I'm going to Lulu's today to check out the clothes. I'm thinking of getting an abaya. We need to cover ourselves from knees to elbows, and an abaya is easier and often cooler (weather wise). (At some point I'll get the pictures up - had technical difficulties.) Speaking of which - the Khareef started today (al-hamdulillah!) The weather is cloudy and rainy - not big rain but little tiny rain. But it doesn't really feel humid, it feels cooler.
We had our first lecture last night - completely in Arabic. I didn't understand most of what he said. But he brought us a gift - we all got some frankincense to take home, or eat. Apparently you can eat it? I think it's just tree sap, so that sort of makes sense. I didn't try any though.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Express Yourself (but not with botox!)
We have expressed our discontent, and the program has listened! Our new schedule is: lunch ends at 2:10, then we split into 2 groups. One group meets with peer facilitator from 2:10-3:30, the other from 3:40-5:00. And school ends at 5pm. We are MOST happy with this. Now we actually have time for homework, or wireless, or whatever, so that we don't spend the ENTIRE day till bedtime doing Arabic (I love Arabic, but after a while I need a break).
My conversational Arabic is starting to pick up. I get a little nervous when I have to talk - basically stage fright. It's weird. If the teacher is asking someone else a question, I can answer it, but when they ask me, I get freaked out and forget what I was thinking. I've never had that problem in a class before, only in Arabic. It's getting better now, slowly. I'm hoping it will be completely gone by the time we're done here.
My conversational Arabic is starting to pick up. I get a little nervous when I have to talk - basically stage fright. It's weird. If the teacher is asking someone else a question, I can answer it, but when they ask me, I get freaked out and forget what I was thinking. I've never had that problem in a class before, only in Arabic. It's getting better now, slowly. I'm hoping it will be completely gone by the time we're done here.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Lecture Day
Today is going to be a you-know-what. Our normal school day is
8:00 bus to school
8:30 class with teacher
15 minute break
12:30 lunch
2:30 class with "peer facilitators" (students at the university)
5:30 bus to hotel
On Sundays, we have a lecture from 7:00-9:00 pm on something Arabic or Islamic. So today, I'll be at school until 9:00 pm. And every few weeks, we take a couple of days off school and go on a field trip to a nearby region.
8:00 bus to school
8:30 class with teacher
15 minute break
12:30 lunch
2:30 class with "peer facilitators" (students at the university)
5:30 bus to hotel
On Sundays, we have a lecture from 7:00-9:00 pm on something Arabic or Islamic. So today, I'll be at school until 9:00 pm. And every few weeks, we take a couple of days off school and go on a field trip to a nearby region.
First Day of School
It was very very long. School was from 8:30-11:00, then a meeting till 12:00, then our 30 minute tour took over an hour, then lunch, then class till 5:30. We got home about 6:00 and had 8 homework exercises to do, plus vocabulary. Ack! Luckily, there's a cheap coffee shop right next to the hotel. I got a chicken sandwich - chicken, parsley, tomato, hot sauce (I asked for no ketchup) on a piece of Arab bread. It's small, but it was 250 baisa - about 65 cents. A soda was 100 baisa. I bought a 24 pack of water (12 oz I think) at Lulu's for 1.2 baisa. That's good, because apparently we have to feed ourselves, except for breakfast. They said we'd have lunch at the university, but they meant that we would be buying our own. Luckily, their cafeteria is just as cheap as the coffee shop. It's also segregated, as is the computer lab I'm in. There's even 2 entrances to each complex. Each building is a walled villa, with lawn, etc. and has a big front gate, with an entrance on each side of the gate. And male and female guards at their respective entrance. That's one thing I will give the Omanis. The women do cover up, but they do everything the men do - just not always together. But the women do work regular jobs too. As cashiers, waitresses, teachers, etc. You don't really see that in places like the UAE. There, it's the Southeast Asians who do all the work. They're here too, but the Omanis still work.
Free Day!
