…As I have previously said, after reaching the Muscat Airport , I realized that the adventure was only at the beginning…All I could feel was a terrible hot air…and the smell of burned concrete. Getting the visa procedure was rather quick and I soon realized that the Omani are nice people. They are educated, speak good English and ready to help if needed.
I was looking for the driver and I could see a very thinny Indian guy with a piece of paper having my name and the company’s name on it.
On the way to my appartment I was looking with curiosity through the car window to see where I am…how the place is… But , I was too tired to focus :).
The streets in Oman are very good. They build new roads and highways which connect all the important cities in the area.Pity though they drive like crazy and seem to have some sort of obsession for the roundabouts :).
My first day in the office was ok. The conditions are good though we work a bit too much ( 47.5 hours per week) and since I came I cannot make the difference between Saturdays and Thursdays as the working week here starts on Saturday and ends on Wednesday 
I was a bit shocked when I went to a public clinic to give blood for getting the Omani ID and the driving licence. I presume that the private clinics are ok (I do not know yet, but I will sure tell you after I go to the Al Amal Medical Centre which has an agreement with our company) but that public hospital (or whatever it was) was really terrible. First of all, it didn’t look like a hospital, it was filthy and very crowded…the good thing is that they have separate entrances for men and women but still…to go to your entrance you should pass towards all those persons waiting (most of them coughing and smelling like hell). In those moments I said to myself…what the heck..if I am not sick , I will sure be after getting out of here. I do not want to give you all the details of the conditions in which blood was given ….in a small room, with a lady having her coffee and another one sitting at her desk…Do not imagine that you would see some sort of specific area dedicated to this…no way…you just and sit on chair at a desk looking carefully to see whether she changes the needle or not, praying God not to get some virus and feeling a terrible need of taking an alcohol bath to clean yourself once you get out of there.
But hey, things are not so bad…you can also find good things and beautiful things in Muscat if you go into the right areas.
There are nice shopping areas where you can find all the common brands from Europe. My favourite is City Center ( with Carrefour inside it and nice shops).
I was pleased to discover that though you are in a Muslim country in some shopping centers you can buy pork and in the jewellery shops you can find nice crucifixes… so…it is not so bad, is it?
To be continued….
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