One Year Later...

I guess I abandoned this blog about a year ago, but I'd like to take it up again, at least for tonight... I have been holed up in my apartment for the last few days with a horrendous migraine and am just coming out of it....thanks be to God! 

Not sure what it is about the climate over here, but occasionally I do feel really rotten, and also I tend to get kind of lazy at times, which doesn't help either... but I need to beat this inertia as it isn't doing me any good.

We have had three days of rain and it has been wonderful... I can sit with the patio door open and listen to the rain and listen to the birds... also to the rooster across the street! 

Back to work tomorrow morning... today I was supposed to go with my students to the
Abu Dhabi Book Festival, but since I was sick as a dog, I couldn't make it... hopefully they had a good time anyways.  Last week we went to a conference for the Special Library Association of the Gulf Region held at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, which is right up the street from my apartment and the school where I am teaching.  I always feel cheered up after hanging out at a five star hotel...they had cool t-shirts they were giving away too...

 



Well, they ran out of t-shirts but I might still get one. 

So anyway, I do sometimes feel like this life I am living in Abu Dhabi is not my real life, but then again, it's my life right now, so I am trying to live it to the fullest, although, like I said, sometimes inertia comes over me and sometimes I get sick...

The heat will be coming too... but so far blessedly, it has been good weather.  I do dream of getting away for the summer and if I can do it I might go back to France...

maybe Paris for a few days and then the south of France... it's so easy to travel from here, that is one of the best things about it.  So for now it's home until I can get home again, later in August... will be glad to meet up with my mom in Bradenton!

 

Last summer at Captain Brian's in Bradenton, Florida

 



 

Keep Calm and Pretend This is on the Lesson Plan

Perhaps I did not mention that one of the most stressful aspects of this whole adventure is the actual teaching job... well, let me tell you, it can be a whole lot of stress at times.  Last week my professional portfolio was due and this week it's the formal evaluation.  I would not be so concerned except that I am so exhausted much of the time that I can barely function... regardless, the bus comes at 5:45 a.m. to pick us up from these villas in the desert and to transport us to Mirfa, beautiful town near the sea and home of the elementary school where I teach.  Lovely, but remote and wild like the rest of Al Gharbia, also known as the Western region... 



UAE Flag on the hill to Mirfa

I love Mirfa and the girls that I teach but somedays I gotta say it, this teaching job is rough!  The good news is that we're nearing the end and the bad news is I need to get through my evaluation first... so off to finish lesson planning and to make a quick trip into Madinat Zayed for another color cartridge for my printer... I need to get there before they close and before I need to get to bed, the sooner the better. 

I just pray that my fractured elbow heals soon and my energy returns... the doctors don't seem to be able to diagnose the fatigue and it's not normal, at least it doesn't feel normal, it feels totally overwhelming at times... at any rate, I am taking my multivitamins and trying to eat right, also trying to sleep as much as I can when I can! 
Well, it might just have something to do with this climate, the daily high is 100 degrees this week and the temperatures are starting to climb.  Welcome to the start of summer in the Middle East!  

10 Day Weather report for Abu Dhabi
  
For anyone who has read on through to the end of this post, love ya!

Henna Hands!

Wow, it really has been awhile since I've written anything for this blog... life has been coming at me fast and furiously and I think that's a good thing, but it doesn't leave much time for reflection or for writing either.  And then again, sometimes I just get lazy or tired.  I'm in the process of putting together a portfolio of the work I've done in my classroom this year and this is the image I've been saving since the fall when I captured it with Aisha, one of my second grade girls.   Henna is a very traditional art here and the girls often come in with their hands all decorated with beautiful designs.

Now I'm with two new classes and the school year is 2/3 of the way over and what have we accomplished so far?  Well, we speak and read a little bit of English here and there, we sing songs in English, we practice our handwriting in English, we've planted bean seeds and watched them grow, we play with puzzles, etc. We constantly work on behavior and we're getting better all the time.  In general, we are a productive, busy bunch!  Although I must admit, sometimes it seems to me like we're not doing "enough."  My centers aren't complete, the room is still quite bare and I have not gotten my computer to work since I came back from the Holidays at Christmas... a source of great frustration for me as there are so many great activities online and that I have on my DVD's that would be engaging and fun for my class.  

Today I am at the tail end of some time off, two glorious weeks for spring break which was extended when I went to see the doctor this week and found out my left elbow really was fractured and not just sprained when I slipped and fell on wet tiles in the bathroom at school two days before the break... he recommended I stay home for the past three days and frankly, I've needed the time off.  Sunday it's back to work again and hopefully we'll finish the third trimester with a bang!  I do feel overwhelmed by the amount of work that  needs to get done between now and June when the kids stop coming.  Praying that I can stay positive and that we'll make a lot of progress during that time.    

In the meantime, I have wonderful memories from my recent trip to Kopan Monastery in Nepal and my apartment has finally come together for the most part (the photo above shows the custom made curtains from one of the local furniture stores in Madinat Zayed - I was thrilled with the results!).  Home is a comfortable refuge nights and weekends (maybe too comfortable as I sometimes don't want to go out at all) and Trixie, my dog is adjusting well to desert life.   Plans for the summer are starting to shape up and I'll be happy to be in the U.S. when the real summer heat starts here and Ramadan is in full swing.... until then... wish me luck with my girls! 

 



Thanksgiving is Almost Here!

Yes, it's about time I give thanks for all the great things happening in my life in this far away place.  So many things to be grateful for in no particular order:

1. I've been here three months already and the adventure continues to unfold!
2. The girls at school seem to be getting used to me and we have established somewhat of a truce regarding behavior, etc. (they are so cute I try not to stay mad at them for long!)  I try to remember how hard it must be to have someone talking to them in a foreign language all day long... remember the teacher in Charlie Brown?  Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!
3. My friend Karen is sponsoring a potluck thanksgiving dinner this Friday (we have to work Thursday) so I'll get to meet some of the other teachers I haven't met yet and have some traditional American food!
4. Only 17 more work days until the winter holiday and I am leaving for the states on December 19th!
5. National Day for the UAE is December 2nd.  This country will be 40 years young and the celebrations are already way over the top!  Each day the girls dress up in gorgeous red, green, white and black gowns for our school assembly and recite skits and sing patriotic songs that I can't understand but find incredibly moving and beautiful.  School is disrupted in every possible way but it eases my workload which helps with the exhaustion factor... a HUGE factor and my only excuse for not being in better communication with everyone!
6. Sobriety in the Sands - Dubai, November 17-19th...one word to describe it: awesome!
7. Skyped with my sister and my dog this week and everybody seemed really happy!
8. Weather here is gorgeous now...
9. Bought a new car... the one I REALLY wanted, so I feel very lucky, even though I'm broke after making the down payment... it's a Fiat 500C and it's red! 
10. Singing children's songs in the kitchen in my apartment that is by no means perfect but which is all being paid for by the Abu Dhabi government.

In other words, life is good here.  Not easy, but I have to remember, I didn't sign up for easy...

Wishing everyone a really Happy Thanksgiving!  Can't wait to be back in the U.S. in December!

UAE Flag is Everywhere!

 

Dealer's pics of Fiat 500c:





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!)

Loving This Hotel Room

It's a good thing I'm really loving this hotel room in Abu Dhabi~