Omani Dude Driving+Girl+Ghala=traffic gridlock

I have written too many posts today already but...

Usually I have my lunch in Al Khuwair or Al Athaiba. Today I found myself stuck in Ghala WALKING with no driver. As per usual, traffic here was pretty backed up.

Some young fool in white SUV with the window rolled down in my direction wasn't making it any better.

There were some women in another SUV behind him, and Omani guys the whole stretch back.

This young fool was Omani, and thought he was all handsome and charming enough to pick a girl up in his car.

I did the ignore thing as he greeted me in Arabic. Since the traffic was so slow his driving was my walking pace, so I actually stopped walking for a bit so he'd go on ahead.

Well, he decided to stop, holding up the whole bloody line up of traffic. Saying something undoubtably smooth in Arabic to win me. Good thing I don't understand fool talk.

I was getting annoyed because people in the line up were probably blaming the resultant gridlock on me so I revealed my English identity to Fool with a wave.

"Drive on!" I hollared at him, motioning and giving my most strict look.

He started driving again at my walking pace.

If my shebab were around they'd kill you, I was thinking, remembering a sweet little blue car manned by 16 year olds hunted down by an angry Al _________ & Al __________ when B and I made the mistake of mentioning the colour and make of a car that had stalked us in MQ.

He was HAPPY to reveal that he spoke English and started chatting me up, young fool.

I cut him off drily.

"You know, I converted to Islam and I think its sick that guys like you bother a girl in a abaya more than you did when I wore short skirt. Shame on you."

He went to use the line of only wanting to help.

"Do I LOOK like someone that needs YOUR help? Young fool, I am HELPING YOU. Shame. Your mother and sister: treat me the same.

Drive on. You don't want to make me mad. Believe me, I can take care of myself, whereas if you keep bothering me, you're the one whose gonna need some help."

He opened his mouth to say something and I waved him again.

"Drive on!"

He gave up and rolled up his window. The women and three cars with Omani men drove by cheering and clapping, because apparently our exchange was loud enough for everyone on the road and in the nearby coffee shop to hear.

Usually at this coffee shop I get one or two OLD FOOLS trying to take a table next to me. Today I didn't:D

Fresh off the tarmac: part 1

FRESH OFF THE TARMAC

THE COURTHOUSE WITH GOLDEN DOORS

You know that building near Al Wizarat you pass driving down Sultan Qaboos highway? The one with the gargantuam gilded gold doors?

The first time I saw it my mother told me it was the courthouse, where people go if they steal or commit crimes.

My eyes grew wide as we drove by as a child at those massive golden doors and the thought of a Shariah-court inside, presided over by Sultan one could beg mercy from before one's head or hand was chopped or the like.

My mother liked to read the Sassoon "Princess" novels. I read "Arabian Nights". Damn Orientalists we were. Dear. God.

Yeah. That building IS A BANK!

Ha ha ha lol.

:XD

Yeaaaaaaah, things like that happen when you are an expat fresh off the tarmac. People can tell you things about Oman and you'll believe them and you won't even know it is something completely made up as a joke for expats.

CAMELS

For example, in Abu Dhabi, dressed in abaya as I always am, Muslim convert here, a tourist made a mistake of thinking from the fact that I was talking to a camel in Arabic, that I was its beduoin owner or something. They decided to ask me how long camels live. Amused by their mistake I said 25 years.

What do I know about camels?!

Now that poor lady and her husband are wandering around telling other tourists and expats and their relatives back home that camels live to be roughly 25 years of age.

Which, I have never bothered to look it up, may or may not be true.

PDO EXPATS AND THEIR PREDILECTION FOR WHITE PRADOs

Looking for a friend's home in Ras Al Hamra was supposed to be easy. Their car was parked out front, and we knew its make and colour.

It was a white PRADO.

We'd gone camping with our friend. This was supposed to be easy.

In front of their home were parked four identical white Prado 4x4s, which made determining left or right nigh impossible.

Damn PDO expats and their prediliction for white Prado 4x4s.

Our white toyota pick up stood out by far.

THE LEMON TREE

When asked WHY we moved from our old place in Al Khuwair (I miss the pool) to the PDO camp, I tell people it is because of a lemon tree.

Yes, because of lemons.

