11: Gym musings - 18 Dec 2007

SORE LEGS - SILLY-I-KNOW-BEST INDUCED

Well, being a bit too clever for my own good I went like a bat out of hell at the gym.

Its the school holidays this week & it seems that the small group that does Salsa aerobics have kids & so the classes have been cancelled due to low attendance. To not give up on my lets-lose-weight campaign I finally had no choice but to get myself into the gym proper & typically, the result was overdoing it. (Now I can't do any exercise so will lose days.) It wasn't a conscious thing.

There was a woman in the gym, dressed for the winter climes (24-29C), woolly tracksuit & cardigan on, walking around talking to people. Turns out she works there & was the gym advisor. Well judging a book by its cover, I assumed she knew nothing & was just one of those super bossy people who likes telling everyone else how to do everything. When it was my turn to be interrogated, I smugly said I'd been coming for a whole 3 weeks (didn't mention it was only Salsa dancing, not weights) & as I mentioned before, went like a bat out of hell, not listening to Ms Woolly Valley's advice.

Got all excited over some give-you-muscly-calves machine & boy!!! am I paying for that now. I'm walking like a squat old beggar woman & very slow too - Seth can testify for that, as last night when out shopping he walked metres ahead of me because I was so slow apparently. (Nothing to do with my attractive posture & walk of course).

Unfortunately, my legs got worse not better in the 2 days since I overdid things so I've been pretty much stuck at home with the 3 delightful ones, & haven't ventured out as I can't possibly keep my dignity & run around after them in public, & I've lost my speed. Wincing with pain as I shuffle along & constantly stopping to stretch my calves which helps only very slightly doing nothing to straighten my legs or posture. So we've been stuck being tigers in our cave for the last couple of days. And that doesn't get boring!!

I've missed some phone calls too, as I was upstairs only on the 2nd level & on hearing the phone (we only have one of our 7 jacks connected) I then had the thought to get up but by the time I was upright & contemplating the stairs, the phone calls had already stopped.

Wonder if it was the plumber who thought that by taping electrical tape around the pipes under the kitchen sink, that it would actually stop leaking a waterfall. It hasn't. A hint for any like minded do-it-yourselfers out there. The maid has also got in on the swing of things & took our gaffa tape & wrapped that around some more. Goodness me, who needs rubber seals, tool tightened connections, plumbing tape & silicon. Not us, that's for sure.

So I've finally been making the opportunity to utilise the free gym now that I can wrangle some time for myself. The revelation is dawning upon me. During my 3 pregnancies I put on 30+kgs over my pre-pregnancy weight & as the babies popped out only lost about 5 kgs with each baby. I'm now 20kg over which is what I've fluctuated on when not pregnant, but at least some of that is now newly acquired muscle. But the figures actually now mean something to me visibly & if I keep on trying for fitness, maybe some day soon my kids will actually know me as a slim person.

Funny thing is, since I've been in Oman, with the heat, the running around, the stomach bugs I've been feeling like super slim Mrs NZ. Even our maid kindly commented in some detail about how I'd lost weight. However when I went & hooked the video camera up to watch some footage we took the other week of our cherubs in their nativity play, I caught a glimpse of my super svelte self on film & was horrified. After all the compliments I was astounded to see the chubby checker on the screen. I think I have the opposite problem of anorexics, because I feel so slim & fit & energetic & when I look in the mirror I see a slim person. It was only seeing my glorious self blown up on the tv, that reality really hit. A bit of a shock it was & may have been the pre-cursor to the crouching beggar woman stance I now have.

Interesting thing about the gym is that it is nice & new, has lots of great machines, mens & womens gyms, helpful advisors, aerobics classes etc & the most amazing view of a beautiful coast. Talking to a few locals & westies, seems a number of them actually prefer to join the health clubs & pool facilities of the international hotels not too far away. But at substantial cost however. Their excuse is that the facilities aren't great (no jacuzzi & spa - because they're essential for keeeping fit) & they don't want to see company people but if they're all going to the hotel for exercising & recreation they're still going to see each other there. I'm not complaining though because it's never too busy. I had thought about joining a gym at our local shops - its even walking distance & also looks good, but it's not free, parking would sometimes be difficult & fretting about body coverage in the Islamic setting, just doesn't make it worthwhile. Once I do the kids' school drop I just continue along camp for 2 mins, do the gym & can even stop at the beach side bar for something refreshing after as I peer out across the water towards Iran. Couldn't be much easier or pleasant. No excuses then. Except for sore calves.

Deciding to do something more adventurous with the kiddlywinks decided to do some Paper machier. They loved being able to rip up paper & make a huge mess, then stick their hands & everything else in glue & wipe it all over balloons. But then....they got tired & bored & it was left to Mum to finish the balloons. As per usual they were over it in 5 mins & busy igniting tantrums in each other. But I had fun & even Pushpa the maid joined me. Only one of the balloons has survived its shape overnight as they got pummelled a bit. Nice thing was they dry quite quickly outside in the heat. The next part of the activity scheduled for today or tomorrow is painting them. Can't wait for that. My favourite!!!

Think we'll go to the beach instead. Dad's home for EID break & my legs are loosening up. Time to get sand in our hair, eyes, mouth, togs, towels, bags, food, drinks, car, house. PERFECT!

10: New House Rantings etc - 5 Dec 2007

HANDY MEN
It's been a building maintenance couple of weeks. We have moved into our new home which is very nice, new, spacious. But the little niggly things such as the burst pipe flooding our roof into a swimming pool & trying to do the same to our courtyard where the overflow was directed, pipes bouncing & hammering in the dark night, sounding like monsters, drains flooding into our rooms, water leaking from the plumbing, toilets constantly flushing, machine-gun sound washing machine, no gate key, & still no curtains.

Furniture received that wasn't ordered, furniture ordered & never received. Satellite TV half installed & then left in no mans land. The phone connection that was in everyone's too hard basket. Tradespeople who never come. Every day is an interesting adventure.

A neighbour obviously also given the wrong key to get into her house but persistently trying to open our gate to our house on a fairly regular basis in hopes of what...hoping the gate will magically open & we, our 3 noisy children & personal effects will disappear miraculously?

The building issues explanation - perhaps due to being Egyptian built, so suggested a tradesman? Good at enormous pyramids that can stand the test of time, but not plumbing & drainage. I guess pyramids don't have plumbing.

I discovered through word of mouth the housing department is notorious for not being quick, losing requests & paperwork, never getting around to some tasks, & sometimes getting it wrong. I feel so ridiculous constantly calling the something-is-wrong-with-our-house hotline because as soon as they come & sometimes just after we make a call, we discover another thing has gone wrong. Or they come & fix something, only for it to become a different & worse problem. I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped answering our calls. We must be very annonying.

If we had access to a good placemakers or mitre 10 mega we could probably fix most stuff ourselves with a bit of professional advice. Haven't seen any hardware or plumbing stores. And it did take 5 weeks of sharp looking about & asking to find sink plugs so baths & basins could be filled. No one could help, we ended up striking plug gold on our own.

I don't think it's a very do-it-yourself country. Although there is the temptation, just not the infrastructure. Some husbands think that they can connect private phone line wiring into the main telephone wiring system just because the phone rep hangs up due to him being on break when a phone call is received. He did give us his personal mobile number though. Or husbands try to nut out pressure pipe problems on their lone cowboy selves 4 stories up on the roof in the dark at 11pm at night. They can be good at fixing dented washing machines however.

In our temp home, a plumber we called out told us that the leaking & flooding from our sink drains were nothing to worry about - just normal for plumbing in Oman. Thankfully we've not been given that explanation for this new house. Still the fix-ups can be just as awkward. The electrical & phone sockets taken apart & put back together only to have no change.

Communication is a little of a problem. A lot of the trades & domestic workers can speak English - but their version. If you listen hard, to the full message, let it sink in & try & decipher it, you think you might know what they are trying to say, but not too exactly on the details. When we speak grammatically correct, pronounced-correctly English they don't hear it. We could just as well have spoken Japanese. If you repeat it enough, with emphasis, slowly & try actions, suddenly they realise that you are in fact talking out loud & to them. But the message is a bit fuzzy. Oh we've had some laughs & some frustrations. But luckily it doesn't really matter if things aren't attended to in a big hurry. Usually we get there in the end. Well I'm hoping so.

