The all black outer garment the women wear is called an “abayya”, and it serves to cover up the ladies when they are out in public. It’s a cultural thing, as opposed to an Islamic thing and the style of it varies greatly between tribes, villages, and countries in the Gulf. Sometimes it’s simple, black, and all covering. Other times it is split up the middle to show off the dress underneath or even bedazzled with sequins and rhinestones. Usually though the women are wearing either brightly colored clothes underneath it, or if they are in the cities they are rocking some very expensive high fashion gear under the abayaa.

The women also wear some sort of head scarf, this is mandated by Islam but the fashion of them vary greatly depending on where you are. In the UAE they are almost exclusively an all black sheer material, but in the interior of Oman and along the coast they come in all manner of exciting colors. In my classrooms I even see head scarfs with expensive logos like Gucci, Chanel, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton logos on them, but whether they are legit or “genuine copies” is way above my fashion skillz.

The face masks “burqa” are traditional cultural clothing, also not mandated by Islam. They vary like everything else by fashion, family, and tribal association. The ones seen here are traditional interior Omani Bedouin.

The men’s outfits vary as well depending on tribe association. The guys directly below are wearing the traditional Oman hat that sits high on the head and has intricate embroidery work around it.

Many of the Bedouin tribes wear some sort of turban wrapped material around their head, and everyone is wearing the ever-present long white (dishdasha/ kandora). These are well suited for desert living: loose, long sleeved, and white.

PS: this guy is carrying a bucket full of honey bottles, an expensive local delicacy  here in Oman.

But like all cultures, many of the younger generations are bucking the traditional styles and wearing other colors of dishdashas. This brown one is a bit more tame but they come in yellow, baby blue, and pink.

Also of note is the older guy here adjusting his “wizar”, underclothes. This is what you wear under your dishdasha, think kilt. It isn’t indecent to be seen outside your house only in your wizar, but you wouldn’t want to go to the store in it, kinda like a bath robe.

Hope you dig a little exploration of some of the cool things we get to see out here in Oman,

b

]]> http://www.houseofblack.org/2012/01/24/sinaw-souk-part-two/feed/ 0 http://www.houseofblack.org/2012/01/19/sinaw-souk-part-1/ http://www.houseofblack.org/2012/01/19/sinaw-souk-part-1/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:58:06 +0000 his blackness http://www.houseofblack.org/?p=2911 We live in Muscat which is quite a modern-ish town, however if you drive 10 minutes outside of town, in any direction, you get into “old-school authentic” Oman.

Some friends came into town and wanted to do something “adventurous” so we decided to take them to “old school” Sinaw and see the “Thursday Bedouin Souk” (souk = market). Sinaw is a town/village 2 hours outside of Muscat and every Thursday becomes a Bedouin, the semi-nomadic people that live in the deserts, trading post. It’s kind of like the Arab version of Canton 1st Mondays, but with way more camels.

Being a proper American there is no possible way to resist taking pictures of camels in Arabia, which to our Arab friends is hysterical kind of like someone visiting Texas and being overly enamored with the amazingness of cows. However here are a few shots.

The Bedouin come in from the surrounding areas to buy and sell all sorts of things, including camels. This is a cute baby camel being examined by this guy. Cute baby camels serve two main purposes: 1-they turn into giant slobbering adult camels or 2-they turn into dinner. People eat baby camels for weddings and special occasions, kind of like veal.

Amber and our visiting friend’s kid checking out a goat. We didn’t buy it.

There is more to the market and I’ll post another post looking at some of the other areas soon.

hope you dig it,

b

Amber and I had heard about this magical mountain called “Jebel Akhdar” (the green mountain) where people grow pomegranates, apricots, and roses. So one weekend we packed a picnic and went to check it out.

It was an interesting drive up with vomit inducing curves, but once at the top it was easily 20 degrees cooler and the views were spectacular.

