رمضان كريم!

(Published in July--dated December because Blogger is a mess. Scroll down for newest post.)

Before arriving in Oman, one of the experiences I was most nervous and excited for was Ramadan. My previous knowledge did not extend past that Ramadan is the Holy Month for Muslims, people fast during the day and eat at night, and that at the end of the month there's a big celebration called Eid.

In DC we learned more about Ramadan, mainly about the customs and how we should act in order to be respectful (little to no make up during fasting hours, dress extra-conservatively, no loud music, don't eat and/or drink in front of people who are fasting).

I am so glad that I was able to live with my host family a week before Ramadan started, as I now can see how daily life changes during Ramadan. Before Ramadan, all the family would be up by 11:30 or so, and lunch would be eaten around 2. Lunch would be the biggest meal, consisting of rice with meat or fish, and salad. In the after afternoon/evening, we would sometimes go out to do some shopping, see some sites, etc, and maybe get a snack. Between 9 and 10 we would eat dinner. One time when there were people over, there were a bunch of delicious salads and curries, but the other nights we usually ate something pretty simple (but still yummy of course, the food here is amazing). During Ramadan, everyone sleeps as late as their schedule permits. My host siblings often sleep until 2pm. Everyone lays around and my host mom cooks. At around 7:00 the Adhan (call to prayer) happens and everyone rushes to eat Iftar. We usually eat on the floor (as is traditional in Oman). You would be hard pressed to find an iftar that didn't include dates, either fresh or dry. Traditionally dates are the first thing eaten to break the fast. As well as dates, there is usually fruit and a fried starchy thing, such as sambusas ( filling in triangular pastry) or loqueymat (delicious deep fried balls of dough, served with honey or a saffron-infused sugar syrup. Here's a picture from a recent iftar, although it was taken before all the food was put out:

The yellow drink containers are leban, a

buttermilk/yogurt drink that almost all Omani's seem to love. Out of the seven NSLI-Yers, only Sophia and I like it. 

This is a picture from last night, where one of the NSLIY girls had us all over. This is the most food I've seen at an iftar!

Going anti-clockwise from the yellow plate: fresh dates, cheesey bread, spicy lemon potato balls, sambusas, fruit, ?, and a type of bread translated as 'beehive bread'. You pull off pieces, and each fluffy piece one has a deliciously honey/saffron soaked bottom and piece of melty cheese in the middle. 

After iftar everyone goes to pray (men usually go to mosque, women pray at home). I've found it really interesting to learn about and see the customs surrounding prayer. I never thought I'd find myself sitting quitely on a bed, watching my host sister and mom and five cousins unfurl their prayer rugs, and I feel so lucky to have done so. 

After prayer there is a larger meal, the contents of which varie but almost always include some form of rice. 

On weekdays, minus Thursday, I tend not to fast, so that's the last thing I eat unless we visit someone. Everyone eats something  about every two hours until the suhoor meal at 3am, which usually includes rice (to fill you up for the next day). I fast Thursday through Saturday, largely to feel more connected with my family, but also because on weekend nights I stay up late and am therefore fed a TON. 

I'm over halfway through my time here. The past almost-4 weeks have absolutely flown by, and I'm desperately hoping the next three go slower. There are so many things happening in that time: tonight is the Ramadan version of Halloween, tomorrow is my midterm exam, I have to finish my final project this week, next weekend we go snorkeling and dolphin watching, and in less than two weeks we have our final and the closing ceremony/presentations. Then we have a bit over a week with our families for Eid. 

Thanks for sticking with this long, rambling post!

Love,

Izzy

The Veil

        So, sorry for not posting after mid-July. It was too annoying writing on my iPod, and I couldn't really load pictures...anyway. In short, the rest of my time in Oman was absolutely fantastic. Highlights include dolphin watching with all the girls, the birthday dinners we had for Faith and Molly, a sleepover at Faith's house, the rest of Ramadan, and Eid. Perhaps my favorite day was the second day of Eid, when my host family and I took a rode trip to Jebel Akhdar and spent the night there.

   A few weeks ago I wrote this for English class, and I think it helps explain not only my experience wearing hijab, but also serves to express more general feelings about my time in Oman.

Veiling and Revealing

“Did you have to cover your head?”

