On Thursday was Oman's National Day. It's a very important day for the people of Oman be it expats or locals. It is the day when the Country got independence from the Portuguese colonization in 1650 and it is also the birthday of the late Sultan Qaboos who was the favorite amongst the people. Oman has a very high expat population around 43% so one can understand the kind of diversity this place supports. I complete 10 years in this Country, and I can say that it has been one of the best experience of my life.

This place is very different, it is slow and that's what makes it unique. Slow life does not mean dull life, it means quality life. When I moved here, I was so used to the Mumbai fast life that it was difficult for me to adjust with this kind of life. Slowly gradually it seeped in to me and now I do enjoy this kind of life. But then again there are times when it gets boring also and then I run away to Mumbai...haha. All said and done this place has given me more then what I asked for so I really have a huge sense of gratitude for this place.

National day celebrations are big time over here, every corporate has some celebrations, there are celebrations on the streets and it is a sight to watch. One thing to be avoided on this day is to not plan any work which has travelling. Because on this day the roads are packed and people just get out for fun waving the flags. Me and hubby decided to go for a drive near the Palace area side which is like 17 kms from my home, and on a normal day it does not take more then 30 minutes. In that area there is lot of lighting and decorations done. We left our home and there was crazy traffic, looking at that we took a U turn, if we would have tried going further we would have reached there not before 2 hours minimum.

People gather on the streets, like as if it's a picnic time, we too took a halt for some time and clicked some pictures of the celebrations. The streets are decorated with lights and it's a wonderful vibe.