It's our first totally free day. And of course, it was a Friday. Friday is the Muslim holy day, and the 2nd day of the weekend over here. I got up early and had breakfast, but by the time we all got going it was almost noon. And everything starts closing at 11:30-1:00 and doesn't open up again until 4:30-5:00 pm. A group of us decided to go to the beach, which is somewhat forbidden. You can't swim at this time of the year, because the monsoon weather is affiliated with a big undertow. Last year 7 Europeans drowned. The program people kept telling us not to go near the beach, you'll get sucked in, it's foggy and you might not see where you are going, yadda yadda yadda. So we went to the beach and the waves were nice. I love to listen to them. They were probably 3-4 feet high. We wandered the beach awhile, but I needed lunch (1 pm then) and a few people hadn't had breakfast, so we caught a taxi to the Hilton. (Yes, I know, but they have wireless and AC.) The Hilton is just what you'd expect, so I'm glad we're at an Omani hotel. But I did get to check e-mail!
Later we caught a taxi back to town and did some looking around and shopped at Lulu's (the Indian Wal-Mart). Salalah is somewhat small. The airport in Musqat is probably a little bigger than the Fayetteville airport. Well, Salalah is the Monroe airport. There's a lot less traffic too. We had fun in the taxis. We spoke Arabic to the drivers, and they were pretty excited and taught us new words. One of them got a little exasperated with us, but in a humorous way.
Later we caught a taxi back to town and did some looking around and shopped at Lulu's (the Indian Wal-Mart). Salalah is somewhat small. The airport in Musqat is probably a little bigger than the Fayetteville airport. Well, Salalah is the Monroe airport. There's a lot less traffic too. We had fun in the taxis. We spoke Arabic to the drivers, and they were pretty excited and taught us new words. One of them got a little exasperated with us, but in a humorous way.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Oman Air Rocks!!!
Okay, so our plane leaves at 3:30 pm and arrives in Salalah at 4:45 pm. What would normally happen on an airplane? I'm pretty sure they would not feed you dinner! Yes, dinner! I had lamb and potatoes in some kind of tomato-ish sauce over pasta. The meal included a salad (cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, feta), half a slice of pita bread (I guess I should go back to calling it Arab bread), and some kind of dessert. It was pudding-ish (tapioca-ish) with coconut shavings on top. I didn't really like it. The water was pre-packaged courtesy of tanufwater.com of Oman.
Also, the soda cans over here still have pop-tops, and I think they're made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Frank: I regret to inform you that I have eaten lamb almost every day. In fact, I think I have eaten it every day. Ummmm.....lamb......
Also, the soda cans over here still have pop-tops, and I think they're made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Frank: I regret to inform you that I have eaten lamb almost every day. In fact, I think I have eaten it every day. Ummmm.....lamb......
Leaving for Salalah
This morning was fun. We checked out at noon, and the buses were supposed to get us at 12:30. Well, it took a long time to get all our luggage loaded, so we didn't leave till after 1:00. We got to the airport about 1:30, and the greyhound-style bus was even later. Then we had to collect our luggage and go inside. You go through a big security thing, passengers only, where they scan your luggage and carry-ons. They did let me bring my water through though. Then you go to the check-in desk and they give you your boarding pass and take your ticket. Then you go through another passengers only check, and another security scan. And then you're finally there! I'm at the gate now, and it's almost 2:30. Our plane leaves at 3:30 – Oman Air.
Souking Again
The souk is bigger than I thought. I managed to find a side branch that took me almost all the way back to the hotel. It was smaller, and the hawkers were more insistent. I also had something weird happen. I've been going around by myself, wearing loose pants and a headscarf. No problem. This morning I did the same. About half-way to the souk, I ran into Chris, a guy from the program. He stopped and said hi and I told him where I was going. Well, this Indian-looking guy had been walking along and when he saw me talk to Chris he stopped and turned and stared at me. Then he started to follow me. At first I thought maybe he was just going to the souk, like me. I went into a money changer's office, and I was there for 5-10 minutes. When I came out, I saw him again, and he started following me. My first thought was “purse snatcher” but since he kept staring at me, I started to think maybe he thought I was a prostitute? We did have a guy follow our group to the souk yesterday, telling us he had great pashminas, but this guy never did that. It kinda creeped me out. As soon as I got to the souk, I found a shop and ducked inside to look at pashminas. He stayed for a few minutes, then finally left. It worked out great though, because I found a beautiful pashmina!
