cyclone lashing Oman

Powerful Cyclone Phet barrels toward Oman(Reuters) - Tropical cyclone Phet barreled toward the coast of the Gulf Arab state of Oman on Wednesday, strengthening quickly on its way to becoming a powerful category five storm.

WORLD

Phet was not expected to make landfall in Oman, but should instead turn to skim parallel to the Sultanate's shore before roaring northeast toward Pakistan, according to tropical storm watch website www.tropicalstormrisk.com.

Phet would steer clear of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of all seaborne oil trade passes, or about 17 million barrels per day (bpd).

Phet was a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, with sustained winds of over 130 mph. It was expected to become a Category 5 storm, the most powerful with winds of over 156 mph, in the next 24 hours.

Phet would lash Oman's eastern region shores with hurricane-strength winds through Friday before moving northeast. It was expected to weaken before coming ashore just south of Karachi as a Category 3 storm on Sunday.

Oman is a small independent oil producer, pumping about 850,000 bpd. Most of its exports move from the ports of Mina al-Fahal, near the capital of Muscat. The storm was expected to turn northeast before reaching Muscat.

Operations at Oman LNG, the Sultanate's export facility for liquefied natural gas (LNG), were to date unaffected, an Oman LNG spokesperson said.

The three LNG production facilities, known as trains, are based in Sur in the eastern region, closer to the path of the storm. The region is also home to Oman's green back turtle.

"It is business as usual so far with Oman LNG but we are in touch with the authorities to see if there would be any change" Nasser al-Kindy, head of corporate communications at Oman LNG told Reuters.

Oman was battered by powerful Cyclone Gonu in 2007. The storm killed at least 54 people in Oman and Iran.

(Reporting by Saleh al-Shaibany; Writing by Simon Webb; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

(Source: www.reuters.com)

in Holland

I reached Holland safely this morning. I flew back with my friend Berend. Somehow each of us was able to bring about 180 pounds of luggage on board. The trip was okay. Slept for a bit. Watched a movie called 'Brothers'. It was on my to watch list so that was nice.

Next couple of days I need to find direction, sense and clarity about my life, haha. Well, lets make it not too dramatic.

And I still need to think about what I will do with this blog...?

last week in Oman

My last week here in Oman. Tonight I will pick up my friend Berend from the airport. He decided to come to visit me here last moment. That will be nice. I'll be showing him around a bit here and there. You know, Oman.

A last week in Oman. Wrapping things up for my work here. Saying goodbye to people and places. I mean, I have been through leaving places a couple of times now. And it does feel like cutting yourself loose from something important. Feels like dying a little bit. Although I don't really know how that really feels. But yeah, it will be weird stepping on that airplane and not knowing if or when I will return here. It reminds me of South America, when I was saying good bye there. Its part of the choices I make in life.

sweat baby sweat...

... temperatures are rising. During the day you just don't want to be outside. It is approximately 45 degrees (113F) outside now. Like walking in an oven. Cannot believe that it temperatures are actually going to go up even more. Cannot believing that people used to live here without AC.

Went to the beach yesterday evening for a walk. That was really good though. A nice and cool breeze. Walking in the relatively cool sea water. Hearing gentle touch of the waves touching the sea shore. Good company. Good conversations.

Mentally I am preparing on going back again to Holland. Two and a halve week. Cannot believe it is almost time return. I am going to miss this place greatly.

update

In the last couple of weeks I have been working on my HACCP plan. That is the assignment that I will complete for my graduation project. I think I need about two more weeks of work on that and then I am happy to be done.

Also I have been thinking about what I will be doing after I have graduated. I think before I was kind of worried about it but now I am pretty confident that I will succeed in finding a suitable job for me. Where or what it is going to be? Only God knows.

Then I went to the Royal Symphony Orchestra recently. I went there with Andy from church. Was pretty cool. I took a video and I hope I will update it at some point.

Furthermore it was my birthday this weekend. I celebrated it twice. First was with some people from work. They came over with soda's and snacks. We had a blast till two in the morning. The day after I had a great evening at my boss his house. He invited me to celebrate it at his place. Normally in Oman people don't have the habit of celebrating their birthday. But I guess I am a special case :-) It was actually great fun. It felt like I was at a children's party. Reason: it was Dr. Khalid's kids and some of his nephews and nieces. They bought a real cake with candles for me and the sang 'happy birthday', in which the happy sounds like "habby" because the letter 'p' is not in the Arabic alphabet. It was great celebrating with them. They even were so kind to buy my a present. A nice watch. But don't pin me down on never coming late anymore.