In the past few weeks I have heard this question countless times. If a conversation about my summer extends beyond “How was Oman?!” I can depend on that question being the follow-up. Eager to talk about all that I had learned and experienced in Oman, I quickly began to internally groan each time my hair’s visibility was questioned.

Before I left for Oman I would stand in front of my mirror “practicing” wrapping a scarf around my head. After minutes of struggling to fully cover my bangs, I would look at myself and something in my heart would surge. Standing there with a shabbily tied scarf, I felt somehow connected to this utterly mysterious and distant place called Oman.

For my first ten days there, my only interaction with scarves was buying them, as my host family had told me that I only needed to wear hijab when we went out during Ramadan. A couple of days before the full moon, the other girls on my program and I practiced putting on a scarf in a way that would actually stay on. On the first day of Ramadan, I walked into my family’s home with my hair carefully covered by blue and purple stripes. My host sister, Anood, was the first to see me. She widened her eyes and grinned, saying “Jameela Wagid! So much pretty!”  

That night, proudly wearing a new Omani housedress and matching scarf, I went to an uncle’s house for the breaking of the fast. Once surrounded by all the female cousins, I was hit by a barrage of questions.

“Why are you wearing that?”

“Aren’t you hot?!”

“It’s all girls here! Take off your scarf!”

An exchange student’s most vital tool—a cheerful and content expression—came in handy as I assured them I was perfectly comfortable. As they were all still covered, showing my hair would only have added to the mountain of factors (white skin, five foot nine, inability to understand Arabic) that caused me to feel like I had a neon sign saying OUTSIDER pointed at me. When wearing my scarf, from behind at least, I blended in.

In many parts of the world that are not predominately Muslim, wearing the veil does exactly the opposite. In France, women who cover their face in public are breaking the law, as are people who wear any sort of religious covering in school. A friend from Staten Island told me about a time when he saw security guards in a mall approach a woman wearing hijab and ask her to leave. I’ve seen people on the street throw second glances at women wearing Islamic dress. Even within my bubble of friends and family the veil is a noteworthy topic, and by asking so quickly about the veil and my comfort wearing it they reveal concerns about the connotations surrounding hijab. I don’t know what these associations are for each individual, only that they must exist. For if there were none, if hijab was viewed as perfectly normal, then whether or not I covered my hair wouldn’t be such a prominent question in people’s minds.  

I can’t remember formulating any opinions about hijab before Oman was in my future, but I’m pretty sure I thought about it. I know I wasn’t fully aware of all the opposition faced by women who choose to cover, and stepping onto the tarmac in Oman did little to change this. As the first few days passed I became more curious about the veil and its history. In my Arabic school’s library I found a collection of essays about the veil written by women from a large variety of religious and cultural backgrounds. While reading them, I realized that I had never considered what it was like to wear hijab in a country where the vast majority does not. And there I was in the exact reverse position. For the first time in my life second glances were directed at me, and for the first time I was forced to confront the realities of the choice to wear, or not wear, hijab.

Last week I was sorting through my closet when my hand landed on the thin, patterned scarf I had worn the first night of Ramadan. Without pausing I stood up and wrapped it around my head. This time, however, I had it on in less than a minute without a glance in the mirror.  Fingering the soft cotton, I remembered the comfort and security wearing hijab had given me throughout the summer, helping me to blend in and keep curious stares at bay. I had nothing but positive feelings about wearing hijab; it had become my normal.

When I think back on all the strange and noteworthy experiences I had in Oman, having to cover my hair barely registers. I have an abundance of wonderful stories and moments to share, yet so many people’s main interest seems to be whether or not I wrapped a scarf around my head. Frustrated by this, I wanted to come up with an answer that would perhaps help to lower the stigma and mystery hijab holds in American society. The next couple of people who posed the question were the recipients of an incoherent rant that left them nodding vaguely. I realized that perhaps the answer to best express both my experience with the hijab and help normalize it was simply “Yeah, but it’s no big deal.”

Jebel Shams and More

   Last weekend, from Friday morning to Saturday evening, the seven of us went on an excursion to the interior. We drove for about an hour and a half to Nizwa, our first stop. The first thing we noticed was the smell. The center area of town smells heavily of farm animals as a result of it being an extremely active animal trading post.

    Nizwa is one of the oldest cities in Oman, and was the capital of the country in the 6th and 7th centuries AD. The fort at Nizwa is over 450 years old, and the castle is over a thousand years old. We had a great time exploring it while trying not to bake alive in the over 110 degree heat. The first three pictures are taken from the top of the fort, and the last is near the entrance.

