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.