Turtle action

Life is pretty hectic here, slight issue of various parts of the Gulf either descending into civil war or threatening to annihilate each other, and quiet little Oman stuck in the middle (literally ...). Certainly makes for interesting times ...

But while time off is at a premium, I did manage to take a whole 24 hours off the other day to go and visit the turtle sanctuary in Ras Al Jinz, a couple of hours drive from Muscat. Oman has five of the six species of turtles coming to lay their eggs on the beaches, and in high season (June to September) they even come and nest on the beaches of Muscat. This area though is a nature reserve so that they can get on with their business in peace and quiet.

This is the rather kookie visitors' centre - not quite finished yet, so lots of the interesting sounding exhibits have tantalising 'coming soon' signs on them, but the rooms are comfortable (even though they lack windows) and the food was good.

And this is the view - about a kilometre of nothing except this one lonely tree separating the humans from the beaches where the action is at ... People aren't allowed to just wander down, there are two guided walks, one at 8 in the evening and another at 4 in the morning for sunrise, and there are guides who shepherd people and make sure they're not disturbing the turtles - if they feel hassled, they stop laying and go back into the sea, which means they're full of unlayed eggs and die ... I was worried about how well the guides were able to keep people in check, especially having heard some horror stories, but in fact they were completely on top of it. No photography, no wandering off from the group, and only a few people at a time could get near a turtle.

The beach is pretty beautiful even without the turtles, beautiful soft sand and totally peaceful, but as you can see it wouldn't be a good place to go and relax, as it's absolutely covered in big holes - turtle nests all rammed up close to each other. They come and dig a huge hole at night, lay a few hundred eggs and then shuffle back into the sea before morning comes ...

And then a couple of months later, the little babies come out - we went to visit just at the end of the baby hatching season (although they do lay eggs and hatch all year round), and there were hundreds of the little critters underfoot. Actually quite nerve-racking, as you're trying to walk on the beach in the dark and avoid stepping on them, and they appear all around you. But how cute! Just a few centimetres across and full of beans as they boost down towards the sea and the future ... Sad to realise that of all the many thousands born (30,000 turtles nest in Oman every year), only 1 in a thousand is going to make it to adulthood - hope the little one I followed to the water is one of them! He looked pretty perky to me ...

Home sweet home ...

Well, it's been a long break from writing, and my only excuse is that I have been working like a female dog - so much going on, so little time! In fact, not really enough time to do even the basic domestic stuff, which is why I am only now unpacking the last of my boxes, a bare 5 months after first moving out here ...

I am officially having what we would call in the UK a duvet day, although duvets in this heat? So let's just call it a pyjama day, but other than that the main ingredients are still there - lots of tea, bit of faffing, some slightly more productive pottering, and a good dose of Radio 4 podcasts and trying to catch up on emails. The sun pouring in gives the game away a little, as does the hum of the AC, but you know what I mean.

At the risk of annoying the few of my friends who are still talking to me, I thought I'd also take a few moments to give you a quick glimpse of the flat where I am wallowing in the luxury of free time. I know I put up a couple of photos before, but now it's all furnished and feeling a bit more like home - ready for parties and guests!

OK, so here is the sitting room, now nearly finished and complete with the biggest TV I have ever seen - 50 inches of HD wonder! I got it cheap off someone who was leaving, and believe me, Star Trek has never been this good ..

There are three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, all marble walls and floors - my bathroom even has a jacuzzi, as well as a walk-in shower room. Then there's another toilet off the sitting room / dining room area, and a fifth one in the small maid's quarters near the front door ... I have decided getting a live-in maid is just a silly idea, but do have someone coming round a couple of days a week to do the horrible jobs - ironing, washing all those marble floors, and cleaning all the windows (definitely needed after sandstorms life the one we had a couple of days ago)

And then there's the balcony ... overlooking town and the sea, with a nice corner at one end for the hammock, space in the middle which will soon be occupied by some garden furniture for outdoor dining. And then of course, the pool ...

So there you have it! Le Palais Revest is open for visitors, come join me for a gin and tonic and let's watch the sun set over the Arabian Gulf! Can't believe I'm getting paid to be here ...

