100 days into this incredible year, and I can look at my calendar to find I am more than a third of the way done with my exchange. I can wake up in the morning and know what my routine will be, talk to my host family and feel normal, eat the sketchy gas station sambusas and not get sick.
100 days into this incredible year, and everything has changed. I remember my first proper night in Oman; lying awake in bed listening to my host sister toss and turn and asking myself what I'd been thinking, wondering what could have possibly possessed me to come to a country I'd known nothing about just months before, paralyzed with fear in the knowledge that it would be 10 months before I was back home again. I remember my first day of school, when I was terrified to be alone in a new environment and then completely amazed at the kindness of everyone I met which made me feel somehow settled and okay just a few days later. I remember our trip to the mountains, when I first fully appreciated how truly beautiful Oman really is and breathed in crisp cool air that felt, in many ways, like home. I remember the moment I clicked "send" on my application about 11 months ago, not daring to dream of a life I had only glimpsed before through the pages of blogs and photos of the past. And, perhaps most of all, I remember the moment at the airport in Washington, DC in which the six of us who were bound for Oman reunited in a frenzy of fear, sadness, and excitement. The moment that bound us together as sisters forever. And now it has been 100 days and a piece of my heart has returned to America on the wings of one of my sisters. I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed; and although we are no longer all here to celebrate together, I have found that often videos can span oceans through the internet. Braden, Kenzie, Ginya, Linden, and Brandi... This one's for you.* *the background music to this video is Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me", which I uploaded from iTunes
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This week saw the passing of one of my personal favorite American holidays - Thanksgiving. Normally back home, I celebrate this holiday by spending a week cooking cranberry sauce and this cabbage/lentil thing my mom created before driving to New Jersey to celebrate with my cousins and family the day of. This year, however, I'm in Oman, more than 7,000 miles away from my family, celebrating with five girls I've known less than a year and a bunch of other people I've barely met. But still, it's pretty perfect in its own way. Sure, I didn't get to sit around the table with my family and give thanks and hold hands and slip away into simultaneous food comas the way we usually do. But I did get to talk to them on Skype (VPN for the win, y'all) as they were preparing the turkey, and give thanks with my exchange sisters as we took part in our own Thanksgiving dinner halfway around the world. This year, actually, I got two Thanksgivings. The first was on Monday night, when the six of us exchangers and our host families gathered at the house of the American Ambassador to Oman for a holiday dinner. The second was Thursday, the actual day of Thanksgiving. Although not everyone could make it, four of us went together to the home of a really nice woman who works at the embassy who was hosting a sort of holiday gathering. Everyone but us brought a dish to share, and we stuffed ourselves silly on everything available (included both baked AND fried turkey) before heading home with packages of leftovers in our laps. That being said, Thanksgiving's been really hard for me. It's the first real holiday that I've been away from home, and it's difficult to remember previous years and imagine what this one could have been like. I think that's honestly one of the biggest challenges of being an exchange student; putting your drive to learn in front of the sadness and homesickness that come in waves at the least convenient times. Because it's easy to wish yourself back home with your family - it's hard to imagine that and say to yourself "But you know what? I'm happy here. I'm glad I'm here." And this year I am thankful for that. I am thankful for the fact that I am here in Oman with five girls who a year ago were total strangers but with whom I now share the sort of friendship that has morphed into sisterhood as we have undertaken this incredible journey together. I am thankful for my friends and family back home, who support me in following my dream 7,000 miles away, and for my friends and host family here in Oman, who have made me feel at home in what was once a foreign land in just three short months. I am thankful for love, and laughter, and the way my three year old host sister's face lights up with a grin as she chucks one of her dolls at my head. I am grateful for the fact that turkey exists in this country, for the fact that "it's okay to get fat, I'm an exchange student", for all of the ups and down and bumps in the road that have led me to where I am today. It's been hard to get here, and hard to be here, but I wouldn't trade my opportunity for anything in the world. So I guess I'm really just happy, and today, that's what I'm thankful for. 🎶American Pie - Don McLean🎶 It feels like forever since I've posted, but I waited until today for a reason - now I get to tell you about National Day! In Oman this is a much bigger deal than in the U.S., which is something that shouldn't have shocked me because all we really do in America is watch fireworks and eat cake, but did all the same. About two weeks ago I found out about this, and upon reaching the understanding that we were going to have to wear Omani traditional clothing to school as part of the celebration I promptly set about trying to obtain some. After much discussion on the topic, this past weekend my host aunt brought me back a beautiful blue dress from her trip to Nizwa, which I learned was being passed on to me by another member of my host family. It fits perfectly, and I love it (also it's the only piece of embroidered clothing I own). National Day is celebrated on the 18th of November, the Sultan's birthday - but at ABQ we celebrated it today. Everyone wore their national dress to school, and during our assembly there was a program of speeches, poems, and plays as part of the festivities. Part of this program included myself and Linden - we spoke together about some of the differences we have discovered between America and Oman. At the end of the assembly there was a fashion show which featured different styles of clothing from all around the country (although Oman is one nation, each province has a different style of national dress. My friend told me mine is the one from Muscat, the capital region. My personal favorite style is from Dhofar). In America we celebrate our independence - in Oman the celebration is about the people and the culture, and the variations that occur therein while still remaining an amazing and united country. And maybe that sounds cheesy but I think it's really beautiful. Because it's been so long I've included two songs, one of which was my jam over the last week and one of which is just really relevant to this country. This past Friday morning I was in my room with my host sister when my host aunt came in quickly and told me to get dressed to go. With no idea where we were going, I first put on an abaya before being sent up to change by my host uncle, who informed me that if I wore it out I would regret it and melt.