Third Day Orientation
Just got back from our bus tour – it's really really really really hot! Took lots of photos (of course!). This is our last night in Musqat. Tomorrow we fly to Salalah – and Internet access, inshallah.
Also today, the Omanis' true driving colors came out. They're just as crazy as everyone else. And while it does take skill to weave a mini-bus in and out of traffic, it takes true talent to do that with a Greyhound! Apparently, if you're trying to change lanes, you honk at the person in your way and then start moving over. At least we were in the big vehicle!
An interesting side note: there is supposed to be a synagogue in town. And when I was at the souk, the store where I shopped also sold Star of David pendants.
Also today, the Omanis' true driving colors came out. They're just as crazy as everyone else. And while it does take skill to weave a mini-bus in and out of traffic, it takes true talent to do that with a Greyhound! Apparently, if you're trying to change lanes, you honk at the person in your way and then start moving over. At least we were in the big vehicle!
An interesting side note: there is supposed to be a synagogue in town. And when I was at the souk, the store where I shopped also sold Star of David pendants.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
More First Day1
When we ate at midnight, it was 37C. At breakfast it was 39C. Mid-afternoon was 41C. That sucks. The shops here do close from 1-4pm for the heat. I'm not sure if that's year-round or just a summer thing. People are up really late in this area, eating and shopping. The tailor by our hotel was still open at 1:30 am last night (this morning?).
We found a great place to eat. It's a restaurant on the 2nd floor, by the entrance to the souk. It's called Nice View Restaurant, and it's run by some Syrians. Most of the other restaurants we've seen are run by Indians, and they don't always speak Arabic, so we may frequent this place for a while so we can practice Arabic. Also, the view is nice, there's a little fan/AC unit (this is all open-air terrace), and the food's okay too. It's a good price, and the mango and lime-mint juices were really good! I'm starting to get into mango juice.
The souk was fabulous!!!! The souk I went to in Dubai was mainly the Gold Souk, and it was pretty neat, but I haven't really been to a regular souk in a long long time. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow. It's very long and narrow, but some of the shops are quite big on the inside. There's one main artery, which forks, and there are some smaller passages all along the big arteries. Everyone wants to sell you a pashmina and frankincense. They also have Iranian saffron. I found some cool stuff for myself and bought some gifts. I won't giveaway the gifts, but as for me, I got a heavy silver necklace, a turquoise and silver ring (cheaper than Albuquerque), and a camel incense holder with fake jewels in it. I really will try to upload some pictures soon. So far I haven't had much Internet access.
(Apparently the souk is not nearly as big as Cairo or Damascus, but I love it!)
We found a great place to eat. It's a restaurant on the 2nd floor, by the entrance to the souk. It's called Nice View Restaurant, and it's run by some Syrians. Most of the other restaurants we've seen are run by Indians, and they don't always speak Arabic, so we may frequent this place for a while so we can practice Arabic. Also, the view is nice, there's a little fan/AC unit (this is all open-air terrace), and the food's okay too. It's a good price, and the mango and lime-mint juices were really good! I'm starting to get into mango juice.
The souk was fabulous!!!! The souk I went to in Dubai was mainly the Gold Souk, and it was pretty neat, but I haven't really been to a regular souk in a long long time. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow. It's very long and narrow, but some of the shops are quite big on the inside. There's one main artery, which forks, and there are some smaller passages all along the big arteries. Everyone wants to sell you a pashmina and frankincense. They also have Iranian saffron. I found some cool stuff for myself and bought some gifts. I won't giveaway the gifts, but as for me, I got a heavy silver necklace, a turquoise and silver ring (cheaper than Albuquerque), and a camel incense holder with fake jewels in it. I really will try to upload some pictures soon. So far I haven't had much Internet access.
(Apparently the souk is not nearly as big as Cairo or Damascus, but I love it!)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
First Day Orientation
They gave us breakfast at the hotel. Orange drink with real orange pieces in it, omelet (more like an egg crepe, folded over), toast, jam, tea, and instant coffee crystals. It was fine. The lunch at the Haffa Hotel, though, was excellent. A huge buffet of everything! Mutton and rice, fried hammur (which is supposed to be grouper, but tasted better than any I've had in the states), a huge bank of salads (excellent tabouli, cucumber salad), hummus, huge fruit spread, etc. It was really really good. Since this is the hotel brand we're staying at in Salalah, I'm pretty excited.
