Valentine's in Dhofar

No no ... to all your conservatives out there .. chill. I'm proud to say I haven't seen one red heart in Salalah this week, and no mention of Valentine's so we're safe from Western commercialism for the time being. We may not be so lucky next year.

.

However, I took a trip down memory lane to the highschool I attended in Salalah. Saada Highschool to be exact (there are only 3 girls' highschools in Salalah anyway). Back in my days when we almost never interacted with any male who wasn't a family members, our social life revolved around the girls at schools. Imagine over a thousand girls between the ages of 15-18 in one building from 7:30 to 2:30 every single day. All those emotions, feelings, hormones, ... sheesh. Anyway, back in the days there was a bridge connecting grade 10 to grade 12 and that bridge was secretly and commonly known as 'The Bridge of Love' or جسر المحبة. I remember Valentine's Day was extremely important for any grade 10 girl who had a crush on a grade 12 senior. Or girls who had a crush on girls from other classes. On Valentine's day they would put red ribbons in their hair, suck red lollipops, and walk hand in hand through the schools grounds to declare .... declare what? Love? I thought it was hilarious. They weren't lesbians of course, but they were getting close. The worst part was having a crush on a teacher and leaving her a rose and a letter on her desk and secretly watching her office to see how she would react to the gift. Ahh... girls. Anyway, Al Hamdulillah we all grew up, went to college, and discovered a whole new world out there ... men.

.

Speaking of the gays, please accept my condolences on the demise of the new blog 'Community Queer'. I don't think they were Omani, but they were definintely promoting gay love in Oman and they can't say we didn't warn them! Blocked by Omantel yesterday.

.

Freedom of speech is a great thing, but do we really want complete freedom of speech when we know what the consequences are? I could get my blog banned in a day if I wanted just by writing one post on a highly controversial topic, but I pick my topics carefully and I try not to offend anyone because I love Dhofari Gucci... and I don't want to see it banned. So to all you rebels out there (minus the Dragon @ Muscat Confidential because he has angels watching over him), be careful what you write. It's all nice and dandy in the beginning when you realize 'hey, this is my space online and I can write whatever I want', but seriously, just be careful. Try not to offend. Try to remain objective. Respect our conservative Omani culture and Islam and don't get depressed because things are changing everyday, and soon as more people begin to understand true journalism & media, we will have more freedom of speech... but until then, remain respectful.

.

Onto more cheerful subjects my favorite YouTube artist, Kina Grannis, is releasing her first album this month (yes YouTube can be a miracle sometimes) and her first single was released last week. It's called Valentine and it's been stuck in my head all week. Very simple and sweet melody. I've decided to annoy you guys with the tune because someone's gotta suffer with me!

.

Have a Great Day!

Hyenas

I really am a sad excuse for a Dhofari. How have I managed to spend 22 years in this town without realizing that we have packs of hyenas everywhere? I guess I'm never out late at night! I was told by a fellow blogger that when she was out camping, an unusual hyena almost attacked them in Mirbat. Most people say it was a Jinn because the behaviour was rather odd. Check out her blog for interesting comments on Salalah/Oman http://absolutetrygve.blogspot.com/.

Allow me to confess that I don't have anything terribly interesting to write about, so I've decided to complain. I'm not really one for complaining, but my complaints may amuse you, so here goes:

(1) I hate the way some Omanis treat Indians and other Asians. I almost walked over to the office next door to throw my coffee mug at a colleague who was rudly insulting the teaboy because his tea wasn't 'perfect'. Well go make your own tea, jerk!

(2) The new guy in my office (yes, dammit, I have to share an office now until he leaves) is too nosy. He asks too many questions about my personal life, and thinks everything is a conspiracy. This morning the CEO of a contracting company dropped by to give me documents and chat (I studied with his son). My roommate immediately bombarded me with questions when the guy left. He thought the guy was a spy. Or maybe he thought I was having an affair with a 60 year-old man. God only knows. He just thought it was outrageous that a CEO would visit me, a girl! To those of you out there who are thinking 'Why don't you just tell him to mind his own business!', I tell you: he's a relative. You can't tell a relative to bugger off rudly. I might cause a tribal war.

(3) I always tell myself that I'll never drive into town during the last five days of everymonth because of PAYDAY. Yup, payday. Every single vehicle in the whole of Dhofar seems to be stuck on the two main roads during payday. Everyone is shopping. Everyone is spending. Everyone is honking. People here are so predictable.

(4) I have a sore throat.

(5) a senior manager at my company is very gay. This morning he's got pink nail polish on, a white dishdasha with a brown tassle and a BLUE cap (kumma). Has no one approached him about colour coordination?

That's it for today, folks. As you see, I have nothing serious to complain about. Life is good. Today is Wednesday!