Yesterday, we went into the desert. I know right?! We thought we were already in the desert. The actual desert is deserted, (ha ha ha-DUH) not many people live there, there's barely any water and there's no electricity. Bedouins' live there in shacks and look after their livestock, goats and camels.
We saw more camels than we saw people. The counsellor at our university has family that live in the desert and it was decided by the induction committee to have some sort of event for the "new people". There are 5 of us, plus a couple who are part of the induction committee and then loads of our bosses and other people( I still don't know who they are).
We left for the desert after work. It was hot, but we were told because it's winter it will get cold when the sun sets. We arrived at the guys "house", took our shoes off and played in the sand. I saw a lizard cover itself with sand, it was so cool. We watched the people unpack the car, we wanted to help but were told we must relax, we watched as the let the air out of the tires of the 4X4s. We took a group photo and then went off dune bashing.
It was something else, the sand is so fine and the dunes are huge. These guys know what they are doing and they love doing it too. We watched the sunset on the dunes, eating some sticky sweet and drinking coffee. Then drove back to the "house."
The wind picked up...and soon we were in the middle of a sand storm. If you have ever been on the beach when it's windy, you'll know it's awful. Try being surrounded by sand, the "house" had no roof and the floor was made of sand so it was like being in a swirling vortex of sand. It got into our mouths, our eyes, our ears. We all took out our sunglasses and put them on. Luckily I thought to bring my scarf (The one the boys and Lau got me for my birthday) I used it to cover my hair, my mouth and nose.
Soon the wind died down and we watched our guides dig a hole fill it with hot coals, put meat (covered in foil) on top of it, put a metal pot over it and then cover it with sand. That meat sat in there for 4 hours. There's not much to do in the desert besides sit around the fire and tell stories. UGH to have to actually speak to people. You also drink tea and eat, fruit and lamp kebabs.
Everyone in the desert walks barefoot. One of the guys was walking in the dark and such jumped. He took his phone out and started searching. I wondered what he was looking for. The other Omani men saw us watching him. They spoke to him.
"He thinks he stood on a scorpion, he's looking for it." One of our colleagues explained nonchalantly.
SCORPIONS!!!!! I felt myself searching the sand. And no I wasn't expecting The Rock to burst forth(although I wouldn't mind). I did see a beetle in the sand though and it made me think of "The Mummy"(I would definitely mind if Imhotep burst out of the sand) it also made my skin crawl.
We only ate our proper dinner at midnight! UGH! I was an awesome evening! An interesting experience.
Ps The stars in the desert are amazing. Now I know why they observe the stars in the Karoo in South Africa.
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