A Magical Night at the Opera House

Dear Readers,

Last night our group went to the Royal Opera House. It was like being inside a giant heavenly marble cake, with intricate designs all over the walls and ceiling. Then when we discovered the auditorium - our jaws dropped. WOOD. 

Everything was made of wood. Wood in Muscat is extremely expensive. In America, most homes are made of wood. Correct? If you're an American, think about your own home. At least the frame of the house alone is made of wood. In Gulf Countries, and Dessert countries, all the wood must be imported. Therefore, people in Oman (and many other countries) choose Marble over any other material. Its simply cheaper. (What a polar difference from America!) 

Being in Oman for a good 2 months now, we were shocked to see the entire area made of wood. Just look at the picture and see for yourself:

The Ballet, Don Quixote, was wonderful - and amusing. I was glad they added a few funny scenes of the bad guy falling off the stoop, and being hit by a giant fish by the father trying to marry his daughter off to him.

Most of the people attending were non-Omanis. Some looked to be Omani, but most were the foreigners, such as South Africans, English, Northern Europeans, and some asians and Indians. Quite a mix of people.


I was especially excited for the night, because we got to dress up. "Wear the fanciest outfits/dresses you have." - Mama Fatin told us.

We all ended up looking beautiful. But the people working in the opera house might've been the most impressive. Women greeters were dressed in sparkling dresses of all sorts. Some Indian traditional dresses, others gowns, some in Abayas you wouldn't believe were even abayas. Clothes never were so intriguing to me.


The ballet was superb. Not too long, and very colorful. We did need to buy a program in order to figure out the story line (2 rial each!) but that only made it more captivating for me. It was like a game trying to figure out what they were acting out. After it was over, we went home with smiles on our faces, and tutu's spinning in our eyes. It was beautiful! 

<-----That's me!