A Wadi ran through it...

The events described in this post took place on or about Febuary 7th, 2010 in Nizwa, Oman. For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

Sunday was one of those rare occasions in the Gulf when it rains. And like the old adage, when it rains... it pours. It was a well known fact for a day or so before the downpour that there were storm clouds over the region. But with mountains dividing much of Oman into ragged quadrants whose idiosyncrasy rivals the effect of British colonial cartography, its almost impossible to now where the rain will fall.

The clouds loomed dark and ominous overhead for most of the day on Sunday. My self and other teachers were all clearly pondering the question in our heads. 'Will it rain'? The look of curious uncertainty was etched on all of our face.

Later that afternoon, after being blanketed for several hours by clouds (which were flying so low they obscured the tops of the local mountains), the first drops began to fall. The day dripped by literally. With volleys of liquid dropping intermittently from the sky for several hours. But what one must remember is that people here (like in most other places), live in the valleys. In the surounding mountains it was pouring as clouds were forced to drop their payloads to rise above and beypnd the rising mountainous topography.

By about three or so in the afternoon (with the rain still periodically coming down in varying degrees of intensity), the call went out. "Everyone must leave, the Wadis have begun to flood'! I wrote about wadis sometime last year, and I won't repeat myself again here. So, I will just redirect you to that post.

The Wadis turned from dry river beds to raging forces of primal hydrodynamic fury in what seemed the blink of an eye. By the time I was on my 5 minute drive home, the roads had already been flooded in some spots, and traffic had been reduced to a crawl (or 'wade', as vehicles were forced to creep through the flooded parts at barely the pace of a crawl).

What made traffic matters worse is that there were pedestrians attempting to cross the streets at every conceivable point in the road. Everyone was trying to get to the wadi to see. Omanis were out in force. Gathering on what had now become the 'riverbank', watching the tumultuous brown river roar by.

I have included some photos at the top of this post. It is important to note that these pictures are of the same place (right behind my apartment, which at this point had become waterfront property). The first few are of the flooded wadi. The second group of photos are two days later, after the Wadi had delivered all of its water about 136 Km due east into the Gulf of Oman. I have never seen a Wadi like this before. There were wadis in Rustaq, but not of this size. So, for me this was a rare treat. I hope you enjoy them as well.

H

Nizwa: Things of note

The events described in this post took place on or about Febuary 4th, 2010 in Nizwa, Oman. For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

One of the things you simply can't get around living in a new place is the obligatory exploratory phase. This usually occurs during the initial period directly after arrival. I, am no exception to this rule. After a settling in period, the mind begins to wander. You start getting the 'itch'. You become very curious as to what exactly lies outside the boundaries of your flat. Well, this weekend I gave in to that urge. I stepped outside the safe confines of my domicile, and took a 'walk' around. This post is more of a 'photograph journal' than an actual blogpost. Most of the relevant things that I found are illustrated best in the web-album above this post. That is not to say, that there are a few things of special note that deserve some textual elucidation.

The most hysterical thing that I've seen so far, is 'The Hungry Bunny'. It's a fast-food chain of Saudi origin, and it lies about 200 meters from my flat. I've actually been in there a few times so far (haven't really done that much shopping, and sometimes it's far easier to eat-out than prepare something at this stage). THe food is... well ehhhh. But the food isn't why I'm including it as a 'thing of note'. You need to just look at it. It's absolutely hilarious! Check out the 'cross-eyed bunny' that is its mascot. After your done laughing yourself sick, take a closer look at the font of the sign. Look familiar? It's the exact same font as Burger King. Also, the colors and design are quite similar. Way to take advantage of the corporate branding dollars spent by Burger King to imprint the global market. Anyway, every time I pass it, it brings a smile to my face.

On the tourism note, I spent most of the early afternoon at the 'Nizwa Fort'. Most Omani cities have one of these. It dates back to the tribal/feudal era, I think. I also believe that at one time most of the city proper fell within the walls of the fort. A massive round citadel stands at the fort's center. I went inside, and got to the top of it. The view was fantastic!. It has thick walls, ramparts, cannons, and anti-siege devices one would expect of such a tactical installation. One cool thing is the 'murder holes'. These are holes in the walls of the citadel, usually above doorways. They were used as a port to pour boiling liquid (usually date syrup) on attackers who managed to breech the fort walls, and were attempting to enter the citadel. All in all, it was pretty cool. So, I hope you enjoy the embedded slide-show above.

Until I have something new to report-

Henrick

Montauk: The End

Ok, this is a retro-active post.  This post documents events that occurred around the start of the new year, 2010.  For those of you reading this through Facebook, the original post can be found on my blog http://henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. This allows you access to picture galleries and other multi-media, which does not transfer into notes.

One of the things on my 'to-do' list when I was home was a trip to Montauk point.  Montauk is the most-Eastern part of Long Island, and the location of many books and movies.

View Larger Map

I haven't been there for God-knows-how-long.  I have some very good memories of Montauk. Most of these are from when I was just a wee-little-beastie.  There were also the adolescent 'all-night' trips to the beach during high school.  Though, as I said, I have not been there for quite some time.  My recollection of the place itself, is dust covered and yellowed by time.  So, I decided to take this time to go out and revisit Montauk point.

So, I packed up the dog, jumped in the car, and dutifully drove East.  On the way, I passed some of the older, more quaint East-end communities.  As I drove out, I got an opportunity to check out some old graveyards, vineyards, and windmills.  The traffic was such, that I couldn't really pull off the road and check it out more closely.  As a result, I had to take whatever pictures  I could from my car, snapping pictures between volleys of cars.  Attempting to get a clear shot without many cars in the way was not as easy as it seems.  Sometimes I had to wait on the side of the road for about 10 minutes before there was a clear shot.

Till next time
-H