The whole family piled into the car and, after dropping off the maid at the City Center, we drove seemingly at random with a few stops at gas stations to buy snack food. After an hour or so we stopped in a more remote town, where we walked to a hot spring that was set up to feed a system of baths (you can see a picture of it on my Photos page). It's super pretty, and after testing the water with my hands I discovered it was boiling hot. After we all explored a bit around the area we got back in the car and drove again, this time coming to a stop just outside of Al Hazm castle. Al Hazm is one of the most famous castles in Oman, and it's easy to see why. The views from the top are incredible, and the whole building is beautifully preserved. I had particular fun running around the top and taking pictures, as well as exploring a rather hidden portion of the castle (my host siblings and I found a passage under a flight of stairs and followed it, using my cell phone flashlight to show the way as the lights were broken). Before I came to this country I was as tightly wound as a coiled spring... Deadlines and planning ahead were my forte, and spontaneity was not something I was comfortable with. Now... Well, I'm certainly getting better about relaxing - when I first arrived the thought of a random road trip would have terrified me, and this last one turned one of the most fun things I've done in a while. I'm glad I'm learning to relax, because I think that's a big part of Omani culture. Those of you who know me, of course, are probably scoffing at my statements about letting go of my planning urges. But I swear, it's happening. Slowly maybe, but often that's how change happens. Sometimes all we have to do is let go, and enjoy the ride. 🎶Let It Go - Idina Menzel🎶 So this past week I was sick... The cause is still at least partially unknown, but with this blog post I'm going to talk generally about being ill while abroad - an occurrence that is more common than it should be and less pleasant than we expect.
The most important thing to remember while on exchange is to be careful and self-aware. That being said... I don't regret a single bite of the sketchy gas station sambusas that gave me my food poisoning. BUT If you can restrain yourself and be smarter than me and my see-food diet, you're much less likely to wind up ill in a foreign land. Here's why you don't want that to happen: 1. You're away from home. Everything you normally do to make yourself feel better has to be modified to fit your current situation, and suddenly you don't have your family or friends there to comfort you (although you do have your awesome new host family and friends). 2. It's easy to sink. By this I mean that a small illness a few months in can easily turn into a pit of despair and homesickness for you to fall down. DON'T DO IT. Keep yourself out of that pit at all costs. But here's why it'll be okay anyway: 1. Your host family and new friends are there for you. Ask and ye shall receive. No one wants to see you suffering... Let them help you. 2. You have a myriad of new things you can do to amuse yourself. No, maybe they're not what you're used to... But at the end of the day you're in an amazing new country that has a lot to offer you. 3. You'll get stronger. Once you make it out of the sick-induced coma you may (at least I did) fall into, you'll have an easier time taking everything as it comes because you know it doesn't get worse than that. I hope you enjoyed my pros-cons lists... But don't be fooled. Just because there are more points under "why it will be okay" does not mean you should go out and get sick. (HINT, HINT) In all seriousness though, I'm glad I had those sambusas. If I hadn't had them I would have felt like I was missing out, and this year that's one thing I don't want to do. On that note, I'd like to announce a very exciting opportunity I have through school - a week long community service trip to Sri Lanka! I've checked with AMIDEAST, and I'm officially allowed to go. The trip is at the end of February... And I'm already excited. I'll fill you in more on that as I get more information. Until next time, I leave you with a song I've been looping the last few days 🎶Centuries - Fall Out Boy🎶 If this was a cartoon I would begin it with the main character (me?) walking slowly across the screen holding a sign that says "4 Weeks Later" and that little sound effect that goes "wah wah wah"... To more clearly explain myself... It's been four weeks! Almost a month! That realization is a bit scary to me. I always told myself that once I'd been here for a month everything would start to make sense. That being said, I think that this last month has really been an opportunity for me to realize how wrong I was about everything before I left home. In a lot of ways things made sense on day one, and a lot more things I have worked to understand and which now feel like a victory. But there's also a lot of things that probably still won't click even when I'm stepping back on a plane home at the end of this year. But this month... This month is about the little victories. It's about the way it feels to hug someone and know that they, too, have journeyed thousands of miles to be here. It's about the magic of the internet, which allows people 7014.22 miles (I checked) away to talk to you with only a few seconds of lag between parts of the conversation. It's about teaching your host sister to tie her shoe the same way your dad showed you years ago, and dancing awkwardly in your room to a beat only you can hear because you're not playing any music out loud, It's about carefully planning the way to look least foreign when you're out of the house, and winding up looking totally American in spite of (and perhaps even