I hate to say it but I am a picky eater. Initially I was worried to come to Oman because I thought I would starve. Fortunately, that's not the case. Unfortunately, Shahr Ramadan begins soon and this experience will change food wise. There is a lot of American food in Oman like "Baba Jun's" (Papa John's, Baskin Robbins, McDonald's, and "Beetza Huut" (Pizza Hut), so if I'm ever really desperate, I can eat there. We have American food served at school once a week. This week was pizza from Domino's and it was actually pretty good. I can't eat the cheese but the veggies and sauce were good. Their version of "barbecue" is shish-kebab chicken and onion with spices. It was okay but I'll stick with veggies from now on. Also, pepperoni pizza is pretty popular here, but it is served with beef pepperoni because pork is haram, or forbidden, in Islam.
It turns out that I like most of the food here that's actually foreign. Oman has traditional food, but there is a lot of food from other countries here too. The top few I can think of are Turkish, Indian, Pakistani, Yemeni, and Lebanese. On the first night here we had Yemeni food. It is very similar to Omani food. I didn't like it very much to be honest, and I feel the same way about the traditional Omani food I have tried. Luckily I can eat other foods just about anywhere.
This is the "hypermarket" I've mentioned before. They sell a myriad of items and have everything my little American heart desires. The only problem is that the ingredients list is in Arabic and my vocabulary is not refined enough to detect most ingredients.
As'siir (juice) is very popular here and it is so good in everyday imaginable because it is fresh squeezed. Typically you can choose watermelon, mango, papaya, strawberry, pomegranate, avocado, banana, pineapple, lemon, and many others… I have not tried one I don't like, but I will say that watermelon juice doesn't taste much different than watermelon. My favorite is mango or banana as of now. Today we went to the best juice place in our neighborhood and got these special juice milkshakes. I could not eat them because they have ice-cream in them but this is mango, strawberry, and avocado "milkshake" with ice-cream, nuts, and a pistachio crisp on top. Results were both positive and enthusiastic so I can only assume this was a tasty treat. The owner of the shop was so amazed to see so many Americans here and he asked to take a picture with us. We obliged and he was very excited, and after we drank our juices he came back out and offered us little cups of other juices to take for the walk back to our shaqa (apartment).
It is unfortunate that I can't rotate this photo because it is hilarious. "Americana Quality" is a brand here and it is all the processed food you can wish for, like these "Happy Nuggets". If you notice, the little boys have very fat faces, which is my favorite part of the whole concept.
We've been back to our favorite Turkish restaurant and the people working there are very kind and friendly, and love to help us practice our Arabic. Today we saw a man come in with four wives and children, which was quite a sight to us. There were also some Moroccan women there, and they were talking really loudly, which you could tell bothered the Omani's, who are quite natured and constantly staring at them. They eventually got the hint and moved outside, even though it was about 108 F today. Women and mixed groups of men and women must sit in the "family room" because you cannot have a group of women sitting among all men. That's where our group sits too. The front room and outside are typically where the men sit, but I have seen some women sit outside during the day too. I guess it depends on the place and the people on how strict they are with that rule.
I am getting better at ordering in Arabic, which is exciting, but today I meant to order a pastry filled with chicken (it's kind of like chicken wrapped in baked bread… like a Stromboli), but instead got a PIZZA with chicken. My friend Brooke wanted the same meal but with vegetables, but she got a vegetable pizza too. Regardless, it was tasty. We'll have to work on our food vocabulary, Inshallah.
Tomorrow we are going to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the biggest mosque in Oman. I can't wait. We will have to be covered completely from wrist to ankle to collarbone and also wear a hijab. I'm excited! Bismillah, friends. Until next time!
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