Applying for State Department Scholarships

        

So several weeks ago YES Abroad applications opened up! YES Abroad is the program that brought me to Oman, for free. This exchange program is aimed to create greater cultural understanding and increase people to people communications between the United States and countries with significant Muslim populations. It started in 2009, several years after it's sister program YES which sends students to the United States from countries with significant Muslim populations. It is a full year exchange open to high school students, applicants must be in grades 9-12. There are only sixty five spots so it is highly competitive, but if you're eligible and interested in going abroad you should definitely take a chance! Learn more about YES Abroad here!
        Though YES Abroad is the State Department program that has a special place in my heart, there are several more: NSLI-Y (language exchange) and CBYX (Germany)  are two other year long scholarships available. There are also summer scholarships and learning opportunities, for a full list go to http://exchanges.state.gov/, this list includes scholarships for non-US students to travel to the United States. Most are aimed at high school and college age students. If you think you might be interested in an exchange year,  please apply!
Warning: NSLI-Y applications are due November 5th.

Sh'wa and the Third Day of Eid

Fur rubbed in spices, meat, and
banana leaves.

My host dad removing the meat
from the bone.

      On the third day of Eid I tried sh'wa which is a traditional dish of Eid made from the sacrificed goat. To make sh'wa you rub the goat heads and some cuts of meat with a mixture of spices and garlic, these are then wrapped in dry banana leaves, then in burlap, and placed in a stiff wire container. This is placed in a charcoal pit, covered with

sand, and left overnight.

Goat Brain

 In the early afternoon on Thursday we went out back where the wire basket where the sh'wa was. It had been cooked at a family friend's house because my family didn't have the pit required for cook it. Now, with a lot of excitement my family removed the banana leaves and set to obtaining the meat. My older sister was most excited goat cheek, my host mother for the eyes, my host father for the brain, and my little host sister for the tongue. Quickly they peeled the skin and fur from the meat and the meat from the bone. It was a startling transformation from animal to food.
       I tried goat cheek, tongue and a nibble of brain, all for the first time. I wasn't brave enough to try goat eyes though my host mother offered one, which was very gracious of her, considering how much she loves them. Goat cheek was my favorite of the three fleshes from the goat's head, but I didn't like the idea of eating anything's cheek, so I switched to the sh'wa that came from the goat's hind quarters. I noticed my host brothers weren't very adventurous is their meat choices either. We ate our sh'wa with rice, tomatoes, and onions. 

All the different kinds of shoo'wa

     After lunch I found out that the US government had come to agreement, the shutdown had ended and the debt ceiling raised. At five we left for my host mom's village, where we stayed the night with her father and sisters. The had the perfect end to Eid, a picnic dinner in a park with much of my host mom's extended family. There was a lot of laughter, and the cousins played together in the grass: the older cousins tossing and swinging the little ones. Everyone had ice cream from a vendor, and my host sister and I found a set of swings and flew high under the almost full moon.

    

Goats' Heads and the Second Day of Eid

What I woke up to this morning.

Chopped meat. 

Liver

          I awoke this morning to find a lot of roughly chopped goat meat piled in our kitchen. I missed the sacrificing and the initial butchering! Luckily, there was still plenty of work to do! After a breakfast of milk tea and sweets, we began working on the meat, excepting the intestines and the testes. My host dad set to work removing the meat form the bones, while the rest of us chopped it into pieces. I was given the liver and heart to cut up because they were much easier, and I was the worst at cutting.

Goat intestines, which I'm told my
host mother will cook. 

Meat for the freezer

    As I was being handed my first goat organ, I was hoping that given the recentness of it's death, it wouldn't still be warm, it wasn't. Goat liver is gelatinous, almost a cross between meat and flan, which made it very easy to cut, but also made me a little squeamish. The heart looked more like regular meat, and brought me back to bio class sophomore year, when someone brought in a sheep's heart and lungs for us to look at.

Fresh goat head.

Seasoned goat head, before being cooked.

      After the cutting was done some of the scraps were put into a pot and cooked for lunch, the rest were frozen, and the neatly cut, uniformly sized, meat was set aside for sho'wa.
       My host mother then turned to the goat's head, or as it turned out, heads. Many people don't want the goat's head, so some people collect them and sell them. We ended up with two extra heads. My host mom rubbed a mixture of spices and garlic all over the goats' heads, and then stuffed the spices into it's nostrils, mouth, ears, and neck. At first watching this, I was off put, then I remembered how a turkey is stuffed and felt much better.
         My host mother then made rahal, Omani bread, with the help of my little sister. Our lunch became cooked meat and rahal. I don't know if I've ever eaten meat the same day it was killed, but it was delicious. Except the liver, this was my first time trying liver, and I disliked the texture and taste.

Rahal

       The rest of the day was restful, after lunch most of my family took a nap, watched TV, and relaxed. Around five we had tea and more rahal. My little sister discovered kittens and their protective mother under our car, and my older sister and I reluctantly turned to our neglected homework. 

