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a nomad in the land of nizwa

~ an American English teacher in Oman

a nomad in the land of nizwa

Tag Archives: Nizwa

2014 in review: wordpress sums it all up!

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Middle East, Oman, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Expat life, Life, Nizwa, Oman, Travel

To all my visitors: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for continuing to visit this blog despite the fact that I left Oman in June of 2013 and haven’t written anything on here in the last year. I was astounded to get these stats from WordPress letting me know that despite this, the blog had 54,000 hits in 2014!  It pleases me immensely to know that people still care about what I’ve written here.  Thank you again, everyone, for your support and kindness.  As most of you know, I’m now living in the south of China, in Nanning, not too far from the Vietnam border.  You can find me here now: catbird in china.  I hope you’ll drop by for a visit. 🙂

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 54,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 20 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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our last dinner at the spicy village

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Al-Dakhiliyah Region, Middle East, Nizwa, Oman, Spicy Village

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman

Wednesday, June 26:  A small group of us gathered for a final meal together at our favorite local restaurant, Spicy Village, on this evening following my last day at the university.  Tahira, Mario and Francois showed up this time around.  Francois is hilarious, and so is Mario; they had us all laughing uproariously, probably disrupting the other diners.  What a great night.  And the food was delicious, except for the bit of stomach upset it caused me all night long. 🙂  Meaning I only got about 5 hours of sleep. 😦

spring rolls at Spicy Village

spring rolls at Spicy Village

Don’t ya love Francois’s starfish shirt?

Tahira & Francois

Tahira & Francois

Mario

Mario

Mario, me and Francois, with Tahira behind the camera

Mario, me and Francois, with Tahira behind the camera

This ranks as one of my topmost evenings in the lovely town of Nizwa!!

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a sale of “stuff” & a farewell gathering

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Abu Nooh Building, Middle East, Nizwa, Oman

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman

Thursday, June 13:  This evening, I extend an open invitation to teachers from the Foundation Institute who aren’t already on their summer holiday to come over for an open house sale of my “stuff” and a farewell gathering.  It turns out that not that many people come, but the people who do are the ones who matter the most to me.  Tahira makes a salad, Anna makes paella, and Fouzia makes a wonderful carrot cake to which everyone becomes quickly addicted.  I mostly just bring stuff from the deli at Lulu and of course, as I do at every party I’ve ever hosted, I buy way too much, especially for the number of people who come.

my entryway... Welcome!

my entryway… Welcome!

food spread starts to grow

food spread starts to grow

For sale! and partially packed boxes (so exciting!)

For sale! and partially packed boxes (so exciting!)

the beginnings of packing

the beginnings of packing

Living room

Living room

Living room/study :-)

Living room/study 🙂

I actually prefer an intimate party to a loud boisterous one, although it’s great when we have some boisterousness in a small group.  We all sit around together and talk and eat, and only at the end do a couple of people walk out with my goods, namely Anna, who buys the best coffee table I have ever owned for 20 rials. I am sad to have to leave it behind, but it is way too big to ship, especially with the exorbitant shipping costs from Oman to America.

goodbye to my beloved coffee table

goodbye to my beloved coffee table

my bedroom

my bedroom

Last shots of my house before people take off with my stuff

Last shots of my house before people take off with my stuff

In attendance are Fouzia and her son Yassim, Tahira and Lynnette, Malcolm, Mario, Anna, and Robin.  We mostly tell funny stories about our students and the university and our colleagues.  All good for a few (or more) laughs.  I will really miss these kind-hearted and humorous folks who have become my friends during my time at the fabulous University of Nizwa. 🙂

Robin

Robin

Malcolm

Malcolm

Anna chews on a plastic cup

Anna chews on a plastic cup

At this point I still have two more weeks in Oman, and in the next week I need to finish packing all my stuff to ship by cargo to the good old USA.

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a sepia kind of day in nizwa: rain, rain, rain & a shifting weekend

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Al-Dakhiliyah Region, Middle East, Nizwa, Nizwa Fort, Nizwa souq, Oman

≈ 49 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman, Travel

Thursday, May 2: This week in Oman has been surreal.  It’s been raining some part of every day for over a week now.  In the entire 19 months I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen it rain this much or for this long a period of time.  Many students didn’t show up for parts of last week.  They were unable to get from their villages to Nizwa because of flooding wadis.

