[oman-l] Ibri

[Mutarjm]

Greetings,  

Ref the  interior city of Ibri in Oman

You might check Gordon Robison's handy and detailed paperback Arab Gulf States
(2d edition, 1995), Lonely Planet Press, ISBN 0-86442-390-X. 

That book has s brief description of Ibri and environs on page 230. The city
appears to be situated about 100 KM in the interior SSW from the Omani coast
and about 150 KM SSE from the larger Omani city of Buraimi. 

You should find that Gordon Robison's book is very helpful. I used his 1993
first edition when I spent four enjoyable months in Al-ain and Buraimi, and
his data were very accurate and current. FWIW, Buraimi is perhaps your closest
place for socializing and educational opportunities, depending on your
interests, and you can visit the larger city of Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, right there
at the border. 

The books on Oman by the late Wendell Phillips, if you can find them (most
probably via a library search and loan through interlibrary loan), should have
some useful history of "pre-oil" Oman and before the ascension of HM Sultan
Qaboos. 

Some of the several illustrated "coffee table-size" books on Oman by Sir
Donald Hawley should be useful, as they show the impressive development of all
sectors of the country.

You might do some web searches, as there a number of well-linked web sites in
and about Oman.

Bruce Ingham's jewel of a paperback "The Simple Guide to Customs and Etiquette
in Arabia and the Gulf States" is another valuable reference, well worth the
approx USD $ 8.00 price. It's a UK publication and also available in the US
from The Talman Co., Inc., in NY. Your bookseller should be able to find and
order that for you.

You might learn some customary "social Arabic" pleasantries and exchanges. 

Try:

*     Hamdi Qafisheh's series of paperback texts on Gulf Arabic (coastal
dialect common in UAE and familiar in most of Oman) is a good start. You'll
need to take time at first to figure out the English phonetic transliterations
of Arabic and then practice, practice, practice. Publisher is University of
Arizona Press (audiocassettes optional). 

*     Clive Holes has a useful and detailed book on dialects of Gulf Arabic,
but that book is more specialized and designed for linguists and
dialectologists.

*    "Berlitz Arabic Phrasebook and Dictionary" (paperback) . Well organized
and designed for the needs of tourists and visitors. Despite the occasional
inclusion of some Egyptian colloquialisms in some sections, the vocabularies
are mostly in Formal Spoken Arabic / aka Modern Standard Arabic.

BTW>> If you arrive in Oman after January 29th (the conclusion of the annual
worldwide Muslim observance of the festival period of Ramadan al-Mubarak),
during your meetings and exchange of greetings and pleasantries with Omanis,
you might add the Arabic felicitations of "Eid mubarak" or "Eid sayiid."

Hope this helps. If you are going there, enjoy Oman and the Omanis. 

Regards from Los Angeles,

Stephen H. Franke
Middle East Services Group
E-mail:< mutarjm@aol.com >