Harmen in Oman

cyclone lashing Oman

2010-06-03T20:50:00.002+04:00

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.

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

2010-05-20T21:46:00.002+04:00

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

2010-05-09T17:22:00.004+04:00

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...

2010-05-02T14:49:00.002+04:00

... 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

2010-04-27T21:39:00.002+04:00

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

2010-04-08T12:49:00.003+04:00

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

2010-04-05T18:40:00.003+04:00

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

2010-04-04T19:29:00.003+04:00

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

2010-03-30T14:30:00.002+04:00

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

2010-03-27T16:24:00.002+04:00

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

2010-03-17T09:01:00.002+04:00

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

2010-03-12T17:47:00.002+04:00

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

2010-03-09T22:08:00.003+04:00

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

2010-03-05T13:24:00.002+04:00

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

2010-03-03T18:05:00.002+04:00

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

2010-02-28T19:17:00.003+04:00

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

2010-02-07T19:10:00.002+04:00

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

2010-02-03T09:10:00.002+04:00

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

2010-02-03T08:35:00.002+04:00

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

2010-01-26T23:09:00.002+04:00

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

2010-01-25T21:43:00.001+04:00

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

2010-01-25T20:47:00.003+04:00

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

2010-01-22T23:26:00.003+04:00

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

2010-01-19T17:18:00.002+04:00

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

2010-01-14T19:09:00.002+04:00

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

2010-01-13T18:35:00.003+04:00

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

2010-01-12T22:01:00.003+04:00

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

2010-01-11T07:39:00.003+04:00

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

2010-01-05T09:57:00.000+04:00

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

Level 3 in HACCP

2009-12-13T19:00:00.002+04:00

About a month ago I went for a training course that is mandatory for my work. It was the level 3 course for HACCP, an internationally recognized Food Safety course. So I followed the course for three days and then did the exam. Lo and behold. I passed with flying colors. I passed with distinction.

So what did I learn about myself regarding this matter. First of all that I do have the necessary personal characteristics for completing some sort of education. Secondly I learned that participating in training is a very good way for me for learning because;

1. They are often only for a short period of time which allow me to complete without getting distracted.

2. There is no further relations/obligations with the training center (opposed to a school)

3. The learned knowledge is relevant for what I am working on and can thus be applied immediately

4. There is a certificate is direct proof of the acquired knowledge and skills

So hooray for completing the level three of HACCP. Now this week I am attending with the rest of the HSE department the training for Level 4 in HACCP. It goes more in depth in the principles of HACCP and touches new subjects.

Now I also hope that I can do a couple of other courses such as intermediate and advanced Food Hygiene. It would make me very happy if I were able to complete these as well before I leave Oman. But lets first make sure that I pass this HACCP course.

For the rest... it is raining in Muscat. It really reminds me of when I lived in Suriname. Relatively warm weather and heavy showers raining down and blocking traffic everywhere. But it is a good change. It is really winter here... man it's cold... at night it even drops to about 20 degrees Celsius ;-)

Eid holiday - Sunday

2009-12-11T18:46:00.006+04:00

It is Sunday. I am get up. I take a shower and prepare myself for a couple of days in Sur.

Sur is not even that far, and I have been there before but still it feels like going on a holiday. I am going to stay with the Ruzaigi family. That is the family of Khalid, my host, manager and older brother all in one. So I leave at ten o clock and during my drive to Sur I stop a couple of times to take some pictures.

At twelve I arrive at Sur and have lunch with the family. I also meet some guys my own age with whom I will spend most of my time the next couple of days. Lunch of course is extensive and although there are about 15-20 people siting on the floor not many conversations are held. Mazin, Saleh and I leave after lunch to take a tour through Sur. Now Sur is traditionally closely related to the sea and has a long history of naval activity such as overseas trading, fishery and shipbuilding. Therefore we first visit a big old ship displayed at the old harbour, previously used for offloading ships but now turned into a marble paved boulevard. This ship is about 20 meters long and was use I believe for short journeys only. Before they used to build ships that were about 60 meters in length. After this short stop we head to the shipyard were they still built ships. Working on two ships the workers – mostly Indians – still built the ships mainly with simple basic tools. Visiting this smal yard doesn't make it hard to picture the social and economic life of older times in this town to have fully revolved around the fabrication of these ships. So much for culture and history. We continue walking around Sur and the neighbouring town of which I forgot the name but is connected to Sur by a recently opened bridge.

While walking and talking I am surprised about what I learn about the muslim country that I have lived in now for about two months now. I didn't expect to meet so many cultural muslims. Muslims who say they believe in Allah and meet all the religious expectations of going to the mosque and praying but in the end don't really care about it. Very interesting. I hope to investigate the opinions of the people of my age more here in Oman.

