English Teacher in Oman
Rustic Rustaq Highlights
October – December 2011
Background
Oman? Where is that? This was the question posed to me by my
fiancé (who later became my wife) in 2008, as I told her, whilst working in Sudan
that I was moving to Oman, and that she should pay me a visit. The reality is
that few people know about Oman, an uncovered jewel yet undiscovered by
most, off-the-beaten-track of world travel, but with the potential that once
you have been there and lived there to be totally mesmerized by its beauty
and wonderful people.
My fiancé did come to visit in 2008, and barely 2 months
later we flew back to South Africa to get married, as we struggled to legally
get married in Oman. After a couple of weeks of arranging a wedding, having a
wedding and a honeymoon we started off our married life in a sleepy desert town
called Ibri. I completed my contract for that academic year, and even though
was offered an extension, we decided it best to return to South Africa to have
family support as a young married couple.
A couple of years later in 2011, after stints of
unemployment here in South Africa, we got another opportunity to work in Oman
when Hawthorne, the new contract holder for the colleges of Applied
Sciences in Oman, offered us both teaching positions at the Rustaq college of
Applied Sciences. Now Ibri felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, but
Rustaq was even smaller in size and had fewer luxuries and amenities that make
an expat's heart beat faster.
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| Ruins, Date plantations and mountains - The beauty of Rustaq |
We arrived in late October 2011, about 4 weeks after the
first batch teachers for that academic year. We spent our first night in
Muscat in a very basic 3-star hotel, which did not inspire a lot of confidence
in our new employer's generosity, and were driven the next day to Rustaq. All
the single teachers at the Rustaq College, apart from those who have been there
a while or married couples, stayed in an apartment block in downtown Rustaq.
The bottom floor of the complex was an unofficial brothel
with a Thai boy/girl as the main attraction.... unbeknownst to most of
his/her Omani clientele who frequented the 'massage spa' as it was
officially labelled.
We were given an apartment on the 4th floor, and as there
were no lifts, the stairs were the only way to access it. We spent that first
night scrubbing everything as it was filthy. We were exhausted, but the
'health; mattress we were provided was so firm, that my limbs kept on going
numb.
Our first work day was a lot better, the college had very nice offices with
comfortable office furniture. My wife and I were fortunate enough to share an
office with Sara, a lecturer from India who showed us much kindness and
friendship over the next 10 months at the college. The office was so nice and
our apartment so uncomfortable that we kept on staying later and later at
the office dreading the time we had to go home.
With high ceilings, white
walls, cheap furniture, and no curtains to block out the sharp Gulf sun's
brightness, it was not a place one wanted to relax. As an added insult, the
badly designed plumbing system constantly allowed for a lingering stench, which
no amount of detergent and Dettol could remove.
A bad bout of food poisoning also plagued us within the first month after we
bought Turkey cold meat at Lulu's in Barka. We spent a whole weekend lying on
single beds next to each other in the brightly lit apartment, a memorable
nightmare.
However, as time went by, we coloured in our apartment with
furnishings and decorations more to our liking. We also built up a support
structure of locals and colleagues with whom we increasingly spent more time to
numb one from the boredom.
To read further about our experiences living in Al Musannah, click here!
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| Omani shopowner in Rustaq |
About Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country
on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding a strategically
important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the country shares land
borders with the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the
west, and Yemen to the southwest, and shares marine borders with Iran and
Pakistan.
From the late 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was a
powerful empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian
Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or
control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to modern-day Iran and Pakistan,
and as far south as Zanzibar (today part of Tanzania, also former capital). As
its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under the influence
of the United Kingdom.
Historically, Muscat was the principal trading port of
the Persian Gulf region. Muscat was also among the most important trading ports
of the Indian Ocean.
Oman is an absolute monarchy. The Sultan Qaboos bin Said
al Said has been the hereditary leader of the country since 1970. Sultan Qaboos
is the longest-serving current ruler in the Middle East and sixth-longest
current reigning monarch in the world.
Oman has modest oil reserves, ranking 25th globally.
Nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the
world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years.
A significant
portion of its economy is tourism and trade of fish, dates, and certain
agricultural produce. This sets it apart from its neighbours’ solely
oil-dependent economies. Oman is categorized as a high-income economy
(Wikipedia).
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A neighborhood in Old Rustaq with date plantation
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About Rustaq
Al Rustaq is a
city in the South Al Batinah region, surrounded by the central Al Hajir
mountain range and an abundance of date palm groves and Aflaj.
The city came to
the forefront of Omani history when Imam Nasser bin Murshid Al Ya’rubi started
from here his conquest to unify Oman and repel the Portuguese from the country
in the 17th century.
Al Rustaq was also once the capital of Oman, and it has
many attractions that should make it a much bigger tourist attraction! (Oman
Tripper).
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| View of our neighborhood - taken from our first apartment balcony in Rustaq |
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| View of the main road to Old Rustaq |
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| View of our neighborhood - taken from our first apartment balcony in Rustaq |
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| Our apartment complex in Rustaq where most teachers lived |
Rural Rustaq scenery
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| One day I took my camera and climbed a nearby hill, where I was met with this scenery |
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| After I conquered a hill near my apartment - The view of Rustaq from the top |
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| Nature scenery along the main road |
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| Nature scenery along the main road |
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| Cool and tranquil date plantation scenery |
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| Rural house gate |
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| Rural farming community scenery |
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| Bangladeshi laborer - Date palm plantation in rural Rustaq |
Rustaq street scenes & shopping
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| Main Road into Rustaq from Al Musannah |
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| The main roundabout near our apartment |
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| Rustaq "Harrods" - Al Shrooq hypermarket catered for most of our basic grocery needs |
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| Hardware shopfront |
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| Fruit and veg shop at night - Downtown Rustaq |
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| Shopfronts with apartments above |
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| Rustaq center |
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| A clinic - Downtown Rustaq |
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| Downtown Rustaq |
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| Shopfronts near our apartment |
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| Rustaq night shopping |
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| Downtown Rustaq |
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| Al Kawther supermarket on the outskirts of Rustaq |
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Goats outside Al Kawther supermarket
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Restaurants & cuisine
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| Turkish Star Restaurant near the College |
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| Coffeeshop at night - Downtown Rustaq |
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| Enjoying a meal |
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| Shwarma dish |
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| One of the many little coffee shops |
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| Turkish Star restaurant |
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| Ali and Son, our initial taxi driver before we rented a car |
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| Omani vendors selling their goods in downtown Rustaq |
Teaching English at the Rustaq College of Applied Sciences
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| The main road into Rustaq - From the College entrance |
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| Rustaq College of Applied Sciences |
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| Teacher offices |
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| Students |
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| Classrooms |
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| With some of my students |
To view highlights of living and teaching in Rustaq, click here!
To view highlights of rural Rustaq nature scenery, click here!
To view Rustaq street and shopfront scenery, click here!
To view Rustaq restaurants and cuisine, click here!
