The ride from the airport to the hotel took maybe half an hour to forty five minutes, and it became apparent quickly that Muscat was a sprawling city that covered much area, but without the skyscrapers of Amman or Dubai (The SIT Oman academic director pointed this out as an example of their leader, Sultan Qaboos', commitment to modern, but traditionally cognizant development.) Our hotel, Naseem Hotel, was located in Muttrah, a working port city that is part of Muscat Municipality, but is a different city than the capital. The hotel was right across the highway from a cruise ship port and a cargo port.
Sultan Qaboos' yacht.
The first day we had a lecture from the AD of SIT Oman, and then got on a bus to head southeast. First we went to a Green Sea Turtle Reserve, which is one of the few nesting sites in the region. We were led to the beach by flashlight wielding guards in disdash and waited for a signal that there was indeed a turtle nesting. We saw the flashing lights and watched as a large turtle laid dug a whole and laid her eggs and then covered them up again. The most amazing thing of the night was when some baby turtles began hatching and traveling down the beach to the surf. Post-turtles we headed back to a camp not far from the reserve where we spent the night in small straw cabins.
In the morning we went to Sur, a fishing town on the Eastern coast.
In Sur we visited a Dhow factory, where the traditional sailing vessels of the Arab World's trade heyday are still constructed, primarily for tour companies and wealthy patrons.
After Sur we went to Wadi Shab, which as an incredibly gorgeous valley whose mouth is on the ocean and interior is lined with beautiful green-pooled oasis and caves.
We had to cross the tidal part of the Wadi before we could continue the 15 or so minute hike through the valley. The path is maintained heavily by the government, and steps are added in particularly treacherous parts of the path, but it was incredibly hot and turned out to be quite the workout on the way in.
At the end of the hike was a small Oasis where we went swimming. It was absolutely incredible. Think grand canyon filled with palm trees and gorgeous water. And you're floating in the middle of it.
I think Wadi Shab was my personal favorite thing of the trip... it definitely set the bar high, but we did see/do some other cool stuff.
Muttrah at Night.
Some pictures from a drop-off we had to do at a museum.
Some rooftop goats.
Nizwa University
One particularly interesting thing we did was travel to a less developed city, Nizwa, and receive a tour of the relatively conservative campus from some of its students. A graduate student at SIT Oman also works at Nizwa University consulting the administration on receiving accreditation internationally, and provided a little background on the University, which is actually a private non-profit institution, unique in the heavily public sultanate. All of the students wear traditional Omani clothing, including dishdash, hijab, kuma (a traditional cap), and sandals. Our groups definitely drew a lot of attention, but much of it was positive, with many smiles and "ahlan wah salan"s (welcome). The campus was fairly basic, and the student from SIT Oman pointed out that many of them were like portable classrooms in the states. The University is currently building another campus a few miles away. One of the most interesting things was going to what was essentially an activities fair, where clubs like photography clubs, many educational and special educational groups, and science groups got together and promoted their membership. I wasn't able to always identify the booths because the writing was often simply in arabic, but what the students were doing provided some hint.
Also of note... the school is significantly majority female.
Another interesting thing about our visit to the University came from a question I asked of the SIT graduate student during his talk. I asked about the ethnic make-up of the school, how many are ethnically arab, east african, indian. He replied that they are all Omani, which clearly did not answer my question. The thing is, this is the perception in Oman, at least in the portions we were in. Anyone possessing Omani citizenship is Omani, not Somali, Indian, Arab or whatever. This overpowering national identity comes from the fact that Oman is rather diverse, and has faced separatist violence in its southern border with Yemen (fomented by the Saudis) but strives to create a timeless national identity despite being a very young nation.
Historical interlude: Major events in Omani history
1970: Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said takes power. (He overthrew his father) Throughout his reign he rapidly modernizes Oman.
1962-1975: Dhofar (Yemeni border region) rebellion.
2007: Oman battered by Category 5 Cyclone Gonu.
After we visited the university we went to Jabreen castle. The castle was built in the late 17th century and was home to the Imam of the region, who was both a religious and political leader.
Imam's tomb.
After the castle we traveled to Misfat Al Abriyeen, which is a like a village frozen in time. Despite the fact that there are cars and roads leading to it. The inside of it is still traditional walking/donkey trails through an Oasis.
The town and the walking trails were absolutely gorgeous, but I couldn't help but feel strange about our being there. It is apparently a pretty big tourist attraction, but we didn't pay any admission. As you walk through some of the trails many of the houses would have "No Photo" or "No Entry" signs up. We were essentially walking through peoples backyards snapping photos and then leaving half an hour later. Some other students felt the same way, while others tried to brush it off. In any event, I'm glad I did get to see how beautiful it was.
