Zest in the maze

Nothing else matters much -- not wealth, nor learning, nor even health -- without this gift: the spiritual capacity to keep zest in living. This is the creed of creeds, the final deposit and distillation of all important faiths: that you should be able to believe in life.~Harry Emerson Fosdick  Chicken Soup for the Soul

I have to admit that I was really able to do nothing properly today. I mean in the end I did do a lot, I managed to get myself out of bed and meet up with students and look busy. I met a friend for lunch and saw my angelic pscychologist Claire, and showed some people from the university the house next door which is empty.

But the whole thing was done in one big haze, I felt like I was crawling through a maze, a passport maze. An all-consuming passport maze.

The big question, what to do, what to do. I called the consulate here- they  want me to write the whole thing down and let them follow up again. I guess I better do that because as of tomorrow I am visa-less. If I can persuade them that this is of no fault of my own, they might not fine me.

What I really want to do is wait for this famous temporary passport  to arrive and get my backside to London as soon as possible and go talk to some sensible person. I can even pretend that this whole thing never happened and just hand in my application again as a normal lost or stolen passport.

It would of course now be Easter coming up and the royal wedding on top of that. Just my luck.

I did have several blessing moments though. I was so exhausted I was happy to find clean clothes this morning and just put on some pink lipstick as an afterthought. I have Mozart horn concertos in the car at the moment keeping me going.

 I met up with a group of students who needed help with a project. As I came in, one boy said to me,

 'You look so full of energy this morning, Miss'. 

My answer, 'You could not be further from the truth Abdullah, but you just saying that has made my energy rise by at least 80 %'

His reply was utterly spontaneous,'That's what I do, boost energy."

I asked,'How do you do it?' ....

'I don't know how, but I just did it, didn't I?'

It was such a special moment, and that little group that were really counting on me for advice and believing that I could give it, gave me the ability  to do just that.

I then went to meet another girl who had text that she needed to see me. I was so surprised when she presented me with a lovely gift of a purply pink scarf with meticulously handworked edges, done by a family member.

It was an uncanny moment, as I had not seen that kind of beadwork before until yesterday. One of Salma's daughter-in-laws was wearing a scarf with similar trimming  at lunch and I admired it.

How unbelievable that the universe would present me with a thing of  beauty similar to that  today.

I was talking to Claire about the passport thing, I was so unfocused, her face was positively swimming in front of me. Her hair looked really bouncy today and I usually  become calm and focused in her presence. But today was truly a fuzzy day. She asked me a few questions about the other facets of my life, and then she said,

 'You are fine, everything is fine, it is only the passport'. 

Yes, that is really true, I am really fine, everything  is fine, it is only the passport.

Now I need to go upstairs and write a paragraph in Arabic about Muscat using lots of adjectives and connectors.

This is a major challenge, but I will do it! I have zest for life!

Roses and temporary respite from passport dilemma

You are braver than you believe
and stonger than you seem
and smarter than you think.                                       

 Christopher Robin to Pooh Bear


I  keep this quote on my downstairs mirror and look at it on an almost daily basis. I am really happy that it is the virtual weekend over here. I needed some downtime after the busy week and passport stress.

 I am dreaming and dreaming and waking up with many jumbled images in my mind. I usually do not connect to the internet on the weekend, but woke up with a sense of urgency about the passport.

The news this morning is that the consulate in Duesseldorf has decided to issue me with a temporary passport so that I can either:
 1. get more detailed information on my father's birth place
 2. find out whether I have a naturalisation certificate, ie. was my birth registered with the consulate in Cape Town?
3. update my South African passport

This all a bit surreal and weird and unreal, and I am finding it hard to accept that there must be some reason for this. It better be a reeeeeaaaaalllly good reason!

I look forward to spending the evening with my artist friends and their rosepetal baby, being with them is always like entering an oasis of calm and quiet creativity.

Oh, I meant to mention my rosebush blooming. It is going mad with slightly untidy but aromatic pink Omani roses. I picked some yesterday and Leo immediately jumped up onto the sideboard and took a nap with his nose about a cm away from them. It was so funny and I couldn't get it over my heart to chase him off.

