Update 2: January 2011

One of the highlights of January 2011 for Matilda was the discovery of crayons...

Gideon’s sister Rachel spent a wonderful week with us. Again, we had the chance to explore the country, camping at the foot of the highest mountain – Jebel Shams – and seeing Matilda making new friends in secluded villages

Gideon, Marike and Matilda made a lovely hike, walking an old path that used to be the only route between the village of Muscat and the village of Mutrah – nowadays integrated into the large capital area and well connected by roads. It was so isolated and quiet there that you wouldn’t believe that these pictures are taken just a few hundred meters away from the bustling harbour area of Mutrah.

And finally, January 2011 was the first month in which we actually had a harvest of cherry tomatoes from our garden!

Update 1: December 2010

How long has it been since we've written on this blog! It must be because of the unfortunate paradox that the more there is to write about, the less time you take to actually do it. So here is just a quick series of updates, starting with the main events of December 2010.

Gideon's parents came for a visit, and with them we celebrated St. Nicholas.

Being by ourselves in the time between family visits, we made an exciting trip through the canyon of Wadi Bani Auf, with camping in a desolated spot, having coffee with a rather extended Omani family, and seeing one of the most beautiful places of Oman, the village of Bilad Sayt.

Then, Marike's parents came over, and we went on several outings and enjoyed each other's company...

Not much later, Matilda's uncle and auntie Michiel and Vivian joined us and we celebrated Christmas together. With them, we explored new and known parts of Oman, including a turtle beach and the desert, where we welcomed the new year.

Garden gathering

We have been enjoying our garden so much lately. Being there just helps you to relax instantly and after the intense summer heat we appreciate the cool, shady, and green atmosphere of our garden even more. Recently, Marike and Matilda had a very laid back afternoon with their two colleagues, Miriam - who works with Marike at university, and Naima - who works with Matilda in finger painting, cup stacking and potato stamping at the university's day care center.

 

Miriam and Naima in the garden

Naima and Matilda exploring

Oman world fireworks championship

The world fireworks championship 2010 is taking place in Oman! What's more, we can enjoy the spectacular shows right from our bedroom balcony, as the event is held in a nearby park. For a whole week we'll have entertainment right at our doorstep. We know you are all big firework lovers, so you don't want to miss the information on the event's website: http://www.wfchampionship.com/

 Watching Australia's contribution from our balcony

Arrival of St. Nicholas

Most of us Dutch have wondered since childhood how St. Nicholas is able to meet & greet all children in the Netherlands on the streets, in schools and even at home in only a few weeks per year, roughly between mid-November and the 5th of December. How his ship is able to carry all the presents, how his horse is capable of taking St. Nicholas over the roof tops to all these homes and schools in every town and village of Holland, and what incredible time-management skills St. Nicholas must possess to plan all this in just one month a year. Our respect for the old man only grew when we realised that in his journey he also includes all the places in the world outside of Holland where Dutch children live! The map below shows what a demanding task this is:

Number of Dutch and Flemish living abroad (Source: info-graphics.nl)

– an indispensable itinerary planning tool for St. Nicholas

With this little bit of background information, you can imagine the joy we felt when we learned that St. Nicholas would visit us in Oman again this year! And similar to last year, he did not let us down. On the contrary - His entrée was remarkable and full of excitement, which is promising in the light of presents and sweets that we can expect this year.

We gathered at the beach to welcome St. Nicholas on November 10, eagerly awaiting his arrival

Waiting in shorts and swim gear instead of raincoats and winter jackets

‘hij komt, hij komt’

Matilda was more interested in the airplanes flying by

Where have I seen this black peter before? It must have been in a previous blog entry about camping at Jebel Shams...

Amidst the happy chaos, there was a brief opportunity to pose for the camera man

After the beach welcome, we all rushed to the school’s gym, where we sang songs to St. Nicholas and were treated with even more pepernoten, schuimpjes and the like.
 

Sint said he really enjoyed being in Oman, and our hearts were filled with pride! He told us about his adventures of camping in the Omani desert and dune bashing in a 4x4 jeep. If you find that too bizarre to believe, just see for yourself in the picture below!

Wahiba Sands Trips

The weather finally starts to get cooler in Oman and the last two weekends we were in the Wahiba Sands.

The first weekend, we went camping with a large group of Marike's university colleagues. What a great, diverse group it was!


Watching the sunset

Gideon installed the rooftent again for the winter camping season, a great place to sleep!

Camping in the desert

Matilda and her SandFriends Mathea and Naima



Matilda in the sand at sunset

 The second weekend, we went out with a group of PDO colleagues to one of the desert camps.

Again...watching the sunset....everybody happy?!

Everybody Happy!





A Double Espresso Please!

After a long and sleepy omani summer, there is nothing better to wake you up than a shot of Double Espresso!

These four ladies and their saxophones (http://www.double-espresso.nl/) were invited to play at the Sohar Music Festival and came a few days early to enjoy Muscat.

Marike and Matilda with "Double Espresso" in front of Casa Cardozo.

One evening, we organised a BBQ on the beach, and the ladies brought their instruments for an improvised Sunset Jazz Concert!

Loes, Babette, Floortje, and Annette playing at sunset on PDO beach

Jazz, food, drinks, sunset all mixed with a nice group of friends to make a wonderful evening. Thanks to Double Espresso for being such great guests!