Arrival and first few days (finally!!) 30th June 2009

The journey here was fairly eventful, although I think the pilot misjudged where the runway was by approximately 6 miles when we landed in Amsterdam!! Admittedly it was extremely foggy and we couldn’t actually see the runway, but we banged down onto the tarmac and everyone went Ooohhhhh!! I thought the man sat next to me was going to hit the roof of the plane he jumped so high!! We arrived in Muscat about 25 minutes ahead of schedule, after a brief stop at Abu Dhabi along the way, which was very nice because by that point I was bored, tired and feeling grumpy!!

The first thing to say is that it is HOT here! It reminds me of when you open the oven door to check on your dinner and you get that waft of hot air... However, it isn’t that unpleasant and whilst I wouldn’t want to sunbathe just yet, I think it will be very nice to sit outside for half an hour in the shade and read. It is very dry though and I can feel my skin losing moisture – I can see that I’m going to spend a fortune on body lotions!! Good for my hair though, as its not as frizzy!!!

Last night we went out for dinner and a wander round a couple of the shopping areas. The humidity had increased drastically when it got dark and that really was uncomfortable – so humid that when I stepped out of the car, my sunglasses immediately steamed up!! However, the car, restaurants, shops are all air conditioned and it is very pleasant inside.

The cold water out of the tap is not cold... In fact, its rather warm – warm enough to shower in and almost too warm!! The hot water is scalding. Anyone coming to visit, remember this, just in case I forget to mention when you arrive!!

The shops seem to sell a lot of the brands that we see in England for both toiletries and food and there is a really good range of fruits and vegetables to buy – I’m looking forward to after we’ve moved (and bought an oven!), stocking up the cupboards and fridge and making some lovely things to eat. And just in case my cooking goes horribly wrong, I counted about 8 Macdonalds in the space of 15 minutes of driving!!

Driving is interesting over here. It pretty much appears that you just go wherever you want to go (within reason, a bit) without much regard for other road users! It reminds me of wacky races!! However, it does appear to work quite well. There is no road rage and not much in the way of beeping or gesticulating, unlike England!

Having a 4 wheel drive came in handy last night when there was a bit of traffic, Simon just drove off the road and completely around the traffic!! The main road which is like a motorway, with 3 lanes either side, goes from one side of Muscat to the other, is called Sultan Qaboos highway. You have the mountains on one side and the coast on the other. It is lined with grass on either side and lots of trees and shrubs. People are working on these bits of green all day and sprinklers are moved around to keep them lush. The Omanis like to have picnics on the grass verges on the side of the motorway apparently – actual picnics with a tablecloth to sit on and a picnic basket, with the car pulled over on the side of the motorway!!

We went to see the new villa yesterday lunchtime, just a flying visit of about 10 minutes as Simon had to get back to work. The garden is big! There are a couple of trees with fruits on – one of them is a date palm but I’ve no idea what the other is. When we move in, I’ll put some pictures on here of the tree and the fruit and we’ll have a competition to figure out what it is!!

I’m looking forward to seeing what I can grow in the garden. The plants you can buy here for the garden seem to be planted in concrete – the soil is so hard and dry!! I think that tomatoes should do very well and in fact we could have a business opportunity there as the tomatoes in the shops are very expensive! So, I shall be looking to get some tomato seeds after we’ve moved and we’ll have a go and see what happens. I also think any kind of greenhouse veg or fruit would do well here, such as melons and cucumbers – also expensive to buy in the shops!

Inside the house is big! The dining room in particular is absolutely massive – we’ve calculated that a table seating 40 people (20 down each side) would comfortably fit in the room. Simon’s 8 seater dining table is going to be lost in there!! Still, it will serve as a great place to store everything whilst we unpack and re-arrange. I’m considering filling it with bunk beds – we’d fit loads of guests in there!!

When we’ve moved in and the furniture is in place and the house is looking relatively tidy, I’ll get some pictures put on here.
Oh, Laraine will be pleased to note that whilst the guest bedroom is not pink, the bathroom suite in the guest en-suite is pink...!! (Sorry to those of you who don’t like pink!!)

Well, today I’m enjoying another peaceful and relaxing time at home whilst the boys are at work and school. I was attempting to install The Sims 3 on Simon’s laptop (couldn’t fit my own in my suitcase and let’s not get me started on all the other stuff I couldn’t bring, like handbags ...) but it requires his password as administrator so I’m waiting for him to bring Daniel home after school... They leave the house at about 6.40am with school starting around 7.30am and finishing at 2pm. Daniel has a school fete this afternoon for which his class had to form groups and then design and manage a stall for the fete. Daniel’s stall is a pillow fight and raffle!! You can either pay to enter the raffle or enter the pillow fight and if you win, have free entry to the raffle!

The saying – home is where the heart is – is true... Although this is half a world away from home and I’m missing everyone like crazy, I am soooo happy to be here. Life with Simon and Daniel has become familiar to me and to them as well, I think, very quickly. I feel settled and comfortable and I’m looking forward to moving to the new villa, unpacking and settling in and creating a comfortable home for us.

Okay, so the next blog entry should be after we’ve moved house on Thursday and hopefully it will contain some pictures. Hope this hasn’t been too mundane or boring reading – what can I say, apart from the obvious heat, its just like being at home, sort of!!!!

Take care everyone, lots of love, Laura xxxxxx

PS. If anyone wants to come visit, you have to bring me a handbag – just pop by my nan’s to collect them – I’m having withdrawal symptoms....!!!
PPS. Went to a really nice shopping mall this evening; they have the best Borders bookshop I’ve ever seen! Its huge and there are so many books – bit on the pricey side though. They also have The Body Shop, Mango, Next, La Occitane, LaCoste, Pierre Cardin, Starbucks (they love their coffee over here), Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robins, Zara...