O-man, Day 4: Friendship to a higher level

So we are having breakfast at 8 AM today, and I volunteered to wake everyone up. Only one little problem... I have no watch and my phone isn't getting signal, so I can't use the alarm clock because it isn't connecting to any time. So I wake up, and I don't think it's 8 yet, as it is still rather dark. I can't go back to sleep so I figure I will head downstairs and find what time it is. I have to admit, it is so weird to not have a sense of time at all. As I get to the bottom level I find the lobby is pitch black, so I am assuming it is in the middle of the night still. As I walk up the 3 flights of stairs I get back to my door and I hear the little (not so little actually) call to prayer blaring throughout the town. Because of this, I know it's about 4 AM. It is so different to hear prayer like that over a loud speaker throughout town, but I was able to use that time to write out my own thoughts, and then head back to bed. Luckily I woke back up at 7:15, so I was able to wake people and we had breakfast, which consisted of, of course, a chicken schwarma (my mom will have to learn to make those), and fresh squeezed mango juice.

After that we met up with Ayoob and Fahad (a different one than before), and we went to this really old, really small village. Today was the hottest it has been since I got here, probably about 110, and man, was I sweating. I seriously felt like I was in a sauna with all my clothes on. As charming and witty as I am, I must admit that I would not be all that appealing to most ladies at that time. But on the same note, I think that we all know the ladies would still love me (I think it's obvious the heat has made me delirious). We go through a few buildings that are hundreds of years old, but are nothing more than ruins now. We see a few kids playing soccer and we hang out with them for a bit. Later on we go to Abdullah's house for lunch, and from what I was told, we were in store for a great feast. Since Abdullah's family is a very traditional Muslim family, the guys and girls were placed into seperate rooms to hang out and eat. Abdullah has 12 brothers and 8 sisters (their poor mother!), not to mention nieces and nephews, so their house was pretty full. Again, this idea of truly serving your guest was very evident yet again, this time in a whole new way. The guys and our team were sitting and hanging out while some of Abdullah's younger brothers served us. They were about 11 or 12 years old, and they would come out with a tray of mango juice and would serve us so well. After serving us drinks, they would stand the entire time with tray in hand to pick up our glass right away or serve us more. Then came the big daddy of them all, lunch.

It was a huge bowl probably 24 inches wide all the way around. The brought two of them, each one had 4 guys eating at it. It had rice filled almost to the top, then had whole chicken pieces and french fries scattered throughout. They taught us how to eat it like traditional Omani's. What you do is you get on your knees, and you lean down and eat it with your right hand only. What we did was we would tear off a piece of chicken, grab a fry or two, then grab some rice (all in one hand), and then we squeeze it together in our hand. So now we have (or are supposed to) a little clump of food, and then you just eat it. It took some getting use to but it was delicious! They brought so much food out that we were nowhere close to finishing it, and I was stuffed so I had to tell them no mas. Then, to my amazement, they brought out all kinds of fresh fruit for us to eat. Mangos, grapes, bananas, pears, oranges, apples, everything you can think of. We could barely fit it in. After that, as per tradition, we were served Kawa (Omani coffee) and talked. Actually, we did more listening then talking, as we heard Abdullah's brother, who is a driver for people who go to Mecca, share his latest stories. He shared how they spent time on a road where they believe that Hagar and Ishmael stayed, which was very exciting. So he was pretty excited. Omani's love fellowship and we spent hours there, but then we headed back to the hotel to regroup.

We got back and some walked to the cafe to write loved ones, some took naps, and others, both. After a few hours we went to the mall (it was now about 9 PM). It was more so that we could see the people interact with each other. The fellowship was something else. It was not uncommon to see two men walking together holding hands, but as a sign of friendship and honor. One of my friends, Jon, was able to talk to a few guys who gave him their number, and hopefully we can meet them agian later in the week. Then we headed back to our hotel, and the guys of the team had a good talk on focal points to reach the people. The hot topics we came up with were sin, submission, and sacrifice. Sin is serious and it does fester, and it's not a matter of simply doing more good than bad. There needs to be purity of heart, a willingness to surrender your own needs and wants, and submit to the will of God. And lastly, to offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God, something that is holy and pleasing unto Him.

Tonight has made me really think of how much value I truly place in my friendships, so I ask the question, what are some of the best moments you've ever had with a friend?