In the middle east, because of cheap and plentiful petrol and power, they overdose on lighting in the houses. In our informal living room where we hang out most of the time we have five ceiling light fixtures, each having 2 bulbs. In our formal living room downstairs we have five fixtures hanging from the ceiling, four with three bulbs and one with five bulbs. (17 bulbs is a lot for an average sized room!) As we are merely renting, and leaving the country soon, we long ago stopped replacing all these bulbs as they burned out. You don't need most of them anyway. As our departure draws near, the bulbs are popping more regularly and we are inching towards darkness. It is getting dangerous going down our darkened stairwell, the same one I fell on and broke my foot, and many of the other rooms are getting darker and darker, especially since all our lamps have now also been sold. We also have very high ceilings and no ladder, so it is even hard to reapportion bulbs from little-used rooms to the few remaining that we inhabit as our house seems to disappear from around us as more people come buy what little we have left.
It always works out that when you move away from an area there are lots of things to do and places to see you have taken for granted and not done, since you can always do it later. As the end draws near you rush and try to get in the things you have always been meaning to do. We are no different and were going to use the last few weeks, when neither of us was working, to do our list. That is before I broke my foot and put an end to our opportunity to do many of the things we had been meaning to do ever since we arrived. Oh well, it leaves a few things for us to come back in the future to do with the kids.
Alex and Ellie are still handling all the chaos very well. Alex is already looking forward to his upcoming airplane ride and really eager to ride the train again when we are in England. He amazed us with a perfect count to ten, all on his own with no prompting, and he can do a really good "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" sing song. Ellie keeps smiling and is starting to push back more when Alex tries to push her around.
The new owners of our last remaining items in the house will be collecting them tomorrow. We have sold just about everything we needed to except our Dodge Durango, which we will have to leave with our friends Hans and Rosie to try to sell for us. (Maybe all those problems American car makers are facing are having an impact on us here!) A last we will not mourn was our last visit to our bank, HSBC, this morning to close our account. We have no plans to ever be in an HSBC bank anywhere in the future! As our house will be bare tomorrow, Thursday morning we will go to the Shangri-La Resort for our last couple days to wind down after the chaos of the last few weeks. Tomorrow we will close our internet account, so this may be our last update from Muscat. Fortunately we will not have to remember to turn the lights out as we leave, there won't be any left to turn off!
Remember, wherever you go, there you are! (Something to think about for all you travellers out there. Free dinner next time we see you if you can tell me what movie this quote comes from)
Having fun in Brisbane!
February 24, 2009
February 22, 2009
Tea with Sofa Man
Sofa man is a very nice Omani man who bought much of our stuff we have been getting rid off. He bought our very large corner sofa, large screen TV and lots of other items we were not taking. The sofa and TV are really only appropriate for a certain house. He has been over several times to buy more items and pick up the larger items. He has said we can keep the TV until we go. He also insisted we go to his house to have tea with him and his family. We are not very good with Omani names and when he calls his number comes up as sofa man on the phone.
Yesterday we all went over to his house for tea. He has a lovely house that he has put a lot of work into. From the outside it looks like a traditional house or one of the forts rather than a plain white cube as most of the houses around Muscat look like. He has a lovely family and his wife, three daughters and one son were all there. His older son, whom we met when he came over one day to do some shopping, is at college. Sofa man and his wife are from the interior, in the vicinity of Ibra and came to Muscat in 1990. His English is quite good considering he has learned it on his own in the last few years. He has also learned French in the last couple years. He works in the ministry of defence. His wife doesn't really speak any English but his daughters English was very good. The eldest girl is 16 and looking forward to going to college to study criminology so she can be in the Omani version of the FBI!
Alex and Ellie had a wonderful time. Omanis love little kids, especially western kids. They were far more relaxed than we were as Alex and Ellie drank orange juice from some very nice glasses. They had a parakeet in a cage in the small front courtyard that the kids found fascinating. That is until it started flapping its wings which scared Alex and he started crying. Ellie was not worried at all. They also had two turtles in a small tank by the front door. This really excited the kids. Sofa man's wife brought them inside and spent a lot of time letting the kids play with the turtles in the tank and then taking them out and letting them run free on the living room floor. The kids had a fantastic time with the turtles.