The March to Old Age

Well, not so much a march as a shuffle ...

For anyone who's not up to date on my broken leg saga, I'm back in the UK briefly to have some follow-up surgery to try and find out why my stupid bloody leg hasn't fully repaired. I had the surgery nearly two weeks ago, and am now lounging on a sofa in Brighton working hard to fill the days while it heals. Yesterday was the first opportunity I've had to talk to my consultant and find out exactly what they did to me during my 'exploratory surgery', and it was mixed news.

an example of keyhole surgery -

looks pleasing like a laser gun!

On the positive side, I am now minus metal plate (no longer bionic woman, a mere mortal once again ...). Also, there was, as the doctor had suspected, lots of scar tissue getting in the way of the ankle joint, which they removed - I wish I could show you the pretty pictures taken by the cameras that they use for keyhole surgery, but they wouldn't give me them. It basically looks like lots of fluffy stuff floating around between the bones, like the insulation in your roof.

However, on the downside, it turns out that I have cartilage damage too, which is more serious. The consultant tried to sound chipper and say that it might heal on its own over time, and that I should do everything I can to promote strength and flexibility etc etc etc. However, he's not very good at the bright optimism, and did eventually admit that the likelihood is that this damage will deteriorate and develop into full-blown osteoarthritis in the next couple of years.

Great. Arthritis. Like old people.

I had to come home and look up what arthritis was, and thanks to the super-giga-mega-information highway, I now know more than I ever thought I would about how damage to the cartilage leads to bones knocking and rubbing against each other, and all sorts of possible nasty consequences. And reading the list of symptoms for osteoarthritis on the NHS website, it actually pretty much reads like what I've had for the last year anyway;

• pain, especially when doing load-bearing activities, such as walking
• short-lived stiffness in the morning, which improves in 30 minutes or less when you start to move
• difficulty moving your affected joints or doing certain activities

So, a possible lifetime of pain, stiffness and possible swelling awaits, but it turns out that's not the 'only' downside ...

1. The doc has banned me from wearing any footwear except trainers and orthopaedic-style shoes (thank the Lord Fitflops have developed a more stylish range these days ..). No girlie shoes, no sandals, basically nothing without a thick cushioned sole, and definitely no flip flops ... so now I am officially a woman in comfortable shoes. Hey ho!

2. I'm also banned from high impact sports - not just running, but skipping, jumping and most team sports that involve one of the above. So, no football, hockey, basketball, tennis, squash ... and OK, I didn't really do any of those things anyway, but I guess it also covers things like skydiving and canyoning ... boo ...

my dreams of branching out into parkour are shattered ...

3. And of course, down the line, it might be more metalwork for me if my bones get too worn and stop bending properly - a prosthesis! yippee!

But, as you know, I'm a half glass full kind of girl, and even though I am a bit fed up with it all, I always come back to the positives in the end ...

1. I still have a foot - which was a close call, since it seems that had I not had two trained medics up my mountain in the middle of nowhere, the foot would have stayed without any blood flow and all the horrible consequences of that ... I am one lucky lucky lucky cow

2. it could be so much worse - there's nothing like a visit to hospital to stop you feeling sorry for yourself, since whatever you have, there are going to be people there worse off than you ...

3. I prefer wearing comfortable shoes anyway, and now have a medical reason for doing so!

4. I now don't have to feel inadequate for being surrounded by over-achieving marathon runner types at work - the doc says no! I'll just have to lounge in the pool with a G&T and salute their achievements ... please come join me!

Beats of the world

Well, in the last couple of weeks I have gone from a land of mountains and deep blue seas, where it's still possible to find the old songs that accompany everyday life ...

... via a lovely week in Greece for my brother's wedding ...

... to end up finding myself in the midst of this ...

Let the beat go on, and love fill the world ...

Another fine morning ...

So, it's been another week of work, entertaining visitors from London, work, sunset swimming in the sea, work, running around town trying to change a 1996 $100 bill (failed!), work and, this evening, chilling out in my room with a triple bill of Case Histories and BBC comedy ...

