“Maid to Suffer” in Y-Oman Magazine

Sad that there are countless stories like this, not only in Oman, but all across the Middle East.maid1     Kudos to Y-Oman for telling it like it is.  The fact that even one vulnerable girl would be used and abused like this and the sponsor would get away with it should make someone’s blood boil!

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Expats, “Don’t Rock the Boat!”

UAE expats are advised not to “rock the boat” as published in the Gulf News. I guess that could be said to expats in any of the GCC countries, including Oman!  This warning automatically brought this song to mind:  Please, don’t you rock my boat.  ‘Cause I don’t want my boat to be rocked!”

Pervert + Spycam = 3 Year Prison Term + 5,000 OR Fine

filthy idea                           It’s good to hear some follow-up about someone arrested here in the Sultanate for a change!  The pervert who set up a spycam in Khoula hospital was an employee!  They found more than 30 video clips on his computer.  Imagine if you (or your wife or daughter!) were one of the people recorded by this sicko.  Nasty!  The court sentenced him to 3 years in prison in addition to a 5,000 rial fine (or about $13,000 US).  Read about all the details here in yesterday’s Times of Oman article written by Fahad al Mukrashi.  Now if only they would inform the public about the verdict concerning the 5 monsters that gang-raped the Asian lady in Sohar in March

Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Wakan Village in Wadi Mastal in the Wilayat of Nakhal

This fantastic video was published on May 17, 2013 by SNK Productions Oman.  ”The village sits at 2,000 metres above sea level in Wadi Mastal in Wilayt Nakhal, located in Al Batinah South Governorate. 150 kilometres separate this village from Muscat. The road leading to the village passes through a number of valleys where the villages can only be reached by a four-wheel-drive vehicle.”

Back to the Aquarium, Damaniyat Islands (Dive #22)

Aquarium pic 1  I was glad to return to “Aquarium” divesite especially now that I had my new Canon D20 to capture some of the awesomeness of this site.  This was my 2nd time to Aquarium; my first time was immediately after being PADI Open Water qualified.Open Waters and Advanced  Speaking of my licenses, can you believe that I have only just now received my cards in the mail this week: Open Waters more than 8 months after qualifying (Aug 23) and my Advanced Open Waters (Nov 1) more than 7 months later…Aquarium pic 2  Ahmed, an instructor from Global Scuba, helping out a young Indian diver on his first ocean dive after getting his Open WatersAquarium pic 3  There were plenty of these fish swimming all around us right from the moment we hit the water!Aquarium pic 4Aquarium pic 5  “Calamari”- You can see one of these creatures “hovering” in the video at the end of this blogpost.Aquarium pic 6Aquarium pic 7Aquarium pic 8Aquarium pic 9  It was sad to see this dead turtle during our dive.  There was no indication as to what caused its death.Aquarium pic 10  They have these nets over large parts of the coral reef at Aquarium.  I’m not sure if they are old, discarded fishing nets or it’s something to protect the reef.Aquarium pic 11Aquarium pic 12Aquarium pic 13  Plenty of schools of fish at the Aquarium!Aquarium pic 14  2 young brothers who both attend ABA.Aquarium pic 15  Always dozens of moral eels to see at the Damaniyats.Aquarium pic 16  The Italian gentleman we were diving with, Antonio, kept trying to touch things.  I kept waiting for something like this moral eel to bite him.  Here’s a closer look at what he’s putting his hand near:Aquarium pic 16 closeupAquarium pic 18Aquarium pic 18 closeup  Here is a video combining 29 short clips that I took on this dive: Maximum depth was 17 meters and bottom time of one hour.