- The mountains are gorgeous and layered and a total vibe
- The wind is no joke and random gusts will pick up your garden furniture and throw it across the patio
- American chocolate like Reeses and Betty Crocker cake mixes are in almost every store
- Pepsi is the preferred brand over coke
- An entire family with carts and carts full of stuff will cut in front of you in the line at the supermarket and act like it’s NBD
- Grilled and fried chicken here are the most popular food options outside of Muscat. In fact, I can foresee you becoming quite tired of chicken
- It is common to dust a house three times a week here. Dust is a huge part of desert life
- Mosquitos
- Every mosque has a different sounding call to prayer because every person doing the call to prayer has their own, ahem, abilities. Some are melodic, some are not
- Everyone will call you “sister” or “brother”
- Terms of endearment are common among Arabs and the expats who live among them. Strangers will address you as “dear” “sweetie” and the Arabic “habibi”
- People here have time to spare. Expats and locals alike might be miffed if you don’t text them back right away or if you ignore their messages
- You will be hit on at the grocery store
- You will be hit on by the guy from Open Souq who is showing you his father’s house
- You will be relentlessly hit on
- Internet and phone service is expensive here compared to other countries
- Water and electricity are astonishingly cheap here because these things are subsidized by the government
- When someone from the opposite sex says they want to be your friend, that’s not what they mean
- The Arabic love language is food. People will feed you an awful lot and it’s common to eat after 9pm
- Omanis are some of the kindest and most gentle people you will live amongst
what I talk about when I talk about Oman 