Camel Meat and Yemen!

While the kids and I are in the US, Joe continues to work in Oman.  His primary work is actually in southern Oman, in Thumrait and Salalah.  That is where these pictures were taken.  Joe, his coworker Terry, and Terry's wife, Janice, took a day trip with Salim.  Salim is their PRO in Salalah.  I described PROs in an earlier post.  They are Omani nationals employed by companies to help navigate the red tape and bureaucracy of the Omani government.

 

 

They encountered this camel herder.  He was very happy and proud to show Joe around his camp.

 



This picture shows him lifting the lid on some camel milk.  They love camel milk, but if you are not used to it, beware!!  Taste it at your own risk.  It will not agree with you.

 

Here are Terry, Joe, and Salim.  Joe and Terry were invited to Salim's house, where his mother and sister prepared them a meal of camel meat and rice.  Janice is not in this picture because she was being entertained separately by the women of the house.

 



 

Omanis eat mostly young camels and Joe said it wasn't bad.  There was also rice and homemade butter.

 



 

This is the view from Salim's house.  The big fence you see is actually the border between Yemen and Oman.

 

This is the view in another direction.  It may be hard to see in the mist, but those are camels.  Salalah experiences a khareef season, from June to September.  This is the result of the monsoons in the area.  It will be quite misty and foggy the whole summer, which is the main source of water for Salalah.  It makes everything very green and lush.  The temperatures are also a lot cooler than in Muscat.  I look forward to visiting Salalah in August, when the kids and I return to Oman.

 



 

Here is a random man, Joe, a Yemeni border patrol guard, Salim, and Janice.  The guard was quite happy to be photographed.  Several Omani tribes encompassed the northern part of Yemen.  BTW, if you look closely at Janice's hands, you can see they were decorated with henna.  This was done while she was being entertained. 

 

This was just a day in the life of Joe.  In my next post, I will let you know what my kids have been up to in the US!