Inside Nizwa Fort

Inside Nizwa Fort

at Nizwa Fort

at Nizwa Fort

Nizwa Fort

Nizwa Fort

a door at the fort

a door at the fort

closeup of the door

closeup of the door

entering the fort

entering the fort

Looking down on Nizwa mosque from the fort

Looking down on Nizwa mosque from the fort

looking over Nizwa souq area from the Fort

looking over Nizwa souq area from the Fort

inside the fort looking up at the heavy clouds

inside the fort looking up at the heavy clouds

On top of the rain, we have been given a 3-day weekend this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Oman, as of May 1, is shifting its weekends from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday.  I understand this shift is happening in order to line up Oman’s weekends with the weekends observed by the other Gulf countries.  After this weekend, we will have Friday and Saturday off each week.

an outdoor room at Nizwa Fort

an outdoor room at Nizwa Fort

the minaret of Nizwa mosque

the minaret of Nizwa mosque

Finally, since the weather has been hot, humid and threatening rain, since traveling is dangerous (people are often killed in Oman trying to cross flooding wadis), and since I sold my GMC Terrain and am now driving a tiny Suzuki Celerio, I cannot go out exploring wadis on this three-day weekend.  On top of that, I’m trying to save every penny for my month-long trip to Spain and Portugal on my way home to the USA at the end of June.  I consider going to Muscat this weekend to spend the day at a pool or the beach, but as rain clouds are still darkening the skies and money is in short supply, I decide against it.

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

pottery at Nizwa souq

pottery at Nizwa souq

more pottery

more pottery

arches hung with pottery

arches hung with pottery

the souq

the souq

So, what to do?

I decide to do some experimenting with my camera at Nizwa Fort and Souq.  To reflect the dreary day that it is, I take photos with the sepia setting.  Surprisingly, I find I like the atmospheric photos, which make the souq look like it’s in the middle of ancient Arabia, except for the modern-day cars.

When I arrive at the souq, I find the parking lot is slightly flooded.  The air is heavy and damp, unlike Nizwa’s usually dry air.  Cars are barreling through the flooded parking lot, and Omanis, Indians, Pakistanis & Bangladeshis are riding their bicycles through the water or rolling up their pants legs or pulling up their dishdashas to cross the water.  I go into Nizwa Fort and climb to the top to take some photos of Nizwa mosque and the town.  I walk through the souq and stop for a cold Lipton Peach-flavored iced tea.

the outside wall of Nizwa souq

the outside wall of Nizwa souq

a Bangladeshi tries to ride across the flooded parking lot on his bicycle

a Bangladeshi tries to ride across the flooded parking lot on his bicycle

the entrance to the nut souq

the entrance to the nut souq

the door to the nut souq

the door to the nut souq

in the nut souq

in the nut souq

Nizwa mosque

Nizwa mosque

Then, when I am thoroughly drenched in sweat, I return to my air-conditioned flat, where I put on my pajamas and hunker in for the day.

Yes, it’s a sepia kind of day in Nizwa.

looking from the bridge over the wadi to the souq

looking from the bridge over the wadi to the souq

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pay day at the lulu hypermarket in nizwa

25 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Lulu Hypermarket, Middle East, Oman

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman

Thursday, April 25:  Today I drop by the Lulu Hypermarket in Nizwa to pick up a few items.  I’m shocked to see long lines down each aisle of the huge store.  Omani families are lined up with grocery carts overflowing with food and clothing items.  It looks like people are getting ready to hunker down in their homes for some natural disaster.  Each line goes all the way down a different aisle.  I have never in my 18 months seen the Lulu like this so I ask what’s happening.  It turns out today is Pay Day in Oman!