Any way, then a plan for the evening is forged. We will go to Ras Al Hadd and do some night snorkling, we'll catch some fish and lobster and then sleep under the bare sky. Good plan. Good plan. We make the necessary preparations and head to Ras Al Hadd, about 50km to the West of Sur.

A little before Ras Al Hadd we find a good location for snorkling, refered to as my Omani friends as diving, and get prepared. Fins, goggles, wetsuit, weights, torch and of course an underwater spear. The sea appears calm so we decide to give it a go. The water temperature is agreable and the visibility perfect. I had never done night diving before so this was a new experience to me. Although it seemed that many of the fish were sleeping there was an abundance of marine life to sea. There were for instance many small jellyfish that lit up in fluorescent colours when shone upon with the torch. And it was very noisy. Many creaking and sizzling noises made by I don't know what kind of creatures.

We started our hunt. Bahgwan, one of the guys demonstrated t me how to spear lobster and cuttlefish properly. Now the thing with cuttlefish is that, like octopuses, the excrete some cloud of ink when threatened and turning the water around you completely black. An interesting experience. When starting to hunt I felt kind of apprehensive and hestitant because it is not a daily thing for me to take the life of lobster and cuttlefish. It was not so much that I felt bad for the creatures, they were going to serve a good purpose in being our dinner, but more of the fact that it was not experienced in it. We spent about an hour in the water during which I saw a couple of rays, murene eals and a sleeping meter long turtle in a big crevice. The gain of the hunt was about twenty five cuttle fish and I guess about twenty lobsters.

The rest of the guys had aready started a fire that had turned into coals. Perfect for barbequeing the lobsters. We spend a couple of hours sitting under a beautiful clear sky, eating the fresh lobster from the sea and enjoying ourselves in random conversations.

Then our group of about ten guys broke up in two. With three other guys I went to one of the beaches where turtles lay there eggs. Testing our jeep to the max by driving over/through the sand dunes we reached the beach. No sight of big turtles laying their eggs but we did find some small hatchlings that were actually stuck in the nets that fishermen had carelessly had left behind. Filled with care for these small fin flapping sea creatures and as any responsible citizen would have done we freed them from the nets and set them free. I would have expected a little more intellegence from these 'wicked dudes' (you must have seen Nemo...) cause we had to correct them three times before they headed in the direction of the sea; a beautiful place of both freedom and danger. How small the chances that they might come back at exactly this beach in so many years to lay their own eggs here (provided that they were indeed of that gender)!

Then we continued to the final chapter of our day. Making our camp for the night at Ras Al Hadd to wait for the sunrise to come. Baghwan knew a place away from the crowded places where many Indians and Omani spend Eid holiday on the beach. In a small shelter, probably normally in use by fishermen we rolled out a mat and reposed ourselves for a couple of hours. The House of the Rising Sun... but not really. Now Ras Al Hadd means Head of the Edge and it is a place of specific significance. First of all because it is the place furthest in in the Middle East and thus the place where the sun can be seen first in this part of the world. Also it is important because it is the place in the sea where the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea converge. This contributes to climate that is very much more pleasant during the hot Omani summers.

Having slept about two hours I woke up by the sound of my alarm, set for the witnessing of the sunrise. I looked around and the light in the sky announced the birth of a new day. I waited halve an hour and then the sun made its shining appearance. Indeed a new day had come. The Father who by the power of his life giving Breath and the speaking of his Word had created the sun so long ago be praised for this daily miracle.

Eid holiday - Saturday

2009-12-09T22:43:00.005+04:00

Eid holiday was a bliss. Taking rest and not experiencing any stress from work. Great.

Although I got sick at the end of Eid it was a great time to meet (new) people, see some things of the country and like I said, take rest from work.Friday, the first day of Eid was for me a day to go to church and spend some time reading. I was reading 1984 by George Orwell. I never knew that book was so good. And Church is always good too. Weekly I go there to take communion and spend time in prayer and worship with my fellow brothers and sisters: all honor and glory to Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Anyway, Saturday I left in the morning to go to Abdullah, my coworker who lives in Shinaz, about 3 hours to the West of Musqat.

Arriving at his house I was welcomed in the guest room, the only room I would be seeing that day

. This is typical for Omani hospitality; receiving guests in the guest room. No tour du maison or meeting any of women. We sad down to have water and fruit and afterwards some qa'awa and hahloawah. That is coffee and sweets. The Omani coffee is coffee with cardemom and served in tiny cups. The sweet is a very very sweet almost jellylike substance served traditionally at

eid (although you can get it al throughout t

he year).

