Still Missing my Dog... Love you, Trixie!

Moving into the Desert

Long overdue blog... let's see if I can keep it going! 

The big news is I'll be moving into an apartment in Madinat Zayed later this week, so finally I will have my own place.  I have so many mixed emotions right now about the whole experience as there have been a lot of false starts and bumps along the way, but last night I viewed the sunset from the street in front of my new building and it was amazing.  I may find a new appreciation for the beauty of the desert.  Another amazing thing is I actually felt some coolness in the evening air for the first time this week!   So it may be a great change although I had hoped to stay near the coast and closer to my school.

The upside is the apartments themselves are very nice and brand new... I have been waiting to decorate for a long time!  There were some problems about moving in which were totally out of my control and I am learning that A LOT of things around here are out of my control!  It has made me pretty crazy quite a bit of the time and learning to let go has stretched me to places I thought were beyond my breaking point on occasion...

Well, let's focus on the positive as there are other positives as well... one big plus is that there are lots of other teachers who are all living in the villas and it will be good to have a nice community around me.   There were some major problems related to housing and whether I could bring Trixie, but this past week I have received the blessings of Mahmood, the man who manages housing for the "Western Region." After I showed him a picture of the two of us, he said he understood how important she is to me and that he wants us "to be happy."  He feels like Madinat Zayed (which I still can't pronounce) will be a good home for us and although it's a small town, there are more shops and green spaces and actual neighborhoods than the town where my school is, so it should be a good place to settle down for awhile.

One downside that I've been worrying about is I'm an hour from my job and about an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi... I'm just not used to a long commute and I know how exhausted I can get from teaching so that concerns me a bit!   I'm also sad to be leaving the beautiful coastal view from my hotel room and the sweet staff here.  Trips into Abu Dhabi will have to be reserved mostly for weekends...

Abu Dhabi at Night

 

How is school? Well, it's challenging beyond belief at times but the girls really are as sweet as can be. As one of the other teachers put it, how can I like them so much but hate teaching them? I am seeing ALL my limitations as a teacher, but I am also stretching in my ability to understand the girls and communicate with them, in spite of the language barrier and the behavioral issues.  Also, I am learning not to take myself and the situation so damn seriously... most of the time!

More to follow, insha'allah (God Willing!)