Shooting Stars, the spotlights for a New Life

2010. There had been troubles that year, everyone in my family had had problems. School, work, relationships , just unwanted stress. This was the chance to get away from the problems and the hounding troubles that were scratching at our beings. My father had been offered the chance to take our family to Oman for a holiday as well as a scouting opportunity for his then business. So the beginning of the two weeks of Christmas holidays , we flew out to the capital of Muscat. My parents then drove my three siblings and I along the roads of Oman for four hours before arriving at Sur. A town in the middle of a hot desert. Immediately i thought that this was the sort of place for adventure. But that was to come.

The third night we were driven through the desert to the edge of the sea. This was Raz-Al -Jinz, the Omani Turtle Reserve. It was a warm night though it slowly grew cold as we waited to see the turtle eggs hatch from their hideaways in the powdered sand on the sea edge. The guide switched off his mandatory torch as the sky was lit by a million stars. My sisters, my brother and i counted 5 shooting stars, one after another. As the fifth faded the guide beckoned to my family, there was the first egg slowly hatching. And then a second, and then a third. Like the shooting stars 5 turtles hatched from their eggs and swam towards the sea. For the first time in the few months of that year, in that moment, my parents were happy. My sisters , my brother and i felt peaceful as a new lives were born and swam into the quiet sea.

As a memento, i wear a silver Omani turtle necklace around my neck so that when times get hard, i can remember that time of tranquility and peace that i had had with my family as one small community.