Having sat there for a while and having met Abdollahs older brother Khamis we went to collect the result of a daylong cooking process. We went to collect the goat that was killed the day before at eid. What they do to prepare it for dinner is cutting it in pieces, wrapping it in some sort reed protective and draining it in water. After this is is put in a hole in the ground (about 1.5 meter/ 5 feet) and cooked/smoked over hot

charcoal. Result is a delicious tender piece of goat meat with a strong smokey flavour. This was our lunch. It was really good.

(photo's: the wicker basket with in the pot the heads of the goats. On the plate the prepared meat. yummy)

Having had lunch with the family (and again... of course only the men were there, because it is improper to meet the women in the family in their house) Abdullah and I went for a d

rive to Shinaz. There we found that the weekly bullfights were about to start. Normally these are on friday, but because of Eid they were postponed a day.

Since the famous bullfights were on my list of things that I would like to see in Oman I was feeling happy to be able to witness this

cultural event, charactaristic to the west of Oman. The bullfights are pretty gentle in Oman. Nothing bloody or really agressive. More of a challenge and short struggle to see who is the strongest of the two fighting bulls. As we arrived at the 'arena', an open field of about 40x40 meters, we saw about 30 bulls roped to poles encircling the battlefield. Some of them making load roaring sounds, probably showing somesort of displeased attitude, and other bulls were scraping the ground with there hooves (or what ever sort of foot it is that bulls have) causing dust flying around. The bulls were not really big though. The back was probably about 1.5 meters high. Yet they were able to show enough strength and toughness to intimidate me and all the rest of the people watching. But I guess that is the idea of the thing.

And then the fighting started. First, two bulls were distached from the poles and led to the centre of the arena. There they were placed at about 2 feet from eachother facing eachothers' ferocious (well, not really) looking horns. Then the fight began. There were a couple of scenarios. In scenario one, the first bull was scared of the other and ran away. Not really a big show, although at one occassion, one bull almost ran into the crowd of spectators. But of course we were not there, nor was it the point of the bull fight, to see the crowd being torn to pieces by a bull that was almost wetting his pants. Then in the second scenario the bulls didn't really care about eachother and were just looking at one another with the greatest amount of indifference. Too bad, no show. But, of course, the third scenario was what we were hoping for. A great display of power in a struggle to dominating the other bull.

Mainly what happened was the bulls beating their head against the each other and trying to

subjugate the opponnent by pushing its head to the ground. Most of the time these fights only took about 30 seconds upto two minutes. At the end, the ropes that were still attached to the necks of these 'behemoths', were grabbed some Omanis that had the job of controlling the beasts after the fights and the bullls were brought back to their place outside the ring. Most of the time

I had no idea how to determine which bull had won in the end. Sometimes the game just ceased and the bulls were seperated. But anyhow I really enjoyed this old Omani tradition. Reflecting on it the fact that these battles were pretty docile might be related to the friendliness of the Omani people... who knows.

After the game we went back to the house. I wanted to go home, because I had a long way to go and had to get up early in the morning, but of course I had to stay for dinner. I could not just leave like that. Dinner it should be and dinner it was going to be. So I stayed for another meal and then headed back to Muscat to take rest before my next adventure in Sur began....

(to be continued)

Last week and this week

2009-11-26T18:00:00.002+04:00

Moi! Alles goud? Lekker guhsloap'n...? I had a guest over last week. From Winsum, Groningen, of all places. He was here for a week to built a new sort of Portacabin that one of our sister companies is developing. Basically the concept is a regular Portacabin stucture, but the walls and ceiling are made of EPS; Styrofoam oftewel, piepschuim. More energy efficient because of high the isolation value. Anyway, Romke was here and he stayed in my appartment since I have a two bedroom appartment. It was very interesting to have a Dutch guy over in the house for a week. Very different from me; it was good to have some companionship. His remarks on things like burka's and arranged marriage here were very interesting. Personally I can easily accept those things here because it is not my country and not my culture. Although in my own life I would not approve of it I guess. I mean, not that I am going to run around in a Burka, but you know, if that would happen in my family ... Anyway Romke, he couldn't accept it which led to interesting situations. He for instance was really shocked when he saw a lady in a totally covered burka, the ones that veil the fase entirely so also the eyes. “dat is toch niet normoal! Dat ken toch neit!” Also he learned that it is hard to work with Indian laborers. No intrinsic motivation, only work when there is a supervisor. They did not even start building the framework needed for his work. It gave a three day delay. And that while he was only here for a week. Anyhow, we visited some sites in the area here and last Friday he went back to Holland.

Speaking of Holland, today I missed Holland. I wanted just to go there and spend time with my beloved friends and familiy. Visit Wicher in Rotterdam, Roel Henk Jelmer en David in Groningen and of course my family in Overrijssel. Ik mis jullie om me heen. On the other hand. I am happy that I am here. The weather is gorgeous now. Like 28 degrees celcius and a nice breeze. Perfect beach weather. My apartment is nice. And I am well taken care off.

