Thanksgiving

After having Blue, our grandpuppy for the past two weeks, Heather came for the holiday and you can see how happy he was to see his Mommy!

What an experience to cook a Thanksgiving meal here in the UAE!  Kim and Heather shopped over a period of weeks in many different stores, trying to find different ingredients.

They finally managed to buy enough items and substitutions to put together a close approximation of a REAL Thanksgiving meal!!!  We had to use "Cornbread Croutons" instead of cornbread to make the dressing.  We also used liquid whipping cream (which had to be beat for about 20 minutes and then add sugar and vanilla) to make the Watergate Salad.  Heather found  sweet potatoes for a souffle and cranberry sauce.  Here's our final product:

Turkey, ham, dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs
(Grandma:  Are those EGGS I smell??)
Not pictured:  Pumpkin Pie and Watergate Salad

Camel Souffle:  ha-ha!! (This was Heather's cooking and Kim's artistic addition)

Cory, unfortunately, had to work, so we sent him a load of leftovers.

The beautiful sunset looking over Oman and Jebel Hefeet

Eid al Adha Break: Muscat and Salalah

We headed back to Oman for the week-long Eid al Adha break.  First, to Muscat for a few days, and then to Salalah.  Last year, my students kept telling me how beautiful Salalah was, so we decided to fly there and check it out.

We drove to Muscat, Oman.  This is our car's first trip across the border. 

Check out the proud "G" on the back!!!   Goooooo, GEORGIA!!

In Oman, we stayed at the Hyatt--our first time there.  It has now become my favorite place to stay in Oman.  It has a nice pool with a "river" and a nice view of the beach.  The only drawback was that they didn't have chairs and umbrellas on the beach, I think because their beach is not private.  It is shared by the embassies located along the same beach:  Morocco, Bahrain, Iran, etc.  The food was also some of the best we have had at the hotels there, especially a place called The Grill House----ahhhhh, a steak to die for!

Evening tea in the Hyatt Lobby

This piano is one of only 3 like it in the world.  Michael Jackson stayed here and wanted to buy the piano for over 7 million dollars, but they wouldn't sell it to him.

Sunset in Muscat

Cory got to SCUBA, and he got a few pictures of the dolphins!

We enjoyed some relaxing days there and then boarded the plane for a short flight to Salalah.  The hotel there overlooked a wildlife area, with LOTS of birds and sea turtles.  We enjoyed swimming with the turtles!  They had some HUGE heads, but I didn't get many good pictures of them because they were too quick for me!

View from our deck

Turtle Head:  couldn't get any good pictures!!

 

Giant Crab:  should have had Kim stand beside it for perspective--The crab was HUGE!!

This is what Kim called the Teepee Village:  ha-ha!
These are the mounds of sand the crabs scooped out to make their holes.

We got to use the Executive Lounge each day for drinks and desserts.  Each night we usually tried several after dinner....to appease our sweet tooth. 

Here is Kim having one dessert.   Heather has already finished her 2 or 3 desserts!

Salalah sunset:  You can see Kim standing on the shore.  I don't know if you can see how many birds there were:  thousands!!!

Our best day of sightseeing, we hired a guide named Ahmed, who took us to all the top spots to see in 1 day.  First, we went to Bin Ali's tomb. 

Then, we headed to an overview of the port city of Mirbat.  This was famous in the 9th century for breeding and exporting of horses.  They also traded in frankincense.  Now it's a small little fishing village.

We got to tour Khor Rouri and Sumhuram's Archaeological site, overlooking the Indian Ocean.  The excavations there show a rectangular town where they have found inscriptions written in Arabic southern alphabet.  These inscriptions show that the town was established to ensure the survival of the frankincense trade. Marco Polo and T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) traveled through here.  It is also said that the Queen of Sheba built a palace in the ancient port of Samhuran along the trade route, where she would hoard large quantities of Frankinense for her own personal use.

We went to Wadi Derbat, where there is a natural park, 100 meter waterfalls, lakes, mountains, and caves.  This was an amazing area to discover in the midst of the desert!!

Small Waterfalls

The BIG waterfall (Shalal)

We visited Taqah, where we toured the fort and castle. 

This is the burial site of Oman's Sultan Qaboos' mother, father, and brother.  The men's burial sites have 2 markers; the women's have 3.  Our guide said this is true of all Muslim sites.

We also went to an overlook of Taqah beach.

Kim and our guide, Ahmed, discussing whether we would see any dolphins or turtles.....We didn't!

We drove up to the top of one mountain to see Job's Tomb. 

This is the view from across another mountain top.  You can see the dome at the top of the hill.

When you walk inside (head and shoulders covered and shoes off), this is what you see.  There were many worshippers there, both inside and out.

We took a long, winding drive down into Wadi Aful, where we were able to see mountainsides full of Frankincense trees.

Long, curvy road leading down into the wadi

Spots where you can see the frankincense has been harvested....

One of the trees...

Our last stop was at Mughsayl, where they have over 4 kilometers of white, sandy beach.  There are sculptured cliffs with blowholes formed in the limestone rocks.  Plumes of water can reach up to 30 meters or more.  A lot of this area reminded me so much of Hawaii!!

Eid al Adha and Hajj

Getting dressed for morning assembly

Our kindergarten re-enacted the Hajj at this morning's assembly.  Dressed in traditional clothing, the children walked 7 times around the Kaaba, or cube-like structure in the center.  This was a replica of the real thing at Mecca in Saudi Arabia. 

The boys dressed in the ihram, which is two sheets of white unhemmed cloth, with the top draped over the body.  The ihram is meant to show equality of all, in front of God: there is no difference between a prince and a pauper.  While wearing the ihram, they cannot shave, clip their nails, wear perfume, swear, fight, have sex, cover the head [for men] or the face and hands [for women], marry, wear shoes over the ankles, perform any dishonest acts or carry weapons.

As they walk around the stone, they kiss it.  If they can't because of the crowds, they point towards the stone with their right hand. Each time around this morning, the children said, "In the name of God, God is Great, God is Great, God is Great and praise be to God." (Bism Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lil Lahi Alhamd)

As we watched the children, it was explained to me that pilgrims also perform sa`i, running or walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah. They are re-enacting the search for water by Abraham's wife Hajar. While she was searching, the Zamzam Well was revealed to her by an angel, and the water started gushing from the ground.  As part of this ritual, the people also drink water from the Zamzam Well.

The girls wore the hijab which is modest, but does not cover hands or face.  The girls had been bringing in their outfits for the past week and were "rewarded" with a prize when they remembered to bring it in.

For the final part of the pilgrimmage, they go to Mt. Arafat where they pray and recite the Qur'an. This is known as Wuquf, and is considered the highlight of the Hajj. They must spend the afternoon on the plain of Arafat until after sunset.  A pilgrim's Hajj is considered invalid if they do not spend the afternoon on Arafat.

This is the traditional time of year that many adults perform this pilgrimmage, and it's considered essential at least once in each person's lifetime. 

Because of the Hajj, I only had 10 children in my class today.  This was also the day that I got to leave at 9:30 as my "gift of time" for perfect attendance.  So, I only had 10 children for about an hour today and then left school:  a great start for Eid al Adha.

We're heading to Salalah, Oman for the break.  Can't wait to post pictures.  Everything I've heard about it sounds amazing!!!