This week I am taking a training. It is a a level 4 in Food Hygiene for Managers. Very extensive. And a great learning experience. I think at some point in my life I could open up a successful food operating business... why not.

About 4 more weeks and I will be going back to Holland. I am looking forward to it. I have no clue of how I am going to spend my time there yet. I guess I will need to find a job somewhere for a while. I know I still have to finish a couple of subjects before I can graduate so that will definitely take some time. And also I am going to cook for a week at the Navigators retreat, which will be held in Germany this year. Pretty cool. Cooking for 250 hungry students. That is going to be soo much fun. And of course, hopefully will result in some happy and well fed people.

Well, that is about it I think. Feel free to drop me a line on my email. Or leave a comment. I love hearing from anyone reading this.

Oh, and last of all. Happy birthday to my sister. We both have the same birthday although there is a six year gap.

Salam and joy to all of you!

hilarious

So our clients did an inspection in one of the kitchens. In their report one of the comments was:

Table for cutting the mutton, chicken and fish in the open area. The area was very dirty because the dove was sitting on the table and making it ugly.

That is the most hilarious thing ever. Yeah, I am working in a real professional business world here. LOL.

Driemaal scheepsrecht... no idea how to translate that in english

So I don't know how this works in life and what it means but I had two remarkable events that seem to be related to each other. Both of them have to do with my car. I know that my style of driving is not what other would consider to be the most safe or considered. And I felt convicted about this. It is one of those things that I have always been aware of. But then I always feel like I am in control over the car. I pay attention very well when I am driving and I feel like I never miss something. But my car, although I am grateful having one here without having to pay anything for it, is really not the best. It is really out of balance and the steering really sucks. But nevertheless I drive with considerable speed. The reason for that is that often in my head I want to be at my destination as soon as possible. A general issue in life that causes problems occasionally. It makes me stressed and feeling like being in a hurry. But the thing is that I picture my destination in my mind and I want to be there right away. All the time and energy needed to bridge the space or time between point A and B feels like a waste.

Now come to think of it, when I was younger I always wanted to have the skill of teleportation. I can remember myself looking at a certain place like halve a mile further and closing my eyes and wishing I was there. To make it even more stupid. I can remember that I was thinking of the passage in the bible where Jesus and his disciples stepped in a boat and instantly reached the other side of the lake. I always thought that if I had enough "faith" whatever that may be would help me to actually acquire this supernatural feature. Until today, I have not.

Apparently this post is not really a case in which I feel stressed or want to reach the destination of having this post finished. As proof I refer to the paragraph described just above and the explanation that I am typing right now. Right now I am more in a mind set that anything works and I am letting "things" (the whole construct of this post) develop in a more organic way. Which means that I kind of know what the outcome is but I don't know how to reach it.

Before returning to the initial point of writing I want to mention that I one of the drawbacks of wanting to be at B while being in the process of reaching there is that it I don't always experience being in transition to the fullest. Consequently I don't always make the most of the learning opportunities and opportunities of enjoying that that particular moment, or rather transition, offers.

So the two interesting occurrences have all to do with driving my car. As mentioned I felt somewhat guilty about not always driving like I think I should. Now what happened was that on friday I was driving and thinking about the fact that I did not want to get into any car accidents. And that I should be more careful about driving. Not more than two minutes later my car is kissing the back of an other car. I was only going 40 KM/H and was fully braking when I say that the car in front of me had come to a full stop. I guess my breaks and tires were not in sound technical condition and while breaking I was just gliding towards the car in front of me. His car undamaged. But the bodywork on my front has a big dent. Nothing major and the guy did not make a big fuzz about it.

And then today I was reminded about the fact that my spare tire was not in my trunk. Some one in the office used it and had not returned it. I knew it was one of those things that I needed to get set but I had not made an effort to solve it yet. And while driving home for my lunch break I was thinking that I'd only had a month and a halve to go here and would assume not having a punctured tire. The moment I got back from my lunch and was about to pull out the parking lot I noticed that my right front tire was flat as an empty balloon.