And of course, which you probably don't know, it is Eid holiday here. A week off! Hooray. No work. This is the second eid after the ramadan and starts about 70 days after the end of the ramadan. The first eid, Eir al Fitr, is directly after the ramadan. This eid is called Eid ul-Adha and is the Festival of Sacrifice. I believe the origin of the name is related to Ibrahim in the Quran (Abraham in the Holy Bibe) who was willing to sacrifice his son. In the Quran version of this story it is not Isaac btw, but Ismael that fulfills this role. On this eid muslims traditionally slaughter a goat I believe it is, and eat it with the family. I don't exactly know though.

So during eid, actually this Saturday, I will go with my colleague Naseem and his family to visit Abdullah, who lives like 3 hours from here and have lunch with him and his family. And on Sunday I will be going to Sur, you know that place where I was treated as a royal guest before, to stay a couple of days at Mr. Khalids family house. No idea what is going to happen, but I bet it is going to be a good time. And then after there I will go to Badar. He comes from a Bedouin family and I will spend some days there. In the middle of nowhere. A big adventure also. And then probably the week will be about over after that and work will start again.

Ow and of course my plans for around new years eve I will be in the States to celebrate the reunion with my friends from GMS. I am so pumped about this and cannot wait for this to happen. I am lucky that they gave me off at work. So I can stay there for about 10 days.

So after eid I will definitely post some pictures and have great lenghty stories to tell.

Ma-salaam!

De Woestijn

2009-11-22T23:37:00.006+04:00

Boven de woestijngrond wevelt 't zand.
Opgejaagd.
Door dorre droge lucht.

---

Hier en daar een bosje
met een enkel blaadje misschien.
Het smeekt om water.
Volgend jaar misschien.
Of niet.

---

Zand zover ik kijken kan
Zand overal.
Zoveel nakomelingen?

---

Ik zie een meer.
Dat zeggen mijn ogen.
De lucht trilt boven het zand.
Mijn ogen liegen.
Ze zijn bedrogen

---

Vonnis: Schuldig bevonden voor het staan op sigarettenpakjes.
Straf: levenslang in de zandbak

Guess what I did today?

2009-11-13T21:52:00.001+04:00

Guess what I did today?

Feeling good

2009-11-11T15:16:00.002+04:00

Last week I was feeling stressed and drained. I felt pressure from work as some problems with a client presented themselves. I felt overly responsible and didn't really know how to deal with the pressure. But since yesterday the sun is shining again. Again I went swimming in the afternoon. In the evening went to a wonderful bible studies. I feel like I have energy again. That feels good. I feel blessed. Just now, this afternoon during my lunch time (remember that we have a 2 hours break from 1-3) I went to "Mandi" to eat Yemeni food. Biryani rice, with chicken and mutton. Really good. And after that we went to a coffee bar to have turkish coffee with seeshah (hookah/waterpipe). It was relaxing. Now I feel like sleeping. But there is a lot of work waiting for me and the HSE team. Plans for tonight. Go to the mall and go to bed early.
I'll try to post some more pictures too soon.

And by the way the Hanze Hoogeschool asked me to write something about my experiences. So pick up a HanzeMag if you are in Groningen on the Hanze next month.

Love you all! Gods bless to you all!

Business cards

2009-11-08T19:04:00.002+04:00

Finally I recieved my business cards. It took some time but know I got them. Yeah!
I also had a meeting with a senior HSE officer of Galfar, one of our clients, today. Working together with people from all these different organisations and companies gives me energy. I like it.

For the rest. I am still trying listen to myself and also relax; that is not easy cause I learned that in a formal environment I find it hard to doing so, I often feel confined by it. It is good to know this about myself. But dealing with it is alway a second, and harder, step to take.

Leuke link

2009-11-05T19:13:00.003+04:00

Mijn lieve moeder stuurde me een interessante link:

Http://www.nieuwekerk.nl/nl/index.htm

In de nieuwe kerk in Amsterdam gaan ze namelijk binnenkort over tot prediking van het in Oman gepractiseerde Ibadisme nadat voorganger zich na een bezoek in Oman zich daartoe heeft bekeerd. Uiteraard is dat maar een grapje van mijn kant. Maar er is wel een expositie over Oman. Misschien leuk om naar toe te gaan. De site geeft een uitgbreide beschrijving van Oman, de cultuur, historie etcetera.

Comments

2009-11-05T00:12:00.002+04:00

Okay, now I changed settings on my blog so everyone should be able to post comments. I heard that many people had problems doing so.