A few things to note:
We had several guests today at our orientation. The Embassy security officer said that Oman is probably the safest place in the Middle East. I'm thinking there must be something in the water. Everyone is really nice and polite. Apparently they maintain that calm, even after traffic accidents. It's very soothing. I think that's it for now. Got to go back to orientation. At least now I have Internet access though!
A few things to note:
We had several guests today at our orientation. The Embassy security officer said that Oman is probably the safest place in the Middle East. I'm thinking there must be something in the water. Everyone is really nice and polite. Apparently they maintain that calm, even after traffic accidents. It's very soothing. I think that's it for now. Got to go back to orientation. At least now I have Internet access though!
Oman Hotel
We're staying at the Naseem hotel on the Corniche (photos to follow). I'm on the 3rd floor, and the elevator doesn't work. And 3rd floor means Ground floor plus 3 more flights of stairs. The room is small and I'm sharing it with 2 other grad students. There are 2 twin beds, and a mattress on the floor between them. The bathroom has a shower, with hand-held attachment, and no shower curtain. The toilet also has a hand-held attachment ;)
After we got in, we had to wait for our luggage to get to the hotel, so most of us went out to eat. We wandered down the Corniche to the neon lights. At this point, I want to explain how money works in Oman. In the Gulf, local money is usually tied to a fixed exchange rate with the American dollar. In many countries, $1 is about 3.67 dirhams (or whatever). In Oman, it's backwards. One Omani rial is approximately $2.60. My dinner cost 1.3 rials. It was 1 rial for the Pepsi, which I thought was expensive – but it did come in a fluted glass. And it was 0.3 rials for my small chicken shwarma. (It was late, so I ordered a small one.) It was about 6 inches long, and 1 inch in diameter. And at 0.3 rials, that's like 85 cents. It was also pretty good. The 0.3 rials is not in coin form, it's in bills. They have regular bills, and then some smaller-sized bills that are 100 biasa each (10 of those is 1 rial).
After eating, showering, we didn't get to bed till 1:45 am, local time. I called Frank to say I was alive and well, then crashed. Breakfast this morning is at 7:00 am, then at 8 am we go to orientation at a different hotel (we're staying here so we can get the experience).
Another interesting thing is that they don't have napkins here. They use Kleenex – pardon me, facial tissue. There are boxes on every restaurant table, and that's what you use.
After we got in, we had to wait for our luggage to get to the hotel, so most of us went out to eat. We wandered down the Corniche to the neon lights. At this point, I want to explain how money works in Oman. In the Gulf, local money is usually tied to a fixed exchange rate with the American dollar. In many countries, $1 is about 3.67 dirhams (or whatever). In Oman, it's backwards. One Omani rial is approximately $2.60. My dinner cost 1.3 rials. It was 1 rial for the Pepsi, which I thought was expensive – but it did come in a fluted glass. And it was 0.3 rials for my small chicken shwarma. (It was late, so I ordered a small one.) It was about 6 inches long, and 1 inch in diameter. And at 0.3 rials, that's like 85 cents. It was also pretty good. The 0.3 rials is not in coin form, it's in bills. They have regular bills, and then some smaller-sized bills that are 100 biasa each (10 of those is 1 rial).
After eating, showering, we didn't get to bed till 1:45 am, local time. I called Frank to say I was alive and well, then crashed. Breakfast this morning is at 7:00 am, then at 8 am we go to orientation at a different hotel (we're staying here so we can get the experience).
Another interesting thing is that they don't have napkins here. They use Kleenex – pardon me, facial tissue. There are boxes on every restaurant table, and that's what you use.
Oman!
First impressions – Woohoo!!!!
We arrived and walked down some stairs to a bus, that drove us to the terminal building. There we stood in line at the currency changer, because that's where you paid for your visas. Then we got stamped and headed out. The airport is pretty small. I mean, Muscat is the capital city, so I was expecting something bigger. Maybe like Dubai in the old days. Nope – I think they had 3 luggage carousels, and then you put your luggage through an x-ray machine and walked out the door to where everyone was waiting. In some ways it reminded me of the Monroe airport (Monroe, La.) except prettier. It was also very calm and relaxed. The Omanis were very matter of fact, and competent. And there were women working at the currency changer – in covered clothing.
