Ask and ye shall receive

11:30am - I don't if blogger.com is going to get the time correct, so I'll just include it manuall for now. Anyway... taking it pretty easy here in Muscat, as I soon discovered that it, and Oman, don't really have much to offer. :) Ah, yes, I'm so hard to impress, I know.... but honestly, the Omanis (stop me if you've already heard this) are enthralled with modernity and have made little effort to preserve their own culture. We went for a drive yesterday with Gerard, who also works here at Hawthorn Language Centre (that's what it's called here in Muscat, as it's the sister to a school in Hawthorn back in Melbourne). Anyway, we saw a few 17th C. forts, but... well, they just didn't do it for me. Took a few photos, sweated in the heat, etc. Yeah, sorry Oman, but you're just not that fascinating. Anyway, later in the day we were back at the shopping malls... bought some sandals and again encountered these public anti-drug notices that are pinned up in most of the malls. They're quite an extreme demand-reduction approach, suggesting that drugs lead to (this is my favourite) "death, destruction and hell", or that cigarettes lead to injecting, with pictures of skeletons to demonstrate. Mmm, subtle. So, a little concerned that I would give the wrong impression, I took a deep breath and inquired if I might be able to acquire a copy of one (my favourite). Well, the Indian guy that ran the till on that floor called out to some Omanis on a floor below, they rushed up and he explained to them, they rushed off again, the Indian smiled politely "Wait a moment", I smiled back and prayed that Allah would be merciful to my whimsical request... sure enough, the two Omanis came back with about a dozen posters that turned out to be on thick card, and I walked away with two copies of three different designs. They're really hilarious, so backward in terms of approach, I can't wait to show them off.
Last night, well, I can still hardly believe this myself, but, we went bowling. Yeah, not my idea of fun, but it was ok, except that it tore part of my thumbnail off (delicate flower that I am). But, as I might have said, I've realised that Muscat is not going to be a cultural extravaganza, but just a chance to relax and have a holiday. There's still a souk or two to check out, but I'm not holding my breath. Not much music to listen to here, unfortunately, pretty much limited to a couple of Dead can Dance albums and the Bulgarian country girls. However, the music shop that we popped into did have a vast array of locally produced cassettes that I'm tempted to invest in maybe even just for the tacky pictures of the performers on the front. Yeah, there's some local culture for you. So anyway, although Muscat/Oman is disappointing on the culture/entertainment aspect, I am enjoying being here, meeting people, laughing at tall men in flowing white robes trying to bowl graciously, and picking sand out of my food (no, not really). And, I'll probably need the rest before our intense 10 day tour of Egypt, Jordan and the UAE on the 8th.