Our new home!

We had found a lovely, huge villa in a community in Muscat called Al Mouj, which is Arabic for The Wave (its previous title), before we left Dubai. 'We' being Thomas, who was going from a floor plan...

It's an absolutely gorgeous, light-filled place that we have PLENTY of room to play in. There are more bedrooms and bathrooms than you can poke a stick at, but we're going to enjoy it while we're here and be very content to move into something a little more homely once we leave.

Al Mouj is a community, but not gated or a compound. It's populated by western expats and tended to principally by Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, and Sri Lankans. It's scarily reminiscent of The Truman Show, with its picture perfect lifestyle. It's honestly the most literally unrealistic place I can think of to live, but it's an absolute delight for families as there are three big parks, a shopping area that is reserved for pedestrians and kids on bikes, a nursery (which Margaux attends) on-site, private access to the beach, a good selection of cafes and restaurants... It's brilliant.

The day we were to move in, though, our stuff was due to arrive at 10:00. At about midday I received a call to say there were delays at the border and that they would keep me posted. Well, after all sorts of other problems, including access to the house, the unpackers showed up at about 20:00! Margaux and I helped for a while and then we headed back to the hotel for a final night's sleep there, while Thomas helped the movers until about midnight. Ugh.

We had a lovely explore of our new territory the next day, navigating our way around on our freshly unpacked bikes:

And with the 'pet' dog, Nico, that Margaux received as a Christmas present the year before: Nico

It didn't take too long at all for us to realise how much we loved our new home. Yes, it is vastly different from Dubai in many aspects (lack of commercialisation, lack of public transport, retention of beautiful architecture, retention of ancient culture), but it is still the Middle East with its restrictions on dress and women's liberties, and the fact that it's hurtling from the Middle Ages into the 21st century at breakneck speed thanks to the discovery of oil.

And, like Dubai, it has the superficial appearance of being a Western contemporary country, but not too far below the surface it's glaringly apparent that they just don't 'get' the nuances and culture that have shaped society over the last few hundred years in Western countries.

But this blog is about our family, so I'll leave you to do your own research on the place!