Wadi Mussallem

2009-11-04T23:08:00.003+04:00

I spent three days in one of the kitchens that I think I wrote about earlier. With two Philippino colleagues (Sam and Salvador) I went to Wadi Mussallem, the name of the camp. I felt honestly bad for the supervisor there. The kitchen was just a mess and was so dirty. The stoves for instance were creating big black fumes. Terrible. Rajesh, the supervisor, was pretty desperate about it.

Anyway, after taking rest for one night we started working in the morning with the observation phase. Having collected the data we analyzed the most urgent problems and drew up an approach plan. This we discussed with Rajesh. He was happy we were there.

And in the afternoon the fun part started. We sat together with the entire crew and explained the program for the next couple of days. Since I don't speak Hindi very well and they only speak "shuee shuee" English, Rajesh was translating. But there is this big language problem so communication goes slow. Funny also. Then after the meeting Sam did a basic training on personal hygiene and food training. We introduced basic things like the "clean as you go" cleaning concept. In the evening at 9.30 we started to do a deep cleaning of the kitchen. This took to 2.15 am. And not even halve of it was done. But it was a good start that helped to clean the kitchen and reorder it. They day after we focused more on hygiene practices in the kitchen and training the supervisor. I enjoyed it very much. I took on the attitude of being strict and patient at the same time. It worked very well, I hope... It was for me a great experience. It is harder to instill change in people's behavior. I tried to give Rajesh some good tools to work with for the future. I just hope he succeeds. That will make me happy to :-) So that might give you some idea of what I am working on here in Oman. I'll post some pictures of my work soon too.

Ow. A nice thing. This weekend I am getting new furniture for my apartment. I am looking forward to sitting on my sofa with a good cup of coffee...

Even ventileren....

2009-10-31T21:38:00.003+04:00

O man, wat zijn Indiers soms toch ook irritante mensen. Komt er een supervisor van een van onze locatie omdat ie problemen heeft. Dus bel ik met onze client om zijn kant van het verhaal te horen. Krijg ik een woordenvloed van onverstaanbaar Indiaas engels over me heen. Dus vraag duidelijk aan die man om rustig te praten. Dit houdt die man twee zinnen vol en rammelt dan weer door in onbegrijpbare kreten. Naja, wat een gedoe heey. Het frustreert me wel hoor maar ik sla me er door. Uiteindelijk heb ik niet het idee dat er iets zinnigs uit is gekomen. Ik moet gewoon nog leren omgaan met Indiers. Rare jongens zijn het. Maar aan de andere kant ook wel veel spanning aan mijn hoofd hoor. Het werk is wel een uitdaging maar niet makkelijk. Ik begin nu ik ook echt in de organisatie aan het werk ga dat er echt een gebrek aan organisatie en samenwerking is. Naja. beste beentje voor. Ik ga er voor. Bid maar voor rust in mijn hoofd. Alle lof aan God!

Gorgeous day (last weekend)

2009-10-30T19:41:00.011+04:00

It is seven o clock. My alarm goes off. I want to stay in bed but I won't. Today is Thursday and I have taken the morning off. Andy – who I met at Church before - is taking me on a trip to visit some different nice Omani sites. We meet up at somewhere at at the Sultan Al Qaboos High way and start our trip in his 4x4 Daihatsu Terios. Our journey plan is to go to Wadi Shab, a supposedly a beautiful place with palm trees and pools right in the middle of the valley (a Wadi) in the mountains. Also we want to go to the so called “sinkhole”, a big hole close to the sea that holds beautiful blue green water and fish that nibble your feet.
We drive out of the parking spot leaving my car behind and heading in the direction of Sur. We drive through the mountains near Muscat and there is little traffic. The mountains are beautiful, very rocky and and have deep red brownish colour. We talk about life, church, christians, apologetics and arrive at a town called Quriyat. A small town at the Arabian sea. We take some pictures of some nice old forts (it's Andy on the picture) and drive further along the coast.
My phone goes off. It is Mr. Khalid. I tell him that I am heading in the direction of Sur. Immediately he responds by saying that this is his hometown and that I will go to Sur to meet his family and have lunch there. Later I talk to his older brother Mr. Mussalem on the phone. We are expected at two in the afternoon.

Next stop is the sinkhole in the Dibab area. And yes, it is beautiful. More than that. A nice park surrounds the deep basin which is about 40x25 meters in diameter. A starecase with remarkably big steps leads down to the pond that has many blue and green colourations. Before descending I watch an old Omani slowly finding his way downwards, his walking stik in loosely in his right hand and at every step he takes his left hand gently pulling his Dishdash to give his legs a bit more space. It is said that people used to believe that Demons used to house this pool and call it Afreet something something. A name having to do with demons. Superstition you think?

