Food and friends

Ok, you know how they say everyone has a twin in the world? Well buzzie I think I found yours. He is in the with me and Roy Gardner from Florida. He was here this week with us at the workshop and his name is Badar al Balushi and he is from Oman. He is a question guy, like you, although he did not say "Now let me ask you this." but everything else was freakishly similar. I told him he had a twin in Spokane Washington and he new exactly where Washington State was as his friend had been there fishing a few years back! Oman is a new member of Ramsar and he and his colleague Aziza, who was also a lot of fun, were definitely an important factor in the spirit of the group this week. Oman is one of the wealthy U.A.E. countries, with about 80% of their economy based on oil. One of our topics this week was poverty eradication through sustainable management of wetlands. They were sure to remind us all week whenever the topic was referred to that during that session they might have to rest be ause they did not have any poverty in Oman. this was getting lots of laughs by the end of the week. But although they are a desert country on the Gulf, they do have wetlands and they do have mountains. Sounds really interesting. As they said good bye to us last night Aziza gave each of us a 100 note in Omani money, enought to buy she said a couple of pieces of gum, for when we arrived in Oman. 

Another thing that people have been taking pictures of all week are signs with misspelled words. I only managed to grab a few, so there is one below from the hotel bar (not Little Joes Foreigner friendly bar, which unfortunately we never got to). We had a bit of fun with it thinking of all the possibilities for the mispelled word and how it might change the message. only two meals here, one is my breakfast, a selection of pickled things kim chee style, and the other our indian meal which was a very hot and spicy chicken  marinated in green chilis and other green things then baked in a clay oven. very yum.Getting to the end of the week now, maybe one more post after this then I will be home.