Can't talk about the weather...

Holding a falcon

I'm from New England, and we have a saying that if you don't like the weather, to wait a minute. As such, I grew up watching the weather reports and planning my days around the description. I had clothes for warm summer days, warm rainy days, cold rainy days, cold fall days, warm fall days, and the freezing cold of winter.  Since I have been in Abu Dhabi, I no longer need a weather report. Every day is hot and humid.  Just plan on it. Winter will also be warm - 60s and 70s.  Mind you, I am not complaining - especially when friends and family back home will be dealing with the joys of a nor'easter or the bitter February chill. I didn't even bring a rain coat. 

Mallory & I at the Mosque

One thing that is taking some adjustment to is time. First it was recovering from jet lag - which was a doozy.  Now, it is adapting to Abu Dhabi time.... I've always joked that my husband had two speeds (like a John Deere tractor), but most of the time he spent in turtle.  I would work myself up into a full blown anxiety ridden freak out about being late, and he would calmly keep going.  He's going to fit in perfectly over here.  After our orientation night, we were separated into groups to complete our medical checks and our police checks. I was in Group 2 so I needed to leave at 7am for our med check.  We left around 7:15 (despite a stern admonishment to be on time or the bus would leave without us) and proceeded into the city.  We were required to sit on the bus for about 15 minutes after arrival at the center, and then were assigned numbers and sent to a variety of different rooms to be checked.... This 15 minute process took almost 4 hours.  The second event, the police check did not go much better - we were scheduled to leave at 9pm and did not leave until 9:40. We were returned to the hotel after 1am. Yawn. 

My birthday cake

But then I had plenty of time to explore the city. We went to the Falcon Hospital which was incredible. We were able to hold a real falcon, watch a falcon endoscopy, and visit the boarding aviary. My fabulous new friends surprised me with a birthday cake on the evening of my birthday and then the following day, I visited the Grand Mosque. On my birthday, I was able to visit the apartment that my family will live in for the next year (we can change housing after a year - which I think might be likely).  It has been a busy week, but I miss Rob & Belle and can't wait for them to join me.

Welcome to Abu Dhabi

The start of the odyssey

Have you ever had a newborn who reverse cycled (slept all day, stayed up all night eating)? That's exactly how I felt upon arrival: tired, hot (she was a June baby after all), and desperately in need of a shower.  The first plane ride was fairly uneventful and quite short, compared to the almost 13 hour flight that followed. On the long flight, I was given a fabulous, emergency exit seat.  This meant tons of room, the bathroom was conveniently located, and did I mention the leg room?  I think I will request seating in that section every time I fly.  There were tons of movies, tv shows, games, etc. to choose from, but after eating dinner (at almost midnight), all I wanted to do was sleep, which I did for about 4 hours off and on.

Arrival at the small mall

We arrived in Abu Dhabi after another short flight and were greeted by people holding signs up and directing us to a gathering place. There our names were shouted out and we were each handed our pink visa and a lanyard with an ADEC Teacher card in the id slot.  Once we had visas, we were hustled to the immigration department, where eyes were scanned (you must remove your contacts for this), the visa was stamped, and then we stood in line to have the visa stamped again.  YOU SHOULD MAKE COPIES (AT LEAST 4) of this PINK paper as soon as you can (this is the sheet you will need to get your phone, utilities, etc.) because it will be taken the first night of orientation along with your passport (and 2 copies of each).

The Yas Hotel is next to and actually has the
Yas Marina Circuit Formula One Race
Track go under part of the hotel.

Then, we had some downtime to get over jetlag, use the hotel facilities (AMAZING - two rooftop pools!!!), and visit the local malls & IKEA.  There are a lot of products and brands that we use in the US, which was a delightful surprise since we had heard otherwise. Along with many new things to try out or observe.  The malls were very familiar feeling, with the exception of the lack of music playing in stores, prayer rooms, and no food or drink available during daylight hours due to Ramadan. That has been very hard to get used to and I think we all are a bit dehydrated despite refreshment rooms at the hotel pools.  Even chewing gum is prohibited during the day.

How to fit five people in a normal sized cab...
Rose was in the front seat.

Last night, we had our first orientation meeting and learned lots of useful stuff (when family might be able to come, a schedule for the week, ALL housing will be unfurnished, received our banking stuff & filled out related paperwork, medical card dates, and when we might learn our placements).  Today, we had our medical checks where everyone was tested for hepatitis, syphilis, HIV, leprosy, tuberculosis, and weighed, measured, and blood pressure was taken.  I was in Group 2 which meant we left at 7 AM. Tomorrow, I am off to the police station for finger printing. We depart at 10 PM from the hotel.  We were told we may get an advance on our 1st check and our furniture allowance soon. 
After tomorrow, I have the rest of the week to wait to hear on housing and miss my family & friends. 

Keeping fingers crossed & announcing the FIRST TYLERS ARE MOVING SALE!

Today started with two allergy shots, and then I made two trips to the dentist (once for records, the second one for a filling).  I also stopped into Belle's school since I had a few minutes between the appointments and met about getting her school records. They were confused about what I wanted, so I gave them a list and asked for it all by Friday (mind you, I had notified them a week ago that this request was coming). They wanted to know why her records were needed now and I explained that the private schools in the UAE are taking applications now for next year and some schools already have wait lists.  The appointment for the fillings ran late - apparently lots of dental emergencies today - so I was only able to get one of the two fillings done & have another appointment for the last one in two weeks because going to the dentist is everyone's favorite way to spend a day.