I make my way down and find myself looking at this marvellous water. I take of my shoes and take a step in the warm water. Another step. As soon as the whirling sand settles small little fish gather around my feed and start nibbling, my toes and feet. The first minute it tickles terribly, then it becomes more of a natural foot massage. I reckon about 50 guppy-like fish are indulging on what ever substance, smell or taste it is that they make them become attracted to my feet. I sit down on a rock and enjoy this natural wonder of feet nibbling creatures. We leave this place with great satisfaction. I want to go back here sometimes.
We move on and drive further East and stop a couple of times, for instance at Fins. We take pictures enjoy the warm sun, spectacular beachview sites and when it starts getting too hot we get back in our mobile refrigerator. Oman with AC is a bliss. Before getting in the car I find a piece of coral and take it with me to put it in my appartment. I don't think I can take it back to Holland through customs though. Too bad.
We don't take the main road straight to the Wadi Shab near Tiwi by the way. No we take the old road that leads through the local villages. This is the real Oman. At one point we find ourselves in the middle of a group of Omani having a barbecue on both sides of the street. Strangely they look at us as we pass their local gettogether, they don't seem bothered by us though. We keep driving and all of a sudden the road is so steep we start wondering if the car won't tip over. It does not. Luckily. And as we start wondering how to continue now, we see the sign for the Wadi Shab right there.

Now we are standing at the foot of the mountain range and about 200 meters behind us we can

see the sea. In front of us is the opening, the end of a gorge. This is an amazing canyon with jade coloured pools and streams and typical palmtrees. Entering this gorgeous place we look at the beauty of all the rich and abundant colours. The walls of mountains that we see on both our right and left hand vary from a rusty brown-red to pale orange, sandy yellow beige and almost chocoate brown and as the sunlight casts its presence over parts of the mountains, the contrasts makes it look like this place has come alive. We are astonished and overwhelmed by the beauty of this natural miracle.

In the heat we try to walk as much as possilbe in the protection of the shadow of the date palms which have already given their fruits during the summertime. Here and there we see some old palm trunks and we are told later that a couple of years ago a terrible storm had caused a destructive flood that swept away halve of all the vegataion in the area. During our hike we meet some people from various countries that are also here for recreation. They point us in the right direction and tell us that after an hour hiking there is nice natural pool. Full

of anticipation we continue hiking. I wrap my t

owel over my head to give me some protection from

the hot scourging sun. Each of usonly brought one small bottle of water so soon we start getting a little thirsty. But since we also have to make our way down we safe some of our water. Anyway, having hiked for

at least an hour – we take pictures around every corner, at every new rocks and stone and flower that we see – we reach the point were we can go no further without swimming. Therefore the bag stays at this point and Andy and I surrender to the water of this natural tropical pool. What makes it so special is that the water is warm, and it is so bright and that there are caves that in which you can swim. So there I am, in the water, looking up and it all around me is mountain and lightbeams enter the cave through cracks in the ceiling. Magnificent.

But then it is time to go back. We are already late for our lunch appointment but there is no reception here so its not possible to call our hosts. With this great experience we decend quickly and go back to our car. Mavi Mushkallaah, is the respons when we do finally call Mr. Mussalem.That means “no problem”. We are still more than welcome in his house in Sur. With a hungry stomach and directions to where we meet we rush to Sur. In Sur Mr. Mussalem has a warm welcome for us. He receives us in the guest room. A beautiful colourful room with a couch al around the room. It can easily hold 30 people. At one of the walls hangs a nice depiction of a boat. It is a Boum, a traditional Omani boat, that is however not being built anymore. On the background we see a house which is the familiy house of the Al Ruzaiqi familiy. Lunch is served and we replenish our bodies with delicious, fish, chicken, rice, fruits, dates and I don't know what more. After the lunch we continue with drinking suleymanie tea and

