Muscat is no Mobtown

Okay so I know that it is completely unhealthy to dwell on the super-itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-totally-not-even-a-big-deal-mom twinge of homesickness I'm feeling right now---but oh well, I am going to indulge myself.

I miss Mobtown, Charm City, Bawlmer, Hontown that crime-ridden-sinkhole-from-the-wire, that-super-colorful-acid-dream-place-from-Hairspray, the O's, The Ravens even, Natty Boh, crabs, insert stereotype here

I miss Mobtown Ballroom
I miss the unofficial house band The Boilermaker Band
I miss feeling totally boss about my parallel parking skills
I miss the Charles Theater, and Moonrise Kingdom which I never got to see
I miss getting lost in Druid Park and locking my doors on North Avenue
I miss the Fell's point visitors' museum and that guy who built model ships from the War of 1812 
I don't miss Cafe Hon because that shit's touristy
I miss 100% grass fed beef burgers in Hampden 
I miss turning a corner and half expecting to get mugged
I miss crab cakes and lobster and old bay potato chips (okay, I actually never really liked those)
I miss being forbidden from going to Lexington Market 
I miss public art and the mural in Pigtown
I miss The Book Thing and its extensive collection of political analysis regarding the USSR
I miss not being able to find my car after seeing the Artist at midnight and being positive I was going to die on the street that night
I miss O's games and Matt being embarrassed by his Dad
I miss the Soundgarden---physical CDs here are limited to the top 40, legally obtained music is rare, and vinyl...ahahahahahahaa, in your dreams
I miss driving super slow over the cobblestones in Fell's Point and still feeling like my tires are slowly being ripped to pieces
I miss coffee---REAL coffee, brewed in pot, no cream, no sugar
I ridiculously miss swing dancing 
I even miss fadeouts
I miss big band music and failing miserably at lindy and the weird pop songs they play if you stay long enough and generally sexy people who like great music and great dancing
I miss driving South on 95 at ridiculous hours of the night and seeing the exit for New York City...one day

Okay, that was cathartic. Honestly though, I really really love Muscat and being in Oman and like, everything. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than here (okay, maybe if someone wants to teleport me to Cafe Jovial for for a few hours tonight I wouldn't mind--but I'm coming right back to Oman!) I think it's because I had so much fun today that it reminded me of the fun I've have back at home, seriously, today was  a really awesome outdoorsy-adventure picture-taking extravaganza. Anyways, I'll do whole post tomorrow about the beautiful Wadi Shab, the beach at Fins and every awesome cultural thing I've done so far to make up for this triple dose of self-indulgence. Promise.

How I spent my Saturday night

I find myself swimming once again in the murky bog of college applications, and all of them have these ridiculously pretentious essay questions like "In our university we all absolutely love to blah blah blah, please talk about how you also love to..." or "We know 90% of you are privileged suburban kids who have never known struggle, but still try not to sound like a total prick when you describe the greatest challenge you've ever faced."

I wish they would ask more meaningful questions 

Like, what color is this sayara?

Or what is the fish's name? Ma ismuha? 

This little girl was particularly interested in the fish and in taking pictures of them 

Or, in all the government schools in Oman, how many classes exist for children with disabilities?

How many kids have access to early-childhood intervention? 

My "Auntie" Sabah runs the Early Intervention Centre for children with Disibility, an NGO, which is one of the very few that teaches pre-school-aged kids in Oman. I had the chance to go see the school a couple weeks ago, when my host siblings and I went over to help convert an office into a classroom.

It's a cozy little school, pushed into the nooks and crannies of two converted houses; as I walked through hallways filled with murals and wheelchairs I felt like I was back at Cedar Lane, the special education school where my mom teaches. 

A school building may be nice, but without children it has no soul. I've been dying to help out with the kids, and I got my chance this past night. Every Saturday, parents have organized a support group for kids with Down Syndrome. Mostly it's just a disorganized time for the kids to run around the school and the parents to talk to teachers who volunteer their time doing extra physical or speech therapy etc. 

I hung out with the kids, pointing to things, building block towers, and yes, practicing my Arabic. I think I've finally met my linguistic equals in some of these 4-year-olds. 

I love kids because they're so full of life--they've yet to start following societal conventions which tell us to be unimaginative and mistrustful. Most of the those I met last night may never totally learn those conventions, that's why schools like this are so vital. These kids need a safe place to learn how to navigate a world full of people who have lost their wonder and excitement for life. 