The top is a huge plateau with 30 little villages and terraced farms like something from Italy. If you look behind Amber you can see the village on the side of the mountain. Later that day we walked among the terraced pomegranate farms. Up here it is tough to remember that we are in a desert.

Picnicing on the edge.

Some of the terraced pomegranate farms of the villages

The streets in the villages are too narrow for cars even if you could drive them up there. The roads getting to these villages are so steep that I completely embarrassed myself by stalling out going up in first gear four wheel drive. Total rookie move and much embarassment as I had to back down the road and try it again with a little more “sauce”.

Just about every home in Oman has very brightly colored wooden or metal doors, but in the villages you get to see some of the older more “pizzazzed” styles. You can also see that even up here you can’t escape the tax man as the door below has a bill stuck in the top of the doorway.

b

Hope you dig,

b

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is both a brilliant tool and a run-for-your-life time-suck. But assuming you can use a timer (or similar) and exercise a little self-control, you should definitely try it out.

Pinterest is a social site where you can curate your own “pinboards” (like a style-book or a bulletin board) of digital media (photos and videos, mainly) that you find interesting our useful. There is space for your own notes as well. You can have as many pinboards as you like, and you can decide if you want to make them public or share them only with your friends.

Pinterest on Pinterest:

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Always better from the horse’s mouth, don’t you think?

How does it work?

When you pin something to one of your boards, besides being available for future reference/inspiration, it comes up on the homepage of anyone who is subscribed to your pinboard(s).

On your homepage, you’ll see other people’s recent “pins” and have the option to repin them, comment on them, “like” them, or you can click on the photo to open up the individual page with a full-size pic.

From the full-size pic page, clicking the photo will take you to the original URL the image was pinned from. (Great for discovering new blogs and websites!)

What is it good for?

Well, if not used judicially, it’s good for wasting an entire evening that could have otherwise been used for, I don’t know, actually accomplishing one of the projects you’ve pinned or have been putting off.

But seriously. Assuming you can mute the siren-call, Pinterest is really great for compiling ideas and inspiration for future projects or for everyday delights. Check out a few of the Pinboards curated by some of my friends to see a few examples. (As Pinterest lets you custom-name each of your pinboards, I’ve used the creator’s title in the list below.)

• Winter
• Yummy Stuffs
• Some Personal Style
• It’s a Wrap
• Tips & Tricks
• Since I have a closet full of fabric
• Gifts

You can also check out my pinboards (though we’ll have to be friends first), or just visit the Pinterest Home Page and dive in!

If you like what you see, sign up, search for a few friends, set up some pinboards, and get pinning! In addition to repinning things you find on pinterest, you can also add items from anywhere on the web, as well as upload your own photos or scanned pics.

A Few Tips:

I suggest that as you are pinning, you make a note to yourself (in the description box) of why this particular image caught your eye. This will serve as a future reminder of what you were getting at when you pinned the item. Just clipping a storage/organizing idea and labeling it “good idea” is not as helpful six months from now than the description “Possibly use this on my side of the bed?”.

This also prevents the scenario where you clip a random photo as a color palette inspiration and then have no clue what it’s a picture of or what made you pin it. (I may or may not have done this myself. But if I had, I would tell you that including a note as to what you think it is a good palette for is also a good idea.)

Also, unfollow boards that are clogging up your home page. You might subscribe to a friend who loves to post homeschool projects, but as you don’t have any kids, you’re not that interested. So unfollow that board and you’ll see the rest of what she posts, but no more homeschool bits. Under the picture it tells you what pinboard she posted that item to. Just click on the pinboard and then click “unfollow” at the top.

Downsides

The real downside to pinterest is its addictiveness. Infinite window-shopping where you never tire = BAD. That’s more about me than about Pinterest, though.

My one beef with Pinterest is that there is no way to make a pin or pinboard private. As this feature comes standard on nearly all social media, I really don’t see what the holdup is. Two strikes for no private pins. What if I’m collecting ideas for a surprise party? You get the idea.