After that, we got out, met our director-type person (former Peace Corp couple), and headed off to the hotel. It was a great ride! We saw a lot of the city. Including a number of Shell-McDonald's and LuLu the Indian Hypermarket. The roads were large and the people seemed to know how to drive – which is somewhat unusual in the Arab world.
We arrived and walked down some stairs to a bus, that drove us to the terminal building. There we stood in line at the currency changer, because that's where you paid for your visas. Then we got stamped and headed out. The airport is pretty small. I mean, Muscat is the capital city, so I was expecting something bigger. Maybe like Dubai in the old days. Nope – I think they had 3 luggage carousels, and then you put your luggage through an x-ray machine and walked out the door to where everyone was waiting. In some ways it reminded me of the Monroe airport (Monroe, La.) except prettier. It was also very calm and relaxed. The Omanis were very matter of fact, and competent. And there were women working at the currency changer – in covered clothing.
After that, we got out, met our director-type person (former Peace Corp couple), and headed off to the hotel. It was a great ride! We saw a lot of the city. Including a number of Shell-McDonald's and LuLu the Indian Hypermarket. The roads were large and the people seemed to know how to drive – which is somewhat unusual in the Arab world.
More Travel
At Heathrow I decided I needed a real breakfast, with protein in it. Apparently if you want that you need to go to the pub, so I did. I had the traditional breakfast – and no, I couldn't finish it all. It consists of an egg, 1 sausage link, 1 big slice of bacon (more like Canadian bacon), baked beans, toast (butter on the side), and a tomato.
They had some good shops I'd like to hit on the way back- cigar store, World of Whiskey, etc. I wanted to take a photo of the Whiskey shop, but I figured I'd better ask first. They said Heathrow did not allow photography.
They had some good shops I'd like to hit on the way back- cigar store, World of Whiskey, etc. I wanted to take a photo of the Whiskey shop, but I figured I'd better ask first. They said Heathrow did not allow photography.
I'm here!
I will try to get this posted before my computer runs out of juice. I'm at the orientation hotel (the only place with wireless, or anything) so far. Also, Blogger is in Arabic, so hopefully this is correct.
We left Dulles at 7 pm and got in to Heathrow about 7 am. It was rather amusing. We didn't go to a gate, but more like a parking lot. We walked down these tube stairs and got on buses to get to the terminal. Then we had to change terminals. I didn't realize that meant going through another level of security – I ended up having to ditch my unopened bottle of water from DC. I also set off the metal detector. Not sure why – I always go fine through the US ones. After I set it off, a security woman, youngish, asked if she could search me. Then she gently patted me down, talking to me the entire time: how are you today, having a good trip, yada yada yada. That's seems a bit different from US security.
I was fairly impressed with British Airways. They are constantly trying to feed you! I mean, we took off from DC at 7 pm. Seven pm! They gave us a snack and a drink (the snack was salsa flavored pretzel bits and I actually liked them! I hate pretzels). After they picked up trash, they started serving dinner! I got the chicken, which was cut up bits of chicken with mashed potatoes, carrots, a few pea-like things, and gravy. It came with spring water, but when they gave us our snack we had the option of getting a small bottle of wine then. I also found that amusing since many of our group are undergrads, some pretty young.
Frank – a special announcement for you and my parents. I think I ate cheesecake! The desert smelled like cheese, but tasted like lemon, and it had a graham cracker crust. And it was delicious! (Frank has spent the last 10 years trying to acclimatize me to cheese – I'm not very fond of it.)
So we had a snack, then supper. After supper they bring tea and coffee around. Real tea in a teapot, not a little bag and hot water. Then, a few hours later we get breakfast. A box with croissant, jam, juice, etc. in it. And then another hour and it's time to land.
The same thing happened on our trip from Heathrow to Muscat. Snack (salsa-flavored pretzel bits), then supper – this time I had the option of Lamb Machbous, which I took! It was sort of Indian, I think. And very very yummy!