I came home to a call from our realtor, the fabulous Joy Moore at Peabody & Smith, that our house inspection will be on Friday and if all goes well, we'll need to find a new place to call home until the BIG move. My fingers, toes, legs, arms, etc. are all crossed that it goes well.  With all this planning and running around, we've decided to hold a TYLERS ARE MOVING SALE!!! on May 7 & 8.  We'll be selling furniture, books, china, toys, tools, picture frames, electronics, dishes, cookware, candlesticks, clocks, bedding, clothes, ice skates, and an electric piano! There will be something for everyone & you do not want to miss the sale. RAIN OR SHINE.  Let me know if you need directions.

"Thirty is hot..."

When Belle was learning Celsius temperatures, her teacher taught her a rhyme: "30 is hot, 20 is pleasing, 10 is cold, and 0 is freezing."  One of the teachers who has been working in Abu Dhabi for awhile posted this recent information for all of the US (non-metric system) people: 10C=50F  28C=82F   36C=96F  40C=104F  48C=118F..... So hello, heat wave says this northern girl!

The good news...

I came home to find an envelope from the NH Secretary of State's office, so part one of the document authentication is complete AND I received a phone call from the NH State Police Criminal Records people, who have promised to send me my criminal record report (I filed the initial request almost two months ago - this is request number two) after it is processed tomorrow. Yay, me!

Then I went to the US Department of State and downloaded their lovely cover letter for step two of the authentication process (which the website says will take 15 days, but other people who have already completed this step have indicated is closer to 30 days). I'm going to express mail it tomorrow (well, technically, Rob will be doing that as I have one more day of school before vacation) and keep my fingers crossed that this part will take only one attempt and I will return from Virginia to find copies of all the NH paperwork I need done.  I do have to contact Plymouth State (again) and ask for a letter that states they are accredited so I can send that to the UAE Embassy. And the last part of authentication: verify that we aren't taking any restricted medications or those will need to be authenticated too.

I received my first newsletter from the ADEC to begin preparing for the next school year, and I have started to move out of the positions I currently hold at my school - handing off the school wide summer reading program, winter carnival ball planning, and beginning the process of cleaning out my classroom.  I've started to list (and sell!) my vast library of books on Amazon - so if you want something, please let me know. We are planning on having a mega yard sale Memorial Day weekend (so mark your calendars) - with sales starting earlier if spring really has arrived.

Tomorrow night, I am going to go to church and make Ukrainian eggs for Easter (for those of you familiar with my artistic talent, this should be interesting! Thank goodness my church is not judgemental!).  Saturday morning, Belle and I are off to Virginia with Katie Courageous to visit Audrey & Josh.  I'm going to take everyone's advice and spend as much time as possible with everyone I can before we leave on our grand adventure. Please let me know the best way to get in touch with you so we can see you all before we go. Summer always goes by so quickly and I have a feeling that it will be even more so this year.

Less than forty school days left and only 16 weeks until the first group of teachers (which may include me) fly over to Abu Dhabi...

Paperwork and more paperwork

There is a lot of paperwork in moving to another country for two years. A LOT of paperwork.  After submitting our marriage license, Belle's birth certificate, and copies of my degree to the NH Secretary of State's office, three times (yes, three times), I am hoping that it really is the charm.  Then after we get the paperwork back, I can forward it onto the US Secretary of State's office for the next stage of the authentication process. Apparently, I filled out the wrong form for my criminal background check too, so I had to redo that process. UGH.

Meanwhile, I've received my passport, Belle's application has been submitted and we have to clear up some confusion on how Rob spells his middle name so his application can be submitted.  I'm hoping that will be settled sometime in the next two weeks.

 At school, grades closed last week - which means all grades are due by tomorrow, and my students are anxious for the spring break to start on Friday at 3:05pm.  This all means th

at I am surrounded by paperwork wherever I go right now. I am looking forward to visiting Audrey & Josh, while Belle is looking forward to spending some quality time with Katie (me too).

We've started to make decisions on what we are doing with our possessions, and have decided that it makes more sense to divest ourselves of what we don't need rather than store a bunch of things for two years. So, heads up, lots of yard sales and other opportunities to acquire previously owned Tyler trinkets. ;) You know you want something!

Testing the waters....

For many reasons, this last year has been full of challenges and changes. The school year started with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment, and the entire family engaged in the learning process. I had just stepped into a new role in launching the NH writing region of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (a fabulous program) and was looking forward to a return to teaching mostly 12th graders (outside of my electives). But life has other plans, and in February, I applied to teach in Abu Dhabi.

 

The initial application was fast and easy, and the follow up (more in-depth) application followed quickly.  When I completed the follow up, I started to wonder what I was getting myself into, and began to wonder what it would mean.  At the same time, the world seemed to be imploding with natural disasters (earthquakes in New Zealand & Japan and tsunamis), revolutions (Libya, Egypt, and more) and the changing forms of local and national politics.  How could I consider taking my family out of the country and into this unknown? And yet, I continued to research and the more I talked to others, and thought about it, the more I wanted to do it and the more the timing of this felt right.  I don't know if I felt this confident for my phone interview about the decision, but by the time I went to Boston (armed in my first grown up suit),  I really wanted this opportunity and the world seemed to be in agreement. I found on the street parking - that I did not have to parallel park for! - steps away from the interview site, was complimented by a stranger, and the sun was shining (not always a guarantee in mid-March in New England).

There are challenges that have occurred as we've embarked on the long process of preparing to move overseas -finishing the current school year, papers returned or other documents needed, deciding what to hold on to, what will fit in our six bags, and how to divest ourselves of the things we've acquired, preparing for what to expect in a foreign country, and how to hang on to the relationships and friendships we have while living away.

We are starting to experience the first of our lasts - this will be the last time for two years that we will think about winter, attend this birthday celebration, etc. and this raises the question of how things will change during the interim....

Seventeen weeks.