'Inch'Allah'

Life as an expat wife
I remember when we announced our move to Oman to family and friends one of the questions which arose was: 'What are you going to do on a daily base?' I answered: 'I'm going to take care of the children and all the rest that needs to be done' and I remember the mortified look on some people's faces which very well expressed their thoughts that must have been a bit like 'hmm, she's going to hang around the swimming pool reading books and drinking mojito's, going to the beautyparlour and hang around with other soulmate-desperate housewives,...'. Well I can tell you life abroad puts everything into perspective and as you might have noticed it's been a while since my last post, because one way or the other I just haven't had the time... not even for painting my nails or going to the salon. :-)

Don't look so surprised! Well first of all this is what an average weekday looks like:
A. Daily routine
5.45 am the alarm goes off
6.30 am breakfast
7.10 am heading for school
7.30 am school starts
12.00 am pick up Bruno
12.30 pm lunch
14.00 pm pick up Max
14.30 pm - 17.30 pm homework & entertaining 3 kids
17.30 pm kids in bath
18.00 pm dinner
19.00 pm kids in bed
21.30 - 22.00 pm lights out for parents too


B. The time in between
As you can see, I have some time between 7.30 and 12.00 to get some things done, but at the Omani tempo those 4 hours are only worth 2. Because things here only get done 'Inch'Allah', if it's God's will to do so. Compare it to Spain's mañana.


Dubai
In order to get an Omani resident card we had to leave the country and return when the paperwork was done. That's why we flew to Dubai for two short days. We stayed in the hotel inside the Mall of the Emirates a HUGE mall (inclusive of a grand skiing piste) and did some shopping. We left a souvenir for the Mall to remember us by: let's just say Margaux has no stroller anymore. :-) The second day we went to the Burj Al Arab and sat on the beach enjoying the peace and quiet before flying back to Oman.

Max and Bruno are doing great in school. They are quickly making new friends and are invited to all the birthday parties, which is a great way for us to meet new people.

The first memorable swimming experience in Oman
Peter, one of Wim's Belgian colleagues, and his wife An, invited us to their house for lunch. The setting was perfect and the drinks and food were divine. They had a swimming pool and the kids were so happy they could take their first swim of the year. As our swimming bracelets are still in the container we made use of the two swimming bands provided by Peter & An for Bruno and Margaux who can't swim yet. We made the big mistake of not putting on our swimming suits as well. They were having great fun. Margaux stayed on the steps and Bruno was very careful. We were enjoying a beer/prosecco in this marvelous setting until suddenly I just saw a band floating and no Margaux. I ran and had to jump in the water with clothes on to save her. Luckily it only just happened and she was more than fine. Great, there goes making a good first impression ;-)! The remainder of the afternoon I sat at the table in my underwear (luckily matching :-)) with a towel round my waist. 
You just wouldn't believe what happened next. Bruno wanted to float on the mattress, but slid off too and went under water and it was off limits for us reaching him without jumping in again. As I was horrified of having to undress even more and Wim was there first I was telling him: JUMP! So he did, with his clothes on and full pockets with wallet, new car keys and a brand new smartphone, which didn't survive the adventure. He then sat at the table with towel around his waist too. From then on the swimming pool was off limits ;-). I don't think Peter and An will forget our visit soon ;-). We sure made an impression even though I'm not sure of what kind :-).


* sorry guys, no pictures on this one ;-)

Getting things done: the way of the Indians/Omani
First of all an Omani fact: a high percentage of Omani work at the ROP (Royal Omani Police) and the rest all have semi- to very important jobs. The heavy duty jobs or the jobs no one else wants to do are done by expats of the cheap kind: Indians, Pakistani,... who are very happy to have jobs so they can provide for their families. Don't understand me wrong. There are also a lot of upper class Indians, etc... in Oman too who have clearly had an international education and who do have the talent of getting things organized. We've had the privilege of meeting a few of them and enjoyed their company. 

But ok, the point I was making is that it's not unusual that you hardly understand what they are saying, they always say yes even if they mean no (which you can also experience in the way they nod their heads (they make a sort of infinity sign with it)) and they are afraid to take responsability for their actions. If I say it took about 15 phone calls to 5 different men and driving to the shop to discuss the delivery and installation of a dishwasher, that should tell you something. And I swear, it's like that with everything. That's what I'm doing to fill up my days between all the drives to school. Even opening a bank account takes hours of queing, speaking to different people, filling in tons of forms and providing recommendation letters. Just crazy.
 

Moving in?
We've been living in Muscat for a month now and the house is clean, painted and provided of curtains. Completely ready for us to move in... but unfortunately there's been a miscommunication about the arrival of our container and it will take another week before it lands on Omani soil and then still has to go through customs... What a bummer! We were hoping to be able to celebrate Max's 7th birthday in our new house, but all hope is gone as that is tomorrow! Let's fix a date for valentine then... or maybe that's too naive... Let's just say: Inch'Allah!

We'll have to keep making do with the guesthouse but are so missing the European way of cooking and some privacy...

I've discovered a beautifully written article about life as an expat wife and so far I'm agreeing with a lot this author writes (do read it if you can spare some time):http://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/515-not-just-gin-and-tonics-why-being-an-expat-wife-is-harder-than-you-think#