Omani Higher Education, The U.S Embassy and a Home Cooked Meal

Sultan Qaboos University

     Sultan Qaboos has a wide appeal in the country of Oman and it is not hard to understand why. He provided the funding for The Grand Mosque out of his own pocket and he created infrastructure in a place where there was virtually none before him. Sultan Qaboos University is a prime example and this is where we started our fourth day. In May of 2002 the Sultan visited the university and was not completely pleased with what he saw. He then provided the funding for all new facilities including a library, classrooms, and auditoriums that all look like they could have been built in the United States. The staff was extremely friendly in showing the group their facilities and welcomed us to use them whenever we needed.

Study room in the library of Sultan Qaboos University 

     We then headed to the American Embassy and got an introduction, from a member of the security team of the embassy, on safety in Oman for Americans as well as a lecture from an embassy employee who dealt with the American Embassy’s PR in Oman. He gave us a brief understanding of what the American Embassy does for Omani people and what it could do for us, should we need it. We did not, unfortunately, spend much time outside of the lecture room in the embassy so the trip was a bit short.

Sultan Qaboos University Court Yard

      Dinner, the fourth night, was a special occasion because the group was invited to eat with an Omani family on the roof of a center that gives women jobs sewing.  A quick history of this center is a woman opened it years ago in order to employ poor women in Muscat by sewing. The project has since expanded and I believe they will soon be opening an Internet café among other projects and it has had a very positive impact on the poorer female community within Muscat. The dinner was served in three portions. The first portion is the breaking of the fast of Ramadan called Iftar and it is essentially an appetizer course. Dates and sweeter foods are usually served but the woman who cooked made mini pizzas especially for us Americans. Dinner was chicken and rice as well as potato dishes and cheese crescents. For desert they served puddings and other sweet foods as well as coffee that I personally did not like very much.