Essential Arabic phrases

The universal greeting. Omani greeting culture is longer and warmer than the Gulf average — expect several exchanges about health and family before anyone mentions why they called.

'How are things?' Omani Arabic sits closer to standard than Kuwaiti or Bahraini dialect, which makes it one of the easier Gulf countries in which to learn.

A valley that is dry for most of the year and a river for a few hours after rain. In Muscat this is a road-network fact, not a landscape one — several main routes cross wadi beds.

Muttrah — the old port district with the corniche and the souq. Old Muscat, with the palace and the forts, is a separate place a few kilometres further east. Locals never conflate them.

One thousandth of a rial. The Omani rial is worth about USD 2.60, so a price of 'four hundred baisa' is well under half a rial. Prices are written with three decimals.

The Omani men's robe, with a tassel (furakha) at the collar that no other Gulf country wears. Paired with a kummah cap on ordinary days and a massar turban for formal ones.

The curved silver dagger worn on formal occasions and printed on the currency and the national emblem. It is ceremonial dress, not a weapon, and asking about someone's is a compliment.

Omanisation — the quota system reserving proportions of jobs for Omani nationals. It decides whether your role is open to a foreigner before your CV is ever read.

Flash floods. When the ROP or the Civil Aviation Authority issues a suyool warning, roads across wadi beds close and schools shut. Take it seriously — people die crossing flowing wadis every year.

Emergencies — Oman uses a four-digit number, 9999, run by the Royal Oman Police operations centre and routing police, ambulance, fire and coastguard together.

Omani coffee — pale, cardamom-heavy, served in tiny cups with dates. Refusing the first cup reads as a refusal of the hospitality; take one and wiggle the cup when you have had enough.