Jordan to Turkey in the north. The castle sits impressively at the top of a large cliff and the views are phenomenal, especially the golden valley below dotted with farmhouses and bushes and cloud shadows.  The castle itself is not that impressive, considering that only parts of walls are still standing, but the view is outstanding.  Here is a peek of the valley through one of the free-standing archways.

looking through an archway at Karak to the valley below

If you’d like to read about my trip to Jordan, please see a jaunt to jordan.

a morning walk through the dusty town of firq

Friday, March 23:  This morning I start my walk at 8:00 a.m., a little late here in Oman because it is now baking hot outside as soon as the sun comes up.  I usually walk along my little 4km walking trail, but this morning I decide to walk up the main road through Firq, the town adjoining Nizwa, where all the businesses are lined up on either side of the road.  I don’t normally think this an interesting walk, but I think my readers might like to see the kinds of businesses that operate in this town.

the al diyar hotel

It has been very dusty weather here in the last 4 days.  There’s a constant haze in the air, causing many of my colleagues to suffer with respiratory problems. Luckily I’ve been spared.  I wonder if this dusty haze is because we haven’t had any rain in a good long while.  The last time I experienced rain in Oman was in early November, right before the Eid.  When I went to Salalah in late January with my sons, I heard there was some rain in Muscat, but where I was driving through the Empty Quarter, there was not a drop in sight.

White pick-up trucks or SUVs are the order of the day in Oman, because of the heat and they don't show the dust so much.

Can you imagine this?  In a place where there is little vegetation and an abundance of rocks and dirt, it’s no wonder there isn’t a constant dust haze in the air.  I don’t know how long this will last, but it isn’t pleasant, I’ll tell you that.

the Shell station where most of us stop for petrol and Nawras (phone or internet) cards

I’m not sure you can see the haze in the air in these pictures.  The one with the Nissan truck above shows it.  Usually Oman has clear blue skies and not a single cloud.

a typical Omani restaurant where mostly men eat, so I haven't gone here

I park my car at the Al Diyar hotel, the first place I stayed upon my arrival in Nizwa.  I start my walk, past the Nissan dealership, then past the Majan car wash and the Shell station where most of us stop for petrol or Nawras (phone or internet) cards.  Then I pass a colorful little restaurant where I’ve never eaten.

Majan FURNITURES

Majan FurnitureS is the furniture store used by the university to furnish our flats.  This is where I bought my purple futon.  I love how sometimes non-English speakers make plurals out of non-count nouns.

Bank Muscat

Bank Muscat is the bank of choice for the university. Our salary is paid into our accounts here.  This particular branch houses the ATM machine that double-charged me for a 100 rial withdrawal ($270 twice, or $540, when I only got $270!!).  What a hassle that was, but I finally got reimbursed!!

the Falaj Daris Hotel

The Falaj Daris Hotel is the nicest hotel in town, with two pools, a poolside restaurant, a bar that caters to Westerners, and a gym.  Attached to one side of the hotel is an Arab bar and a Hindi bar.  I’ve spent many nights here meeting friends or colleagues for a drink or two.  I know I can come here to escape the loneliness that is part and parcel of the expat life.

flowers along the way

the mountains along the road in the haze

the Turkish restaurant, one of the few decent restaurants in Nizwa

Many nights we sit outside at the Turkish restaurant at plastic chairs and tables set up in the parking lot, with a football game on the big screen.  Now that it’s getting hot, we probably won’t be doing this much.

it's a Friday morning, like Sunday morning in the USA, and most businesses are closed, with metal gates across the doors

I discover a little park and playground I've never seen before

Oman United Insurance

used furniture for sale

pretty trucks all lined up in a row

one of the University of Nizwa buses

the Toyota dealer where I bought my 2008 GMC Terrain

I finish my walk about 9:30, drenched in sweat.  After a shower, I put on my pajamas and stay inside my flat the rest of the day, where I nap and dream of flowers and trees and rain….. 🙂