Wednesday, January 26, 2011

You Know You're a Dhofari When .......

(1) You're Loud.
(2) All Dhofaris are related to you one way or another.
(3) You won't go into any store unless you can park right in front of it.
(4) You insert words like 'Ghabz', 'Yakha', and 'Wayahoo' into most of your sentences.
(5) You are recognized as Dhofari wherever you go (women from their Burqas or Pom Poms, and men from the way they walk, their dishdasha style and good looks of course :)
(6) You think you're better than everyone else.
(7) You spend your weekends playing cards on The Garbeeb
(8) All picnics involve beef and red tea.
(9) You attend at least seven weddings during the Khareef season
(10) You spend 100 OMR on wedding makeup (for women) and another 100 to rent a thobe just to attend the wedding of a distant cousin who you don't even like.
(11) At least three or four of your first cousins have asked for your hand in marriage.
(12) You accept (and use) new additions into the Dhofar vocabulary like 'Haraqni'.
(13) Men tilt their kummas to the side and throw a turban on their shoulders and walk like they own the place.
(14) You have two cell phones.
(15) Mageen (dried meat), Baitha7 (Root veg) and Safeela7 (dried abalone) are gourmet foods.
(16) Your house is always crowded with visitors.
(17) You have Wasta. Lots of it.
(18) Everyone in your family has a bank or car loan.
(19) Everything is '3aib' (not proper).
(20) You drink tea all day long.
(21) Fat & white (for women) is beautiful.
(22) You're always on the lookout for a bride for one of your brothers.
(23) Your nickname for Omanis who are not Dhofari is 'Mishkak'. (And so I met a mishkak the other day and he said ....)
(24) You believe soccer is more important than work and/or exams (in fact, everything in your life is more important than work and studying)
(25) Everyone in your family is called Mohammed, Ahmed, Ali, Salim, Said, Tufool, Mahad, Khair, Khiyar, Mezoon, Fatma, Noor, Bakhit, and Muna.
(26) Your father owns at least two guns.
(27) You own at least 10 Kammashas if you're a woman, and at least 5 tassled turbans if you're a man.
(28) At least one member of your family was involved in the Dhofar Rebellion in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
(29) Turmeric is used as a cure for everything.
(30) You drink Mountain Dew for breakfast, lunch and dinner
(31) You pour hot sauce over everything.
(32) No meal is complete without rice
(33) No rice is complete without a dollop of Qatmeem or 'Saman' (ghee)
(34) You only go shopping at night
(35) You attend at least two weddings and two funerals a month.
(36) You can't stay still when 'Madar' music is on. I swear it's true.
(37) You own at least 20 bottles of perfume
(38) You realize parking lots are the best place to play cards.
(39) You think you know everything about world politics.
(40) You think the coolest thing to do in town is hang out on the corniche in Al Haffa.
(41) You go to Khairat Al Janoob every month to stock up on all beauty necessities.
(42) when polishing cars in a parking lot becomes a routine social gathering
(43) Your women are never officially 'seen' by any strange males.
(44) You swear you'll divorce your spouse if your guests don't have 2nd or 3rd helpings of food.
(45) Your family owns at least one Toyota Land Cruiser.
(46) You don't feel the need to indicate when switching lanes.
(47) You ...
(48) You ....
.
Inspired by a group on Facebook, I've added my own list. This post is dedicated to my favorite reader who calls himself 'SO LONG ... AHMED'. Dear Ahmed, if you're reading this, make your own additions to my list.

28 comments:

  1. What sort of guns do dhofari men own ?
    Do they need to have a license to own a gun ?
    What are the terms of renewal of license( do they have to do it every year?)
    Are there any gun/ammunition shop in dhafar ?
    Are they allowed to import guns from abroad ?
    Do dhofaris hunt ?
    What do they Hunt ?
    And are there any civilian shooting ranges ?