Fate, the inevitable, punishment, coincidence? All these things automatically run through my head. I've always been skeptical about, well, about many things of which one is superstition. Is there a deeper meaning than just a dented bumper and a flat tire? Is there more to it? Is it a logic consequence of fear being realized since fears inevitably become true when you start focussing on your fears? Is there a Godly plan put in place to teach me something important here? These questions opens whole new spectrum of questions regarding about fate, and Gods involvement in daily mundane life. Any thoughts?

And ofcourse, driemaal scheepsrecht...so what is next?

Easter

On Sunday morning while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

It was still dark this morning when I got in my car and drove to church. I was going to a Easter Sunset service. A celebration of the fact that Jesus Christ, Son of the Almighthy God, has risen. A happy occasion that took place outside on the church premises. There must have been around three to four hundred people there.

"Christ has Risen" the pastor exclaimed. "He has risen indeed" the congregation responded.

Isn't it great that in this country, that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as having died, and risen through the Power of his Father, it is possible to proclaim these words.

The sermon was sectioned in three parts based on John 20.

The first was about Christ giving tranquility.

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

The second part was on Christ giving us an activity. The continuation of the mission that he started.

21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

The third part was on Christ giving us vitality to accomplishing all this.

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; andwhose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

One of the things that actually stood out for me was that there no guilt in life any more. It is so hard to really believe this with my heart. That there is really no guilt anymore in life. That even though I feel that way it is not true. How a deceiving place the heart is.

I pray for all that this easter pushes each of us in the direction of truth and that we may listen and believe his words!

Halleluja, God be praised.

Islam

Friday evening I went to a seminar held at the amphitheater in Muscat. It was the second seminar of a two day lecture discussing Islam in relation to other religions, mainly Christianity.

The speaker was Yusuf Estes, an American (from Texas). He used to be affiliated to christianity and even involved in ministry. However, he converted to Islam. In Islam by the way they don't say 'convert' but 'revert'; but I consider it converting nevertheless. He was a scholar and it was evident that he had studied both Qu'ran and the Bible in depth.

At this seminar were about three hundred people. Of those three hundred there were approximately five non-muslim. My friend Charlie from church was there and some other Westerners (Westerners meaning: North Americans + Europeans). The scholar spoke about why he converted to Islam and what the story behind his conversion was. There was a Q&A session afterwards but I did not have a lot of questions to ask based on his speech.

At the end of the seminar there were a couple of people who wanted to convert to Islam. These were mainly Philippinos I think. It was an interesting experience to witness this. I don't know the meaning of it but the converts had to say something in Arabic. The crowd of people reacted with great happiness and many shouted "Allah akhbar" as expression of their happiness.

Comparing it to christianity it was similar to how baptism happens in some churches.

Anyway, after this all was over Charlie and I were invited to have a dinner with Yusuf Estes and some other people the next evening. It was a good opportunity to be asking some questions and we happily accepted the invitation. Since I am living in a Muslim country I might as well make the most of all the opportunities presented to learn more about the culture and the religion.

So the next evening I was expecting to have dinner with about 8-10 people and have laid back evening talking about religion.

How different it would be. The talking was there but my expectations were way off. What happened is that this was not a dinner for about 10 people. We arrived at this huge mansion. Inside must have been like a hundred people sitting on the floor. Women on one side of the room and men on the other. In the middle sat Yusuf Estes and next to him two chairs. One for Paul (an American Christian who was also invited) and one for me. Pauls wife and Charlie were seated with the women.

Being a little bit overwhelmed by all these people Yusuf started of by saying. Well Harmen (we had been introduced a couple of minutes before) what are your questions... and I thought this was going to be a relaxed evening. But we started discussing about the way that people are Justified (made righteous before God) by God. We talked about the difference between the Allah and God and god. And of course the everlasting point of discussion of Jesus being/not being the Son of God; which to Muslims is blasphemous. We talked for about an hour or so. But I don't really recall all the specifics we talked about. However, it give me a better understanding if Islam. And more over it helps me to read the Bible from a different perspective. I mean, the Bible really speaks of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. And it really boils down to what is true and what you believe. To me it has opened a whole new set of questions and attitude. I learned that I feel like being a very complacent christian often. I mean to say that I often think like I know it all. But really, I lack so much true understanding of the real meaning of so many things. So actually I am happy that I am having these discussions with Muslims around me. It will make my own faith stronger.