We finally got our land line connected. Different men. Gone was our personal mobile buddy & in his place 2 of the wise old men. And wise they were, they came just in time to knock off at 1pm so instead of making all our phone sockets work they hooked up only one. Only 1 of about 8 in a 3 level house. I think we'll persevere with bugging them until we get the others working. It's interesting to see when the phone rings how often we'll get around to answering it before the caller hangs up. Especially if we remember the company rules that we must not run on the tile floors & walk slowly, sensibly down stairwells holding the railings. It's like the OSH rules. One of our visitors caught me doing all of this & more the other day and helped inform me pretty quick. I thought he was joking at first. But no, turns out he was for real. It's like with driving on camp or even on public roads. If I have to answer or use my mobile or "GSM" as its called here. I pretend I am scratching my head a lot to disguise my secret talking. You're not even allowed to use hands-free in cars.

4-WHEEL-DRIVE
Little tip for shoppers. If you are planning on shopping at the Sultan Centre (a supermarket/hypermarket) "the warehouse" kind of place don't try without a 4-wheel drive. I think the road & car park were affected by Cyclone Gonu & it kind of isn't there. Even in a 4-wheel drive it is a very slow, bumpy, concentrated wee drive. Goodness me, who needs off-roading in the desert when you've got the Sultan Centre drive. The kids love it. But it probably won't be long before its a levelled, graded, even tarsealed & curbed road. New roads, motorway on/off ramps & intersections seem to appear magically overnight whilst we sleep. It's like a road construction Santa Claus has been to visit. It's actually the Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan road workers hard at work 24 hrs a day. I hope there are different shifts. They also work right through the night. I hope they make themselves a lot of money and get to do something great with it.

I think Auckland's harbour bridge plans would be chicken feed for these crews. There'd probably be 3 crossings up & running within 6 months. Of course cheap, imported labour & difficult working conditions are involved. I heard that in summer they stop announcing the temperatures because once it hits 50C outside, outdoor work has to stop, so to avoid that happening they keep it quiet. Don't know if that is across the whole country or just for the company. But even over 35C! My goodness! Surely I misheard, maybe it was over 40C and they stop work.

FURNITURE
Yay! NZ freight, furniture & personal effects due to arrive tomorrow. Inshallah! Its better than Christmas for us. To get all our bits n pieces & home comforts, shoes, clothes, toys & life re-organised.

SOUTH AMERICAN FLAVOUR
Seth met a Venezuelan family during our Resident Visa process who are very lovely. They invited us to their 30th birthday celebration. Excellent singing! They didn't start dancing unfortunately. Wow their culture is very festive. There are about 30 families from Venezuela with the company & there were a few at the party. They sang a really great, long version of their birthday song which ends with the tune we know as the birthday song. It was pumping, I thought there was going to be dancing on the tables any moment. It was great, we took our kids & stayed quite late. All the kids were great playing together making their own fun. Ours conked out in a bedroom before long.

I also started a salsa aerobics class this week. I had intended to all along but the festive evening prompted me. Its gentle, slow pace & introduction of moves means I might eventually learn it. I have to work on the hip & shoulder wiggles though. There must be a secret to the techniques. It wasn't overly aerobic a workout so perfect but certainly made me feel my legs & tummy the next day. It was like what wearing high heels does to me.

CHRISTMAS
This month is huge with things going on. Every culture has its own celebrations. This week we had a Sinterklaas who left gingerbread biscuit men in our childrens smelly shoes left out at school in their classrooms. They also left black handprints & completely messed up the classroom like vandals. This carry on was fully embraced by the school. A camping tent was pitched at the front of the school with a loudspeaker of snoring coming out of it all day yesterday. This is the Dutch event & although I've no idea what its about it is really fun! The kids were jumping out of their skin with excitement right from kindy through to the 11/12 yr olds.

Then this morning 2 people dressed almost like jokers or clowns ran around with huge sacks. They had painted their hands, feet & faces completely black. Apparently they are Sinterklass' helpers. One is naughty & one nice. They were a lot of fun & handed out heaps of little ginger button cookies & sweets. The whole school was out in the carpark with a speaker of dutch children singing something at full volume - concert level volume. Suddenly, a little surreally, a fully dressed Santa Claus appeared on a beautiful horse who loved to eat the little ginger biscuits. It really was so amazing that the school went to so much effort. I think the Dutch & their celebrations are also going to be quite fun.

SCHOOL
School is so much fun. It was Cole's teacher, Miss Ellie's 30th birthday today & the kids had a big party & balloons & masks & pizza & cake. A few weeks ago it was the teacher Helpers birthday Also a class party, cards, presents etc... As you can imagine It really helps the kids to love going to school. Every parent of every nationality I speak to say their kids absolutely love school. You can feel the vibe from all the kids, even the older ones.

We had our very first parent-teacher meetings ever. It felt it was all a little overly serious considering we're talking 3 & 4 year olds but good to do all the same. I think there is a focus on having a high academic level especially within the British system which is great. I'm fairly relaxed though as I'm more worried that they love going, & learn confidence, sociability, try all sorts of exciting things. I'll worry about the academic side later, give them a bit extra help out of school if we need & even do a bit of homeschooling to learn about NZ things. Plenty of NZers from all backgrounds do well when they travel abroad or do their OE's so I'm not going to fret about jumping through hoops yet. It's an exciting curriculum here but a vacuum of NZ/Maori awareness of course.

PARENT/TEACHER MEETS
Its always a curiosity to find how your child comes across out of home. Cole has settled in really well. Apparently it's as if he was always there, part of the class. Never instigates the mischief but wholeheartedly embraces it when others get up to no good. Friendly, bright, smiley, tries all the different activities. Can sit down & focus on an activity with a teacher alone & get on with it in a group. He had a few issues with the one difficult child who I've seen in action, and oh my goodness! a bit difficult with everyone. When you meet the parents you can see why. It's like pets & their owners. You can match the children with their parents through personality.

Kaija was another story. Apparently she is mute. Doesn't talk to teachers or other children. Loves doing the arts n crafts & playing cooking in the kitchen. Quite different from at home. They didn't even know if she likes going. At home she's all puzzles & books, talking & tantrums. She absolutely loves going to school. I think she is doing all the stuff she hasn't got at home.

We currently keep away from doing messy stuff as it's all in freight & can get wildly out of control very quickly due to the 3 of them. This brings to mind what we all did with the tomato sauce tonight. We lapsed & left the bottle on the table as we had a kitchen chat & all of a sudden a fully red messy child or messy pete (the sinterklass helper) appeared showing off plate, table, self. All 3 were hooting of course & then the usual chant "CC made a mess, CC made a mess." She does get the majority of the blame, even when it's not her but I can see why. She is easy prey. After I cleaned that one up, she delighted in doing the same with the soap. She snuck back to the bathroom & lathered the hand soap all over her body cackling away, thinking herself hilarious. I now have found why keys for every single door in the house is useful. (They even put locks on the fridge to keep out unwanted hands) Good for dieting I suppose. Now, as the kids have learnt to open them, even if they stand on chairs they can not unlock them. I don't care about keeping domestic help out but will be handy to keep out children.

NATIVITY PLAY
Cole & Kaija are involved in a nativity concert. A few songs around the nativity scene. We've been, or should I say mummy has been singing her heart out like billy-i-o. The kids are ok, depending on their mood. But whenever we get to practice they just stare at all the other kids or start getting up to mischief. IT is sOOO cute though. We are in the right country too because this is the land of gold, frankincense & myrrh - for real. And it is the land of dishdashas that make great angel outfits & perfect shepherd & wise men costumes. I'm getting quite excited. It is so adorable seeing all the kids at practice even though they're all over the place. The mums will have to sit at the front so we can help with the singing. A lot of the kids get very sidetracked. They are only 3-5 years old. SO cute. Hope my video camera arrives, found & sorted out before then.

NZ BIT
Have come across another new NZer, well NZ born from Oamaru way but lived in Oz for 20 years. It has been a breath of fresh air. Sometimes is good to talk to someone who knows what "noggin" is amongst other colloquialisms & doesn't wear her class patch on her shoulder. The English seem somewhat weighed down by their class. It's a bit schizophrenic being around some as they can be very hot & cold. It's all very formal like you're meeting for the very first time, each time you meet. The Australians & NZers usually start yelling out as they approach & pick up in the middle of a conversation from a previous encounter. It's quite a giggle starting to notice the differences. Some of the Easties are a bit focused too on trying to place you in their hierarchy, directly trying to find out what job the husband does & then often that gives them no idea so I get asked if Im on or off camp, & if I'm in transit or permanent housing. It feels a bit like where did you grow up or what school did you go to leading questions. As I'm terribly opposed to such class structures I do my best to subtly break the rules & put people off track. I also talk to various ethnicities & have a giggle if I can. I think you naturally gravitate to your ilk but it can get a little pigeon holed sticking to your group.

