The Imminent Return

Why, hello there, Fulbright blog. Long time, no see.

It's been 17 months since my departure from the Sultanate, and I'm pleased to announce that in 28 days, I will once again be present in Muscat for a 2-week 'study trip'-slash-vacation-slash-some much needed time spent in the warmth and sun.

Since my departure from Oman, I have traveled around Western Europe (see previous posts) and returned to the U.S. working odd jobs in my hometown (as a math tutor, pool attendant and my all-time favourite: cupcake bakery assistant). I have been living in London since the end of September as I complete my postgraduate master's degree in social anthropology at SOAS.

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), I have not forgotten Oman or my time spent there or the potential that my time spent there can contribute significantly to my academic and professional future. I have been inserting snippets of cultural anecdotes in various classroom discussions and have reveled in the sheer number of Oman-related volumes that fill the already packed shelves of the famed SOAS library.

I have chosen to write about Oman for my master's dissertation, particularly on national dress and national identity. With my background of volunteering with the Centre for Omani Dress and my current training as an amateur anthropologist, I hope to look at the issues of representation and identity as the outward image of the Omani 'national dress' (white dishdasha and kuma/massar for males, the traditional colourful dishdasha, sirwal, lehaf combo for females and the more modern black abaya as well). This idea of a national dress is an important issue for the Gulf countries, especially since it is an outward sign of citizenship, separating the 'indigenous' local population from the ever-increasing masses of migrant workers and expatriates. Oman itself is unique in the Gulf for many reasons, including its dress customs, which vary from region to region, as well as borrowing styles and fabrics from South Asia and East Africa.

More importantly, my supervisor said that there is little empirical data collected on such a subject. Apparently, the idea of 'Gulf Studies' beyond the more prominent poli-sci domain of oil politics, security, etc. into the idea of cultural heritage and socio-cultural anthropology (beyond the work that's already been done in the 1980s-1990s) is an exciting and relatively new field.

Here's hoping that the idea and excitement that lured me into this supposed 'jewel of Arabia' so many years ago will continue to serve me well!

So from 6 to 20 April, I will be back in Muscat, soaking up the sun, walking the calm beaches and hopefully dune-bashing in the desert ... while I'm not constantly that the COD or out taking photos of what people are wearing, naturally! It'll be interesting to return to Oman, after having lived there for awhile and coming back with a different perspective on ideas of culture, society, identity, heritage and all the other anthropology-esque buzz words that I encounter on an almost-daily basis. Perhaps the resurrection of this blog will somehow feed into a future fieldwork project as I still contemplate whether or not I should pursue a PhD ...

In the meantime, I guess I should brush up on my Arabic.