Discovering Rials

I recently graduated from high school, and got a very interesting gift from my grandmother as a graduation present. My grandmother has traveled all over the place, so of course she would have the foresight to give Omani rials as a gift. Along with this insanely useful present, we also had a discussion about going abroad. She instructed me to get a secure bank account, to carry my passport around at all times, and make copies of every major document as well. All of this was incredibly helpful, but I can't help but make the focus of this post the rials. They're absolutely gorgeous.

I'm going to feel bad about spending any rials. Each is like an intricate tapestry. Every rial, no matter the denomination, has a picture of the Sultan on the back combined with some building of significance to Oman. The other side really varies in what it depicts. This side of the five rial is showing the city of Nizwa in Oman. 

Of course, the exchange rate is going to be the death of me. Every rial is worth about 2.9 USD, meaning 5 rials is actually about 13 dollars. Thanks America, for letting me look forward to days filled with mental math.

These rials reminded me that this trip is approaching quickly. Of course, I am scrambling to find clothes and keep up on my Arabic learning, but I've lamented about that already. I'm incredibly excited to embark on this adventure and spend far too much money because I forget the massive discrepancy in exchange rates. Two and a half weeks to go.

The Alphabet is Harder than I Thought

In preparation for the trip, we've been asked to learn the Arabic alphabet in 2 14-letter chunks. This seems entirely manageable, except for the fact that each letter has 4 total forms. There's an initial form, a medial form, a final form, and an isolated form. Sometimes the letter stays the same between two of its forms, sometimes it does not. Drawing each letter seems to be like an individual art project. But I'm working on it.

We got our first assignment recently to check and see how we were progressing on the first 14 letters. Now, I've made flashcards, made a huge poster for my door, and written out the whole chart various times. But while staring at that paper I realized that this may be more difficult than I thought. It wasn't "what makes the 'b' sound?" but more like "transliterate this English word in Arabic." I had no idea how to connect the letters or what to do about the vowels (we use them when writing, but Arabic generally doesn't). I suppose learning the alphabet will be a little harder than I thought. I definitely have more effort to put into this before I leave.

In regards to putting in a lot of effort into something, it is very difficult to find clothes that are both very modest and something I want to wear in 100+ degree heat. I was looking at my weather app and Muscat has a high of 106 this week. Wearing jeans in 106 degree weather probably isn't the brightest idea, so I've been around look for clothes that would work. I will just say that shopping is far from my forte and I think just wearing a bed sheet every day would be simpler. This is going to be an interesting summer to say the least.

So these are the issues I'm currently struggling through. I'm sure I will have much more interesting ones to share as we get closer. I'm sure my concerns about the alphabet, the weather, and my clothes will soon be replaced with much more interesting topics and stories.

All that to follow, after I learn this darn alphabet.