On our last full day we took a trip to the Grand Mosque in Muscat that Sultan Qaboos had built several years ago, and a free afternoon, in which we took a trip to the beach, a pseudo-lecture/activity hybrid with SIT Oman, and then a free evening. The Mosque is massive and can hold, I believe, 25,000 people. There are guards walking around with pistols, and while one might think a Mosque would be immune to threat in 1979 even the Grand Mosque in Mecca was a target for fundamentalist terrorists who, in an armed group of several hundred, seized the Mosque and held it for several weeks until they were overwhelmed by Saudi military forces.
Post-mosque was finally beach time. I have to say, I'm terribly spoiled living perpetually within an hour of incredible beaches and coastlines. Being on the water was definitely one of my favorite parts of Oman, and it was great to finally get into the salt water. I can now say I swam in the Gulf of Oman, an extension of the Indian Ocean and the body of water that separates Iran from the Arabian peninsula. The water felt terrific, and we saw a number of sting ray, though that kind of spooked some of the tribe (SIT tribe). After some swimming we played some ultimate frisbee, and I got a sunburn worthy of an Irishman.
Our exercise with SIT Oman included a brief discussion of the timetable behind the Arab revolutions and then a fake UN summit on the revolutions including representatives from the youth leading the protests, the old-guard of the Arab world (which I was in), the US and EU, the Arab League, and the UN security council. We had to prepare statements and be ready for rebuttals, which was fun, but I felt as though I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know. No one seems to know what type of government successful revolts will create, the old-school claim they bring stability, prevent the coming to power of Islamists, and prevent war with Israel and the US, the US can't make up its mind, the EU won't act without the US, and the Arab League and the security council can hardly develop or agree to a functional breakfast order, that's how helpful they are. But these were all things I knew, so a standard lecture, or even a philosophical discussion in a more traditional manner of what our individual views on the issue are would've been more constructive. Again, I found myself appreciating good 'ol SIT Jordan.
I developed a pretty serious case of post-nasal drip over the last half of the trip, which was the harbinger of a bad head cold and cough for my final night. While a bunch of students went out, I went back to the souq for some last minute gift shopping, did a little reading and then nabbed some sleep. The first half hour of the flight was miserable on my sinuses but a double dose of acetometaphin and some sudafed had me in decent shape part way over Saudi Arabia.
Everyone on the trip was stoked to be back in Jordan, and Amman in particular. Oman was a great weeklong trip, but I definitely would've started to get bored. I'm pretty sure every cool thing the SIT kids there see, we saw in that week. I mentioned earlier that Oman felt kind of like a dream. Geographically it represented what I've thought of as an ideal sort of port city culture. If you've seen The Truman Show, think of the town in that movie, I even mentioned that to some of the other students. It just didn't feel real sometimes. Everyone is going about their business, but it could almost be an act. In trying to figure out why it felt like that, I tend to lean on the lack of politics in the public sphere. Though there is a cult of personality around the Sultan, like King Abdullah in Jordan, the Sultan is incredibly private and does not make many public appearances like Abdullah. In Jordan, everyone seems to watch the news, and will talk to you about politics. In Oman, it just doesn't exist publicly. This goes beyond simply not having electoral politics though, as much of any persons life is politically embedded beyond a conservative-liberal distinction. We have a trajectory behind our thoughts and actions in society and our lives that is held together by some sort of belief system, however coherent or incoherent that may be from person to person, and it typically flushes itself out through public participation, civil society, religion, activism, or discussion between neighbors. I was only in Oman for a week, but you definitely could feel the presence of such a thing if you were in Amman for that long. I didn't see it in Oman.
Now, what I am saying is that political thought and expression was not really existent in the everyday public sphere in Oman, which doesn't mean it is non-existant for Omanis. This is evidenced by protests that have occurred within the country calling for economic assistance. It would seem efficacy of political activity isn't immune to the people of Oman, it's just underdeveloped. Understandable for a country in which apparently disappearances still occur. If you're unfamiliar with the term you should wikipedia "forced disappearance." Then check out "extraordinary rendition" for the American variety. Then, finally, imagine that being you or someone you love. I apologize for the morbidity, but I'm unsure of my audience, and I am particularly passionate about this.
On a happier note, spring break Oman '11 was filled with mostly being a tourist in an incredibly beautiful country that, had our trip continued to Egypt instead, I would have never have thought to have visited. I actually said while we were swimming in the Oasis at Wadi Shab, "thank god Egypt had a revolution." Inshallah that will be true for more reasons than that one.
No comments:
Post a Comment