But that's the thing, I mentioned that Early Intervention is a cozy space, I think about 5 classrooms, and there's so many families just on the waiting list to come. There's thousands more whose parents don't live near a school like this or who don't know a place like it exists.

It is so fascinating to see a country amidst transition, one that has been rapidly modernizing but which still has so far to go in many respects. I'm really lucky to have a host family that is right on the cusp of much of this change. My Auntie Sabah who runs the school, my host mom who works for World Health Organization, my cousin who is part of the growing arts community, or even my host sister who is wants to be a vet and is passionate about the (nonexistent) animal rights situation here. 

As an visitor, I can't make any sweeping proclamations or optimistic concluding statements about the future of Oman. I've only been here a month, and I while I only have the most rudimentary of understandings of this complex and diverse country, but I'm excited to be along for the ride

In light of recent events in my backyard

I feel silly to follow up the last post, which was so frivolous, with a such serious one, but I feel compelled to speak out in light of all that's been going on and my perspective as someone a little closer to it all than my friends in the states. I'm not sure what kind of coverage it's been getting over there, and I;m certainly neither the most eloquent nor the most qualified person to write on this. If you want better analysis of the recent unrest and attacks surrounding American and European embassies in Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and several others, I suggest al jazeera, BBC news, and particularly this post from RNS which very clearly debunks several misconceptions about the situation.

I don't want to talk about the "film," because that's not what it is---it's hateful propaganda created for the sole purpose of inducing ire. The more we analyze and sensationalize it, the more we're playing into the hands of the people who created it. 

The spark itself is not what matters, what is matters is the fire that follows it. What truly has significance is the action we choose to take in response, be it the response of some extremist terrorists to kill and destroy or our response to that destruction, even just with the formation of stereotypes or predjudices. I want my friends back at home, my family members--the Americans who probably see these news reports as a blip a midst a sea of politicians all vying to give the catchiest sound bite about the "Arab Spring,"--to know that these extremists are not their country. I want them to know that, in the same way that the people who created this hate-speech in the first place are not America, the people storming the embassy in Tunis are not Tunisia. 

Something my host family was discussing, as we watched the news unfold on Al Jazeera this evening, is that, yes, we all understand that the US has nothing to do with some video on youtube; my family and I are well-educated, Oman is well-educated, Oman hasn't been struggling under a repressive regime for the past four decades. My host Dad points out that half these guys protesting in Sudan don't even watch youtube. Many are just following the crowd, many angry at their own government, many unemployed. As educated people, we need to resist the easy route of generalizing and blaming everything on one cause or one people. 

As onlookers, it's paramount we remember that "Truth resists complexity." When you delve into the reports on these riots, you see that even those protesting are not homogeneous; in many cases protests are or begin as peaceful and separate factions are responsible for the violence. Particularly in the instance of the murders in Libya, it is widely speculated that these were not spontaneous acts in response to outrage, but rather planned terrorism with likely links to Al Qaeda.

What I want people to know is this: in the same way that the KKK and Westboro "baptist church" are not Christianity, the people inciting this violence are not Islam. It's a message that needs spreading even outside the context of recent events. I speak to my own experiences and knowledge of America, to the comments and articles I have seen regarding the aforementioned events, when I say that, as a country, we desperately need to have more complex, more diverse, more middle-ground picture of Muslims. Those who sensationalize minority factions and hold stereotypes based on the actions of extremists, forfeit their right to take part in rational dialogue, no matter what side they are on. 

The things I've learned so far

Number of blog posts I've started: 7

Number of blog posts I've finished: 0  1!

Sorry guys, I'm trying harder now that life and schedules has settled down a bit. Since I've been going to school now for about 2 weeks I thought I'd talk about everything I've learned so far. 

1. Omani time = [(the time you said you would be somewhere + number of people you're cramming into your SUV) ^ the number of minutes away you claim to be] / 2

2. Gangnum style is THE style 

3. Navy-blue floor-length polyester uniform jumpers are super awesome except for the times when the sun exists.

4. Socializing in the common room, water balloon fights, smashing birthday cake onto peoples' faces, dance parties and silly string battles are both strictly and particularly banned at The Sultan's School due to a long history with all the above.

5. Swings are fun but you are too old and dignified to play on them.

6. I remember embarrassingly little of Al-Kitab's vocabulary.

7. Walking from English to Economics is basically the same as crossing the Arabian desert. 

So. much. sun.

