Day 28 - 15th July - Happy Anniversary

C-Pops has had wicked hay fever pretty much since we have been here. He is susceptible to respiratory probs we think, having had croup twice and a cough every other month. (We have seen the doctor, don't worry. Asthma has not been diagnosed as the doctor thinks if we keep on top of it, it could clear without getting that far). Anyway, he's been wheezing and struggling with his breath after running. So he's back on the liquid Ventolin. He's also had itchy eyes which quickly turned in to allergic conjunctivitis. But he has been a brave boy throughout, barely complaining. He says he doesn't want to go to bed because he'll wake up with his eyes stuck together if he does. Joy.

We're camping near Arisaig in the Scottish Highlands with hubby's family. It's our 11th anniversary today. (It's Steel apparently. I like the modern one though, Jewellery). It's pretty cloudy and cool but hey it's dry!

We've had a lovely breakfast with posh coffee and we're off rockpooling on the nearby beach. It did end up with me 'escorting' my son from the premises as he was carrying out an almighty melt-down. Who says romance is dead?

I thought I’d listen to the radio to catch up with latest music (albeit overplayed chart music no doubt). However in the space of no less than 25 minutes, 2 songs were played. My god, it’s never-ending random chat with DJs and featured presenters (the showbiz correspondent for instance) talking over each other and just not being funny at all. So I now have the iPod on and so far, it’s been Beautiful South and Ashley MacIsaac. Love it.


Grampa's babysitting so we're off to dinner tonight in Arisaig. A table booked at Cafe Rhu.

Post-edit:16/7/11

Our evening was wonderful! We drove and left the car at the cafe. We managed to get a window seat and had a lovely view over the harbour. We had some beautiful wine and some amazing food. It was just gorgeous. The owner is also the chef, he's a South African who I think said has been here 4 years. His mother is Scottish.

So we had scallops, black pudding wonton, Cape malay Bobotie with veg pilaf and sambals, braised beef, chocolate and nutella torte (drooooooooool....) and cheese and bisuits and 2 bottles of 2010 Freedom Cross Pinotage from Franschoek.

We knew that we would walk back (about 2 miles!) and I'm glad we did. We passed the local pub with music floating from within so we had to stop by for a dram and a listen to some traditional live music. And that set us up for the walk back in the darkness.

A lovely day, happy anniversary, hon X

Another first...

Last weekend, the children and I were invited to the birthday party of the sister of one of C’s school friends. It was her first birthday party. I should start off by saying that this is an Omani family and this is the first time I have been to an Omani lady’s house. So I was quite excited.

I was only one of two western expat women there, we were made to feel so welcome and most ladies introduced themselves. Admittedly I introduced myself to the others in my fabulously broken and stuttered Arabic!

I found out during the party that the traditional first birthday party is called a hul-hul (sp?). But on asking the Mum if this was such a party, she said it wasn’t quite the same. 

So this is a plea to OPNO and any other Arabic readers, or those with knowledge of the Islamic culture, please can you tell me what a hul-hul is and what is involved?

It’s funny because with my two children I wanted to have big parties for their first birthdays, with family and friends. The intention was there to never have another big party again until they’re 21!

So anyway, baby H had a magician (hilarious!) and a clown (also made me laugh!). The Mother of H got me doing the facepainting! The children taught me the colours in arabic! And then she gave me her lovely Nikon SLR so I was playing with my camera and hers - I was in my element! (I won’t post any pictures as they are all of the ladies and the children so I’d rather respect their privacy of course).

And then the food! Well, it was all the traditional party food laid on and a huge tray of lamb biryani with the lamb’s head on top. Bit of a shock but if that’s the way it’s done then that’s fine! I went back to the main room and looked for Bear and there she was sitting on the floor with the other Mums and kids. So that was good, that was my excuse to sit on the floor as well. I really felt a part of the day and had a great time. I even ate with my hand without too much mess!

I was looking for a picture of a large biryani and found this one! Brilliant! (it wasn't quite this big at the party!)

On the down side, Omanis’ parties seem to last all day! I say the downside only because I had made other plans that afternoon as I just assumed it would last 2-3 hours! Whereas us Brits especially write on the invitation a set time to start and finish; we can only cope with other friends' children for so long! Plus the parents more often than not tend to (I call it ) 'drop and run', leaving you responsible. Whereas at H's party all the Mums stayed, less stress I imagine for the hostess.

I was expecting to leave by 1pm but it was still in full swing. My children were exhausted so I had to make my excuses at 2pm. H’s Mother would not let me leave until we had eaten some sweets and filled up a foil container full of yummy treats, nuts and cakes to take home. My kids loved the jellies with nuts in. I go mad for the Om Ali...I think it was like Om Ali at the party except it was a much more solid consistency so I could eat it with my fingers.

So a joyful day and a super experience, I know now that I think I can manage if I’m invited again to an Omani house! 

(And OPNO, she's going to do my makeup!)

Our little man is 5 today!

