E in Nizwa

An advantage of private schools is big, overnight field trips.  At our school, they are referred to as residential trips.  Is this a British phrase?  I don't know.  But I know it isn't just a British thing to go on trips because my sister went to a private school for a few years growing up, and she always went on ever larger end-of-year trips.  To keep me from being sad about this, I went to my Grandma and Pa's house for a week by myself.  Hmmm... I see a Throwback Thursday post I could do with that.  I did go on school trips, but band & orchestra trips and soccer tournaments seem different, to me.

My adventurer

Anyways, year 4 children (third graders) are the first to go on a trip, then the trips get a bit longer each year.  Year 5 children go to Nizwa.  Nizwa, as you may remember from my previous post about our family trip there, is a city in the interior of Oman.  It is 1.5-2 hours by car from Muscat.  The school hired buses to drive the kids to Nizwa, then they had to change to smaller buses to get up the mountains to their camp.  By camp, I mean hotel.  But these are kids, and it's fun to refer to it as a camp.  The school had rented out the entire facility.  It's not overly large, but renting the entire facility allows for better security measures for the kids.  They shared rooms 4 or 5 kids to a room, and the teachers came around to make sure they were settling down for bed.

Bircher Muesli

Bircher Muesli is a Swiss breakfast dish, I believe.  We discovered it on the breakfast buffet line of our hotel in Dubai.  It was a hit with my youngest son, and therefore a recipe that needed to be recreated.

I found a recipe on Pinterest via Alexandra Cooks.  This was my starting point, though I did change it some to fit my morning time constraints and products that I have on hand.  I make this in bulk and store in a sealed container.  It is important to note that this recipe should sit and soak for a bit so that the chia seeds can do their thing and plump up.  I prepare it approximately 15 minutes before the boys get up so that it is ready to eat as soon as they are downstairs.  And by they, I mean just J.  I'm not even sure E has tried it.

Bircher Muesli mixed and plumped.  This version had peanuts.  Side note:  This stuff isn't beautiful to photograph.

Muscat Marathon 2019

January 18 & 19 was the weekend of the Muscat Marathon.  Stephen ran the half marathon on Friday morning, and the boys ran in the 1k and 2k on Saturday morning.  I should have run the 10k, but it was hard to gauge how quickly Stephen and I could have found each other to trade off boys between ending his run and starting my run.  I should have signed up and asked friends to help with the boys.  It takes place, after all, in the Wave which is where many of our friends live.  Next year, I'll be running the half marathon, too.

One of the many photo op signs they brought in for the race.

For the most part, it was a very well organized run.  It was also one of the largest runs Stephen has participated in.  Not sure how it compared in size to the OKC Memorial race, but this race was large.  I believe the 10k had the most runners.  The kids runs had nearly 3000 kids running!  It was also the first time we had true, world-class runners running in the same race.  True, they were running the full marathon.  But they still finished their marathon after Stephen finished his half, and they started at the same time.  The first finisher was 2:13 (according to Stephen) as opposed to the 2:10 from last year.  One of them apparently fell, and ran through the finish line holding his heavily bandaged hand up.  I think he finished around 5th or 6th.

Al Amerat Hill

This Sunday we hiked Al Amerat Hill.  This was the highest climb I've done here in Oman at 1040 ft. of elevation gain.  It is also a windy and therefore chilly hike.  I'd recommend long sleeves and maybe even a wrap for your ears.

Panoramic view from the top.  Also note that I still rock my crazy leggings.  My vast collection has come in handy.

The girls have hiked this trail 3 times now, but this was my first time to get to join in on the fun.  It was first found via the Duncan Adventure blog.  To be honest, I was scared of this hike because I had heard about loose rocks and scrambling.  Not so bad going up, but that combination can cause me to panic while going down.

To get to the hike, you drive up Al Amerat hill.  This is a very visible road, especially at night as you see the lights zig zagging across the mountain side.  So you take the switchback up, then there is a turn off on your right that I imagine would be easy to miss.  Take that turn off, go between the concrete barricades, and drive until the road ends.  Literally.  If you walk to the end of the road, it is apparently a sheer drop off.  I didn't get that close.  There are some large painted boulders near the edge.  Just on the edge side of the boulders (a good 5 feet from the edge) was close enough for me.

Children's Public Library

Here in Muscat, there is a dedicated Children's Library.  We've checked it out once.  I have, let's say, mixed reviews.

The Children's Public Library is a large, beautiful building in Muscat.

The library is fairly new.  I believe it opened spring of 2018.  When we went back in August before school started, only one floor was open to the public.  So hopefully they have bigger and better plans for it to grow.

It has pretty limited hours as it is not open on the weekend, and it closes at 3pm during the week.  So basically, during the school year, there is no time for children to go to the library unless they are homeschooled.  Maybe as they grow they can hire more workers and expand the hours?

Aint Mountain Trek

Recently I went on another hike with my group of ladies to Aint Mountain.  Yes, every device will either say that is spelled wrong or try to autocorrect it by adding an apostrophe.

This is another Omantripper hike.  It is a really fun hike that is not too hard.  It is near Muttrah, and from the peaks you can look out over the port of Muttrah at the Sultan's yachts.

A panoramic view from the top.

