November 18th was the 45th National Day of Oman. It's a day where people celebrate all that has been done in the last 45 years, thanks to Sultan Qaboos and a lot of other omanis. It is amazing to think that 45 years ago, in 1970 when Sultan Qaboos overtook the power from his father, this country only had 3 schools, with a total of 900 students, only had 2 hospitals, only had 15 km of paved roads (that is not a typo; the number is 15, no zeros missing - they now have over 35000 km), life expentancy was about 20 years less than what it is now, childbirth death has decreased drastically, and everyone has had a prosperous life in that time. No wonder they love him so much.
We had a day of celebration at school, and we are getting our 2 day holiday on Dec 2nd and 3rd for National Day. It will make for a short December! And that is fine by us, as we are really looking forward to the 17th when we fly to Dubai for the evening, then board a plane on the 18th towards Toronto. It will be so nice to see everyone again; we are really looking forward to it.
In the meantime, our adventure continues. We have parent meetings on Monday and booked a desert camping outing for Dec 2nd. It should be neat. Many pictures to follow on that one!
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| Google.com, on Nov 18th - Oman's National Day - so neat to see!! |
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| Jacqui's students, in their traditional dress for National Day |
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The stage at school, honouring Sultan Qaboos and the 45th National Day of Oman
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| Jacqui got "decorated" at National Day; the left side (right hand) represents what we see on the flag - the khanjar |
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This is where we finished our week: having dinner at the Edge bar at Crowne Plaza,
enjoying the sunset and fireworks that came later from the stadium for National Day! |
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| Is this what they mean by "being on ice"? |
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| Birds during our walk on the beach on Friday |
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| Alfred Hitchcock in the neighbourhood?? |
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