Ok, I Can Do This!

Last night my phone started ringing for a voice chat and I was super excited to see who it was!  The one person I have not been able to video chat with yet, Daniele!  We talked for a bit about how school was going for both of us, but my Internet connection here isn't the best, so the conversation resulted in texting.  I am so glad she called though, I sure do miss my teacher friends back home!  
This morning I was excited to go to school and meet my HoF.  I rode to school with Nina (she is awesome for giving me a ride every day!) again and we arrived about 20 minutes before the first bell.  We entered the center "playground" area again for the morning assembly where again, I had no clue what was going on, but just hearing the kids sing and speak was just like the US.  We went back to the classroom where my Arabic co-teacher took attendance and breakfast count, the students bring money with them to school and get to choose what they want by pointing to a picture.  The choices range from some sort of savory stuffed croissant, a chocolate filled croissant, popcorn, juice, and I believe there are some other things.  She kindly told me that I could go to the break room as it was her time to teach Islamic Studies and I was to return while she taught Arabic to help with centers.  I finally met Janelle my HoF and she took myself and other teachers into her office so she could show us something on the computer.  I stayed and talked with her about the curriculum, my expectations, and what I could do with my students today since I had nothing planned as I had no clue what I was to be teaching.  I really like her, she had been a teacher at that school for 2 years and just recently became the HoF.  She totally understands what we are going through and kind of tells us how it is.  
She was kind enough to come into my class and start the kids on their lesson which turned out to be a review of the letter A.  She used Starfall to demonstrate and the kids loved it, then she had them go to centers where they used string to lace the holes on the letter A, used white boards to draw and write the letter A and used play dough to fill in the shape of the letter A.  She left me after a few minutes of the centers and it went well.  They are having a hard time calling me Miss Colleen(they don't use last names here, only first) so they kept saying "teacher, teacher!" to which I responded "Miss Colleen, Miss Colleen".  They picked it up pretty quick, but like all things here it will take time.  They then had a break which meant they had playground and I had a break.  I set up for math centers which involved sorting different beads, putting together a number puzzle, and building a train (I didn't have another math station to set up, but it worked).  
While the students were having fun at their stations, another Arabic teacher came into the classroom and spoke to my co-teacher and all of a sudden my co-teacher turned around and said, "stop, we go home now!"  The kids quickly cleaned up and grabbed their backpacks and made their way to the front of the school.  However we were stopped because not all the buses had arrived.  So we were standing in the hallway for about 5-10 minutes.  We were told by our HoF that something may have happened at one of the other schools and they needed the buses so they had to call school early.  I also heard from another teacher that last year there was a snake on campus and they couldn't find it so they canceled school for a week (I am not making this up, this is REAL).  
We still had to stay until 12:45, but luckily Kara who is in charge of the teachers from the Western Region came to fingerprint another teacher and myself.  Now, I can clock in and out of school with the fingerprint scanner!  
Nina and I left school, she had to run to the bank and then we went to this little restaurant that some of the teachers had ordered lunch from today.  This place was tiny, but the food is cheap and delicious!  I have no idea what the name of the dish I got was, but it was breaded chicken on a hoagie roll with other stuff on it.  I will definitely be getting that again and they deliver to school!  
We also stopped at the grocery store in town that pretty much has a little of everything.  I picked up a bowl so I can make noodles in my hotel room and some other food (the hotel food isn't the best, and it's a tad expensive).  When Rebecca arrived back at the hotel, I met her in the pub where she had some food and I had some ice cream.  We decided to venture out to the pool as the sun was going down.  The pool felt amazing, however we both felt a bit self conscious because of the staring we were about to get.  The men here definitely stare, and some days I just want to ask them if they want to take a picture because it lasts longer, but I hold my tongue.  I took a few pictures today of my kids, however the ones I am posting are not of their faces because I am not sure of the official policy.  You can see their uniforms though.  Enjoy!

Daniele!

My Classroom!

My students eat breakfast at these tables outside their classroom

The playground outside

Students putting together a number puzzle

Putting together a train track

Amazing olive spread at the grocery store, my heaven!

Playground outside

What Just Happened?

