stories

Our final exam and final day of class was Monday. Now it is ISP time. My research project is about how Oman's development has influenced the empowerment of women here. Oman has gone from having nothing to everything it is today in about the past 40 years and it was all due to oil. I would like to interview grandmothers and their granddaughters to better understand how this development has impacted the opportunities available to Omani women. (If you have any suggestions/ideas/questions/literature I should look into PLEASE e-mail me rdodd@austincollege.edu)
After school that last day I went home with a friend of mine in the program to her hostfamilies house to interview her sister. We got home, had coffee and temours, talked for a bit and they decided I would spend the night. I had the interview with her about her life and opportunities in Oman later that night slumber party style, sitting on her bed sipping tea. The next day we woke up late, had some visitors, and before we knew it, it was dark and there was talk of going to the grandmother's village the next day. She was the next person on my list of people to interview, so again I spent the night. We baked apple pie, visited the sister's academy and played truth or dare until the early hours of the morning. The next day we went to a symphony concert by the Royal Omani Symphony Orchestra. This was followed by lunch, then snacks, and finally at sun set we began our journey to the village.
I had an amazing time. Every weekend all of the benat (girls) in the family gather at the grandmothers house to spend time together. We all gathered together on mats for dinner and conversation. I spent this time interviewing the grandmother with her daughters and granddaughters gathered all around her listening intently and adding their inputs when needed. After the grandmother went to sleep, the older Aunties had everyone circle around under the stars and told stories. We heard a haunted story first that happened to a friend of the Aunt's, then it went into a series of stories about Oman in the olden days about the grandmother and about their weddings. They talked about the games they would play for fun and we all reenacted them together. It was so much fun! By that point I felt so warmly included in the family and was joking around, and slapping hands with the women from age 5 to 75. It's interesting; as much as Oman has changed in the past 40 years, there are some aspects such as these gatherings and the storytelling that for women are almost exactly the same and I hope never change. It was sad leaving this morning, and I hope to go back again before I leave. I know not all of my interviews will be so interactive, but this trip has made me excited to get going on my research.