Salalah in Review

I'm back.  Damn jet lag.

When I think of the Middle East, I think of sand, sand and more sand.  Sand in your shoes, sand in your hair and sand invading every nook and cranny of yourself and everything you own.  I was half wrong.  Luckily, I missed the sandstorm by a day (this post might be a totally different one if I hadn't) but there was a lot more rock and a lot less sand than I envisioned.  Most of my pictures look more like Hawaii than the Middle East.

I mean, really.  When you picture the Middle East, is this what you think of?

No?  Well, what about this?

Or this?

Ok, maybe that last one is a little closer to what I expected.  Camels!  It's hard not to oooh and ahhh over them.  They are EVERYWHERE.  My husband laughed at me because every time we passed one, I made him slow down for me to look and take pictures.  He sees them every single day, so they're no big deal for him.

On to the people of Salalah.  I'm convinced that there is not a nicer, more polite or more generous group of people on the planet.  I was, for the most part, completely at ease while I was over there.  Everyone went out of their way to make sure that I was comfortable and had everything I could possibly need.  I did at one point have to walk into Lulu's (picture a four story Target) by myself to use the ladies room.  That was rather like running the gauntlet of fascinated stares.  I also got more than a few curious looks when we went to the souk (local market) to have falafel and shawarma.  Apparently, women don't often frequent that place and western women are even less likely to go there.  I did have to giggle at the children.  A blonde haired, green eyed woman from Texas is a bit of a novelty in those parts.  Every one of them went bug-eyed and their jaws dropped when I walked by.  When I smiled at them, they grinned from ear to ear.  It was adorable.

The greatest difference that I noticed between the people of Salalah and here at home was the consideration given to guests.  We happened to be there for St. Patrick's Day.  The bar at our hotel had a nice sized bash and we sat on the patio smoking shisha (apple flavor... mmmmm) and having a beer.  A very happy, very drunk Omani man was making the rounds of the bar and singing to just about everyone he met.  It was pretty obvious that he'd had a six pack too many at this point, but he was just as happy as he could be.  He eventually camped out next to our table.  After watching him sing, dance and talk for about 20 minutes, two men (the closest explanation I can give is that they were like bouncers at a club) came over, grabbed him by the arm and proceeded to escort him out of the bar.  Muslims don't normally drink, and being drunk in public is an especially big no-no for them.  While a bouncer throwing someone out of a bar is not all that unusual, what they did afterwards shocked me.  They both came back to our table and apologized to my husband and our friend for the behavior of the man and thanked them for their tolerance.  I was floored.  Can you imagine a bouncer at a Dallas club going out of his way to apologize to and thank someone that was being entertained by a drunk guy?  On that note, you'll notice that I didn't say they apologized to me.  This is a cultural thing.  They could see that I was there with my husband and it's considered impolite to address a man's wife without permission and a formal introduction.  It wasn't a slight on me, but a courtesy to my husband.  We are considered two halves of the same whole, so speaking to one is speaking to both, albeit indirectly.  It's kind of a difficult distinction to get when you haven't experienced it first hand.  It's certainly not the way it's done in the states.  But, for my fairly socially-shy self, it actually puts me more at ease to have them address him instead of speaking directly to me.

Finally, the laid back time schedule and atmosphere of Salalah is incredibly relaxing.  Businesses are generally open from 9 to 1 and again from 4 to 10.  The hours in the middle are your own and people typically go home to spend time with their families.  There is no rush in Salalah.  Everything is "In Shaa' Allah" which loosely translates to "God Willing."  You might tell someone that you will meet them at 4:00 In Shaa' Allah.  In reality, you get there when you get there and no one is offended if you are late.  You can spend hours enjoying a meal or a hookah.  No one drops off the check "for your convenience" or tries to turn the table so that they can get another tip. In fact, there is no tipping that I saw.  Your water and wine glasses are always full.  You ask for the check when you are ready for it and you don't get glared at for lingering.  In fact, I think you might shock the waiter if you asked for it too soon.  Closing time is pretty much whenever the last people leave.  I loved it.  It was very refreshing and very different from the rat race we have here.

I wasn't ready to leave.  In fact, I'm ready to move there.  In Shaa' Allah.