I am sitting in my hotel room right now with a magnificent view of the Arabian Gulf and wondering to myself, what just happened?  Let me back track.  Yesterday I went down to breakfast at the hotel by myself.  It was NOTHING like what I had at my previous hotel, about 1/3 of the size and not nearly as good.  I quickly ate and went back to my room where I proceeded to unpack and watch show after American show on MTV.  Granted these were not the shows I wanted to watch, but it was better than the 10 channels of DIFFERENT soccer matches.  I even found a good movie to watch while reading my magazine and waiting for Rebecca to arrive(Meet the Fockers).  
I finally received the illusive text from Rebecca saying she had arrived.  I quickly went down to meet her and realized that she had come with lots of other teachers.  They did not have the hassle of checking in like we did the day before.  I went to check out her room since she is located on the other side of the hotel.  Her room is night and day from mine!  She is definitely on the renovated side, brand new everything as where my room has an interesting smell and the bathroom is questionable.  
We decided to walk outside by the pool and down to the Arabian Sea so she could put her feet in and feel like she was at home(she is from Florida).  I put my feet in as well and was shocked at how warm it was!  I have never put my feet in warm water, the West Coast just doesn't have such a thing.  We had dinner at the pub in our hotel, it was ok food, we pretty much had no choice in where we were eating since there isn't anything within walking distance.  I retired to my room where my nightly routine of watching FRIENDS before I sleep was rudely disrupted by the fire alarm going off.  I didn't hear anyone yelling so I figured I was ok, and then it went off again!  So I finally fell asleep and was rudely woken by some drunk men on my floor being ridiculously LOUD!  Oh, and by the way this was at 2:30 AM!  Apparently there are a bunch of British railroad workers staying here because they are building a railroad for this region, so they like to hang out in the pub and drink until it closes and then come back to their room.  
My alarm eventually went off (both of them) and I started to get ready for my first day of school.  I was told by my HoF (head of faculty) that I could just observe today until she returned tomorrow and then she would go over things with me.  She had arranged for two other teachers to pick my up from my hotel since it is only 11 mins away from the school.  I decided to video chat with my parents before I went to the lobby.  They had returned form California that evening and I knew that they had picked up the dogs, Moe and Gretchen.  So I was elated that the even answered when I called and I immediately asked to see my Moe.  I started to get tears in my eyes when I saw him and his ears went up when I said his name.  I miss him so much!  I had a quick conversation with my parents and then headed down to the lobby.  I was greeted by another teacher in the lobby who asked me what school I was teaching at, turns out we were teaching at the same school!  We waited for the other teachers to arrive and since she had a car, we followed them to the school.  I honestly couldn't tell you what my school looks like, I remember colorful dots on the outside walls and walking through a gate.  Inside the school, there are decorations that totally depict the region we are in.  There are camels and sand dunes and different things like that on the walls.  I had to manually sign in because I do not have my fingerprints completed for the school yet.  You have to scan your fingerprints in and out of school each day!  I was taken to the English teacher lounge where I met a few of my colleagues.  I found out we just leave our stuff in that room and hang out there until 8 when they ring the bell for assembly.  During assembly I was able to see my class and meet my Arabic co-teacher for the first time.  The assembly was done completely in Arabic where I am assuming they said some sort of pledge and also sang their national anthem.  The uniforms the students wear are absolutely adorable!  The girls are dressed in pink striped blouses and solid pink pants, the boys are in blue striped shirts with blue solid pants.  After assembly we came to the classroom, the walls are orange and green.  There are signs all over the wall in Arabic and English.  My Arabic co-teacher showed me the schedule for the day which never changes, the only thing that changes are the specialists, but the time is consistent.  I tried to explain to her that I was just going to watch, but she didn't quite understand so when she asked me about teaching English I said no and she just did more Arabic stuff with the kids.  
I was invited by my co-teacher to join the circle and introduce myself so they all practiced saying my name which was adorable!  They went around the circle and told me their names (It's going to take me awhile to get their names down, I have several double names).  The day went by pretty quickly, I took them to playground where they have some of those hoppy bouncy balls, big plastic play houses and those push fisher price cars.  I watched them go crazy as most kids do when they have recess.  They kept saying "teacher, teacher!" if someones foot was run over or if one of them started to cry.  I defiantly felt the language barrier with them when I couldn't even help them when they were hurt.  This one tiny boy in my class took the hoppy bouncy ball thing and kicked it toward me to which I kicked it back to him.  His face lit up!  We kicked it back and forth for about 10 minutes until the rest of the boys realized what I was doing and came running.  So I did what I have done with the Kindergartners at my old school and kicked it high up into the air and they ran after it!  The first one to get it brought it to me and I did it again.  They started to fight over who was going to bring it to me to which I had to peel some of them off of each other and the ball.  They started to get the hang of it though.  The bell rang which meant recess was over and they grabbed their backpacks and lined up to go to the bus.  I brought the rear of the line as my Arabic Co-teacher lead the way outside (holy hot outside!).  The kids went to the appropriate bus and I headed back inside.  I went back to my classroom where my co-teacher showed me the alphabet (which isn't complete).  She showed me the tiny space where I can hang English stuff up on the wall.  She is a very kind woman, but I feel like a guest in HER classroom.  I will come back to why I felt like that a bit later.  We had professional development after school today which I wasn't aware of since I have no schedule at all.  This means we stay until 2.  We went into the meeting room (it was absolutely freezing in there!) where the Arabic/English translating teacher told us that we needed to pick a committee and then told us we could go because the rest was for the Arabic teachers.  However, we weren't allowed to leave the school until 2.  
On the way back to the hotel, I was talking with Nina the teacher that gave me a ride to school and she told me that she had to realize that she was a guest in her co-teacher's classroom.  A light bulb went off in my head, I AM a guest in her classroom, that is why I have very little space to display things.  We really aren't "co-teaching", rather she teaches about the Islamic faith and teaches them Arabic and I come in and teach them English and Math and twice a week Science.  I get it now!  I had this picture in my mind of having my OWN classroom, but that isn't the case in the KG level.  
When we got back to the hotel, I had dinner with Nina and we just talked about school and life in general, Rebecca came and met us for a few minutes and then went to have a Skype date with her mom.  
Tomorrow I get to meet my HoF and she will explain things a little more.  I did however receive a text from my bank here (that's how they communicate here, so cool/strange) telling me that I have my furniture allowance.  This means I get to go shopping this weekend and hopefully be in my own place next week! Enjoy the pics!