Seth met another NZer yesterday. I think the husband of a relieving teacher we met early on. He was very chatty & has done a lot of the big explores into the desert & beyond. Hopefully they can be helpful when we get around to camping trips in the desert etc. I think I bumped into his kiwi wife at the gym. And in typical NZ style she was the one who had befriended a local fully dressed in the garb at the gym, chattin away. If we get a little bit of longing for the NZ accent we just need to turn the TV on to Al Jazeera. Very nice channel, stolen a lot of BBC news readers & also got a couple of kiwi accents on there. It must be the International English speaking version of AL Jazeera. They don't show any horrific footage either....Anyway, enough of my musings. Hope none of it gets us in hot water.

9: Three Rolls of Toilet Paper... - 14 Nov 2007

3 ROLLS OF TOILET PAPER...
Three rolls of toilet paper, a lot of it unravelled, shower gel, shampoo & conditioner. All of this is just what I collected out of my bed. Siena has always enjoyed ferreting in bathrooms, taking the contents & relocating & often emptying them elsewhere. We learnt to keep all the bathroom doors closed. However here, with it being so hot we try to leave them open so the air con from other rooms can make it's way around. So instead of hopping into bed with the usual toys, books, clothes, jigsaw pieces, & shoes, now I'm finding bathroom items, some of them open & spilling. Our bedspread, or should I say the company's, gets fresh toothpaste spots daily.

KITTENS
One of my four little hungry cats I thought may be a mummy, is. Today she let us see her four kittens. They're quite old (not newborns) & look healthy. They do stick to her but are walking around & could eat food I suspect. No wonder she has been so hungry. I was getting annoyed with her for being so greedy & taking all the other cats' food. Then she would disappear for ages. She was obviously feeding her little ones with milk.

FIREWORKS
We got to enjoy a great Guy Fawkes night. The company has a party at their beach. It's like a miniature version of those free in-the-park festivities that are held in the domain. The club area was packed with cars - the majority 4 wheel drive monsters. There was a foodie area with shwarmas & Indian & other aromatic delights & the bars & restaurants were open & thriving. Loads of families were all over the beach & it was really hot. As we're generally wrapped up in nightly routine from 5.00pm onwards I never knew how warm it was at night. It's the perfect time to swim. There were loads of locals enjoying the festivities. I can imagine they're very popular with locals - a chance to throw the abayas (black cloaks) & the white ones men wear & go mufti. The fireworks display was pretty amazing. It kind of beat the New Years offering we get in the Auckland harbour. It seemed to go on forever. That could have had something to do with Kaija Meltdown. She came out when the fireworks started up. She was terrified by the noise & at some point sprinted off into the dark following some man who she mistook for Seth. After rescuing her from the crowded bar area & back to the beach she tantrumed right through till the end. When she fell asleep exhausted. It kind of ended our night. We left our new friends from Cole's class partying on the beach.

NOT A SNAKE
It was very fading light as I was perched on the beach, merrily chatting, quite relaxed, wine in hand when a 3 year old suddenly appeared directly in front of me holding a snake by its neck in his hands. Within seconds I'd leaped up on my aching old knees, & lurched myself off the blanket & out of reach, grabbing one of my children as I went. Turns out it was only a toy. To me that's like pointing a toy gun at a bank teller. Not very funny. I did join in the laughter, having a good relief chuckle once I became aware of the fake. But it blew my cover. I'd remained fairly chilled at other times when the kids were near greenery & gardens when others had been wary. Trying not pass on my snake phobia. But that 3 yr old & his fake snake busted me.

DOCTORS VISITS
Kaija has been in & out of kindy, with her bad cold, chesty thing. Finally we made it to the clinic today & third time lucky we have got antibiotics. Hopefully she'll clear up now. Meanwhile the other two are starting. Cole vomited in my car on the way to school yesterday although was great for the rest of the day & went to school today. Siena however starting vomitting today. It's all go. I suppose the weather is cooling (at least in the evenings) & new country, climate & exposure to new types of viruses etc. Decided to use the free clinic with pharmacy in it, if we are going to be visiting this often. Today we got an Arab doctor who was really great, good explainer. The man dispensing at the pharmacy had just begun talking about Nz with me, seems he went to Christchurch or something. Of all the cold places! We were quite rudely interrupted by a large & dramatic British woman. I do believe he rolled his eyes about her.

HOSTILE GLANCES
I braved going to a furniture shop by myself the other day. We are looking for a great big majestic arabic style bed. I think they call them "western style" versus our "arabic style". They are quite gaudy but I think fitting here. First time I went alone shopping. I had a lot of hostile stares from the men working there. I wasn't dressed in abaya but I wasn't showing my knees or shoulders, just my elbows & calves. Still seemed they were enough to cause distress. I took Seth back for a look at the furniture. Actually I really just wanted to see the reaction this time. I was completely ignored as if invisible & they made eye contact with & acknowledged Seth. Appeared friendly but very cool. The one guy stalked through every department on all 3 storeys of the building. We've decided we won't be buying anything there. Luckily we've seen similar elsewhere.

(This is a picture of our home to be. Inshallah) It's one of 6 built. This shows 2, ours is the left. Luckily 3 other company families will be with us. Our children are very noisy inside & outside & I notice the sound reverberates around the house.

STILL NO NEW HOUSE
New house soon inshallah - god willing. We thought god might be willing this week. Turns out not. We have the keys & keep going to check. Still no gas connected, furniture put in or cleaning done. The curtain rails are up though. We chose fabric for them a week or so ago. We're getting more keen to move as all basins in our current bathrooms manage to leak the contents on to our floors for some reason, as does our washing machine. No plugs for washing dishes or the bath although we have made our own substitutes. We've searched all shops, told the plumber, but not heard or seen anything since. The water pressure is incredibly low in the showers, it takes me a long time to go through the process of washing my massive head of hair. So I don't do it as often as I'd like. All very good in 30C+ temperatures. Still inshallah - maybe by end of next week.

GIRLS NIGHT
I've been writing this blog entry all week. It is now Wednesday evening the "Friday night" in Oman. I have kindly been invited to a girl's night at one of the mums from Cole's class. We also went to the fireworks with them last weekend. They seem like they enjoy a bit of a drink & a chat. It appears that the husbands fairly often have to go away "interior" or other parts of Oman or even other countries for work, courses & what not. Seth also tells me excitedly about times he may have to go abroad. Now that we've got Pushpa, I won't mind.

DOMESTIC HELPER
We ended up finding a domestic helper from the supermarket ad board. After talking to a few on the phone & meeting another one in person, we next met her. She speaks English well although there are a few crossed wires. She seems nice though, good with the kids & works well. Unlike the domestic helpers I noticed in South Africa. She only comes for 3 hours a day at the moment however. When we one day move into the new house she will live in & we will hire her permanently and sponsor her through the company. It will help with the school routine especially when someone is sick. Currently the sick one gets dragged everywhere to all the drop offs & pick ups - no chance to sleep, rest & recover. Of course at 30C at 8.00am in the morning you can't even leave them in the car for 5 mins. It'll work much better once we're in the magic new house. Not long now. Inshallah.

EMAILS
Thank you for all the emails sent in response to the blog goings on. My own email replies are a bit slow you may have noticed. I'll try to do a blog entry maybe weekly so I don't have to repeat in many emails. One thing driving me crazy is my internet access is r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w. I'm on some wireless connection. We will in time get on to ADSL which we are hoping will be a bit faster. At least we've got access. So I can only get a tenth of my internet/emailing done. Maybe a faster ADSL at the new house will sort that out. Inshallah again.

8: Settling In - 5 Nov 2007

HOME SWEET HOME

We are settling in even more. Kids just starting to sleep better. The first 12 days of sleep has been dreadful for all of us, but is now improving.

POST
A box of things we sent by post so they wouldn't have to be dragged in our suitcases has finally arrived 18 days after we posted it from NZ. If I thought that took a long time, it was nothing compared to Seth's adventures opening the correct type of bank account & also collecting the box from the post office. I won't go into details except to say that the 3 or 4 bank visits involved numerouse waits, queues, & documents over a few days & unfortunately still requires more visits, queues, waiting & documentation.

As for the post office visit, along with the usual carry on, it also involved driving the post office clerk home to his house for lunch, which just happened to be in the opposite direction from anywhere Seth was going or had ever been. Other than that, things have been surprisingly quick & happening.

An extra postal surprise was some birthday books from Grandad & Jill that didn't take as long to get to Oman - taking only 7 days, rather than 18. Must be a difference between boxes & document sized mail.

