Father Time, Masalamas, and Xmas Season 2012.

One of the few constants in life is change - Father Time has his way.
It is now December 2012, the Xmas Season is here, but not apparent in the Magic Kingdom outside of our homes, being a strict Islamic society. Our work days continue to go by as any other day with no sense of the December festivities we sense at home.

It is now winter, temperatures being in the high 20's C, with cooler evenings, but still sunny most of the time. Yes a little snow would be nice to add atmosphere to the changing seasons.The best we can hope for is a little rain, a rare event in this coastal but desert environment. It did not rain for 19 months until early December when we had one day of light rain, then back to the usual sunshine. The potential for rain only takes place during the winter or early spring. Images of this uncommon event taken from our apartment balcony follow.

This weather change is the closest we get to suggesting its the Christmas Season, nothing being seen or heard outside of our private homes. Of course the Admiral in her usual fashion starts our decorations early.

The other aspect of time moving forwards is that of our expat community coming and going - more recently more ending contract and going than coming. It is a sad time to see friends leaving but happy for them as they move on to another aspect of their life of their choosing. These events lead to the excuse of having Masalama ("goodbye") parties. At home it is only too easy to get caught up in our own private personal lives, but here, in a foreign land with many restrictions, it becomes apparent how important it is to maintain that sense of community. The modern electronic world has developed many tools to "connect", which are helpful, but will never replace the true "face time" that people require for true contentment, the sense of real community. Here, and in environments that are similar, this concept is driven home as an essential component of survival and quality of life.
This particular weekend was busier than usual with three parties, one Masalama we hosted, an "end of year" (note not "Christmas") evening party for Joy at work (in a hospital "event" room), and another Masalama party at a private compound. We also realized we are not as young as we used to be with this "intense" party weekend! Yes five nurses, friends of the Admiral, to depart before the end of December.

The first Masalama event was hosted by ourselves.

Yes the next day I was feeling a little "tender", but Joy had to go to an early evening party related to her work group, come home and change, then off to a private compound party. One image of some of her work group follows.

A more sedate gathering here - then home to change and go later to the last Masalama party of the weekend.

Father Time has now nearly completed 2012. We now look forward to our visit home for Xmas and New Year. Although it will be a short visit when we do return to the Magic Kingdom it will be 2013, then time to start counting months before our final "re-entry" home. All the people in these images are from somewhere, from scattered across the globe, and at some point we will all go "masalama". That is the nature of this expat community.
But with it all has come a kind of bonding in a larger group that is not as common at home where one's circle of friends is smaller, not less important, but as said smaller in number. Yes life is a journey, enjoy the ride - make the most of what Father Time has blessed us with.
So goodbye for now - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those friends and family close by and far away!

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Almost Mt Everest with the Girls.

It was to be a trip for the Admiral (Joy) to make with the girls (4 nurses, 1 pharm rep) to Nepal, the Skipper to stay in the Magic Kingdom.
The Admiral had some trepidation before leaving, but is that not what an adventure is really about?
The first week in November was the date, part of the high season before winter was to set in.

Nepal is that tiny mountain nation that has had that mystical allure for travellers since it opened its doors to the outside world in the 1950's.
It is wedged in between the Northern frontier of India and the Himalaya mountains home of the famed Annapurnas and of course Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world.
It is a poor country dependent on visitors who come to explore its old way of simple life, its many Hindu & Buddhist temples, its wildlife (tigers, elephants, rhinos, crocs, etc), wild water rafting, canoeing, trekking, and of course for climbers the highest mountain peaks in the world.
On this occasion they were not to go into the mountains per se although three of the girls stayed on to trek to the base camp of Mt Everest.
The flight from the Magic Kingdom was from Jeddah to Dubai to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Although clearly an exotic trip, it was expected that being a poor country, with less than "usual" hygeinic conditions, that some form of local "tummy" events would take place. Clearly the ladies all brought along their own stock of antibiotics. However also without a doubt a "peak adventure" trip for the Admiral.

This trip was spent exploring Kathmandu, doing local trekking, going on safari, canoeing, and white water rafting (no pics for this due to conditions).
A sample of images from the trip follow.

 

 

 

 

 

No it was not a 5 star hotel trip, but lets face it, many of those voyages we make through life that are more "raw" are often the ones that leave the strongest memories - this was clearly the case with the Admiral.