And I do think that there are many things that we can learn from Muslims (I am referring to the Omani that I meet here). Their hospitality is great. They have a great sense of respect. And have a very rich tradition.

Well, anyway, I hope to continue to learn more about this whole religion thing. One thing I have learned that it seems very easy and everything when it is not really a part of your life, e.g. when you live in Holland. But when you are in the middle of a different culture and religion it becomes a different situation. You cannot ignore the differences and discussions that require an answer.

Well, my break from work is over and I should head back to work. Sending you my love from a hot Oman.

time flies

Well time flies. It has been ten days already since I posted my previous post. Last week I took a training course on Supervising Food Safety in Catering business. It was a good learning experience. Hopefully I will be able to take the Advanced course as well, although I am not sure if I will be able to complete it before my leave. And I would be anxious about the exam since it is a very hard one. Anyway, I am sure that the one of last week is in the pocket. I am so grateful for the investment that the company is making in me. The generosity has been really great and even sometimes shameful. Like, I don't deserve this. But isn't that the beauty of it either? It is actually great to see how hospitable I have been received and cared for. It has shown me how God is giving. Although I don't always feel it that we he is the One caring for us. And also I am learning to see more and more the meaning of what it means that Jesus Christ has done. Especially in the light of the discussions that I have with my Muslim friends and colleagues here. In church every week when taking communion we proclaim: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Oh! I hope and pray that everyday I will more and more understand the sweet and rich meaning of those words. Really, these words constitute and complete redemption and salvation. And they are a strong testimony. That is the awesome work that God has done. My friends, pray that we might be filled with joy and praise of this miracle. That the name of Jesus Christ may be really honored throughout the nations.

Besides all this I am feeling strong today. I am discovering also how much I love my family. They are these great people in life that will always be there. No matter what the circumstances my family will always be my family. How much more I long to be equipped in my heart to love people around me. Despair and failure often lead to feeling depressed. But that luckily does not change that what is true.

Furthermore I am finishing the book of the Count of Monte Christo. I have read it like ten years ago but I had forgotten most of it. It is a beautiful piece of literary art that is enjoyable to read, rich in lessons to learn and almost three inches thick :-)

Well I am going to continue with my working activities now. I am working on my project approach plan haha. Not even halve way in having completed it after having been here for over halve a year. Haha. But that is of no consequence. I will graduate this year, provided God grants me a peaceful heart.

Sending you all a big big hug and a lot of love!

work in interior

Now I am in the interior. I am learning about properly auditing our locations. It is a good learning experience. It is starting to get hotter again outside. The suns is spreading its scorching rays across the country again. In a month time it will be full time AC hopping again. From apartment to car to the office. It is 35 now outside during the day which is okay, but in a month it will be 45 again... bring out the barbecue...

eaten by a crocodile

I have been devoured by a crocodile. Luckily I had my laptop with me so I can send this message now... But don't be afraid... I will live, I heard the most effective way of overcoming an enemy is changing the system from the inside out...

Work in Oman

Work. nice and challenging. I have been working todays with the HSE team. We basically laid down the structure of all our work. We looked at our current working activities and plans and projects for the future. There is way to much work and development that needs to be done. I have no idea how we are going to manage this all. But it is good to sit together with the team and discuss all these issues. We have a clearer sense of what we are doing and how we are doing it. Now it is my task to plan make a comprehensive plan and present it all to the management this thursday. So basically I have a full day to work on that. That is not a whole lot of time. I just hope to be able to get it done properly. The good thing is that it does give a lot of satisfaction.

Anyway, it is good so see how things are going now. Setting up working systems and procedures. Getting working activities planned out. And then run the show. Maybe I will be a successful manager at some point :-)

Oh and by the by... I passed the Level 4 HACCP training that I had an exam on in the beginning of January. So that is nice.

And of course there is also the work regarding my studies. Well the good thing is that the project is not just going to be me. It will be a team effort. Now I just need to make a proper research design. Once I have done that it will all be a piece of cake :-)

Waahoo! and hooray! I am actually going to graduate this year :-D

church

Today I went to church. Just came back.

