Welcome to Global Parenthood Stories. Today we speak with Haley Kemper who originally hails from Northern California and now calls Oman home with her husband and son Rowan, 3. Haley and her husband both work as international school teachers and enjoy the rich experiences living abroad brings to their family. Haley talks Omani heat, wadis and the hospitable nature of Omanis.
Haley is no stranger to the expat life. Having parents who were also international school teachers, she was given an early taste of the diverse experiences that come with growing up abroad and experiencing the richness of culture around you. When she was nine years old, her family moved to Bangladesh. This was followed by living in Abu Dhabi when she was twelve and then New Delhi, India when she was fifteen.
Meeting her now husband didn’t mean an end to her international adventures, instead it meant she now had a travel partner to share her experiences with. At 24, they both moved to Ningbo, China where she worked as a Librarian and her husband completed his student teaching in the art room. They continued to take on professional teaching opportunities as the years passed in Yangon, Myanmar and Romania where they remained for 3 years and where their son was born, before settling in the magical Middle Eastern paradise of Muscat, Oman.
Birth amidst covid: Our son Rowan was born in Bucharest, Romania in March 2020. It was the day that Romania locked down because of Covid! In fact, my husband wasn’t even allowed into the hospital with me when I went into labor and gave birth. Both my mum and dad had flown in from New Delhi where they were teaching at the time to be there for Rowan’s birth and to help out for a couple weeks, and they ended up getting stuck in Romania with us until the beginning of June because of covid restrictions. This was a blessing as we enjoyed their help and they got to be around for the newborn phase of their first and only grandchild. They were in the process of leaving New Delhi after 15 years and moving to Brazil and they had to not only learn how to teach online from Bucharest, but they had to get their house packed up via video calls for the shipment and get their cat ready to travel via a friend from school!
Choosing Oman: We were offered two jobs and so we had to choose between Oman and a great IB private school in Rhode Island, USA. I wanted to move back home to be closer to family, but we were concerned about financially making that work, especially with Rowan being so little and needing full-time nursery. We ultimately chose Oman because of the package they were offering and knowing we would be able to afford childcare here without breaking the bank. It also helped that I had spent a lot of time in Oman as a kid when my family lived in Abu Dhabi; I had such fond memories of camping and hiking and exploring the outdoors in Oman.
Outdoor Adventures: Enjoying the outdoors in Oman continues to be a highlight of living here. Some of our adventures include camping on the beach amongst sea turtles, camping in the mountains overlooking massive canyons, hiking through wadis and pomegranate plantations, visiting old forts and ruins, seeing camels wandering alongside the road and playing in the sand dunes to name a few. Some of the best camping and sites to explore are about 2 hours away, so very doable on a weekend. Many people just take day trips to the mountains or the wadis but we prefer to make a full weekend out of it and leave on a Friday morning and come back midday on Saturday. Some things are a bit further away (3-4 hours) and we tend to save these destinations until we have a longer holiday. Local Omanis love to be outside when the weather is cool too. They take their 4x4s and explore wadis, go camping and bring big elaborate picnics out to the sand dunes, parks and wadis. It’s generally a big family affair for them and you’ll see all ages out together.
Wadis: A wadi is a dried up riverbed. On Google Maps they show up as blue lakes but they’re actually dry! In the mountains, the wadis are usually in canyons and they fill with water after a rain. They can actually be very dangerous and often have flash floods. There are so many wadis in Oman. It depends on the wadi but you can hike through some of them, some have fresh water pools that you can swim in. Others have waterfalls and cliff jumping. There are wadis that are child friendly and some are far too difficult to bring children to. The two most famous wadis are probably Snake Canyon and Wadi Shab. I would describe Snake Canyon as being technical and requires abseiling and cliff jumping to get down to it. Wadi Shab is a wadi that kids can come along to but it still involves a long hike to get to it. Some favorites of mine are Wadi Qurai and Wadi Hawer. Wadi Qurai involves following an aqueduct and then hiking up through a canyon to some fresh water pools. Wadi Hawer has a nice pool at the front that kids can swim in and then more technical climbing, waterfalls and cliff jumping further in.
Having fun: We belong to a beach club where we can go swimming and snorkeling. There is also a pool and baby pool, tennis courts, a golf course, and gym facilities. We only use it for the beach and pool but it’s nice and there is a good restaurant and bar there too. We also go to the local public beach with our dogs occasionally and we like to explore the nearby wadis and mountains on weekends. We go camping and climbing and the movie theaters here are also great!
