Settling in, a teaching post

Belle & Alanna
in their school uniform

Why I'm loving Skype right now

This was my second week of school with my students. Thanks to the help of other LT's I was able to learn the themes I need to be teaching to my sophomore and junior students. I'm finding the biggest resource I can turn to are my fellow LT's.  These people understand the complexity that accompanies teaching across the world and a foreign language, in an environment that is not always as supportive as one would expect or hope for.  I am so grateful for this community that exists with my fellow expats.  Today, my principal sent Ashaunda and me to visit another school to see what other Cycle 3 LT's are doing.  The teachers were so helpful and I know they will continue to be a great resource for us.  I am so glad that our principal sees the value in sharing experiences and meeting colleagues. 

I have two classes that I meet with twice each day. Teaching at an all girls' school is different in many ways from my previous teaching experiences, and I am not complaining.  The girls are very social, play a lot with their sheilas (the veil that covers their hair), and like to have fun, but at the same time, they work very well in groups, are extraordinarily helpful to one another, and sincerely want the teacher to like them and be thought of well by the teacher. When students need correction, they listen, and frequently stop by later to apologize for any poor choices.  As I trek through the school with my wheeled carry-on bag, I receive multiple offers to carry my bag by these girls, even ones that are not in my class. They are patient with me as I become more familiar with their names, and one class noted that I do not have the best relationship with pronouncing "r"s. I blame growing up in New England for this - but it reminds me of the importance of paying attention to ALL the words I am speaking because they are constantly learning.

It is nice to not have to spend time thinking about enforcing a dress code. The students wear uniforms. KG girls wear sweet little pink dresses, and the Cycle 1 girls wear grey jumpers (long dresses) with pink blouses and collars. Cycle 2 and 3 girls wear long blue jumpers and white blouses, with white or black sheilas.  The girls are not supposed to wear makeup, although I believe kohl is allowed due to their cultural heritage.  This makes it easy to focus on their learning. We start the day with a morning assembly, where the girls sing their national anthem, recite their pledge and do the holy Quran.  It is a beautiful way to start the day, and also allows all the girls to be viewed by the entire faculty and school administration. Conversely though, there is a dress code that I need to follow: dresses & skirts should reach to the top of my feet (floor is ideal), and sleeves to my wrist bones.  This can be difficult to get used to in the heat, but I am adjusting...

Reunions!

Reunited!

Rob & Belle have now been here for ONE WEEK.   Their journey was delayed by weather (for 24 hours) and this first week together has been a whirlwind.  Rich arrived and hung up all the curtains so Rob wouldn't have to start with a project right away. Then he and I went out to dinner with my friend Kristi, and we were off to the airport to pick up our very tired travelers.  After arriving home around 3am our time, everyone went to bed, and I woke Belle up the next morning to take a placement test at her school.  Rob was able to rest for most of the day, but the jet lag is a kicker to overcome, and starting on Sunday, Belle & I had school all week and Rob drove her and my friend Cammie's children to school each day.  We said goodbye to Rich on Sunday, with Rob driving him to the airport in Dubai. On Monday, Rob experienced his first Abu Dhabi accident, which was NOT a good time, although everyone, including the car, was fine.  On Wednesday, Belle and I went to a fun little event at a local hotel, where we received lots of swag and had yummy food.  Then Thursday, we all went out to dinner at the rugby club.  Yesterday, we did a marathon grocery shopping trip after putting together our first wardrobe (have I mentioned we have no closets or storage outside of the kitchen!) and today, we might visit Jebel Hafeet, the mountain in Al Ain with hot springs.

Dinner with Rich & AD friends

I've been very lucky in most of my teaching career in finding great people to car pool with (Liz & Kim, I miss you!), and a move across the world did not end this streak.  The first bit of luck was finding out Cammie, a fabulous lady I met online because we both had little girls of the same age, and I were at the same school. Then, as we sat in the auditorium waiting for our letters to introduce ourselves to our new principal, this dynamic and amazing lady, Ashaunda, asked to join Cammie and me. Truly, it was fortuitous because everyday, we support one another as we process our work day, and make the hour long commute seem a little shorter. We see a lot of desert and some camels, every day, but we also find ways to laugh at things that might make us sad or angry. I love my car pool. 

Our school is in a small community that sort of reminds me of Lisbon, the school I graduated from. It is a K-12 girls' school, with boys attending for KG1 & KG2.  When I was given my teaching assignment, Grade 10 & 11 Art, I almost cried. If you've seen me draw, you know why.  Ashaunda was told 11 & 12 Science. Thank goodness she was brave enough to speak up, because that helped clarify that yes, we were teaching English, but there are two strands, science and art. The science strand is similar to CP & Honors from home, while the art strand is more like general level.  So, no art for me, yay!  Because of the size of our school, I only have one class of each (grade 10 & grade 11), but I meet with them twice a day. The girls wear blue jumpers over white shirts (the standard older girl uniform for the UAE in public schools), and all wear sheilas (a head scarf over their hair).  I'm starting to learn their names, although I don't think I've quite gotten the pronunciation down.  I've learned that our first semester themes are: Emirati Family & Culture (grade 10) and Healthy Lifestyles (grade 11). Currently both groups are working on writing assignments.

Belle has started school at Manor Hall, a private school, and also wears a uniform, a grey and red plaid loose short (looks like a skirt) and white shirt with school patch.  She loves that the lobby of her school has a chandelier and that it has a pool.  The building is physically quite attractive and in addition to her regular classes, she will also be taking French and Arabic as part of their curriculum. She has made friends already with Cammie's daughter, and they sit together in class. So, yay, for mommy plotting! :)

Preparing for an adventure...

Our living room

The entrance to our home from
Twam S

Look closely and you will see CAMELS!
This is my new commute.