Eid(ish) Mubarak!

Jewelry, henna, make up, and all

        Today was the first day of my first Eid. We woke at 7:00 a.m., giving my host sister and I around three hours of sleep for the night. She's says  it's tradition to stay up very late the night before Eid. We rose, and put on our make up, since I don't normally wear make up I followed my host sister's directions and left my eye shadow up to her. Then we dawned our Eid gowns, jewelry, shaylas, lipstick, and heels.

My outfit, minus the heels.

        I tottered out of our room, and my host father remarked that, with my new outfit, "I was Omani now." Which I smiled at, but I was preoccupied with trying not to trip over my dress with my four inch heels. We all piled into the car and drove to my host uncle's house where several extended families were gathered. By the time we arrived my shayla had fallen down at least four times without my noticing, much to the worry of my host mother.

Ar'ssia, left, with grape sauce, right
bottom, and butter, right top.

         At the house I managed to tie my shayla tightly enough to stay on. We greeted all the women there, the men had gone to pray at the mosque. All the women were beautifully dressed with abayas or fancy outfits, many were decked in henna and gold as well. My host sister and I took pictures of our outfits with our phones. Then we had a breakfast of ar'ssia, mashed rice with chicken, with grape sauce and butter, which was delicious.

       After we finished eating, the men of the family came in to greet us, bringing with them eidya, hundred baizas or one rials as monetary gifts. I got 200 baiza extra for saying "wid mubarak" to an uncle, he was happy I was trying to speak Arabic. While this was going on the TV showed Sultan Qaboos praying at his fathers mosque, Sausan, my older host sister, told me that he prays in a different part of Oman each year, this year he prayed in muscat.

        After all the eidya was dolled out we grouped together for a family photo, with Sausan and me awkwardly above everyone else because there wasn't enough room and we had to stand on chairs. After a few minutes of conversation, the men left for a neighbors house.

       Sweets, fruit, and coffee were laid out on the floor and us women ate. There were grapes, kiwis, bananas, peaches and pears. I didn't recognize most of the sweets but I tried almost all of them My host mother brought the coconut cake and date dessert we had made. There were cookies, a pudding type dish made of cooked spiced sugar with pecans, and mandazi, a small donut like ball. We all ate our fill before returning to the couches to converse once more. While everyone was chatting I was the only one to see my toddler cousin take a 100 baiza note out of his mouth, examine it and pop it back in, before waddling off.

Sweets and fruits for the women's midmorning meal.

        It was nice to see so much of my extended host family. I had met many of the women at a cousin's birthday party, but many of the men were new faces. There was a lot of fast Arabic, not that I would understand it were it slow, but many relatives made conversation with me in English. We talked of henna prices (apparently I was ripped off), Obama's political party, and that Egyptians were Arab, which is something I wasn't sure of before. I found out I have several Egyptian relatives

Sisters' henna

       After returning home and switching outfits, my host sisters, my host mother, and I went to my host aunt's for a short lunch of biryani, salad, chicken, and goat. Then we headed back to the house for a much needed nap.

       We will be sacrificing a goat tomorrow, and it remains tied in our backyard until then. Tomorrow I head to my family's village, and then later to Nizwa, to celebrate Eid with our extended family that lives outside of Muscat.

Preparation for Eid al-Adha

       Eid al Adha is almost upon us! Though it changes dates and times every year, this year the celebration starts Tuesday, October 15th. It is a three day long Islamic holiday celebrating the story of Isma'il and Ibrahim, and Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his greatest possession, his son, to God.
      So we celebrate Ibrahim's obedience to God. It coincides with the pilgrimage to Hajj. Most families sacrifice a goat, cow, or ox in honor of the Ibrahim's sacrifice. On the first day of Eid all the men, plus the women who choose, go to Sa'laat al Eid (Eid prayer). Then the da'biha (sacrifice) is given, my host family will be sacrificing a goat. On the first day everyone dresses in their best clothes, there is a lot of food and family time. Eidya, which is a small amount of money, is given to all the children, including those who are in college or don't work in my family.
     While Eid has yet to begin, a lot of preparation is going on. Purchasing of food stuffs began the week before as well as cooking and cleaning. Here is what I have been doing in the days before Eid.

Friday:
       My host mother, two host sisters, and I hit the stores for Eid dresses. We went to al Seeb, where, after no luck in the first store, we went to al Seeb Mall. We went into shop after shop, looking through brightly colored dresses embrodered with beads, gemstones, or flowers. Some dresses were traditional Omani, some Indian or Pakistani, still others looked like prom dresses found in the US.
        The stars aligned, I ended up with a traditional green and gold dress for the first day of Eid, a green shayla, and green and gold shoes.  I also got a white, blue, and brown cotton dress for the remaining days with a brown shayla. Four hours after we started, we headed home, where we accessorized and finalized our outfits.