The Heat: In Muscat the heat is intense, and to many peoples’ surprise, it’s not a dry heat; that would make it more bearable I think. Instead, because we are on the coast it is usually very humid and muggy. It can feel like you’re in a sauna! The extreme heat in the hot months make it difficult to do much outside and when you have a toddler this means you are constantly looking for indoor activities and this basically equates to indoor soft play at the malls which don’t open until 10:00 am. Folks will tell you that the cool season is from early October until March but it’s realistically mid-November to mid-February.
Omani’s Love Children: Omanis seem to love children. You don’t feel like the children bother people when you go out to the shops or restaurants for example, which is a feeling I have felt often in the U.S. People are always very kind to my son when we’re out in public. People smile at him and ask him his name. They offer him sweets. They help open doors if I’m pushing him in the shopping cart. They’re just very nice and considerate people.
Having a Nanny: Nannies in Oman are affordable and wonderful. We wouldn’t be able to afford a full-time live-in nanny in most other places. Our Nanny here is like a member of our family and we love her, as does our son. Nannies are very common in expat and Omani families, at least in Muscat. The wealthier Omani families will be the ones with nannies. Many times, if there are more than two children, they will have multiple nannies. Nannies always live with the family, as the Omani families tend to have them work 24 hour days. I know of quite a few Omani families that have their children stay in the room with the nannies so that if they wake up at night, then the nannies deal with it. This is not always the case, but it can be common.
Conservatism: Oman is quite conservative and modest. Unlike the UAE, women here shouldn’t wear clothing above the knee or show their shoulders in public. You shouldn’t wear a traditional bathing suit at the beach, although when swimming a t-shirt and shorts over your bathing suit is probably okay. We often see many tourists baring their skin and it’s difficult, as I don’t think they have researched what is appropriate here. You can see that it makes some of the locals uncomfortable.
On the road: Omani people are the most aggressive and terrifying drivers I’ve ever encountered! They drive 130+ kph and tailgate you to within an inch of your back bumper to get you to move out of the way. They don’t seem to have much consideration for others on the road, which is strange because off the road they are so kind and thoughtful. There are very bad road accidents here, because of the driving, but also because many people don’t wear seatbelts, especially children. You will see children standing up in the front seat, moving between the front and back seats and hanging out of car windows instead of sitting in a car seat with a seatbelt on.
Safety: In Oman I generally feel safe, although house burglaries are becoming more common. I also don’t like the police practice of shooting stray dogs. I’ve had very bad experiences with this and in a way, the violence towards the animals feels like violence to me personally, because I am such an animal lover.
Food Shopping: In previous places I’ve lived, there have been lots of cheap, organic produce available. In Oman, offering organic products is just beginning and so it is scarce and expensive; I have had to stop buying organic because of this. Also almost everything is imported here, so grocery prices in general are higher than what I am used to. Carrefour has a whole organic section but most, if not all, is imported and also pricey. We shop local for products like halloumi, feta and bread but most other things I try to buy from local Omani shops because they’re cheaper.
Homesickness: Since having my son, I am really missing home and my family, so being so far away is really difficult. I talk to my parents on the phone as often as I can and Rowan also loves video calling them. If we aren’t talking, then we’re messaging. It’s still hard being so far away though. We have a group of good friends here, many who have kids Rowan’s age, which has been great. It’s kind of like an automatic friendship group. Our immediate circle are all expats, both from our school and other schools. Other than the Omanis I work with at school, I don’t really interact with all that many. Most shops, stores and restaurants are all run and operated by expats as well as people from India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Sometimes I miss the little things from the States. Having seasons, having kids museums/interactive exhibits to take Rowan to, easy opportunities to get outside; the mountain bike park was only a few minutes drive from our house in California. Going to the lake, having dinner with family and friends who live down the street, skiing and easily being able to drive up to my sister’s house in Oregon.
Identifying Home: Home is my current house here in Oman, but also my family’s house in California. That is my true home. I think for me, home is always going to be where my parents are. I make our home feel like home by decorating it with all of our cherished belongings like artwork, carpets and lots of plants. Having our dogs and other animals around make things feel like home too.
(Photos sourced from Haley and Canva.)
