Rain and Wind and Flooding, Oh My!

Wednesday 11/20
Well, today it was supposedly back to normal at school.  It was difficult for the kids to get back into the regular routine as well as the teachers.  I had forgotten what my regular schedule even was!  I can't remember anything in particular that happened today.
Thursday 11/21
Well, this morning I was just going about my normal morning routine, stopped to get gas and then went inside the gas station to get some coffee and water.  Good thing I did, I received a message from my HoF telling me that Mirfa (the town I work in) was flooded because it has a torrential downpour!  I had no clue any of this was happening, all I noticed in MZ was that it was super dark.  I also received a text from another teacher who was about 20 mins away from school and decided to turn around and come home because she couldn't see 5 feet in front of her!  Long story short, when it rains here it's a HUGE deal and therefore schools closed and kids went home early.  I had some breakfast and decided I was still going to head into the city to stay with Casey for the weekend.  I must have made it between storms, because once I arrived at my destination it down poured again.  This country is not built to handle rain whatsoever!  People on the highway were driving VERY cautiously which was a relief to me.  Once I arrived, Casey was shortly behind me and we took off to run a couple of errands.  I managed to get my driver's license and Emirates ID.  When I walked into the driver's license place, I strangely heard someone call my name.  The thoughts going through my head at the time were 1) no one knows me here 2) they can't be calling me 3)I'll just ignore it.  Well it turned out to be some I knew, obviously.  It was Brandon and Alex, they had managed to make it between storms as well.  Casey and I went to dinner with a few of the people that we were in the hotel with when we arrived.  It was great seeing everyone again, I felt like it had been so long since I had seen everyone.
Friday 11/22
This morning, Casey and I met Melissa and Rebecca at a cafe close to her house called La Brioche.  i have wanted to go to this place for quite a while now.  The weather had stopped having a tantrum long enough for us to sit outside and have a wonderful brunch.  I had eggs Benedict (my new obsession) which was great.  We sat and chatted about various things, just normal girl talk.  After breakfast, we made our way to the central souk to do some shopping.  This place is beautiful, the architecture is amazing, it looks like you're outside but obviously you are on the inside.  We also made our way "home" aka Al Whada Mall.  This is the mall right next to the hotel we were all put in when we arrived.  Walking through this mall made me feel at home on the other side of the world.  We also went to Jone's the Grocer for dinner, YUMMMM.  I had their pumpkin saffron soup which was amazing.  I can't get enough of this restaurant and I get something different every time I go.
Saturday 11/23
When we woke up in the morning, we tried, but failed to see if any place would deliver coffee and some sort of breakfast.  However because of the location of her apartment, we had no luck.  We quickly made ourselves presentable to the public eye and made our way to Starbucks.  The pastries at Starbucks are larger than life!  They also have square, yes you read that right, square doughnuts.  I left with a turkey and cheese croissant and a toffee nut latte (they have select holiday flavors and last year's red cups).  We had plans to have dinner with the head of our recruiter (Footprints) at 3:30 with other fellow Footprinters.  In the mean time, we wanted to make a quick stop at the mall, key word quick.  It would have been quick if we hadn't missed a turn.  However if we hadn't missed the turn, we would not have seen the coolest National Day car ever!  While getting lost going to the mall, Casey decided to drive like a local, we went up and over a curb because we were going the wrong way, stopped in the middle of the road to see where we needed to go, and honked a few times at drivers who weren't driving properly (you know, because we were driving perfect!).
Dinner with our recruiter was really great.  It really pays to go with a small recruiter, they are much more personal (obviously, they came to the city to do interviews and wanted to get everyone together), and it was great to see Bob who I met at my in person interview and Alison whom I had corresponded with during the summer while submitting documents.  They were kind enough to pay for our amazing dinner as well.  I made my way back to MZ to discover that National Day had thrown up on MZ.  All the lights we drive past every day and night were finally turned on and it looked like Christmas!
