A Ginger Teacher in Abu Dhabi: "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!