Eid mubarak everyone!

Well, I just had my first Eid! The first day we had to wake up really early, cook some rice, burn some frankincense, clean the house and put on our new clothes. We set out coffee, sweets and were ready to receive guests by 8 am. No one showed up until 2 pm when the entire family seemed to come all at once. We laid out the dinner rug in the living room and ate tons of lamb. That night, my family stayed at home which is not customary, so they called up their relatives and Scott and I were able to tag along with them. The next day for second Eid we visited the grandparents and I was given 7 Omani Rial (all the adults hand out money for Eid) and that night we went to a barbecue wht the family which meant a lot of "meshcock" and more lamb. It was really good. We all had way to much to eat. The final day of Eid, one of my auts took Ahlam and me out to a park where we ran into some girls that I'm apparently related to and we all had a picnic of meshcock and 'chips' (aka: frenchfries). The park was beautiful. The next day I moved into my new home - a two bedroom apartment. It had not been lived in for a month so Ahlam Ifat and I spent the next few hours cleaning it up. After we washed up ourselves, Nehad (one of my many Aunts) took Ahlam, Iman (another Aunt) and me to her place where we spent the night and wathed her adorable baby while her husband took her out for dinner. The next day all of us had a picnic on the beach and that night was our turn to go out. Nehad droped us off at the mall where we went bowling. I was told to dress up, so I ended up beating Iman and Ahlam's butts in bowling in a nice dress and bowling shoes. Apparently our perceptions of 'dressing up' are different. The rest of our time at the mall was filled with running away from boys that Iman and Ahlam know. I have never experienced so much drama with so little conversation.
Now, we are all back at school after our week off and getting ready for an Arabic practice test. Wish me luck!

tents, prophets, camels and nice weather!

Internet access here is difficult to come by. Our group just got back from Salalah (a city in southern Oman). Before we left I finally got an outfit for Eid (a traditional dress) and an abaya! Salalah was so beautiful and the weather was great. The Dohfar region has desert, mountains, plenty of vegetation and the ocean. It was a wonderful three days. Although I'm pretty sure I went on more tours those three days than I've ever been on in my life. We visited Job's tomb, essentially the Queen of Shebah's hotel, some ruins, some castles, some forts and saw hundreds of camels. We got to visit the Port of Salalah, which was very interesting, but the best part was riding on a tug boat. We also had an iftar picnic with students from a nearby University in a tent in the middle of a desert. That was amazing. We played the winking card game...I got the joker and apparently I need to learn how to wink properly. We also saw some 'black magic' card tricks. The souk in Salalah is filled with frankincense and is all outdoors. May had to go to the bathroom, so we asked around until we were directed to a specific restaurant. We asked the guy working there and he led us to the back, then up the stairs then all the sudden we were in an apartment. I wasn't nervous at all because his mom greeted us immediately a little confused but welcoming all the same and after we got to talking I learned that they were from Bangladesh. She offered us rice and tea, but we had already eaten a huge meal. After saying good bye and 'danobad' we were back on our way. The freedom we got in Salalah kept all of us up all night. SIT told us from the beginning that what we would miss the most was our independence and they weren't kidding. Just being able to roam a city was a breath of fresh air. In Muscat we are completely dependant on our families and SIT.
Tomorrow is Eid, and I am really looking forward to it. I've got henna, a new dress and a new haircut (the lady insisted she cut it)...and its really really short...my little host sister has been calling me 'waled' aka 'boy' ever since.
Eid mubarak!!

I will write more often from now on - In sha allah

I have been in Muscat for about 2 weeks now. We spent orientation in Corniche, a tourist destination within Muscat. It is right on the water and most days you can see the Sultan's yacht in the harbor. The city is wedged between the ocean and some mountains that outline it. Dispersed throughout the mountain sides are forts, giving the area a traditional vibe amongst the neon lights at night. It was a wonderful week of resting, browsing the souk, watching Baluchi futbol in a back alleyway, Frisbee by the road, touring the fish market and getting lost on the last night (we blame the mountains that seem to pop up out of nowhere). The 20 students in my group are all wonderful we've already embarked on some great adventures together. One night we decided to eat out at an Omani family style restaurant where, as is customary, all 20 of us ended up eating on the floor. We all had a great first week.
We have begun classes and moved in with our hostfamilies. At the moment Scott and I are unexpectedly sharing his house and my family while his is away in Malaysia. My hostfamily is a young Swahili family (Said and Ifhat) with two small kids (Fatima-5 and Sultan -3) with one more on the way. The two kids are always introduced as "naughty" and believe me they are. They know three languages (English, Swahili and Arabic), yet they don't listen to any of them! Their father usually has to bring out the camel stick most nights to get them to behave. It's a nice family and we are living with Ihlamb at the moment (Scott's host sister). She is about my age and is wonderfully patient with my Arabic attempts and cooking flaws. I am continuously meeting new family members who usually say something along the lines of "I'm your uncle's brother's cousin from his mother's side." It gets very confusing, and I've given up trying to figure out the family tree.
Iftar is my favorite time of the day (6:00 pm) that's when all the family comes over and we eat ridiculous amounts of wonderful food. My favorite is Besbusa - if you're lucky I'll consider making it for you when I get back to the US. You always know when it's time for Iftar because that's when our favorite Arabic soap opera ends. It's about a mother, her seven daughters and how they ran away from the dad who hasn't treated them well since he married his second younger wife. It's full of drama.
During Ramadan, it's very common to stay out until 2 or 3 am shopping or visiting relatives. It's busy everywhere until around 4 am and everyone is out and about. We are excited for Eid though, which is right around the corner and will be filled with more wonderful food, new clothes and family from all sides and then some.
Before this, I will be visiting Salalah (in the south of Oman) with the program for two days. I am told the weather will be cooler and there will be grass. This is a big deal in Oman. We will return the day before Eid which means we will have to scramble to get ready quickly for the big day.