Sunday 11/24
School went well, our after school training/meeting was boring....
Monday 11/25
Well, today was ok.  I was told that when it comes closer to National Day, the kids stop showing up.  NOT the case for my class, I guess it's good that they like to come to school, but come on give us a break! ;).  Anyway, it was a good day.  I am teaching them Enter and Exit for the letter E.  I demonstrated my exiting the classroom and entering the classroom and they thought that was the greatest thing ever!  From that day on, they can't wait to show me enter and exit.  After school I was invited with a few other teachers over to the school Nurse's house for food.  HOLY CRAP was it delicious!  We sat on the floor and ate.  We had a delicous spread of veggies, chicken, and a noodle with meat dish.  We sat and conversed for 3 hours.  It was great to get to know her better.  We also had the honor of meeting her daughters and husband.  They were all so excited to have us in their home and to share their food with us.  Even though I didn't get home until late, it was so fun.
Tuesday 11/26
Today was an ok day of teaching, for some reason while they eat breakfast, they turn wild.  They also don't listen either.  Ugh!  Anyway, I made my way home to find out that one of the teacher apartments in the villas had been on fire (electrical strip caught fire) and when the teacher got home he opened the door and smoke billowed out!  Rebecca and I went into the apartment and saw every single room was covered in black soot!  I feel so bad for this teacher, he has only been in his villa for 11 days, he is from my same recruiter and was one of the last ones to get his visa and ticket to come here!  He is remarkably positive and kept saying that the things that were burned are just things.  ADEC is going to help him and hopefully give him another housing allowance.  There is another villa open that he is going to move into, and hopefully they put him up into a hotel for a week until he can figure out furniture.  
Wednesday 11/27
Well, today looked as if it would be a normal day, however I quickly realized that in fact it was not.  My co-teacher was trying her best to talk to me yesterday about something and I think she was trying to be kind enough to warn me that she wouldn't be at school for the second half of our day.  I didn't realize this until today when she told me goodbye and she had her purse with her.  What happened was they took the kids that did performances for National Day around to different places in town to perform again.  After I realized this I was fine.  However for breakfast this morning, my busy bee was super excited that she had brought a doughnut and then quickly crushed when I told her she could not eat it because it contains too much sugar and that was the last thing she needed.  She listened to me and was fine with not eating it until my co-teacher showed up and she explained that I said she couldn't have it.  Amany looked at me and asked why I told her she couldn't have it and I explained it was too much sugar and that the little girl would be bouncing off the walls.  She said she would be fine, I said that was fine as long as she realized she would be off the wall.  Well, of course she didn't care if she had it or not, she was LEAVING!  So, the rest of the day with her was very difficult, but she doesn't do things to be naughty whatsoever, she is just so active, inquisitive, busy, it just enhanced everything.  We spent the afternoon in another teacher's classroom since our lessons had been taught, watching a video on the 7 emirates which was awesome.  When the video made it to Abu Dhabi, my busy bee yelled Ferrari as the camera flew over Ferrari World.  It was the funniest thing I had heard all day, they certainly know their expensive cars here!  Not really though, it is just a large indoor amusement park that I am sure they have been to or want to go to.
Later that evening, Rebecca and I went over to the boys villa to play some trivia.  Well, my team lost, but we managed to keep the record for the fastest buzz in for the answers we did know!  We were all glued to the newspaper sites here to see if Dubai would win the bid to host the 2020 World Expo.  They did win and it was only a matter of time before everyone passed around a message from the Sheik saying school was canceled to celebrate!  This is how this country rolls and it is one thing I will never complain about!  This weekend is going to be insane in the city with celebrations for winning the bid and National Day!  I am so excited to see how this country celebrates their existence as a country, the cars have been amazingly decorated and I can't wait to see more!
Enjoy the pics!

