Everything new and not-so-new

I realize I need to write something while everything is still new, already time is moving so quickly! I've been here about three days and in this short time I've already done too many things to put in one post.

Settling in hasn't been too difficult, my family is very welcoming and the Amideast team (Fatin and Sarah) have been great in helping us get our bearings.

One of the first things we did with Fatin, our coordinator/mentor/maternal figure for our time here, was see the city and visit the palace of Sultan Qaboos, which is definitely majestic-looking.

Of all the things I've seen and experienced since coming--shops, museums, restaurants

--dinosaurs even

--the only thing I've struggled with is coming to grips with the humidity. The moisture here is unlike anything I've ever experienced; it embraces you the second you step off the plane--like a long, uncomfortable, sweaty embrace from an Aunt Bertha whom you haven't seen in years. 

But really, Aunt Bertha isn't all that bad, and I forget about it as get excited about all the cool things I get to do here; even in the midst of a new culture it's been very funny to be surrounded by so many familiar sights

The McWing is ubiquitous no matter where in the world you go

and sounds--I've heard everything from home on the radio here--from Rhianna and Drake to Missy Higgins and the Lumineers. 

Tomorrow I start classes at the Sultan School (here the weekend is Thursday-Friday), which I'm sure will warrant a post in and of itself. 

I'll leave you with the shells my host family has collected from the beach (we live a 2 minute walk away!) which live on my windowsill. I definitely want to collect some of my own too sometime!

I think this has been enough abuse of the hyphen and English grammar in general for one post, so until next time, 

with peace, ma'asalama

PS if you're wondering about the dinosaur, it's from a restaurant we went to called The Jungle. It is kind of like the older brother of the Rain forest Cafe, in that it is much bigger and more elaborate (it actually rained on us) and people are always asking its American counterpart why it couldn't be more like its older sibling ;)