Life's not always easy.....

Been a little busy trying to get myself together.  First the job.  Easing into it.  It's difficult in that the school system does not recognize the importance of child development.  Actually that's wrong.  It's more like they are expecting 3 and 4 year olds to be little learning machines, instead of realizing that they learn a lot through play.  It's almost like I have to take everything I've ever learned about child development and teaching and throw it out of the window and start all over again. Their attention span is maybe five minutes, but they are expected to sit through thirty-five minutes of instruction back-to-back through English, Math, Islamic instruction and Arabic. There is Art, Library, Music, and P.E. but except for P.E. that is all sit down stuff.   I feel for them, so I try to plan for them to do hands on work when they have me for math and English.  I was so surprised today!  One of my "challenging" little girls just started to sing the ABC song out of the blue during P.E.!  I sing this to them 3 or 4 times during the day, and some of the kids have got it already.  One little girl knew it when I started.  They were counting to ten without my help today also.  Three weeks of this English stuff and they are getting it!  My up hill climb is not as steep!

I have my apartment basically furnished.  It is sparse, but it's home.  I would like to get a few more pieces of furniture (bookcase, computer desk), and some odds and ends (curtains, lamps, dish towels) and I'll be fine.  I love the solitude and not having to worry about anyone other than myself when it comes to eating.  I eat what I want to eat.  I was having a serious veggie craving because most places don't have vegetables with the food when you order it.  So now my freezer is LOADED with frozen vegetables.  And you would never guess that one of my favorite fast food places would be the ADNOC gas station cafe!  ADNOC is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and they own all of the gas stations.  They are very clean, but their little food place makes some great food, and they deliver!  Having a little problem with the hot water in my master bedroom suite....there is none.  I have complained about it a few times, they got it working somewhat, but I'm still having to take my shower in the main bathroom which just has a shower stall in it.

My issue right now is leasing a car.  I have been riding with two friends, but I try to just get in the car with them when they go places so that they don't have to go out of their way to much to accommodate me in the back seat.  I wanted to get my own car this weekend, but am running into a bit of a problem with a drivers license.  Had to wait until someone could take me down to get the license today.  The problem?  They are sending me to the hospital to get an eye test, but they (the drivers license place)  close at 1:30 (my hours were changed so that I get off work every day at 2:00 except for Thursdays which is still 12:30).  They told me to come back on Sunday.  Well that's not gonna do me any good with the fact that I'm still not going to get there in time, and I wanted to get the car this weekend (my weekend is Friday and Saturday).  Am a little bummed out about it right now.  This is still a work in progress.  Something positive may still happen.

First Days of School

Just finished my first two days of school!  Okay, I have a cushy job (I think). You decide:

My day starts at 7:30 AM, the students come in at 8:00.  I have a break from 9:30 - 10:00.  The students leave at 12:00 noon.  On Sunday and Tuesday I leave at 2:00 because of Professional Development meetings.  On Monday and Wednesday I leave at 1:00.  On Thursday I leave at 12:30.  Off on Friday and Saturday.  And I have an Arabic co-teacher!  I love this!

I have a KG1 class which means I have the 3-4 year olds.  Yesterday I had 8 kids (only 2 boys).  Today I had 12 kids (4 boys).  Yesterday I had one cryer.  Today she wasn't crying, but 3 of the 4 new ones cried almost the entire time.  Two came in with nannies and were having a hard time leaving the nannies.  I know that eventually they will calm down and I can start teaching.  Right now they are getting everything in Arabic with me trying to figure out what's going on through context clues.  I should really start trying to teach during the third week.  Oh, I get to loop up with this class, so I have them for two years!

We were told that we would have to move out of the hotel on Saturday. I was supposed to be told at some point when I was going to be moved so I went to Ghayathi to clean my apartment. My furniture was supposed to be delivered on Saturday, so I waited from 3-5:30 PM only to find out that they had loaded it on a truck and sent it somewhere else.  They wanted to deliver it Sunday morning, but I told them that I had to work and could receive them on 3:00 on Monday. We drove back to the Mirfa Hotel, getting there around 7:30.  When we get to the hotel, there is a guy there ready to move me to Ghayathi!  After some calls we found out that no, he was to move 7 of us to another hotel in Madinet Zayed - the Tilal Liwa Hotel.  So had to run upstairs and pack our bags.  We took off about 9-9:30 PM, so got to bed around midnight.  Had to get up at 4:30 AM in order to leave about 6:00 AM to get to work on time.

 So yesterday (Monday) I waited again.  I called and was told that they would be there in 15 minutes (after again waiting since 3:00 and this was at 4:00).  At 5:30 they finally come.  I was shocked to find out that EVERYTHING (except for the couch) was in boxes and had to be put together.  We (Sarah, Lori, and I) had just had our first day of school.  Lori and I literally walked in and found out on the first day what age level we had and where our rooms were.  Hadn't been given a pacing guide until yesterday.  So, we had to get back to the hotel which is an hour and a half away to do lesson plans and to just plan what we were going to do. I just left the workers there and asked that they call me when they were leaving.  The door automatically locks when you close it.  There wasn't much in the apartment other than what they were bringing in, so I wasn't really worried about doing that.  They called me at 10:30 PM! There was no way that after the night before getting in bed so late and having to get up so early in the morning that I would have been able to do that again!  After work today I went back to the apartment.  Almost everything is put together and installed.  The man did tell me that he would have to come back, but didn't say when.  I can move in on Thursday with it the way that it is.  It all doesn't look so bad.  My vision is coming true!

