First week in Rustaq

Well after a week in Rustaq I have finally shaken the feeling that I am living on the moon. All of the mountains around the city are bare rock. The heat is so overpowering that it feels like a physical force pressing on you from all sides, but even in this heat you are strongly advised to wear trousers and T-shirts at a minimum (although women are not obliged to cover their hair and many western teachers don't). The locals either pretend not to see you or stare at you openly.

The first few days here were in the only hotel in town, called Al-Shimookh Guesthouse. It was a reasonable place to stay for someone who is used to backpackers, but at around US$50 a night it wasn't cheap (the college only pays for the first three nights). There was free Arabic coffee and dates in the lobby and a receptionist whose grasp of English was quite shaky, but could usually get the message across. Mostly her fillers were “in the” and “with you”. While thinking of the next word to say, she would use one of those phrases to give herself time to think. Example: “Your friend, in the he in the go in the hybermarket. You with you stay in the room, in the hotel, in the he with you coming in the here.” Hand gestures make it easier also.

At this point I should introduce the other new teachers who arrived with me: David, also from New Zealand, now 60 years old, with a great deal of teaching experience in five or six countries; Angela, also around a generation older than myself, from Australia (though she grew up in London and has a very correct English accent), and; Senthil (pronounced Sindal) from Bangalore in India, around my age, who is, from what we can tell, the entire new IT teaching department. We met each other in the hotel and have struggled through the first few days together.

Things acheieved so far:
1. Finding an apartment;
2. Buying air-conditioning (the most important);
3. Partly furnishing the apartments;
4. Getting an Omani residency card and;
5. Learning how much taxi fares cost ao the driver don't rip me off too much.

Next things to sort out:
- More furniture (I'm writing this from the 5cm squab that I sleep on);
- An Omani drivers licence;
- A car
- Finding out what we will be teaching next week (would be nice).
- Sanity trip back to Muscat.

By the way, friends of mine who are following this blog from NZ, Brazil, Mexico, France or elsewhere in the world: I have rented a three bedroom apartment, soon to be fully equipped with furniture: you are welcome to visit whenever you like. You will have a place to stay. I would recommend coming after September so that you avoid Ramadhan (First day of Ramadhan today - topic of the next blog I think) and also the worst of the heat has passed by then apparently.

PS This blog is also around a week old. Now back on track and ready to update regularly.

Stopover In Kuala Lumpur

Well, I managed to organise a short four day stay in Kuala Lumpur on my way to Oman. To be honest, the first two days were pretty heavy. Going from 15 degree highs in New Zealand to 25 degrees at night was a shock to the system. The high humidity and the lack of proper links between metro lines made it really difficult to get around comfortably. However, after a few days the body adjusted and, provided you take it easy and not try to rush around like mad, the weather is really pretty nice. The daily rainstorm also helped a lot. Anyone who has been to Belo Horizonte (Brazil) in the summertime – its just like that.

The highlights were the KL tower, with an awesome 360* view of the city (despite the low visibility), Batu caves (photos of both of which you can see below), and the frequent interesting exchanges with vendors and other assorted locals.
I was quite stunned with the English of locals and immigrant workers in Kuala Lumpur. The official language is Bahasa Malayo, but almost everyone speaks English to some degree. Only one person in the four days I was there could not handle basic conversation (and that was in a roadside restaurant miles from the tourist centre). Now communication English is nothing like what I have been teaching at university. Some of the conversations were so funny (to me as an English Language Teacher) that I have to write some out here.

Quote #1: About the availability of sandals in my size:
“Size 8 don't have, lah. Also size 7 is don't have.”
Quote #2: Giving directions to the KL tower:
“This way, you go is can. Also, this way is can.”

There were long conversations like this in perfectly understandable and completely scrambled English. I loved it. I wouldn't like to be the teacher responsible for ironing that out, but it was so fun to listen to.

Then for the last two days I spent a most of my time sitting in the lobby of the guesthouse (lobby is glamorising it really – it was a desk at the top of the staircase – see photo). No going out in the midday sun. I passed hours chatting to the staff and other guests without hardly moving from my position on the plastic chair under one of the fans. Back in New Zealand I could hardly sit still for five minutes, but its amazing how compelling 34 degrees and 80* humidity can be. And honestly, it was so much fun. I met some cool, and strange people, learnt a handful of phrases in as many languages, and laughed my ass off on an hourly basis. On the day I left some of them tried to convince me to change my tickets and it was really hard telling them I couldn't. Honestly, KL is not a tourist mecca, but if you can handle a bit of heat and like taking it easy, it's a nice place to go. I'll happily go back next time I'm in Asia. I hope you enjoy the photos.

P.S. I write this blog about two weeks ago, but couldn't upload it until today. Sorry for the delay.