Job Discussion Forums

deessell2 · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 132 Location: Under the sun

Greetings,

I have started to apply for positions in Oman and I am a woman smoker. Is this going to be a major problem for me. Will I be able to smoke at work or will I have to find a hiding place? Will this be my 'dirty little secret'?

Duffy · Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 449 Location: Oman

Don't know about anywhere else but in Salalah COAS there certainly are lady smokers (including my wife Sad

.) In fact there is quite a social scene when some of the ladies go up on the roof for a cigarette and a chat.

I don't think that you will have a problem deessell2 and ciggys are quite cheap out here.

Duffy Laughing

deessell2 · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 132 Location: Under the sun

Nice one! Thanks for your reply. Now I just need a job to smoke at!

With Malice Toward None · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 250

Hi lady,
There are many Omani ladies who smoke but you won't find many supporters or companions. The MOE and MOHE have expressly prohibited smoking in campuses and when you smoke you are at risk. My advice: don't smoke while you are there. Most students don't like it and may report you as a bad influence.
Regards.
WMTN.

Duffy · Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 449 Location: Oman

With Malice Toward None,

I spent over four years teaching at the COAS in Salalah and I can tell you that there were, and still are, a lot of male student smokers. why do you think I said that the teacher smokers go up on the roof?? They obviously are not going to smoke in the student's faces. Rolling Eyes

I agree with your advice about not smoking generally, but then, I gave up over fifteen years ago. Just wish I could persuade the wife to stop as well. Sad

Duffy

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Most (all?) colleges these days require you to go outside to smoke. Oman is one of the few Arab countries where smoking is not that common, even among the men. It is considered nearly as "haram" (sinful) as alcohol by the Ibadhi sect of Islam. If only that idea were more widespread in the Arab world. Laughing

VS

Duffy · Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 449 Location: Oman

Well VS,

There are a lot of sinners out there, not only students. I spent a day out in the desert with a couple of Omanis recently and one of them always had his little tobacco pipe lit. Or perhaps these smokers aren't Ibadhis??

Duffy Laughing

jdl · Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Posts: 632 Location: cyberspace

Smoking is very common in Oman......can't believe all one reads in the students' essays on the ills of tobacco.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

If one has spent much time in places like North Africa or the Levant, where every male in the country has a cigarette either hanging out of their mouth or burning in their hand for every waking hour, Oman was literally a breathe of fresh air.

All is relative... I suspect that many who do smoke don't do it in public just because it is not as socially acceptable as it is in other countries. Laughing

VS

ryder · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 21

A lot of women smoke sheesha or nargila including my Lebanese wife. Up in the mountains when we were invited in for tea to jabali homes or down in the wadis when we sat with bedu, there were women who smoked. It's not common but there are female Omani smokers. One family we visited in Ibri had several women who smoked, one even smoked some sort of pipe. So not a problem, just follow the rules and regulations for the building you're in.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Interesting... a pipe? Was it an older woman or a young woman?

VS

Snowed In · Joined: 24 Oct 2009 Posts: 12

Sheesha is quite popular with young Omani women in their early 20's onwards. Check out the scene in the popular sheesha cafe in the MQ area. Life is changing fast in Oman especially Muscat. Yes, at first glance tradition seems to rule, but underneath life is quite different.