Car decorations on the way to school

Footprints dinner

My kids reading!

Rain and flooding

BEST decoration on a car ever!

Dinner at the school nurses house, they eat on the floor, so cool!

My new best friend!  Yes, that is a light up camel!

Our school nurse, her kids, and the teachers at my school

School nurses kids

My National Day Abaya

You Just Gotta Go With the Flow........

Sunday 11/17
Well, today started out normal as normal can be.  I was told by our translator that some of the kids and ALL the KG2 teachers would be going to the Wedding Hall in town to practice for National Day at about 9.  Not a problem, however I didn't know that they would be practicing from 8:15-9 at the school.  So, since my co-teacher wasn't there, I took my leftover kids and started teaching them English.  Well, that was cut short!  I took my kids into another KG2 classroom to sing our flag song that we made up for the principal.  Keep in mind these KG2 kids are 4 years old, what 4 year old do you know that doesn't need prompting on a song they are going to be signing in front of everyone?!?! 
Apparently our principal wanted JUST the kids to sing, that wasn't going to happen because like I said, they are 4 AND they are just learning English!  Needless to say, the principal left and was upset with what we had been working so hard with our kids on.  Then, come 9, over half the school left!  No Arabic teachers, no principal, the bus moms were no where to be found, just the English teachers, cleaners and the leftover kids.  We had a nice breakfast (I had about 10 kids), and played with the other KG2 classes, just trying to pass the time until it was time to go.  If we had been told all of this was happening before hand, I could have brought stuff for my kids to do (I want to teach them to do the Cha Cha Slide).  We piled into another KG2 teacher's class and watched some Pink Panther cartoons until it was time to go home.  
While sitting in the classroom with the kids, another teacher who teaches KG1 came by with a student who is a known wander.  This doesn't seem abnormal that she had him, however the look of panic on her face and the fact that he had his pants and underwear in his hands were not so normal.  She was looking for one of the bus moms to help her with him, they were nowhere to be found, so I stepped in.  Perhaps it is wrong, but I treat my students like I would if they were my own kids.  I felt embarrassed for him, even though he had a smile on his face and didn't seem to mind.  I asked her what had happened and all she knew is he asked to go to the bathroom and came out in his current state.  She thought his pants and underwear were wet, they in fact weren't, however his socks were (he had taken his shoes off too).  I started to dress him, taking his socks off and putting his shoes back on him.  He was smiley the whole time and Nina was so grateful for my help.  I know for a fact THAT is not written into my contract here!  
After school was over, we had to hang around until 2 even though we didn't have a meeting.  The drive home was stressful, a mini sandstorm was in full effect.  By the time I got home, my upper back was sore from gripping the wheel so hard.  Luckily I knew how to drive in strong winds due to driving back and forth from WA to MT for 4.5 years.  I have experienced strong winds, blizzards, torrential downpours, and blinding sunshine.  
Monday 11/18
Today we had some knowledge of the fact that we were going to go to the Wedding Hall for some soft of practice for National Day.  The leftover kids weren't invited to be there which absolutely broke my heart, but we couldn't do anything about it.  They also apparently wanted us all to wear Abayas, well if I had been told about this, I would have purchased one, but we thought we were celebrating National Day next week, so the one I ordered won't be finished until Thursday.  So we were in charge of watching the leftover kids until the buses came back to take them home and then we were supposed to head to the Wedding Hall.  When we arrived at the Wedding Hall, I about died, I turned the corner and standing by the doors were 3 CAMELS!  I freaked out and happened to be standing by my principal who explained that this was only for KG and that she made this happen.  I was almost paralyzed with excitement!  There were also about 4 beautiful horses whose riders were dressed in traditional Kandoras and were carrying the UAE flags.  I went over to the camels and asked the handlers if I could get a picture with them and he made them lay down on the ground.  I pet them for a bit, I wanted to give them a hug, but they aren't the cleanest animals and I was wearing a nice dress, so I didn't want to get it dirty.  When we entered the hall, there were different tables that represented different things associated with their culture.  There were food tables, Henna, and clothing just to name a few.  We walked around and looked at different things and then everyone made their way outside.  We were standing outside for a while, not knowing what was going on and getting sanded because it was so windy!  All of a sudden, about 4 white SUVs pulled up and several men dressed in Kandoras and some in suits emerged from the vehicles.  They greeted the other men that were there while the kids were prompted to sing the National Anthem of the UAE.  While the men were greeting one another I noticed in the distance another man emerging from an SUV with a FALCON!  The falcon is a national symbol here and I had yet to see one!  I of course freaked out and pointed it out to everyone around me.  We all made our way back into the hall where we were instructed to babysit the kids in the back until they were ready to preform.  I am sorry but this seriously irritated me, I wanted to see what their culture was all about and was being stopped from doing so because they needed someone to watch the kids.  What I did see was beautiful!  The KG2 girls preformed the traditional bride dance, they dressed one of the girls as a bride and the rest did a dance around her, it was beautiful!  I also was able to witness someone very important come into the hall.  As he did so, all the men in the front row stood up and did the traditional nose touch as a sign of respect.  The men touch noses to greet each other as a sign of major respect.  I had never seen this before, but was aware that they do it.  It was very cool to see!  The man sat down and enjoyed the show, we figured out he was a son of one of the Sheikh's sons, but we aren't sure.  Whoever he was, he was majorly important.  After the performances, we were able to leave and go home where I crashed hard for about 5 hours!  
I guess you could say I was stressed from not knowing what was going on and that in turn made me exhausted.  I had the most delicious dinner at Rebecca's.  She cooked salmon in the crock pot (a recipe I gave her).  We had rice and asparagus with it and it was delicious.  We topped off our dinner with the latest episodes of Scandal(amazing show!).
Tuesday 11/19
Well, we knew that today we would be doing the same thing we did yesterday, only this time we would be performing for the mothers.  I loved seeing all of the moms because I like to see how different their Abayas are and it gives me an idea of the kind I want to get.  The performances went very well today, and the leftover kids were able to attend and watch!!  We were also able to leave early as long as we clocked out at the school.  I came home and crashed again.  I was able to chat with Windy and Dylan today also!  Miss everyone back home!  Enjoy the pictures!