NEW HOME
Now that we're settling in, we've received confirmation that we have a permanent house in about 2 weeks. Even went to pick curtains for it today. I will miss our comfortable temporary home somewhat, especially the pool area, but I won't miss the lack of bath & sink plugs & the water pressure!!! We got keys today, & had a look - its a fabulous home. Brand new. I can't fathom how we were lucky enough to get it. A combination of Seth's timing, charm & having 3 children. For once having 3 children instead of 1 or 2 has benefited us. Precious wee things that they are.

THE CATS
I'm going to feel guilty for the cats I'm leaving behind. I have a wee club of 3-4 cats that I sort of feed, although they don't get on well. Mr anorexic cat is super fussy about what he'll eat, is often last cuz he's so tiny and my little black friend with the big attitude Iooks as if she has, had or is going to have kittens. No wonder she is so ravenous. There are cats everywhere. I've given up having one for a pet & am just going to share leftovers with whoever is out there. Unfortunately the new neighbourhood is also overrun with cats, so I'm not even going to try taking any of these ones with us. Besides they're a bit wild.

DRIVING
Driving is getting easier. I hardly notice driving on the right side of the road. It is only when I just get in the car & start up in auto mode, especially in carparks that I have to focus. I'm less intimidated by all the sudden lane crossings too. I'm not so worried about getting it wrong with lanes now I realise everyone else weaves in & out of lanes randomly. I do drive the speed of a granny however - around 60km/hr as opposed to the 80km/hr many seem to enjoy.

VEGEMITE
Found Australian Vegemite at the local supermarket, it just turned up out of the blue. Yay! Kaija likes it & is now eating bread again. I've been told foreign food like that sells out quick so must go back & stock up on jars of it.

CASH SOCIETY
A lot of places are cash only. There appears to be the use of debit cards. You still sign for them like with a lot of credit cards but you must have money deposited onto them. Almost like eftpos except you can only sign & there is the slight inconvenience that many places don't accept them. For example McDonalds.

I finally gained enough confidence to veer from my school run to go to McDs. Seeing it & getting to the place in a vehicle via roads are different things. Getting the 3 little ones out, as it's too hot to eat in the car, waiting at the only counter open which had a queue of about 12, one of the orders being for a bus of school kids waiting outside, all getting happy meals.

When my crew made it to first in line, they finally opened another till. Timing. The guy I ordered off was not Omani & we had a wee bit of trouble understanding each other's version of English. The order took a bit of communicating & then when I went to pay, sorry no cards, cash only. Well that was it, my kiddos had been pretty amazing for the entire queue process but at the sign of no food, the tantrums were let out of the bag. Big time! The ATM machine in the same set of shops just happened to be out of order too.

A trip up the road to discover the bank, its ATM, & back again, calmed the storm. By then I was way over the healthy tuna salad they were offering & instead went for the heavy duty big mac combo for comfort. My wallet now carries a good sum of cash & I vow never to let it go low. McDonalds seemed a tad expensive, but probably similar to back home. It did cost about 4 times the amount it cost to put half a tank of gas into my car however.

7: The First Week Over - 31 Oct 2007

HALLOWEEN

Today is Halloween. On-camp there is trick & treating, & a party for the adults. We however will be retiring, exhausted from our first week. Funnily enough, Cole is suddenly scared of all our cat visitors. Having gone from stalking all the cats himself last week he has started screaming & crying in fear when we open the back door & they're waiting for us. He doesn't want us going outside at all, hates us touching them & won't quit until the door is closed with us safely inside. The hungry strays are quite persistent but I think it may be his introduction to Halloween through school & kids. As most of all he is very scared of the poor little black cat that stalks us most of all.

DOCTOR TIME

I've had no voice all week & Kaija & now Siena have had a bit of a cold & it was suggested quite a few times by her kindy that we take her to the doctor. The NZ$2 medicine we got from the chemist was excellent at relieving symptoms & putting her to sleep at night but hasn't cleared up the cold. There is a PDO clinic over on the camp that provides free healthcare but the hours are so inconvenient for us, with 3 to run around after & it has been suggested that it is better to use an international doctors clinic. Seth the master researcher has managed to find us one at our local shops. Even better, so we'll try the paediatrician there.

BUSY KIDS

What a week. It has been exhausting. I've never been so razzled. The heat, the car trips. Can be as many as 6 - 8 a day depending what is on. One way to get accoustommed to the traffic. Last week was so quiet, this week so busy. Poor wriggly Siena has been dragged all over the place, with no regard for sleeps, routine etc in the incredible heat. She's doing pretty well though.

Cole & Kaija are in PDO school. Cole in Nursery (a sort of advanced kindergarten) & Kaija in Pre-Nursery (kindergarten). They both love it. Cole did think he'd had enough after 2 days but having it explained to him that this is an everyday thing, he was happy to accept his fate. It's fun, keeps them busy, but more formalised than back home. The main thing for Cole is that there is only 10 in his class, so he's not struggling with shyness so much. Next term more will come over from the nursery to make 19, but hopefully he'll have found his feet by then. Kaija loves her kindy too, which is also a small group. She was her shy, mute self too, but she has been joining in all activities very content. Next Wed there will be a coffee morning with the Kindy mums so I can meet them all.

This morning I went with my "meet & greet rep" (person whose job it is to walk newies through all the infrastructure, groups & going-ons) from the Spouses association to a monthly coffee meeting for all the new spouses on camp. A delightful Scottish woman who has 2 young children in the British School, one of whom was born here. We went for morning tea at the Director's home hosted by his wife. It was the quintessential lavish ex-pat lifestyle. A beautiful older home on the camp, right on the cliff overlooking beaches & sea. A large, cool home with pool and magnificent view. It comes with domestic staff including butler & cook. Very nice. I hadn't driven around that area of camp & didn't even know it existed.

Having such a pro-active husband all the many support groups etc don't seem so necessary Seth has tapped into most things we need anyway. They were surprised we already had internet access, although very slow, we do have it. I don't think we'd have wanted to wait over a month to get access to that, especially just using someone elses. Being in an office job & reasonably computer savvy means Seth has can access things quickly. Many of the roles here will be technical experts out in the field, & won't perhaps be focused on family setup.

PARTIES ALREADY

It seems I'll be busy meeting people through the kids. We went to a birthday party yesterday for 2 kids from Cole's class. They had a lovely home just off camp with a great outdoor area for kids. It was just like at home. People are just more clever here with putting up sun shades, but even then you can only go outside when it's cooled in the late afternoon. Siena was very grown up, jumping on the tramp with the 15+ other kids & played pass the parcel just like a big kid & even won. They had all the great kiddie party food, home made nemo cake & colourful cup cakes.

That was Siena's 2nd party for the day. We had a Halloween party for the under 3s in the morning at the little Toddler Hut Club. I think we'll be back. The party effort was fabulous, & the venue was a wee disneyland. All the great toys, inside & outside & even its own manicured lawn. After everything in life being about driving, dropping off, & picking up Cole & Kaija at their exciting places, several times a day, finally there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for Siena. We will start visits there for her this next week.

HELPER SOON

I despretely need to get one of the domestic helpers though because it's diabolical getting all 3 monsters feed, watered, washed, brushed, teeth cleaned, lunches made, bags packed in the car, through the morning traffic & dropped off before school starts. We get up at 6.00am or just before & should leave by 7.30am for 8.00am start. We've been late every day except today when Seth took only Cole but had to hang around & wait for school to open so he was late for work. The kids are really on a go-slow picket line in the morning with tantrums & tears to boot & when I turn my busy back it is incredulous what creative sabotage they've done within seconds. Seth doesn't think any domestic worker is going to what to live with our family because it'll be too full on. I hope he is wrong.

LUNCHING

Seth has been hounding me all week about how the mothers collect the kids from youngsters school & meet their husbands for a relaxing, leisurely lunch at the club overlooking the beach. We decided to try it today. Seth initially wanted to do it the 3 days a week Cole finishes early at 11.30am the same time as Kaija. Envisioning a happy family affair. After today's experiment we'll be lucky if we try it once a week. The food is very good & very well priced, I'm assuming subsidised by the company. But the children took the leisurely & relaxed out of the lunch. We came out of it, with indigestion, hot, tired & dripping in sweat from trying to manage the monsters. Looks like Seth will have to make buddies at work to enjoy that one.

ODD ONE OUT

It feels very much like I've landed in the middle of a secret club I know nothing about but have managed to somehow get into. Seth was a direct hire by the Oman side of the company, which is less common, & it seems the majority of westies & families here are in the actual Shell group, there are a few direct hires though. The Shell group families seem to have entered the Shell world early on in their careers & have travelled the globe placement by placement eventually having families along the way. Every country Shell has operations, although quite different, appears to operate by way of a Shell community model. Knowing nothing about this, I'm a little lost at the moment. But it's all very set-up & standardised I guess, & comforting for those families who spend their careers & lives travelling the globe in this manner. It does feel very insular, & a bit like living in a bubble within a country. Quite self-sufficient & not hugely interated into the local Oman community.