Omani coffee. This is sweet moderetely strong coffee served in very tiny cups. In Omani tradition this is served at arrival of the guests. The hosts stands and the guests sit and being served the coffee. New coffee is given as long as the guests wishes to get a refill. If he is done he is supposed to gently sway the cup signaling the host no new coffee is wanted. Normally people drink about three to four cups but coffee addicts will cause the host to stand on his feet for a long time since it is not considered polite to serve full cups. Only a small sip is served per cup. Go figure if you're used to drinking a venti coffee at your local Starbucks. Then it is prayer time. No problem Andy and I think, we'll wait here. It happens often that I need to wait before a meeting or whatever cause people need to go to prayer. But on this occassion our host rolls out his mat in direction of Mekka and just does te prayer in front of us. Feeling slightly uncomfertable and awkward, staring at our cups of tea I think what to make of all this. The praying ritual involves standing, kneeling, bowing, and silent prayer. I am happy we are not invited to partake in this prayer. Although, if he would have asked, I would have probably said that I would pray to Jesus instead. Anyway, after prayer we are drive to the family house, a couple of blocks away. There we meet the second to oldest of al eight brothers, Mr. Abdullah. We spend about 15 minutes there. We talk about Islamic believes and Omani culture. Mr. Mussallem explains that if a unannounced guest arrives at his house he would have to take care of him for three days without asking what his business is, or waht the reason of his stay is. Then after three days, he can ask, what is your business, what's the deal? But not earlier than having taken care of him for three days. After visiting this house we go to the farm house. This is where the familiy usually stays the other halve of the year. The house and garden are under construction. Some thirty goats, fifty chickens and two bulls are there livestock. The bulls are being held to be slaughtered at Eid, one of the Islamic holidays at the end of November. I actully may spend Eid there. The sun has set already and we need to make our way back home. But of course we cannot leave empty handed and both Andy and I bring home a bucket full of the best dates that were grown on the farm here. Delicious.
On the way back we are both exhausted and amazed by this beautiful day. Oman is a gorgeous country. The people are very hospitable. And I am having all these great experiences. I mean, look at the picture. But also I know that my position here is based on social inequity, injustice. and favoratism They way I live has a price that is paid by so many people that are less fortunate. This topic I must explore more. But not now. Now is the time to sleep, I feel tire. Good night.

2009-10-28T23:12:00.002+04:00

Today I moved to my new apartment. I left the guesthouse. This is a nice apartment and we are still working on furnishing it. I picked some nice stuff from a local furnishing company here. The kitchen and bathroom are in need of some remodeling so I hope that that will happen soon too. But things tend to take a little more time here than I am used to. But hey, maavi mushkaalaa; no problem.

Also today I had diner with Naseem , Senior Personnel Manager (blah blah titles...) and his family. They are so kind. His brother in law was also there. Mehmood. Great guy, 28 years old, intellegent, so perfect for discussion and interesting conversations. We talked about Islamic beliefs and how it differs from the Bible. It is actually quite puzzling to me. They believe in Jesus Christ as a prophet of God and not as his Son. Of course I knew that, but I didn't know that they believe that is will come back on Judgment day. There, from what the tell me, He will have victory over the anti christ. Also they told me that they believe that the Bible is not true because it was altered. And of course the Qu'ran is not. What I didn't know was that for Muslims it is okay to marry a Jew or Christian and it is not necessary for them to convert to Islam, since they believe that God is the same as allah. I don't know though what to make of all this. I am interested to knowing whether that argument of the altered Bible is widely accepted and what the content of that argument is. So who changed what etc. Moreover, it is weird hearing Muslims speak about Jesus Christ to. Like they also know him. But different. Almost like, hey, your not supposed to know anything about him because "Jesus belongs to us"...All in all, for me it makes it all much more relevant to learn more about Jesus Christ. In a strange kind of way it seems to become more relevant to really finding out what Truth is about God. I mean, with people that don't believe in God at all, I experience the discussion to be so much more different. I'll keep you posted on this.

Yesterday by the way, I met two people at the Food expo. They are from Italy and I had good contact with them soon after meeting them. We had some laughs and it was good spending time with them. Afterwards we had a great seafood diner at the adjacent hotel. Very nice. So thanks to Elena and Flavio! They made the day yesterday.

Btw. My story of last weekend is still in progress.

Food Expo

2009-10-26T22:37:00.002+04:00

Today, and the next to days, there is a Food Expo in Muscat. They, some department heads, decided that Al Athnain needed to be there too. So in a rush a stand was arranged and some decorations were made. I nice effort :-). Also Vegetable Biryiani (an Indian Rice dish) was served for visitors. A nice teaser to attract visitors. Still a lot improvements to be made. But I like expo's. You always meet new people, get to know the industry better and the atmosphere is also pretty relaxed. Anyway, just another day in Oman ;-) ... like life is boring here. Haha, definitely not. Actually sometimes it is a little bit too much and I do have quite some responsibilities here in the hygiene department. I will try to write a little bit more about that later. Ow, and I also want to write something about social inequality/ (in)justice. Man, there is just so much to write about :-).

To close this ongoing rambling of mine let me say. Things go well here! Gods Bless!

Just saying hi

2009-10-24T14:01:00.003+04:00

Hi!

I am working on a long post about my experiences this weekend. But since it is not finished I'll just leave a short note here. Last night I asleep and I don't really know what happened but I was very fast asleep. Then I think I had some very weird dream and I remember that I tried to get out of it. But I couldn't. At least at first. And then when I finally did wake up I had no idea where I was. I was staring at the ceiling in the dark and I had to tell myself that I was in Oman and that I was in my bed room. Very weird. Well what you gonna do about it.