On one hand it is a really good on the other hand it also give a lot to think about, which in consequence makes it hard again. Communion is always good. Remembering that Jesus Christ died and then rose from the dead for me too. But I just don't seem to be able to fully understand the meaning of that and the consequences for my life. I mean I can fully explain it I guess, but then what. It does not always gives the joy that I wish it would give. I know I make things too complicated for myself often. So let me make things easy by the means of the liturgy that we use in church. Before communion the churh proclaims: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. I guess that keeps it pretty simple and easy to understand.

today work is okay

so work is okay today. After having been here for 5 months now, I finally have clear idea of what I am going to do for my graduation. Halleluja. God be praised. I am going to develop a HACCP manual. This is basically a food safety system for which I had acquired my training certification previously. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction and peace that I now know what I will be doing in the next couple of months. And having had my parents over and also Wicher and Anna makes it better. I feel recharged and able to reconnect with Holland more. Thinking of home is good, and puts me down to earth a bit more.

Wicher said something along the lines of 'Harmen you can handle Holland if you can travel around the world and handle these countries here'. I think that was what he said. And it makes sense. Basically, if I can handle Holland I can handle myself. I don't know if that makes sense actually. But I think that if I am able to accept life in Holland, which is not even that bad, but I just have issues there, then I can manage anywhere. I think

Well what ever.

Talk to you later

crap... still have not posted many pictures

just writing about my life

So Wicher and Anna are visiting right now. They have been here for about a week now. It is funny to see the contrast between their holiday and that of my parents here. My parents wanted to spend as little time inside my apartment as possible. Getting up early and visiting places here and there. Good for them, they had a very active holiday :-).

And Wicher and Anna are taking things easy. Getting up at 10 in the morning, spending many hours at the beach. Going for a swim. Go here. Go there.

This weekend we went to a desert trip. Camel riding, camping out in the desert and barbecue-ing in the sand dunes. The only thing that made me cranky was the sand in the chicken, since there was a strong. The new batch of chicken we cooked in a pan, that was tasty too.

Parents are here

So my parents have arrived in Oman. They are here now and will be staying for two weeks. I drove them around yesterday to see some sites around Muscat. And today I went in the afternoon with Ahmed my colleague and friend driving them around outside of Muscat. It rained heavily today so there were many wadi's (flooded areas). It was fun driving around in the 4x4 through the water. And my parents seemed to really enjoy themselves. They are watching the hundreds of pictures that they took and right now. Haha, is it weird how the pictures sometimes seem to get more attention that the actual object at that particular time that you see it.

Like we live our lives recollecting the past while not really living in the present because we are so busy creating memories for the future... I don't know to which extend that really applies to anyone all the time...

Whatever. Love you all!

Gelske en Jacob Jan

Today my sister Gelske and her husband Jacob Jan are emigrating to Tanzania. Through this post I want to wish them all the best there. May God be a shining light on their path and a guide through the African wilderness. I pray that God will protect them on their journey there.

Good luck guys. I love you!

Growling and roaring

The big V8 engine was roaring under the hood of the black Ford Mustang 2009. A growling beast, dark as the night. Pumping gas and ready to take off like a jet. In the passengers seat of this monster I was enjoying sitting in one of the American trademarks of the road. And man, that was cool.

I mean, I don't necessarily, care about cars when I am just looking at them. And of course I am also making fun of show offs at the beach boulevard, but when actually having the experience of being in one, it is a whole different story. Then you just feel the comfort, the speed the excitement. And that makes all the difference. But only on the short run. And that is why I am happy that it wasn't my car. I mean, I got the benefits but not the cost :-). I like the experience of sitting in one and not having the ownership and responsibility over it.

But that was yesterday evening part one. Part two consisted of taking Younis his Jeep and cruising over the Bowsher Sanddunes. These are like 70 meters high and it is a thrill trying to make your way through the sand not seeing what is behind the next dune.