When my roses start blooming here, I know that it will soon be time to go and enjoy the spectacular sight of the waves of terraced roses flowering on the Jebel Akhdar. Wow.

From fresh oysters to masala chai

I went out with a colleague on Wednesday evening to seafood night at the Grand Hyatt. The hotel thing is something I do once in a blue moon, but it is mostly worth it. I always say I don't mind paying if I know what I'm getting. We stuffed our faces with oysters and champagne, and then proceeded to barbequed lobster and more champagne. I did make a brief stop by the mussles and the prawns, but quickly found myself back at the oysters and the lobster. It was comfort eating of the best kind! And at around 25 OR ( 50 Euro) a head, I was out to get my money's worth.They certainly didn't make a profit out of me. It also fit in perfectly with my food combining regime, as I really did not need any carbohydrates. I do laugh at the buffets when people come walking past me with 3 bread rolls on their plate.

The weather is still lovely in Muscat, the atmosphere on the terrace was laid-back,cool and breezy, the service attentive. Our neighbours were Italian businessmen, so all-in-all a very civilised evening.

Last night one of my girlfriends came around for a catch-up chat, and we decided to go out.
There is  a very decent Pakistani restaurant called Dosteens just down the road. We sat outside in the family section surrounded by great smells, dining families, and had a very tasty spinach dish, a mixed veg dish, a mixed green salad and some excellent naan breads. Oh, and a bottle of water. I washed it all down with an aromatic sweet 'Chai karak', a masala tea. The bill came to OR1.300( under 5 Euro).. for both of us.

This afternoon I went for ‘Sunday’ lunch to my Omani neighbours. I do this as often as I can on a Friday.We all sit around huge trays of rice. The men sit around one huge tray and the girls around another. In the beginning I used to get my own plate with spoon. I then graduated to sharing a plate with my friend and Omani mum, Salma, eating with my hands. Well, mostly sitting on my left hand reminding myself not to eat with it!
The next step was sharing the big plate with all the aunties and the sisters. Salma separates the most succulent pieces of meat and gives them to me with her fingers. I now sometimes do the same for her. This makes me feel really loved and accepted on a deep level. And now I feel honoured to say that the father sometimes leaves the men to join the ladies’ plate.

Today we had tasty baked fish, a slightly spicy ‘saloona’, sauce and crispy, very finely cut salad. This washed down with my favourite, Omani coffee flavored with cardamom and saffron. Yum.

This is one, or should I say, these are three of the many reasons why I really love living in Muscat.

humbly confident

I just love my stars for the week! I think Rob Brezsny is great, and has really developed a skill to think out of the box. He has a website, a wonderful book called Pronoia and some videos on youtube.
And he is right, I do feel a bit lonely on a certain level, but am very happy to report that I never feel alone. This morning I woke up with a little twinge of anxiousness in my stomach, and I immediately chided myself and reminded myself of the supportive loving group of beings, seen and unseen, I have around me. That means you!

So, Capricorns, if you are into stars with a difference:

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The Norwegian film *Twigson* is about a boy who feels so friendless and isolated that he seeks companionship with a talking twig. In the coming weeks, I encourage you to be equally as proactive in addressing the strains of your own loneliness. I'm not implying that you are lonelier or will be lonelier than the rest of us; I'm just saying that it's an excellent time for taking aggressive action to soothe the ache. So reach out, Capricorn. Be humbly confident as you try to make deeper contact.

passport saga continues.......

I was feeling quite upbeat untill another email from the British Consulate in Duesseldorf just 5 minutes ago, and so thought it would be good for me to complete this passport saga and get it off my chest. Maybe some of you out there have some good ideas on how I should proceed.

Before Christmas I was still feeling optistic about finding the lost passport, and caved in and paid for an emergency travel document to travel to Germany. It cost 58 OR, that is roughly 120 Euros. It also made the trip interesting, as no one on Muscat or Abu Dhabi international airport had ever seen such a document and viewed me with great suspicion. I was kept at the gate to board last.