We left Dulles at 7 pm and got in to Heathrow about 7 am. It was rather amusing. We didn't go to a gate, but more like a parking lot. We walked down these tube stairs and got on buses to get to the terminal. Then we had to change terminals. I didn't realize that meant going through another level of security – I ended up having to ditch my unopened bottle of water from DC. I also set off the metal detector. Not sure why – I always go fine through the US ones. After I set it off, a security woman, youngish, asked if she could search me. Then she gently patted me down, talking to me the entire time: how are you today, having a good trip, yada yada yada. That's seems a bit different from US security.
I was fairly impressed with British Airways. They are constantly trying to feed you! I mean, we took off from DC at 7 pm. Seven pm! They gave us a snack and a drink (the snack was salsa flavored pretzel bits and I actually liked them! I hate pretzels). After they picked up trash, they started serving dinner! I got the chicken, which was cut up bits of chicken with mashed potatoes, carrots, a few pea-like things, and gravy. It came with spring water, but when they gave us our snack we had the option of getting a small bottle of wine then. I also found that amusing since many of our group are undergrads, some pretty young.
Frank – a special announcement for you and my parents. I think I ate cheesecake! The desert smelled like cheese, but tasted like lemon, and it had a graham cracker crust. And it was delicious! (Frank has spent the last 10 years trying to acclimatize me to cheese – I'm not very fond of it.)
So we had a snack, then supper. After supper they bring tea and coffee around. Real tea in a teapot, not a little bag and hot water. Then, a few hours later we get breakfast. A box with croissant, jam, juice, etc. in it. And then another hour and it's time to land.
The same thing happened on our trip from Heathrow to Muscat. Snack (salsa-flavored pretzel bits), then supper – this time I had the option of Lamb Machbous, which I took! It was sort of Indian, I think. And very very yummy!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Not Yahoo!
Fuginay, blogger works. I couldn't use my pop e-mail, or Yahoo, or even UArk! They just sit and do nothing.
We're at the gate! We had a lovely 45 minute ride to Dulles, on a bus with almost no air. Then a 30-40 minutes line at security. There were actually 2 lines, but the other one moved 3-4 times faster than my line. I am not joking. When I finally got to the front, a TSA dude was saying to get more people there because our line wasn't moving. Then I had a long walk and bus and walk to another terminal. The "bus" is one of those big platforms that you walk into and they drive you to the other side of the airport. Cool! I kept thinking it would be good transportation in case of a zombie attack (yes, I'm a geek).
Anyhoo, I may be dehydrated and rambling a bit. It is almost impossible to get ice tea here! I found a place down from the gate with a Lipton ice tea machine. I stood in line, while the slow-ass dude conversed with the customer in front of me, and finally made it up to the front.
ME: I'd like a large ice tea.
IDIOT: [gets funny look on face] It's in the bottle. (He had a slow, almost surfer accent.)
ME: But there's a machine for ice tea right there.
IDIOT: Oh, that doesn't work. It hasn't worked for a while.
ME: You've got to be kidding me. [a bit testy]
IDIOT: You're like the first person to ask for ice tea in 3 weeks. [smiles]
ME: [shakes head, walks away muttering to myself about being in the middle of nowhere]
Anyway, I finally got my tea at a To Go part of a restaurant. They didn't even have ice tea at the orientation! At the catered lunch I had to ask someone for an iced tea. The girl from North Carolina saw me and asked me where I'd gotten it and we commiserated over the lack of civilization in this part of the country.
We're at the gate! We had a lovely 45 minute ride to Dulles, on a bus with almost no air. Then a 30-40 minutes line at security. There were actually 2 lines, but the other one moved 3-4 times faster than my line. I am not joking. When I finally got to the front, a TSA dude was saying to get more people there because our line wasn't moving. Then I had a long walk and bus and walk to another terminal. The "bus" is one of those big platforms that you walk into and they drive you to the other side of the airport. Cool! I kept thinking it would be good transportation in case of a zombie attack (yes, I'm a geek).
Anyhoo, I may be dehydrated and rambling a bit. It is almost impossible to get ice tea here! I found a place down from the gate with a Lipton ice tea machine. I stood in line, while the slow-ass dude conversed with the customer in front of me, and finally made it up to the front.
ME: I'd like a large ice tea.
IDIOT: [gets funny look on face] It's in the bottle. (He had a slow, almost surfer accent.)
