We can’t wait for the Eid holidays to begin

More sports Wednesday 15/August/2018 19:13 PM
By: Times News Service
We can’t wait for the Eid holidays to begin

#ReadersResponse: As expected, Oman is abuzz with excitement over the Eid holidays, which are so close you can almost taste them.
The Sultanate, with directions from the Omani government, will enjoy public holidays from Sunday, August 19, until Thursday, August 23, meaning people will enjoy a nine-day mini-vacation.
Aftab Raza, a Pakistani expat in Oman, is all set to go home for the holidays. “My parents still don’t know I am coming, so I want to surprise them,” he said. “They think we’re only getting one day off for Eid, so I have arranged for my friends to pick me up from the airport and surprise them. It’s been a while since I went home to Lahore so I am really looking forward to it.”
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Mohan Amarnath, an Indian expat, has invited his parents to stay with him in Oman during the Eid holidays. “My parents live in Bangalore and they have never seen Oman,” said Amarnath, who has been here for two years. “I really like the life here and I want them to experience it as well. I will be taking them to many places in Oman, including Nizwa, Sohar, and Sur, so I am looking forward to their visit.”
Many citizens and residents in Oman are also making plans for the Eid holidays.
“I just got married!” said Amalesh Kishore, a Sri Lankan manager in Oman. “My wife and I were planning our honeymoon and I have decided to take her to witness the Khareef festival in Salalah. She thinks all of Oman is dusty and dry so I am waiting to see the look on her face.”
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Naeem Al Balushi, an Omani, added, “I work all week and rarely get to see my children, so I am really glad about this Eid break. They live in Muscat and I work in Sohar, so it is hard for me to see them. There are a lot of people who think nine days of holidays are too much but they don’t understand that many of us only get to see our families during the holidays; so this is a blessing for us. I cannot wait to see my children. Maybe we will go camping up to Jabal Akhdar.”
This was a view echoed by Rachel Walker, a British expat in Oman. “We’ve just come back from a holiday in the UK, so we’re pleasantly surprised to have this break in between,” she said. “We’re thinking of travelling to the Far East, but my children are really fond of the open road, so maybe we’ll drive to someplace in Oman. We often keep the final destination a secret so I don’t know where my husband and I will go this time around, or at least that’s what we’ll tell them.”
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Munir Mohammed, a professor of English in Oman, added, “We are going to Buraimi because one of my Omani colleagues has invited us to spend Eid with his family. Omani hospitality is known to be like nothing else in this world so we are very excited. We will spend a few days with him, and go to Al Ain on the last weekend of the holidays, before coming back to Muscat.”