they are planting palm trees at my hotel

Talked to Moe this morning before school :)

So Long Abu Dhabi, Hello Western Region!

Well a lot has happened in the past two days.  I will back track and write about yesterday.  Thursday started out with breakfast as usual, only this time Lindsey and I had Rebecca with us!  She took the day off of being a sub so she could go to the doctor and figure out why she wasn't feeling well.  We hailed a cab (so fun to do!) and headed to a local hospital which turned out to be en entire city block!  Our taxi driver wanted to know where he should take us because it was so big, Rebecca explained to him, after being in shock as we all were at how big the hospital was, that she needed to see a doctor because she was sick.  So he took it upon himself to give us a little tour of the hospital as he was driving us to our destination.  He made sure to point out where the "people go to die" to which Rebecca said oh, don't take me there!  We all got a laugh out of that, even our taxi driver.  I am assuming the place he was pointing out was in fact the morgue or a hospice type place.  Anyway, we all got a great laugh out of it.  We entered the facility and they took Rebecca right away, asking what was wrong, put a bracelet on her and sent her to the ladies only waiting room.  Lindsey and I tried to sit on the men only side and were quickly stopped by the security guard and pointed in the correct direction.  It really didn't take as long as I thought it would being a walk-in type situation.  She came out with a diagnosis of bronchitis and was given some stuff to help her feel better.  
We stepped out into the heat, it was hot by this time, not so much humid as just straight sun hot!  I hailed us a taxi (love doing it!) and he stopped in the street which was totally not safe, but cars just went around him!  We told him we wanted to go to a shopping center in town so Rebecca and Lindsey could get their abayas.  That was a quick trip and we were back into the taxi!  Oh, I forgot to mention, I did my first haggling at this shopping center (you can do it at this one, but not at the malls).  Rebecca was looking at a ring and she had used all her cash to pay for the abayas, I said I had cash she could borrow, however I only had AED 20 and the ring was AED 30.  I asked him if he would take 20 and he shook his head no and said he could do 25, I told him all I had was 20, sorry and started to walk away and he finally agreed to AED 20.  I was so proud of myself!  
Back at the hotel, I started to pack because I was leaving at 10:30 the next morning for the West.  Casey came back from school and we headed to the mall, I went to Starbucks and it was amazing, I am not too sure why I was so nervous to go, but I ordered my regular drink and the guy even spelt my name correct on my cup!  I have no figured out if they take my gold card yet, I didn't want to ask and be shot down, I'm weird like that.  I also have anxiety when it comes to using coupons, totally irrational anxiety, however what if they tell me it's not working or they won't accept it.  Anyway, that was a random rant!  We met a few friends (a Canadian and some Irish folk) for dinner at a noodle house which was amazingly delicious!  I had some sort of noodles with chicken and shrimp.  We decided to head to Porters for the evening which is a British pub next to our hotel.  We hung out with the Irish(we wondered earlier if they refer to us as the Americans....).  They were playing American music and when Thrift Shop came on, I stood up from where I was sitting and watched everyone dance to it, so awesome!  I retired to my room, smelling of cigarette smoke (they are allowed to smoke in bars, NOT OK!).  
This morning I met Rebecca for breakfast.  I sure am going to miss that buffet, delicious food of all types!  Rebecca helped me take my suitcases down to the lobby where the Nirvana guy was waiting for me.  The van they had for myself and one other person in the hotel could seat about 20 people.  They also hired a truck for our luggage, which seemed like such a waste, but oh well.  We stopped to pick up another teacher at another hotel and were on our way, the 3 of us in a 20 passenger van and a truck for our luggage.  