To the left are dresses similar to what some girls wear to prom, to the
 right are more traditional dresses, like the one I will be wearing.

Saturday:
      A baking day. My host mother woke us up for a quick breakfast and a day in the kitchen. First, I made chocolate cookies with my little host sister, while my older sister made a coconut and semolina cake. Then everyone (two sisters, two brothers, and my host mother) except my host dad worked to construct desserts made from spiced mashed dates, Marielle tea biscuit cookies, and coconut.
    We kept some desserts for the Eid holiday to share with family, and my host mother put together plates of sweets to give out to family friends.

Desserts made of tea biscuits, mashed spiced dates, and coconut.

Sunday:
    In the hot midday sun we set out in search of henna. The first salon we went to was full, and we then went to four or five more trying to find good henna. My host mother was insistent that we get Sudani henna, not Hindi. We took a break at a supermarket halfway through, where I found earrings or questionable quality that matched my Eid dress.
      The salon we ended up at was very close to our house. We waited over an hour munching on sweet chili pepper flavored Doritos chips, but my little host sister and I finally got our henna.

My henna before it dried. 

     When we returned home, I found our sacrifice waiting in the backyard, bleating to the annoyance of my sister.

My family's sacrifice. He's very cute, but I'm trying not to get attached!

Monday
          The final day before Eid! My host parents are fasting, which is optional before this Eid, unlike Ramadan. Almost everything is ready, we've cleaned the house everyday since Friday, and it is sparkling. Our Eid clothes are ironed (I tried to iron mine but my host mom was scared I'd burn it, so I only ironed my shayla), our nails are cut and filed, everyone is showered and fresh.
          My host mother spent most of the day sewing her beautiful Eid dress, I wish I had her and my own mother's talent for sewing! We watched The Message, a film about the birth of Islam, before we all went to bed.

A Trip to Dubai

         This week all the YES Abroad and NSLI-Y students had to pack their backpacks and head to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The reason for the mid-week, missing school, vacation is visas. Our student visas were not ready upon our entry into the country and we had to be out of the country for them to be processed. Luckily, this trip was really fun and provided for some bonding time with the NSLI-Y girls. Our trip included: five hours at Wild Wadi Waterpark, a three hour Dubai night tour, a visit to the Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa inside. I learned that Dubai is home to the 1st, 2nd, and 4th tallest hotels in the world, as well as the tallest building- the Burj Khalifa which dwarfs the Empire State building.
         I didn't get any pictures at Wild Wadi Waterpark because I am paranoid about my camera and water.

 Above and below are two views from out hotel room in downtown Dubai, which had a 24 hour Coldstone Ice Cream shop on it's first floor.

The hotel above is the beautiful five star Atlantis which is located on one of Dubai's man made islands.

 Another hotel, one of Dubai's many buildings that has colorful lights.

The Dubai Mall, with over 1,200 stores. I was worried about getting lost in it.

Candilicious, a huge candy store in the Dubai Mall.

I found a friend! 

A view from the top of the Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world! I was terrified, who knew I was afraid of heights?

After a flight delay scare, we made it back to Muscat on Tuesday night. It was nice to be home, Dubai is so big, with skyscrapers instead of houses, the streets were full of taxis and no one walking. It seems like a city to move through, not to live in. Being in Dubai made me realize how lucky I am to be in Oman.

"There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress." Mark Twain

   


Photo Credit

   At a dinner for the YES Abroad students and Amideast staff on Monday night, it was  casually mentioned that the United States government would be shutting down Tuesday. Sure enough, Tuesday came to pass, and eight hours later when it became Tuesday in the Washington D.C., the government shut down. I'm with the majority of Americans when I say that I am angry about the government shut down, but I am the one stuck explaining why it happened to my friends and host
family. 



Photo Credit

       My new friends have asked me a lot of questions about this shut down. Some think that it's because the U.S. ran out of money (Nope, that October 17th's problem). Others asked me if it was Obama's fault (as a democrat and with that little body known as the Senate, I would say no). It is somewhat embarrassing to say that the reason the government shut down is because Congress couldn't agree how to spend it's money. In fact this explanation got it's fair share of people looking at me like I was crazy. Can't Obama just decide? No. It has given me a great example to explain that presidents really don't have all the power they are associated with. In fact, they have less power than Congress. 

     


Photo Credit

 This latest U.S. news has exposed a hard truth about being abroad, which is, events in your home country aren't as important. It's harder to keep up with what's happening in the United States when your not in the United States. People here don't talk about what's happening in the U.S. very frequently. Here, the U.S. government shut down isn't a huge deal, 9/11 wasn't acknowledged, I didn't find out about the Washington Navy Yard shooting until days later, and I found out about the car chase near the capitol from Senator Bernard Sanders' FaceBook post. It's frustrating to realize all that I'm missing, especially when your John Stewart and Steven Colbert YouTube clips won't load.  For now, I am keeping updated and hoping that this shut down ends soon with Obamacare in the budget.