ME: But there's a machine for ice tea right there.
IDIOT: Oh, that doesn't work. It hasn't worked for a while.
ME: You've got to be kidding me. [a bit testy]
IDIOT: You're like the first person to ask for ice tea in 3 weeks. [smiles]
ME: [shakes head, walks away muttering to myself about being in the middle of nowhere]
Anyway, I finally got my tea at a To Go part of a restaurant. They didn't even have ice tea at the orientation! At the catered lunch I had to ask someone for an iced tea. The girl from North Carolina saw me and asked me where I'd gotten it and we commiserated over the lack of civilization in this part of the country.
Testing
I got logged on to AT&T at the airport, but can't send or receive e-mail. I can't even send webmail!!! This is a test.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Must..blog..before..lose...wifi...
The hotel wifi sucks. Really, it sucks. I couldn't even get it on the 2nd floor earlier today. We had orientation all day, till now. Learned a few things, learned some old things, wondered if it would ever end, the usual stuff. Did get some interesting info though. One of our speakers said she'd been checking the weather this morning. In Nizwa (northern interior) it was 109 degrees. In Muscat (northeast coast) it was 99 degrees. In Salalah, it was 84 degrees. I may be cooler than Fayetteville! Not much else to report right now. I'm tired, so I'm going to take a break. And I'm not sure if I want to pay for another night of wifi, so you may not hear from me for a while. We leave tomorrow evening, and it will take pretty much a day to get there. If I go out tomorrow and find a hotspot I'll update, otherwise, I'll see you in Oman!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Hotel
We're staying at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel. It's not bad. It's one of those hotels that's more upscale, but we're in the cheaper rooms. (Kind of like the student rooms for MESA at the Hyatt in Boston.) The floor I'm on does have a swimming pool, which seemed to excite people.
I had to pay $10.95 for 24 hours of wifi, but I seem to be in the middle of a hotel wasteland. Maybe tomorrow I can find a coffee shop somewhere, but right now I'm jonesing for my Internet.
I met a girl in the program at the airport, and she had met another one, so we shared a mini-van cab to the hotel. Grand total: $16.80. Not bad at all!
We have a "meet and greet" soon, and that's it for tonight. Tomorrow is full up though: breakfast, meetings, luncheon, meetings, dinner reception. Then I have Saturday free until about 3 pm. So I may actually get to explore DC a bit. Cool!
I had to pay $10.95 for 24 hours of wifi, but I seem to be in the middle of a hotel wasteland. Maybe tomorrow I can find a coffee shop somewhere, but right now I'm jonesing for my Internet.
I met a girl in the program at the airport, and she had met another one, so we shared a mini-van cab to the hotel. Grand total: $16.80. Not bad at all!
We have a "meet and greet" soon, and that's it for tonight. Tomorrow is full up though: breakfast, meetings, luncheon, meetings, dinner reception. Then I have Saturday free until about 3 pm. So I may actually get to explore DC a bit. Cool!
Atlanta to Washington, DC
12:45 pm (Eastern time)
The flight from Fayetteville to Atlanta wasn't bad at all. I haven't flown Delta in probably decades, and they were actually good. The flight attendant was nice. She offered me a choice of peanuts/cookies/crackers, and since I flew in the middle of the week, the seat next to me was empty. Even the Atlanta airport wasn't bad. We arrived early, and I grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-a. And you gotta love a town that only offers one type of tea – sweet! (So much for staying off of sugar.) Currently I'm on the flight to DC. Still Delta, still not bad. Same snack choice, but they also have alcohol. The seats are different but they aren't any larger. Maybe a bit longer, where your legs hit. And I got my window seat on both legs of the trip. I'm also growing fond of my neck pillow. I've never used one before, but I do like to relax and it's good for leaning against the bulkhead too. They also have real tea on the plane. I asked them what kind of tea they had, figuring it was Nestea in a can, and they came up with hot water and a tea bag. It takes so little to make me happy....and tea will do it. Luckily, I'm going to a tea-drinking part of the world!