I have to wait a half hour in my line.  One man stands at the front near the register ready to pounce.  He looks like he’s waiting for the perfect opportunity to cut in line at any moment.  As I am never one to allow myself to be stepped on, I tell him, pointing to the end of the line of at least 15 families: “Sir, the line is back there. You will NOT be getting in front of us.”  He says, “Don’t worry.  I’m not planning to do that.”  The next thing I know he has moved to another line and promptly cuts in front of someone else.  Argh!!

the Lulu Hypermarket in Nizwa

the Lulu Hypermarket in Nizwa

Crowds lined up at the registers

Crowds lined up at the registers

Lulu Hypermarket in Arabic

Lulu Hypermarket in Arabic

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sunday post: entrance

01 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Jakesprinter Sunday Post, Middle East, Oman, Photography Challenges

≈ 50 Comments

Tags

middle east, Nizwa, Nizwa Souq, Oman, Sunday Post

Monday, April 1: Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post this week is Entrance: Entrance generally refers to the place of entering like a gate or door, or the permission to do so.

I have been fascinated by Oman’s entrances & doors for over a year now.  Here is a bit of my collection.

All men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.
~ Solomon Ibn Gabirol

the entrance to the Nizwa nut and spice market, with the door closed

the entrance to the Nizwa nut and spice market, with the door closed

the entrance to the nut and spice market at Nizwa Souq

the entrance to the nut and spice market at Nizwa Souq, with the doors open

the back entrance to old Nizwa, behind the souq and the fort

the back entrance to old Nizwa, behind the souq and the fort

painted metal door in Misfat Al Abriyyin

painted metal door in Misfat Al Abriyyin

colorful door

colorful door

entrance near Ibra, Oman

entrance near Ibra, Oman

second story entrances in the ruins of Munisifeh, Ibra, Oman

second story entrances in the ruins of Munisifeh, Ibra, Oman

entrances to ruins through Munisifeh, Ibra, Oman

entrances to ruins through Munisifeh, Ibra, Oman

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

a gate to a farm in Al Hamra, Oman

Omani door

Omani door

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

entrance to ruins at Wadi Bani Habib on Jebel Akhdar

entrance to ruins at Wadi Bani Habib on Jebel Akhdar

And here’s a gallery of many more entrances.  Click on any of the photos below for a full-sized slide show.

entrance to another mudbrick house in Al Hamra
entrance to another mudbrick house in Al Hamra
entrance to a house in Al Hamra
entrance to a house in Al Hamra
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
entrance after entrance in Ibra, Oman
entrance after entrance in Ibra, Oman
door in Ibra, Oman
door in Ibra, Oman
a beaten up entrance in Ibra, Oman
a beaten up entrance in Ibra, Oman
a door in Ibra
a door in Ibra
entrance to one of the old stalls at the ancient market in Ibra
entrance to one of the old stalls at the ancient market in Ibra
colorfully painted metal doors
colorfully painted metal doors
the love door
the love door
a candy pink door
a candy pink door

Sunday Post 2013

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weekly photo challenge: a day in my life

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Al-Dakhiliyah Region, Middle East, Nizwa, Oman, Photography Challenges, postaweek2013, University of Nizwa, Weekly Photo Challenge

≈ 64 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman, postaweek2013, University of Nizwa, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, March 30:  The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to create a tiled gallery of A Day In My Life.

What does your day look like? Here’s your chance to share with everyone a day in your life! Here are some suggestions to get started: snap a picture once an hour and share what your day was like, walk us through a typical day for you, or even just what happened today!

Pick the best pictures which give your readers a sense of a day in your life and share them!

Since I’m 9 hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, I always get the photo challenge late on Friday afternoon.  So for this challenge, I started taking photos on Friday evening.  So my day is from Friday evening at 5:00 to Saturday evening at 5:00.

