Italian food in the Gulf

My last few days in Oman. I am clearing the pantry and the fridge. Not working today, I have time enough for one of my favorite Italian recipes: "Risotto toma e zucchini" . Here are the main ingredients:

• Organic rice Vialone Nano from Italy
• Fresh organic zucchini from Netherlands
• Organic vegetable stock from Germany
• Organic Cheddar from UK

The only ingredient from Oman was water and, maybe, onion (not 100% sure).

When it comes to food selection, I usually go for organic first and then I try to support the "Km 0"   sustainable cuisine idea.

I really do, uh... well, as far as reasonably practicable.

Not today, not here. Sorry for this.  :-)

Usual info for camera freaks: Pentax Q - 01 Standard Prime 8,5 mm. Wide open (f 1:1,9), 1/60s

Did I say I love it? :-)

Portraits

I was auditing an Indian company few days ago, when I noticed a wide collection of photos hanging on the walls of their office. Many personages, from all over the world belonging to various historical periods, were portrayed with quotes from their books and speeches. Voltaire, Buddah, Kennedy, Edison, SunTzu and many others. This time I had no camera with me, but the one in my mobile. It is good enough for taking few notes and so I did. 

Now, I am OK with Mr. Lincoln and his sentence, even if ordinary, is quite nice

The second personage was already disappointing. I really don't like Ms. Bojaxhiu (a very controversial personage, see "The missionary position"). Yet by some Indians (actually not so many) she is still considered a "bless".

But the next portrait was the one that really shocked me:

For them it was absolutely normal to show Hitler's portrait and quote one of his sentences.
I mean, it is plenty of bloody idiots still doing the same also in Europe, as well as they do with Mussolini, sadly. But no sane person would do it in a office! 
"Even evil people can teach a lesson and he is only one of the many evil, not the worst. Anyway he was a big leader, good example for managers!", so they told me. 
And once again I had to rethink about cultural differences and historical background.
Europeans or, say,  western people, we are too often "Eurocentric". we take as given that the other part of the world share our same opinions about history. Unfortunately it is not like that.
It doesn't mean that they are right - of course they are wrong! - but they were really distant in the 30's and 40's. And still they are, from many points of view.

Shared goals

In general I am kind of "allergic" to religious symbols.
Yet a cross and a half-moon do not always directly represent religions and they are not always opposed. Sometimes they share a common goal.
Sometimes they are just the only thing everybody can easily understand and look for when in trouble.

Picture taken with my little Pentax Q and the 01 Standard Prime. This camera and lens are so small that I keep them always with me, also at work.

Oman and censorship

Coming to Oman after 10 months spent in one of the muslim state of India, makes the impact of an Islamic country definitively softer. Moreover Oman is quite an open society, e.g. when it comes to women rights. Well, sometimes even a little bit too much open... I will be flamed for this, but I wouldn't let Omani women drive. At least not on public roads, at least not for the next 20 years: they are the most unsafe drivers I've ever seen! Sorry for this :-)
But coming back to the topic, beside of the muezzin's call to pray, there are some small signs reminding you where you are and what are the rules.
Today I was reading the November issue of the British magazine Outdoor Photography. I bought it at the supermarket, taking it from a shelf where dozens of other international magazines are easily available to any customer.
Looking at the photos of some African women, something seemed somehow strange...

Women breasts in the photos have been masked manually, with black fat-pen strokes.
Nothing new, actually, I know it happens. Yet it is amazing. This is an outdoor magazine and this was the one and only page with taboo contents. Let's say, an easy game. But beside of men's magazine (which are obviously prohibited), what about, say, the gossip-magazines or the others about women fitness&health, or fashion. All those magazines, normally plenty of half (or fully) naked women, they were also available on the same shelf! I guess they have been censored too (I will check next time).
This means there is someone who spends a hell of time peeping each single page of any new magazine brought on the market, daily, weekly, monthly... and blacking any obscene portion of image. 
Guys, it's a full-time job! And what if that "someone" is a Muslim man? Is he allowed to look at the pictures or shall he do the job keeping his eyes closed?  :-)

The thinker

I do not particularly like this pic, nevertheless my wife selected it. So here it is :-)
He is "the thinker". Life gives plenty of things to think about. I didn't know this guy, I didn't know whether he was sad or happy, waiting for something good or planning how to make ends meet.
But he had a nice, warm bonnet, in the "cold" (19°C) Indian winter. Hope he had good luck too.

For the "camera-freaks": Pentax K-5 , 50-200WR at 200mm, f/6.7, 1/250, 800 ISO 

Water buffalo

Water buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) enjoying the green grass of Namida's riverside.

As they do not complain about the ladies doing the laundry in their drinking water, the ladies do not complain about the buffalos doing something else in the laundry water.

In India most of the living beings find the way for peacefully sharing their habitat regardless of religion, gender, age, species...

Pictures taken with Panasonic TZ10. There is just one feature I would add to this camera: the option for saving in RAW. It seems that Panasonic is of a different opinion since the option has not been implemented in any of the newer versions (TZ20 and TZ30).

Laundry time

Women from Kholvad village, near Kamrej (Gujarat - India), doing their laundry at Namida river.
Picture taken with a Panasonic TZ10.