Where has that time gone? It's amazing how on days like this memories can come flooding back. I had such good experiences with both births of my children and I'm lucky and humble to know that I had such fantastic pregnancies and I can look back and remember with pleasure, exhiliration and pride.

The last ten weeks of my pregnancy with C weren't quite straightforward, I have to admit. I was having regular false contractions as early as 30 weeks. I made a dramatic exit from my job, was told to go to the hospital and spent the next week in St. Richard's Hospital in Chichester having been blue-lighted there in an ambulance, wired up to machines testing heart rate and contractions etc. So I had to start my maternity leave early. Then a month before he arrived, he was pretty much doing somersaults non stop and as amazing as it feels, it became quite uncomfortable, being drop-kicked and butted and pushed against every which way.

His arrival was a little dramatic too - I gave birth in the midwife run unit at Crowborough (one of the best places to be on this planet, such fond memories of the place and the ladies there) - all his acrobatics has led to him being tangled up in the cord and he came out looking like an aubergine...no more details needed as all worked out fine! I did keep a diary for a little while and this is what I wrote following his arrival,

"At 0915 you were born, completely wound up in your cord - your neck, arm and leg were completely entangled in it...
Looking back, I didn't have any feeling of panic, just strength and natural instinct to get you to come round... I had you in my arms rubbing you, cuddling you, willing you to breathe and cry."

If age wasn't an issue and if I could be guaranteed that each pregnancy was like my two then I would do it again and again. I am happy with our little team so I even considered being a surrogate mother. Oh, as long as the baby wasn't too big either! Fair-weather antenatal Mother, me!

So happy 5th birthday, you beautiful boy. I could stare into your gorgeous chocolate brown eyes for ages if you could keep still long enough, I could squidge your apple cheeks until you grow too old for me to do it, I could kiss your face a million times and hear you giggle breathlessly.

School Field Trip

The Captain and I helped out today on Bear's school field trip to Wadi Fanja. She's in year 2 (Grade 1) and it was a geology and fossil hunting trip. We were so excited! Geology and fossils are our thing in this family.  I had this vision of the teachers trying to keep the Mitchells in check as they wander off along the wadi or up the hill!

We had a group of 4 children each and went through the questions listed and talked about the formation and types of rocks evident in the area. It's a great thing to hear little children talk knowledgeable about igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.

It was also amazing to see the range of ability in this one class, from the kids who copy others work and really have no interest in what's around them to those who could articulate their answer and were writing in more than one full sentence in joined-up writing.

Hubby has limited patience when it comes to dealing with more than 2 children at a time so it was fun and quite lovely to see him keep his group in tow! (He would make a great teacher...apart from the patience!) Well, not so much the group but the one boy who absolutely needed to run off and get that 27th rock and put it in his backpack!

Quote of the day heard by the Captain: One of Bear's friends runs up to him and says " Look! Look what I've found! It's igneous rock!....Or it could be dog poo......"

We found nummulites in another location near Al Khoud.

I read that there are fossilised stromatolites near Al Khoud too as well as other parts of Oman.

'The earliest fossils known in Oman are of stromatolites from Mukhadba near Duqm (570 million years ago). Stromatolites are dome-shaped or pillar-like structures built by primitive single celled algae which secrete calcite and trap sedimentary particles.'

So that's my next plan to try and find these.
[when I've found or taken a picture of these, I'll post it!]

So well done Mrs. K. and Mrs. H - this was a brilliant trip (I'm a little biased admittedly, I love this subject)...what better way for them to learn and study than out there in the field.


Post-edit: here is a picture of Bear the evening after her field trip...reading the core text from my University days. Those of you who don't know her, she is  actually reading it properly! (She was reading at 4 years old...never ceases to amaze me...)

The last week or so crammed in to one post!

~~ We’ve booked another weekend at the desert camp for when the Gees are here. I’ve had a very nice email conversation with the manager, what a friendly, warm man. Well, he obviously wants my money but that’s beside the point!

***

~~ The Captain’s work was extended by another 4 days. So we travelled to see him for the weekend; we enjoyed a lovely hotel but I had a wicked cold just so I maybe did not appreciate it as much as I could have. I think my Echinacea helped knock it on the head. We got there for lunchtime on the Thursday and had a lovely lunch by the pool. Dinner out at a favourite local restaurant. Something else I didn’t do justice thanks to my cold.

So that night, I’m ready for my bed, so are the kids. A massive mix up with the kids bed as we had already moved rooms because there was a huge corporate party poolside. Basically the sofa wasn’t a sofa bed as it was in the other room so I had to call the Captain, who was in the bar with his Dad, to go to reception and sort something out. Something LOUD was going on in the bar…apparently a band, 2 lads…with eyeliner…dressed as pilots and 2 girls dressed as air hostesses...Hmmm. Just found out it was the hotel house band, Gypsy. The Captain wishes to not comment....

***

~~ I may have said in the beginning that I was not going to blog anything political or controversial...not my thing...but I couldn't not say anything about the current political climate in lands not so far from here.