The other thing is being kiwi. I have met only 2 other kiwi ladies, & 1 aussie. Everyone else is Dutch, English or Scottish. One NZer was relieving as Cole's teacher, the other was one of the organisers for people new to Oman. They are both from New Plymouth, where the small Shell presence in Nz is based. Most westie employees here seem to either come direct from the oil & gas industry or backgrounds where they've travelled the globe on placements for other companies, working on various projects. Seth being plucked out of Auckland from the recruitment industry is a bit out of the square.

Our time in living in Japan also seems to influence our expectations. As Japan itself was quite insular & foreigners had to really make networks of a sort with local Japanese, which was really enriching, we naturally expected the same here. I think both of us are keen to get to know the local situation, people, culture, practices etc & hopefully befriend some locals. It doesn't appear to be the norm however. Although Seth at work is surrounded by mainly Omanis & occasional interaction with one westie. I, on the other hand am surrounded by westies or easties (ex-pat eastern hires) and absolutely no Omanis thus far. Sometimes it's a little surreal.

6: First Weekend - 27 Oct 2007

THE WEEKEND

Our first weekend in Oman. The weekend falls on Thursday & Friday, with Friday being the holy day, and many businesses shut, or open for half a day only. The first weekday is Saturday & last day of the week Wednesday. Quite an easy concept to understand but still seems to be confusing my poor brain & scheduling.

COLES BIRTHDAY

Cole finally turned 4. It feels like it's been forever in coming. People all thinking he was already 4 or even 5 or 6! It's a relief to now be able to say he's 4. He had a great day & really played out his privileged status of being the birthday boy. He loves his big boy bike and won't let it stay outside at the moment, only inside. Thankfully it is one favourite new thing that he can't take to bed with him. Something he's always liked to do since baby age. All the books, toys & odd items that have been found in his bed over the last 4 years... He also got some more Thomas train set to add to their other parts when they arrive by ship. Cole was most upset to discover Kaija's kindy had a train set but that his nursery school didn't have one. Having one at home, that doesn't need to be shared amongst many has finally put that whine to rest.

We had NZ$18 bacon for his breakfast. A real treat, & surprising it could be purchased since Islam doesn't permit the eating of pork. We bought each of the kids a little dress-up outfit, to wear on his birthday, since they were so gorgeous & so reasonably priced compared to back home. They enjoyed prancing around home in those, but we didn't let them wear them out of the house as it feels quite conservative dress-wise in that regard, even for children.

Our traditional birthday cake breakfast didn't go down too well this time. We had to make do with a birthday cake from the local supermarket that funnily enough, the kids didn't like. It looked great but wasn't to their taste. Cole still managed to eat it even though it wasn't mummy's usual secret chocolate cake & icing. We had to use matches for candles, which worked very well. The kids didn't even notice. And had to each have a turn to blow out "the candles".


OLIVE PARADISE

We will be on an olive diet by the looks of things. There has been a lot of delicious olives to buy but yesterday at one supermarket we had a huge selection & the bags cost us NZ$1.50 and NZ$2.00, coming from Egypt I think. No more fighting over the last olive.


OLD MUSCAT

We decided to take a break from roaming the commercial & shopping areas of Muscat and take a drive to find old Muscat. It was a really interesting drive, and feels quite different from the suburban/commercial areas around which we, live, work & shop. Old Muscat has very old forts, gateways, buildings, etc. The Sultan's palace is there also. Some parts have a feeling of the Portugese settlement Macau Island which is now part of China.

(Old Muscat icon - roadway arch)

But then the environment & terrain here is so foreign to me at times. The old part of Muscat is situated amongst some of the ragged rocky peaks and is quite picturesque but feels a little forboding. It really is quite different from what I'm used to.

In NZ I love the huge expansive horizon you feel with access to a large skyscape. Other countries & cities have the cityscapes overwhelmed with skyscrapers that fill up any sky space, but also looks incredible. Around old Muscat it seems to be situated in valleys surrounded by peaks of jagged rocks & hills formed by arid piles of stones, & dust. They tower around, & it feels almost claustrophobic. Some of the homes are built right up to the rock faces. But it is really, very impressive.

(Old Muscat area houses)

THE WEATHER

Some habits are hard to break. As I go about my day I still constantly find myself looking out to the sky to to see if it's overcast, rainy or cloudy when about to do washing, get dressed, pack a bag preparing to go out etc. And each time, I then remember that there is no rain, no overcast moments, no cloud, just sun. Hot, hot sun, everyday from when it rises to when it goes down. Everyday can be a washing day.

SWIMMING POOL

The complex's pool is wonderful to have, but it isn't overly used. Seems people find it cooler just to stay inside in the air-conditioning. Which is true. It's still refreshing though, as it is so hot outside the water still feels cool, especially when you first get in. The kids are slowly overcoming their fears in the water & now prefer to stay in for long periods of time. We went and stocked up on floatation devices so we can all get in at once. It requires a bit of effort to coordinate when doing it solo however, as the kids are in & out, & still demand to be held. They also have one volume level - super loud so I feel sorry for our neighbours. Our kids in the pool seem to bring out the other kids in the complex like the pied piper with a flute.


FEEDING CATS

I've mentioned before that there are quite a few stray cats around, & lots of ads looking for homes for cats as ex-pats return to their home countries. It's been ages since I was into cats - preferring dogs since I gave up my semi-tamed, little wild cat ET, after he'd been dragged through a few flats with me. However I think we might end up taking on 1 or more kitty cats when we get a home as the kids have been loving them. In the meantime, still missing my dog & having no one to give meat leftovers to I decided to try the stray cats that hang out around the pool area.

Well that was a bit of a mission! I forgot how unsociable & stubborn cats can be. The skinniest little black cat, that I first offered food to, was such a slow eater & never going to get through all the food. I then divided it between the 3 cats all waiting, but old skinny black decided that as I befriended him he was the only one allowed to eat from any of the plates. In fact they all started eating but then greed got to them & they wanted each other's food. They're so skinny & hungry & there was plenty to eat but could they share? No way. I could see a bit of a fight was starting up so had to scare them away from each other by throwing precious water & take the food & putting it in the bin. That was after spending 45 minutes guarding them & trying to organise them to be sharing cats. It takes far less time to make my kids share.


NZ FOOD

NZ butter & cheese. After having a stand-off between the kids & the plastic-looking cheese, coloured orange, just like US cheese, that they wouldn't touch, we tracked down some NZ products. NZ yellow cheese & butter made by Anchor in the UK but sourced from NZ it appears. Much more popular with the kiddos.

We also have an excellent selection of NZ beef & lamb at all the supermarkets we've been. The best cuts. Amazing! It was the same in Japan, at the international supermarket in Tokyo we could get beautiful cuts of NZ meat. Cuts that back in NZ are only carefully hunted down in specialist butcheries usually in the more expensive Auckland suburbs.

Marmite. My girls are marmite kids & nothing else. It has been hard to get bread down them without NZ marmite. I was planning to buy jars of it & bring it in my suitcase but the freight guy thought it wouldn't be allowed. I'm not so sure now. I saw nothing about not bringing in food items, especially processed ones. I was hoping to track down some good old kiwi marmite somewhere but could only find bovril & English marmite. There wasn't even the Australian vegemite. I finally caved in and bought the English marmite. Surprisingly it's going down a treat with my palette, even though I usually can't stand it. Siena is buying it but Kaija is not too convinced.

MOST ILLUSIVE THING
Still haven't found one sink plug. Have looked in many shops, yet none found. There are no plugs in our home. Maybe they weren't lost from the house after all, but never existed. If we ever find anything, it's going to be like finding gold or should I say striking a fresh water well.

(The back view of our townhouse - yard from the communal outdoor area.)

5: Things Are Happening - 26 Oct 2007

THINGS ARE HAPPENING

Well, things are starting to happen. Seth has been hard at work, organising at full speed & been very successful.
He managed to get one of the company cars the day we landed & has impressed the staff at his work & myself by successfully negotiating the driving style, a completely new city & learning right-hand driving fairly instantly. Often people are driven about by drivers for the first few weeks. They were impressed he could remember how to get to work. Since then he has clocked up over 600km driving up & down the motorway systems & all around, finding & organising all his comforts - all unassisted.


