Team USA Championship

Team USA played Oman in the Expat Basketball Championship. We decorated our side of the bleachers with a 15x9 foot American flag and placed streamers around the poles. The kids placed patriotic make-up on one another. One of the girls put on her make-up in the bathroom. She wrote USA on her head but we read ASU. We had a good laugh. I can't say it was the best game I ever watched. Neither team could make their shots. Plus, our guys had 11 fouls and the Omani's had one the first quarter. Humm. The guys played hard and the last four minutes of the fourth quarter of the game they started falling apart and Oman took the lead. So, no bragging rights this year. We took second place with smiles on our faces.

Diwali

The Festival of Lights, otherwise known as Diwali, is a traditional family celebration for Hindus. Small oil filled lamps are lit during the night to "cleanse" ones house in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome. The party starts late. Our Diwali celebration started at 10 pm with dinner at 11pm. Another friend of mine went to a Diwali that started at 10pm but dinner wasn't served til 0200. With any great celebration there is a ton of food. Our Diwali happened to serve Chinese food with an Indian flare. I asked Niti why they served Chinese food. She said during Diwali they eat Indian food all day long and needed a change. I never had to search for Matt. He stood next to the desert table with gulab jamun. Most of the Indians spoke English but there were a few elderly women who couldn't be taller than 5 feet coming up to me and kissing my cheeks smiling and hugging me. It goes to show you that you don't have to understand the language to show others kindness. After the dinner, music was played, people danced and sparklers were lit in order to drive away evil spirits.

Bousher Fort

Something really special about Oman is all the ruins scattered throughout the country. I have noticed that the date trees are inclosed by a wall and ruins of forts close to the plantations. One can only assume the forts were built to help protect the date trees. Bousher Fort is about 50 yards away from the date trees. There happened to be a of reservoir water and a young crane standing in the mud. Evan attempted to catch the frogs while Logan and Connor wanted to explore all the rooms of the fort. Hailey - she just wanted to sit in the car so the wind wouldn't mess up her hair.

Fall Festival

The crew looking for some action. Mac (on right) volunteered for the wax museum. She wanted me to know she stayed in the same pose for 34 minutes! LOL

Searching for our favorite mask
Our favorite trickster to unmask.

What is a witches favorite subject in school?

Spelling

This was a game I was willing to pay money for!

This sweet angel came down to save the pirate from the dinosaur.

Bowling for Bones!

Probably one of the favorite games, Angry Birds.

Connor loved his fortune! The gypsy said he would eat a lot of candy that night and he did.

Pumpkin Party

What better way to celebrate being in Kindergarten in the fall than with a Pumpkin Party. This international school celebrated many cultural traditions this week including Diwali. In the morning, the kindergarten class had a costume parade throughout the school. The Pumpkin fest started when they arrived back to the classrooms. They had a scavenger hunt through the trees for ghosts! They happened to be paper ghosts and when you found your name on the ghost, it had a glow in the dark bracelet attached to the back. The kids read pumpkin books, made pumpkin crafts, played bingo, pumpkin ping pong, and decorated apple faces. It was a Monster Mash Pumpkin Bash!

Amouage

Today I was invited to a perfume factory with some locals. I'm up for some fun and agree to go. We all met at the school and decided to take two cars. My first clue should have been opening the door to a Porsche Cayenne and sitting in the passenger's seat. I sat and attempted not to let my drool escape my mouth. The ladies wanted to tour the perfume factory. We drove up to Amouage "The Gift of Kings". We walk in and were escorted past Omani guards into a private section. There were over a dozen vats of perfume "aging" at a low temperature. After they explained the process they stated the perfume could stay on an item up to 5 years. Everything was handled by hand in the packing area. The men filled up bottles with small tubes. The women cleaned and packaged the items. The smelling area had small cups of coffee beans and sliced lemon to cleanse the olfactory palate. Today they were having a discount for some of the perfumes. Their discount prices were up to 50% off and ranged from 40 OR to 180 OR ($104 - $480 American dollars) for 100ml. So, I just brought samples home to try their 5 year smell test.

Team USA

In the Spirit of the Nations, welcome to the Oman 2011 expat basketball tournament!!

