So I lied.

I had all these wonderful plans to get caught up in life. and they failed. oh well.

We had a lecture yesterday evening about languages/dialects in Oman. The speaker (as far as I could tell) related jabali to any other dialect in or out of the arabic world (then again, maybe he did not...I'm always of the firm belief that anything I 'learn' in arabic is entirely dependent on my ability to listen and understand, so it's always 50/50)

Got back to the hotel late, so I missed my swim time. Then my friend and I decided that we were going to try to break into the pool and swim anyway.

That also failed. I am not as badass as I like to think.

So instead, I talked to mom for a little (yay!) and relaxed a little...then woke up to find class was canceled today ! (teacher is sick...boo cuz he's amazing, yay bc I got to swim all morning by myself without any sketchy new 'friends' to interupt my me time).

My roommate and I have been watching music videos on LBC in the morning and they're pretty great. There was one that had a peasant/stable boy/soldier love triangle theme going on that was downright scandalous. And vastly entertaining. Then this afternoon, I found an Egyptian movie set in the (American) west with a bunch of Egyptian men dressed up as ridiculously flashy cowboys. Kind of unbelievable...but can only imagine how they view our interpretations of their history in American films.

We're going to be changing hotels soon and living close to the fairgrounds...the Omani cultural fair is starting on the 15th. And not only is there a book fair (whee!) involved, but there are also, apparently, rides. I have no desire to die so I will not ride them...but still. something to look forward to.

Ok, one story from the trip. Oh wait, two. But both about cows. Thing was, we were driving through the mountains and they were REALLY foggy because, well, monsoon season gets like that. So I asked the PF in our car about the dangers of the fog...because every once in a while, we had to stop to let cows and camels cross the road. Apparently, people do hit the animals...but it's problematic because if you do then the driver is COMPLETELY liable. And cows (as well as, to a much greater extent, camels) are expensive. Bummer.

Then, for some reason I'm not too clear on, I decided that I wanted to know the verb for 'to milk a cow'. I know. But I had heard my arabic teacher use it the previous day, and wanted to remember it. So I asked the PF (in arabic) if I could say 'I milk a cow'. He said no, so I tried to conjugate the verb a few different ways, but he still kept saying no. Finally, he explained there was no way for me to say the sentence correctly because women do not milk cows (or, for that matter, slaughter them). This is men's work.

So I asked him what women's work was, which was pretty much everything except the milking and the slaughtering. I asked what happens to women who, for example, don't know how to cook. He explained that's a problem in the cities now (what with all the women spending their time in university, etc) but the solution is to get a maid. Of course.

it was a pretty awesome conversation! He wasn't mean or condescending about anything...just very matter of fact and informative.

Or maybe these things just sound better in Arabic?