RED-TAPE

I think the few years living in Japan & organising everything on his own & all in a foreign language really has helped. In fact here, everyone speaks English, (at least all the Omani locals) and very well too, they also have no trouble understanding our accent. So it's much easier than Japan was. The bureaucratic red-tape procedures of Japan were also all good practice in learning about documents, permissions, lots of patience & red tape required to get things done in Oman. However, it does seem working for PDO opens channels though, to make things easier & quicker. Because they constantly bring in many, many foreigners it looks like they have their own diverts within systems.


A HOME

We have now been here a week and Seth has charmed his way into securing us a really nice 4 bedroom, multiple bathroom, brand new home 3 storey home with a fantastic view, in a very nice area, & close to great facilities. However, it is off-camp in a public suburb. How he managed to do that when we were last on the list I don't know. It seems it will be about a 2-3 week wait now as they finish it off, put up curtains, build in gas or something that the builders had omitted, hook up the utilities & furnish it for us. We are really ecstatic about it. We can really get settled that much quicker & will be able to get live-in domestic help. I've seen Helpers out & about with families on occasion & it really does look wonderful to have that extra pair of hands with the wee ones.






This picture is an example of a typical house scape from one of the nice suburbs (off camp). It feels similar to where we are currently staying.






THE ESSENTIALS

We now have a wireless internet connection. That was definately the hardest comfort to live without. We have satellite tv hooked up, upstairs & down, with great channel selection & the little kids channel is excellent including a lot of British programmes we didn't get in NZ. And our 9 boxes of airfreight arrived so we have some of our home comforts, like a radio (forgot to pack the CDs though) kids things, extra clothes etc. Seth has organised local SIM cards for our mobiles & finally got our land line sorted & discovered the number. We have been to the kids school which looks absolutely great & even comes with its own grassy football field in the middle of the sandy desert. The kids can't wait to start. We're joined up to the recreation centre, got our passes, been shopping for the essentials from cleverly tracked down malls & as of yesterday we collected our first car & pick up the 2nd car we've bought tomorrow.


CARS

The cars are essential as I was absolutely not allowed to drive the company car & couldn't leave the house to buy, do anything & being so hot for us, haven't yet managed to stay outside let alone walk with the littlies to the local shops. Now I have access to a car, I can start learning to drive on the right-side, learn the roads & finally take the kids to school & help them settle in.

I had to drive back from the car dealers alone & following Seth which was a bit of an uneasy time. At one of the busy roundabout sections when vehicles flood you from all around squishing between lanes, I lost him for a few terrifying minutes & only saw him as the lights changed leaving me behind, to wonder what lane to get in, how on earth to do it & what direction to take. But we made it home eventually. I might try and get him to take a driver car to collect the 2nd car tomorrow though as I'm not too ready for that one again. I find I really have to focus on the correct side of the road when turning across roads.

We've only had one occurrence of driving down the wrong side of the road, & that was leaving a mall & Seth doing a sneaky to get to a lane & direction we needed to. No cars were around luckily. Sometimes to go in a particular direction you do have to drive for a long way to one of their many roundabouts to change directions. Road barriers prevent u-turns, which I'm grateful for. I can only imagine what it would be like otherwise.


DODGES

We are going to be driving tanks, or the closest I'll ever get to them. We have bought Dodges, those big American brand cars that are just starting to import into NZ. Seth will have a Dodge Durango which seats 8 adults comfortably plus boot space (helpful for all the visitors) & I in a very ugly Dodge something else. It looks very much like a masculine car, not a girls car. However it does feel safe (there are 38 serious car accidents a day here in Muscat pop about 800,000), easy to manoeuvre & has good visibility & no one back home will see me. I did see 2 western guys watching me drive it & having a bit of a laugh at me. Don't know if it was because I looked ridiculous or if it was because my driving was ridiculous, uncertain & very slow. I will just stick to the school run for now choosing the easier of the 2 ways. Do I go the longer way with easy turn, motorway & 1 roundabout or do I take the shorter route, difficult turn, narrow roadworks, & 2 roundabouts? I put a lot of thought into these things. Thankfully the local supermarket is nice & close and doesn't require going on a main road. I might find the DVD men again.


SUV LAND

Seth thought that his company carpark looked like an SUV car yard - with every imaginable make & model of SUV to choose from. Driving on the roads I understand why almost every westie expat & half of Muscat like to drive SUVs. The carpark at the kids school was also the same, very funny to see. The principal said it was so dangerous at pickup & drop offs that no kids were ever allowed anywhere near the carpark, they lined up nearby waiting for parents to collect them. Driving around it is funny to see so many westie woman driving these huge tanks. Cars here tend to be very clean too, so carparks full of lots of newish shiny cars do look like car yards. Interestingly one of the rules/laws here is that you must keep your car exterior clean. Everything is so sandy & dusty & the roads can be flawed in places (not sure if that is normal or a result of the June Hurricane). A lot of people head out off road into the desert, dunes & rocky mountains at weekends but must remember to clean up on returning. Even with water very precious here. It's more expensive that petrol. When hanging washing out on the clothesline, the clothesline wire needs to be wiped for dust & if any items fall on the patio, they're filthy with dust & need re-washing.


COLE IS 4

Today is Cole's birthday & we're very proud of ourselves for tracking down Toys R Us, getting the bicycle he has long been promised without him being aware of it. He thinks we only bought lunch boxes. And that he has to be a little bit bigger still before he is ready for the big boy bike. That, or else he has me duped into thinking, that he has no idea a bicycle came home in the boot and now sits sneakily in the cupboard.

There are a few shopping centres & a couple of large malls in Muscat but the foreign chain shops seem to have only one outlet in the whole city, same with the car brands. You have to discover where a particular shop is & how to get there as there aren't multiple branches spread throughout the areas. Not so for McDonalds, KFC Starbucks & other fast-food outlets though - they are everywhere. That explains how Seth clocked up 600km in 5 days, driving back & forth between car yards comparing specs & prices. When he went to fill the roughly 70 litre tank with gas it only cost about NZ$20-30, when it would cost around $120-$130 back home I think.

This week, after school one day we're going to a Pirate Birthday Party. We haven't started school yet, but because everyone knew we were coming & Cole & 2 others in his class have their birthdays on consecutive days they've included us in their party, which is very nice. We haven't even met them yet! We wouldn't be having a proper party for him otherwise. There are only 10 kids in his class currently so I imagine the whole class goes, & the teacher too is going to be there. It seems like it will be quite a close knit community around kids groups. Now that I have a car, I can get to another pre-schoolers group with Siena, especially if Cole & Kaija are at kindy & nursery school. This week it's a little Halloween party. So fun! We've never taught our kids about Halloween so it will be interesting. And Siena can terrorise everyone with her bravado antics. She'll probably act all innocent, sweet & clingy, pretending like she doesn't get up to any mischief.




COLDS

We're starting to get colds & sore throats, probably from the temperature fluctuations between roasting hot & aircon cold. Kaija has been struggling with hers so we went to the pharmacy & got her local medicine. Oh how NZ pharmaceutical & medical watchdogs would fret to see what she is taking. The great thing is, it re

ally works & although quite unpleasant they only need tiny half teaspoons full at a time unlike the large doses required back home. Its proper flu medicine for kids. It was behind the counter but didn't come with the inquisitions & refusals that cold medicine requests elicit back home. It's going to be heaven, having access to proper medicines for colds & flus for the next 4 years. Apparently people don't seem to get sick as often in this climate, but when they do, it's a nasty bout & often occurs when a different strain is brought in from abroad.

BLOG FORMAT
I was signed on to a different blog site but found it difficult to use in some ways so have moved to one. Unfortunately this one places posts all on one page in a long line which makes my ramblings even longer than they already are. They also start with the most recent at the top of the page. So reading down the page sequentially takes you back in time.

4: Home Alone in Muscat - 21 Oct 2007

HOME ALONE - KEEPING SANE

So it was my first day home alone with the kiddos. It was nice having our own place & a little bit of a potter round but also slightly boring. I did all the cleaning I could & about 5 loads of washing still with hours to kill before Seth would get home. And my little friend Cole asked all day about going to school, until he had Kaija asking also.

We've been doing very well with the stickers, colouring books, teddies & story books we set out with 5 days ago, but the kids are starting to get a little over them. Also I promised them, particularly Cole that he would finally get a big boy bike & go to big boy nursery school once we went to live in Oman. So he's been hounding us since we arrived at the airport. He expected a bike to be waiting at the Visa processing area.

We managed to occupy ourselves fairly well with hide n seek & the usuals, but I am kind of dreading what later today will bring, or not bring. As usual, its the middle of the night & I'm wide awake. Hopefully I've sorted out the kids body clocks though & if all goes well they'll wake properly close to 6 am local time.