We had some lovely tea, fruit and kahwa (Omani coffee) with the family. We also had the traditional Omani dates. The Omanis mush them all up and you take a handful of semi-mushed dates to snack on. They also gave us a wonderful present of a small crystal khanjar. (The khanjar is the traditional Omani curved dagger that the men still wear on their belt when they get dressed up.) We sat on their large corner cushion they had bought from us while we had tea. They also took lots of pictures with their new video camera they had purchased from us too. We also got to see the rest of the house. We were pleasantly surprised at how nicely decorated it was. When you see what most of the furniture stores here sell you expect all the Omani homes to be very tacky and gaudy. They even have a small electric fireplace in the formal living room.
It was a wonderful experience to end our years here in Oman. The Omanis are very friendly and their hospitality is fantastic. Sofa man is very proud of his family and the life he has built for them. We will say goodbye to sofa man for the last time this Wednesday when he comes with an army of helpers to get the large screen TV downstairs and into the truck. It is going to go into their master bedroom in their lovely house.
Yesterday we all went over to his house for tea. He has a lovely house that he has put a lot of work into. From the outside it looks like a traditional house or one of the forts rather than a plain white cube as most of the houses around Muscat look like. He has a lovely family and his wife, three daughters and one son were all there. His older son, whom we met when he came over one day to do some shopping, is at college. Sofa man and his wife are from the interior, in the vicinity of Ibra and came to Muscat in 1990. His English is quite good considering he has learned it on his own in the last few years. He has also learned French in the last couple years. He works in the ministry of defence. His wife doesn't really speak any English but his daughters English was very good. The eldest girl is 16 and looking forward to going to college to study criminology so she can be in the Omani version of the FBI!
Alex and Ellie had a wonderful time. Omanis love little kids, especially western kids. They were far more relaxed than we were as Alex and Ellie drank orange juice from some very nice glasses. They had a parakeet in a cage in the small front courtyard that the kids found fascinating. That is until it started flapping its wings which scared Alex and he started crying. Ellie was not worried at all. They also had two turtles in a small tank by the front door. This really excited the kids. Sofa man's wife brought them inside and spent a lot of time letting the kids play with the turtles in the tank and then taking them out and letting them run free on the living room floor. The kids had a fantastic time with the turtles.
We had some lovely tea, fruit and kahwa (Omani coffee) with the family. We also had the traditional Omani dates. The Omanis mush them all up and you take a handful of semi-mushed dates to snack on. They also gave us a wonderful present of a small crystal khanjar. (The khanjar is the traditional Omani curved dagger that the men still wear on their belt when they get dressed up.) We sat on their large corner cushion they had bought from us while we had tea. They also took lots of pictures with their new video camera they had purchased from us too. We also got to see the rest of the house. We were pleasantly surprised at how nicely decorated it was. When you see what most of the furniture stores here sell you expect all the Omani homes to be very tacky and gaudy. They even have a small electric fireplace in the formal living room.
It was a wonderful experience to end our years here in Oman. The Omanis are very friendly and their hospitality is fantastic. Sofa man is very proud of his family and the life he has built for them. We will say goodbye to sofa man for the last time this Wednesday when he comes with an army of helpers to get the large screen TV downstairs and into the truck. It is going to go into their master bedroom in their lovely house.
February 17, 2009
Boxes,Boxes Everywhere
The movers have been in and boxed everything up. Yesterday they loaded up our stuff and hopefully it is on a ship to Dubai in the next couple days. Our stuff just fit in a 20 foot shipping container! We only had a few slip ups with the packing. Alex has a "Cars" pull along bag he uses when we fly. "Cars" is his favorite movie and he loves pulling things along. We had it already packed with all our best kids travel toys and distractions for our flights. Somehow in the confusion it has ended up in the container, so we are coming up with plan B for our trip. The only important item which did not get packed was a mask we bought in Hong Kong that is still hanging on the wall as we forgot to unscrew it. It should fit in our bags without too much difficulty.
