Being a Woman

Warning: This will be a long post!

Early in the week we received our fourth trainee, Mikael from Finland. To honor the fact that there are now a total of four trainees we got a large group of people together to go to a traditional Omani restaurant (although we opted for the Yemenese food). The group ended up being the 9 AIESECers and trainees as well as member of the local AIESEC committee and their friends. The group was around 20 people at end count. We all sat on the floor swallowing the delicious soup, hummus, honey bread, and all the other dishes that were set before us. The main course was served on 3 enormous plates, piled high with rice, chicken, lamb, and beef. The main task of the meal was to accomplish eating the pile of food with only your right hand. I somehow managed to get part of the technique down after it was taught to me. At the end of the meal your hands are sticky, dirty, and disgusting. Naturally everyone slowly made their way to the bathroom area with large communal sinks standing outside of the bathrooms so as to wash hands. I went alone to the bathroom and had an employee point to me the stairs that I had to take so as to get to the female bathroom. I walked up to see a tiny bathroom where the water wasn't working. I came back down and decided to just wash my hands next to the other guys. What was the big deal, we all had different sinks and we were just standing next together. Aparantely I was wrong, and ended up having a guy from the dinner stand next to me so as to imply that we are together. Had he not been there, I would have been highly discouraged from using the sink and probably had gone completely against the cultural norms. All of this started to make me think about women here in Oman. I sat back and drank my sumptuous clove and mint tea and thought...

Coming to Oman I expected there to be many restrictions and rules placed on women. I thought that I would have to wear an abaya and somehow manage being treated like a second class citizen. When I arrived I was impressed at how Westernized and modern the treatment of females is. Not only are they allowed everywhere and allowed to do everything, but they can also sometimes choose not to wear an abaya. Now that I've been here for two weeks I feel like I'm starting to slowly see the truth. The westernized treatment of females is a reality for westerners but just a facade for the Omani women. Behind everything there are still firm traditions and rules that govern the land. This past week I had the opportunity to explore the city with two local guys, play on a female soccer team, and go to a female night club.

Ghassan and his friend, Adham, invited John and I to see their favorite parts of Muscat this past Friday. They drove us around showing the best cliffs to dive from, the most expensive houses, and the luxurious hotels. It was interesting though that in the mall is where I had the largest cultural experience. Within the mall there are benches for people to sit. I accidently sat on one while waiting for the guys, and noticed that the other males just slowly stood up and walked away. Then later I realized that I was not sitting on a "Ladies Only" bench. I was in breach of the male personal space and they had to move away. Interesting how two identical benches have different standards as to who should sit there.

Also, I have recently been hanging out with Nura, an Omani girl that works in my office. She is spunky, fun, and funny. We definitely get along and always leave each other's company with a belly ache from the laughing. She invited me to go play soccer with her. I arrived at a fairly barren field where the girls (Brits, Japanese, Egyptian, and Omani) were coached by a former national team player to have fun and play soccer. It was amazing to play with girls here, some of whom were crazy and still had their head covering on and had their elbows and knees covered. Yet, we sadly had to leave the practice early due to the fact that the guys wanted to use the field and they had priority. On one hand I was greatly impressed that the government set out to allow girls to play for free while being trained by a coach (he gets paid by gov't), yet also why did we have to leave if we are the ones that are always on the field between 6-8.

Then today, the club...