And I’m back in the US (for now)! Oman was an amazing country filled with natural beauty and the nicest people. I spent a wonderful 8 months there and learned quite a bit of Arabic! Here’s just some pictures to sum it up a little bit, though I really dropped the ball with writing this blog regularly.
In between Oman and now, I decided to continue learning Arabic at an institute in Fes, Morocco, as I was still waiting to hear back from the foreign service, my masters didn’t restart until January, and I have a really supportive family and boyfriend. While there, I found out amazing news—I got a final job offer for the Foreign Service!! (The job I’ve been waiting for 3.5+ years…). So, today, after a couple of months in Pagosa and ABQ for the holidays, I moved to DC! I’ll be there for at least two months but maybe up to ten… Slightly ambiguous!
Besides pictures to catch up with for Oman and Morocco, I took some amazing trips to Georgia (Orange Wine!)/Armenia and Senegal/The Gambia.
Let’s focus on Oman this post though:
Eight months is quite a bit of time, and in between a visit from my parents, a visit from Paul, and a 1750-mile road trip down the coast and back, I got to see almost all of Oman that I wanted. I also learned quite a bit of Arabic! Studying languages is a hobby of mine, so for that to be a full-time focus for me was amazing. And it paid off in terms of my dream job–I was able to pass a virtual and in-person language test in Arabic which gave me a hiring boost and a job offer! I don’t consider myself fluent yet, but I could talk in Arabic all day about a range of topics, so hopefully I’ll continue to get to use it at an Arabic speaking post in the near future.
Without further ado, here are some pictures to better sum up my time in Oman:
I love Islamic art and architecture, and Muscat did not disappoint from the National Museum to the Opera House to the Sultan Qaboos Mosque:
Parents’ Trip:
Paul’s Trip:
Hikes:
There are about 15 hikes within an hour of Muscat, and since I had rented a car for the summer months I would go on a hike once or twice a week after classes (and just before sunset, when the temperature wasn’t necessarily cool, but there was no direct sun). Besides these close hikes, Oman is famous for its outdoor beauty and adventures–snorkeling, desert, even waterfalls (during the monsoon Khareef season in the south), mountains, and–my favorite–wadis, which are canyons that typically have pools of spring water you can swim/hike between. The closest US equivalent I can think of for a wadi hike is The Narrows in Zion NP, although that’s a river and not a series of pools.
Salalah Trip: I convinced three of my classmates to embark on a coastal road trip during a 10-day break we had during July. The main goal was the coastal southern city of Salalah, which enjoys monsoon weather (yes, rain in Oman!) usually from June to August. We got to see so much of the country as well including Masirah Island, a popular wind surfing spot; the Arabian Oryx Reserve, which is a sanctuary for the Arabian oryx, an antelope related (but much smaller than) the African Oryx I so enjoyed watching in Namibia; and a few more further out wadis and coastline. It was amazing to rain after not hardly seeing any moisture since January, but unfortunately it somehow rained TOO much for our visit–many roads to the famous waterfalls were actually closed due to debris and flooding… so I’ll have to go back!
Oman is definitely one of my top-visited countries and I’m so grateful I got to spend 8 months there. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back eventually, and who knows, maybe even serve there!
Within the next few weeks (depending on the new job!) I hope to share some pictures from my Georgia/Armenia, Senegal/The Gambia, and Morocco trips.