Um Khalid

I met Um Khalid at the Camel Festival in Al Gharbia, Western Region.  She is of the Al Masirah Tribe of Oman. The black berka she is wearing is traditional of that tribe. We had a lively conversation about our sons, when she found out that I was Um Zachary.  Our sons are close to the same age.  She was so lively and bubbly and her nose crinkled so cute when she laughed.

Among the Arab cultures it is a great honor to have a male child and when a women produces her first male child she then takes his name as her own. Um Khalid means that she is "mother of Khalid".

She and her family had come to the Festival, from Oman, to sell dates, Arabic coffee, and honey. 

This is Um Khalid's daughter and a guest that had stopped for coffee. Their traditional tent was so pleasant and comfortable and a beautiful turquoise blue.