Monday, June 20
Today, I mustered up the courage to try out two new phrases: Sabaa al-khayr and Masaa al-khayr (Good morning and Good evening) to the guy at the front desk of my apartment. I've memorized the words off of a sheet of Arabic vocab and have been rolling the words around in my mind for the past few days without actually trying them out because I keep forgetting the exact phrasing and/or am afraid to bungle it so badly that nobody will understand me -- which, by the way, has happened before several times.
So now the front desk guy thinks I speak Arabic. He was so impressed when I came in after work saying masaa al-khayr. Actually, he knows I can't speak Arabic but knows I'm interested in learning, which means that he can speak to me in Arabic anyways, even if I don't understand a lick of what he's saying. I don't even know how to say "I don't understand". I think tomorrow I'll ask him his name. (Yes, I've been here almost three weeks and still don't know the name of the man who hands me my keys every day when I get back from work.)
Today, I tried seafood pizza -- I'm generally a good old pepperoni or mushrooms topping type of pizza girl, but man do they make interesting pizzas here in Oman! Call it Italian with a twist of Arabia. Anyways, my co-workers and I went to lunch at a cute pizza/Italian restaurant in Jawaharat al Shatti, a strip mall next to Shatti al Qur'm, a beach with a gorgeous view. The pizza was, as one of my previous roommates would say, "nom-licious". That is, possibly the best meal that I've had here thus far. Ironic, huh?
Unfortunately, I feel lame taking pictures of "mundane" things like food and the daily view, and I know I'm going to regret it later, but I didn't take any pictures, so I guess you'll have to come to Oman to check it out for yourself.
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