    After lunch we started our drive to Jebel Shams, the highest peak in the Arabian Peninsula. On the way we drove through several gorgeous towns, and took a few photo pit-stops. It rained!!! Rain is super rare here-- our chaperone from Amideast, Sarah, said the last time she thinks it rained was late March.

View from a photo pit-stop

   We stopped in a tiny village to walk around. The village was unimaginably beautiful. Located high on a mountain looking over a huge valley, the village is hundreds of years old and composed of ancient stone irrigation systems winding between tiny homes and abundant date trees and vines. I'll try to find some pictures! 

We then went to our 'camp' near the summit of Jebel Shams. After arriving and sitting down in on the patio-ish area, some Omani men working there immediatly brought us a huge bowl of fresh dates. They asked to take our picture (completely nicely), probably as seven American girls eating dates aren't a very common site there. Our guide then brought us a plethora of other Omani sweets. 

   As it was raining, we decided to move our hike to the next day. Also because of the rain, we were moved from 'tents' (a hotel room inside a giant materal tent) to small bungalow/hotel room things. 

   The next day we drove even further up the mountain. When we got out of the car, we were greeted by several Omani goats. They started following us, and one girl in my group decided to chase one around a rocky field, to our great  amusement.

   We then started our hike. I was blown away by the pure vastness of the mountains and canyons, and the feeling that we were the only people among them.

   After the walk we went to a traditional pottery workshop, where we were able to see the process from dirt to a beautiful vase. We then got to try our hand at making something using a pottery wheel! The elderly man who made most of the pottery was beautiful to watch--in a matter of seconds he was able to turn a misshapen lump of clay into a flawless vase. Although our attempts yielded products of a rather different nature, it was amazing being able to see first hand a craft the has been around hundreds of years.
   After rinsing the clay off our hands, we had another delicious lunch (in that area of Oman, aka not in Muscat, one can buy delicious and huge curries for the equivalent of $2--$3. Craving shawarma? 75 cents.)

   We then drove back to Amideast, stopping for a snack of Chai and Omani bread, cheese, and honey or Chips Oman (weirdly good). 

Sorry for the lack of posts! Will write about Ramadam soon. 

Love Izzy

First Weekend

So much has happened since arriving in Oman last Wednesday night that it is hard to know where to begin! To make my life easier this post will span from meeting my host family through the first weekend with them. 

We arrived in Oman late Wednesday night. For most of Thursday we had more orientations in our hotel, as well as a survival arabic class with our teacher, Mona. Even though we were all wiped out and jet- lagged, we all kept looking out the conference room window and thinking 'Wow, we're in OMAN' (that feeling still surfaces several times a day). 

At 5:00, we went into the banquet room of the hotel to meet our families. I was super nervous, as I had never communicated with them before and had  no idea what to expect in terms of their English skills, expectations of me, personalities etc. 

However, I need not have worried! My host sister and dad (only two family members could come to the hotel dinner) were immediatly so incredibly kind and welcoming. Luckily they warned me that we were going out to dinner with the family, so I was able to pace my food intake (something difficult in Oman). 

When we got home, I opened the door to be showered by confetti by my younger host brothers and found the front room and my bedroom covered with balloons. My 2 1/2 year old brother burst into tears when he first saw me, but apparently this happens whenever someone new comes to the house (he now smiles and grabs my hand when I arrive home, so all good). 

After a bit we all left to have dinner at my families amazing club. The food was delicious and after I walked along the beach with my host sister and some of the brothers. 

The next day I had to be woken up so we could go to lunch at the house of a Jordanian couple. While there I tried kahweh, a traditional Omani coffee that is basically a delicious expresso flavored with cardamon, fresh and dried dates, and traditional tea and Omani and Jordanian food. I felt a bit on edge while there, as I was unsure of the correct etiquette for eating and behaving at someone elses house and how to interact with the males there. But in the end I think it went well (aka didn't offend anyone). 

After that my family gave me a driving city tour of Muscat, which was very nice. 

On Saturday we relaxed, and then went to see the Royal Opera house. I'll post pictures soon (still figuring out how to get pictures from my camera to my iPod). 

And Sunday we started classes! The weekend here is Friday-Saturday, which has completely thrown off my sense of time. Classes are very intense but we're all learning tons, and having only seven of us is great. 