The kids have been very good handling the chaos and confusion of the packing. Our house is now very empty and even the smallest whisper from Ellie echoes across the marble floors and empty walls. Fortunately a few items belong to the company so we still have a bed, a couple sofas and a wardrobe. Our kitchen appliances and large screen TV have been sold with the caveat that we get to keep them until we leave. Most mornings when the kids get us up by 0600 we get them out of their room and put them in bed with us so they can have their milk and watch a movie while we try to keep out eyes shut for a few more minutes. Yesterday morning after jumping into bed with us, Alex camly pointed out to Ellie that "TV gone", "TV gone". The change in their morning ritual didn't seem to bother them too much. After polishing off their milk they simply dragged me into the living room so we could watch TV on our large screen, which is too big for your average house in other parts of the world which is why we are not bringing it.
On Wed, Feb 11, I went back to the doctor and they removed my cast from my foot. The break is healing well but I am still on crutches. It is nice to be able to wash my foot and move my ankle around! I am slowly putting more weight on it and the doctor thinks I may be off crutches in two weeks which would be just in time to fly out of here. I was back in the pool for the first time yesterday. My left leg has become quite scrawny and my ankle has lost a lot of flexibilty after being stuck in the same position for more than five weeks.
We still have some loose ends to tie up and some items to try to sell before we head out. Our plan is to spend our last two days at the Shangri-La Resort before flying out to Enlgand early on the morning of March 1.
The kids have been very good handling the chaos and confusion of the packing. Our house is now very empty and even the smallest whisper from Ellie echoes across the marble floors and empty walls. Fortunately a few items belong to the company so we still have a bed, a couple sofas and a wardrobe. Our kitchen appliances and large screen TV have been sold with the caveat that we get to keep them until we leave. Most mornings when the kids get us up by 0600 we get them out of their room and put them in bed with us so they can have their milk and watch a movie while we try to keep out eyes shut for a few more minutes. Yesterday morning after jumping into bed with us, Alex camly pointed out to Ellie that "TV gone", "TV gone". The change in their morning ritual didn't seem to bother them too much. After polishing off their milk they simply dragged me into the living room so we could watch TV on our large screen, which is too big for your average house in other parts of the world which is why we are not bringing it.
On Wed, Feb 11, I went back to the doctor and they removed my cast from my foot. The break is healing well but I am still on crutches. It is nice to be able to wash my foot and move my ankle around! I am slowly putting more weight on it and the doctor thinks I may be off crutches in two weeks which would be just in time to fly out of here. I was back in the pool for the first time yesterday. My left leg has become quite scrawny and my ankle has lost a lot of flexibilty after being stuck in the same position for more than five weeks.
We still have some loose ends to tie up and some items to try to sell before we head out. Our plan is to spend our last two days at the Shangri-La Resort before flying out to Enlgand early on the morning of March 1.
February 05, 2009
Moving
The movers are coming starting Feb 14. We were finally able to find some movers after the first ones we talked to said our stuff could not be shipped to the Caymans! After some research by the movers they all finally discovered that household goods can be shipped to the Caymans, for a steep price. After being packed our stuff will go by truck to Dubai where it may sit for a while as the port in Dubai is extremely busy. Then by ship to Miami and then on to another ship to the Caymans.
We are very busy getting ready for the move. It is our first with kids which makes it more complicated. It will also probably take our shipment more than 10 weeks to get there so we have to be sure we have all the essentials with us when we fly. Much of the furniture in our house belongs to the company so we will have some furniture, bed, futon and wardrobes, until we leave. Most houses in the Caymans, whether you rent or buy, come fully furnished so we don't need to bring much furniture. Voltage in the Caymans is 110V and our power here is 220V so we have to dump many of our electrical items.
