Bat Tombs

Bat Tombs

These beehive-shaped tombs date to the third millennium BC (5000 years old!) and comprise one of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Oman.  There was a team of archeologists excavating when we arrived.  

 

Bat Tombs on the lower ridge with Jebel Mischt in the background.

Sur & Sea Turtles

The first week of March, we drove 3hrs south to the traditional dhow shipyards of Sur.  After 7 months of living in Oman, we knew we could walk right into the shipyard and no one would think anything of it.   

At 9pm we arrived at Ras al-Jinz, an important turtle nesting site where 20,000 green turtles return each year to lay eggs on the beach where they were hatched.  Our Omani tour guide led our group of 20 adults and children on a dark, 10-minute walk to the beach.  We saw turtles laying and burying eggs, a mother turtle returning to the ocean, and just-hatched baby turtles making their way out to sea by the light of the moon.  This was a unique and beautiful experience.  We were not allowed to take photos, but the picture below (from wikimedia) depicts a similar tour on the same beach: 

 

One of Ethan's favorite pretend play routines is to crawl into my bed like a buried sea turtle egg.  When he hatches, he crawls off the bed and "swims" across the tile floor on his stomach, trying to reach the sea before the large crabs on the beach get him.  It's pretty fun.

These ruins at Qalhat reminded me of field trips in and around Jerusalem (where David and I met in 1998). Apparently, Marco Polo visited this place in the 14th century.  The first photo shows the tomb of Bibi Maryam:

On the way home, we stopped by Wadi Bani Khalid, which he heard is amazingly beautiful.  We were hot and tired, and when one of Ethan's new, locally-made sandals fell apart walking through some water, we decided to cut our hike short.  Here we are picnicking next to a falaj (irrigation system).

Wadi Bani Auf

In late February we went "wadi bashing" with some friends.  A wadi is a river bed that is dry part of the year.  I suppose that "bashing" is what 4WD vehicles do on unpaved roads.  Anyhow, we've seen a lot of beautiful wadis and mountains here in Oman, and I continue to be amazed!

 

Mountain man (David)

  

Mountain goats

 

School building--Talk about rural!

 

Just when I think we've left civilization, I discover that we are at a major junction for several small villages.

 

Ethan hiking through Snake Canyon.  Some areas were steeper than expected!

 

The texture of this rock was sooo cool.  I thought it looked like someone took a giant icecream scoop to the canyon walls.

  

Sharing the road with goats--makes me laugh every time!

 

The local mosque.  Claire knows a mosque when she sees one, and points them out wherever we go.

  

Lunch break - Ethan & friend

 

Graveyard - graves are marked with standing rocks

   

Beautiful mountain village of Bilad Seet

 

Village street

  

Carport 

  

Soccer field with a view!  From Oman to Jerusalem, we have found middle easterners playing soccer in unlikely places. 

 

View from the top

We drove down the other side of the mountain into Nizwa.  After stopping for shawarmas at a place across from the Nizwa Fort, we headed home to Muscat.  A perfect day trip.

February beach days

While our friends & families in the U.S. were freezing their tails of in February, we were enjoying warm waters and sunny beaches in Muscat.  (Please excuse my gloating--when your spring finally comes, it will be over 100 degrees here!). 

Our friends invited us on a 1/2 day dolphin-watching and snorkeling trip.  It was really fun to see the coast of Muscat first time.  Oh, and the dolphins were a lot of fun, too!

An international sailing race took place starting at the beach just 10 minutes up the road from our villa.  David sailed with the BYU sailing club and then again when we lived in Olympia, WA, so this was a lot of fun for him.  He got to take a turn sailing on a boat in the harbor. 

 

A man passed by with a monkey on a leash (NOT common in Oman!)

Muslims are not permitted to drink alcohol, but the Omanis sure do love their Red Bull!

Just another day at the beach.  Actually, this is not the beach 1 block from our house (our beach has more trash and less shade).  This is part of the Oman Dive Center where tourists buy diving lessons and other adventure trips.  We had to pay about $8 for the day, but since it's mostly an expat and tourist place, I could wear my swimsuit and not worry about being stared at or offending someone. 

 

Claire prefers reading our Oman guidebook to playing in the sand.  Actually, the real reason Claire enjoys coming to the beach is to discover which snacks I packed!  She is her momma's girl.

Bull! (No, seriously!!!)

I was just beginning to think that Oman had no more surprises for me.  When I drive down the street, I hardly notice the men in white dishdashas and the women in black abayas, the goats, the mosques on every street corner.  I've adjusted to the crazy driving conditions.  Living two blocks from the beach seems perfectly normal.  We can drive to Dubai for a weekend trip whenever we want to.  It's a lot of fun, but it doesn't seem so exotic anymore. 

So just when I thought I'd seen it all...  we drove 30-min north to Barka after church one Friday afternoon, and discovered... Omani bull fighting!  Now, before you start imagining tortured animals and matadors waving red cloth, let me assure you that this is nothing like Spanish bull fighting.  These bulls are hardly provoked by their Omani handlers, and the fighting is more like wrestling, with bulls going head-to-head in a contest of strength.

This was quite a traditional event.  No advertisements, no admission to pay.   Most of the spectators were local Omani men.  About 30 grunting bulls encircling the arena, waiting for their turns.  The Omani judges formed a smaller circle around the two fighting bulls.

 

  Ethan is not intimidated by anyone.  He walks up to strangers all time time and begins conversations in "Arabic" or hands them pretend objects.  Funny little white boy in Omani soccer jersey.

Note the reluctance of the bull on the left.  On the drive home, David asked Ethan, "Which bull would you be?"  Ethan answered, "The one who didn't want to go."  Pacifist or nonconformist?!

 

Friends visiting from Dubai

 

We love Oman!

Dup-dup and Bunny

Shortly after Claire was born, she showed an interest in thumb-sucking.  We encouraged her to take a pacifier instead (easier to take away later than a thumb).  As with Ethan, we have refused to call it a binky or any such cutsie name that might increase it's attractiveness-- we just call it a pacifier.  The result:  Ethan learned to pronounce "pacifio" at a young age, while Claire refers to the beloved object as "Dup-dup."  At age 20 months, she is still quite attached to her Dup-dup.  Whenever we sneak it away, she replaces it with rocks, hair clips, and other choke hazards.  If we take it away during church, no one can hear the talks over Claire's noisy talking and singing.  Now I know why Grandma Porcaro calls a pacifier a "plug!"

 

Claire with her favorites: Dup-dup, Bunny, and book

 

Minus the Dup-dup

Some of you may recall the crisis last spring when Claire's lovey (now referred to as Bunny-Bear 1.0) was tossed to the bobcats at the zoo?  Thanks to Amazon, we were able to replace her cross-dressing, bear-in-bunny-pajamas.  Bunny is the best-- you can use it like a pillow, suck on it's long ears, store a Dup-dup in it's hood... you can even use Bunny's ears to floss between your toes (did I mention Bunny is machine washable?).  Claire does not go anywhere without her little friend.   

 

Bunny floss

 

Bunny pillow

 

Bunny as Dup-dup