Since my last post, I have become more settled in the apartment. It has most of the major furniture (still lacking tables and wardrobes), but overall, it is ready for my family to arrive - which they will in two days now. :)  We will also be having our first guest, our dear friend, Rich.  He's been a friend of ours for more years than I care to admit (yes, I've achieved an age where that becomes a bit prohibitive) and I am so looking forward to seeing faces from home.  I've also been placed at a school!!! Yay!

The city of Al Ain is beautiful and I can not wait to begin exploring it now that I've rented a car and Rob & Belle will be here. The biggest difference driving here is the lack of police presence on the road and the vast number of radar controlling devices that really do ticket you.  Plus, in my city, there are roundabouts at almost every intersection.  I enjoy not having to wait for the lights, but the lane etiquette is still something I am learning. 

My school is about an hour away from my city, in a more rural region, which means I get to drive by the big mountain, Jebel Hafeet, every day, and then see camels and orange dusted sand dunes. The orange color is apparently from iron in the sand. The sand is so soft here. It is very fine grained and reminds me of Basin Head, a beach we once visited in Prince Edward Island. I have found a lovely group of ladies to car pool with each morning, which makes the drive a lot more fun.

Jebel Hafeet, the Mountain

When the bloom is off the rose

The master bedroom
(all the bedrooms have the exact same bed)

I've heard a lot about culture shock in the lead up and introduction to this adventure. It was addressed in the two pre-departure webinars, and again at orientation.  The stages (for those of you who missed out on all the presentations) develop over time... we start out positive (in the euphoric/adventure/honeymoon phase), then dip into anxiety (where we feel anxiety, uncertainty, confused), drop further into rejection (loss of enthusiasm/homesickness), and then move back up with adjustment (recognize & accept the differences - adapt & adopt the local culture).

Belle's freshly cleaned bathroom

This last week, I've definitely progressed into the second stage.  I'm moving out of my hotel accommodations into my apartment, which is exciting but also very stressful.  My hotel is over a 2 hour bus ride from my apartment or a 230 Dhs cab ride.  That can make it taxing when you need to go to the apartment every day during a week but it isn't yet livable.  On Sunday and Monday, I ordered the furniture and appliances that our apartment needed and then I went to the apartment on Tuesday to make sure I could get in (the first time we visited the exterior door was locked) and check the condition. We (the other residents) were told it would be cleaned prior to us moving in. Sadly, this did not happen, so on Tuesday, I spent several hours procuring cleaning supplies and began cleaning.

The view from our living room
at sunset

On Wednesday, I spent several hours at the apartment cleaning and waiting for the beds and mattresses to arrive (the first scheduled delivery).  After their arrival, I headed back to the hotel for a late dinner and to pick up more cleaning supplies for Thursday (the apartment is brand new, but it had lots of construction debris, dust, and markings on the walls).  Thursday was a miserable day. For those of you who know me well, you know that I loathe house cleaning and this was my third straight day of it (did I mention that I am excited to hire a maid as soon as I begin my regular pay?).  This was not the worst part though.  In the US, when you order from one store, the deliveries usually come together. I learned yesterday that in the UAE, the deliveries come by the distributor/manufacturer (meaning I am getting THREE different deliveries).  The first delivery came around 4 (I had been told all the deliveries would arrive between 11 and 7).  After two calls to the store call center, I was asked to please wait until 8:30 for the second delivery to arrive. Did you notice the present tense earlier? I'm now supposed to receive our stove, refrigerator and washing machine on Saturday (the day I am moving into the apartment for good).  The living room furniture is scheduled for delivery on Monday.

After dune bashing & camel riding...
before sand boarding.

Today, I am off to get the soft goods to finish preparing the essentials - pillows, sheets, dishes, etc. and tomorrow, I move. All of this preparing has made me miss my family more and recognize how much I depend on Rob to steady my nerves, be the voice of reason, and his overall know-how, Mr. Fix-it fabulousness.

In a few weeks, probably even in a few days, this will not seem like such a big deal. I'm going to be happy to present my family with our functional new home, and they will be able to help me finish preparing and personalizing.  It will be good.

When the tub doubles as your washing machine...

The Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi

I haven't stayed in many five star hotels in my life, and never for as long as I've been at the Yas.  For the first week, you walk around with a glazed look in your eyes and in awe that this is the place you call home.  After that, reality trickles in and you discover that even residing in a five star hotel has its challenges.  The first thing you realize is that it could break the bank to eat at one of the hotel's fabulous restaurants each night and that room service will add up quickly. This problem is easily solved by filling the minibar (that you had requested be emptied) with food purchased from local grocery stores, that are longish taxi rides away.  Now, you can feed yourself in your room for some of those meals.

One of two rooftop pools

BUT, the biggest problem you will encounter has nothing to do with diet, or the location of your hotel being as far away as possible from anything you will actually need, it has to do with clothing.  I am staying in one of the world's most renowned shopping areas, so it is not a problem to purchase clothing - there are over five malls within 20 kilometers and more are being constructed as I write this.  Shopping is, in fact, one of the biggest local past-times. The question is raised by the end of the first week: where are you going to do your laundry?

My make-shift washing machine

The hotel's laundry service is discounted, but even then, one smallish load will cost approximately $26 US.  There are no laundromats. There are only laundry services (and being unfamiliar with the area) with unknown reputations that charge by the item. Plus, this is an area where the water never gets really cold, testing color-fastness. So, upon listening to previous and current travelers, you learn to wash your clothes in the tub, create make-shift clotheslines in your room and finally, buy a drying rack that you will have to add to all the luggage and shopping bags you will cart to your final destination. 

What makes this visit to historical laundry methods bearable*? Being a resident at a five star hotel.

*But it also makes you eager to move into your own dwelling, too.

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.