This post will be a summing up of the last two weeks as I have been too busy to write! I'm afraid it may be a little long, sorry in advance!
So the last two weeks have been busy ones because there have been some illnesses and broken bones in the female half of the PE department, and so consequently as the only girl gapper, I was drafted in to help out. Mrs Shephard and Miss Jones would never have believed it, I have actually found the experience really enjoyable; but maybe thats because their version of Cross country is a quick lap of the school(under 1k) and last week we did it at a power walk pace!The little ones do half of the course and it's incredible to see how hard they try to get the best time, but year 8 upwards and it becomes such a slog trying to get the girls to do anything active! I tried to motivate the girls by saying that if they ever moved to London (as many of them want to) then they would have to get used to fast paced walking- this statement was followed by "but Miss, we are Omani, the fastest we do is the Omani Shuffle" - What the hell is an Omani shuffle? Well it turns out that Omanis are famous for their relaxed attitude- they never hurry ANYWHERE- something I have definately noticed whilst being here, hence their slow style of walking is called the Omani shuffle.
We also tried halwa, a sweet dessert made from dates and sugar- it was very tasty, here is EJ (music teacher from America and very funny bloke) with the snack:
Yes, its Floppy legs!
Fish pedicure!
In the evening we sipped G and T's under the stars, and then we went exploring. We met a group of Venezuelans who let us join thier party and we boogied with them to Latin music until the wee hours! The dad of the group was Luiz: a man who is blacklisted in Venzuela and makes the strongest drinks known to man! Here is a photo of Tom Freddie and I with Luiz, and some others of the evening:
Obligatory awful photo of me- pre bedtime!
We slept under the stars and I awoke to the sunrise over the beach- bliss:
First I will detail some other aspects of school life here, and then some more about the fun we have been having at weekends! Unfortunately there is only one horrific picture of me in this week's entry, but I promise some more for you to laugh at next week!
So the last two weeks have been busy ones because there have been some illnesses and broken bones in the female half of the PE department, and so consequently as the only girl gapper, I was drafted in to help out. Mrs Shephard and Miss Jones would never have believed it, I have actually found the experience really enjoyable; but maybe thats because their version of Cross country is a quick lap of the school(under 1k) and last week we did it at a power walk pace!The little ones do half of the course and it's incredible to see how hard they try to get the best time, but year 8 upwards and it becomes such a slog trying to get the girls to do anything active! I tried to motivate the girls by saying that if they ever moved to London (as many of them want to) then they would have to get used to fast paced walking- this statement was followed by "but Miss, we are Omani, the fastest we do is the Omani Shuffle" - What the hell is an Omani shuffle? Well it turns out that Omanis are famous for their relaxed attitude- they never hurry ANYWHERE- something I have definately noticed whilst being here, hence their slow style of walking is called the Omani shuffle.
Everything is so relaxed here- but when dealing with rental cars it seems they will try anything to stop you from having a decent car! Basically the pimp mobile I put pictures up of last week broke down on us, and so we asked the rental company if we could swap the car for something more reliable. They showed up the next day and took the car away, and we were expecting the new one to arrive a few hours later. We got a call from Sean who said our car was down at his, and so a few of us went down to pick up our shiny new car. Unfortunately we are in Oman and not the UK, and the we discovered the old car had been returned, missing half a tank of petrol! We assumed they had fixed the problem and so we took it for a spin. After a quick stop at O mart, our local shop, we returned to the car and it wouldnt start, I was driving, so I hopped out and stuck my head under the bonnet to whack the loose connection on the battery back into place while Tom revved the engine- much to the amazement of the Omani guys in the barbers opposite (Taylor Heyman - first female mechanic in Oman!). Anyway, this story has a happy ending, we later ragged the car over a speed bump too fast and it started leaking oil- here is a pic of the new car: (to follow)
After school hours we have visited Seeb souq, where Tom bought a moussa, a traditional Omani head scarf for men mostly worn by those working in public jobs. After watching a video on youtube, this was his attempt at it (dont ask me why the stupid pose):
The 3rd weekend was pretty relaxed, after a hard working week I spent my time at the pool with a few characters you may recognise:
Yes, its Floppy legs!
This weekend we went camping with Sean and his family to Tiwi, a 2hrs drive south from where we are in Seeb.We stopped off at a sink hole on the way and dipped our toes in, the water was so clear and beautiful, and it had Garra Ruffa fish in it which nibbled our toes! who needs to pay a tenner in MK hey mum!
Fish pedicure!The beach was wonderfully secluded and so I could splash about in my bikini without feeling uncomfortable: however, I am still as pale as a vampire :( . We set up a shade from the heat of the day, and sunbathed and read books:
Obligatory awful photo of me- pre bedtime!
We also saw a lot of wildlife at the beach, including vultures, goats, lizards and a turtle up close! We are revisiting Tiwi for a long trip over the Eid holiday which has just started (9 days- woo hoo!) so next blog will be that and Mum and Ed's visit- I can't wait!
Discovery of the week : Chicken Shwarma is an incredible hangover cure!
Surprise of the week: How ill adapted Oman is for rain: if it rains in the morning here- the school is closed!
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