8. UNO is not the mild-mannered card game you once thought it to be.

you can't tell from the picture, but a lot of screaming is going on 

9. The entire world watches Game of Thrones

11. Sometimes when you try to make a video for the state department showing how much of a successful exchange student you are and not only are people's responses not the cheesy one-line quips you were hoping for but the administration walks in and confiscates your ipod in the middle of your video (but it's okay--you get it back)

Not exactly the sentiment I was going for, but this is what you get when you point a camera at sarcastic high school students :)

12. Sometimes you get so excited that you're about to actually finish a blog post that you skip a number

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 ;)

Adventures in learning Arabic

"WAKE UP AND SMELL THE....!?!"

"HUMMUS!!"
By now as an Arabic class we have learned the appropriate response to whenever my Arabic teacher decides to shout this at us. It's our favorite food and his favorite line from Disney's Aladdin. And he quotes it, frequently. Usually when we look too tired or aren't being enthusiastic enough. So, very frequently.

here we are "fareq al hummus," all dressed up for sports day

We even named ourselves "team hummus" for sports day. 

It's all part of the Startalk program-- language classes funded by a federal grant that gives high school students college credit to take a "critical language" (Chinese, Arabic, Persian or Hindi) through a local university or community college. 

Oh look, here we are on the local news, and look they kind of interviewed me:

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

It's my second year doing the program, last year I took 101, and because they got an extra grant this year they expanded the program to include the 102 I'm taking this summer.

And of course with extra grant funding comes extra ambitious field trips. 

Earlier this month, we went to DC to look at some Arab/Persian Art and point to the Arab/Persian art and say "Arab and Persian Art" in Arabic. And then we clapped for ourselves. In Arabic.

A door! Maybe! But definitely art! 

Closeup of an old plate depicting people killing each other on horses! Art! 

I call this one the "the best picture I have ever taken or has ever been taken with an ipod camera"

My group for the day, plus Alaa, our TA

In addition to learning important vocabulary like the words for dragon and statue (tineen and timthal) we did other museum-appropriate things like scavenger hunts or practicing verb commands by yelling directions in Arabic as a blindfolded student tried to find their way through the gallery.

More recently we went on another field trip to New York City. Although the city doesn't really have a "Little Arabia" or anything comparable to say Chinatown, the street we were on had a bunch of shops with signs in Arabic and people who would stop and talk to our teachers in Arabic when they saw a bunch of teenagers making a big deal over reading "half-priced falafel" off a sign.

Generic-group-shot-where-you-can't-tell-that-we're-in-New-York

Being the social Lebanese man that he is, our teacher would pretty much strike up a conversation with anyone he saw on the street. He'd then have us all talk to his new best friend with our limited Arabic, quizzing them on their names, their father's names, their father's uncle's names, etc. Like I said, limited vocabulary. The funniest part was that everyone we talked to acted like it was the most natural thing in the world to strike up a conversation with a random stranger, I guess it's a cultural thing. 

In addition to accosting random strangers we got to order food in Arabic and attempt to make small talk with some of the shop owners. Then we piled back in the bus for the 4 hour ride back home.

I found this sign funny because "Mashalla" roughly means "Godwilling." I've been told you say it all the time in  Arabic, but I didn't realize that extended to shop sign too!

One more week left of class then camp then vacation then frantic packing and buying of unnecessary things that I will end up not taking with me then OMAN!

Little slice of Americana

Family, fireworks, and food--all tied up in a big red white and blue bow--the 4th of July is one of the more simple holidays. And despite the crazy heat that's been plaguing the East Coast, I managed to have a lovely day. The current weather has made me acutely aware that a code-red-heat-advisory-100-degree-call-in-FEMA-stay-inside-and-check-on-your-old-people kind of day in the US is just another sunny July day in Oman, but I'm trying not to dwell on unavoidable little facts like that. 

The morning of Independence Day found me a standing on the side of a road, watching our annual neighborhood parade, where people celebrating our nation's birth by staking out their patriotic chairs,

decking out their cars, 

waving to their children,

 and listening to some good 'ol fashioned brass music played from a truck bed.

 

After the parade (and more kebabs than could be good for anyone's health) I headed out to the fireworks with some friends. There, my camera continued to be a disgrace to photography everywhere. 

And as I watched thousands of dollars explode into pretty colored lights in the sky, I couldn't help but get a little bit caught up in the sometimes loud, sometimes excessive, always heartfelt 'merican spirit. What can I say? It's infectious. 

How was your 4th?