Featured image: An Old Dusty Box, by Yatin Marneni
As we approach May, the period where summer break begins,
there are smells of Bukhoor that dwindle.
There lingers a sensation of the sweet burn that comes
from the sun, an odd memory, but one that reminds me
of the smiles that await once my flight lands back home.
Back in Oman.
A place that I never got to know, as I grew up in NYC during
the recession. And in Brazil during the 2016 Olympics.
But it holds memories of my first time learning to write in Arabic.
Of my first time driving a car in the desert.
And of my first time walking around in a Souq.
I truly fell in love with Oman.
A place that my grandparents have lived in for their entire lives.
Mama and Baba were raised and brought up in. My mother grew up in
a historic home, about 150 years old.
The ocean that the house overlooks has a beautiful breeze to it.
Nestled away from the capital, in a city called Sur, it doesn’t
worry about the heat associated with Tropic of Cancer.
The heat that I know all too well.
My parents left NYC every summer to come back and visit.
The plane rides were brutal, 13 hours one way (maybe 11).
Anyways, your feet, your back, and everything would hurt.
But I’m glad to have had the experiences.
“Olá, meu nome e Fatma. Eu sou de Omã.”
“مرحبا اسمي فاطمة و من عمان”
“Hi, my name is Fatma. I’m from Oman.”
The cultures and the people, and the food, that surrounded me leave me grateful.
Fatma Al Araimi, Marquette Spring 2024, is an Omani Journalism and Political Science student. While writing, she enjoys incorporating her worldly adventures into her poetry.
Yatin Thomas Marneni is a student studying in the Accounting Program at the College of Business Administration at Marquette University. He spends his time studying for class, visiting his family in Illinois, and working on various drawings and paintings.