Friday afternoon: writing about the gift of time on my blog
Friday afternoon: writing about the gift of time on my blog
I leave to go to Mario's for a seafood, olive, veggie, tomato & olive pasta
I leave to go to Mario’s for a seafood, olive, veggie, tomato & olive pasta
Mario the chef
Mario the chef
Candles and a table set for 3
Candles and a table set for 3
Saturday morning, driving down my road, heading to work
Saturday morning, driving down my road, heading to work
I park my car in the university parking lot
I park my car in the university parking lot
my desk at work
my desk at work
my students working on exercises
my students working on exercises
My students writing their answers on the board
My students writing their answers on the board
Me checking their exercises
Me checking their exercises
Students present new vocabulary to other students
Students present new vocabulary to other students
LOVE
LOVE
My studenst want me to photograph them making hearts and peace signs
My studenst want me to photograph them making hearts and peace signs
me in front with my students behind
me in front with my students behind
in the "canteen" for lunch
in the “canteen” for lunch
Mona Lisa at the canteen
Mona Lisa at the canteen
walking on the campus under covered walkways
walking on the campus under covered walkways
driving home to Nizwa after shopping at Lulu
driving home to Nizwa after shopping at Lulu
I park my car and take out the groceries
I park my car and take out the groceries
the groceries in my kitchen waiting to be unpacked
the groceries in my kitchen waiting to be unpacked
one bag of my groceries
one bag of my groceries
Coca-Cola Light ~ Arabic style
Coca-Cola Light ~ Arabic style

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phoneography challenge: my neighborhood

09 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Middle East, Nizwa, Oman, Phoneography Challenge, postaweek2013, Weekly Photo Challenge

≈ 51 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman, Phoneography Challenge, postaweek2013, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, March 9: This week WordPress decided to do something different with the Weekly Photo Challenge.  They are calling it a Phoneography Challenge because we are supposed to take pictures of our neighborhood WITH OUR PHONES.  I don’t have a smart phone, but I do have a new iPad, so I figured I would take the pictures with that.  The challenge is this:

To kick this off, grab your phone and head out the door. That’s right — get on your feet and go outside to explore — and document — where you live. I want to see your neighborhood: The path you take for your daily morning run. Your local coffee shop or dive bar. The nearby alley of street and community art. A shot of the intersection that perfectly captures the bustle of your own corner of town. Or a serene landscape view of your village.

20130309-180829.jpg

the view from the roof of my building across the street in Nizwa

the view from the roof of my building to the east

the view from the roof of my building to the east

20130309-180856.jpg

the view out my back door – a big Omani mansion

20130309-180914.jpg

the milkweed plant next to my kitchen window

20130309-181314.jpg

My neighbor’s laundry hanging on the line on the rooftop

my Omani neighbors' wash hung out to dry on the roof

my Omani neighbors’ wash hung out to dry on the roof

I also went out after taking these photos with my iPad and took a few with my Olympus PEN EPL-1.

Two of my Omani women neighbors taking a walk down the street

Two of my Omani women neighbors taking a walk down the street

the gate to the house catty-corner from me

the gate to the house catty-corner from me

milkweed

milkweed

some other weed outside my kitchen window

some other weed outside my kitchen window

And finally, this picture I took outside my back door a couple of nights ago as the sun was setting.  This one I took with my Olympus camera.

sunset out my back door at the Abu Nooh Building

sunset out my back door at the Abu Nooh Building

Ok, which do you like better?  The ones taken with my iPad or the ones with my camera?  I would prefer to use my camera, as the iPad is very cumbersome and awkward.  Since I don’t have an iPhone, I cannot take pictures using my phone!  I have to say, I’m not really keen on this new challenge, since WordPress is specifying equipment that leaves some of us out of the field of contenders!! 🙂

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the case of oman’s missing calendar

16 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Birthday of Sultan Qaboos, Calendar, Islamic New Year, Oman, Ramadan, University of Nizwa

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Nizwa, Oman, University of Nizwa

Sunday, December 16:  After a year and a quarter of living in Oman, I still haven’t been able to solve the mystery of the missing calendar.  It seems there is NO OFFICIAL CALENDAR in this country at all.   This phenomenon extends even into the universities.  Though the institutions of higher learning make a half-hearted attempt to establish an academic calendar, they make little or no effort to follow it.

In Western countries, a calendar is issued well before the new year begins, specifying all the official holidays for the entire year.   As a matter of fact, I think these calendars are issued years in advance, so that if you want to plan a holiday for 3 or 5 years from today, you can just look at a forward calendar and figure out the best timing.

