Solafa's pen

Sallam and Hello to all,

I believe some have already seen my name around and some are about to get introduced.

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A quick introduction:

My name is Solafa [second name] and I am Omani. At the moment i live in Liverpool city in England . I have came in here as a student, and i behold an Advanced Level Certificate, Higher National Diploma in Civil Engineering Studies and a B.Eng(Hons) Civil Engineering Degree; now I work as a Highways & Environmental Engineering in one of the biggest engineering organization in the UK.

I am a junior blogger and I am still trying to improve my blog in trying to post as often as I can, but my time is taken most of the time with work and when ever I get the chance then it the pleasure time to write and post …

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I have been away from Oman for about 9 years but I keep visiting my home land once a year apart of one time I stayed away for two full years then gone back on the third year. I do miss my country and the people but every time I go for a short time and return back to Liverpool I feel disappointed with what I see and witness of dramatic change within the society/community and the environment.

When I left in 1998 Muscat was a complete different city. Every one at that time was extra conservative to many things in their life style and thoughts. People used to be different and protective, well to me it was excessive protection that they were spread around but for the good propose.

I guess Globalisation at that time was something that people were not ready to face totally and were not sure of the real change that well come once they open their mind and hands wide. It was never clear what will the outcome be of such wave when it gets through or conservative and reserved communities, tradition and culture and not to forget religion.

From my own personal experience I do say that Oman and in exact Muscat had gone through a wide change in the past 9/10 years to within the community and the life style that I would have not imagined it 1 or 12 years ago. Just out of knowing how it used to be it would have been difficult to even picture it to be in the way it is now. May be if I was there within the years of changes and was never abroad in them years I would have look at it in a different prospective and I would have taken it differently than what I do now, cause when you are surrounded with change then you don’t witness or you don’t observe it to be major or dramatic, but being away and having to visit m home land once every year for say maximum of 2 months, then it is an eye that I have that says a lot to the level that one day I had tears in my eyes out of being emotional to what I witnessed at that time. I believe I was in that state cause I did not expect my home land to change and I was always carrying the image of where I had left it and how it used to be…

Some examples of what I think that has changed in my absences, although it could be minors to some but to be were the opposite:

*Girls used to wear more decent cloth and reserved within what suits the culture and religion. Not necessary to have to wear the Abbaya [the veil] but was decent and attracting within decency.

*Guys used to be more respective towards girls and they will still control their manners even if the girl started to play her game they will still reserve their morals. Although many guys used to chase after girls but still this was the norm of it nearly every where in this life.

*Social places and activities were within the reasonability such as a group of teenagers will end up in a park or a restaurant or by the beach, but there will always a limit to have far they can go with their behaviour or attitude and respective.

What I saw in my recent visits and with shock:

*Many girls wear cloths not within the decent category of how she should present her self as first a Muslim girl, second as an Arab and Omani. Many dresses up as if they are in the west and some are even worse than what I see of girls in the west. Many are drowned in make-up looking like a clown in the middle of the day, where this girl could only be going to either a clinic or a college.

*Girls are the ones who chase guys and they even degrade themselves to try to get the guys that their eyes had set on. They have lost their morals and principles and lost their self respective just for the sake of being cool and acting like the teens girls in the west.

*The only social places that I kept hearing were Muscat Festival, City Centre, Al-Bhaja, Cinema Alshaty and Love Road! Don’t get me wrong I like going to the cinema every now and then and I love walking by the beach and I do love shopping but only if I have something in my mind to walk and roam around a shopping mall. But for I wont be spending 3 or 5 hours just walking in a circle in one shopping mall and then go to another for another few hours. What sort of Social life is this? There are many ways to hang around with your friends and do something useful for you and others; it does have to involve wasting hours walking as if you are doing some sort of religious duties!

I might sound old fashioned but the truth I would rather have the old fashion brought back again than to see our youth getting destroyed in things that has no value or principle behind.

I am not denying that I do see these things happening within our own youth of the family members, and I do have my reaction when it comes to certain things and I will prove my point and I will get the message across the board. But what I receive is some negative vibes not because they don’t want to listen or they think that I am wrong but it’s the matter of following the trend and copy cat others. For this is the only way for them to prove that they live the COOL GANG life…

So pathetic life style but its true and its hard to change what it has been rooting well and strengthen its foundation and spreading the image around to be the right way to follow.

I would wish if I had photographs of what I mean to post in here, but sadly I never thought of taking any as it was already annoying to see things with my bare eyes.