After purchasing my very first abaya (on sale, and a few inches too short), I am packing my bags for a week-long excursion to Ibra — the second largest city in the Sharqiyah region, and home to Samira’s family.  Samira has graciously invited Dot and me to visit her hometown for Eid al-Fitr, a three-day megaholiday marking the end of Ramadan.  Sharqiyah is several shades more conservative than Muscat, where the Starbucks cups are plentiful, as are the Western tourists strutting around in strapless something-or-others.  In an effort to blend in, I bought what is possibly the cheapest and least embellished abaya in all of Muscat.  It gives me the illusion of preparedness for a trip that will undoubtedly defy every single one of my ill-informed expectations.  There’s no way to know what awaits me in Sharqiyah, but I will do my best to describe it on the blog when I return sometime next week.  Speaking of returning, feel free to send out a search party if you don’t hear from me by next Saturday.  Until then, I’m off the grid.  As a placeholder, I’ll leave you with this photo of my new neighbor:

If there are any ornithologists out there, feel free to identify this specimen for me. In the meantime, it will be known as a Window Bird.