Nizwa: City in Oman's Interior

Will describe Nizwa in greater detail soon, insha’allah. For the time being, this is just a sample of our week with families in the interior of Oman. (the girls stayed with families that is. It is hard enough to find families to take in foreign boys in cosmopolitan Muscat; in the interior this is not yet conceivable, and so the boys stayed with male university students).
I lived in Kersha, a cluster of houses around a rock outcropping kept green with a falaj system, (see the photo of the falaj, taken on the Jabal Akhdar Mountian in the town of Al Ayn). There are eleven kids in the family, and the oldest daughter married the next-door neighbor while I was there. The first day, (weddings here vary from two to seven days…sometimes occurring over the course of several months), I watched the men in the groom’s family slaughter a ram in the backyard. And then helped, a bit, with washing and separating the meat. This was far less disturbing than I anticipated. And it tasted delicious. The ceremony on that day, other than a big meal, involved the men going to the mosque, (the women and bride are not involved). The second day even more people came, and we sat on mats in the yard and ate cake and watched the bride and groom exchange rings, feed each other cake, and smile for dozens of pictures. The really big party will not happen until this summer, after she has graduated from high school and the house in his parents’ front yard is ready for them…
Although Nizwa is a small city equipped with all modern conveniences, (and therefore the “rural” homestay term is not entirely accurate), it has a very different feel from Muscat, as you can perhaps deduce. Sheep slaughter aside, there are many reasons for the distinction. This partly has to do with the fact that Arabic is the language of communication, (in Muscat the large expatriot population, both as unskilled laborers and professionals, not to mention the large Swahili-speaking population in which most of the SIT students live makes English the lingua franca). We arrived in the old souk, (see photo of hanging pots), full of Nizwa’s famous metal ware. Nizwa centers around a huge fort built in the 1600’s, (I am standing on top of the fort in the photo with the palms and mountain in the distance, while the other fort photo is actually a different fort). An important area strategically, and one of Oman’s former capitals, Nizwa fort was used as recently as the mid-1950’s by the forces of the Imamate in opposition to the rule of Sultan Said, (the father of the current Sultan). Interior “Oman” traditionally existed separately from coastal “Muscat”, ruled by an Imam and occasionally invading the coast in order to benefit from the riches accumulated from trade in India and East Africa. British needs for control, first to secure a safe sea route to India, later for the purpose of oil exploration and extraction, led to support of the Sultan and the end of autonomy for both the Imamate and the Dhofar region in the south, (as discussed with regard to the trip to Salalah).
Enough for now, have to get ready for the next excursion: we leave tomorrow for a week in Dubai, Abu Dhabi (UAE), and Doha, (Qatar). Will, neither of us was right in how to pronounce it: neither my elongated “qahTAHR” not your “cutter”. Apparently, the correct pronounciation is a combination: “QAHTrr”. Though perhaps I should wait and see how the Qataris say it. The excursion is ostensily to compare Oman to other Gulf countries, as well as tour Al-Jazeera and enjoy/shudder at Dubai's cash crop: malls and tourist attractions. It will be a bit of a shock perhaps after a week spent eating 5 daily meals of fruit, dates and coffee, sitting on the floor exercising our Arabic muscles. Will report back with an analysis of this quick transition, insha'allah, because when we get back our ISP period begins and we should have more time.

Note to everyone with whom I need to keep in better touch...actually this is everyone, but in particular those who are still waiting for replies to their much-appreciated emails: you are in my thoughts and on numerous bits of "to do" paper, and when I return and begin the period without classes I will be able to write! You are not forgotten...in particular, if you are reading: Will, what is up with colloquium and graduation? Jos, how is the final semester shaping up? Sam, how is the bike project, semester, general life as a Davidson superhero? Rental units, I received the birthday card and card from Grandpa--thank you! I am mailing postcards from the Dubai airport tomorrow--please let me know if they reach you!
To Uncle Hans, Eric and family: have been thinking about you a lot in preparation for Dubai. Am very excited, although I think that most of your wonderful recommendations, Uncle Hans, are a bit beyond my means. :)
Does Grandpa have the address to the blog? Could he access it, do you think?

Apologies...not sure if blog etiquette permits specific messages, but am running out of internet time!