I still don't have no stinkin' car. The shop promises tomorrow at 10 it will be ready. I shall now commence holding my breath.
Today I took the kids to the pool. Which is not hard to do since the pool is across the street from my house. Blaine loves the slide, and is getting quite good at swimming, as long as he has his trusty Spiderman water wings on. Kyra likes to just jump in from the side, she has complete blind faith that I will always catch her.
The pool is part of the Oasis Club, which is a club for American expats here in Oman. Lucky us to have a house so close. The Club also has a kitchen/restaurant where you can order lunch or dinner every day except Saturday or Sunday. There is also a large, shaded playground with a bunch of kid's slides, toys and climbing thingys (technical term. Thingys.) After swimming today, the kids and I went inside and had a little lunch then spent all of 15 minutes on the playground. Because even though it's shaded, it's still hotter than hell.
How hot? Well, I don't have an exact temperature reading for you, but imagine this: you are at the playground. All around you are plastic toys and plastic tables and chairs on the patio. And what's that smell in the air? Why it's the smell of burning plastic. Yes. It's so hot that you can smell all the plastic lawn furniture cooking. It's why we have lunch before we go outside, because once you are outside, you lose your appetite.
Oh, and we played Candyland. Again.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
A little of this, a little of that
I've added a "Blogs I Read" section. It's over there. On your right. Some of the blogs listed need to be updated (Hellooooo mab! I still want your recipe). Some are just blogs I find funny/amusing/relatable. Pioneer Woman is one of my new favorites. If you head over to her blog, click on her link to her cooking blog. I'm dying to try out her cinnamon rolls. Anyone want to split 7 pans of rolls?
Oh, and if you read here regularly - which unless you are related to me, know me in real life or are special (like Kristin and my brain twin over at Purple Duckie), you probably don't - but if you do, and you have a blog and you would like me to add it, put it in the comments and I shall.
Speaking of comments, I have turned on the whole moderation thing again. Way back when, on my previous blog, I had to turn moderation on - well actually, I disabled all comments for a while - I decided it worked better for me to see what people wanted to post before it got posted. You know, because my parents read here and don't need to see any trash talking internet freaks or spambots. So, sorry for the hoop jumping you will have to do to comment now, but I'm sure all 3 of you who comment on my blog will understand.
As for life in Oman, well, until I have transportation, the kids and I are pretty much stuck at home every day. So I don't think you need to read daily posts of "hey, we played Candyland. Again." Hopefully the transportation issue will be solved tomorrow evening (light a candle, do a dance around a fire, cross your fingers) and I can start exploring. Until then, I'm off to set up Blaine's train table for the 8 millionth time so that Kyra can do her Godzilla impression (she's quite good) and knock it all down for the 8 millionth time. Don't you envy me?
Oh, and if you read here regularly - which unless you are related to me, know me in real life or are special (like Kristin and my brain twin over at Purple Duckie), you probably don't - but if you do, and you have a blog and you would like me to add it, put it in the comments and I shall.
Speaking of comments, I have turned on the whole moderation thing again. Way back when, on my previous blog, I had to turn moderation on - well actually, I disabled all comments for a while - I decided it worked better for me to see what people wanted to post before it got posted. You know, because my parents read here and don't need to see any trash talking internet freaks or spambots. So, sorry for the hoop jumping you will have to do to comment now, but I'm sure all 3 of you who comment on my blog will understand.
As for life in Oman, well, until I have transportation, the kids and I are pretty much stuck at home every day. So I don't think you need to read daily posts of "hey, we played Candyland. Again." Hopefully the transportation issue will be solved tomorrow evening (light a candle, do a dance around a fire, cross your fingers) and I can start exploring. Until then, I'm off to set up Blaine's train table for the 8 millionth time so that Kyra can do her Godzilla impression (she's quite good) and knock it all down for the 8 millionth time. Don't you envy me?
Monday, August 6, 2007
Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore
Life in Muscat is so easy compared to life in Tbilisi. And by easy, I mean similar to the US. Less culture shock. So much here is reminiscent of the US, that it's hard to feel like you are in a foreign land with foreign customs. When there is a KFC, Starbucks, Papa Johns, Baskin-Robins, and a Pizza Hut all within walking distance from your house (well, walking distance if it weren't so damn hot outside) it's almost like being in a big American city.
Until you go to the mall, that is. Now the mall is just like many US malls, it's full of familiar shops (Sephora, Starbucks, MAC and, coming soon, Gap) and a food court with a McDonald's and other food court-y type eateries. Hell, there is even a Chili's in the mall. And a large kid's arcade - with indoor bumper cars that Blaine loves! So it's easy to forget that things work differently here. Sure, many of the men are in dishdashas and the women are in abayas with their heads (and some with their faces) covered. But you get so used to seeing that every day you forget. You forget that the culture is so very, very different.