because of) your best efforts. It's about the rice you eat constantly, the people you meet every day, the hot sun, the late nights, the thoughts that wander through your head even when the lights have been out for hours. Exchange is never easy. People will tell you that over and over again but it doesn't really click until it's something you are going through yourself. Exchange is never easy, but within the shortest period of time you can feel yourself starting to change - to grow your mind, broaden your horizons, think differently to match the new person you are becoming. When I left home I had a lot of people tell me "never change" or "stay the same". But that's not really possible. I am still myself in how I approach things, in the way my minds works to understand what is going on, but I hope every day that I am changing because to change would mean to do just one less thing that is oh so very wrong, to make one less social faux pas, to understand one more thing that someone tells me. To sum it up, to change would mean to get the most out of this year abroad. So, Insha'Allah, when I come home I will be a different person, in the best possible way. About this song... You never know how perfect Taylor Swift can be until you're smushed into a car with six other people singing at the top of your lungs and feeling like there is no place you'd rather be. 🎶You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift🎶 So. Oman. Believe it or not, I actually had trouble coming up with a post for this week. Not because Oman is boring or uninteresting (because I can assure you that it is not), but because I just didn't know what to say. How do you accurately express the fact that for the first time in your life you are starting to feel personal change occur, or the way that you greet your new friends every morning, or the stories you make up to tell your host sister every night...? I'm not sure you properly can. But I'm going to try. So this week has been crazy. I started Arabic at AMIDEAST last Wednesday, and Culture class (Women in the Arab World) yesterday. I'm starting to understand the way my school works, and I don't get lost on my way to the library anymore... Which is important. But I'm going to talk about something far more important... The art of the bedtime story. Now I mentioned earlier that I've begun telling my host sister a story every night before bed. Whether she actually enjoys them I cannot say, but I do know that I get a kick out of telling them and I think they're improving...? Here's what I've discovered. The way I tell my stories is very simple. I start with a name and a type of animal (it could be a pig, or a donkey, or a person). From there I form a setting, and as I talk and talk and talk the plot begins to form. My sense is that normal stories don't have ultra-elaborate plots. But, as a friend pointed out to me this morning, mine do. Last night, for example, was a story about a farmer named Hank who lived in the woods with his 5(?) sheep, cow, horse, and chicken, and followed his adventures as they climbed mountains to get to the big city. But anyway... There's a point to this story. I think that somehow in the last week things have started to click for me here. I've had some issues, and some amazing moments, and the rest has been a mix of both in the fabulous adventure called high school exchange. But telling these stories provides me with a connecting point. It lets me share something with my host sister, it lets me let out a little bit of stopped up creative energy, and it lets me take a moment to breath, to relax, and to remember that while learning is an important part of the experience, you have to enjoy the little things. Here's to the little things. Today's audio clip is not a song, it is a recording of perhaps my favorite piece of slam poetry. 🎶Pretty - Katie Makkai🎶 With just one week left to go until my departure from my home country, I am still adjusting to the concept of leaving. My suitcases are still strewn across my room, and I have lots of loose ends still to be tied up. But what I have realized most of all in the last few days is how ready I am for this. I am ready for a fresh start. In the past week I have seen the end of friendships and the beginnings of new ones, I have seen myself speak almost knowledgeably about the path I have chosen to complete strangers, I have seen the sun set on an island and rise from my home. I recently saw a photo on Facebook that reads "You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one". So I'm closing the book on what I have mentally begun to refer to as my past life. In my new life, many things will stay the same, but many things will change - setting and language are just some among the hundreds. This year ahead is an opportunity for self-discovery. It is a chance for me to explore, to test the very core of my being for moral fibre, to plant roots in many places as they will plant their roots in me. I am excited to leave yet afraid of the unknowns that lie ahead, but I have come to accept that they, along with every other fear I hold, are okay. This is my last blog post before I leave. Feel free to comment or write to me if you have any questions or things you would like me to address in upcoming posts. I will be live-tweeting (sort of, not really) my travels next week, so if you would like to follow those the link is at the top. Thank you for joining with me and sharing my fears and hopes thus far, and I am beyond thrilled to be able to transport you to the amazing country that is Oman. 🎶I Lived - OneRepublic🎶 |
AboutHi! My name is Karla Cox. This blog is a compilation of notes, thoughts, and photos from my travels around the world. Categories
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