The flight from Fayetteville to Atlanta wasn't bad at all. I haven't flown Delta in probably decades, and they were actually good. The flight attendant was nice. She offered me a choice of peanuts/cookies/crackers, and since I flew in the middle of the week, the seat next to me was empty. Even the Atlanta airport wasn't bad. We arrived early, and I grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-a. And you gotta love a town that only offers one type of tea – sweet! (So much for staying off of sugar.) Currently I'm on the flight to DC. Still Delta, still not bad. Same snack choice, but they also have alcohol. The seats are different but they aren't any larger. Maybe a bit longer, where your legs hit. And I got my window seat on both legs of the trip. I'm also growing fond of my neck pillow. I've never used one before, but I do like to relax and it's good for leaning against the bulkhead too. They also have real tea on the plane. I asked them what kind of tea they had, figuring it was Nestea in a can, and they came up with hot water and a tea bag. It takes so little to make me happy....and tea will do it. Luckily, I'm going to a tea-drinking part of the world!
Fayetteville to Atlanta
8:30 in the morning and I'm already mad. The State Department sent us an e-mail asking us to keep our luggage down to 1 suitcase and 1 carry-on for logistical purposes. Silly me, I tried to comply. I ended up with 1 large suitcase (large!), but my Arabic books wouldn't fit in it, so I put them in my intended carry-on. That alone was 27 pounds! So I ended up with 1 large suitcase, a carry-on of books that I checked, and my regular carry-on and, of course, my purse. Now, if you're traveling overseas you are allowed 2 pieces of checked luggage. But my ticket only goes to DC, and I had to check in electronically, so I only got 1 piece – there went $25 for my checked carry-on. The attendant weighed my large suitcase, and it was 65 pounds – there went $80. Eighty-freaking-dollars!!! Well, let's see: I have some regular clothes (not even a lot), some business clothes that I was told to bring, and formal wear that I was told to bring, and shoes for those items, and a travel iron to press the nice clothes, and the 2 months of vitamins/supplements which I need for my asthma, and my toiletries. So yeah, all that weighs a lot. I kept the receipts and I'm going to ask the State Department for a refund. And another thing – I'm flying in to Reagan Airport in DC, via Atlanta, and it will take me most of the day to get there. As I'm waiting for my plane to leave Fayetteville, I see a flight posted that leaves 30 minutes before mine – a direct connection to Washington-Reagan.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Stayin' in Style!
No stinkin' dorms for us! We'll be roughing it at the Haffa House and the Hamdan Plaza (1 month at each). Oh the humanity.......
[Edit: updated URL for Haffa House.]
[Edit: updated URL for Haffa House.]
Yet Another Update
It's getting close now! I can't believe how much crap I've had to take care of - and not just for the trip. For the trip I had to turn in a ton of paperwork and write an essay and fill out surveys. I completely bombed my telephone Arabic pre-test. I just blanked. I knew what the guy was asking me, but I couldn't even think of what I wanted to say in English! Oh well, no where to go but up. Since I'll be gone for 2 months I also had to get everything done that will become due while I'm gone. Like cleaning out my office, re-registering my dog (we're a therapy team!), signing up for student insurance, moving stuff into storage and donating clothes, etc. And then there's the buying: travel alarm clock, carry-on bag, adapters, converters, enough vitamins for the whole shebang. I even got a skirt - I haven't worn a skirt/dress since 2000! I'm trying to cram everything into one large suitcase, so I got some of those space-saver travel bags. Now I'm down to the last-minute minutiae that pops up.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Got My Plane Ticket
Got my e-ticket for my flight to DC. We'll spend 2 days there doing orientation and get our paper tickets for the trip to Oman. Then it's more orientation and testing in Muscat. I got some new clothes for the trip, and borrowed a big suitcase from my mom. I promise to take lots of pictures while I'm there (I'm a bit obsessive about that ;) so I may set up a Flickr page.
Shots Suck!
Yes, I had to get a few shots for the trip. I opted for Tetanus (because I haven't had one in a long time) and Hepatitis A (because it's transmitted via fecal matter). I turned down Typhoid (because it's not really necessary where I am going) and Hepatitis B (transmitted via blood, sex). They gave me the Tetanus shot in my non-dominant arm (left) because it hurts for a while. So of course, the next day I drove down to visit my parents, and I drive with my left arm. That sucker hurt for about 4 days!
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