My Graced Journey: Rustaq street scenes and shops

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Rustaq street scenes and shops

English Teacher in Oman

Rustic Rustaq Highlights

October – December 2011

Background

Oman? Where is that? This was the question posed to me by my fiancé (who later became my wife) in 2008, as I told her, whilst working in Sudan that I was moving to Oman, and that she should pay me a visit. The reality is that few people know about Oman, an uncovered jewel yet undiscovered by most, off-the-beaten-track of world travel, but with the potential that once you have been there and lived there to be totally mesmerized by its beauty and wonderful people.

My fiancé did come to visit in 2008, and barely 2 months later we flew back to South Africa to get married, as we struggled to legally get married in Oman. After a couple of weeks of arranging a wedding, having a wedding and a honeymoon we started off our married life in a sleepy desert town called Ibri. I completed my contract for that academic year, and even though was offered an extension, we decided it best to return to South Africa to have family support as a young married couple.

A couple of years later in 2011, after stints of unemployment here in South Africa, we got another opportunity to work in Oman when Hawthorne, the new contract holder for the colleges of Applied Sciences in Oman, offered us both teaching positions at the Rustaq college of Applied Sciences. Now Ibri felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, but Rustaq was even smaller in size and had fewer luxuries and amenities that make an expat's heart beat faster.

Rustaq "Harrods" - Al Shrooq hypermarket catered for most of our basic grocery needs

We arrived in late October 2011, about 4 weeks after the first batch teachers for that academic year. We spent our first night in Muscat in a very basic 3-star hotel, which did not inspire a lot of confidence in our new employer's generosity, and were driven the next day to Rustaq. All the single teachers at the Rustaq College, apart from those who have been there a while or married couples, stayed in an apartment block in downtown Rustaq.

The bottom floor of the complex was an unofficial brothel with a Thai boy/girl as the main attraction.... unbeknownst to most of his/her Omani clientele who frequented the 'massage spa' as it was officially labelled.

We were given an apartment on the 4th floor, and as there were no lifts, the stairs were the only way to access it. We spent that first night scrubbing everything as it was filthy. We were exhausted, but the 'health; mattress we were provided was so firm, that my limbs kept on going numb.

Our first work day was a lot better, the college had very nice offices with comfortable office furniture. My wife and I were fortunate enough to share an office with Sara, a lecturer from India who showed us much kindness and friendship over the next 10 months at the college. The office was so nice and our apartment so uncomfortable that we kept on staying later and later at the office dreading the time we had to go home.

With high ceilings, white walls, cheap furniture, and no curtains to block out the sharp Gulf sun's brightness, it was not a place one wanted to relax. As an added insult, the badly designed plumbing system constantly allowed for a lingering stench, which no amount of detergent and Dettol could remove.

A bad bout of food poisoning also plagued us within the first month after we bought Turkey cold meat at Lulu's in Barka. We spent a whole weekend lying on single beds next to each other in the brightly lit apartment, a memorable nightmare.

However, as time went by, we coloured in our apartment with furnishings and decorations more to our liking. We also built up a support structure of locals and colleagues with whom we increasingly spent more time to numb one from the boredom.

Omani shopowner in Rustaq

About Oman

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the country shares land borders with the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest, and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan.

From the late 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was a powerful empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to modern-day Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar (today part of Tanzania, also former capital). As its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under the influence of the United Kingdom.

Historically, Muscat was the principal trading port of the Persian Gulf region. Muscat was also among the most important trading ports of the Indian Ocean.

Oman is an absolute monarchy. The Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said has been the hereditary leader of the country since 1970. Sultan Qaboos is the longest-serving current ruler in the Middle East and sixth-longest current reigning monarch in the world.

Oman has modest oil reserves, ranking 25th globally. Nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years.

A significant portion of its economy is tourism and trade of fish, dates, and certain agricultural produce. This sets it apart from its neighbours’ solely oil-dependent economies. Oman is categorized as a high-income economy (Wikipedia).

The main roundabout near our apartment

About Rustaq

Al Rustaq is a city in the South Al Batinah region, surrounded by the central Al Hajir mountain range and an abundance of date palm groves and Aflaj.

The city came to the forefront of Omani history when Imam Nasser bin Murshid Al Ya’rubi started from here his conquest to unify Oman and repel the Portuguese from the country in the 17th century.

Al Rustaq was also once the capital of Oman, and it has many attractions that should make it a much bigger tourist attraction! (Oman Tripper).

Shopping

Shops are closed during the afternoons. It opens in the evenings when it is a bit cooler. So most of our shopping and eating was done in the evenings.

Day time temperatures are simply too high to function. Shops are usually open in the morning until 12 pm and then closes for a siesta for the next 4 hours when shops slowly start to reopen again. They remain open until 10 to 11 pm.