In the United States, we all know with absolute certainty that New Year’s Day is January 1, Christmas Day is December 25, and Fourth of July is, duh, July 4.  All the other holidays follow on a specific Monday or Friday of the month, such as the third Monday (Martin Luther King Day in January & President’s Day in February), the last Monday (Memorial Day in May), or the first Monday (Labor Day in September).  Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November, and that often means everyone gets off on Friday as well, making for a four-day weekend. While Veteran’s Day is legally on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.

The only holiday that is changeable each year is Easter.  The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal (spring) equinox.

We know that Easter must always occur on a Sunday, because Sunday was the day of Christ’s Resurrection. But why the paschal full moon? Because that was the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover. Therefore, Easter was the Sunday after Passover.

If there were not an official calendar, it could all become very confusing because, in the USA, there are many holidays throughout the year, as you can see from the above.  Westerners would be up in arms if they were left dangling every year wondering when each holiday would be.  We simply wouldn’t tolerate it.  Because we are used to planning our free time ahead of time.  If we want to take a three-day weekend in the mountains or at the beach, we want to know well in advance so we can plan to do just that.

Here is Oman, there is never any certainty as to when any holiday will be.  Of course, most of the big holidays are religious holidays and are based on the sighting of the moon.  Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.  This same logic applies to the other major religious holidays in the Muslim world, Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr.   These holidays, being changeable, can in some ways be likened to how the Easter holiday in America and in the Christian world is determined.

With Easter in the United States, as it falls on a Sunday, which is already the weekend, there are no official days off, although most schools and some universities grant a week-long spring break either before or after Easter. Sometimes this spring break is not related to Easter at all, but it is still ALWAYS granted sometime in the spring. However, whatever holidays these institutions decide to grant are built into the academic calendar well in advance of the actual academic year.  Thus students and faculty know when they can plan a spring holiday getaway.

In addition, in the Western world, the academic calendars are all set well in advance of the academic year, with the start day of classes, the add-drop period, and the final day to drop a class and get either a full or partial tuition refund fully spelled out.  Also spelled out in these academic calendars is the last day of classes, the period of final exams, and the break between semesters.

Well.  NONE OF THIS HAPPENS IN OMAN!! I don’t know about ALL universities in Oman, but I can speak for the University of Nizwa.  And I can speak for how the official government holidays have unfolded in the time that I’ve been here.

This fall, for example, the university calendar said the first day of classes would be October 6.  However, October 6 came and went and there were no sign of students. There were placement tests for many students, who straggled in over a number of days as if they had just been startled out of a long nap.  Then, since many students didn’t know about the placement tests, there were more placement tests for students who didn’t make the first round.

So.  Classes finally half-started on October 15, which was a Monday.  I went to my assigned classes on that Monday only to find no students showed up.  I went again on Tuesday to find one student out of my class list of 26.  Suddenly on Wednesday, we got a brand new class list, with a whole new set of students, and not one of THEM showed up.  Thursday and Friday were the weekend.

Finally, we started real classes on Saturday, October 20.  But by this time, the Eid Al-Adha was only one week away.  This holiday, though written on the academic calendar, is apparently not to be counted on until it’s officially announced by the Chancellor.  This wasn’t announced officially until three days before the Eid began on October 25. Thus, there was really no time to plan a holiday. However, I had taken a gamble in August and booked my ticket to Ethiopia then.  If it hadn’t been announced on the day I thought it would, I could have been in big trouble.  But I didn’t want to wait because of the experience I had the year before.  Last Eid, in 2011,  I waited until the last-minute to book a holiday to Jordan, and because it was so late, all the flights were booked and I couldn’t get on a flight AT ALL until 3 days after the Eid began!

We had our week holiday, and started back to school on Saturday, November 3. By this time we had only completed one week of classes.   The official holiday to celebrate Sultan Qaboos’s birthday is National Day, on November 18.  However, this holiday seems to never be celebrated on this day.  This year, there was an Islamic New Year holiday also around the 14th.  All the faculty at the university was in a quandary as to what days we would be granted these holidays.  In 2011, we got a straight 5 day holiday, three days from work plus the weekend.  This year, they announced at the very last possible minute that we would get Saturday, November 17 off, plus the Thur-Fri weekend of the 15th and 16th, making for a three-day weekend.  At that time I took off for Abu Dhabi.  Then later, we understood we would get additional days off for National Day, but we didn’t know when they would be.  Again, only about 4 days before the holiday, it was announced we would get off Tue-Fri, November 27-30.  By then, it was too late to plan anything, and besides where can you go for 4 days?

