Them....or is it Me?

The children have not come back, alhamdulilah, but I'm not letting down my guard yet. Of course the music player hasn't come back either though... I thought about going to the police, but I'm just too tired of all this, and God knows if they would be helpful anyways.

Most of the kids still howl and make bizarre noises at us when we walk or bike by, but I don't even really know what to think. I have to come to terms with the fact that I just can't understand their experience of me. I just don't know what it's like to encounter someone so radically strange (after many years of nothing but the same skin, same clothes, same prayers, same language, same habits, same schedule). We must seem like utter freaks to them.

Just today as my husband and I were biking around the streets to go off road, he commented "Hey, you know, just doing this right now would blow most peoples' minds." And he's right. Just taking a stroll or biking through our area would be a culturally overwhelming educational experience. But to us now it's just home.

But not. You know?

It's a fine line between being part of the area and remaining a freak on the edge.

I guess we're both.

That's That

Well, I've gotten a few comments now suggesting we should move. The bureaucracy and red tape here would make the nearly impossible at this point considering the way our employment/contract is set up. I'll keep it in mind though. In the meantime I'll keep crossing my fingers and locking the door.

Let me add a disclaimer here though:

Despite the recent events and recent posts, I do not hate Oman or Omanis. I don't think that all Omanis are bad parents and that all Omani children are little monsters. I still think that Oman is a beautiful and diverse country (albeit with its problems like any country). I am making an effort to differentiate between the part and the whole. Between our current dilemma and my overall impression.

Yours,
Burned-out but Recovering (inshallah)