Flat Omanis

No, not "fat" Omanis. But more on that later.

I suppose I should stop talking about the weather and move on to something more substantial, eh? But honestly, it's hard to live life here in increasingly hot and steamy Oman without SOME comment about the hot weather, whether (no pun intended) expat or local. It's hot. When I tell people I'm sticking around for the summer, they give me a funny look that screams, "oh you poor thing, how will you survive" and politely reply, "Oh wow. That's great. What an experience you're getting."

It always goes back to that ... it's an experience. 

Fulbrighter no. 1 and family are leaving for good next weekend, so they are quite lucky in escaping the crazy heat. Which means that there are only 5 months left for me and Fulbrighter no. 3. Alas!

Anyway, back to the Flat Omanis. I must admit, I have been lazy. I haven't been up to speed on my OWA visits throughout the country, and my target number has been dwindling every day. Alas. Scheduling is quite complicated, as is coordinating with a host family since I am more than likely staying for more than 1 day at target locations. But! Not to worry. A lot of my goals are accomplished, I still have some visits lined up for the summer (down in Dhofar, where average temps are 25C year round. Amazing.) and I've learned a lot from the ones that I've already visited. So there will something substantial to perhaps write about upon my return to the U.S. Perhaps my objective in doing this project wasn't as clear as other projects are/have been, and I don't think I'll find any ground-breaking information that would put me in the front page of every academic journal on the Middle East (though that is a very nice dream, yes). But such is what happens often with many Fulbrighters; we write proposals for our application, due about a year before you would start your grant, assuming that you get one. And as mostly twenty-somethings, life always changes in a few short months, and one's academic interests seem to constantly change. Or at least it does in my case.

This is where the Flat Omanis come in. As a result of my laziness (yes, I must admit it as such), I've been spending more time in a volunteer effort that is somewhat connected to my original research proposal. I may have mentioned something about the Centre for Omani Dress in some past entries. Julia, the director, has some quite ambitious goals for the Centre, but as we are in Oman, we are taking things step by step, though not as slow as other projects seem to be. One of our projects is gaining ground, which is quite exciting! The Flat Omani project is now being produced semi en masse and will be pitched to stores this coming summer, inshallah. I've already tested it on a 4-year-old, yielding enthusiasm and an order for her KG class back in the U.S.! And last week, the ladies of the CoD made another presentation for the Flat Omanis at another local private school, and ended up with even more orders for the teacher (who is Australian) to take back to her teacher friends back in Australia. 

Flat Omanis are a great educational tool, in addition to being a unique art project. The knowledge of national dress identity is in danger of being lost, particularly among the females it seems. The men and boys wear the national dress nearly every day (the dishdasha and the kumma and/or massar), while ladies wear the ubiquitous black abaya with Western-style clothing underneath. And since no one else in the country seems to be making an effort to document the nation's dress identity as far back as possible, the CoD is up for covering lost ground. 

The wheels in my head are turning for all the possibilities that these Flat Omanis could bring ... storybooks, dolls, an animated TV series ... Omani kids could exchange with kids all over the world and share a part of their unique culture, through a simple sheet of paper and some decorations. 

All this talk reminds me that I have signed up for writing a proper article about my experience with the CoD, and alas, that has not been done yet! After I cut out all these paper kummas for these Flat Omani Kits, I swear ...