Where are Omanis from?

Well I have been making an attempt to study for an Arabic test tomorrow- and I have decided that its time for a break. Where did I leave off…

Being Omani:
So when I was trying to mentally prepare for living (am I really living here!) in Oman one of the things that ran through my head was picturing people here. Being an Islamic, Middle Eastern country- I expected, well, loads of Arabs. What I, and I think every student, was surprised to find out is that Oman is amazingly diverse. If you want a quick, child’s version of a history lesson on one reason why, then finish this paragraph. If not, I won’t hold it against you- just skip down to the next one. So back before the British decided they would stick their boats around the world so the sun (which so rarely shines on the UK) wouldn’t ever set on them, Oman actually had an Empire. Since it was a seafaring nation pretty much forever, their power stretched outwards from the ocean from the coasts of Pakistan to most of East Africa- with their most important holding there being Zanzibar. (now part of present-day Tanzania, where our President just visited if you track him) Anyway, Omanis went to settle there, and took wives. Now in the ‘60’s there was a native uprising in Zanzibar, and anyone of Omani descent that survived returned to Oman. So, “Zanzibaris” or “Swahilis” are the most conspicuous ethnic group in Oman- but there are of course many others, mostly from the close coast of Asia.

What is truly amazing though is the level of integration that exists here between citizens. (the mostly Indian migrant workers aren’t citizens) I truly thought that in America, many African-Americans had achieved a high level of acceptance and oneness with white-dominated society. But what I see here makes me think otherwise. I have been to a wedding where the guests were half “Arab” and half “Swahili” (the two getting married were both Swahili) and everyone absolutely got along with zero, I mean truly zero awkwardness. After dinner, everyone- young and old- (that includes me as well) danced to contemporary music to entertain the bride and groom. At the Muscat festival I saw black equestrians. Have you ever seen a black equestrian? Or several for that matter?

Let me skip ahead a little bit and describe my homestay family. The mom keeps house, with the help of a Sri Lankan maid; the dad is a manager at the government desalinization plant (and speaks seven languages!); they have 5 kids (26-14), all speak at least 3 languages, one is training to be an airline pilot, and 3 are in training to be oil engineers. Maybe I am racist, and truly I try to notice and eliminate that as often as I can; but if someone described this family to me, I sure would be surprised to find out that all but the mom has very dark skin- which of course here in Oman signifies Zanzibari heritage. A very important factor too is the level of intermarriage- so when various members of the mom’s family visits (which is pretty much every day, I am still counting sisters!) they look Arab, and when the father’s family visits, they look African. Wealth here seems to be spread among most ethnic groups- at least here in Muscat- and therefore I think the biggest difference between minority groups here compared to the US is equal access to education.

I know this has been a long explanation, but it is something that I encounter and think about every single day- I’ll get back to exciting adventures soon, I just have to set the stage cause I will be here in Oman for quite a while.