Tonight I'm going to a wedding! And then tomorrow all the NSLI-Y girls are going on an overnight trip to some towns in the interior of Oman, so I have a great weekend ahead!

Last hours in the US!

I missed all of the Sunday activites as my flight was canceled and I had to hang out in the Newark airport for six hours, but am all caught up now. The orientation was really fun, the other girls are great, hotel was nice, all the Amideast people are fantastic...and now we're all sitting at our gate, ready to board our plane to Dubai in a few hours! 

   We've had a super busy few days, chock full of information about Oman and the upcoming seven weeks. We went to the Omani Embassy this morning, and yesterday we went to the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center and had about eight different seminars, including one on 'Intercultural Learning', Language Learning, a visit from people at the State Department, and many more. We got to talk to alumni, which was great. Today we had an 'Intro to Islam' seminar which was incredibly interesting and made me even more excited to experience life in a country whose culture revolves so much on Islam. 

T- 1 Day

Quick recap of the past three months:

• I've found out way more about the program, including what our classes will be like, trips, community service, safety, etc.
• I've learned the entire Arabic alphabet and some vocab!
• Almost all of us  heading to Oman connected over Facebook, and spent three months chatting about Oman.
• Last week we found out that half the original Oman-bound girls, all the graduating seniors, are now going to Morocco because of visa issues. So there will only be seven of us in Oman! While I'm disappointed I won't get to meet the other seven girls, with only seven of us there we'll get even more personal and focused  Arabic lessons, and I'm sure we'll all get to know each other supersuper well.
• We got all our flight info. I'm flying to DC tomorrow afternoon, then Tuesday we all get on a 13.5 hour flight to Dubai, where after a longish layover we have a one hour flight to Muscat. We arrive in Oman late Wednesday evening (Omani time). On the way back, we fly to Frankfurt, and I separate from the group there to go to England to visit family.
• In DC we'll have about 10 different activities ranging from talking with alumni to a talk on Islam to a visit to the Omani embassy! Sometime in DC I'll post again about all of this.
• Two days ago we found out our host families! I'll have five host siblings: brothers that are 21, 14, 12, and 2 1/2, and a sister who is about to turn 18. From the little information I have the family seems great! (And their house is gorgeous)

I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow--I just finished my last finals yesterday, and have been so busy that I haven't had much time to prepare. I leave home in 20 hours and haven't really started packing yet....better get to that!

-Izzy

Next Up: OMAN

Way back in my first couple of months in Spain, I spent many evenings sitting on my bed writing essays for my application to NSLI-Y, or National Security Language Initiative for Youth. Here's some basic information from the website:

The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students and recent high school graduates to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. (more info)

The languages offered are Arabic, Mandarin, Turkish, Persian (Tajik), Korean, and Russian. I applied for Arabic Summer, with Turkish and Persian being my second and third choices. The application included four essays and a bunch of paperwork, and after pressing 'submit' on November 2nd I anxiously awaited to find out if I made the first cut. In mid-December, I found out I had! I frantically ran upstairs and attempted to explain to my host-family why I was jumping up and down. A week after my return from Spain, I had my interview. My interview was on the phone and lasted a grand total of 17 minutes (other NSLI-Y applicants seem to have interviews in the 45-60 minute range, so I was a bit nervous about that). I spent the next month trying to forget about it, but after the first notifications were sent out to the Russian and Hindi programs, I spent the next two weeks having stress dreams and constantly refreshing my email. I wavered between feeling confident I'd get in and resigning myself to a rejection email at the end of April. However, Friday the 14th in the Barnes and Noble in Union square, I checked my email, saw an email from NSLI-Y, and hands shaking opened up the PDF that said this...

I then proceeded to freak out in the cooking section. After a year of thinking about it, and four months of anxious waiting and doubt, I'm officially going to Oman! The other countries for Arabic are Morocco and Jordan, and I couldn't be happier that I ended up in Oman. I still can't believe it, even though I've sent in my official acceptance forms. Although completely different than Spain, as this is a six week program largely spent with other Americans, I feel almost as excited because everything about Oman is so completely unknown. I'll be living with a host family who speaks a language I know three words of, in a culture largely governed by Islam, and in a country that many people can't place on a map.

2.5 months until Oman. 

Whoa.