And here is a teaser for the story about this weekend:

Kitchens in the interior

2009-10-19T19:28:00.003+04:00

19/10/09

Today I took the bus to somewhere in the middle of nowhere. So now I am at a construction camp in the desert. I will do some auditing on hygiene matters in kitchen around the sites here.

20/10/09

I visited three camps today. The second camp, in Wadi Musallem was terrible. It is pretty remote from the already remote area of Qar Na Alam, where we stay overnight. The kitchen was understaffed, a mess and and not well equipped. I feel sorry for the su

pervisor there. But it doesn't seem to be a location with a very high priority for both the client and my company. The kitchen here though is definitely the best I have seen here in the interior yet. Well equipped, well maintained, well staffed.

But of course you are more interested in reading adventurous stories about traveling through the great hazardous desert and wilderness.

Well I have took some nice pictures as you can see

About the one with the exhaust pipes here, I figure that has something to do with the oil production in the area.

he picture of the sun was taken from our car and

it is actually the same the sun as you have there.

The one with the camel made me smile. I am still waiting to see a camel with a car on its back... En voor alle mensen die denken dat ze een onderscheid

maken tussen Dromedarissen en Kamelen, vergeet het maar. Het heet hier gewoon een Kameel. De twee bultigen komen niet eens in de Golfstaten voor, daarvoor moet je meer naar kouder Azie.

And the one with the desert. Well, what can you say... It's a she... and her name is Sandy

Thursday is Saturday and Friday is Sunday

2009-10-17T18:08:00.002+04:00

Something that I wrote earlier:

A blanket of warmth and heat. Hospitality and kindness. A 48 hours work week. A new weekly structure. A gazillion roundabouts. A crowded office. Prayer calls five times a day. A two hour lunch break. Mosques on every street corner. Just some of the first impressions that I have of this first week in Oman. Right now I feel tired.
It is Friday and I came back from church an hour ago. There is a compound that holds both the catholic and protestant church here in Oman. I visited a contemporary service of the PCO, the Protostant Church of Oman. That is already one of the things that I did not expect; the ability to practice the Christian religion here so openly. Sultan Al Qaboos is quite open minded I suppose. Yesterday, Saturday... I mean Thursday... Badr, my Omani friend getting me set up here and exactly three days older than me, showed my around Muttrah and took me to the Souk (market ) there. Also he showed me the humble home of the Sultan in Muscat.
Concerning my work, in my first week here I plunged in my work right away and found myself learning many new things while also being wrapped in confusion and struggle. I am learning about HACCP (hygiene management) while feeling that I know way too little about it. Also I have no idea yet of how to make a proper beginning in all this new information coming at me. I’ll keep you updated. Furthermore, I think I haven’t seen one person at work sitting for more than 10 minutes at his or her desk without walking out talking to co-workers or running around with a file or document of some sort. It is interesting to work in this culture and my colleagues are trying to teach me some Arabic. It is hard... I learned that the people from India here (and trust me, there are many) learn to speak the language in about 2 months. I feel I am going to need more time.
I’ll keep you posted. Much love and peace to all of you.

The sheep

2009-10-16T10:33:00.003+04:00

Yesterday I organized a BBQ on the beach for Al Athnain employees (my company). We went to Al Qu'rum beach. Too bad the sun sets already at 6 'o clock. So it was already dark when we got there. Anyhow, with about 20 people we had a good bbq. It was nice to be around people from work outside of the working context.

In preparations for the bbq by the way we went to a slaughterhouse, bought a Somalian sheep and and left to do some other shopping at Luly Hypermarket in the Bousher area. Coming back after halve an hour at the slaughter house we found our sheep hanging upside down, the tongue hanging out of its mouth, killed and completely skinned; ready to be butchered. So as I stood two feet away from the butcher I instructed him how to I wanted the cuts and he gave me a demonstration, "how to butcher a sheep in 10 minutes?" Interesting notion, when I looked at the small heap of organs on the table I noticed the heart still beating occasionally. In my head I immediately started singing Michael Jackson's 'Beat it', in the futile hope to extend the heart's lifespan a little bit. Helas, the sheep was dead.. but ready to be eaten :)

Oman blog has opened

2009-10-14T14:32:00.002+04:00

My dear friends and family,

Having spend a week in Oman I needed to open this blog, or it wouldn't probably ever happen.
Anyway, here it is. I will try to keep you updated regularly about events that surround my life and the activities that I partake in. Basically I will tell you how I am doing, and of course show you all the beatiful pictures of Oman (and beyond perhaps).

And by the way, I love receiving emails :-) to keep in touch with each of you personally