On our drive to the Western Region, we drove past the Grand Mosque which is breathtaking!  I have not visited it yet, however I will do that soon.  Along the way, I was listening to my music on my phone on shuffle.  The songs I have on my phone are VERY random, some for school, personal, Christmas, etc.  I kid you not, a song would come on and it would instantly strike a memory of someone in my life or that was in my life.  I started to get teary eyed when the song Gone, Gone, Gone came on because it reminded me of my mom.  During the summer, on one of our many trips to Costco or Target, that song would come on and she would sing it.  It also made me thing of all the friends I've made, it is so crazy to think how close we have gotten in just 2 short weeks, 14 total days,  and 336 hours.  We have all tried to make on another feel at home whether it be accompanying someone to the mall, doctor, hanging out with someone in their room listening to music, or playing Heads Up.  At that moment I realized just how truly blessed I am.  
The President's Rap came on as well, I immediately thought of my first class and how they rocked this rap and had so much fun with it.  My second class rocked it in their own way as well, and I immediately thought of Thomas yelling "woo!" during the chorus.  My last 5th grade class had so much fun with it also and my first second grade class did such an awesome job!  I will never forget having all the previous 5th grade classes join my second graders in singing the song, and most of them remembered ALL the words still!  I hope that my Kindergarten students give me the same enthusiasm I had from my previous classes!
So on the ride out West, I had my eyes glued to the sandy landscape in search of a CAMEL!  I have become obsessed with these magnificent creatures, they are beautiful and graceful in their own way.  As I was watching for one, I started to see what I thought were puddles of water, well I'm here to tell you that mirages are in fact real!  There was no water, it was just sand when I looked back, totally weird!  After we stopped for gas (BTW, it is super cheap here!), we were entering the highway again and a blue Dodge pickup truck went zooming past us, I happened to see what was in the bed of the truck, a CAMEL!  The camel was just sitting down enjoying the ride, I could NOT believe what I saw, I couldn't even get a picture of it because it went so fast, but I saw it!  I cannot describe how that made me feel, and I have no clue what I am going to do when I see one walking past my classroom window, or walking along the highway!  The hotel we arrived at is beautiful, it is called Mirfa Hotel.  It sits on the Arabian Gulf which is the most beautiful aqua color!  We have an outdoor pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, a kids jungle gym, and our own beach access.  I am excited to put my feet in the water tomorrow!  When we arrived, we had a bit of trouble checking in(paperwork problems), but that was all fixed and in the mean time we were treated to a gorgeous buffet style lunch overlooking the Arabian Sea.  I noticed I had a roommate when I entered my room, the cutest little thing!  This hotel is very different from the other I was staying in.  It is definitely not as high tech as the other one, I have to manually switch on the lights (ugh.....JK!).  At my previous hotel I had touch pad that controlled the lights as well as being able to call for laundry, maid or room service.  However the view from my balcony is breathtaking and I have a slightly larger fridge than at the other hotel.  Well, I am headed to bed now!  Enjoy the pics!

Starbucks!

yummy noodle, chicken and shrimp dish

Casey and I

Lindsey, Casey and I

Lindsey and I

Casey and Lindsey

British telephone booth!

Nick, Lindsey, Casey and I

The landscape on my way to the Western Region

From the hotel lobby, Arabian Sea just past the pool

Delicious and cute treats!

