I arrived here yesterday evening after a long and tedious flight on American Airlines (on USA based airlines do not expect any service or too much of any comfort, they will get you from place to place safely, a lot to be said about that these days of mistaken identities).
The flight to Paris on Oman Air was pleasant. I was happy to have met Abdul Aziz from Muscat who was attending my side of the plane under the supervision of Cabin senior Modesta from Lithuania.
I had three wonderful days of stays in Muscat at the Hilton Garden Inn and it was lovely to talk to the staff from so many countries and of course all of them share my own enthusiasm about Oman being the best Arab country in the region.
I admire the hard working to please mentality of these young men and women from towns and villages from diverse environments: Himachal Pradesh to Northern Philippines to Kumasi in Ghana ...
I had wonderful experiences in Muscat, meeting the taxi driver Kamal who gifted me a scarf that Omanis wear, to the Omanis on the street who were eager to know where I was from, placing me as usual from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India (I like this when that happens!)
I was in my room 629 at Hilton Garden Inn when I listened to President Trump answering the attack on the American Airforce Base in Baghdad and was so relieved that he was not impulsively starting to bomb Iran and start great damage to the area. But that joy was soon taken away when a friend from Teheran wrote to say that an airliner had been downed, now we know unintentionally by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
It was a pleasure to walk around the area, take a walk to the Mall (nothing special about the mall, except that lots of Omanis work that in contrast to similar malls in Doha or Dubai). There were hundreds of eateries from all nationalities: just in one street close to the hotel, I counted Turkish, Omani, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Kerala, among other cuisines being offered. Most of the restaurants were empty. The largely working/expatriate population perhaps patronize these places on their days off. I was surprised that the food was relatively inexpensive. I had a rava masala dosai at Aarya vegetarian restaurant at 1.3 OMR very similar to the price I would pay at a restaurant in Fort Cochin in India. I know Oman is a liberal muslim country but I did not see anywhere alcohol being sold or consumed. At the Oman Air Lounges at Muscat Airport, all sorts of food and wine and drinks were on the offer.
I felt very comfortable knowing that I was only a stone's throw away from Iran and that I could communicate with my friends there who were on similar time zones. How I wish I could invite them over to spend a few days at the Hilton Garden Inn, of course...
I had been in Cochin since 29/12, in the company of my good friends, all workers at the Old Light House Hotel by the Arabian Sea. From the manager down to the housekeeping staff are warm and friendly towards me and they make sure that I am well fed, my wine glasses full and invited to all the celebrations in the hotel during the joyous season. Special thanks to Rajesh Rajan the GM. Like the hotel in Muscat, the hotels in Cochin and Kerala in general are staffed by migrant/expatriate workers from Bihar, Bengal and parts north. I look forward to my visits there.
The highlight of the visit to Fort Cochin exactly one week ago was the participation at the 65th anniversary of the accord between the Jews of Mala near Cochin who en masse emigrated to Israel and the Panchayat to preserve the Jewish monuments and the colossal task of Prof Karmachandran in achieving it. Only in India one finds such religious and personal tolerance, even though the politicians like every where try to fan anti-muslim sentiments. I had the pleasure of seeing my good friend Biju Thomas, an erudite historian of the area and he introduced me to many of the teachers fo the colleges who were in attendance: Swapna, Sarita, Parvathy, Neethu, Sreelima.. it was indeed a pleasure. On my next visit I plan to visit the college where Swapna and Sarita work to give them an introduction to the contemporary history especially about the Cuban presence in the world.
Yesterday after arriving in Miami, I was so saddened to hear about the death of Sultan Qaboos the benevolent sultan of Oman (so different and so much more tolerant than the other Malay sultan of Brunei). He will be missed in the geopolitics of the region. He was open to Israel and just few months ago had Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel visit him in Muscat, as had Shimon Peres and Itzhak Rubin.
So this is the life of a wandering, humanitarian medical doctor and anthropologist. I have difficulty explaining to people about what I do with my life. They all expect you to fall into a very definable lifestyle and preoccupation. Where is your offie? Where is your home?
One week with the Native people of Florida who have lived here long long before the europeans arrived in search of Fountain of Youth (Ponce de Leon) and then back to an exciting return to La Habana where my heart is always safe..
