Salim dropping knowledge

So I didn't go into full detail about the whole trip with Salim. We had some great convo in the car. I'm so thankful for this dude. Not only does he seem very genuine he's very eager to share his traditions with me. Which is awesome especially when you're in a foreign land and can count the people you know on one hand.

The first thing I though was hilarious...Salim told me that some of the field guys were asked to go over to the states to do some training. It only makes sense. Yet, they didn't want to go. They were so afraid that they'd get shot. Salim was the mediator and told them that it wasn't like what they saw in the movies. Salim told me he's never seen a gun nor heard of anyone having access to a weapon his entire life. I was cracking up that they were so frightened about being in the US. The eventually went and were able to see that not all of the US is dangerous.

I keep gently prodding Salim for some insight into the perspective on life here. We got on some subject about omani women. Then I find out that they are allowed to have no more than 3 wives. In fact Salim said he only knows one person that has 2 wives and that's because his first wife couldn't have children, which from what I could gather made it acceptable. So of course I asked how does that sit with the first wife? And he replied "I think all women are the same no matter where they are from. If I had a friend who greeted me with a kiss my wife would ask who is she and become angry." He then goes on to tell me that multiple wives is the old way of thinking. Rarely do people have more than 1 wife now. He stated the reason was because you must be able to provide for your wife and children and meet their needs. If you can do that and are able to take on the added responsibility of another wife and kids then and only then was it acceptable to do so. But of course there are people, like in any place, who do things for the wrong reasons. He then continues to tell me about these young men (19 yr olds) who get married and have like 8 kids before they're my age and are unable to care for their family because they lived an easy life before marriage and are unable to figure out how to provide. Basically acting like normal irresponsible 19 yr olds.

Hopefully, headed to the Grande Mosque today...should be lots of good pics.