My roommate, I will call him squish and he will be mine :)

 

It's HUMP Day!

Walking into breakfast this morning, I became aware of the harsh reality that my time in this hotel with all the friends I have made is coming to and end very soon.  As most of the teachers in this hotel have already put their first week of teaching in the books, the few that are headed to the Western Region are left to fend for themselves during the day until they return with their stories.  I had breakfast with Lindsey and we headed back to our rooms.  I started to watch Friends on my computer because I cannot stand watching news on repeat.  I ended up falling asleep (I should never come back to my room and lay down, it is just a recipe for disaster).  When I awoke, Lindsey came by and we watched some British version of an MTV show.  During the show they flashed the symbol for Target.  I then realized I had a wonderful dream about Target being in Abu Dhabi.  It is so strange to me to think about the things I miss already.  I deeply miss Target, Mexican food, and being able to always find something to watch on TV (here that is not the case, my choices are pretty much news, music videos on repeat, or Disney channel).  I walked to LuLu's to grab some dinner with the girls and we returned to my room.  We had great conversations about guys, what our types were (they are all very different which is interesting!) and several other topics.  
Video chatting has become a saving grace for me.  I video chat with at least one person everyday, I have the timing down as to what they may be doing.  For example, I called Kara this evening (morning there) when I knew she would be on her way to work, when the screen popped up, I had joined her in the elevator on her way to her car!  I rode with her to school, sitting on her dashboard listening to her talk about school as if I were there with her.  My view wasn't the greatest, I could only see her steering wheel and her visor, but nonetheless it was great to talk with her.  I was also able to talk with the Payne family who have become my second family and I miss them terribly.  Dylan now knows how to video chat me, and I am sure I will be receiving random calls from him which I am actually excited about!  He screamed when he saw me on his mom's phone (good thing I was prepared for that and turned my headphones down!)!  I was also able to video chat with my parents, I was reprimanded for putting the picture of my mom on my blog when I was video chatting and told to take it down, well that's not going to happen, it's real life!  It is so entertaining talking with my parents, they don't fully understand how to use the iPad they just purchased, so most of the time I see half of one of them and the ceiling.  
I joined Casey and Rebecca in the jacuzzi this evening which was extremely relaxing.  We also relaxed in the relaxation room which is this beautifully lit room with about 6 beds in it.  Tomorrow will mark the last full day in this hotel for me, it is very bittersweet.  I knew this would happen eventually, but in the 12 days I have been here, I feel as though I have made friendships for a lifetime.  We have already talked about visiting each others' states (Casey is excited that Dave lives in Seattle!) and traveling on brakes together.  I can't wait to see what else this crazy journey brings my way!
Enjoy the pics!

Chatting with my second family!

 

"You Got a Letter!"

Breakfast this morning was filled with the food I dreamt about last night.  I had salad, hash brown triangles, fried rice, croissant, sauteed mushrooms and coffee.  Lindsey and I ventured to LuLu's so I could buy some more minutes for my phone.  We hung out in her room for most of the afternoon until the girls returned from school.  We all ventured to my room to converse about their days, boy were they interesting.  It is so interesting to me to hear how drastically different the two school are from each other!  
We all made our way to LuLu's to get some dinner/"hotel groceries".  Before descending to LuLu's, we stopped at the ATM so that one of the girls could grab some cash, she had tried an ATM earlier in the day, but wasn't successful.  Well it all went downhill from there, the ATM took her card!  Calling the number on the ATM led to nothing, so being the strong woman that she is, she powered on.  We accomplished what we needed to accomplish at the store, all of us offering to buy her anything she needed, and left the store.  We came back to my room for dinner where we chatted, laughed and became outright silly.  Rebecca was totally in tune to the Amanda Bines movie that was playing on the TV while Casey and I were zoned into our phones, so much so that Rebecca was talking to us about the movie and we were both not listening at all!  
One of the many wonderful things about being here is that we have instantly made a family.  We are all here for each other and can and will help in any way possible.  Case in point, an administrator that is in our hotel with us ran into my friend who had her card taken by the ATM on the elevator and flat out gave her cash to help out, in what other situation would you find someone who would do that?!?!?  I am blown away at how this group of people help one another, it is very comforting.  
While we were eating dinner, I received a note under my door saying that I would be moved from this hotel to another hotel in my region on Friday.  I am excited to move closer to my region, however I do not want to leave this area, I know where things are, I know the wait staff at breakfast, I enjoy the people I have breakfast with each morning and I really enjoy Casey and Lindsey and all the friends I have made.  
Today, I also received an email from ADEC saying that I needed to report to my school regardless of my medical clearance.  I immediately emailed back explaining I am pretty far away from my school and don't have a means to get to school.  ADEC responded telling me I should wait until I hear from the people in charge of my region.  I corresponded with the woman from ADEC throughout the day and came to the conclusion that I should not report to my school until I have been relocated which turns out to be Friday.  This means I should be able to start on Sunday!! I cannot wait to meet my class and figure out what in the world I am supposed to be doing! I have corresponded with my HoF (Head of Faculty) and she is excited to have me and so is my Arabic Co-teacher.  
I received a video call from my parents today on their new iPad!  I am so excited that they were able to get one and learn how to use it from my brother so I can chat with them when they return home.  
I just received a video chat from Kara and her first and second graders!  I got to say hello to all of them and tell them what grade I will be teacher this year!  It was definitely bittersweet to hear their voices and have them say they missed me and wished I could teach them PE again.  One student even asked when I was coming back!  First time I've felt homesick :(.
Enjoy the pics!

