author - oman observer

By Ray Petersen — Digitus minimus manus, otherwise known as the fifth digit, fourth finger, and ‘pinky’, is absolutely useless. It is composed of arteries, veins, nerves, skin, bone muscular and...

By Ray Petersen — I’ll bet my cotton socks you haven’t heard of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who in his modest Victorian era play on the machinations of the ill-reputed Cardinal Richelieu, arch-villain...

By Ray Petersen — Having chosen to work in the Middle East, wherever in the Middle East, for whatever reasons, it behoves the likes of myself, a European cultured expatriate, to come to terms with...

By Ray Petersen — Senator Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, is not well known outside his time, or America, but he is responsible for the brevity and dynamism of Abraham Lincoln’s memorable, if...

By Ray Petersen — It was a somewhat bitter-sweet April Fool’s Day, but no joke, on April 1, when Oman Air announced, “The days of low airfares are over. Over the past couple of years, when oil...

By Ray Petersen — Oman certainly is an international and very cosmopolitan country now, as professionals, academics, domestics and labourers from around the world converge on the Sultanate. Some...

By Ray Petersen — I guess it’s appropriate that today is graduation day at the University of Nizwa, as I’ve been thinking about the enormous academic strides some of my students have made this...

By Ray Petersen — NIZWA: March 22 - The French Ambassador to Oman, Roland Dubertrand visited  the University of Nizwa to create awareness of International Francophonie Week. He was received by the...

By Ray Petersen — NIZWA: March 20 - ‘Les P’tites Ouvreuses’ is French, and translates in English to, ‘The Little Usherettes,’ and this week, a charming French soiree, or evening garden...

By Ray Petersen — NIZWA: March 18 - The Directorate-General of Education in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate has launched an initiative to promote the academic use of the English language among Omani...

By Ray Petersen —  Oman is a land of tolerance and courtesy,” wrote Dr Paul W Harrison, in Volume 5 of ‘Neglected Arabia,’ in 1928. It’s amazing how, in many respects, Oman has stood the...

By Ray Petersen — Airbnb is a global marketing phenomenon. Its story began when, former schoolmates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were short of money to pay their rent, so they inflated an airbed, and...

By Ray Petersen — I’m a staunch advocate of quality assurance, often referred to as QA, but I’m not always certain that what we are getting within businesses and institutions clearly reflects...

By Ray Petersen — I remember reading once, many years ago, that “frustration invites us all, but it is we who accept the invitation.” I can’t remember who said or wrote it, and none of my...

By Ray Petersen — I was privileged this week at the University of Nizwa to attend, perhaps not a unique function, but certainly a very informative, stimulating and sometimes downright humorous,...

By Ray Petersen — I just love irony! Is that strange? Not really. It’s just that I guess I’ve been ‘bitten by the same dog” so many times, that I’ve perhaps come to embrace what Nathaniel...

By Ray Petersen — I thought to myself the other night, “I’ll just read one more chapter” of a David Baldacci book I had started a couple of weeks ago, saved on my tablet, and wouldn’t you...

By Ray Petersen — Aablo Picasso said, “Everything you can imagine is real.” An artist, of whom we can all share the joy of colour and clarity, also left us confused as to what he was trying to...

By Ray Petersen — My wife and I currently have a house full of pets. We have four cats and a dog, and as my wife is away for a couple of weeks I have spent some serious ‘pet time’...

By Ray Petersen — I know you don’t want to, but really, you have to, because even if the price of oil was to rise to $100 per barrel, today, it’s not all a question of money!” As I mused over...