Salalah and a lot of other words

It’s been a pretty busy last week or so. We went to Salalah last weekend and we’re about to leave tomorrow for a week long trip to the UAE and Qatar—first stop, Dubai. The next week will be pretty different than it has been in Oman.

So first off, some abstract things before I describe a bit about Salalah. When we first got here, we were given a little talk about the “culture shock w-curve”—a basic talk about the swings of being in a new culture. Since then the students in my group have made lots of references to “the hammock” or low point of adapting to a different culture. I usually think that people’s moods are just cyclical no matter what culture you’re in. Regardless though, it’s true that the last week or two has included some of my low points in terms of cultural immersion. There have definitely been high points as well—Salalah being one of them, but I’ve noticed that instead of constantly being surprised by appreciating the call to prayer or the goats on the road, I’ve also thought things like “if I hear one more time about how dirty dogs are and how crazy it is that Americans let them in their houses with their children…” What can I say? God gives grace, so praise be to Him. There are usually many things that are true at the same time. Right now, I feel overwhelmed with Arabic and research for my independent study project (I've talked to half the country about Islam, but I really have no idea what it is I'm actually studying yet and have tons of reading I want to do...), I feel intellectually excited because there's stuff to analyze absolutely everywhere, I feel more emotionally volatile than normal, and I've been swinging between highs and lows spiritually.

So there's the context:

Salalah was an incredibly interesting city. The Sultan of Oman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said grew up in Salalah since his mother is from there. Like I said, it's a bit different from the rest of the country and there was a rebellion there back in the 60's and 70's. It's more conservative socially (90% of women wore the burqa, or face veil in public), and richer agriculturally (we saw flocks of goats, cows, and camels absolutely everywhere). The southern corner of Oman and the northen bit of Yemen are the only part of the peninsula to get anything from the monsoons in the Indian Ocean, but a little bit of rain once a year can make such a huge difference in climate. The plus side was that meat is everywhere. I could seriously eat mashkach (Omani bbq), pita, amazing humus, chips, and Coke for dinner probably every night for a year and not be frustrated at the end of it. Omani men in Salalah just go out into the mountains every weekend with the guys, sleep under the stars, eat a whole goat, and practice jumping. That's pretty much one of the best things I can imagine doing on a weekend.

Religion: The south of Oman is almost entirely Sunni, whereas the north is primarily Ibadhi--the only place in the world where Ibadhi Muslims are the majority--their numbers worldwide are probably less than 2 million. Salalah is also a supposed center of black magic. We were there on a day when people repeatedly told us witches from around the world would congregate outside the town that night. (a Thursday night on a full moon). Jinn, or spirits, were a big deal and I talked with some guys from Dhofar University who were showing us around about it. (they were great guys by the way, excellent examples of Omani hospitality and friendliness). ALSO, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints recently decided that southern Oman is the place referred to as the Land of Bountiful in the Book of Mormon (where Nehigh, a Jew, took off in a boat for America). Also, people believe that the Virgin Mary's father is buried in Salalah (how he got over there I don't know). We ALSO visited the tomb of the prophet Job. Again, don't know how people know it's him, but it prompted some reflection on the story of Job during the visit. Both Jesus and Job are prophets in Islam so both places were decently big deals. (Nehigh isn't a prophet in Islam, but apparently there has been at least one plane full of Mormans that's come to see the place)

So that's probably more than enough for a blog posting. I've definitely felt quite busy, but (in sha allah) the trip to Emirates and Qatar will be relaxing. A potential high point will be visiting Al-Jazeera headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The crazy thing is that after we get back from the Emirates and Qatar we're only here a couple days before heading to live in Nizwa for a week (an important city in the interior that used to be the head of the government during the Ibadhi imamate).

By the way, Ibadhis: After the fourth caliph, or successor to Mohammed, there was a political split among Muslims. Some said the caliph had to come from the prophet's family, others said he had to come from the prophet's tribe, a small minority ended up saying that the caliph could be anyone as long as he was righteous and the community agreed that he was righteous. In the roughest possible terms that's the history of the split between Shii'a (prophet's family), Sunni (prophet's tribe), and Ibadhi (anyone righteous). The Ibadhis in Oman used to decide on an Imam by sending delegates of the different tribes every time they needed a new Imam---the imam had to be picked by consensus rather than a mere majority of support. Crazy history here. Awesome.

Hope all is well with everyone. Allah maak (God be with you)