My Snapchat buddy!

Finally video chatted Kara!

hmmmm

Beautiful sunset from my hotel room window

Next Please!

Today started bright and early, I had to be downstairs for a quick breakfast by 6 in order to get to the bus on time for my medical exam.  I have been waiting for this day to some since I arrived 10 days ago.  I honestly feel like I have been here for longer, I even woke up the other morning and forgot I was staying in a hotel, I thought I was still at my parents' house and that Moe was laying right next to me.  
I video chatted my best friend before I headed downstairs for breakfast.  She was at her parents house for her grandma's birthday.  It was nice to see and say hi to everyone.  I was also able to see Isabelle (my God Daughter) ride a bike WITHOUT training wheels!! I was so proud of her, she is growing up so fast!  
After my quick breakfast, I was loaded into a van with about 12 other people (3 of which were on the plane with me) and a representative from ADEC.  We headed to get our medical exam, while I was sitting in the waiting room waiting for my number to be called, I wondered if the United States does something similar for foreigners who come to work.  My number was finally called, I handed over my passport, visa, and appropriate paperwork to the gentlemen sitting on the other side of the desk.  There was minimal words exchanged between us, he told me to take off my classes and sit back and look at the camera.  He gave me my paperwork back with the appropriate stickers attached and I headed into another waiting room for women only.  At first when I experienced the women only separation I thought it was strange, however being in a different country, I find it quite pleasant.  I played musical chairs with the other women in my group until I landed in the "next" seat.  I went into a room with a female doctor who took my blood pressure, listened to my heart and lungs, looked at the back of my knees (don't even know what those are supposed to look at, who looks at the back of their knees?!?!), and had me push and resist her with my arms.  I ended up having slightly high blood pressure (hello stress of being in a different country!), but was passed on to the next part of the test.  The next part of the test was a blood sample, the woman who took my blood did a very good job, minimal bruising if any actually compared to the massive bruises others had.  I was also given a cup to pee in.  Let me tell you something, guys have it so easy when it comes to peeing in a cup, there is no sanitary way for a woman to pee in a cup!  Sorry if that is too much information, but deal!  I dropped of my pee and sat in line for my chest x-ray, that was quick and easy!  I got back into the van where they took us to get fingerprinted for our emirate ID.  This was also separated into male and female.  We went behind a curtain where we did not have to play musical chairs, however we did need to wait for our number to be called.  The lady that was taking my fingerprints was very kind.  Another lady there was irritated at her though because she had turned off the air and she was hot.  Even though I could not understand what they were saying, I knew exactly what they were talking about.  After fingerprints we surrendered our passports, visas, and medical paperwork to the ADEC representative and they took us back to our hotel.  
I came back to my room and passed out!  I slept hard, which was so nice! I guess the unknown can do a number on your body!  I ventured to Lindsey's room where we watched the Today Show and waited for the other girls to get "home".  I ventured to LuLu's for dinner with the girls.  I tried the chicken shawarma which is Lebanese food.  This is what it consisted of: pita pocket with a type of yogurt based sauce in it, dill pickles, lettuce, rotisserie chicken that has some sort of delicious seasoning on it and french fries.  This piece of food was absolutely delicious!  I just had one, but could have easily eaten 3!!  It is ridiculously cheap as well, it was only 5 AED which is $1.36!  I will be going there tomorrow and getting more of that deliciousness!  
I video chatted my parents and got to see my mom put on her makeup and my dad eat a delicious taco salad!  There isn't any Mexican food here and boy to I miss that!  They are supposed to be going to the base with my brother today to get an iPad so they can video chat with me and I can video chat with Moe, yes I cannot wait to video chat with my dog!   
I have not seen any form of censoring since I have been here, MTV does not sensor the words in songs here, which is interesting.  I witnessed my first censoring today though!  I was watching CNBC (channels are very limited here in the hotel) and they were talking about BBQ and all of a sudden the screen went blue with a note saying "We are unable to show this footage due to broadcast rights issues".  They were showing ribs (pork) which is not allowed here, please look this up because it is very interesting when it comes to their beliefs on the subject.  Enjoy the pics!