All this means we have lots of stuff we are selling. Emma has a little shop set up in the downstairs living room for people to browse through when they come over. The items all have price tags! We only need to advertise the big items and the rest seem to follow. When people see our fliers on the local for sale bulletin boards they know we are moving and must have other items for sale also. We have received calls from strangers asking if we had air conditioners for sale: we do not. When someone comes over to look at an item we have for sale, as they walk through the house they try to buy everything else they see. "Is the bookshelf for sale? Are the plants for sale? Is the satellite receiver box for sale?"
Emma is doing a great job of getting all this organized and keeping the four categories of items for sale, items belonging to the firm, items for the movers to pack and items we will bring with us on the plane all separated. Being stuck on the sofa with my broken foot,(now stuck on the futon as the sofa has been sold), I have not been able to help as much. The kids are handling all the chaos very well. Alex did cry the other day as someone carried out the small coffee table from the downstairs living room, which he is very rarely allowed to go in. He stood at the door repeating "bye bye table" and waving as it was carried out, put in their car, and driven away.
Alex's vocabulary and grammar is improving quickly. His new favorite word is "need". "I need to go to the beach", "I need the car", and his favorite "I need the milk"! Ellie is doing her best to keep up and imitates everything he says. We now have to be careful when driving with Alex in the car. The Omanis as very nice and friendly but the moment the get into a car they become rude. They have no concept of rules of the road or the common customs of driving. I have heard that it takes an average of six times before people pass the driving test here. It also seems like every third car on the road is a student driver car. In spite of all this, Omanis are still horribly frustrating drivers. Any comment we make in the car out of frustration at what has just happened on the road, Alex immediately starts to repeat. We have to start watching what we say when Alex is around!
Our exact departure date is still not set as it depends how my foot comes along. Our tentative plan is to leave on March 1.
We are very busy getting ready for the move. It is our first with kids which makes it more complicated. It will also probably take our shipment more than 10 weeks to get there so we have to be sure we have all the essentials with us when we fly. Much of the furniture in our house belongs to the company so we will have some furniture, bed, futon and wardrobes, until we leave. Most houses in the Caymans, whether you rent or buy, come fully furnished so we don't need to bring much furniture. Voltage in the Caymans is 110V and our power here is 220V so we have to dump many of our electrical items.
All this means we have lots of stuff we are selling. Emma has a little shop set up in the downstairs living room for people to browse through when they come over. The items all have price tags! We only need to advertise the big items and the rest seem to follow. When people see our fliers on the local for sale bulletin boards they know we are moving and must have other items for sale also. We have received calls from strangers asking if we had air conditioners for sale: we do not. When someone comes over to look at an item we have for sale, as they walk through the house they try to buy everything else they see. "Is the bookshelf for sale? Are the plants for sale? Is the satellite receiver box for sale?"
Emma is doing a great job of getting all this organized and keeping the four categories of items for sale, items belonging to the firm, items for the movers to pack and items we will bring with us on the plane all separated. Being stuck on the sofa with my broken foot,(now stuck on the futon as the sofa has been sold), I have not been able to help as much. The kids are handling all the chaos very well. Alex did cry the other day as someone carried out the small coffee table from the downstairs living room, which he is very rarely allowed to go in. He stood at the door repeating "bye bye table" and waving as it was carried out, put in their car, and driven away.
Alex's vocabulary and grammar is improving quickly. His new favorite word is "need". "I need to go to the beach", "I need the car", and his favorite "I need the milk"! Ellie is doing her best to keep up and imitates everything he says. We now have to be careful when driving with Alex in the car. The Omanis as very nice and friendly but the moment the get into a car they become rude. They have no concept of rules of the road or the common customs of driving. I have heard that it takes an average of six times before people pass the driving test here. It also seems like every third car on the road is a student driver car. In spite of all this, Omanis are still horribly frustrating drivers. Any comment we make in the car out of frustration at what has just happened on the road, Alex immediately starts to repeat. We have to start watching what we say when Alex is around!
Our exact departure date is still not set as it depends how my foot comes along. Our tentative plan is to leave on March 1.
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