Eid Mubarak All

I am so excited. My first Eid in Oman as a Muslimah;) !!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Middleeastern Interior Design Pics from my desktop

Right now I am trying to design my dream home. alot of the architectural features on this spa will be incorporated into the design for the place I am saving for.

Rooms for Two

For those of us who don't have giant villas, but who have big families (the majority of Omanis I know except my Shatti and Mubhela sets;XD), planning for kids to share rooms is an important design concept. I love these rooms. I'll add more.

WHY I LOVE OMAN: from living in another GCC country

Before I moved to Oman, I lived in the UAE. I was going to take a teaching job there but I took the first few months off to take time to aclimatize, to discover and enjoy my 'new' country.

I never adjusted. I had a very hard time. As a Muslim woman living by herself, despite the advertised image of UAE being a very "modern" country toted in the West, the ordeal of just doing daily chores like grocery shopping in YEMEN of ALL places was easier than doing so in UAE without local male harassment.

And I WORE A FACE VEIL AND A VERY LOOSE OVERHEAD ABAYA when I lived there, a plain abaya, with no decoration. I wore plain black flat sandals and no make-up. An extremist would approve of my "hijab".

I looked even more modest then most locals.

Honestly, I couldn't shop by myself or even with female friends without a male companion to discourage Emirati men to leave me alone. I know people talk bad about Saudi Arabia, but I know ALOT of Saudis, and what happened to me in UAE wouldn't even be allowed to happen in Saudi Arabia, and I know that FOR SURE.

Here goes:

I had four witnesses to the event. The local wife of an Abu Dhabi politician, an American non-muslim woman, a Canadian Muslim woman, and an Emirati infant. These people saw what happened.

I was going for a peaceful walk with my female friends. We were modestly attired. Our American friend is Arab-country saavy and fluent in Arabic. Peacefully walking, pushing a stroller.

A car passed by us, window rolled down, creeping slowly, blasting Arabic music. Saying something in arabic to us, we did not make eye contact, we ignored him. We kept walking, trying to enjoy our night. This car continued to follow us and would not leave us alone. This continued for up to a half an hour and we had cancelled our walk and were trying to exit. The car blocked our exit by circling around for another pass.

Now you know, I would have phoned the Emirati police, wallah, but my faith in them had only been destroyed the other night, when I saw them stop two prostitutes (one Iranian, one Sudanese) on the Corniche. Knowing that they were prostitutes, I assumed they were to be arrested by the Emirati police officers. But the fear in the two girls eyes was worse than that for their locale Emirati pimp who drove a white hummer parked just down the rode from them. [Understand, I have a special respect for prostitutes and a hatred for what drove them to this way of life].

The police took the girls phone numbers and resident card #s and drove off. The girls looked like death. I made the mistake of inquiring what had gone down, thus destroying my faith in UAE justice early on.

Iranian Lady-of-the-Night: "They are making us go to their party." Translation, the girls have to sleep with the cops or face deportation or worse.

Anyways, thus that explains why I did not really want to call the police, and why I did what I DO when I am scared. I started a fight.

I confronted the Emirati stalker. I hit his car. Note: I did not damage it. I also told him to lower his gaze. I yelled "shame!" at him in Arabic.

The adhan rang out in the background, calling Muslim men to prayer.

Thus did that Emirati, the fact that I rejected him and hurt his pride by NOT puting up with his sad social behaviour, called the UAE authorities ON ME.

To teach me, the foreigner, to BOW DOWN to my UAE superior.

The police knew full well we women did nothing wrong and that he was the one commiting a crime. We were superior in witnesses.

So why was I facing arrest?

But he was a local.

One of us was also, and on top of that, she had considerable wasta, but tribe and country and race don't matter in Islam, and I wanted to make an Islamic point to the creep. We didn't play the local card.

When the police told me to apologize or be arrested I told them I'd rather go to jail. OPNO is just like that.

I told the Emirati man if he would swear to Allah he wasn't harassing women I'd apologize. He refused, of course.

Anyways, I never did get arrested. The cops made OUT like they were arresting us to save face in front of the proud local but then let us go at the mall but that made me hate UAE for good. I was done with it.

Justice is not justice unless it stands for all mankind. Not one race or country over another.

In Saudi, I'd have been allowed to smack the dude right in the face btw, foreigner that I am. I would not have been detained and questioned by the police.

In my opinion, the justice system in UAE is even WORSE than the one in Saudi because women ARE allowed to defend themselves in Saudi, even if they are not encouraged to walk without male escorts. At least UAE should admit that women really can't walk free without harrassment.

In Oman, I have been harassed on one occasion. But you know what? The ROP more than dealt with it. The man went to JAIL for trying to kiss my friend. JAIL for a long, long time.

More than what we would have felt was justice but... at least Oman will prosecute its own misbehaving citizens when PUSHED to. Yes, you have to PUSH, but it at least exists as a possability. And you won't get arrested for some idiot STALKING YOU!

***If you are accompanied by your husband or a male relative in UAE this does not happen.****

It's Eid Time, Polish Your Khanjar! You're Going to be Visiting Grandpa!

Most of my guy friends their grandfather's are HIGHLY disapointed the way the Omani youth of today have let things slip. GONE, gone GONE are the days when you would never catch a lad out of his dishdasha (even while ice skating in Al Kuwair for the first time:D).

Even in conservative villages where all white disdasha and izhar (male undergarment) are de rigeur you will still have people's grandfather's bemoaning the fact that in the old days a man never left home without his khanjar (the omani dagger). And I quote: "Even if he was poor he'd at least stick a knife through his belt to try and look presentable." And of course you need your assa (walking stick/camel stick), and maybe bullet belts criss-crossed across your chest and a rifle.

Most of my friends (not the ones who were Imam's sons of course: M excluding MA) are more into hip hop t-shirts and bling bling watches, and Thai sneaks, and boarder shorts (we are THAT generation after all). But for Eid, AND WEDDINGS, they sport khanjar and bisht and sometimes even assa. To me, it is funny to see, since some of them look foriegn to me in a Kuma.

Since I like to be Miss Sharqiya Village Girl, or Muscati beach brat in abaya and trendy shayla, that is like THEM seeing me dressed in Western clothes.

Funny what we take as our culture.

Eid Mubarak in advance all. Boys, polish your khanjars, girls, get your henna on.

Omani women and Eid prep

We shop for trimmings for our dresses, hound tailors, buy new bukhoor and scents, and Eid gifts.

Lots of Patchi. And then of course the sheep, and Lulu Eid celebration staples.

We do our henna 2-3 days before. Like tomorrow.

And we pick up our new dresses from the tailor. Cultural Eid. Fascinating.

Vastly different from the Islamic Eids I experienced in the West, nearly getting fired from one's job so one can go to the Eid prayer since Eid isn't a set holiday and your boss JUST DOESN'T GET THAT. Yes Patti, I am talking about YOU. All my sistaz in the West, if Sept 11th is the day you end up requesting your "Islamic Holiday" off you are in my prayers, totally.

I am not slamming the Eid sales, please understand, I am just remarking how it is different. Even McDonalds and Gap have "Eid Mubarak" signs. It makes me gawk.

Omani Traditional Dress: Al Batinah Region

Reminds me of my Barka girls;) I miss ya'll and sorry I haven't been out to visit. R, R, B, H, I got you gifts from Canada;)