Final few days in wonderful Oman!

We're relieved to have Elaine home, tired but much better, sleeping off her nasty bout of food poisoning.  It gave me the opportunity to finally repay all the hospitality offered me and cook a meal!  Jerry and Ola asked me the first day I was here if I'd cook a stew one day - well today was the day!  Off to Al-Fair, Muscat's Safeway, to get beef and veggies - all of which we were able to find - even turnips!!  I got to peek into the "Pork - only for Non-Muslims" section - very self-contained and out of the way - like the "nasty" section of a video store.  We  both wondered why there are Pop Tarts in there tho??  Had a lovely morning, dredging and chopping and so nice to have Ola's company, perched on a stool in the  sunny kitchen, chatting about family and life in general.  Seemed so strange, though, to be cooking a winter-day meal on such a hot and gloriously sunny one!!

Off to pick up Aleesa from school and then down to the beach for awhile - what a great way to spend a few hours everyday - she is a lucky little girl - having a wonderfully free childhood, so much of her time is spent out in the fresh air, unencumbered by heavy clothing and footwear.
The neighborhood is very close, many other children out and about, riding their bikes, in and out of each others yards, closely watched but given lots of room to roam by loving (and lovely) nannies who also seem to be a very happy lot: great friendships and companionship.  Even the gardener lovingly plays with and watches out for the kids - he was helping Phoebe, the little girl next door, learn to ride her bike one afternoon.

Aleesa's face lights up whenever she sees him - they have their own sign-language even - she makes a scissoring. well pruning, I guess, motion and he returns the gesture and they both laugh.  I admired all the lovely flowering trees in Jerry's yard, and discussed them with him often. The day before we left, he came to me,
"Madame?  When you leave for Canada, I will dig a small tree for you to take home!"  How sweet - how I wish I could have!!  I do have bougainvillea blossoms pressed between the pages of my journal, from when they fell on the table - that is as close as I will get, I am afraid - to having these lovely green things in Canada!

Aleesa loves to help Jaiya

Ah - bougainvillea!

In Oman, if there is no room on the street to park - you park on the sidewalk!  And in Ola's case - with flair

The flowers of the beautiful tree Ranjeesh wanted to send me home with!

The view of Aleesa's world from the roof-top patio

Elaine came down and had some supper tonight, tentatively of course, but she is stronger all the time.  We watched "Up" and after everyone else had gone to bed, Jerry and I watched "Toy Story 3" - suddenly we both had the sniffles -hmmm...  I haven't had a chance to watch kids movies for so long!

WE are not leaving for Cyprus until Tuesday night, so it has given Elaine time to fully recover, and gives us more time to spend  together as well.  I had the chance to treat Ola  to sushi lunch -she's the only fan of it in this household - we had a great afternoon at a beautiful sun-drenched sea-side restaurant; Jerry joined us but opted for the fish 'n chips -not a lover of raw fish!!  They served lovely sushi - the fish is really FRESH here!! Then we picked up Aleesa from Tender Buds Nursery School (great name, eh) and off to Carrefour Mall to get Jer some new flip-flops - I NEVER saw him in anything else EVER this whole time, so he goes through them quickly.  I'm sure he must wear shoes to work but I can't picture him in anything else - lucky man.

Aleesa and I stayed at Magic Planet - an indoor play park - while they shopped.  After watching her for awhile in the 3 story climbing structure - very similar to the one at the Calgary Zoo - I decided there would be nothing wrong with my joining her - so I did - what a blast!! Probably the most exercise I've had since I arrived - up and down the levels - down the three- part slide and then climb back up (bare feet are remarkably sticky)  We laughed ourselves silly - and when Jer and Ola returned to find us, Jer just rolled his eyes and laughed - so much for his days of sitting and just watching her anymore!!  Now I gotta find a kid and a not-too-busy day at the Calgary Zoo so I can try it again!!

We dropped the girls off at Ola's friend's for the evening and Jerry and I decided to pick up Indian take-away for supper.  I am not at all familiar with Indian food and what a treat I had in store!  It was a small Pakistani restaurant that a friend had taken him to,and we ordered way to much food of course, including a dish called Mutton Rogan Josh (phonetic-give me a break!)- yikes was it ever delicious!!  Chicken tikka, dahl, roti, chicken lollipops, veg in curry, wonderful golden yellow rice - a great supper!  Elaine declined, wise girl, but the rest of us had a feast!!

On Monday, Jerry commandeered me to help him make preparations for the next day - a very important one f0r Russian women - March 8th is Women's Day - very much like our Mother's Day,but this one does not exclude unmarried or childless women - very inclusive!!  In Oman, men go to men masseuses, and women go to women masseuses, no questions asked.  He cannot even go into the spa to make a reservation - so I went in for him and booked time for two of us - will see if Elaine is up to it by tomorrow.  Then we were off to the florist to put in an order for roses to be  delivered tomorrow and to Alamaira Center buy a cute new (pink) Cannon for her.  Hmmm, such a great deal I bought myself one too!  Only mine is orange. And it is just like Elaine's.  Jer will be in fine standing tomorrow!!

We picked up Aleesa at school and back to the beach once more - this time she slowly got wetter and wetter playing in the surf that finally she was down to just underwear - frolicking like the little mermaid .  We took her home wrapped in Jer's T-shirt and I hear the tub had a layer of sand after her shower!!

Ola cooked us another lovely Russian supper tonight, her salads are great - no lettuce - just very finely, finely chopped cabbage and assorted veg - cucumbers, onion, green peas,etc. and a super light oil dressing.  Delicious!!  Jer and Jim barbecued lamb chops and beer-can chicken, and because it is a new month,  we had wine again! The Muslims don't drink alcohol, (or at least cannot buy it) but the ex-pats must each  have a liquor ration card - looks just like a passport, and are restricted to a certain amount each month.  Needless to say, we ran out early in February!