Some of my new virtual friends have offered comment on the situation. I am not knowledgable enough to offer an intelligible argument and/or conversation; I can only say I can't help but be worried about what the future holds; Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen… I have no opinion as far as Mubarak is concerned, I’m in no place to comment, I do not know enough about his rule or his history. But if his people, or should I say the people of his country (not sure they want to be referred to as belonging to him…) feel they need to protest then something is not right and may not have been for 30 years. However I am more shocked, not about the way he has ruled (as I said, I don’t know enough) but the way the police have dealt with the protesters; the crowd stopping for prayer…to be blasted by a water cannon… But on the other side, Muslims uniting with non-Muslims in a joint cause is a reassuring sight to see especially after the clashes at New Year...

I saw a lady called Mona Eltahawy on Al Jazeera speaking very clearly and in a way that outsiders such as I could understand. So I’m checking in to her blog. As Shy Rebellious Arab Girl blogged, I’ve had Al Jazeera on a bit too much as well….it’s a change looking at some other medium for a bit!

That’s all I’ll offer on the subject if you don’t mind. I’d like to keep my blog! ;-)

***

~~ I took Bear to one of her friend’s birthday parties on the weekend. I wasn’t intending to stay but some of the other mums were there so I thought I’d catch up with them. It was a girls’ party so the face paints and nail varnish were out. The birthday girl’s mum asked us if we wanted ours done and I was the only one who said I’d have my face painted! There are photos and video lurking somewhere on someone's camera! These girls are from the same class at Bear's school and they are the loudest group of girls I have ever known! I am good friends with their teacher so, CK: I take my hat off to you!!!! And that was just the girls!

Anyway, I had a wonderful, very interesting chat with a couple of the ladies, both muslimahs. They told me how children are introduced to learning the Qu’ran and how they learn to pray, amongst other things. This family have someone come to their house to teach the Qu’ran and Arabic. I had so many questions and they were so open and receptive and full of answers when they had them and honest when they couldn’t answer. They asked me about my background and they didn’t appear to judge…we were all mothers and knew that it didn’t matter what faith we take, we want the best for our children. I said that I felt I was allowed to choose my way as I got older and I feel I’m finding it now….and so I’d like my kids to have an open mind and find THEIR way. If it means learning all about other faiths and ways of life and educating themselves in the process as they go along then that’s even better. It was such an insightful half-hour.

Friends and family, I’m not planning to convert, don’t worry….but stopping yourself 5 times a day and finding peace does feel rather appealing!

***

~~ Canadian family and friends: rumour is, a Tim Horton's is to open in Oman! Now will you come and visit?!!!!

***

~~I've had my hair cut. Short. I decided I was spending far too much energy trying to grow it long when it really wasn't happening. There was no way I was going to have a long thick mane of hair that I have in my dreams so why fight it :-( BUT I feel so much more confident now and more than one person has said it has made me look younger!

Like this ... but NOT BLONDE!

***

~~ Major crisis narrowly averted in the Mitchell household. The Six Nations Rugby is on. OSN are not showing it, it seems....much cursing and a raised voice from The Captain's end of the sofa filled the air last night as he searched the however-many channels we have on our television. Thanks to Muscat Mutterings I found out that it's being shown on Jazeera sports. Which we don't receive. But thanks to the fabulous institition that is the BBC (they do get some things right), he is able to watch it online through the television. We're currently watching his national team, Scotland, play France. Eeek....

~~ On the to-do list this week:

- Muscat Festival…still haven’t been yet

- A museum or two…I missed Bruno Barbey’s photography exhibition. Seems to be a habit of mine…

- The kids' school sports day

- Quiz night at the Dolphin! Should be interesting!

"If you don't behave, I'll call the policeman over..."

Well, I haven't used that phrase yet on the kids but I know parents who have. The child is never sure they're being serious so start to behave just in case.

Today was priceless...

Pops was having his usual morning tantrum in the car on the way to school. My usual trick is to turn up whatever crap track is being played on the radio to drown him out and distract him. (Actually, it was Transvision Vamp, so a lot better than usual). So we are stuck in the usual jams and an ROP (Royal Omani Police) motorcyclist weaves throughthe traffic and pulls up alongside us. I think he must have heard the loud music being played by the heathen western woman in the Kia and so stopped. But then he clocked the Boy in the back having his meltdown. I took this opportunity and wound the back window down so the Policeman could talk to him. Pops saw him and immediately shut up! He did turn away and hide his face but he was quiet straight after! So I can legitimately say to him, "if you don't behave I call that policeman on his bike to come and see you!"

As Daddy Books said, "sincere adulation for a perfectly timed moment".


Music update: I've tried to download Radio 1 podcasts...to no avail. At least on my laptop anyway. It knows I'm not in the UK and so can't access anything. I may have to make do with my limited collection on the mp3 player.


Maybe it's time to refresh my collection and download some new tunes!


Any recommendations?