AROUND HOME

I took the kids out to the pool area for a little wander about 8.30am in the morning & it was really hot. It feels a little odd, as for locals & other expats used to the climate, it is really, really cool right now - jeans & long top weather. We were all hot, sweaty & flushed when we got in. However that might have had something to do with the stalking dog.

We made friends with all the cats that seem to appear from nowhere, had a chat with a British neighbour & a good nosey at the pool area. This included me trying to hold all 3 back from throwing themselves in. They couldn't understand why they weren't able to swim when they very very much like it. Siena of course needed multiple savings from the super steep water slide that runs straight down into the pool's shallow end which is well above all their heads. I'm sure her climbing gene will eventually take her to Everest. I see the pool may not quite be the secret weapon I thought it was going to be. As each child needs their own adult to hold them or at least some sort of safe flotation device, we can't really go in with just me.


STALKING DOG

Before coming to Oman I'd read info about stray animals not to mention the land snakes, sea snakes, spiders, biting ants & scorpions, sharks & a few other friendly beasts. There was a huge stray cat problem but an ex-pat group started catching them & fixing a lot of cats so it is not so bad, but there are still a few around. I guess expats get animals then kind of pass them on or leave them behind when they move on & they've all bred. Apparently there is a bit of a wild dog problem in parts - the packs of dogs being very scary. I've seen a few roaming dogs, very tall-large & quite slim.

In the morning, I thought that we might go for a quick walk around our block to fend off boredom before it got too hot when very suddenly we acquired a large doggy friend. The kids were quite nervous of it & so was I even though it appeared friendly enough. I'm just not sure whether its a "pet" or just another lone, wandering dog, looking for food & company. Anyway it was quite tall & in our face a bit so I decided to quickly end our walk & snuck into one of the walkways back to the pool area. But he kept following us rather excitedly. And the kids & I were getting more nervous.

When I got to the gate I pushed it closed so it latched, even though usually, they seem to be kept wide open, & felt we could relax. Suddenly the dog got right up on his hind legs & very easily pushed the gate open & followed us. I left the kids, (panic pushed them round a corner) & coaxed him back out again & this time held myself against the gate & put the lock on, hoping it would hold. It did.

What a relief, but the very determined dog was hammering the gate & whining trying to get in, as we sprinted along the path & into the safety of our own closed yard, in case Mr Dog got too clever & found one of the other open paths leading to the pool area - especially the one right by our apartment. Luckily he wasn't that clever or determined. Not like our wee fox terrier Jacku-san who had he been in that situation, I'm sure would have figured that one out before too long because he was so good at finding ways & means to go places.


REMEMBERING JACKU-SAN

I had entertained the idea of bringing Jackson with us to avoid putting him down, but I didn't think he would cope with the vet visits, required injections, being caged, plane journeys, drugging, quarantine, and then the heat, scorpions & other odd but dangerous creatures, once he'd made it here. And if he'd lived long enough, due to the rabies in animals here, he'd never have been allowed back to NZ.

I also think he may have got into trouble with all these cats around as he didn't have great self-control in that department & if he'd encountered any large wandering dogs especially anywhere near us, he would have fought for dear life with them. And he certainly had no idea of the driving code here, a quick escape near any moving vehicle is super dangerous. Something we also really try to watch with the kids. The speed, sudden manoeuvres & huge SUVs are all factors kids have to get wise with quickly.


IN THE FAST LANE

I think the driving etiquette is currently overwhelming me because other than the wandering dog incident, the kids & I were in our own little quiet, peaceful haven until Seth arrived home & took us off in search of Lulu Hypermarket (a huge supermarket with huge department store + mini stores attached. Suddenly we were thrust out into the bustling, beeping, speeding, overly populated roadways in the fast lane of life in the real Oman. It was good to get out though & to get a few household things.

Just before we left Auckland I started using the local cobbler/fix-it guy at our local mall as I was getting everything fixed before we left. Turns out he happened to have lived in Oman for about 11 odd years. His family had a business there which he worked in after finishing school in India. He said that life was a lot faster, more hectic than in NZ. He was right, particularly the driving.


THE CAMP

Seth drove us to his work, & around the club, beach, & camp (housing area). It is a very nice place & slower paced, easier driving etc as everyone driving around there only works for the company. The schools, rec club & work is so handy, I understand why its good to be located there but the waiting list is currently 9 months for us as a family. We are the 64th family on the list. Seth went to the housing department today to discover all this & is thinking maybe we'll try and live off-camp so we can get settled in quicker. The company is about to second a few more houses off-camp, Seth had a look & took us all there after work. We are going to try and put ourselves down for one of these as they're in the same suburb we're in at the moment. Its a very nice suburb, & is popular with lots of western expats, the local shops really cater for westerners too. So its the next best thing to being on the actual company camp. The home we looked at was very nice too, just been built. But we will see how it all goes.

Having a chat about the differences, I think we will be fine off-camp. Having lived in Japan, out in the countryside & also in Tokyo, also amongst locals, meeting other westerners & foreigners became quite capable & independent so probably don't need to live right in that support network of the camp. And the drive to work & schools is only about 10 mins from where we currently are. It just seems far at the moment I think, because everything is a bit new.


WORK

Seth at work is really just meeting a few people & organising our life. He opened our bank account today & got blood tested & started finding out about schooling, housing, how to get cars, the internet, mobile phones, our freight etc. He's pretty much got the next 3 days to sort all that out before work kicks in & other team members return from training & leave.

It seems a bit odd for me being at home, finding out about Oman through Seth. When we lived in Japan I was working & so experienced everything first hand. Being stuck at home is kind of strange but I'm sure it won't last long. Once I get wheels & the kids in kindy & school, I'll start discovering things directly.

3: Arrival in Muscat, Oman - 20 Oct 2007

MUSCAT, OMAN

I seem to write in the middle of the night/early hours, as my body clock is still out. Wide awake & alone. Usually. Tonight I have the company of Siena & a coat hanger. However, she missed out on my midnight snack of olives, cheese & crackers & dates. The dates being an arrival gift, & very nice. Maybe we'll add them to our weekly diet.

THE FLIGHT

This morning we left souless Dubai & took a super quick flight to Muscat. The airport time & stress is pretty much triple or quadruple the actual flight time. I understand why choosing to drive 5 hours for Dubai excursions might be preferable.

The view was incredible the whole way. A magnificent irridescent sea coast & sand and rock patterns absolutely majestic. Smooth flying & delectable views, great meal, but had to eat super quick between take-off & landing. The greatest flight I've ever had! It seemed to take longer to seat everyone than it did to fly. Seems so weird for an international flight.

Arriving in Oman was heaps more laid back than Dubai. Thankfully. More like flying into Fiji. The people, the pace, even the driving is more my cup of tea.

OUR HOME

Whole family is now up but its only 3.45am. The kids are talking to imaginery people, looking for imaginery treasure, hunting in imaginery caves, so no chance of getting them back to sleep. At least they are loving their new place, enjoying exploring.

We are in a company sort of townhouse complex. Our townhouse is one of a few that make up a rectangle with back yard/patio areas opening on to a pool, slide & grassy garden area for all to use. That was a surprise and is going to be great. So far we haven't shown the children because they'd want us to be in the pool all day long. They loved the kids pool when we stayed in Dubai, but it was a bit hard with all 3. Si in particular kept falling under accidentally/on purpose evoking coughing fits.

LAYOUT

Our townhouse is similar to our home in Meadowbank. Three large bedrooms, one with ensuite, plus kids bathroom on the upper storey & and extra loo downstairs along with living/dining & kitchen. A washing machine is included in the kitchen for the laundry. The fridge is a bit on the massive side. There are super large cupboards/imaginery worlds upstairs & down, excellent storage for pushchairs, suitcases, a spot of exploration & hide n seek. They have locks with keys which I might ferret away as I can see some lock-ins happening. The walls are all concrete & floors all tile which are lovely & cool & easy to clean, but not great for cushioning little heads.

OUCH WITH TILE FLOORS

In the evening we heard a huge bang which turned out to be Siena pushed by Kaija off the couch on to her head. She screamed! We were really upset & worried because she went groggy for a bit & the scream unbearable. Soon after that she went to sleep, and then woke up ok. We got her some calmol or something which is the same as NZ's pamol. They must get some head injuries with kids here. Our kids are constantly knocking into the walls & floors.

Our home also comes with 5 airconditioners which are great. Still trying to get that delicate balance between too hot & too cold. We also have a little enclosed, concrete courtyard to hang washing, with shaded bit to sit or play and then the gates through to the communal pool area. Its probably about 20 years old, but well-designed.