The hike starts in a little fishing village called Aint.  In fact, it's not even labeled in English on Google.  When you get to the village from the highway, you come up on the beach where the boats are lined up waiting to head out.  As it is a small village, it is important to dress conservatively.  We wore pants and long sleeves with tanks underneath.  To get there, you take Madinat Sultan Qaboos towards Muttrah.  You exit at Darsait, take the U-turn under the highway and stay in the left lane to loop back under the highway.  You then stay to the right to head under the highway again.  Yes, that is 3 times under the highway.  I've mentioned streets are not laid out in a grid, right?  Anyways, that road, Darsait St., takes you toward the ocean.  Follow the road to the right until it ends in Aint then take a right (your only option).  Head straight until the end of the road, take a left and park.  The path starts straight ahead of your car.

Hope is What We Crave

In the vein of songs that inspire me, I present "Hope is What We Crave" by for KING & COUNTRY.

The chorus of the song gets me:

Hope is what we crave
And that will never change
So I stand and wait
I need a drop of grace
To carry me today
A simple song to sing
It's written on my soul
Hope's what we crave

Pokemon Walks

Stephen has had a Pokemon Go account for a while.  Not since Day 1 because he would never follow a trend like that.  But he got one, played for a while then stopped.  Then in summer 2017, his older brother, Michael, recommended Pokemon Go for finding interesting new spots while traveling.  Apparently, both of Stephen's brothers play a lot.  So Stephen downloaded again and played occasionally on walks with the boys.  They tended to do this on Sunday afternoons while I napped, I believe.

Fast forward another year to summer 2018 when I told the boys I would download it to play while in Oman.  Turns out, my dad had an account for himself and an account for E for when they would play together (him on his phone, the boys on his tablet).  So I took over E's account to use as a family account.  Side note:  I wish it wasn't a kid account so I could have friends and send gifts.  Stephen has gotten some cool, shiny Pokemon from his brother.

So we got to Oman, I got an Oman number and small data plan, and we started walking.  Every day we go on walks.  We walk to school.  We walk from school.  We walk to the grocery store.  We walk to dinner occasionally.  We walk up and down the street when my watch buzzes me that I haven't moved enough in the past hour.  And every night after dinner, we go on a "long" Pokemon-specific walk.  It's not that long, just longer than our other walks.  The whole loop takes less than 30 minutes.

Joojeh Chicken

Recently I made joojeh chicken for my family.  We first tried it as part of a mixed grill at Persepolis, a local Iranian restaurant.  We then had it again at Shirazi, a Persian fast food restaurant in a local mall. Both times we really enjoyed it, which made it an obvious choice for trying at home.

Joojeh chicken and a cauliflower rice.  The rice recipe needs work, so stay tuned!  Yes, it is yellow.  It's supposed to be.

I started from the recipe found at Fauzia's Kitchen Fun.  I made a few adjustments based on our personal tastes and cooking options.  Below you will find the recipe that we all scarfed down.

Notes
Please note that this recipe should be started the night before you plan on cooking so that the chicken can marinate.  When you don't, you "have" to go out to eat.  When you "have" to go out to eat, your children miraculously choose the same restaurant of Mooyah.  When you go to Mooyah in Muscat, you get an iceberger to eat at an adult table while the kids sit at a cute little table to watch cartoons. (End this rendition of If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.)

Nice Cars

One thing that surprised me about Oman is how many fancy cars I see on a regular basis.  Old Omani families have a lot of money, and some of them like to flaunt that money with cars.  You see similar cars in the UAE (Dubai).  Honestly, I'd be less worried about wrecking a nice car here than in Dubai.

This post will be mostly pictorial.  Funny or interesting notes about the cars will be listed on the picture captions.  Also, I have not sighted a Tesla yet.  Muscat's first electric charging station is only a few months old.

Jaguars are fairly common place here, to be honest.  This is a neighbor.

Counting Every Blessing

In the mornings while I pack school lunches and the boys eat breakfast, I turn on air1 on my phone and listen to Christian music.  Sometimes songs just really hit me.  "Counting Every Blessing" by Rend Collective was one such song.

I was blind, now I'm seeing in color
I was dead, now I'm living forever
I had failed, but you were my redeemer
I've been blessed beyond all measure

I was lost, now I'm found by the father
I've been changed from a ruin to treasure
I've been given a hope and a future
I've been blessed beyond all measure

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing
Letting go and trusting when I cannot see
I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing
Surely every season you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me
Oh, you are good to me

You were there in the valley of shadows
You were there in the depth of my sorrows
You're my strength, my hope for tomorrow
I've been blessed beyond all measure

Throwback Thursday: Christmas in Montana

I don't want to do more than one post in a day, but Christmas on the beach reminded me of another very different Christmas we have celebrated.  Back in 2014, we drove up to Montana to spend Christmas with my Uncle Jay, Aunt Crys, cousin, and my parents.  It was so much fun and magical.  And I was sick the entire time.

Look at that untouched snow for a white Christmas!

The drive up was beautiful and dry.  No snow in site until we hit the pass to get to Bozeman.  I was able to enjoy the beauty of nature as we drove through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana without being anxious about the road conditions.  It had just started snowing in Bozeman just before we arrived, but it was pretty light.  We went to church that night with my aunt and uncle to watch my cousin perform in the Christmas program.  My parents didn't arrive for a few more days.

Happiness Project

A favorite writer of mine, Gretchen Rubin, wrote The Happiness Project (along with a number of other books on the subject of happiness).  She also co-hosts a podcast with her sister, Liz Kraft.  Their podcast is "Happier with Gretchen Rubin", and Liz has a similar podcast with her writing partner, "Happier in Hollywood".  I recommend it all.  I listen to the podcasts every week when they come out, and I've read a few of Gretchen's books and am in the middle of another.

I believe this is the newly released, 10th anniversary edition of The Happiness Project.