Smile!

Omani are very straight-forward people. They love having conversations with strangers.

We learned a lot from them and we often had a really good laugh, too. Here are some of our favorite quotes:

Gentleman talking about the speeding problem on Omani roads:

"They go so fast, they don't know why! We try to help them..."

Gentleman we met in the town of Nakhal (with a beautiful fort and hot springs):

"Welcome! This is our village. Nobody stops here."

A guy who came to help us because he saw us driving our car into the water (even though there was a perfectly good way around it) and then hopelessly trying to get it out:

"Ok. What's the plan here?"

(Well, actually there was a plan but a stupid one :) )

Gentleman telling us that he once met a German girl on the plane. She insisted that he must be rich because he was an Arab:

"Did she think I have oil coming out of my pockets?"

A student at Ibra international college:

"I want to speak English but my friends - arabic, my wife - arabic, my work - arabic..."

Our discussion with students from the same college:

Student 1: Can you have two wives in Canada?

Marc: No.

Ania: No, it's illegal.

Student 1: Why not?

Student 2: Two wives - no problem. Three wives - maybe problem.

The organizer of our camel ride when Marc let me go first:

"You Europeans! Always ladies first!"