My mother has a habit of fighting with ALL of her neighbors, but she forgot that if you start a feud with a tribe in Oman, the feud can outlive you.

Apparently there was some fight over who the lemons on a particular lemon tree belonged to since the tree had never produced any lemons until the water paid for by our waterbill watered it.

You can see where this is going.

Dispute of ownership of said lemons ensued.

Lemons are pretty cheap here in Oman. They sell them in Al Fair, right near are old house.

It was my mother versus a tribe of angry Al ________ and they won by overwhelming numbers, and we were chased out.

Yes, the poor ROP were involved, tsk tsk.

ON PHONING THE EMERGANCY NUMBER

"Phone the ROP! They're fighting!"

I held out the mobile. "I already am. 9999. It's busy."

Oman, serriously, how can your emergancy number be busy? What if somebody was being murdered?

Oh, there you go, just add another 9 to bump somebody else. It worked.

"Hi, this is a call from ___________ Al Khuwair, I need a patrol car here and some officers. There is an assault going on."

ROP man on the other side: "You don't speak Arabic."

Our end: "No."

Click. On hold.

Eye roll.

THE CASINO

Driving out there was horrifyingly bright flashing building large with Neon lights.

Confused, a young OPNO asks their Omani driver: "Isn't this an Islamic country?"

She knows that gambling isn't allowed in the Muslim holy book.

This knowledge is confirmed to her.

Still gawking at the local Lulus Hypermarket she asks, "Then why do you have giant Casino?"

Driving in Oman: BAD OPNO, doing it without a lisence AGAIN

On our Sharqiyah excursion, I drove. Now I know, yes, the law is, until you HAVE your full lisence, you have to drive in one of those white cars with red strips, but the car was sans insurance anyway. No I do not have an Omani lisence. But I did officially get the green little cover in Seeb near the airport that says I can LEARN from the ROP OFFICIALLY!!!!! Alhamdulilah, I am going to be FREE!!!! I had a great time driving all the way from Sur to Al Amerat, and no accidents or troubles, though I had never done a roundabout before Sur. But one thing I did notice is I had my foot on the gas to pass this horrible weighted down truck through the mountains, and the RPM was up and it was just making alot of noise. NO, Z, your little Kia does not have the speed that I am used to!:[Above is highschool OPNO, and no, that is no longer her lisence plate so my identity cannot be learned from that lol]. I asked Z about what would happen if I drove around muscat in a souped up pink mustang or Jeep. I mean, would it be okay or would the attention from the boys noticing it was a girl's car drive me to drive myself into a barrier or baisa bus. Z said it would be fine (and this is the chick that makes me sit facing a certain direction in restaurants, so I guess all is good). (I love Mustangs and Jeeps though I know neither are super good quality, forgive me, I am a girl). Unlike our Muscat shebab, I don't appaud car scenes in movies, or give a moment of silence out of respect when a nice Mercedes or Jag. drives by. The Shanfari building does not stop my heart. I have to be driving a Ferrari on the track to appreciate it. And I have only ever driven a Lambourghini, which honestly I like more than Ferrari, personally. Frankly, to drive it around Muscat seems a bit silly to me. You'd be like that fat Qatari dude in a youtube vid I am too lazy to search for who doens't know how to drive it. I'd rather have a decent Range rover, and jeep. I am good at driving Jeeps, manual/standard even. Their klutch system makes sense to me. Or a good old Toyota truck, lol.Anyways, driving from Al Amerat to Qurayat on the way to Sur reminds me to driving to the Big Sur on the California coast highway back in North America. Even some of the geography is the same, only in Oman, you don't spot alot of cattle on the way to Sur. And I have great hopes for passing my driving test here in Oman. Because if these folks passed:Then there is REALLY no reason that I wouldn't.

I'd rather....

Yes, rather than a gold maher, I want my man to be thoughtful enough about me to bring me flowers everyday. Or my fave food. Or at least something he knows cheers me up. Am not big on material things, but kindness and compassion and being always in his mind? Big on THAT.

My newest driver brings me a new long stemmed rose everyday, to the annoyance of a potential suitor or two. I am starting to get teased at work.

E: "OPNO, where flower?"

OPNO [embarrassed, points to coffee cup where rose is]. "."

Yes, I believe in Natural Selection, AND Allah

For the two Omani dude idiots "drift racing" in my highly populated (with Philipino nannies taking babies out for walks) neighborhood if you crash, I will not say it is just "Allah's will".