So…

Have you used pinterest? Do you have any pinners or boards that you particularly love? If so, share them! Have any questions? I’ll try to answer them – or at least send you a link to the info – if I can.

Happy Pinning!

Internet office lady: Where is your krookie?

Me: What’s a krookie?

Lady: I need krookie, Give me krookie!

-What is krookie?

-Krookie, give me krookie.

-How can it give you krookie? I don’t know what is krookie!

-This. Same same this- (she shows me something like a blue print)

-I don’t have this? Where do I get this?

-Krookie! krookie! give me krookie!

-I CAN’T GIVE YOU KROOKIE! I DON’T HAVE KROOKIE!

                              -at the internet office trying to get internet for my house.

Me and the Krookie Monster went back and forth for a while more and I finally ended up talking to a manager who also told me that I needed a krookie and that it should take maybe two months more to have internet in my house.

Unfortunately me losing it in gov’t offices is WAY more common than it should be. Back in the States, I’ve always understood myself to be pretty calm and laid-back, but something about life out here has changed this a bit. Apparently my kryptonite is Arabian business/ gov’t practices. Amber just laughs at me, and I’m just amazed and wonder where the cool me went.

Usually it goes like this:
-I have to get something done that involves a gov’t office.
-I prep myself and calm myself down in the parking lot and tell myself not to go “Hulk out” on anyone.
-I enter the office, calm and cool.
-I give them the required paperwork that I have spent days researching what I needed to make sure I have everything and there are no mistakes.

Now usually something goes wrong: they change their mind, they change the paperwork requirements, a number is messed up on a form, the computer is broken today, something…

Then I lose my mind and become the American in the movies. It is embarrassing, it is shameful, but it happens more frequently than I’d like to admit, and nothing successful ever comes of it. I’ve come to think these situations are some sort of character building “ROPES course” I am supposed to “pass” before I can move to the next level because I get A LOT of opportunities to “do it again”, and I usually fail. It seems like I’d have learned how to deal with this by now; we’ve been here going on 3 years. But no, I still fall right back into the “making a fool of myself me”

Maybe someday I’ll be the cool person that can handle this, but as it is I’m on year 3 of being the embarrassing American in the office not getting things done.

]]> http://www.houseofblack.org/2011/12/09/krookie-monster/feed/ 9 http://www.houseofblack.org/2011/11/28/moose-cat/ http://www.houseofblack.org/2011/11/28/moose-cat/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:14:53 +0000 his blackness http://www.houseofblack.org/?p=2836 One day someone asked me, “How is moose cat”? It was a mispronunciation of Muscat, but this image was born in my head and I had to get it out.

The cat is wearing a traditional Omani hat that EVERYONE wears around here, so I thought it fitting for him to be rockin’ the “kumma” as well.

Hope you dig,

b

Well, last weekend, it rained. Like real rain. It hasn’t rained this hard anywhere I’ve been in the region in about two years.

But it just so happened that we were making a much needed trip to Dubai that weekend. Much needed meaning that we couldn’t really opt out of going. We headed out expecting major traffic snafus both because of the rain and because it was the first evening of the Eid holiday. Think Thanksgiving traffic, plus blizzardy snow fall in the south. But, come hell or high water (gosh I am so funny), we had to press on.

Thought you might like to see a little of what we encountered. My favorite part is that is was the main attraction in town that night. Of course!

A brief word about the music… I needed something to put over the fumbly sounds that otherwise would have been there, and I needed something quick. A scan of a creative commons music site left me scarred and I opted for a flipshare freebie. Perhaps one day I’ll figure out the video music thing. Feel free to send me tips or tutorials!

Sinking: Muscat. Do note the sunken boat in the background.

Souk: Muscat. Inside the Muttrah souk at night.

Ali Babbas: Muscat. The famous Ali Babba’s “cave” full of various authentic and “maybe” authentic treasures in the Muttrah souk.