It's a funny rhythm, a slightly schizophrenic swinging between being cooped up in an office banging away at a computer and then, LITERALLY two minutes later, walking towards a swimming pool for an evening cocktail ... living in a holiday destination rocks!

So, my fun new thing this week was going on one of the dolphin watching cruises. A typical tourist thing to do, but since it's completely off season, we had the boat to ourselves and were able to get the guy to do whatever we wanted. It started off very sedately, slowly edging out of the marina tucked into one the bays on the east coast - beautiful speedboats, yachts and some of the old-style wooden dhows ...

But that was just for the first five minutes. Once clear of the marina we sped up and the proper fun started, on a speedboat bouncing along on the waves, gripping on for dear life to avoid being thrown over the edge. And then all of a sudden ... throttle down, sunhats back on, and there we were, pootling in the ocean watching dolphins gracefully surfacing and sliding back down into the water. A magic half hour ...

Once the dolphins had dived off to fish, we came back along the coast and saw all the beautiful nooks and crannies that nature has carved out of the earth - the hidden beaches you can only reach by boat, the crystal clear water, the weathered rocks, and the mountains looming almost over us. Fishermen, turtles, and a cooling wind blowing in our face ... what a blissful way to spend a morning before diving back into the humidity and extreme heat of town ...

The Pad - Sneak Preview!

Well, I managed to take some photos of my new pad - won't actually be moving in until I get back from the UK in August (in sha allah), but here are a couple of images for all my lovely family and friends who will be visiting soon!

OK, so here's looking from one end of the dining room into the flat - the main living area is open plan, with the living room going off to the right ...

... and leading directly out onto the balcony. The patio doors off the living room and two of the three bedrooms open right up, so that when the weather isn't too hot they can stay open to make one big indoor-outdoor living space. Perfect for someone like me who hates being cooped up inside, and making it a great party flat!

Then there's the view - I'm afraid it was a bit hazy today (and I had to rely on the crappy phone camera), so you can't really appreciate the fact that the sea is on the horizon, but believe me, it's there and glittering blue ...

And the "piece de resistance" - a little private pool on my balcony, all ready for lounging with a gin and tonic after a hard day's work (of which there will be many, I'm sure!).

What a lucky cow I am! Just some furniture and pot plants away from domestic bliss ...

The Dark Side

I've realised that Oman may sound like a lot of fun in the sun so far, so I wanted you to know that it's not just a paradise idyll - there are some pretty controversial issues in the Gulf in general, some of which affect Oman in particular. Plenty of other people have written informative blogs about these subjects, so here are links to a few of those that I've found informative, and sometimes frankly shocking ...

1. Human trafficking

There are many thousands of immigrant workers in Oman and throughout the Gulf doing the more menial jobs that locals don't want to do - in fact, I've heard that Oman is almost the only country where Omanis are still the majority. While many of them are here out of choice and managing to support entire extended families back home on the wages they get here, there definitely seems to be a much darker side to local immigration;

http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/housemaids-declared-human.html

http://www.traffickingproject.org/2008/06/gulf-states-condemn-us-human.html

2. Women's rights

Now, I have to say that Saudi Arabia stands out as by far the most conservative country in the region in terms of women's rights and equality of opportunity. Women in Oman have equality in theory at least, and are very slowly beginning to make inroads into public life, although traditional male domination prevails. On the other hand, Saudi women are having to struggle for even the most basic rights, and being able to drive has been taken up recently as one small but significant battle in the long uphill struggle to equality;

http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/05/some-saudis-promote-violence-against.html

http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/06/lingerie-shop-jobs-for-women-hollow.html

http://www.familylaw-khaleej.org/en/news/women%E2%80%99s-rights-inch-forward-in-me.html

3. Female Circumcision

I had no idea that this was practised at all in the region until I read the blog below, and to find out that the majority of women in Dhofar (in the south of Oman) are subjected to this horrific mutilation was a massive eye-opener - especially when it has been decreed un-Islamic by the highest authorities in the Islamic world;

http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/save-clitoris.html

http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/2010/08/female-circumcision-in-oman.html

Not happy reading, but I think it's important to know about the good and the bad in all of us ...