If you only hurt yourselves, I will say it also natural selection. Sometimes it works.

K, I am not that cynically hard yet (my sis and I grew up in Oman's underground drifting crowd & I am now reformed and yes, expats, I drive like an Omani, but one that fears her Creator), but don't speed like that on a non-closed track in cars not engineered for your moves and tires with the wrong tread for racing. You aren't as good as you think you are, serriously, MOST OF THE TIME WHAT YOU CALL DRIFTING IS JUST SPINNING OUT!!!!!.

You WILL kill yourself. Or your bestfriend. I speak from experience, there were one too many funerals due to car accidents in our friend-set. Three people died THIS week that I heard of.

Drive reasonably, don't text, don't speed, wear your seatbelt, PUT YOUR CHILDREN IN SEATBELTS!!!!!! Don't think you can do that trick you saw on YOUTUBE: K & A!!!!! Scaring L and me to death if it wasn't so funny that the two of us remembered the pic I have posted above.

Yeah.. this is about the best car rack use I have seen in Oman thus far

Isn't this the most efficient use of a car rack you have ever seen? (sarcasm). Only in Oman lol. Made my Omani friends laugh something terrible too.

from the infamous omani taxi to the ROP cruiser- Types of Vehicles you'll encounter in Oman

I LOOOOOOVED these cartoons sooooooooooo much I had to beg expat blogger Steve from http://www.livinginoman.com/ to let me borrow them from his cartoon posts page http://www.livinginoman.com/search/label/Cartoons. I promised my Omani friends to make a Canadian edition.

Driving in Oman (and yes, I know the cartoon isn't Omani)

Transportation in Oman pt 1

For those who want to travel in Oman, private car is the main way. Oman has many car rental offices [maybe I should list a few links?---when I have more time] and an international driver's liscense can get you a ride. For those staying a bit longer, most countries can easily convert an existing license into an Omani one. Check out the Oman ROP website [link I'll put here eventually]. If you don't have a lisence but want one you have to have a resident's card and then go down to your local ROP office for a learning guide. Then you hire an instructor (those are those white cars with the red and white strips---lol, no newbies, they are not taxis!!!!).

The next most common way is by private taxi. Taxis here are either shared (the fare will be thus reduced) or completely private. The fare is negotiated before you get in so don't be afraid to tell the driver what you want to pay and walk away if he doesn't agree for a cheaper taxi. Tip for women traveling alone (sit in the backseat). Taxis are generally white with orange on them and they are only driven by Omanis. You can wave down a taxi from the side of the road and there are taxi stands.

A more affordable option is the taxi bus, between one area and another, ie from Madinat Qaboos to Ghubra, the fair is only 100 baisa (R.O 0.100), which is shared between many people. Hit the door to let your driver know you want off or say stop here, but these buses may have set routes and stops so ask if they can take you to where you are going first.

Have You Ridden a Camel?

The first time I came to Oman, I remember begging to see camels. I was in Muscat for about three months before I saw a single one!!!!!!!! I finally rode one at the Muscat Days festival back three (or was it four?) years ago. Apparently, that is one up on ALL of my Omani friends. I am the only one of us all to have ever ridden a camel. I am also very naturally gifted with camels, mashaAllah right? I recommend everybody who has ever ridden a horse try it once. It is very different.

I had to laugh though, when someone asked an anonymous male aquaintance what mode of transportation he used "back in his exotic home country" LOL. "Mule, or camel?"

"Well," he said, "I drive a Mercedes."

LOL

Drifting in Oman

One of the big trends for Muscati boys (I think all GCC guys really) is street racing and drifting. Oman is famous for its high car accident rate and harsh punishments for street racing and crashes, but that doesn't deter the youth set from this thrrilling (and sometimes dumb---if the track isn't abanoned or closed) pasttime.




LOL, reminds me of my sister's old crowd. LOL, I like how in some of the vids, the guys THINK they are drifting but they are just spinning out. LOL, how Oman winds up with so many accidents:

New DL

I need to get my local DL so I can upgrade to an international license in Oman. No more driving without a DL for me, uh eh. Or depending on the boys to bring me shwarma at midnight.

Soundtrack for our late night drifting on abandoned asphalt: