tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57773493586935481712024-03-21T11:45:43.597-07:00UAE Teacher: Cindy DorseyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-12383352825015097832012-04-07T00:55:00.000-07:002012-04-07T00:55:01.523-07:00We Live in Abu Dhabi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, I did notice that it's been four months since my last post. I've thought now and then about coming up with something to say, and then haven't done it. We've just been so busy with the every day things... which is what is kind of amazing: we live here. Daily. I mean, of course we do, but sometimes I have to take a moment and picture my location on the globe- this little dusty tip of the Arabian peninsula that is home now.<br />
<br />
And living here means we do things like this:<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIes0pXtnaABtNrKvmsJOv5NuRjJEoaFIpEG0BeYOu-K-IPi12U81pYeEhmYHy6eYpjqcQbcGEzbkDfext5fJu3eVQH1P-CPjlnORkYyPrzqar491c4B5PGREr0l3RnL-OpPjLEvDE_M/s1600/P1130076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIes0pXtnaABtNrKvmsJOv5NuRjJEoaFIpEG0BeYOu-K-IPi12U81pYeEhmYHy6eYpjqcQbcGEzbkDfext5fJu3eVQH1P-CPjlnORkYyPrzqar491c4B5PGREr0l3RnL-OpPjLEvDE_M/s320/P1130076.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
We visit the latest hotels as they open. This one is the Hyatt Capital Gate. It was built with an 18 degree lean, making it the leaning-est tower in the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can see that the inside has this massive infrastructure to support the weight of the leaning building.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxG-SYxBCIGBtTKi6By86LLEk26xhA_63R6gnlHQcay3f3qdUkQl_YEYsrCLz50BCH5eKx5QVaP16aLinZYfyKli9wCks6PI8SUSVpts8G-jqTrb_X_dkK5w0UKtEAPSN94ZhgjnBHd5k/s1600/P1130087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxG-SYxBCIGBtTKi6By86LLEk26xhA_63R6gnlHQcay3f3qdUkQl_YEYsrCLz50BCH5eKx5QVaP16aLinZYfyKli9wCks6PI8SUSVpts8G-jqTrb_X_dkK5w0UKtEAPSN94ZhgjnBHd5k/s320/P1130087.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67UMlhkt1ZR5yoN5Ig9IkbRGjla5jAuL2TmbK3RbUW29-Ghl0ErRzhUtI521WersW7hPEetzf9O525lhyphenhyphen4oXQjABvvLOm3LkUIM6afimDWVVZD2WU9xqA9GEfPzoixsYgjA__7f0CIzQ/s1600/P1130173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67UMlhkt1ZR5yoN5Ig9IkbRGjla5jAuL2TmbK3RbUW29-Ghl0ErRzhUtI521WersW7hPEetzf9O525lhyphenhyphen4oXQjABvvLOm3LkUIM6afimDWVVZD2WU9xqA9GEfPzoixsYgjA__7f0CIzQ/s320/P1130173.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImuuUoF6oT_RHHbK58fuTGmana94IjF4IfUZmkn30sbsFXPnYWPFSJdo3wcm8WtL6Eq0q4sITslJ7P4eFwzZ6aYt3PIMU-JeN6RPbuGFXpxVLsGPVxMiDPNHPSFaxYIaS_0T5bvTt8Ng/s1600/P1130180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImuuUoF6oT_RHHbK58fuTGmana94IjF4IfUZmkn30sbsFXPnYWPFSJdo3wcm8WtL6Eq0q4sITslJ7P4eFwzZ6aYt3PIMU-JeN6RPbuGFXpxVLsGPVxMiDPNHPSFaxYIaS_0T5bvTt8Ng/s320/P1130180.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
When a special event is coming up (we heard it was Sheikh Khalifa's birthday this time) the UAE stunt jets start practicing right over our house. It's quite a show!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZImcoR1ZppZEZ5AYi9ZhuiznUa9aXdMupZaz2DGaVtp7kW5uvgIIHNbFy8BrXoDJioDV3POhbZqg19fIE8fYc5JiLATWqqMDsxmJjslr4_chjDE2VYD_fZEYYIAXt8_X1ZwUTJ0-geU/s1600/P1130186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZImcoR1ZppZEZ5AYi9ZhuiznUa9aXdMupZaz2DGaVtp7kW5uvgIIHNbFy8BrXoDJioDV3POhbZqg19fIE8fYc5JiLATWqqMDsxmJjslr4_chjDE2VYD_fZEYYIAXt8_X1ZwUTJ0-geU/s320/P1130186.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now that Tucker is here, and Mark has tamed the garden, we spend a fair amount of time outside with him. He likes to bark at the cats and the chickens that roam the neighborhood.<br />
We met another dog that lives on the street behind us, a German shepherd puppy twice as big as Tucker. Maybe she can come over and play.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxoDEs9rlQwCGJXeQshPTMQA6twR23mhUIFNDWUQ_0hLErCxE6XJe1jWDLQlIoi3E1efhX9RJJGav6WXeM14G7lX74suocbdmR-gORRCHHgoFTFB0r1lbuwB4wtOjvnF0nJfAlqqCDHdI/s1600/P1130256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxoDEs9rlQwCGJXeQshPTMQA6twR23mhUIFNDWUQ_0hLErCxE6XJe1jWDLQlIoi3E1efhX9RJJGav6WXeM14G7lX74suocbdmR-gORRCHHgoFTFB0r1lbuwB4wtOjvnF0nJfAlqqCDHdI/s320/P1130256.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We brought Abby's Wii that she got for Christmas and plugged it in using a massive voltage converter. I love the archery on Wii Sports! It's about the only thing I can beat everyone on.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fvvvPSUCLnyopzjUJtIkvpgo7V1MLwKMNSPOnUXis-UHlUTFYw-mrhSjHoGRLfwQnmuHdFnjHSu4GNdfSVxEs1zNnVuZSF9Idz2rhR9z0HHFINSkxNCIjU23sxxSs-zQ8-kKyu06wvs/s1600/P1130262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fvvvPSUCLnyopzjUJtIkvpgo7V1MLwKMNSPOnUXis-UHlUTFYw-mrhSjHoGRLfwQnmuHdFnjHSu4GNdfSVxEs1zNnVuZSF9Idz2rhR9z0HHFINSkxNCIjU23sxxSs-zQ8-kKyu06wvs/s320/P1130262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So, a city can have really amazing things when financial profit is not the only goal. The powers that be in the UAE decided sustainable energy development is a good idea, so Masdar City was created. It's almost empty- a looming shell that may turn out to be a fantastic model for green building and living. We are about to get in the solar powered pod car to take us from the parking area to the sushi restaurant.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwFJScZP-wCKByl09Moi9abDu6aWtoEk9ziCPqwT_k_OiD0xPBAxG2uFIzqQstIIglJdoRsvOpMvWUcCgTROrQyUDzUI9RADUhrj5CzcmL0lpbVt2VjCb3kZnMPNiq57J8hrInoCTGjo/s1600/P1130276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwFJScZP-wCKByl09Moi9abDu6aWtoEk9ziCPqwT_k_OiD0xPBAxG2uFIzqQstIIglJdoRsvOpMvWUcCgTROrQyUDzUI9RADUhrj5CzcmL0lpbVt2VjCb3kZnMPNiq57J8hrInoCTGjo/s320/P1130276.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-HbnczsPnYkFPezv9U4KcdER2MO8zBq6Y8pgAa4kOsp7NctTim2lhKp-tVTKv-dftgXnA9Vul8ka5aR1d9PbOzg27QcQs59cu036TO3KUEv5ZlHNzsyNSq4QGU0GgU5Zs_7say9da1A/s1600/P1130333.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-HbnczsPnYkFPezv9U4KcdER2MO8zBq6Y8pgAa4kOsp7NctTim2lhKp-tVTKv-dftgXnA9Vul8ka5aR1d9PbOzg27QcQs59cu036TO3KUEv5ZlHNzsyNSq4QGU0GgU5Zs_7say9da1A/s320/P1130333.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
We are getting used to being surrounded by beautiful architecture and design. When the money is there, why not make everything both functional and great to look at?<br />
<br />
Mark, my dad, and I constantly notice the attention to beauty that has gone into so many of the buildings here, but I think Abby is just taking the architecture for granted. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRfLgk0K1PIOqRdGAMX1OKLLqReoSrm6dYjiyzKcwk8uG2pvYwh2iq8HaOToWQ99m8Yp17YirmXFBqnP6BN65fcqMN8_Xiu2-PqcS4nLvd3EfepJ8PxmtrXS1oGT0OcwtVx4QFasGn90/s1600/P1130355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRfLgk0K1PIOqRdGAMX1OKLLqReoSrm6dYjiyzKcwk8uG2pvYwh2iq8HaOToWQ99m8Yp17YirmXFBqnP6BN65fcqMN8_Xiu2-PqcS4nLvd3EfepJ8PxmtrXS1oGT0OcwtVx4QFasGn90/s320/P1130355.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Abby had a conversation with the TV sports announcer at the Al Wathba Camel Races. He was interested to know where she was from and if she had ever seen camels race before. I love this picture. So many places we go are swamped with expats, as we greatly outnumber the locals. It's not every day that you get to converse with an Emirati.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUn1xWo7kJFHa7NO7lPGiSfZQ0EYpO6FDh9wCz0oFwT1ZWuBV43I93QnNtg5cIgXlfsZR0Fim4edoe5kdL6xNe-9BKJV9b0KRG3azHaua_cVXMMCROn1PMcwYLyYYtFa0YD0YB2pqma8/s1600/P1130460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUn1xWo7kJFHa7NO7lPGiSfZQ0EYpO6FDh9wCz0oFwT1ZWuBV43I93QnNtg5cIgXlfsZR0Fim4edoe5kdL6xNe-9BKJV9b0KRG3azHaua_cVXMMCROn1PMcwYLyYYtFa0YD0YB2pqma8/s320/P1130460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This sight is more common than you might think:<br />
<br />
"ships of the desert" being carted around in the desert "workhorse," the Toyota truck.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsBJMl65c5IUc482bTTwjTHUArt8nOeYtQ8wku8yC9r0D1fXbp8a9rrTenfjMnMsAeeOPiZ7Ts9DPxf9JNERV-ZlevET6BT3KBDy8eNa3wu5R48alb2eYFmmV-WaNnjpBbXWAGurMlUU/s1600/P1130463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsBJMl65c5IUc482bTTwjTHUArt8nOeYtQ8wku8yC9r0D1fXbp8a9rrTenfjMnMsAeeOPiZ7Ts9DPxf9JNERV-ZlevET6BT3KBDy8eNa3wu5R48alb2eYFmmV-WaNnjpBbXWAGurMlUU/s320/P1130463.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Our eating habits haven't changed too much, other than my new preference for tea over coffee and an increase in the amount of rice we eat.<br />
<br />
We are learning to appreciate some local specialties, like this one- lukaymat, which are donut-like fried dough balls with a sweet glaze. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCKA3WP5hD4AhTNnG1HISNqV5WEb407Oy5MtzDja6wOm3-J9QyFn9YyJJxYJ2gsnwit3AiTW22vN1tnYV_Lq28cmMBQLyJb3UHoGSqOp1HoZaMiJZm9oRhsdGnWywZoNEXT3pNaln2CA/s1600/P1130498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCKA3WP5hD4AhTNnG1HISNqV5WEb407Oy5MtzDja6wOm3-J9QyFn9YyJJxYJ2gsnwit3AiTW22vN1tnYV_Lq28cmMBQLyJb3UHoGSqOp1HoZaMiJZm9oRhsdGnWywZoNEXT3pNaln2CA/s320/P1130498.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
When we left Texas, we were really glad to get away from the over-scheduled feeling of activities every day. It was exhausting. After two years of freedom, though, we have done it again. Abby has tae kwon do class twice a week, and home school park day and horse riding once a week.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9uZ_XZ-S4hrTit_FVdolQbFif639Fl0hG5aSBv_cUy0lDLbYjjJhXhSn3VCG9ibS4CYxEnhfvZKenvhPe1oufEmI7lywUOMTOFR7E4Xv6xZA8B-JaDkyOukZvnDWDUC0-up71_6oobA/s1600/P1130660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9uZ_XZ-S4hrTit_FVdolQbFif639Fl0hG5aSBv_cUy0lDLbYjjJhXhSn3VCG9ibS4CYxEnhfvZKenvhPe1oufEmI7lywUOMTOFR7E4Xv6xZA8B-JaDkyOukZvnDWDUC0-up71_6oobA/s320/P1130660.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Then, add in all the extra things like book clubs, math club, shared learning experiences, field trips, and just special activities offered here for free, like the book fair and the sailing club's Beach Day (that's Abby sailing in the picture), and you have a very busy life.<br />
<br />
<br />
And I haven't even talked about work, which has been great but busy. I love being the head of faculty because I feel like I can make a difference for the English teachers by smoothing the way between them and the Emirati administrators. I work in a school that is excellent, with an extremely demanding principal and hard-working teachers. Each day is completely different. I spend time organizing resources, planning for and delivering professional development, preparing the English parent newsletter, popping into classes, and lately, preparing for official school inspections that will happen in the next two weeks. I talked to a former coworker at a different school who said that they have been leaving each day at 1:00, right after their students leave. Our students leave at 12:30, and we are often still at school at 3:00! It's worthwhile when you see the progress the children are making, and you hear the comments of the parents about their appreciation of our school.<br />
<br />
Well, that's why I haven't posted in ages. I've just been so busy living here.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-87044402907266425282011-12-02T23:35:00.001-08:002011-12-16T04:46:04.174-08:00Fujairah for Diving and Hiking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A couple of weeks ago we made the drive from Abu Dhabi to Al Bidiya in Fujairah two weekends in a row. We went once, and loved the trip so much, we knew we had to go again before the weather got too cool for swimming. What a wonderful place! It reminds me of other laid-back coastal areas we've visited. What is it about living close to the ocean that just changes the way people are?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XfPqFYjLeJkIHu5a6t_e3FL9tgr0E4L9rD-YGMw_gY3piiCd5nMEKrKirMjKSKTai_Jsq0zoHFHinFJYWn44nYgtFTY9rsT-7ajRGRfcR_M4PtYTMqe8nu9zEz8wkeuhfmQKegXhQMI/s1600/IMG_0180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XfPqFYjLeJkIHu5a6t_e3FL9tgr0E4L9rD-YGMw_gY3piiCd5nMEKrKirMjKSKTai_Jsq0zoHFHinFJYWn44nYgtFTY9rsT-7ajRGRfcR_M4PtYTMqe8nu9zEz8wkeuhfmQKegXhQMI/s320/IMG_0180.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We stayed in a perfect little place- a scuba shop with a guest house. Scuba 2000 is locally-owned, but run by a lovely Philipino lady named Vangie and the skipper, Romy. There are three rooms, but we were the only overnighters both weekends, which meant that we had the beach entirely to ourselves each evening. The beach is not your everyday bit of sand and waves, but a fascinating collection of rocks, shells, and tidal pools. Abby spent hours just observing the life in those pools, and Mark and I watched some peaceful, vivid sunsets while she played. Idyllic.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgdhrpX_OeksqSi6HoFPzXUmhPdzzU9EBkLTae3HB-4l-x1AUR0En4IPNsTOtUbovmp2xMWnYR1WI1HbEgWgOxV-HcsvIA0u7tzJgduXtxZNUG0BzDyH1rP25uQ78fKfACU5BCAH5A90/s1600/IMG_0188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgdhrpX_OeksqSi6HoFPzXUmhPdzzU9EBkLTae3HB-4l-x1AUR0En4IPNsTOtUbovmp2xMWnYR1WI1HbEgWgOxV-HcsvIA0u7tzJgduXtxZNUG0BzDyH1rP25uQ78fKfACU5BCAH5A90/s320/IMG_0188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw-Jx00T6B01ks6QWVV7jBoPu2Xa9Zd3gyYLwMK84C_aC9cSyBjniyKzhybA5-DBBh8VT9_m2UvAGP2iea990eUjCrCsg9MZfAXTWo5QGrDpthn5Z5XVQNBsh7Uxar5xUKM_eCgn02Is/s1600/IMG_0098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw-Jx00T6B01ks6QWVV7jBoPu2Xa9Zd3gyYLwMK84C_aC9cSyBjniyKzhybA5-DBBh8VT9_m2UvAGP2iea990eUjCrCsg9MZfAXTWo5QGrDpthn5Z5XVQNBsh7Uxar5xUKM_eCgn02Is/s320/IMG_0098.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
During the days, Mark and Abby went diving with Romy and various others who showed up for a day trip. They reported that the diving was great, not too crowded, but full of sea life and excellent visibility. I don't do all that well on boats, so I opted to explore the area instead.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaJFq6BJPCi5zRAlWL2Ufa2IRjQ4KJ8DCvkuc1MQun0PukfEX87wdGHLffJZj5LWkh0do20yAdr9Wsjyy-RWmSDEAMx_BVT6GIws7zqzc_GH_Skzb-jwxzQU7KJ2g-25hXhGlXLKnB2Q/s1600/IMG_0117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaJFq6BJPCi5zRAlWL2Ufa2IRjQ4KJ8DCvkuc1MQun0PukfEX87wdGHLffJZj5LWkh0do20yAdr9Wsjyy-RWmSDEAMx_BVT6GIws7zqzc_GH_Skzb-jwxzQU7KJ2g-25hXhGlXLKnB2Q/s320/IMG_0117.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I first visited the oldest mosque in the UAE, Al Bidiya Mosque. It was small and well-situated, on a hill overlooking the sea. I didn't mind at all being there by myself. I said hi to the other visitors, but was free to look around and take pictures as I liked. After looking at the mosque and two towers, I climbed the larger hill next to them. I got a gorgeous view of the valley and the village situated between the mountains and the ocean. Then I drove back to the dive shop and met Mark and Abby coming off the boat. We had a wonderful lunch cooked by Vangie, and spent the evening playing on the beach and eating out in town.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0yJtnbm2PRWRjDQZygVz7SghgBvOjaZ5ZaWcpE_e_8vg83jTV2sKqxPvYXdpS5-N9Iu_VwVTTEiu3x5bvxLx0aTmnjfntDNzQGNosa-CIlejk7lriPiaRQpdyAI6JSHNuthLjeoMG-Q/s1600/IMG_0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0yJtnbm2PRWRjDQZygVz7SghgBvOjaZ5ZaWcpE_e_8vg83jTV2sKqxPvYXdpS5-N9Iu_VwVTTEiu3x5bvxLx0aTmnjfntDNzQGNosa-CIlejk7lriPiaRQpdyAI6JSHNuthLjeoMG-Q/s320/IMG_0145.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLCJF7_0TRNakbtbzspizL14et3nLDr9AxbUHN2kvGHjlUd27qAyD9vp6xB7QwbzASVL1oFnDKZ1_-XG8geNKTdsLybBnA9w-lyhHfTo3E0lmnTWA8pPQDAjuXzqKHTovMLuABIyHdY8/s1600/IMG_0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLCJF7_0TRNakbtbzspizL14et3nLDr9AxbUHN2kvGHjlUd27qAyD9vp6xB7QwbzASVL1oFnDKZ1_-XG8geNKTdsLybBnA9w-lyhHfTo3E0lmnTWA8pPQDAjuXzqKHTovMLuABIyHdY8/s320/IMG_0161.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the trail- right over the edge!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My next exploration took me to Wadi Wurrayah, a canyon just a few
minutes away from Al Bidiya. I had wanted to hike with a group, but the
trip was expensive and there were no others signed up for the weekend,
so the cost would be even higher. We had bought a map on our way to
Fujairah, and the wadi was clearly marked, so I decided to just set out
on my own. What freedom!! <br />
<br />
I drove over some small mountains and into a national park. The signage was very helpful. Eventually, the pavement ended- in a rocky area that was buzzing with flies because of the horrendous amount of garbage strewn around. The previous weekend had been a big holiday, and apparently the many picnickers didn't clean up after themselves. My car was the only one around. I locked up and headed over to the trail that just went right over the edge of the cliff into the canyon.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3deqFgDzE0D_taKTTqQUt2bFU_yozrt-if-YcbovGhEnNieA_I-m6SW_Q0uTH1H3dISoIX0eSdfWmnFLbrjY_0N3PpP9hWavEPkyjD1nCh-A3aOu-SGIV7tcPKwLY6o5DfAwlkvhI3g/s1600/IMG_0174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3deqFgDzE0D_taKTTqQUt2bFU_yozrt-if-YcbovGhEnNieA_I-m6SW_Q0uTH1H3dISoIX0eSdfWmnFLbrjY_0N3PpP9hWavEPkyjD1nCh-A3aOu-SGIV7tcPKwLY6o5DfAwlkvhI3g/s320/IMG_0174.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
It turned out the trail continued in a way, steep and twisty. For some of it I sat on my bottom and slid a bit, trying not to imagine how long I would lie there if I fell and broke my leg. The bottom was very rocky, a dry river bed. I followed it just a few hundred feet to the oasis: a waterfall and pool. There were some Emiratis, two women and a man, who had driven in with their 4x4 along the wadi's bottom. They were amazed when a lone woman, a foreigner, just walked up. "Where did you come from?" They couldn't believe I would hike down from the top of the canyon on my own. We chatted while I walked around on the rocks and put my feet in the cool water. The place was only spoiled by the graffiti thick on the rocks near the pool.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GqsLJdoesxkrQnvrEGE5NMLU4eFN9Fn5NpE4P-gbd7c6Ov2hYvF0SP74fo6JCQUYkM_gCJm8EkT-IpqxYyKV8B-WHSe58LmQC_OWCnT72HJI0EEU1WpEirPDGxXQv1gITQLSj1pc3Io/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GqsLJdoesxkrQnvrEGE5NMLU4eFN9Fn5NpE4P-gbd7c6Ov2hYvF0SP74fo6JCQUYkM_gCJm8EkT-IpqxYyKV8B-WHSe58LmQC_OWCnT72HJI0EEU1WpEirPDGxXQv1gITQLSj1pc3Io/s320/IMG_0176.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The family climbing down the canyon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After I had enjoyed the oasis, I faced the climb back up the cliff. To my surprise, there was a family coming down. A bunch of kids of various ages, their mom and dad, and a grandmother and grandfather. It really bolstered my conidence to see them making the climb, the women wearing their abayas! Most of the way up was fine, using my hands and feet, but on a bit near the top I was struggling to pull myself up. Some young Emiratis just happened to be on their way down, and one of them offered me a hand up. Much appreciated. They were also surprised to see a foreign woman alone, and we talked for a few minutes about the similarities between Texas and Fujairah. Then I headed back to the dive shop again.<br />
<br />
It was so good to get out into the countryside. We loved the people, the scenery, just everything about the trip. Now it's too cold for enjoying the beach, but we'll head back as soon as we can!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-39684837703069128112011-12-01T21:30:00.001-08:002011-12-01T22:19:54.894-08:00At KG - UAE National Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosrVyggkdmIzTpwG32qnIIsFueZ8VvQSrWMKNuNT9ddy30j1UaGSpizuDjuG0vs2EuD2FR5ymaS0vAdfxE9CECQ0OjIpu9E-tpkE8Gq1HyRc2ur7NjEztoGp6IXmprAYjGeiRhypy0fk/s1600/P1090548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosrVyggkdmIzTpwG32qnIIsFueZ8VvQSrWMKNuNT9ddy30j1UaGSpizuDjuG0vs2EuD2FR5ymaS0vAdfxE9CECQ0OjIpu9E-tpkE8Gq1HyRc2ur7NjEztoGp6IXmprAYjGeiRhypy0fk/s320/P1090548.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abby went with me to my school's National Day celebration.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We are in the midst of celebrating our second National Day in the UAE, and it's quite a party! The United Arab Emirates has only been a country for 40 years as of today. You can see the excitement and effort that has gone into the celebration preparations. It's quite a job to make the many families, tribes, and ethnic groups here feel like a unified group. That has been the chant- one people, one nation- that the kids are being taught at school. I find it so interesting. It makes me wonder how similar the efforts were in the United States when it was only 40 years old, and people who had immigrated from many different countries and had allegiance to the states they lived in were becoming one people.<br />
<br />
We've been celebrating for more than a week at school. It started with special "corners" (centers) that were decorated for each of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. The children spent time in each corner, learning about the emirate and making a craft related to it. They also practiced marching into the gym to form a UAE flag with their red, green, black and white shirts on. Also, several groups of students practiced for short presentations. On Tuesday, the big party was held in the gym. Mothers were invited and attended in huge numbers, along with their other children, both younger and older siblings of our students.<br />
<br />
The decorations were almost overwhelming. Strings of flags, in the national colors, were everywhere, as were pictures of the current sheikh, his father (Sheikh Zayed, the father of the country), and the brother of the current sheikh, who is the crown prince. The students came in a myriad of outfits, from traditional Emirati dress, to the latest western fashion, to military outfits for the boys. I loved the young girls in their embroidered jellabiyas with gold in their hair, on their ears, and around their necks. The western dresses were frilly chiffon and satin in every color, and there were also dresses made just for the day in the national colors. Their mothers were all in their abayas, but the decoration on the abayas signaled the festivity of the occasion. They sparkled in many colors on the sleeves, around the hem, and on the edges of the shaylas. I had a jellabiya made for the party, and Abby wore a tunic and leggings in red and black. She had ribbons of red, black, green, and white in her hair.<br />
<br />
During the show, food was available for sale in the hall. We could buy khoshary, an Egyptian macaroni and rice with a spicy red sauce on it, or UAE-style lasagna, made with random pasta instead of just flat lasagna noodles, or balaleet, noodles with egg flavored with cardamom and a bit sweet. There were also french fries, chips, and oreos.<br />
<br />
The show went on for most of the day, from 9:30 until 12:30. The kids who were not chosen to be in the presentations had a really hard time sitting through it, and much of the time the gym was a scene of chaos, with children moving about at will or standing on chairs to see or mothers looking for their kids. Some of the shows caught the students' attention, especially the "wedding scene," a presentation about Emirati wedding traditions, complete with small male guests twirling rifles with mustaches painted on their faces and small female guests in elaborate dresses. At the end, everyone ended up dancing. It was good fun, as disorganized as it was.<br />
<br />
I love being here for the outpouring of patriotism and goodwill on National Day. Happy birthday, UAE!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mapsofworld.com/images/world-countries-flags/united-arab-emirates-flag.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://www.mapsofworld.com/images/world-countries-flags/united-arab-emirates-flag.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-84548959350106673602011-10-14T02:54:00.000-07:002011-10-14T02:57:03.053-07:00Kitchen Concerns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are finally feeling comfortable in our new place. We have all the furniture we need, we have the bathrooms outfitted with linens and cleaning supplies, and we have TV and internet. But the best news of all is- the refrigerator is no longer in the living room!<br />
<br />
We got our refrigerator free from a family in the homeschool group. They were replacing their old fridge, and donated it to us at the end of last year. Then it sat on the front porch of another friend all summer until we moved in to the villa. We hired a truck and a driver to move the appliances, and it was all very easy, until we started to bring the refrigerator into the kitchen. Then we found out that because the kitchen door doesn't open all the way, the fridge wouldn't go through. No problem, right? Just take the door off the hinges. Except that a couple of the screws were stripped and refused to budge. So the refrigerator got plugged into the living room/dining room outlet, which is not all that inconvenient if you want more juice during the middle of dinner.<br />
<br />
It took a little while, but Mark eventually hammered the screws out of the door, and now the refrigerator sits proudly in the kitchen. Next came the saga of the stove.<br />
<br />
We bought a gas stove ("cooker" as it's called here). We had no problem getting it into the kitchen: the door is still sitting on the floor, off its hinges. Gas here is not piped into the villas. Instead, the truck with propane canisters rolls through the neighborhood almost daily, with one of the workers banging a wrench against the truck, alerting the residents that they can run out and exchange their empty gas canisters for full ones. So Mark bought a length of hose to run from the back of the stove, through the hole we found drilled in the metal door frame of the kitchen's sliding glass door, and out to the porch, where it connects to a regulator and the gas canister. We cooked for the first time on the new stove this week.<br />
<br />
Our last task will be to get the washer and dryer hooked up. They won't go in the kitchen, but out on the porch. The surge protector/extension cord, however, is plugged in to the outlet in the kitchen, then through the other hole in the door frame, then out to the appliances. I guess we'll need to warp the surge protector in plastic in the unlikely event that it rains. Mark had to cut the plug off of the extension cord to thread it through the hole, then re-attach it. He had a hard time finding some sort of wire caps that he needed, and finally had to go to a contractor's store. Apparently the do-it-yourself element is lacking here in Abu Dhabi. Not that we just looked one up on the internet and drove over- no, we were buying curtains and noticed that the area had some general contractors' storefronts. After trying three or four, we finally hit on one that was open. Then we lucked out because a customer in the store spoke both English and Arabic and translated Mark's needs. The only thing we still need before we can wash clothes is an adapter for the washer's water hose. It's too big for the spigot. Don't know where we'll find that.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-E4GE3_tGXitT9oBiXMPFErX8ohrO8CtfuR14dkVti5aR5_IcUp665GknBxcwKklnUHG4-kbb74UOyn1zZwARPW_tixr1HU-UsuXRH-SLP9I7ZANElTX2ZgjtOuI0i8S4CAAh6W84IYE/s1600/P1080084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-E4GE3_tGXitT9oBiXMPFErX8ohrO8CtfuR14dkVti5aR5_IcUp665GknBxcwKklnUHG4-kbb74UOyn1zZwARPW_tixr1HU-UsuXRH-SLP9I7ZANElTX2ZgjtOuI0i8S4CAAh6W84IYE/s320/P1080084.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeu0Z2jDNbwFSX8phYXIC-z4hWQ3l0ls6KqhbbuPtggxrrUYPmurukYnyzftC5ez_CaA0XEiGND0eRl2DBG6YyQhwbwbxifECFOYnD7rCI6PymY36BGXVPRqkTD70-hIYZCbdEDLjbBI/s1600/P1080086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeu0Z2jDNbwFSX8phYXIC-z4hWQ3l0ls6KqhbbuPtggxrrUYPmurukYnyzftC5ez_CaA0XEiGND0eRl2DBG6YyQhwbwbxifECFOYnD7rCI6PymY36BGXVPRqkTD70-hIYZCbdEDLjbBI/s320/P1080086.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiwnFkjvaZKGxqipCWo4GoEEIm3nHd0VhnPw0L7UMpmx2Ce6AWEVF2Outyf5SyT_2uF_QZzlrvL3OVyTBuUhoG3Zid7U5hyeHRBcKPuEQYdtHfJGZflliMbM7hyphenhyphenaC6vwB_v4kEV73VU0/s1600/P1080087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiwnFkjvaZKGxqipCWo4GoEEIm3nHd0VhnPw0L7UMpmx2Ce6AWEVF2Outyf5SyT_2uF_QZzlrvL3OVyTBuUhoG3Zid7U5hyeHRBcKPuEQYdtHfJGZflliMbM7hyphenhyphenaC6vwB_v4kEV73VU0/s320/P1080087.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-80187952519948910992011-10-02T09:34:00.000-07:002011-10-02T09:34:56.530-07:00A Year Later<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What a difference a year makes! It's so hard to believe that last year at this time I had just moved out of the Aloft Hotel and was facing that nightmare class of second-grade boys on a daily basis. I hadn't tried driving in Abu Dhabi, and I didn't have any idea of how to get anywhere, even to the Carrefour on airport road, except by taxi. I think at this time last year, we had yet to find a good place for shawarmas!<br />
<br />
Now, we are regulars at Automatic Cafe, where the best shawarmas and fried kibbe can be found. I have my driver's license, my Emirates ID, and I'm about to be counted in the census. I give other people directions to places all over the city and suburbs. Best of all, I'm enjoying my job most days, learning new things daily, figuring out my new responsibilities, and puzzling out challenging situations. I have tons of sympathy for the teachers who are new to ADEC this year. And my best piece of advice: give it a year. It gets better.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-56588856578009194892011-09-17T05:45:00.000-07:002011-09-17T05:45:44.243-07:00The Villa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So when we first knew we were coming to Abu Dhabi, I had this vision of all the teachers being housed in villas next door to each other. I had no idea housing was so expensive! All last year, I'd look longingly at those high-walled, multi-storied buildings, then head back to our apartment building in the Tourist Club. I was determined to get us into a place with some outdoor space and parking.<br />
<br />
We used an agent from Silver Lake Property Management. We'd hoped to rent directly from a landlord and skip the agent fee, but we couldn't find what we wanted on our own. Silver Lake had several villas advertised in our price range, so we were really excited. Then we met our agent, Joseph, and found out that the villas we could afford were all sublets, and so not allowed for our contracts. What a letdown. We almost gave up, but instead kept asking Joseph, "Do you have anything a little further out of the city?" He finally took us to the villa we are moving into now. It meets every dream I had about living here, except for a pool. And what a connection we've made with our well-connected landlord!<br />
<br />
He's in the government, apparently, and also owns several businesses. When he says, "Jump," people do. He got our contract approved in one day and our electricity connected the next day. He is helping us get our stuff moved into the villa, and already arranged a cleaner to come daily, whom we will pay once a month. He is appalled that we would pay full price for anything, and insisted on ordering our bedroom furniture himself, so we are paying half price. Wow. Today, I mentioned that one of the outlets wasn't working, and he went to his car and brought me one in a package that says it is "24 carat gold plated". And I thought all the outlets were just a pretty, shiny, gold color!<br />
<br />
We hope to be moved in by the end of next week. Anyone want to come visit?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-19608325001642926782011-09-08T21:14:00.000-07:002011-09-08T21:14:14.942-07:00Back To Abu Dhabi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="-->
<m:smallfrac m:val="off">
<m:dispdef>
<m:lmargin m:val="0">
<m:rmargin m:val="0">
<m:defjc m:val="centerGroup">
<m:wrapindent m:val="1440">
<m:intlim m:val="subSup">
<m:narylim m:val="undOvr">
</m:narylim></m:intlim>
</m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
We got back to Abu Dhabi, after a long, boring day of travel,
on September 1. The only exciting thing about our flight here was that we got
to fly right past the Eiffel Tower when we stopped over at Charles DeGaulle
airport in Paris. We didn’t have a real layover there, though. We got off of
one flight and hurried to the next, without even time to shop in the airport
souvenir shops! We were really happy to get on our <a href="http://www.etihadairways.com/">Etihad </a>flight- what luxury
after American from DFW to Paris. We didn’t learn that our luggage had not even
made it to France until we arrived in AD. It was delivered to our apartment
safely the next day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
It kinda feels good to be “home.” We’ve eaten at our
favorite restaurants, <a href="http://www.gomideast.com/UAE/AbuDhabi/food/automatic.html">Automatic Cafeteria</a> for Lebanese food and <a href="http://www.timeoutabudhabi.com/restaurants/reviews/12375-asian-garden">Asian Garden</a>
for Thai and Chinese. At Automatic, we were welcomed back with smiles and
handshakes, and our favorite waiter took good care of us, even bringing us
complimentary falafel. We ate there almost once a week last year. We also spent
an afternoon at <a href="http://www.lemeridienabudhabi.com/">Le Meridien</a>, the resort that has an agreement with our
apartment to allow us to use their facilities gratis. We packed a lunch to eat
by the (chilled) pool, then swam and played on the beach. Of course, we had to
go to<a href="http://uae.luluhypermarket.com/"> LuLu’s</a> to do our big restocking grocery trip. I’m glad to have my <a href="http://www.masafi.com/">Masafi</a> (flavored
water) again. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
On September 4, I went to the Education Zone to pick up
notification of my transfer to a new school. At the end of last year, I applied
to be a Head of Faculty (HoF), and I was selected for the position. The HoF is
assigned to one school to be a resource person for the teachers and
administrators, and a liaison between them. It’s such a different job than
teaching, but I’m excited to get under way with it. My new school is called Al
Eethaar Kindergarten, and it is located about 40 minutes from my apartment
south of the airport in a suburb called Al Shawamekh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Places here are very hard to find because there are no
addresses. Sometimes, there are no street signs. I drove around for about two
hours on Sunday looking for my school. And this was after studying a map on
which the location of the school was clearly marked! I finally found it at
about 1:15, and I met my principal at the door with her keys, about to leave. She
was very understanding, and I believe we are on our way to a great working relationship. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Over the course of my first week back, I have met the
licensed teachers (LTs) for the English program. There are eight so far, with
one more on the list that has not yet shown up. Two are returning from last
year. The remaining six are new, with varying degrees of kinder experience. All
of them are excited to be here and eager to do their best. I also have six
teachers from a school that is still under construction with me. I have been
trying to keep them busy helping out. All of this has been without one tiny bit
of direction from ADEC. I listen to my principal about her priorities, and then
get busy with the teachers. I just hope we’re going in the right direction on
all the details.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Mark, Abby and I have been very preoccupied with the task of
finding a new place. We were considering a move to the suburbs, hoping to find
space for our dog and relief from traffic. However, after much discussion, we
decided we didn’t want to have to drive to the city for everything. So we hired
an agent to help us find a place closer to the city but still with some outdoor
space. We think we’ve found it. It’s a villa owned by an Emirati man. It has
two stories, with a living room, half bath, and kitchen on the ground floor,
and three bedrooms and two baths on the second floor. It’s very traditional,
with a high wall around the outside and a locking gate. It has tile floors
throughout, elaborate chandeliers, gold-trimmed crown molding, and a beautiful
curved staircase. We love the character! Just like something on House Hunters
International! It has a small garden in front, and the landlord has told us it
is fine to use it for our dog to play in. It’s older than the places in the
suburbs, but it has a great location, just a block away from several bus lines
and two blocks from the new high-rise buildings ADEC bought to house all the
new teachers. If all the paperwork is approved, we will move in before the end
of the month.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Another long post. I keep telling myself I don’t have to
write a book every time I start to blog. Maybe I will try shorter and more
frequent posts. From the three of us, thanks for staying in touch!</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-67349396787972574902011-04-27T09:03:00.000-07:002011-04-27T09:03:31.302-07:00A Typical School Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s almost May! I can’t believe how quickly April flashed by. We are seriously counting down the days until our return home for the summer. As of right now, we haven’t booked tickets because we were hoping the school calendar would be shortened. The word is, most students will stop attending school after mid-June. However, our work year officially ends July 13. So, a month with no kids? How much planning and preparation can you do? On asking for clarification, teachers have been told July 13 remains the last work day for us. I guess it’s time to stop hoping and just buy the tickets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I realized I’ve blogged about vacations a lot recently, and some people might be interested in just how a kindergarten in the UAE runs. I have to say up front that there are major differences at every school. I will try to give a picture of my typical school day, but it will not necessarily apply to any other school here!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wake up at 5:00 AM these days because I’m getting a ride to school with my head of faculty, who lives down the street. For a while there, I was riding the city bus, which left my block at 5:50 and arrived in Al Rahba at 7:00, dropping me a mile from the school. I would then start walking towards the school and was usually picked up by a co-worker with a car about halfway. Thank goodness I have a ride now! I leave Abu Dhabi Plaza at 6:20, catch the #7 Tourist Club bus by 6:26, and get to Al Manzel Apartments by 6:35. Then Angela meets me in the lobby and we head out for the 30 minute drive to Al Ebtehal Kindergarten.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After signing in and grabbing my props for my KG1 lesson, I go to the gym, which is the central room at my school. The students have arrived by car and buses, and are lining up in the gym by class with their teachers for what is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">taboor</i>, which means “line” but is a morning assembly. They recite from the Quran, sing a song, say the UAE pledge, sing the national anthem, and then do some exercises, all led by the gym teacher. Some days, a class will do a special presentation about whatever they have been learning, but most days, we are dismissed by 8:00 to start class.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The KG2 teachers teach Arabic language and Islamic Studies from 8:00 to about 9:00, so the English staff visit KG1 classrooms during that time for an English lesson. KG1 students are three years old turning four during the year, so the teaching is really basic. We are working right now on colors, counting to 20, recognizing numbers, recognizing their names in English, and shapes, just to name a few objectives. I start off with circle time songs and greeting each child. Then I usually have a book or learning focus, then some kind of response time for the kids. It only goes well when the Arabic teacher sits with us for the lesson. The kids just don’t behave without “their” teacher forcing the issue, no matter how fun my lesson might be. So every time she has other things she feels she must do during the English lesson, the kids learn “sit down, please” and “No, no hitting!” instead of whatever lesson I had planned! Next year, we will have English teachers assigned to the KG1 classes, so they will not be mere visitors. I think that will work much better.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">KG2 students are four turning five during the year, which is Pre-K in the US. I have to keep that in mind when planning and assessing, especially. The 24 kids I share with my Arabic co-teacher are adorable most of the time. There are a few more boys than girls, and they are really active, but they love learning and games just like kids anywhere. I teach a very short literacy lesson, then have the kids practice writing before snack time. After snack, they usually go to a rotation class: art, music, sports, or library. We have a short time for literacy small groups, and then the kids have a 15 minute recess. They can buy snacks in the gym during recess, but there’s not much else for them to do. It’s a bit more physical than I’ve ever been used to. Maybe because the kids are in an enclosed space, instead of on a playground. It’s too hot here, and our school doesn’t even have a playground! After recess, we come back to class for a short numeracy lesson and small groups/centers. It’s time to clean up at 12:00, and we’re out to buses at 12:15. Some days we go to the computer lab for part of the center time, and the kids absolutely love starfall.com. It’s pretty cute to hear them try to sing along with the dancing bear doing “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” on the computer. The day goes by fast no matter what we’re doing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only time the day ever slows down (and time just seems to telescope out) is when my co-teacher leaves the room for an extended period. We are supposed to work together, even during the English lesson, but she is often called away to translate, as she is quite fluent in English. Also, on occasion, “tea time” just somehow overlaps the English lesson, and I manage the kids on my own. I can do it, but I find I have to use plenty of Arabic to keep control. When that happens, I don’t feel bad about it, because my co-teacher would be using Arabic if she were in class. I just make sure to say everything twice, using both languages.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The English staff do most of the planning because we are responsible for teaching and assessing English and math. We have lots of the same resources you’d find in the US, with notable exceptions. Such as a well-stocked library and unifix cubes. The government is said to be in the process of providing better resources, and we have seen some trickle in this year. We have a computer lab with 12 computer stations and two computers in each classroom, but all of the teachers would like to have smartboards as well. Maybe next year!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We have planning time or professional development meetings after school, and are free to go at 1:45. The drive home takes about 40 minutes, so I’m often home by 2:30. What a luxury! I do enjoy my job, every day. That’s the typical school day. I’m sure I’ve left out important information that others would like to know. Please ask me and I’ll try to fill in the blanks. </span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-29920301829130945562011-04-11T09:59:00.000-07:002011-04-11T10:01:38.767-07:00Rainy Days in Thailand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not that I'm complaining. After seven months of no rain here in the desert (okay, it drizzled for a few hours one day in January), we were happy to see rain. For every single day of our stay in Thailand. During what was supposed to be the hot, dry season, of course. It was the wettest March in 140 years, according to our guide, in fact. But at least we were safe, and didn't deal with flooding the way some of the people in other areas of Thailand did. And, hey, we spent our spring break in Asia. That's pretty cool!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We opted to stay the first three nights in Patong Beach, on the island of Phuket. There is an international airport on the island, so we were able to fly straight there on Thursday night/ Friday morning with a short layover in Hong Kong. Patong Beach was just as I imagined Thailand would be, a tropical beach town with twisty, crowded streets full of souvenir shops, restaurants, and bars. It reminded me a bit of Key West, only a tad more naughty. There were Thai massage shops on every street, and all of the souvenirs we saw were really inexpensive. We had to stop ourselves from buying everything we liked, because we'd convert from Thai baht to dollars (30 to one) and say, "Wow, this is only three bucks!" It does tend to add up. Plus, we only brought three backpacks and one carry-on suitcase. We didn't have room for any extra stuff.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmVqgdzGHK3SkQx4QZj6KsE9XZ_HiO3aB_SfZ3_pzYnX_uDiSM4Cya7uMbpKHSUXAhJWh0HNmww3Wct_BK7WmFEF4VKz62UioZ7L0c_m3aBE7HzJP6Gv2WHS6dk8bMOzcjeSI6uZ3Ub8/s1600/P1050041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmVqgdzGHK3SkQx4QZj6KsE9XZ_HiO3aB_SfZ3_pzYnX_uDiSM4Cya7uMbpKHSUXAhJWh0HNmww3Wct_BK7WmFEF4VKz62UioZ7L0c_m3aBE7HzJP6Gv2WHS6dk8bMOzcjeSI6uZ3Ub8/s320/P1050041.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We stayed at a nice place called R Mar Resort. The first day we just explored the area around the hotel. On the second day, Mark and Abby went diving with South Siam Divers, and I had a pedicure on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really rainy, and I enjoyed sitting at a corner café with my book, having lunch and watching the rain. I also met a couple from Australia who had once owned a dive shop. We had a great chat while waiting for the rain to let up. That night we went to Phuket Fantasea, a fictionalized history of the area that featured traditional dances, costumes, and elephants. It was so colorful, with combinations of colors I’d never choose- pink with orange, and yellow with turquoise. We enjoyed the show. On our third day, we were picked up early for a drive to Phang Nga, an area north of Phuket. There, we boarded a boat called SeaCanoe4U and headed out towards the islands in the bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stopped at two islands for a guided canoe trip through small caves to interior lagoons. It was luxurious to let our guide, Woody, paddle us around while we took pictures of the untouched rainforests. After lunch back on the big boat, we went to James Bond Island, where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Man with the Golden Gun</i> was filmed in 1974. I loved hiking the steep trail over a ridge with gorgeous views. On the other side of the island there were shallow caves, and Abby explored them happily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had one last stop for a swim on a secluded beach, then we went back to the dock. What a fun trip!</span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="P1050318.JPG" id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_i1029" style="height: 227.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 303pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <imagedata o:title="P1050318" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Cindy\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg"></imagedata></span></shape></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="P1050340.JPG" id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_i1028" style="height: 356.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 267pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="P1050340" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Cindy\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image005.jpg"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></imagedata></shape></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSpfTJR2X5Zm8-6_NcRpDBOiqDT37-aIBBa_DNLImGOHgQ-MowNSusyY5Q71MtGggCOJtXYv4b45sCntNKl07dhR430JD2oR6LDBALMQ9Xo__vghB10k18TTMGB4MRnhtIpOYMb7bF50/s1600/P1050340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSpfTJR2X5Zm8-6_NcRpDBOiqDT37-aIBBa_DNLImGOHgQ-MowNSusyY5Q71MtGggCOJtXYv4b45sCntNKl07dhR430JD2oR6LDBALMQ9Xo__vghB10k18TTMGB4MRnhtIpOYMb7bF50/s320/P1050340.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0m9m6DfidafcRPxfA_dTUuzDzBt_CQKNfWE3bqq0ExqQTVj1o-6GGMibpDiTGKVGqPFmnoJepNN-tBzK_JlWDC41W9PZFIlYdp2vle7HFYwjFaOfYgVADKMExqaublcQ_2CnPs-L0f4/s1600/P1050318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0m9m6DfidafcRPxfA_dTUuzDzBt_CQKNfWE3bqq0ExqQTVj1o-6GGMibpDiTGKVGqPFmnoJepNN-tBzK_JlWDC41W9PZFIlYdp2vle7HFYwjFaOfYgVADKMExqaublcQ_2CnPs-L0f4/s320/P1050318.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The following day, we left Phuket and travelled to Khao Sok, a national park in the rainforest. On the drive, we passed by rivers that were reaching flood stage. Thankfully, our way was clear. Our first two nights in Khao Sok were at the Nature Resort, where we stayed in a treehouse. It was really built in a tree, and the massive trunk in the center of our room was dripping wet, and played host to a few centipedes. At least the beds came with mosquito nets, so I didn’t have to worry about centipedes in the bed! The bathroom was paved with river rocks and stepping stones, and the shower was made like a waterfall in the corner. It was quite nerve-wracking going up the wet, steep steps carrying all of our luggage and umbrellas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abby and Mark went tubing on the river the first afternoon, but I opted for a Thai massage because the rain made me too cold to get in the water. The Thai massage was different- much more joint manipulation and stretching than I expect from a massage. Still, it was quite relaxing. The best part of the day, however, was mealtime. The food was amazing: Thai dishes and rice with fresh ingredients. It was simply some of the best food I have ever eaten. The setting was wonderful, too. In the evening, frogs and geckoes were gathered on the patio dining area, and bats swooped over our heads while we ate. On the second day, we rode elephants in the rain. I loved being up so high while the elephant waded through a swollen river like it was nothing. And I was amazed at the small trails the elephants followed- maybe a foot wide. Apparently, they move their feet very close together, almost stepping in exactly the same space with each foot in turn. We happened to be on that tour with a family from Australia. Talking with them, I thought their accents sounded familiar. When I asked where they were from originally, they said Pearland, Texas! Small world.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDzX14targtfRfYTy6Ig6rEoLeztOZbggQjyujiYZ3u0WiokfcSVRK3X4SoTO4_2frX34frTCkUYfuhqHKg3OZeWZdpOOX0bQwPx-g_kwhjJ6ztyXAC2RZ67EUsexaW43Huiy6RcO9VI/s1600/P1050551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDzX14targtfRfYTy6Ig6rEoLeztOZbggQjyujiYZ3u0WiokfcSVRK3X4SoTO4_2frX34frTCkUYfuhqHKg3OZeWZdpOOX0bQwPx-g_kwhjJ6ztyXAC2RZ67EUsexaW43Huiy6RcO9VI/s320/P1050551.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="P1050546.JPG" id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_i1027" style="height: 165pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 219.75pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="P1050546" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Cindy\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.jpg"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></imagedata></shape><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our next stop was Chieow Laan Lake, which we reached by van and longtail boat the next morning. Our accommodation on the lake was a floating hotel. The rooms were all separate rafthouses, linked by floating walkways to the floating dining area. Abby loved the fact<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that you could step out of the room and jump right into the water. The lake was man-made, and the area used to be mountainous. Now, the mountain tops protrude from the water, making hundreds of small forested islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took a hike through the ainforest on one island, and our guide, Dang, poked in spider and scorpion holes so we could see some of the local residents. We took a bamboo raft to another island and explored Coral Cave, a short cave system in pristine condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also motored around the lake in the longtail boat (which is an open boat with a car motor on the end attached to a long pole with a propeller) looking for wildlife. Because of the rain, we didn’t spot a whole lot. We saw macaques foraging and a few eagles, and we heard gibbons all around us. Their cry sounds like someone playing the saw. Unfortunately, we never got to see them.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR50O3cYpTM3c17a7Pkf1K_AfNUr6ecIkbTE96I8bF7rTKcylhweEUTDu666KncZsb9wofuXpfqybV3mlA-xgkjDbQiU7pd6_Tud9GQbg3ZdzzVjoXE1XERTaM92apESY0DQaHwXrGTvQ/s1600/P1050739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR50O3cYpTM3c17a7Pkf1K_AfNUr6ecIkbTE96I8bF7rTKcylhweEUTDu666KncZsb9wofuXpfqybV3mlA-xgkjDbQiU7pd6_Tud9GQbg3ZdzzVjoXE1XERTaM92apESY0DQaHwXrGTvQ/s320/P1050739.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We spent our last day in Thailand back in Phuket, where we did some serious souvenir shopping. The next morning, we headed to Hong Kong. Since we had a seven hour layover, we were able to leave the airport and look around. We opted to go to Kowloon, the shopping district, which we reached by train and ferry in about 45 minutes. It was crowded and brightly-lit. We had dinner at an Asian fast-food place that was excellent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abby had said she didn’t like Chinese food, but she didn’t count on the barbecued pork! After dinner, we enjoyed the view of downtown Hong Kong from a boardwalk, then retraced our steps to the airport. Our flight left at 12:30 AM, and we got back to Dubai at 6:00 AM. Then just a one and a half hour bus ride back to Abu Dhabi, and we were home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I guess we are practiced international travelers now. I felt proud of us for packing lightly and exploring new places that were pretty adventurous. One of the first things Mark and I did on the day after our return was to start thinking about where we will go next. UK, here we come!</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-72456388904271165072011-03-04T22:47:00.000-08:002011-03-04T22:47:16.269-08:00Saturday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Today will be an at-home day, the kind of day that starts with me sipping coffee in my pajamas while I play on the internet. Abby is watching <em>The Sound of Music</em>, and Mark is still asleep. I love at-home days. It's Saturday, which is like Sunday here, the last day of the weekend. Today it's hazy outside and cool. Unlike in Texas, the haze isn't just fog or pollution. It's a dense desert dust blowing in the wind.<br />
<br />
We've been in Abu Dhabi now for six months. It feels very normal to be here now, no different than being settled in Florida, far away from family and old friends. We have an amazingly convenient life here. We pay two bills, the internet and our credit card. We have no car, so we take the bus or walk wherever we need to go. Just downstairs, there are two grocery/department stores that usually have anything we might need. There is a video rental store a few steps away, as well as a produce stand. The best tandoori bread we've ever tasted is made just down the street. It's only one dirham per round, and baked when you order it.<br />
<br />
Now that I've changed schools, my workday is over by 1:45, and I get home by about 2:30. Abby and Mark have usually finished school lessons by then, so we have long afternoons and evenings together. Some days we go to the park for Abby to ride her bike or skateboard. On Mondays, we head to the homeschool association play group in the park across the street from the Corniche. We sit for about three hours, talking with the other parents while the kids play. Some days we head to the mall (we have about four to choose from on the bus routes) and hang out. It's a lifestyle that allows for plenty of down time and family togetherness.<br />
<br />
We are thinking alot about our living arrangements for next year. We have the option to stay here, in the hotel apartment that is fully furnished and has housekeeping service. It's in the middle of the city, with high rise buildings, traffic noise, every kind of store imaginable, and crowds of people at all times of day and night. But we're leaning towards a move to the suburbs. It would be closer to my school, in an aparment complex populated with mostly expats. It has a pool, small private gardens, spacious rooms, and pets are allowed. It would feel very much like being at home, especially if we bring our dog over. We'd have to get a car and drive to the grocery store or the mall. We would have to buy furniture, kitchen equipment, linens, and every other kind of thing we just got finished selling in a series of garage sales before we left the US. I'm not sure that it makes sense to move, and yet, it seems so attractive.<br />
<br />
There are only three weeks until we head to Thailand for a week, then only four months left before we go back to Texas for the summer. It's going by really quickly. We'll have to make a decision on our housing before we leave, so by June at the latest. <br />
<br />
Link to Al Reef Apartments (in the suburbs): <a href="http://www.habtoorproperties.com/sample2.html">http://www.habtoorproperties.com/sample2.html</a><br />
<br />
Link to Abu Dhabi Plaza Hotel Apartments (our current residence): <a href="http://www.abu-dhabi-map.com/map/data/html/Hotels/Abu-Dhabi-Plaza-Hotel-Apartments.html">http://www.abu-dhabi-map.com/map/data/html/Hotels/Abu-Dhabi-Plaza-Hotel-Apartments.html</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-40079708971785423612011-02-19T02:46:00.000-08:002011-02-19T02:46:35.878-08:00Two Days in Dubai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It was a really short trip, just enough to get a taste of the sister city to Abu Dhabi. We had a long weekend, and decided to stay close to home. The intercity bus was only 15 dirhams per person to Dubai, and we booked a cheap hotel on booking.com, so it was a perfect two-day getaway. Mark and I had been saying we needed to get over there (a mere two-hour bus ride away) for months to check Dubai out, but we just never felt like we had enough time on a regular weekend. Some people jaunt over for just the evening, I know, but we did want to spend a bit more time. Plus, when you're dependent on public transportation, everything takes a bit more planning.<br />
<br />
We packed light and left with our backpacks on our backs on Wednesday afternoon. The bus passed right by my new school in Al Rahba, so I got to point it out to Mark and Abby. We came into Dubai just as the sun was setting, reflected in the thousands of glass windows on hundreds of highrises. Although we had studied the map of the city, we didn't realize just how spread out it is. There are at least three different concentrations of skyscrapers. The first as you come in from the Abu Dhabi road is near the Jebel Ali industrial area. It's where the Atlantis Hotel and the Burj Al Arab are located. We could see the Burj Al Arab (most expensive hotel) from the highway, but the Atlantis is too far out, built on a palm-tree shaped island. There were many beautiful buildings at which to gawk, and then we went through a more residential-looking area. Soon we were passing futuristic, raised metro stations and the second concentration of tall buildings, including the Burj Khalifa (tallest building). That one was originally called the Burj Dubai ("burj" means tower in Arabic), but when Dubai's economy crashed and it couldn't be paid for, the sheikh of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa, stepped in to pick up the bill. That fact delights Abu Dhabi residents, who have a bit of an inferiority complex in relation to Dubai.<br />
<br />
Finally, our bus hit some heavy traffic in the oldest area of Dubai, near the bus station and Port Rashid. This area is known for the Dubai Creek, a waterway that runs through its center that no Texan would ever term a creek. It's wider than the Rio Grande. But whatever, it's very picturesque, with the water taxis called "abras" flitting from shore to shore and hotels lining the sides. We wandered around for a few minutes at the bus station, looking for a taxi, then finally made our way with some difficulty to the Rainbow Hotel on Khalid bin Waleed Street. It was really close to the bus station, but apparently not familiar to the taxi driver. We had already planned to head to the Dubai Mall that first night for some American food.<br />
<br />
Now, expats in Abu Dhabi are always talking about how great Dubai is, how comfortable they feel there, etc. I am convinced it's because of the number of American food outlets in Dubai. Sure, in Abu Dhabi we have Fuddrucker's, Cantina Laredo and Chili's (in addition to the fast-food chains like McD's, BK, and KFC), but you have to go to Dubai for Tony Roma's and Macaroni Grill. So that's what we did. We rode the very clean and fast metro to the Dubai Mall station, and walked right past the Burj Khalifa, stopping for Mark to get an awesome picture of the tower at night with the full moon next to its tip. Inside the massive mall, we found the Macaroni Grill right next to the Dubai Aquarium. I was excited to find my favorite meal, lobster ravioli, on the menu, but experienced crushing disappointment when I tried to order it and was told that it wasn't available. Of course. The same thing happened in Abu Dhabi at Cantina Laredo, when I tried to order the mole enchiladas. Sigh! Anyway, the chicken milano was pretty good, and definitely familiar Italian fare.<br />
<br />
That was all we could manage for the first night, so we headed back to the hotel. The next morning we had a buffet breakfast with a decidedly Indian flair, then headed back out- to the mall again. You know, shopping at malls is the national pastime of the UAE. Forget camel racing. It's too sweaty. (They actually have robot jockeys to ride the camels these days!) This time, though, we went to the mall to get tickets to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa. Unfortunately, they were sold out for the whole weekend. Since we were already at the mall, we decided to visit the aquarium instead. For 50 dirhams each (less than $14) we walked through a tunnel under the huge tank and toured the zoo upstairs. In the tunnel, we came face-to-face with several kinds of sharks. I really enjoyed looking into the sharks' mouths from a position of safety, and staring them in the eyes. We also saw goliath groupers, rays, and many other fish up close. It was the best such attraction I have ever visited. The zoo had penguins, freshwater fish, bugs, and other animals. It was great, too. One thing I love about the UAE- there are apparently many fewer lawyers, because there are exhibits that would never be allowed in the US. Like the open tank full of piranhas with a sign that says "Please do not place your hands in the water." <br />
<br />
After the aquarium, we went to the food court, where Abby was delighted to have Taco Bell food. Then we visited a store called Candylicious. We bought gummi bears, chocolate covered nuts, and sour powder, but I searched in vain for caramel apple pops, my favorite candy. On our way to the taxi stand, we passed a Starbucks, and the smell drew me in. It was in a part of the mall that looks like an outdoor street with sidewalk cafes, but is really indoors and air conditioned. It felt just like Las Vegas. Abby and I relaxed at Starbucks while Mark looked at the Harley Davidson store nearby. We repacked our purchases into our day pack, and prepared to go to the evening's main event- Global Village.<br />
<br />
Wow. Global Village was wonderful. If you are ever planning to visit Dubai, be sure to come between December and the end of February, when Global Village is open. It's like a huge world's fair for just Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. There are pavilions for each participating country, except for the African pavilions, which were two for the continent. Each pavilion has booths for vendors of goods from that country. We saw so many amazing things! We could only stare and take pictures, because unfortunately, we don't have a house in which to use and display such treasures. In Pakistan, Abby and I touched all of the hand-made clothing that shimmered and sparkled. I love it that those fabrics are everyday wear. In Lebanon, we smelled all of the spices and bought a mixture called zaatar that includes sumac and sesame seeds. In Yemen, Mark bought a khanjar (curved dagger) and Abby got some honey and a free bracelet and keychain thrown in. Abby and I got matching silver hair barrettes in Afghanistan that have bells attached. We looked at purses made from soda bottle caps and carved wooden utensils in Africa, carpets from all over, silk and satin dresses and shoes from Vietnam, gold in thousands of designs, stacks of henna three feet tall....it just went on and on. As the sun went down, the crowds got huge, and we were pushed and shoved by people from everywhere, dressed every way, and smelling every how. Wonderful.<br />
<br />
There were some funny observations to be made. One was the abundance of Spongebob merchandise. Apparently, he is loved in every corner of the globe. I don't think we entered a single pavilion that didn't have something with Spongebob's visage on it. He was much more in evidence than Hello Kitty. The other was that the line in the food court area in front of KFC was the longest line. We opted for shawarmas at Beit Jeddee (My Grandfather's House) instead. Many times throughout the night we were asked where we were from. When we said America, the reponse was always the same: "Oh, America, very good." These people do not hate America or Americans.<br />
<br />
We left before the majority of the crowds did, and found the line for the taxis. As usual here in the UAE, there was a line for families and a line for single men, maybe a hundred people in all. The people in the lines kept trying to jump into taxis before they got to the front of the line, but one man in a khandoura and a ghutra (national Emirati dress) kept them all in order. It was so typical of the UAE. From seeming chaos, order emerges on the strength of charisma and symbols of authority.<br />
<br />
We left pretty early the next morning and were relieved to get back to Abu Dhabi to relax for the rest of the weekend. My impression of Dubai is that it is sprawling, glitzy, and fun. I saw only a few Emiratis there, so it seems more like an expatriate haven. I was trying to think of a parallel in America, and I think Dubai is a bit like Los Angeles, compared to Abu Dhabi's more genteel San Francisco. Work happens in Abu Dhabi, and movies get made in Dubai. I know I prefer the real life in Abu Dhabi, but we'll definitely go back to Dubai. We haven't made it yet to the Wild Wadi Water Park! </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-68610537765841986762011-01-21T22:42:00.000-08:002011-01-21T22:42:57.467-08:00New School<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I read back over my posts about school, and realized that I have sanitized them pretty heavily. They all sound so upbeat! It's not that teaching here is horrible- not at all. It's just that I'm living in a place where freedom of expression is not protected, and I have been very circumspect about posting any negative remarks in a public forum. So, the news that I changed schools doesn't really have the context it should. And here, at least, it won't. I will miss the boys in my old class, but I will just have to accept that this is not my country, and things are not done here the way I might think is right. I am very grateful that my request for a different assignment was honored.<br />
<br />
My new school is a kindergarten with both boys and girls in the classes. It has a lovely physical setting, with a central assembly room/gym and classrooms radiating off around it. There are glassed-in courtyards, a kitchen for cooking projects, and two trampolines in the gym. It's located in a small suburb of Abu Dhabi, a place that has a community feel. Like my district in Texas, it is populated mostly by people who have moved to the area, rather than by a long-settled group. I think that makes it much more open, since everyone has had to create their own new social networks.<br />
<br />
The model here for kindergarten is for there to be both an English-speaking teacher and an Arabic-speaking teacher assigned to each class. I am currently replacing a teacher who has gone back to the west for surgery. She may return, and if so, I will stay at the school, but work with pre-k instead of kinder. My co-teacher is Fatema, a young Emirati woman who attended a teacher college and is certified. (Many teachers here are not certified.) Our schedule begins with Fatema's circle time, including Arabic literacy and Islamic Studies. Then I do a short English literacy activity and some centers and small groups. The students go to sports, music, art, or the library for rotation classes. They have snack and playtime (recess). We have a numeracy lesson, then a longer center time, then closing circle. The day ends by 12:15 for the students, and teachers have professional development meetings or planning time until 1:45. That's the whole day! All of it, except for Fatema's Arabic and Islamic lesson, is supposed to be bilingual. It seems like a great model for introducing the kindergarteners to English in a very gentle way. They will be well-prepared for English literacy when they reach first grade.<br />
<br />
I am greatly enjoying working with an Emirati teacher. I think my Arabic will improve a great deal just from being exposed to the language all day. My co-teacher is excited about teaching and has great ideas. It's not much different than working with a western colleague. In the second grade, at my old school, I had the students by myself, with no local teacher. That's the ADEC model, to have English-only instruction for English, math, and science in all the grades above kinder. I think in the future, when the kinder students have reached first and second grade after having been exposed to English and foreign teachers, it will be okay to have the foreign teacher take the class by herself. These first years of the program, however, it's very difficult for the teachers teaching students who have not had much English at all, without the support of an Arabic speaker. It's even worse when it's a female teacher in an all-boys school that has issues with lack of consequences for serious behaviors.<br />
<br />
This coming week, we will be focusing on the letter K. Our theme is community helpers, and we have a field trip on Sunday to the local police station. In math, we'll be ordering numbers to ten and telling what numbers come before or after a given number. Sounds like any kindergarten anywhere in the world!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-32274254991155780842011-01-07T01:16:00.000-08:002011-01-07T01:16:15.786-08:00On to JordanThe first two days of our trip in Egypt were a whirlwind of sights and sounds. The next two days we spent traveling to Jordan, and the activity never let up. We had to make it that way, though. My dad joined us only for the first part of our trip because he needed to be back in Texas and at my sister's house in time for Christmas. We wanted to be sure he saw as much as possible for the few days he was with us!<br />
<br />
The excursion to Jordan was the only part of the trip that I had booked in advance, other than the hotels in Cairo and Dahab. I went with Memphis Tours because they specialize in short trips and handle all the necessary arrangments for visas. The representative from Memphis Tours arrived at the Isis right on time at 11:00 PM to pick us up. We left the greater part of our luggage in a storeroom at the Isis and headed out with one small suitcase and our backpacks. Downstairs, we found a nice van with two drivers who spoke almost no English. We settled in (each having our own bench seat), inflated our neck pillows, and prepared to sleep across the Sinai Peninsula.<br />
<br />
When you think about it, that's an enormous amount of trust in your fellow man. The Sinai is still mostly desert wilderness, and the English-speaking rep didn't accompany us out of Cairo. So we were alone with people with whom we couldn't communicate well in the pitch-black darkness all night. It turned out fine, but there were a few frightening moments. At one point I awoke because the van slowed down considerably, and saw that we were driving through a sandstorm. The road had completely disappeared, and I could see only about ten feet in front of us. I don't know how the driver kept going. It lasted about fifteen minutes, but it felt much longer. Even when there wasn't a sandstorm blowing, the road would occasionally be gone, I guess because of sand drifts. On awaking from another short doze, I listened to the two drivers speaking in Arabic. I speak and understand some classical Arabic, but don't have any experience with dialects, so I couldn't understand much. I could tell, though, that they were talking about money, and doing your job because that's what is right to do. I had horrible visions of murder in the desert, but thankfully that's more an American movie stereotype than reality. We finally reached the seaside resort town of Taba without incident at about 6:00 AM.<br />
<br />
We were met there by another rep from Memphis Tours who took us through immigration and got us on the ferry to Aqaba. It was amazing that the tour company had such a great set-up, with a dedicated person in each place to meet us and smooth our way. The ferry was a huge catamaran, very nice and modern. The ride across the Red Sea took less than an hour, with waves splashing over the windows to the top of the boat most of the way. Those of you who know how seasick I usually get will be surprised to hear that I made it across feeling great, if a bit tired.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In Aqaba, we were met by another driver, named Rushdi. He answered our many questions about Jordan and the places we passed on our way to the mountain city of Petra. We saw Eilat, an Israeli city, across the bay less than two miles away. We took the Kings' Highway into the mountains, an ancient track that linked several civilizations, including the Nabateans who built Petra. The history of World War I is ever-present in this area, because this was the main site of the Arab Revolt, which T.E. Lawrence made famous. I enjoyed imagining how different Aqaba must have looked when the Arabs liberated it from the Turks as compared to the busy port city it has become. I also enjoyed the realization that so much of the open countryside looks exactly the same now as it did then, or even in the times of the Roman Empire. The road stretches across the mountains with no trees to hide it. There are terraced hillsides for farming, and flocks of goats and sheep with more rugged, seemingly impassable mountains in the distance. Jordan is gorgeous, and I fell in love with it.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-HjFonN1ibNb07ZXur2rNx8eV5k4hNAjjIqFvner0qDcziur9ymL4aXl5JfUDTGSFQ0VI0gR50wqRhsWsHxRQA1INdzTVsKTt5cbYpm7qaRHcAonfoNcOpugaAfWKX8-iPz6TZk86eE/s1600/P1020276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-HjFonN1ibNb07ZXur2rNx8eV5k4hNAjjIqFvner0qDcziur9ymL4aXl5JfUDTGSFQ0VI0gR50wqRhsWsHxRQA1INdzTVsKTt5cbYpm7qaRHcAonfoNcOpugaAfWKX8-iPz6TZk86eE/s320/P1020276.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sheraton Guesthouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It took about two hours to reach Petra, which turned out to be a charming town perched on hilly mountaintops overlooking the craggy, snaking entrance to the ancient Nabatean stronghold. Our hotel was the Sheraton Guesthouse, a cozy, stucco-white inn built over the Cave Bar, an actual bar inside a Nabatean-carved cave. We were delighted by the setting and the location, right up next to the entrance of ancient Petra. After quickly depositing our bags, we met our Petra guide, Ahmed, at the gate.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51tyI2PZhy3rAIjm_vhJLNzomQRtKiQZk1m97bm2qAhyIqJ60DBt0SSjkv4d_0gxNlWJrC15fm7_xPkLsxh5p7bcsrHQei74g-MH5vgGhrrT6zASIXrN0DfGZD3n8VNQJ8_fEBI15wyA/s1600/P1020080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51tyI2PZhy3rAIjm_vhJLNzomQRtKiQZk1m97bm2qAhyIqJ60DBt0SSjkv4d_0gxNlWJrC15fm7_xPkLsxh5p7bcsrHQei74g-MH5vgGhrrT6zASIXrN0DfGZD3n8VNQJ8_fEBI15wyA/s320/P1020080.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the snaky valley entrance to Petra on the right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We opted to walk the gravel path into the winding valley instead of riding horses, much to Abby's dismay. Mark, my dad, and I just didn't want the tour to go too fast. The carvings in the soft sandstone were everywhere. I was especially enchanted by a life-size relief carving of two camels and a merchant on the valley wall. It was a long walk down the path, sometimes over original paving stones, to the famous treasury building. It was incredibly majestic, with graceful details in the rosy stone. Our guide told us about the Nabateans and their wealth from taxing goods on the trade route. We saw the remains of a staircase that climbed the valley wall for maybe 200 feet to lookout points. We also walked down a street that was once lined with columns, temples, market stalls, and fountains. The city was occupied from the time of ancient Greece until the Christian era, when an earthquake destroyed many of the dwellings in the 600s AD. The people of the town mostly lived in brick buildings, saving the elaborately carved sandstone caves for burial places. They ingeniously carved a waterway along the entrance to the city that had ceramic pipes inset. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJcg4BjXcLZTg2cM-xOiRB6f44iOgsMblnCX3DHypHwtK4G9XV7OSpbXM45kzuKlEj-RrUympBdtxwiurvzGIDFiPd0Cpc-GZSfHWZGsSy4Et6uYWDPFq8lBOWXAKfM2ojSt7Zgq_hRTg/s1600/P1020149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJcg4BjXcLZTg2cM-xOiRB6f44iOgsMblnCX3DHypHwtK4G9XV7OSpbXM45kzuKlEj-RrUympBdtxwiurvzGIDFiPd0Cpc-GZSfHWZGsSy4Et6uYWDPFq8lBOWXAKfM2ojSt7Zgq_hRTg/s320/P1020149.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigN4mNxsarCa07YmZ5xyGI3yBQriMmBpIiLXYM5TzUEQsRZ8mM_OgbKOaYqNznOwVw8bBlk9A3v2epFqwPHuRa18EiPVQE9XJoCX3KXwiPnT_du8c5LeyTsZbxDNffGou7iGfDHsLGee4/s1600/P1020252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigN4mNxsarCa07YmZ5xyGI3yBQriMmBpIiLXYM5TzUEQsRZ8mM_OgbKOaYqNznOwVw8bBlk9A3v2epFqwPHuRa18EiPVQE9XJoCX3KXwiPnT_du8c5LeyTsZbxDNffGou7iGfDHsLGee4/s320/P1020252.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Nowadays, there are many bedouins who live in the area around Petra. They sell crafts from booths in the valley and offer rides through the ruins on camels, horses, and donkeys. Abby and I stopped to talk to two bedouin boys on donkeys. They spoke excellent English, and I asked if they went to school. They said no, the tourists are their school. We conversed in a mixture of Arabic and English, and they convinced us to ride the donkeys back to the Treasury building. It was great fun! The donkeys were much more comfortable to ride than horses, and could really move if they wanted to. I had visions of life in a bedouin camp, under the stars in the environs of ancient cities, with no school to worry about and a life of freedom. Of course it was a romantic fantasy, and I'm sure the reality would bring many hardships that I didn't imagine.<br />
<br />
It was dark by the time we returned to the hotel. My dad fell asleep on his bed fully clothed after a nice shower. We had intended to have dinner, but everyone was too tired. Abby was next to crash, laying down to read <em>Harry Potter </em>and getting through less than a page. I found Mark gone after I finished my shower, and promptly conked out without even worrying about where he might be. It turned out he had to explore the Cave Bar, where he met some tourists from Hong Kong. He didn't stay there long, though. We had effectively been up since 8:00 AM the previous day, and we all enjoyed sleeping in and having an excellent buffet breakfast late the next morning.<br />
<br />
Rushdi picked us up at noon for our trip to Wadi Rum, a desert valley of softly sculpted dunes and weathered sandstone arches. It was every bit as beautiful as Petra, only completely natural. Rushdi dropped us with a driver, Yahya, in a Land Rover, for the tour. It was awesome to take off over the dunes and lose all sight of civilization. Yahya stopped and had us take off our shoes to climb a dune. I loved the feel of the soft sand, and clambered to the top like a kid. (Just as fast as Abby, I might add.) Abby and I examined all the tracks in the sand, and found fox, bird, and beetle paths. We next stopped to pet some camels, and Abby rode one with a bedouin guide to the nearby stone arch. She dismounted giggling, telling us about a hobbled camel that hadn't wanted to be left behind, but hopped along behind her camel with its front two legs tied. We climbed the arch and got some great pictures, then drove to see an ancient dam (when could water have flowed here?) and some petroglyphs, which we surmised were advertisements for rest stops on the trade route. We then traveled on to what is known as "Lawrence's House". It's a great block of sandstone sitting on the desert floor that has been carved out on the inside, with just a small doorway on the side facing a sheer wall of stone. What a great hiding place! I imagined Lawrence and his bedouin fighters sitting silently inside while Turkish soldiers rushed past looking for them after they had carried out an attack on the railroad which still runs a few miles away over the desert. Now, however, it's used as a nursery for baby goats by the descendants of those same bedouins.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8PVQGrsUlEKTWxnLib7Vwp7bsb81KTsFshLVxxSIQJWv1yrxhWwiafavrE-sggCNSCx-4G62M3p7wlrFAZBtqOj9nxS0ZILvfRgpMzTdaR5K7z8Mpj04eH-jArqyimT6bX24Ka35GQww/s1600/P1020402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8PVQGrsUlEKTWxnLib7Vwp7bsb81KTsFshLVxxSIQJWv1yrxhWwiafavrE-sggCNSCx-4G62M3p7wlrFAZBtqOj9nxS0ZILvfRgpMzTdaR5K7z8Mpj04eH-jArqyimT6bX24Ka35GQww/s320/P1020402.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Our driver, Rushdi, was called away to pick up some Israeli tourists because he is fluent in Hebrew. He handed us off to Mohammed, who took us back to Aqaba. After a lovely shawarma dinner in downtown Aqaba, we were dropped off at the ferry. We ended up having to wait for the last ferry, because giant tour groups were booked on the first two that left. In all we only waited about 45 minutes. Our ferry ride was uneventful, and we were soon back in Egypt and getting back in the van with our same drivers to cross the Sinai again. This time I slept well.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>We arrived back at the Isis Hotel at 3:00 AM and slept for two hours. My dad's flight to London and then Houston was leaving at 8, so he had to get to the airport. It was awful saying goodbye, but I was so grateful for the time we got to spend together seeing such marvellous sights. We all came away from Jordan wishing we had more time to spend there. It has less of a tourism-driven economy, which was a pleasant change from Egypt. The people we met were proud, independent, and friendly, and the scenery is spectacular. My dad was itching to ride off into the mountains on a motorcycle, something he never thought he'd contemplate in a Middle Eastern country. I think Jordan defied our preconceived notions, and I hope to go there again someday.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-54599078667174998172011-01-06T04:51:00.000-08:002011-01-06T20:30:24.546-08:00Visiting Cairo<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">(Alternate Heading: The Reason We Moved to Abu Dhabi)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes! This was the intent behind the big move- the opportunity to travel. We made our first big trip over the Christmas holidays, and chose to spend the 14 days in Egypt and Jordan. Abby had lots to do with our choice of destination- she said she wanted to see the pyramids the day I told her about moving here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, now she has done that and many more amazing things as well. In fact, we did so much that I’m having a hard time contemplating writing about them all. I think my plan will be to write about some highlights of each place we went and then give my general impressions. I will probably have to make this several posts to be able to include any details at all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We started our trip in Cairo, arriving after dark on the first day. A driver from the hotel picked us up: Abby, Mark, my dad, myself, and all of our luggage. He was a bit dismayed at the amount of luggage, which included a huge suitcase of Mark’s diving gear in addition to our clothes, and we had a very tight squeeze. Then we set off and had our first taste of traffic in Cairo. Let’s just say we felt incredibly lucky to make it to the hotel alive and without having mashed any pedestrians. (More about Egyptian driving later.) The hotel was actually a hostel that had great reviews on TripAdvisor and Booking.com, the Isis Hotel. It lived up to, and exceeded expectations. Our room was huge, with four beds and a private bath. We had a view of the Nile and were served tea whenever we asked for it and breakfast each morning. The best part of the Isis, however, was the proprietor, Mehdad. He arranged all of our sightseeing for Cairo and Luxor, including a flight and a train ride. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he did it all with such a beautiful attitude and smile! That said, the hostel was quite basic. There was no heat, and the draft that came through the windows each night was very cold. The entrance to the building, in which the Isis is located on the top two floors, is unmarked and has only one tiny working elevator. The elevator only went to the fourteenth floor, so we had to get out there and walk up another flight of stairs, dragging all of our bags. And the view of the Nile was over the top of a serious slum, with trash and half-finished buildings that had piles of rubble at their bases. Still, we paid only $180 for the four of us for four nights. It was a great deal, especially once we ventured out and enjoyed the local neighborhood. We found the best pizza ever (Pizza Al Quds) right around the corner, and could walk to the Talat Harb area, which was always crowded at night with shoppers. It was relaxing to walk there because it’s not a tourist area, so no one asked us for money or tried to get us to buy things we didn’t want.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP27lPI6o0EB-ER60T7aRBWMzEX5rMBRNcYtBMDNB5Ksw9YgA-VNQd7xmYEwhy5_3yv-SLyIsPTu87A0ZQAVx-6F7UFhTRQOZhPQqJp44iK0_W1wMhQaNqx-m769UasnH4nz_3QM6fZ28/s1600/P1010407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP27lPI6o0EB-ER60T7aRBWMzEX5rMBRNcYtBMDNB5Ksw9YgA-VNQd7xmYEwhy5_3yv-SLyIsPTu87A0ZQAVx-6F7UFhTRQOZhPQqJp44iK0_W1wMhQaNqx-m769UasnH4nz_3QM6fZ28/s320/P1010407.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from our hotel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the Cairo area, we saw the pyramids at Sakkara, the Memphis museum, the pyramids at Giza, a perfumery, a papyrus factory, a carpet school, the old Cairo Coptic area, the Citadel, and the Egyptian Museum. The pyramids at Sakkara are step pyramids, some of the oldest structures in Egypt. They were mostly crumbling. We saw inside some of the tombs there, with amazing reliefs that were minutely detailed. We made the mistake of inadvertently acquiring a guide for the tombs, who then insisted we pay him separately from the entrance fee we had already paid. We vowed not to make that mistake again, but then, there were no interpretive signs on anything. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Memphis museum was rather sparse, consisting mainly of a few statues. The highlight there was a sphinx in very good condition. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our next three stops were sales pitches: carpet, perfume, and papyrus. We were awed at the intricate patterns of the silk and wool carpets, which are mainly made by children. It made me sad to see the kids working at tying knots. The perfumes were all natural essences, but very expensive. At the papyrus factory, we had a demonstration of papyrus-making, then were invited to peruse the shop’s stock of painted papyrus. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, we headed to Giza, where we negotiated to pay $32 each for horses and a guide. Abdul Karim and his sidekick, Abdullah, took us on a roundabout route to the pyramids. We had seen them in the distance from the highway on our way to Giza, so it was surprising to find they had disappeared in the city. We rounded a bend, crested a dune, and looked out across that familiar sight- the three huge pyramids and the much smaller sphinx. Abdul Karim didn’t talk too much about the pyramids, but just led us to great vantage points for pictures and let us explore. We walked right up to the base of the Great Pyramid , feeling magnificently dwarfed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun was on its way down, so we hurried to the sphinx and the temple. The sphinx seems so small when you’re up close to it. We were separated by about twenty feet, and had a great view of the whole thing from a platform just outside the megalithic temple. There were hundreds of chairs set up just outside the area near the sphinx for the sound and light show each evening, which we declined to attend. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Instead, we went that night to a dinner cruise on the Nile in a boat called Memphis. It was a buffet with belly dancing and Egyptian folk dancing (sort of a whirling dervish with a colorful skirt) for entertainment. There was a huge crowd of people from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Japan who rushed the buffet and almost left us with none! Thanks to Mark’s elbows, we all got some dessert. The belly dancer seemed miffed when an Arab family joined her on the dance floor and basically took it over. We thought it was funny, but by then, we were falling asleep at our table. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day, we headed out early to Old Cairo. It was just like you’d imagine, with twisty, narrow streets, hidden gems of churches, nunneries, tombs, and a synagogue. We met a shopkeeper whose son had been born that morning, and who invited us for a celebratory cup of tea. We bought some beautiful scarves from him, then met our driver to go to the Citadel. It was a fortress named for Saladin perched on a mountain top overlooking the whole city. We enjoyed meeting the groups of schoolchildren on field trips. They invariably wanted to practice their English on us, and were delighted when I spoke some Arabic back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We spent the whole afternoon and early evening at the Egyptian Museum. It was a gargantuan hodge-podge of artifacts, few of which had any explanatory signage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently you are supposed to engage a local guide if you want to know about any of the millions of items inside the cavernous space. We raced through thousands of years’ worth of treasures, and only really slowed down for the King Tut exhibit. Many of the Tut artifacts had been shown in Dallas, and Abby and I had already seen them with my sister, Sandy. We were glad that Mark and my dad got the chance to goggle at the sheer weight of gold used to cover so many of the grave goods. No cameras were allowed inside, so we have no pictures, only memories. Afterwards, we returned to the hostel to relax for a few hours before being picked up at 11:00 PM for our ride across the Sinai Peninsula to the Jordan ferry. That will have o be another post.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cairo was crowded, dirty, unfinished, and hectic. There is always traffic, except for early on Friday mornings. No one bothers with lanes while driving. I’m not sure why there are marked lanes on the roads. Perhaps as suggestions? Everyone honks as they begin to pass another vehicle, as a warning, which is crucial since you can never count on your lane staying clear. There were piles of trash and stray animals picking through it. The well-built buildings were the older ones. The newer construction is one brick-thickness and a covering of plaster on a concrete frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every person who helped us in any way expected a tip, and would tell us if the offered amount was not enough. There were security police on almost every corner. But Cairo was also wonderful, cheap food, friendly people, and awesome sights. The people in the shopping districts looked well-dressed and happy. History is also on every street corner, and there is an energy that pervades the place, like in New York City. We’re so glad we had the chance to feel it for ourselves.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6_c29pne_5cQxgu4JVOrBVdI3FSBSmqKTPL5juUh3x3bDcsacpdrZjN7KhPTTeAVZ0yFzDjSYHd0lTK36Fda2WMGIoSp95O20EZZyCmgTnDXQU27XL-p6B17S6F2bFf6QsEdm-KTD10/s1600/P1010692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6_c29pne_5cQxgu4JVOrBVdI3FSBSmqKTPL5juUh3x3bDcsacpdrZjN7KhPTTeAVZ0yFzDjSYHd0lTK36Fda2WMGIoSp95O20EZZyCmgTnDXQU27XL-p6B17S6F2bFf6QsEdm-KTD10/s320/P1010692.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-19126391940665849112010-12-10T21:31:00.000-08:002010-12-11T01:55:57.570-08:00DifferencesSo life is humming along now, and I find I have little news to share. It's really not that different living and working here than in Texas. Okay, there are some differences, which tend to be a major topic of conversation among expats. I thought I'd share some of them.<br />
<br />
Recreation in Abu Dhabi tends to happen at night. We went to a park called Children's Park one afternoon and had the whole place to ourselves. It was a big place, with play equipment, a picnic pavilion, and automated rides, but it was deserted. Like something out of a horror movie- you know, the swings blowing in the wind with the chains creaking. We walked past another, similar park the other night after eating out, must have been around 8:30 PM, and you could barely see the play equipment for the number of little kids swarming all over it. On a school night. I realize it's a reaction to the heat most of the year, but it does result in a number of kids falling asleep in class on a regular basis!<br />
<br />
I could probably write a whole post just on the topic of bathrooms. One thing I've learned is to carry my own toilet paper. It's not seen as necessary here. Instead, there are spray hoses in every stall. I suppose they're fairly sanitary, but without paper for toweling off... well, I guess things dry quickly here in the desert. In public places, you'll often enter a restroom and find it near flooded. Someone got a little overzealous with the spray hose? There are workers employed to remain in every restroom in the mall, just to squeegee the floor and wipe down the commode after every use. I can't help but feel horrible for a person who has nothing to do all day but look at the loo.<br />
<br />
Speaking of workers, there are hundreds of thousands of non-nationals employed to do every little thing. They are nannies, delivery motorcyclists, food service workers, janitors, shop clerks, construction workers, security guards, hotel employees, and so on. Each company has accommodation provided for its workers and operates transport buses to and from work. Most of the traffic you see is little white buses carrying people all wearing the same uniform. Some apartment buildings are labelled with the name of the employer. One near our block says "Hilton Workers Residence". I guess it's not that different for our apartment. Nearly everyone here works for ADEC.<br />
<br />
Food is another major topic. There's a huge variety of food available: Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, American, etc., but it seems that vegetables are in short supply. Except for potatoes. French fries seem to be offered with every meal. Mark and I cooked last night, chicken with a tomato sauce that would have gone well with rice or pasta, but we couldn't face more starch. I miss my bi-weekly box of organic veggies! Sometimes I crave a salad, but I'm usually disappointed. Some of the salads here are pretty short on the lettuce, and when you get lettuce, it's almost always romaine instead of something more green. The caesar salad is out because the caesar dressing has tasted unpleasantly of fish every time I've tried it. One vegetable that is available is corn- kernel corn is sold here as a snack food. A cup of corn with a spoon. From a cart at the mall. Haven't felt the need to try that yet.<br />
<br />
An interesting difference is the perks for the ladies. On the public buses, the front half is reserved for women. Many times we'll ride the bus somewhere, Abby and I comfortably sitting up front, while Mark is squished like a sardine in the back where there is standing-room-only for the men. There are ladies-only lines at the bank and the supermarket, and they always go quickly. I haven't yet ridden in a ladies' taxi, but I've seen them, with pink flowers painted on the side and a pink taxi light on the roof. It's easy to feel a bit spoiled!<br />
<br />
We attended the street party celebrating the 39th year of unity for the UAE last weekend. It was mostly a parade of decorated cars on the Corniche, the road fronting the beach downtown. There were people hanging out of the car windows, out of the sunroofs, spraying silly string and canned snow all over each other and the other cars and the spectators. They were stopping their cars, getting out and dancing or spraying each other, then jumping back in and zooming on a few meters. The men in their khandouras were wearing red, black, white, and green wigs, or face paint. The women were sparkly in the same colors on their abayas. It was just sweet, clean fun. Mark, Abby and I felt safe amid the wild exuberance, because no one was drunk or menacing in any way. Abby and I came home with silly string in our hair. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKDIobvNDgSLSV6Gy31hHpIMKGvAapINrYmZshL8_q70SUdmzaW8JY8oUtrzhK5jddZjPBlVai3rDT63hZFc_YKHttKHyk-326kvwBtxhOzrZ0-V_wM6b5rPZeQw2jEHkzC7osllZspU/s1600/12-2010+National+Day+014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKDIobvNDgSLSV6Gy31hHpIMKGvAapINrYmZshL8_q70SUdmzaW8JY8oUtrzhK5jddZjPBlVai3rDT63hZFc_YKHttKHyk-326kvwBtxhOzrZ0-V_wM6b5rPZeQw2jEHkzC7osllZspU/s320/12-2010+National+Day+014.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EFOcWuzK5qDHMd83kE9ICvW3HQw-wGyRsDOFRraR-Mk9aDdCWQeG8HsfgxLzzbjZzBCCs1AlKKxiisVoD8AftQIjRwfYFcnrFRmOey8NczzYxe4WA9seKT_9YZlataN5fI6CuAtGMDY/s1600/12-2010+National+Day+025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EFOcWuzK5qDHMd83kE9ICvW3HQw-wGyRsDOFRraR-Mk9aDdCWQeG8HsfgxLzzbjZzBCCs1AlKKxiisVoD8AftQIjRwfYFcnrFRmOey8NczzYxe4WA9seKT_9YZlataN5fI6CuAtGMDY/s320/12-2010+National+Day+025.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAWzkvVSZJ7Tp4FSpAJbwk4IW1MQFuG2eFUThwehxRDFM2EWY4BhGfubwnWkMSjgZo6lIAhzqg8jQ0trMlMP9DtVrAhnZekaVUWfHQh8GFU_iYLlkgGDt0ZjXdzXrB-hZVUJvx7CQh_4/s1600/12-2010+National+Day+019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAWzkvVSZJ7Tp4FSpAJbwk4IW1MQFuG2eFUThwehxRDFM2EWY4BhGfubwnWkMSjgZo6lIAhzqg8jQ0trMlMP9DtVrAhnZekaVUWfHQh8GFU_iYLlkgGDt0ZjXdzXrB-hZVUJvx7CQh_4/s200/12-2010+National+Day+019.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
So the only news this week is my dad is coming to visit! This is the last week of the first trimester of school. We have a two-week break until January 2. He will be here for a week, then we are all going to Egypt and Jordan for a week. After that, my dad is returning to Texas for Christmas, and Mark, Abby, and I will go to a resort on the Red Sea for a week. Mark plans to do some diving and Abby will snorkel. I'll enjoy relaxing on the beach. I may not get to update before the holidays, so I'll go ahead and wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-11330030467293369742010-11-15T04:40:00.000-08:002010-11-15T04:40:35.251-08:00DetailsI notice it's about time for all of my friends and family in the States to be waking up to Monday morning, but I am comfortably at home enjoying the first holiday of the school year, Eid Al Adha. We have a whole week off! Nice, except I'll be teaching on Thanksgiving Day. I think some of us are planning to get together on the Friday after for our Thanksgiving celebration. We don't have to worry about missing the sales, because there's no Black Friday here. The only worry will be whether or not I can find corn meal and poultry seasoning for the cornbread dressing!<br />
<br />
The details seem to be working themselves out in every area. I got my passport back, and I am now officially a resident of the UAE. Abby and Mark have applied for their residencies, as well, and we expect that paperwork to be done soon after the holiday is over. The next step is a national identity card for each of us, and driver's licenses for Mark and myself.<br />
<br />
School continues to improve. The teacher who was absent so much has really just stopped coming to work. For while, that made my class more difficult, as I shared in the last post. But then, something changed. The kids started thinking of me as THEIR teacher (since I was the only person they saw consistently everyday). Now, misbehavior is the anomaly. Amazing. They still talk constantly, and I have to work to keep their attention, but it's no worse than my class in Mansfield. I have come to adore my 21 boys. And, they're making great progress. We'll be starting spelling tests when we come back from the eid. Oh- and a different teacher will be taking my kids for their Arabic and Islamic classes. She's strict, so I anticipate some calm days ahead.<br />
<br />
We finally socialized with a non-western co-worker of mine. Her name is Hind (with a short /i/ sound), and she's Egyptian. She teaches music to all grades. We met her family and my co-teacher, Hibba, and her family at the beach on Friday. The ladies sat under the tent and gabbed while the kids and dads played. It was very relaxing. I have a hard time with Hind's Egyptian dialect, so Hibba (who's Lebanese-Canadian) had to translate often, but we found plenty of common ground.<br />
<br />
I've been meaning to update the blog for a while, but every time I've been on the computer lately, it's been to research and book our trip to Egypt and Jordan. My dad is arriving on Dec. 11, and he will stay for a week with us here. Then, we'll all fly to Cairo. We plan to see the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum, among other things. We'll travel to Jordan by bus across the Sinai Peninsula and boat across a small bit of the Red Sea to land in Aqaba. Then another bus will take us to Petra and Wadi Rum, which was T. E. Lawrence's hideout during the Arab Revolt, as described in his book, <em>The Seven Pillars of Wisdom</em>. Then back to Cairo, and my dad will fly home. Mark, Abby and I will head to Hurghada and Luxor for diving on the Red Sea and more monuments, respectively. We'll fly back to Abu Dhabi on New Year's Eve. It's a dream trip. This is what we came here for!<br />
<br />
Except for being so far away from all of the people we love, it's an ideal life. I find myself seesawing between euphoria at the incredible chain of events that led us to this opportunity and misery at the pain of missing friends and family. Most days I'm able to put the pain aside and enjoy the day, but there have been times that I've felt too cut off from home to be okay. When my internet was out at the end of October, I didn't find out about the passing of my friend, Charlene, until days afterward. I sincerely regret not being there in the community to grieve. I'm sure I was upset about that when I burst into tears at school after my head of faculty gave me a sticker with a pawprint on it. It's just too much to miss your friends and your dog at the same time!<br />
<br />
It is nice to feel settled in, though. We love being able to walk or take the bus wherever we need to go. I love seeing the sun rise in the desert haze, silhouetting the Grand Mosque, every morning on the way to work. I love seeing Abby try new things. I love establishing a relationship with my students.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhAcpIimZUm2e-v0gBel58euDjwxdlNaB41FM7kf4zmKrSOzalP0j7tOSIFRfR97aK7oYiMU57dPvoiEzroLx-Lvt-goM-FT9_HZRp1PTWQEomo1kbmeesEHEqmPhKHPUwoiBiA6vGDCs/s1600/IMG_7115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhAcpIimZUm2e-v0gBel58euDjwxdlNaB41FM7kf4zmKrSOzalP0j7tOSIFRfR97aK7oYiMU57dPvoiEzroLx-Lvt-goM-FT9_HZRp1PTWQEomo1kbmeesEHEqmPhKHPUwoiBiA6vGDCs/s320/IMG_7115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjki6x7E1kvwEVhKKd3YrJl8s3FfuBwEGb0leLXhP2lrhKc37DMTui7rlddTP4ZPBBontZj9g9OkhJab8FLOOleN0txLNfgY0FCsvMiEyDJYIrZUaM2L6r2JQO54fgpBYvs04owZOER4/s1600/IMG_7182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjki6x7E1kvwEVhKKd3YrJl8s3FfuBwEGb0leLXhP2lrhKc37DMTui7rlddTP4ZPBBontZj9g9OkhJab8FLOOleN0txLNfgY0FCsvMiEyDJYIrZUaM2L6r2JQO54fgpBYvs04owZOER4/s320/IMG_7182.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The other day at school, when it was time to go, one of my boys looked at the board where I usually write the names of students who've misbehaved and who will have to stay behind for a few minutes after the bell. He said in disbelief, "Eissa's name isn't on the board." (But in Arabic.) I said, "No, it's not." Saif said, "My name's not on the board, either." I said, "That's true, it's not." He said, "Thanks be to God!" ("Alhamdulillah!") That's how I feel most of the time!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-85507541669229994542010-10-22T11:54:00.000-07:002010-10-22T11:54:34.716-07:00Fits and StartsSo I can't believe my last post was October 8th. There's no way that much time has passed so quickly! <br />
<br />
One thing that is making the weeks go by fast is the new school schedule. For the first few weeks of school, the boys went home at 12:30 and we were allowed to leave by 1:30. Imagine changing the start and end times for school after the school year has begun! That's exactly what happened. Now the boys go home at 1:15 and teachers can leave at 2:45. Then add on my 45 minute drive home from Mussafa to the Tourist Club district of Abu Dhabi. I'm definitely feeling the extra hours. Not that I'm complaining! All of my western co-workers remember staying at school until 5:00 PM regularly.<br />
<br />
It's been years since I taught kids younger than fourth grade. I really didn't have any resources for second graders, especially ELL second graders. So I'm not missing the stuff I left behind, like some of my colleagues are. I've been spending lots of time on the internet finding resources. We bought a printer finally, so I've been able to print the things I need. Since there is no set curriculum and few resources at school, I also spend time planning out what to teach next. I'm very thankful to have a co-teacher in second grade who has experience with younger kids. She constantly has great ideas, and we're learning to work together as a team.<br />
<br />
This past week was rough at school. There were quite a few teachers out sick, and there are no substitutes. My students spent about 2 hours each day this week sitting in classrooms watched over by monitors with no planned activities. They came to me in a state of complete chaos. It was up to me to impose some sort of order for the two hours and fifteen minutes of English, math, and science. Needless to say, I wasn't very successful. By Thursday morning, I was really beginning to doubt my ability as an ESL teacher. Then, I got to school and found out the teacher who had been out was back. The kids had a structured day and came to me like different children. I almost cried with relief to realize that it wasn't my teaching that was lacking.<br />
<br />
On the home front, we've been exploring options for private school for Abby. She's been a bit isolated from other kids. Mark has yet to make contact with anyone from the homeschoolers group here, and Abby has some friends here at our apartments that attend private school. She thinks she'd like to try it out. The thing is, she needs a report card and records from her last school year in order to apply. One school we talked to said very plainly that they just don't take homeschooled children. So we're a bit stumped. It's a problem that we'll have to overcome, but it might have to wait untilwe get our passport visas sorted. One bureaucratic snafu at a time, thanks.<br />
<br />
Last weekend we rented videos from the store across the street. They have a huge selection of American videos in the back, but their main stock is Bollywood. It's great to be able to walk to the video store. Last Thursday night we walked to the video store, then to the Lebanese restaurant for shawarma. On the way to the retaurant we passed a giant traffic jam near the Indian cinema. I don't know how that mess ever got untangled. This past week, my co-worker who lives here in the Abu Dhabi Plaza showed me the nearest teacher supply store. There actually is one in walking distance. I could have spent tons of money, but I restrained myself. <br />
<br />
Today we visited the Emirates Palace, a hotel that cost USD$3 billion to build. It was sumptuous, with gold leaf on the domes and marble everywhere. There's a shop that sells antiquities, and their wares were displayed throughout the public parts of the hotel. We saw statues from Anatolia circa 4000 BC, Greek pottery, Roman helmets and coins, and Babylonian bas reliefs. We also saw a buffet that was 650 AED per person (divide by 3.67 to get dollars). Not really our kind of place, but neat to visit.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow we plan to take the public bus from Abu Dhabi to the oasis town of Al Ain to see the camel market and the zoo. We promise not to come home with a camel!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img class="uploader-thumb-img" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWrJdm-Kzp8B2jPpAaZrtChQ3rMxVVuRTJbrSWiW7CjZ9bD1jb6PZ_NYISaDt5LPmH7Aa_nSN7osq6e6Q4w3kuvuGh8SE6Tq6Ls0eedBq6rzflPCBgFJpKqPik7do5e3Ra3rAbgbaXf4/s640/IMG_6653.JPG" style="height: 104px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 78px;" width="480" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home for now!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-63571829866125520812010-10-08T01:17:00.000-07:002010-10-08T01:17:31.877-07:00Settling InIn just a few days we will have been here in Abu Dhabi for a month, and finally I have a feeling of being somewhat settled. What a relief!<br />
<br />
We are thrilled with the apartment. It's in the middle of a busy part of town, within walking distance of Abu Dhabi Mall. There are tons of restaurants in the surrounding blocks, as well as every other type of store you could need (except a teacher supply). We feel like we could be in downtown Dallas or New York City, except for the call to prayer that sounds from the mosque a block away several times a day. We found a wonderful Lebanese restaurant just around the corner where all three of us ate for less than $20, and there was a bakery next door to it! It will take us a while to try out all the unfamiliar sweets.<br />
<br />
The apartment itself is spacious and in good shape, although not new. We've enjoyed Mark's cooking. He made some baked chicken and potatoes with lemon garlic seasoning the other day. It was just like home. The kitchen is so small that really only one person can work in it at a time. What a shame. I now have a coffee maker, so no more instant coffee, and we found that lactose-free milk is easy to come by. It's imported from Saudi Arabia. The best part of the apartment is the cleaning service. Three times a week, our floors are swept and mopped, the bathrooms are cleaned, the towels are changed, and the beds are remade. Luxury.<br />
<br />
I'm settling in at school, as well. I spoke with my principal last week, and she asked me how I liked teaching there. I told her that the boys were challenging, but it's okay, because I like them. She said she had heard they like me, too. It's hard to keep that in mind sometimes when they are refusing to line and up and would prefer that I chase them around the courtyard or classroom (which I refuse to do), but I do feel like we are slowly establishing a relationship and an atmosphere of trust in the classroom. I taught the letters E, F, and G this week. I also reviewed addition to ten and counting by tens and fives. In science, which seems to be my students' favorite subject, we sorted living and non-living things, and decided that all living things had some characteristics in common. I know it's not what I'd be teaching second-graders in the US, but for students who are learning in a foreign language, it's a triumph.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLtRenhJdinxjqkiSK5snCoFg8nv8wo9dTUETbUyBoJaTPehACoCw8SlGLxMqG_EK4tWt_KutCjqKhckHGsLvyFx-Xf87IfPCGiAY2Emj3kiHlb62p5rMU_KYw0VlSPyDk8UYH5MVYD4/s1600/Sept+2010+Abu+Dhabi+2+025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLtRenhJdinxjqkiSK5snCoFg8nv8wo9dTUETbUyBoJaTPehACoCw8SlGLxMqG_EK4tWt_KutCjqKhckHGsLvyFx-Xf87IfPCGiAY2Emj3kiHlb62p5rMU_KYw0VlSPyDk8UYH5MVYD4/s320/Sept+2010+Abu+Dhabi+2+025.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIA8Nfk7RdPmoXSRadwh-nX8W4D5leSiu0iAm6G4ZuBTxAg3xkptazYUj3rl39rpY07Pi0isBcIVRgXs2P-_xtagRR0lL7HA45AigdAScZRBrDKpYUDQpc5ZX3Ean_MMQnaU0ilqjKrdo/s1600/Sept+2010+Abu+Dhabi+2+027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIA8Nfk7RdPmoXSRadwh-nX8W4D5leSiu0iAm6G4ZuBTxAg3xkptazYUj3rl39rpY07Pi0isBcIVRgXs2P-_xtagRR0lL7HA45AigdAScZRBrDKpYUDQpc5ZX3Ean_MMQnaU0ilqjKrdo/s320/Sept+2010+Abu+Dhabi+2+027.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-b79NtKthGm2vDPXBszWKoXjnJcxsgQ6CAnvw2JnJMnNXLKKj005c1LnaHjzHpk_30fHaaR1nEA5KzJl7LmjimRCOR8UGJU-PebeIE_Gw16gle2U1RR0x_DjFpm4h4wWQ9Nhr9lshFOY/s1600/Sept+2010+Abu+Dhabi+2+028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-b79NtKthGm2vDPXBszWKoXjnJcxsgQ6CAnvw2JnJMnNXLKKj005c1LnaHjzHpk_30fHaaR1nEA5KzJl7LmjimRCOR8UGJU-PebeIE_Gw16gle2U1RR0x_DjFpm4h4wWQ9Nhr9lshFOY/s320/Sept+2010+Abu+Dhabi+2+028.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Today is my first day that I've just stayed at home to do nothing. It feels wonderful. Mark and Abby left at 10:00 am to go with a friend to Oman. They have to exit the UAE and re-enter to get a new visitor's visa good for thirty days. I'm still waiting on my residency visa, but I have had my medical check, and that was the last step in the process. Soon, hopefully, and then I can start the bureaucratic process of sponsoring Mark and Abby for their residency visas. However, for today, I'm planning to make an example of place value for my lesson on Sunday, to finish the book I'm reading bout Genghis Khan (historical fiction by Conn Iggulden), and have dinner with a friend I met on facebook and at the Aloft hotel. Maybe Mark and Abby will be back in time to go to dinner with Tiffany and her son, too.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sounds pretty normal!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-23911829224000130272010-09-27T06:46:00.000-07:002010-09-27T06:46:46.841-07:00AnswersWhat a difference a week makes! We are still at the Aloft Hotel, but are feeling so much better now that we know the answers to many of the questions we had last week. First, we have looked at an apartment that will be ours in the next few days. It's a two bedroom, 1 1/2 bath furnished apartment in the Tourist Club area of the city of Abu Dhabi. You can see it on Google Earth at the corner of Sheikh Zayed the Second St. (also called Electra) and Najd Street. It's a few blocks from the beach and a few blocks from Abu Dhabi Mall. Mark and Abby will have things to do while I'm at work once Abby's lessons are finished! We are happy not to have to buy new furniture, and all of our utilities are paid at the apartment. It's about twice the size of our place in Florida.<br />
<br />
I also have experienced school Abu Dhabi-style. I'm going to choose my words carefully. Most days I enjoy my students, though they are very impulsive and rambunctious. I feel like I have not taught much in the way of academics so far, but have spent much time establishing expectations and routines. I am thankful a hundred times a day that I speak some Arabic. I can't imagine starting out with these students and having no way to communicate my directions! I have spoken more Arabic in the last ten days than I did in three years at the University of Texas. Most everyone can understand me even though I am speaking the classical form of the language. It is actually rather admired, my ability with what's called fus-ha. Very proper. Today I had a student rattle off some Arabic (very fast) and I told him I didn't understand. He argued with me, "Yes, you speak Arabic!" Finally he tried in English. I'm going to have to reduce my use of Arabic in class.<br />
<br />
My school is a two-story, square gallery arranged around a central courtyard that has a canvas cover. The students arrive on buses mostly, and all wear some form of dishdasha, a long, tailored shirt that reaches to the feet. Most dishdashas are white, but some are cream or brown colors. The students take classes in Arabic, Islamic Studies, Social Studies, Science, Math, and English every day. They rotate through special classes for Gym, Music, Computers, and Art. Each period is 40 minutes long, and they have seven periods in a day. It's a bit shorter than school in Texas, so I have to be ready with a compact lesson for each period.<br />
<br />
Outside of school, Mark, Abby and I attended an exhibit of Emirate Heritage over the weekend. It was great fun! There was plenty to see, mostly about hunting and camping. Many safaris in Africa were advertised. Mark found out that you must pay a fee of $45,000 (USD) to shoot an elephant. I was glad it was expensive. We learned that Emiratis camp in luxury. Abby was keen to have an Emirati-style sleeping bag, but we didn't want to have to move it to our new place and then ship it, perhaps, back to Texas. Much too bulky. Our favorite exhibits included the falcons and salukis (hunting dogs). Both were just beautiful. Abby had some fun digging in a mock archeological site that was sponsored by Hili Archeological Park in Al Ain.<br />
<br />
We're finding there's lots to do. My school load seems to allow me time to do some of those fun things, too. It's a different place. I start to get used to things, and then I will have a jolt of realization about how different it is here. But so far, so good.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-16674814698000774642010-09-18T02:38:00.000-07:002010-09-18T02:38:02.777-07:00Week OneWell, we've been in Abu Dhabi for a week now. We've learned alot about getting around, and I am prepared to start teaching tomorrow, but myriad questions remain unanswered. We don't know where we will live, when we will move, when my residency visa will arrive, when we'll get a rental car, or really any information about settling in. We are learning to deal with almost total uncertainty. Hey, the hotel is nice and the breakfast buffet is free!<br />
<br />
I have been assigned to teach second grade, team teaching with another licensed teacher from Canada. I have to be at the school at 7:00 AM and can leave by 2:00 PM. The really good news is that I will have only 18 students to share with my co-teacher in one period, and 17 students in the other. We have been told, however, that placements can change if we are needed somewhere else. I'm looking forward to meeting the boys in our classes (all-boys' school) and getting to know all of my new co-workers. They have found out that I speak some Arabic, and now they will not let me get away with speaking English until I try to say my piece in Arabic. It's good for me, but hard. It makes me appreciate what my students will be experiencing!<br />
<br />
Yesterday Mark, Abby and I went to the Corniche to visit the beach for the first time. One section is set aside for families. You have to pay to get in that part, but there are no rowdy groups of teenagers or groups of single guys. It was really comfortable and safe. Abby found some other little girls to play with and had a great time. Mark and I enjoyed the warm water (more than 90 degrees) and the covered beach chairs. We did see a security guy blow a whistle and lecture a few couples that were getting a bit too touchy-feely. It's supposed to be a family beach, after all.<br />
<br />
Mark did laundry last night while I prepared materials for the first day. I've only prepared lessons for the first day because I have no idea what to expect. I'll have to go from there after I see what it's like! Later today we will visit the Heritage Village. It was closed when we went last weekend, but should be open this evening. It shows what life was like in Abu Dhabi before oil, and Abby intends to have a camel ride. I'll be sure to take many pictures to post on facebook. Maybe I'll even figure out how to post them on my blog!<br />
<br />
We miss everyone, sometimes horribly, especially when things seem so different here. But we are adjusting and are beginning to appreciate some of those differences. That's what it's about, I think.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-84651556669212910882010-09-12T06:58:00.000-07:002010-09-12T06:58:43.074-07:00Arrival and First ImpressionsAfter many goodbyes and a few tears, we finally were ready to leave. Mark loaded our 12 bags into his brother's truck, and his dad drove us to Houston Intercontinental for our flight to Chicago last Thursday. That flight was only two and a half hours. We changed terminals, which meant we had to go through security again, at O'Hare Airport. It turned out that all of my worries about my name on the eticket were unfounded, because everything went very smoothly, and we boarded our Etihad Airways jet to Abu Dhabi at about 8:30 PM.<br />
<br />
The plane was really nice, with a personal entertainment system at every seat. We could each choose individual movies at any time, or play video games or see a map of the plane's progress. There was even a link to a camera feed from the bottom of the jet, so we could see the landscape passing beneath us even though we didn't have a window seat. I watched "Clash of the Titans", then had dinner (lamb tagine with couscous). Later I watched "Robin Hood" (the new one with Russell Crowe- quite good), had a nap, and had some dinner again. We didn't get a breakfast, as the time in Abu Dhabi at the second meal was about 5:00 PM. It was really strange to basically skip Friday. In all, the flight lasted almost fourteen hours.<br />
<br />
As soon as we exited the jetway, representatives from the travel agency were there to greet us. They guided all of the teachers on our flight (maybe 30 families or more) through immigration to get our visas, then through customs. We boarded buses to go to our hotel. The Aloft Hotel in Abu Dhabi is contemporary and hip. From my room on the eighth floor, I have a view of a bay, a small peninsula with what look like palaces, and then the Arabian Gulf (which is commonly known as the Persian Gulf to people who are not living in an Arab country). Abby and I agree it's a hotel my sister, her Aunt Sandy, would immediately love. It looks very much like her new condo!<br />
<br />
We slept well that first night, despite the fact that our bodies should have been ready for daylight. However, we did awaken pretty early. After a buffet breakfast, we decided to check out the Heritage Village so Abby could pet a camel. Our taxi driver dropped us off near the museum, but it was closed. We walked around and eventually found a sign that said the museum was closed until 5:00 PM because of the Eid (holiday). As it was only 9:00 in the morning, we had to find something else to do. The Marina Mall was in sight, so we headed there on foot. It was getting hot, but traffic was practically nonexistent, so we made a quick walk of it, some of us more willingly than others.<br />
<br />
The Marina Mall is huge. It includes an IKEA and a Carrefour (French Wal-Mart), in addition to hundreds of small stores like Gap, Izod, Starbucks, etc. Many of the stores are not common in the US, but are well-known in Europe. We found a place to get freshly made juice drinks, then I amused myself by reading all of the transliterated Arabic store signs, like LaCoste and MotherCare. There is a central tower with a viewing deck that gives a great view of the whole area, and also an ice rink. Well, Abby had never ice skated, so we cajoled her into walking all over the mall without buying stuff and promised she could ice skate afterwards. She did really well! She held on to the side of the rink for the first several laps, but eventually got the hang of it and ventured to the center of the rink. She decided she would have to come back and skate on a regular basis. Mark and I were glad to just sit and watch, hollering out helpful skating tips now and then.<br />
<br />
So far it's hard to believe we're in a foreign country. Everyone has been welcoming and helpful, and we've only encountered people who speak at least some English. We have met very few actual Emiratis, but we did see some people in the national dress at the mall as well as here at the hotel. They make up a small percentage of the population in Abu Dhabi. This city is extremely modern, with very little of it built before 1971. It's clean and well-ordered and has almost no crime. Maybe it's not so hard to believe after all!<br />
<br />
I attended an orientation today and got this information: we will be living in Abu Dhabi. I'll be teaching at an all-boys primary school in the south of the city, an area called Mussafa. We'll be given the keys to our apartment as soon as they become available, but I'll start school on Wednesday and commute from the hotel. I don't yet know what grade I'll teach, but third grade is a good bet. I wish I knew more, but I am doing my best to just relax and enjoy the experience!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-80734209563174759382010-09-02T09:29:00.000-07:002010-09-02T09:29:00.896-07:00LeavingFinally, we have a tentative leaving date: September 9th! All of the documents have Hilary Clinton's signature on them and a stamp from the UAE embassy, so we're good to go. We don't have actual tickets yet, just an assurance from the Teach Away, Inc. representative on facebook that the last group will leave on that date. No word yet, either, on whether or not I will go first alone or if the whole family will travel together. It's a really good thing we learned to live with a large dose of uncertainty over the last year.<br />
<br />
I'll arrive on the 10th, rest(?) on the 11th, then school starts for teachers on the 12th. Nothing like hitting the ground running. I'm doing my best to be calm about it all. I mean, I have started school with my classroom still under construction before. But that was in Mansfield. I'm holding on to the favorable comments left by other teachers on the facebook site about their wonderful reception in Abu Dhabi, and how well they've been taken care of. I'm sure my employers will understand what it takes to move so far away and get settled in. I know they won't expect some amazing lesson out of me on the 15th of September, the first day of school. I'm sure of this, but the muscles in my shoulders are twisted into knots anyway.<br />
<br />
And then there's the goodbyes. I've said goodbye to friends in Florida, wonderful people that I hope to see again. I visited with my sister and had such a fun time exploring Dallas hot spots. I'm going to miss her so much. We saw family in Beaumont and Lumberton, and look forward to being back next summer to see them again. Today I hugged my dad goodbye. He was here in Pearland to make the trip to Beaumont with us, and now he's headed back to central Texas. That was tough, even though I know we'll skype weekly. Soon we'll drop the dog off at my cousin's house, and that will be hard, too. Last, we'll say goodbye to Mark's family. A year isn't that long, right?<br />
<br />
So, feeling the leaving today. I'm not regretting the decision to go. I can't wait for the challenges and discoveries ahead. New experiences make life worthwhile. We'll be different people when we see you all again next year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5777349358693548171.post-33664053188875208542010-08-20T13:53:00.000-07:002010-08-20T13:53:10.199-07:00PreparationSo most of my friends and family now know I'm headed to the United Arab Emirates in the very near future to teach. Many of them think I'm crazy to move my family across the world, especially to live in the Middle East, but the ones who really know me understand that I've been headed there my whole life. Finally, a reason to have studied Arabic in college!<br />
<br />
There is a crazy part- I am going to another country to teach, but I haven't been told yet what city I'll be living in, nor what grade I'll teach. The indications are Al Ain and kindergarten. I'll find out when I get there! Mark and Abby will join me a few weeks after school starts so I can get settled first, and so they can qualify for dependants' visas.<br />
<br />
The preparation has been interesting. We packed up the Florida house, selling or giving away the greatest part of our belongings. It was hard to pack suitcases, requiring me to ask myself about each item: Texas only? or Abu Dhabi only? or can I wear it in both? Abby and I came to Texas with our Texas suitcases, but Mark still has our Abu Dhabi ones to bring in the moving truck. He will be here in Texas in a few days so we can store the belongings we couldn't part with and get more organized to put everything we will take into 9 bags and suitcases.<br />
<br />
I've also been doing a document chase, finding things like our marriage certificate and getting a new diploma mailed (my first one is framed and somewhere in Ryan's house, I think). It's all been sent to Washington, DC to be authenticated by the State Department and the UAE embassy. That should result in residency visas for all of us. <br />
<br />
The longest process so far has been transferring our music to an mp3 player. Yes, I'm finally joining the mp3 revolution, although I opted for a Sansa Fuze instead of an iPod. Right now, I'm ripping the Cure's Galore album. I decided to start the blog because I'm so bored sitting here watching the progress bars on the ripped music. <br />
<br />
Maybe I should be thinking more about what clothes or teaching supplies to bring. However, I'm imagining being over there so far away, feeling homesick. I think "Just Like Heaven" will make me feel better.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739605861744111047noreply@blogger.com1