And the view is really nice. Looking out over the city. One one hand the mountain range and on the other the sea. A glowing city with lights from streets, houses and cars. A cool breeze and eating dinner at eleven at night. Too bad I did not bring my camera.

fulfillment in life

So today I had some thoughts about life. Fullfillment of life. What does that mean? Answering to a call? Fullfilling a goal? Undertaking certain activities? The attitude towards life? Filling life with satisfying activities? Fullfillment of life? Wat does that look like? Living by rules? Following the heart? Living by reason? Going with the flow? Pursuing what you value? Receiving what is offered to you?

And how is God related to all these things? It is often said that God can only give true fulfillment of life. He fills the void in our existence it is said.

The bible says that Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. Did he answer to a call? Did he fulfill a goal? What was he undertaking? What was his attitude towards life... maybe even, what was his attitude towards death. What did his life look like. Did he live by rules? Did he follow his heart? Did he live by reason? Did he go with the flow? What values did he pursue? What did he receive what was offered to him?

How can men connect to Jesus and to God? God is already connected to me. He gave promises that will be fulfilled. Is that the answer? Finding fulfillment in the promises of God...

Finding fulfillment in the promises of God. That sounds so vague and out there. Yet also very clear and simple.

I find fulfillment in my life through the promises of God

Fietsen

Random fact: Het afgelopen jaar zijn in Nederland volgens voorlopige cijfers ruim 1,3 miljoen fietsen verkocht. De omzet komt naar verwachting uit op zo'n 950 miljoen euro, een stijging van 4 procent ten opzichte van 2008. (www.nu.nl)

Working and living

So today I went to Yiti. We have a camp there. Eleven o' clock we left and it was an hour and a halve drive through a really nice hilly area. Every turn we took (there were many sharp turns) surprised us with a new view, like donkeys on the middle of the road. The hills are also kind of greenish now because of the moderate temperature (27 degrees celsius) and it just makes things look so much more alive. It is also really good being out of the office. Sadly enough, and also kind of ironically, it is just is such a bad place for working effectively. Though I must say that it is getting better, I feel much less stressed than I did before.

Having said that (or actually typed that) I am actually seeing more the challenges in my work. And I am seeking more to face the things that I found hard before. An example is my graduation project. That was a great source of procrastination. Good thing is that after my holiday in America I found a renewed focus. I am happy that I see now that that is my reason for being hear and I am determined to succeed! Really that makes me happy and I actually see myself graduating in an odd 5 months. Looking forward I also don't really worry about working anymore. I was afraid before for working life and not knowing what I would be doing, but I'll be fine. Keeping that in mind and also believing that God is guiding makes me feel happy.

Now the next couple of days I will be busy prepare myself mentally for the process of starting to develop our own HACCP plan and prepare also for the meeting with an HACCP consultant.

Of everything I have learned already this whole HACCP thing seems to be the most practically valuable subject. With the training that I had I can really see this as a big challenge for the coming months...

Well talk to y'all later, I am going to bed! I'll post some pictures again soon.

Bruno

I just watched Bruno tonight. It was very provocative, disturbing, embarrassing, profound, good and bad mixed together. It is about this gay guy from Austria who presents himself being uber gay which is very provocative and evokes high emotions. There are some really sick and explicit scenes in there that really grossed me out. And supposedly this is all real life and not staged, although in some scenes it is not really that convincing.

Anyway, if you are ready to shocked... watch this movie (don't watch it with your parents though...), it is amazing how someone can assume a role so consistently and convincing. Anyway, if you have seen it I am interested to finding out what you think...

update on what's going on

Hey who ever it is that is reading this,

I just wanted to update on what is going on in my life here in Oman. Like a couple of months ago I am writing from the desert. I have spent the last couple of days in the Quarnalam area doing site visits with our General Manager and spending mainly our time talking to employees. Key element in the discussions with employees is that they want a raise in salary and that they are working to many hours a day; I don't blame them for it though. Every site that we visit also has some Food Safety issues (that is my job) that I need to take care of and I discuss them with the supervisors who most of the time are quite cooperative. Camp bosses, who are responsible for the camp from the client end, though tend to be less helpful. After making appointments and plans they don't normally follow up on it. Sometimes that is really frustrating but I am also learning to let go of things that I cannot control by myself.

So I go back and forth between being annoyed by how things go here and not really caring about it. It really is a good experience here in Oman, but I think I have written that before. Every day I know that from beginning and end my Father is in control and although I don't always feel that way I know that this is the Truth.