Now the big issue is the upcoming break between semesters.  Originally, according to the academic calendar, which is apparently written only in SAND and can easily be blown away by the slightest wind,  January 5 was to be the first day of final exams.  However, surprise, surprise (!), since we had so many holidays in the fall and got such a late start in the semester, now the exams have been pushed back to January 12.  The students have a break on January 19 for one week.  But the faculty is not guaranteed that break.  Last year, we had two weeks between final exams and the start of the spring semester, and we were granted one of those weeks, at the last-minute and “out of the goodness of the administration’s heart,” as a holiday.  This year, we have no idea if we will get it at all.

For a Westerner, this is incredibly frustrating.  None of us can understand why on earth the university, or Oman’s government for that matter, cannot make a calendar and stick to it.  For someone like me, whose sole reason for living and working abroad is to travel, this problem with the calendar drives me absolutely crazy.  It is probably the NUMBER ONE reason I will be leaving Oman by this summer.  If I can’t achieve my travel goals when I live abroad because of such total confusion about holidays, then it is time for me to go back home.

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a glimpse at what teachers wear to the university of nizwa. {fall 2012}

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Foundation Institute, Oman, University of Nizwa

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Life, Nizwa, Oman, University of Nizwa

Sunday, October 7: Often, people who are considering coming to work at the University of Nizwa write to me through my blog to ask various questions about life at the university.  One question people ask me is what people wear to work.  In order to avoid having to answer these questions on an individual basis, I decided to write a post about how teachers dress.

Long skirt, long-sleeve shirt and shayla (headscarf)

Short-sleeve blouse and skirt below the knee

button down shirt and long khaki pants

Saudi dress? I’m not sure here….

For the women, the general rule is that women should be modest, cover their shoulders and wear pants or skirts that fall below the knee.  Some of the women teachers are Muslim and cover their hair.  Others are not, and they do not cover.   Some women are Muslim and don’t cover.  It is an individual choice.  It is not required.

Short sleeve long top with long pants

A variety of dress. Left to right: button down shirt and long pants; Omani dishdasha and mussar; short sleeve collared knit shirt and long pants, long skirt and 3/4 sleeve blouse with scarf.

1) Me with long skirt, 3/4 length sleeves and scarf; 2) nice jeans and polo shirt; 3) long balloon pants and long tunic

long-sleeve button-down shirt, long khaki pants, and cap

The men generally wear collared shirts, or long tunics, or dishdashas if they are Omani.  Some men even go so far as to wear ties.  Shorts, frayed jeans or sloppy T-shirts are generally not acceptable.

women teachers at the university, with long skirts, scarves, long or mid-sleeve tops

short sleeve button-down shirt and long pants

a long sleeve shirt, tie, and long khaki pants

long tunic and long pants

This is just a sampling of different teachers and what they wear, as I cannot put pictures of every single teacher on my blog.  Teachers generally keep the heat in mind when they dress, sticking to lightweight cotton fabrics.  Many people wear sandals year round here, although many people wear close-toed shoes as well.

Indian cotton top with colorful scarf and long pants

long sleeve cardigan and blouse, long pants and headscarf

polo shirt and long khaki pants

long Indian tunic and long loose-fitting pants, cardigan over blouse and capri-length pants, and polo shirt with long pants

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~ wander.essence ~

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Fairfax County Emergency Information

Official Fairfax County Government Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Website

~ wander.essence ~

where travel meets art

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SterVens' Tales

~~~In Case You Didn't Know, I Talk 2 Myself~~~

PIRAN CAFÉ

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snowtoseas

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Slovenian Girl Abroad

A blog about travel adventures written by an Slovenian girl living in Switzerland

Let Me Bite That

Can I have a bite?

Running Stories by Jerry Lewis

Personal blog about running adventures

Finding NYC

exploring New York City one adventure at a time

The World according to Dina

Notes on Seeing, Reading & Writing, Living & Loving in The North

Cornwall Photographic

snippetsandsnaps

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