I had a lovely trip and when I got back I finally decided the passport was not going to pop up and made the choice to start the process of applying for a new one. This was also after I was informed that the consulate would fine me 10 OR (20 Euro) for every day I was in Oman without a passport after 10 April. 10 April is the day my work visa expires here.The process begins with going to three different police stations to declare the passport lost and then having those documents translated. On the general Consulate website it says to go to the Omani site to find a list of official translators. Of course, there is no list.
I asked the consulate directly who told me to go to Polyglot,  an institute which is a good 50 km from my home, one way. I balked at that idea and had it done at a place recommended by the HR.

When I sent the forms away by DHL, I was so relieved. It was endish February, if I was really really lucky, the passport would be back on time.
All quiet on the western front till around mid March, when I receive an email requesting that I send another set of photos. Along with the email is a guideline of 12 A4 pages on how the photos should be. My face was only 26mm in size and the minimum requirement is a facial size of 27 mm.
OK, another 22 OR for DHL and a nerve-wracking afternoon in the photoshop later, I have sent new photos.
Then starts all the other questioning, we need a naturalisation certificate... I don't have one, have never had one.. we need you birth certificate... Thank God,I have one..
It is as if I am applying for citizenship all over again. I don't understand why, all I have done is lost the passport. I have copies of the lost passport, I have  also already sent the consulate in Duesseldorf the old passport prior to the lost passport.
 Half way through the correspondence, I start dealing with another person who is an expert in this kind of law.
She says and still maintains, that they have no idea on what grounds I received citizenship in the first place.
The issue is that my grandparents were in India where my grandfather was serving in the RAF when my father was born. Therefore my father was born in Bangelore, in a military facility. This place is of course not the motherland. However,16 years ago, I was told that the military base was seen to be part of the Princely state and therefore regarded as British soil.
And, therefore, I could receive British citizenship.
Nooooow this German lady called Annika maintains that she has consulted experts in London who say that it was NOT regarded as British soil and therefore I am not a British citizen after all.
She is also not coming back to me on how to proceed.

At this point, I cannot bring myself to think about the implications of this, and I am convincing myself that all will be well, all will be well, all will be well.. I am just so taken aback, confused and flabbergasted by something which was just supposed to be the little red tape and  a financial nuisance.

Any bright ideas, let me know as soon as possible. I feel I am at mercy of a consulate official who holds my life in her hands.

Don't go back to sleep

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don’t go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.

Don’t go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill

where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Don’t go back to sleep.

RUMI

Cod and crawling

The second day of the week, taking things very slowly.

Well, actually I am on a bit of a go-slow, as I have just been informed after a nine-week stuggle that I will be receiving a monthly increment of 5% of my basic salary. This after 2 years of loyal, hard, committed Stefani-style service. What I need to say next, is that the amount is just about enough to fill my petrol tank 3 times, and petrol here is dirt cheap.
 I feel a bit gutted, even enough so to tell my manager I thought it was barely better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.. to which he replied that in his part of the UK, they say better than a slap in the face with a wet cod. Very funny.
Well, cod or stick, or whatever, it might be time to brush off the CV. In the mean time, I'll just take things a bit easy.

I wanted to get into the next part of the passport saga now, but I just can't go there, it will be too depressing.

So I am going home!

I have two pieces of good news. The first is that I start Level 2  Arabic tonight. I am rather proud of myself and promise to do more work this time. I voluntarily did Level 1 twice because I was such a crap student. There is definitely a lot of truth in the saying that teachers make the worst students. I was continually bowing my head in shame, even blushing, at not having done my homework or arriving late once again. I really must do better this time... Mmmmmm...

Also, I have had a dream brewing for some time of opening my own little purple school for children and ladies, and I have an appointment to meet a potential sponsor tomorrow, so hold thumbs. It has to be the right person of course. It is a process with many many steps, but I have my clear vision, and it is amazing how teeny tiny baby steps really do get you there.

Even crawling really slowly on your belly also gets you there! So, my advice for the day, keep breathing and keep going.