Queen Elizabeth the II formally greeted yesterday with the Prince of Edinburgh

Muscat arrival on the 25th of November.
With Omani Deputy Prime Minister Fahd bin Mahmud al-Said upon her arrival at Muscat on November 25, 2010 And since I just moved and have no sattelite I missed the Queen's arrival ceremony on OmanTV. I heard it was something I would have enjoyed, via all the traditional Omani women's dress donned. If anyone has pics, send me:)
She TOTALLY looks like my Grandma and dresses te same too!
Prince Philip.
Parade outside Al Alam palace. Below: workers getting ready for the Royal Treatment.
Omanis rejoice:
My father: "If these people are excited about the Queen, these people must be bloody bored."

OPNO: "I think it's kinda cute."

My father: "Well you like to live in that Colonial mind-set sandbox."
ABOVE, His Majesty presents the Royal couple with a gift. His Highness seems to like it but Her Majesty is like, ah, another gold vase, ho hum. Curb appeal, your Majesty Baba Qaboos, curb appeal!
But the Omani answer? Who NEEDS curb appeal when you can buy two things! This time a fabulous faberge-esque gold egg. Her Majesty likes this one better!

Alas, the British gift, looks a bit shabby in compare, a silver framed picture of Her Majesty and His Highness, presented to Baba Qaboos. Does he look disapointed? Please forgive me, all, I am just playing! Her Majesty the Queen at her state dinner.
And of course, the Royal photo op.

Daily Diary: The Royal Horse Show

Omigosh, omigosh, I am soooooooooooo excited. Dec. 1 st at 8 pm is the Royal Horse Show in Al Seeb [oops, for some reason I wrote Wattiyah before dummy me!]. Which, I mean, would have actually been the opposite of "yay!!!!" for me, since I did not win the seat tickets members of the commonwealth are eligible for. I hope I have better luck at Muscat Mutterings Bryan Adams draw.

But luck of all luck, a member of my adopted tribe happened to have been given tickets to all events and was like, I am thinking I cannot stand to be near crowds and go to all of them...

And OPNO is like: "I've seen His Majesty and the Queen AND her mother, and really I don't care. But I LOVE horses, and LOVE the royal horse show. I KNOW those horses by name. I remember when SOMEBODY accidently let them escape. If you find it in your heart to let me...."
And I was given the ticket. And not just any old ticket, a VIP one in some box area.

Alhamdulilah.

BTW, the highway is closing now, as of 4pm I imagine for Queen Elizabeth and Sultan Qaboos.

His Majesty got Buff

Has anyone been to the parking of City Center in Al Muwalla recently? Well the doors just have got this picture of Sultan Qaboos on them.

He's in military parade uniform. Not like the uniform pictured above, but the kind hung all with medals {which I could not find on google image search}.

The giant sliding glass door stickers before the park, some kind of National Day decoration, for sure, because National Day is Omani Christmas, with hanging cardboard Papa Qaboos faces dangling from mall interior ceilings, and blinking lights in green, white and red lining the highway in the Sultanate, is there all braced and proud.

Only... these decorations are OFTEN badly photoshopped with His Majesty staring out over mutrah or floating above some frolicking oryxes but this image took bad photoshopping to a whole other level.

Like when they whitened me to invisable on my resident card.

MOP and I almost fell over laughing when I pointed it out.

OPNO [to MOP]: "Do you see that picture of His Majesty on the doors? Does... he look a little... err, buff to you? Like he's been working out."

MOP [stares at the picture and then blinks].

OPNO: "His Majesty [I've seen him in person before so I know] is fit and all, but I think they photoshopped his chest to make him look bigger. I mean, look at His Majesty, he's got a bigger chest than Arnold!"

OPNO & MOP fall over laughing.

The effect was similiar to this. This is Mark Hamil in real life, who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies:

And THIS is the figurine that made to look like him. Note the chest and arms.

I want to read this book: "In the Service of the Sultan"

I want to read Ian Gardinar's account of the war in Dhofar. I like war stories (my family has more than 1 or 2 soldiers) and think Oman TV (yeah right people say now) should make movies or series about things like this. This book would BE PERFECT for a movie or series. Anyways....

I almost bought it at the airport (which is more expensive than anywhere else). But I waited. So next paycheck, I am purchasing it.

Omani Men's Traditional Dress: the Omani Dishdasha

Of course, white remains the most popular dishdasha colour for Omani men, being that the Prophet Mohamed SAW loved that particular colour, but Oman is famous for having very colourful regional garments and that goes for the men as well as the women, and not only the headgear of Omani men varies in design and shade.Beige dishdashas... Cream dishdasha...
Orange dishdasha (worn by the Sultan)...
Sorbet orange dishdasha in Nizwa...

Mauve/pinky dishdasha (hemmed very short)...

Maroon dishdasha...
Lilac dishdasha...