I think we're going to be quite happy here in the "transit housing". Apparently we may be here for up to 9 months before we get a "permanent home" in the camp. "The camp" is a whole suburb with about 400 homes that belong to the company & most expat employees & families are living there. Its within the company compound & very easy to get to the school, kindy, work, recreation club etc. Now that I see how defensive & adventurous the driving is, I can see why it might be good live on-camp.

DRIVING

Seth is due to be picked up this morning & taken to work by a driver. He has jumped the gun a bit though. As we landed in Muscat in the morning, at 8.30am, were fast-tracked through processing with visas etc & driven to our new home where we were met by 2 white robed gentlemen & welcome pack, we were then all alone by about 9.30am. Unpacking & running around like yahoos kept us busy until the head accident which triggered all 3 monsters to eventually go to sleep.

Whilst we slept, Seth ordered a company driver to pick him up, take him to the company offices to collect a car which he drove home & we can use for 10 days. Seems they're still going to collect him this morning though. Probably good, because this left-hand drive car, right-hand lane driving is a mind bender. We really had to concentrate to keep on track. It' only Day 1 though. Probably after a week of drives each day, it'll be easier.

SUPERMARKET

After collecting the car, Seth stopped at a supermarket 3 mins drive away which we returned to again in the evening. It's always fun exploring supermarkets in different countries. Interesting to see what's the same as home, what's different. Some things here feel similar to living in Japan. Some of the small, cute sizing of products, & the packaging.

A lot of western faces at this supermarket. The supermarket carpark also deals in pirated DVDs & car washes. I was gutted to find Seth turned away a DVD seller. We have a tv but no signal & a few would have been great.

OUR FIRST FAUX PAS

We shopped up a storm in the supermarket getting start up provisions & at the checkout when it was time to pay Seth discovered he didn't bring his credit card. We're still carrying mostly US dollars as we kept missing opportunities to exchange currency through the airport system. It's so hectic nowdays, post 9/11 & post children its always a rush to check in & a rush to get to the plane before it takes off. There wasn't even any time to soak up the business lounge experiences.

Luckily I remembered my bag with wallet & most importantly, credit card was in the car & managed to stop Seth in the carpark just as he was ripping off home to retrieve his. Relief for me, as I was the one with 3 kids (growing more impatient) standing at the check out in everyone's way, with 2 trolleys full, feeling like a right noggin. (Discovered some checkout operators do speak engish though.)

Of course Seth in his manic panic & handicapped by his man-eyes didn't even see my large tote bag sitting right next to him in the car, let alone think to have a quick look in it for my wallet. Disaster averted, in a more fragile state, we drove home, old-ladyishly on the right side of the road in the dark, missing turnoffs as we went.

2: Dubai Wanderings & Ponderings - 19 Oct 2007

(Mall of the Emirates exterior - includes a snow planet.)

DRIVING AROUND OUR AREA IN DUBAI

Today was a good day. Sleep, rest & food put me right. We went by taxi - that fast, unpredictable, driving that leaves your stomach weak & hands sore from holding on for dear life. The only way people drive here. I don't know how long it will be before I have the courage to drive amongst this. I'll have to be in a truck to feel safe.

Cars are all left-hand drive, driving on the right-side of the road. It does feel a bit weird, even as a pedestrian & getting into taxis. Cars always suddenly appear from directions you don't expect, Cole especially got a few surprises with close & sudden cars. It doesn't look like a fun place to be driving. I won't be in a hurry to take the 5 hour drive back here to Dubai from Muscat, Oman where we'll be living. I'll be passed out in panic by the end of the journey.

There were no accidents, excellent defensive driving by everyone if not overly aggressive. Just like in Asian countries. Car seats for kids aren't big. I've seen a few small kids with no car seat, no seat belt, playing merrily on the front seat of cars going around 130km/h plus with all the aggressive, defensive driving happening around them. Very different from the super safety west.

CONSTRUCTION ON A MASSIVE SCALE

We went for a little tiki tour around a suburb called the Palm. It is reclaimed land built in the shape of a palm tree & has hundreds of apartment buildings & villas built. The whole complex has gone for a unique architectural feel too. They are also just building something called the world or similar where they are reclaiming land shaped as the continents on the globe. These reclaimed suburbs are like fingers surrounded by water, edged by beaches & marinas. It is quite impressive to see.

Construction here is on a massive scale. It kind of looks like a ghostlike city with sky scraper after sky scraper after sky scraper. Hundreds as far as you can see, & hundreds more being built. I wonder how there could ever be enough people to fill them. The Dubai marina area we have been staying at is not at all crowded, but I'm sure that's because its new. The taxi drivers have been saying it was all just sand a few years ago. Now its a major construction zone around water ways, as far as I can see.

IMPORTED LABOUR

Cheap labour is imported from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & the Philippines. I suppose I will get used to seeing this as it is the same in Oman also. It's a little sad as I don't think they are paid a lot, but for them it must seem like an opportunity. I've seen where the construction workers work, in these 30-50 degree C temperatures, way up high doing hard, dangerous, construction work. They seem to live on the construction sites in those metal shipping containers, stacked on one another. Seth saw the same makeshift living on tv once; there were 3 men bunks stacked inside the containers. Not a lot of space.

During down times there are men just milling around on the ground trying to find a bit of shade for a sit down. They humbly leap out of your way immediately, as you come their way. Our kids, especially Siena loves waving and yelling hello at them. She gets such a great reaction she's started doing it all the time wherever we go. The men love interacting with the little ones.

It seems most of the workers live & work for a year & then get a trip back home to their families. The apartment & taxi workers we've spoken to have been working for many years; eg 6,9, 10, 21 years. One guy even told me his father & grandfather also had worked the same way in Dubai. It seems workers send most of their money home & once a year they visit their wives & children. Quite a sacrifice!

A lot of hand holding goes on by men here, not just the immigrant workers either. Reminded me of the hand-holding girls in Japan.

I don't think tipping is convention, but it seems that they often are tipped a bit. I know the taxi drivers are on a percentage commission system, one that probably doesn't favour them too well.
Once you start chatting, they are really very friendly. And the Pakistanis in particular really like cricket & talk about the NZ cricket team.

A SHOPPING MALL - MALL OF THE EMIRATES

As expected it was impressive. Huge, beautifully made, an air conditioning haven, and many many beautiful, top quality shops. We went to Pumpkin Patch to have a look & saw that they had the winter seasons clothes in store, in fact all the kids shops did. They had woollen beanies & jumpers, heavy fabrics. The coolest it goes is down to is about 28 degrees C. You'd have to live in air-con bubbles to cope with wearing that. We were dressed as skimpily as we could get away with inside the mall & weren't even slightly cold. Pumpkin Patch prices seemed the same possibly a tiny bit cheaper than NZ when we did the conversion.

They had a snow planet type place inside the mall with a glass wall. So shoppers can stand & relax looking into the indoor snow slope. It was surreal to see people in snow suits, with skiis etc & a chair lift. The slope was really steep. We have to come back some time & try it.
Not really a big shopper, but I think I'm convinced it is a pastime to take up here. It was so nice & cool, and many different, beautiful shops. Found a yummy organic, grainy bread shop that was also a cafe. They are a chain. Hope its in Oman! The bread we've seen elsewhere was like in Japan, white, tasteless cardboard. Amazingly we managed to avoid a two storey, block-long, toy shop that from afar had some great displays. The kids were so busy with so much to look at they didn't spy it.

There was a great indoor jungle gym type playground, colouring-in room & merry go round that we spent ages at. It was only when we were leaving that we passed a sign to some monster playground - meant to be the biggest in the region. It looked like it had its own entire floor. I think this is one of the newly built malls, & reasonably opulent. On the map of Dubai there are many, many malls & shopping areas marked. This was just one.

Strange thing was, no teenagers, except at the snow planet park. It also didn't really appear very crowded & today was their first day of the weekend, equivalent to a Saturday. Although I think I read somewhere Dubai might have just changed from their traditional Thurs, Friday weekend to western Sat/Sun weekends. Oman still follows the traditional way however. At one point we heard the call for prayer, but only once during the 3 hours we were there. Not one of our kids asked what that sound was when it came over the loud speaker. They're very good at spotting obscure lolly dispenses placed in unlikely shops.

THE LAST STAGE

In the morning we get up early, return with glee, to the airport & take a 1 hour flight to Muscat, Oman where we are going to set up shop for the next while. It's the last leg of the journey. Not sure what to expect from Kaija, hoping for better as it's only a short trip. And we get met by a company rep once of the plane who escorts us through all the processing. If Kaija does her tantruming it's going to be quite humiliating for Seth. Not a first impression he wants to make.
At the moment we're thinking we'll have to be seriously homesick to want to try doing a journey back to NZ. Once we finish this last leg, I don't want to go near another airport or aeroplane for a long, long time.