On day 2 we went to a small town called As Seeb in Oman. It was about a 20 minute drive from Mucat, plus adding in time of us getting really lost. We spent some time collecting shells at the beach in this town.
After that we hung out at the souk in mid-town looking for different souvenirs to buy. There were so many abaya shops with hundreds of abaya to choose from so I decided to buy a new one, since I love to wear then on my lazy days at work (when I want to wear track pants underneath!) I wanted something with a little more flair than just a regular black one, so I got one with pink accents, a rose AND a tassel. I like the fact that I can wear something that would make me look like a such an insane wizard and/or someone who has gone completely off the deep end, in North America. Here it's just a nice abaya with some flair. I was inspired by the super fancy abaya my Principal wore one day that had a great number of tassels. Turns out tassels are not just stripper wear. I usually wouldn't wear the shayla (headscarf) with it, but it came with a free one, so I think maybe I will wear it the first day back after March Break to freak out my students :)
We saw lots of interesting stuff in the stores in the souk but it is always interesting and a little awkward to BE the tourist attraction. These souks are where people go to get there normal everyday stuff, and they definitely do not see many Westerners in Oman, especially in such a little town. Most of the reactions we got were very positive with people welcoming us and chatting with us. We were sitting on a bench in the town centre eating lunch and a man stopped, got out of his car and proceeded to pull out his junk and stare at us while he faced us, peeing. The eye contact the full time he did it was what was a little unnerving. I guess every place has its own characters.
On day 3 we decided to check out the traditional fish market in Muscat and the souk there. The fish market was a crazy experience, with people bartering for HUGE fish which were laying all over the ground. It did disturb me how many dead sea creatures there were around me and how much blood and fish guys I was undoubtedly walking through.
Once again we were the tourist attraction because we clearly were not there to buy giant string rays to cook up for dinner in our hotel room. Most of the people were very nice, even posing for pictures for us and showing off their fish for us.
One guy did give me a bunch of literature about converting to Islam which I don't know if I should take offense to? Was I being that Harram?
We continued from the fish market to walk through the souks. And by the way, the souks here really are as they show you on tv. Every person we passed was like "HELLLLLLLO MADAM! Cashmere scarf! PURE, straight from INDIA! BEST PRICE!" Even though we just walked by the last guy and even though they have all the exact same stuff. They do need to learn some customer service sales skills though. Instead of seeing me and yelling "COME IN! WE HAVE BIG SIZES!" they should maybe just invite me into their shops. After that we went to see the Oman Palace and some old forts. We got really excited when we found ONE store that sold alcohol, but were saddened when we found out you had to have a friggin passport registered from the police department to buy it :(
There isn't much in terms of nightlife in Oman, but we did manage to find a fairly "Western" bar that served alcohol and played English music. We danced the night away there, meeting lots of interesting Omani folks and I even won a free drink for my superior booty shaking skills...lol. The man with the books in the fish market would be ashamed!
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