Smoke grey dishdasha...to turquoise.Navy blue dishdasha...

Indigo blule dishdasha...

Baby blue disdasha...

Mint green disdasha...

And olive green dishdasha with flowers (I saved the brightest, most original for last;) ).

There are even black dishdashaa, and pink ones (dear God, the FOOL that tried to hit on me at the airport yesturday was wearing a white dishdasha tailored off with hot pink threads and matching Barbie pink kuma---lol).

The dishdasha is a robe hemmed anywhere from ground length to the mid shin, available in a array of colours (usually cotton fabric). It is distinguished by the short tassel at the neck (which can be perfumed [long rope-like tassels are for UAE or Oman/Bahraimi area]). The threading edging the neck-close and the sleeves might be courdinated to match the man's kuma (hat).

letter to the Sultan, to do with getting her a passport OR...

BTW, Sultan Qaboos, if you read our blog, says one member of OPNO, she will wear the above pictured birqa/mask in Omani colours for the rest of her life if you will make it a. legal for her to marry the love of her life without making her move to another country to do so [see the results of OPNO's marriage poll here http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/2010/08/marriage-vote-do-omanis-support.html ], or b. give her an Omani passport for looking like a crazy football fan/Christmas 24/7 Majnoonah. She is also willing to cross the Rub al Khali with bare feet, or whatever else you may ask, like a storybook Sultan from a fairy tale.

The Marriage Vote: Do Omanis Support Removing the Ban on Marrying Non-Omanis

The poll is closed and results are in. I asked, "For Omanis Only: Do you support removing the ban on Omanis being able to marry non-Omanis?"

Eighty-five percent [85%] of you (though I have no way of guaranteeing you were all Omanis with valid ID cards, or that you didn't vote more than once from more than one computer---this is a blog poll afterall, NOT a National census) gave a RESOUNDING "YES".

Providing you are all Omanis, this confirms my faith and love and hopes for Oman and the country She has been and will be for the next thousand years or so (God willing, of course).

Here is where I asked for your votes: http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-for-omani-readers-ban-on.html

and here is 1 care of WHY I cared to know what ya'll thought:

http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/2010/07/one-opnos-list-of-how-to-marry-omani.html

Of that 85% eighteen percent [18%] said they would like to see the ban removed but still be conditional, conditions being often, that the marriage be compatible with religious laws, and that age be a consideration for allowances made.

ONLY 10% of you said you didn't want it removed, that is was a way of safe-guarding your culture. I am glad. Please forgive, I am a foriegner despite loving Oman soo so so so MUCH, so I am biased.

Most shocking of all though was that 3 people readily admitted they had no educated opinion (2%). Thank you for you honesty guys! I was going to joke that when I made the poll I knew no one was going to choose that option.

I had a total of 112 votes, and here is the poll before I remove it: "For Omanis Only: Do you support removing the ban on Omanis being able to marry non-Omanis?"

Yes Islam says what country you are form has nothing to do with marriage: 76 (67%)
No it is a way of preserving our culture: 12 (10%)
With some conditions, yes: 21 (18%)
I have no real educated opinion: 3 (2%)

Thank you for participating. If you read my blog your Majesty, please take into consideration the results;). If you have any questions, leave your email address in the comments sections (of course I won't publish) and I'll give you ALL my opinions on the subject. I also welcome any and all invitations to palaces. Just so that you know;).

CONVERSATION BEFORE I POST RESULTS OF THE MARRIAGE POLL

Y (and sometimes M): "OPNO? Honestly, WHY do you love this country?" More bad things have happened to you here than anyone I know. Who else has been molested on a baiza bus and by a corrupt ROP guy? And who else has been screwed over more by Omani laws?"

OPNO [to M last night]: "I have faith that any corrupt laws will be removed, that the people are good (as you Omanis keep saying, not all fingers are the same), and the land itself is blessed. And didn't I escape everytime? I am very well practiced at jumping out the windows of taxis." [Maybe not OPNO's happiest of smiles and does her uber-fake laugh to cover up all the things she likes to cover.].

M: "Let's trade passports."

OPNO: "Deal. I just convinced a couple to spend their honeymoon here."

M: "?"

OPNO: "You have mountains, and history, and green, desert, and sky and beaches. ....I think the Sultan will change the marriage law for the National Day."

M: "Ha! I've been here 30 years Baby. They won't. If they do, no Omani guy is going to marry an Omani girl. The mahers are too high."

OPNO: "They have no such law in UAE and alot of Emiratis are married to Emirati girls and their mahers are just as high as Omani girls'."

M: "You are a dreamer."

OPNO: "Omani girls would lower their mahers then to compete."

M: [scoffs] "No they won't, Majnoonah."

OPNO: "And... 'some say love is a mirage. But seek it anyways, for all else is surely desert.' By the way, I read a poem in Arabic. I understood the words "butterfly" and "sun"." [I grin because I am proud of myself].