HaCCP exam continued

Had the exam today. I just hate exams. Maybe it was that I just had not studied enough, or that I didn't really understood the material well enough (although I don't really believe that that is true) but taking that exam was the worst. I hate the time pressure and I have always had this problem with exams. I was always the person handing in the exam at the last moment. It is frustrating. It is a combination of confidence and peace of mind/heart that is lacking when I sit down and feeling this pressure. And when I read the questions my mind is just not triggered. I find it hard to connect with the text and I don't know how to change that. Not good. But anyhow, I don't need to have a perfect score. Each question should have at least a 50% mark and the over all papers (there were two) should be 60% to pass. We'll know in about two months.

Tomorrow we're planning to spend the afternoon on the beach with my team and have some fun. That will be sweet.

Love. Harmen

HACCP exam

Tomorrow I have an exam on HACCP (Level 4)... sounds pretty cool right. Anyway, I hope I will have the peace of mind to successfully complete the exam. Pray for me :-)

For the rest work is going better. After I came back from the States I figured not to worry too much about the work. I mean... come on, it's only work... So I am trying just to enjoy my life here. That is for me the best way to be able to be effective. Just enjoy it, then things will happen by itself (I don't know if this is actually true but it I guess how I think I (would like to) see things).

Talk to you later.

Jihad talk over Coffee

My Omani friend Saleh lives and studies in Salalah (South Oman) but was around for a couple of days in Muscat, so we went for coffee. At the Al Shattie (which means 'beach') Starbucks on the beach boulevard we sat down for coffee. Since they sell real Dutch Stroopwafels (Caramel Waffles) there I had to teach him how to eat them the best way: placing it on top of your steaming hot coffee for a minute, and when the waffle is soft and has absorbed the coffee flavour it tastes absolutely amazing. But anyway, we had an interesting conversation about the position of Jesus Christ in the Muslim religion and Saleh tried to explain to me what exactly the Jihad is. In addition to that I already knew that Muslims don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, I learned that Muslims believe that Jesus Christ is still alive and has not died and that he will come back to earth. According to Muslims he will eventually die though and that after that Judgement Day will come (although I don't know how long the time in between will be). I also asked about how God forgives, but I didn't really get a clear answer on that one. I guess I should have asked more about the role of 'sacrifice' in that regard. (So Saleh, if you read this... please fill me in...)

And then we talked about the Jihad. I thought that meant Holy War, but Saleh said that it didn't and now the "Real Source to all Knowledge" a.k.a. Wikipedia tells me it actually means 'Struggle'. The fact that I thought it meant Holy War probably says more about my own prejudices. And it just has a bad taste to it when I say it; 'Jihad'. It just has a bad connotation to it in my mind. It makes me think of suicide attacks and harming innocent people. Probably and apparently a pretty limited view. I wonder what it is based on...?

So Saleh and I talked about the Jihad in terms of the spread of Islam throughout the world and the different (not necessarily violent!) way of doing that. Jihad, another thing that I need to read more about in order to get a real and better understanding of what it means.

Anyone any comments?

USA and back in Oman

I returned to Oman the day before yesterday after having spend a wonderful two weeks in the USA. I spend time all over the country and visited my dear friends there. I first spend Christmas evening at my friend Katie in Connecticut, after having been held in immigration at the US border for an hour and a halve. Then on the 25th I flew to Chicago, to meet up with my friend Nick. That was sweet. I am always amazed by the hospitality that I experience when I visit friends in the States. People have been some welcoming. Anyway, after Chicago I went to the GMS reunion. How good it was to see my friends from the Summer in Vermont. Amazing to spend al this time with people that I had lived with for two months. Weird how normal everything was.

After the reunion I spent most my time with my dear friend Jason. And then when I headed to JFK he and Cassie drove my there. We crossed right through Manhattan, which was pretty amazing to do by car!

Now back in Oman. I have a purpose here. Graduation. I had kind of been putting that of in the months before I went to the USA. But now I will start working on it. But first I have the HACCP level 4 exam in a couple of days. Let's see how that will go.

Cheers!

I hate it

I hate it when you write something and then it disappears... I wrote a long story and now it shows that it is not on my blog.... bummer...

Love you all.

Harmen