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  2. hehehehehe "Dhofari Pride" group at the facebook... When i joined this group(2 years back maybe), the list make me laugh for a week hehehehe it's hilarious

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  3. OMG mishkak?! That's a first I hear, never knew that. And btw number 30 to 32 is typical for any Omani =p

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  4. out of 48! how many of these i should have to be dhofari!! :)

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  5. You forgot to mention م د :), and cooking gas()

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  6. Thanks for posting this! Smiling my broadest smile at my computer screen :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-):-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-):-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-):-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

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  7. Hi:
    actually, i don't like stereotying people according to their countries, provinces or states.
    however, as long as you have asked me to complete the rest; i would say:the advantages overcome the disadvantages in this strange part of the World
    LETS COMPLETE THE CONS:
    (47) You are not a good listener while you are debating in a group, even one on one.
    (48) You don't think about the consequences of your action when it comes to mind just do it.
    (49) You don' protest like nations for your rights.
    (50) You spend your time doving and driving from A to B and converse or involving in useless debate.
    Pros are:
    (51) You can accomplish whatever you want when you instill good-will.
    (52) you are collaborative and helpful.
    (53) You are empathic when you encounter anyone or anything in need for help.
    (54) I am sure that the most but not all of Dhofaries are brought up in customs and traditions which empower them to be proud of themselves in all fields.
    AHMED
    SO LONG

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  8. haha, yeah 2 weddings and 2 funerals a month. Or sometimes 2 weddings and 2 funerals a week XD

    But for god's sake tell me what Haraqni means!

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  9. loooooooool very interesting topic!!!

    What makes a dhofari is as follow

    You tilt your kuma sideways
    One of your relatives’s called ba5eet
    Your dishdasha collar is too tight and covers the whole of your nick
    City Centre is your best and only hang out spot in Muscat
    You smoked your 1st cigarette when you were 10


    What makes a Dhofaria is as follow

    3a6iyat road is you best hang out spot in Salalah
    You put 1 kg of makeup on your face in weddings
    umbaaaaaaah is your term for SO WHAT
    You have a cousin called 6ofol
    When there is a gathering you all speak at the same time
    You are too beautiful to be Human (like an angle)

    add it to your list nadia lol

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  10. 23 made me laugh hard, well they all did, and now I am hungry.

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  11. i know a girl her father is salalah
    her mother is from the north of oman

    she is beautiful like an angle

    i already asked my family to propose
    (:(:

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  12. AHMED - love your additions, they are excellent! Nadia's list made me giggle, your additions tell it how it is!

    Thanks :)

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  13. I love Dhofar guz, Go Dhofar GO

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  14. I heard it was lead by yusuf alawi, not sure though

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  15. 20 bottles of perfume ? I like the sound of that :)

    I thought I'd say hello; I read your blog every now & then... I'm from Finland and last year I *almost* had an opportunity to move to Oman for work -- it didn't work out, but I found a couple of blogs from your country that I started reading, and yours is probably the only one left now... I like the way you write and for a Scandinavian it is very interesting to read about your way of life, your culture, and to see how women live across the world. Thanks for sharing :)

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  16. Hahahaha
    I havent nodded soo much in a lonnnggg time.
    Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

    i learnt dhofari women are addicted to make up whitening cream, thobes, shouting, bakhoor & some go as far as to show off and back bite if u dnt dress and act like them.
    Dhofari grandfathers are the best, i love their enthusiasm to get up and try things, they are very open minded people mashaAllah.

    i hope my son doesnt grow up playing cards on the beach all night or live in debt..i really dnt want that for him.its hell to live like that. Allah forbid.

    Thumbs up, grt post.

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  17. Great ! want to pass it in to my employers who are dhofaris

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  18. LOVE your list, so true!

    You forgot to mention drinking tea with the "Chuuuuu" then "Aaaa7" sounds!

    and the hobby of staring at eveything / one new.

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  19. i love it , so true. keep it up
    yasser

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  20. You Know Youé A Dhofari When.....you can follow the Posts threaded to Nadia's End Of December 2010 Blog swearing that you know the name (including that of the Cat) of all participants and Nadia herself (whom your Cousin intends to approach her family for a marriage proposal)
    Keep telling it like it is
    Salaams Shikak..or not as the case may be ?!?

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  21. Do non-Shikaks consider this post Ghaaaabz ?

    Sooooooooo loooooooog
    from 'The 16th Reason'

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  22. Don't forget 24 hours bukhur burning at home

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  23. .....when your reaction to the mention of Dhofari Gucci is "Ghabzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
    Salaams Mishkak

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  24. Nadia,
    This is the first time reading your blog. Really impressed on your observations. After spending 21 years + in Salalah came to know about way of life. Keep posting.
    Ma Salama

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