Our first time at the Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex was for the opening ceremonies for our embassy basketball team. The complex is smaller than the Alamo dome in San Antonio but they have coolers on the back wall full of free drinks. The kids really enjoyed themselves as the jock jams music played overhead. People were running around with their countries flag tied on their shoulders as a cape. Some wore face paint to get in the spirit of the games. The players were introduced and walked out to center court. I see my shinning knight in front. He chose the number 7 because that is my birth date. I always giggle when I see Hemp on his jerseys. The girls holding the signs are representing the eight countries in the tournament.....Serbia, Spain, Oman, Turkey, Philippines, Lebanon, Sudan and USA. First game of the night was Serbia verses Spain. USA plays tomorrow. So, more pictures to come!!!

Jabal Akhdar, Oman

The beginning of our camping trip in the Sayq Plateau.

Seiq Village had very fertile soil and it appeared there was a pomegranate tree in every backyard. The village people sat on the sides of the road selling pomegranate to tourists.

Diana's (yes beloved late Princess Diana) Point also called Al Fayadi with the beautiful waterfall flowing through the terrace.

We found fossils on rocks at the top of the cliff.

Soaring peaks and breath-taking views

Wadi Bani Habib - another old abandoned village

We found a nice camp site next to a creek. Believe it or not, several areas had been cleared out so there were no rocks under our tent.

Enjoying hotdogs and marshmallows for dinner.

Towards dusk, I decided to take a little walk and see what was around before dark. I came back as the sun was setting. The kids ran up to me and asked me if I had the car keys. I said I did not. I walked up to Matt and we looked at each other and we both said a 4 letter word at the same time.....EVAN! Evan decided to lock the car doors and we could not find the keys anywhere. Our cell phones were in the car, we had no idea where our location was and even if we walked to find help there was no guarantee that our rescuer would speak English. Matt went to work on the car. No budging. Fine....I went and grabbed the hatchet to smash the window. So what, I'm out a hundred bucks. Matt looked at me and called for a family prayer. Maybe the sight of me with a hatchet in hand had him rethinking a bit:) He humbly prayed and asked for guidence. After the prayer he said we have most of everything we need out of the car. We will wait til tomorrow to decide what to do. So, we went on enjoying our evening. About 30 minutes later, Matt went to get more wood for our fire and found the car key half covered by dirt. He thinks it fell out while he chopped wood. Yet another small blessing to be thankful for.

After a few card games, daddy told a few ghost stories and read a chapter out of Goosebumps. He really gets into character!

With temperatures dropping, we all snuggled together on one side of the tent.

The boys really enjoying themselves. The weather was 30 degrees cooler than what it had been in Muscat and there were trees. The boys climbed there little hearts out.

Looking across the gorge of Wadi Tanuf and down to the town of Bahla.

In Ar Ruus, some friendly locals invited us for figs and Omani coffee. One Omani man had people running around for water and cups. They spoke to us in Arabic only. We attempted to communicate and enjoyed their hospitality. The figs tasted sweet with a hint of chili powder and toasted sesame seeds.

Taking time to enjoy the surroundings.

An old village called Srab hidden in the mountains of Oman.

Once you hike up to the village, there are stairs and walkways alongside the mountain.

A Cave the boys found at Srab. The cave had a chimney leading to the second floor with a window. What a great find!

Most all the houses have fallen into disrepair. The architecture in the rooms had different details. I loved the little onion shaped fireplace.

Hailey found a small mortar and pestle in the midst of all the rocks.

People doing their everyday activities. Children playing in the streets, women carring goods on their heads and men gathered around drinking coffee.

Fruit growing is a major activity in Jabal Akhdar. There are several native plants that are a staple in the local diet. Many of these green terraces are hidden within the mountains.

During October, Jabal Akhdar is known for its Olives, Pomegranate and .....goat trees.

There was alot of wildlife at our camp site. This cute little mouse hid in the rocks next to our campsite and provide alot of fun for the kids. I believe that mouse went away well fed that night.

These local donkeys enjoyed roaming the hills and chanting ALL NIGHT LONG!

Breakfast!