The Tilal Liwa Hotel is by a camel race track, so we see the camels working out on our way to work every morning and on our way home in the evening.  Quite exciting to see!  Would love to post pictures on here, but for some reason they aren't loading properly.  Will try to post on my Facebook page.

The next item on my list is to get a post office box!

Reflections

First, a story:
I was pregnant with my son Chris during the summer.  He was born at the end of July.  I CRAVED fruit, mainly peaches, strawberries, and watermelon.  Oh, and one Baby Ruth bar a day.  It didn't matter what size, so I normally ate the small ones.  There was a guy, Rusty, who had a fruit and vegetable truck that came down our street twice a week.  He had a standing order to leave a watermelon on my porch twice a week whether I was home or not.  We would settle up later.  My midwife laughed at me and said that watermelon is nothing but water and iron so I could eat as much as I wanted.  The Baby Ruth didn't matter at all since I was only eating one.  Even now, one of my favorite pictures of Chris is him sitting on the tail gate of Rusty's truck eating a banana from the truck that "made" him.

I thought of this story every morning that I ate breakfast at the Beach Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi city.  They had a bowl of fresh watermelon every morning (along with other types of fruit), and I really enjoyed it.  I would have potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, croissants, and two juices (orange and apple) every morning. Sometimes I might add a vegetable (corn, peas, or green beans), a selection of different cheeses, an omelet, or a selection of different meats (smoked chicken or turkey, turkey bacon, grilled fish, or steak.  There was also yogurt and a variety of Indian, Asian, and Arab foods that I had never heard of, but tried to try them to say that I did.  The always full coffee or tea cup was also a delight, but if I wanted a latte all I had to do was ask.  This was all done with a great smile.

The cleaning staff was also awesome.  They provided water, slippers, and a robe.  They would clean your room every day, then come back in the evening to turn down the bed, set a bottle of water and a glass on the nightstand, and your slippers by the bed.  There was always a plate of fruit on the desk.

My stay at the Beach Rotana is a pleasant memory that I will always cherish.

Now I am staying at the Mirfa Hotel in Mirfa.  It is a beautiful hotel on the Arabian Gulf.  Controversy about Persian and Arabian Gulf.  Iran took over some islands that belonged to the UAE.  This is how Wikipedia explains it:

"The name of the gulf, historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia (Iran), has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s.^[12] Rivalry between Iran and some Arab states, along with the emergence of pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism, has seen the name Arabian Gulf become predominant in most Arab countries.^[13][14] Names beyond these two have also been applied to or proposed for this body of water".

Anyway, back to the Mirfa Hotel.  This hotel is not as opulent as the Beach Rotana.  The rooms are bigger and the plate of fruit has more fruit on it.  The cleaning crew (2 guys) just came inchanged the bed, but didn't vacuum the room.  Both hotels provide water bottles, robes, and slippers.  Although they both have balconies, the Mirfa Hotel's balcony has two chairs and a table so that you can relax and look at the Gulf.  All of the rooms face the Gulf.  The breakfast buffet reminds me of the US with a few local cuisines mixed in.  But the essence!  This is the ultimate in de-stressing!

Although I am a little concerned that this is Tuesday and I see my class for the first time on Sunday, and I haven't gotten close to my school yet, I'm not going to stress about it.  I still haven't gotten to my apartment to clean or set

Random stuff

Found out that I will finally move out to the Western Region which is called Al Garbia.  Al Garbia comprises about 71% of the total land mass of the Emirite of Abu Dhabi.  I will be in the town of Ghayathi, but will be staying in a hotel is Mirfa for five days until I get the furnishing for my apartment.  Teachers are reporting to school, the students come on September 9th.  Somehow I will get from Mirfa to Ghayanthi.  Not gonna worry about it yet.

I was sitting in the mall in the Food Court when I came up with some more interesting things.  When you eat in the food court, most people just get up and leave their tray on the table.  This is because there are people whose job it is to clean the tables and make sure the floor is gorgeous.  Talking about gorgeous floors, the floors in the malls are ALWAYS shiny and dirt free!  There are people that walk around dust mopping and cleaning the floors all of the time.  I guess so!  Those women wearing those beautiful abayas that drag on the floor would be pretty upset if they got dirty. 

Went to two days of orientations to tell us about the Abu Dhabi Education Council that was created in 2005.  As it reads in this book that was given to us: "ADEC was given the mandate to elevate the quality of education in Abu Dhabi to the highest international standards and to ensure that all residents have access to high-quality education."  There was a session with the police.  Here, if there is an emergency, they dial 999.  Also, the most interesting thing that I found out:  if you get a ticket, the fine goes with the car.  Not a good ideas to buy a used car without checking if the car has any fines on it.  It would be your responsibility to pay it.  This country is so clean!  It is against the law to litter, or to even spit on the ground!  Also found out about the curriculum and what I am required to teach.  Basically it's standards that the students must reach by the end of the school year.

Not quite sure when I will have Internet again.  Have to make an appointment with the Internet and cable people once I get out there.  Will let you know more of my adventure when I can!