Justine and her dad Dave

Isabelle sleeping

censoring

 

Well that was interesting......

Lots of teachers started school for the first time today which meant breakfast was left with a mismatch of people.  It was nice talking to people that I've never talked with before and I had Lindsey, Alecia and Matt with me.  After breakfast, I hung out with Lindsey in her room, video chatted with Justine, ventured to LuLu's for lunch/dinner and waited for everyone to get back.  Rebecca was the first to arrive back at the hotel and Lindsey and I were both eager to hear about her day.  Let's just say it was different than in the states.  We made our way to the tent in the lobby with Lindsay, Matt and Alecia and were joined by Audra and Casey to hear about their days.  I was eager to hear about Audra's day since I will be teaching the same grade as her.  She said it was definitely like teaching PreK back in the states which I already knew.  I am actually excited to have KG (Kindergarten) and start teaching them letters, numbers, colors, etc.  Not exactly a long post today, didn't exactly do much.  Enjoy the pics!

My heart was complete after video chatting with my bestie!  

It's a 6 Cab Kind of Day

After breakfast this morning, we started out on the adventure no one wanted to take, let me explain what I mean.  We made a plan, here is what it entailed: go to the bank to get our debit cards, go shop for an Abaya, get a rental car for Lindsey and possibly Casey, find some sort of stickers or something for the first day of school for Lindsey.  Our plan seemed flawless right?  I mean what could go wrong, we even had the concierge locate the correct bank for us and tell the cab driver where we needed to go.  We arrived at the bank (woohoo!), took our numbers and then panic struck the four of us!  Casey realized she left her folder of important personal information in the cab!  We, being the newbies that we are couldn't remember the cab driver's permit number and did not know we were supposed to ask for a receipt which would have had all the required information on it.  We called the cab company from two different phones only to realize that both the phones being used (mine was one of them) ran out of minutes.  So our only solution was to head back to the hotel and hopefully they could help us in some way.  We got the cab company on the phone and were able to file a lost report, but as of now, haven't heard anything.  So we hopped in another cab, headed back to the bank, received our debit cards and hopped in another cab.  Hailing a cab here is quite fun!  We made our way to a shopping center to look at Abayas.  Lindsey and Rebecca ended up buying some, they have to be made though because they are both taller than the longest length they have on the rack.  We then hopped in another cab (hope you're keeping count, this is cab number 5) to go to Hertz only to find out they want a month up front and didn't have any available cars at the current location.  So, we hopped in another cab (#6) to go back to the hotel/mall.  We walked to the mall where we went in search of the phone company that Rebecca and Casey both have to find out why they are blowing through their data/minutes when they just got the phone.  The guy just laughed at them because they both have plenty of data left and may need to just replenish their minutes.  We then went to Lulu's where they got some lunch.  I retired to my room where I passed out, must have been from all the stress of trying to find Casey's folder and the panic we all felt for her.  
I joined Rebecca in the lobby for a coffee and showed her my movie I made for Dylan.  It was really nice to share that with someone, she thought it was really cool.  She showed me her slide show she is going to show the kids she is subbing for tomorrow.  I guess the school she is going to tomorrow is desperate for teachers (there are 8 of them going tomorrow to this school) and so she will be "subbing" tomorrow.  I was able to video chat with Heather (as well as Lola and Jake) and my mom and dad who are staying with my brother and his family!  Enjoy the pics!

Playing Heads Up

Have to do laundry in my bathtub

Chatting with Lola

Chatting with Jake

My brother helping my mom with her earring

Chatting with my niece and mom