You forget until your husband goes to the family bathroom at the mall to change your daughter's diaper. And he's the only man in there. And he gets stared at with rampant disbelief. And then the 3 women in there with their children all offer to change your daughter's diaper for him. They almost insist, because it's not a man's job to do this. And your husband walks out after changing the diaper and tells you "never, ever, ever again" will he go into the family bathroom at the mall because even though the sign says "family" it definitely does not include male members of the family unless they are under the age of 5 or so.
I wonder if the women who came out after him, who saw me sitting at Starbucks with Blaine having a frappachino, thought I was a lazy, horrible wife. Maybe they thought I was a lucky woman because my husband changes diapers. I'm probably a little bit of both.
Until you go to the mall, that is. Now the mall is just like many US malls, it's full of familiar shops (Sephora, Starbucks, MAC and, coming soon, Gap) and a food court with a McDonald's and other food court-y type eateries. Hell, there is even a Chili's in the mall. And a large kid's arcade - with indoor bumper cars that Blaine loves! So it's easy to forget that things work differently here. Sure, many of the men are in dishdashas and the women are in abayas with their heads (and some with their faces) covered. But you get so used to seeing that every day you forget. You forget that the culture is so very, very different.
You forget until your husband goes to the family bathroom at the mall to change your daughter's diaper. And he's the only man in there. And he gets stared at with rampant disbelief. And then the 3 women in there with their children all offer to change your daughter's diaper for him. They almost insist, because it's not a man's job to do this. And your husband walks out after changing the diaper and tells you "never, ever, ever again" will he go into the family bathroom at the mall because even though the sign says "family" it definitely does not include male members of the family unless they are under the age of 5 or so.
I wonder if the women who came out after him, who saw me sitting at Starbucks with Blaine having a frappachino, thought I was a lazy, horrible wife. Maybe they thought I was a lucky woman because my husband changes diapers. I'm probably a little bit of both.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
98 Degrees in the shade
Doesn't seem so bad does it? Until you put the temperature gauge in the sun and wait awhile. In the sun that 98 shoots right up to 126 degrees.
We stay in the shade. Or in the pool (which is in the shade). Or inside.
We were warned before coming here that it's really hot. Super hot. Unbearably hot. But that the super-duper unbearable hot only lasts 3 or 4 months of the year and the rest of the year is damn near perfect weather. Of course, our arrival here in Oman coincided with the 3 or 4 months of unbearable hot weather.
We were told that as we walked off the plane the heat and humidity would hit us like a punch to the gut. That we would want to turn around and get back on the plane. But that didn't happen. It wasn't that bad. Granted, we had just spent the past 7 weeks in South Florida, which is where the Devil vacations when Hell gets too cold, so we figured maybe that helped us deal with the heat here in Oman.
Everyone we have talked to over the last 5 days has said something along the lines of "oh, the weather is really mild right now. This is so unusual. It's just not that hot". We thought they were joking.
126 degrees in the sun today. They weren't joking about the unusual mild spell we had. It's the hot season. And it will take your breath away.
We stay in the shade. Or in the pool (which is in the shade). Or inside.
We were warned before coming here that it's really hot. Super hot. Unbearably hot. But that the super-duper unbearable hot only lasts 3 or 4 months of the year and the rest of the year is damn near perfect weather. Of course, our arrival here in Oman coincided with the 3 or 4 months of unbearable hot weather.
We were told that as we walked off the plane the heat and humidity would hit us like a punch to the gut. That we would want to turn around and get back on the plane. But that didn't happen. It wasn't that bad. Granted, we had just spent the past 7 weeks in South Florida, which is where the Devil vacations when Hell gets too cold, so we figured maybe that helped us deal with the heat here in Oman.
Everyone we have talked to over the last 5 days has said something along the lines of "oh, the weather is really mild right now. This is so unusual. It's just not that hot". We thought they were joking.
126 degrees in the sun today. They weren't joking about the unusual mild spell we had. It's the hot season. And it will take your breath away.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Welcome to Muscat Love!
Hello, hello, hello. We are on the other side of the world again! New blog postings coming to you (albeit sporadically) from lovely Muscat, Oman, our home for the next 2 to 3 years. I had to create a whole new blog for a whole new country - it would have been weird to be posting on The Other Georgia while no longer living there.
So, stay tuned. As I have interesting, or not so interesting, information to post, I will.
So, stay tuned. As I have interesting, or not so interesting, information to post, I will.
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