Sandstorm

This little doll runs up to me every morning and wraps her arms around me and says "Teacher!"

Our school nurse, she's great!

Beautiful falcon!

The bride, isn't she beautiful!?

All the important men that came, the one with the red head scarf was the really important one

 

National Day, It's a Big Deal.......

Wednesday 11/13
Fog again this morning, much worse than Tuesday, but I pushed through it.  I went really slow behind a truck that was doing the same thing while we both had our hazard lights on so people could see us.  I made it to school and it was another crazy day.  Today, they told us they were going to practice for National Day right after breakfast which means I wouldn't be teaching math.  Well, that turned out not to be true, so in the time I did have for math, which wasn't much, I sang some math songs with my kids and then they were off to practice for National Day.  The students that I had left over sang out UAE flag song with me and then played with blocks.  I had the teacher across from me bring her kids into the classroom so our kids could play together.  It was the ultimate stare down from the two classes.  My kids were like "what are you doing in my classroom", while the other class wasn't sure if they should join them or not.  After about 30 seconds, they started to play together.  Two of my boys (my super busy ones that like to do the opposite of what I say) decided they wanted me to read books with them.  This was a blast, I had no idea what the book was about, but I made stuff up about the pictures and they loved it!  

Thursday 11/14
No fog this morning, thank goodness!  Today I decided that the students who were left over in my room would get a very special treat!  I had them make Arabic ants on a log.  I can't find celery here, and I didn't feel like going to the store at night and getting stared at to get bananas, so I used what I had, bread!  I put the peanut butter on the bread and had them count out 7 raisins (the number we are learning this week).  Then I told them they could eat it, they looked at me like I was crazy!  I had to giggle to myself, in the states, the kids would have devoured this, here, not so much, they didn't know what peanut butter was!  Three students tried it, one almost threw it back up, I told him to spit it out in the garbage and it was ok if he didn't like it.  My student that is super busy, smart, and hyper said "mmmmm, teacher, it's delicious!"  I LOVED IT!  

This is my busy bee, I had to show her face because she is so stinkin' cute!

After school, Rebecca and I went to the internet company (we are NOT fans) to figure out why our bills we just received are so large.  Turns out we pay for two months at a time, it would have been so nice if the guy who threw the forms at us to sign up would have TOLD us that, but no, he did not want to help us.  By the way, he still works there (goodie).  A few hours later, Melissa arrived to spend the weekend.  She brought her adorable cat Bugsy with her so I could have some animal interaction.  We ventured to a new restaurant which we thought was Indian, but it was Lebanese instead.  I ordered Hamour fish on top of rice which was delicious!  We took Melissa to the "mall" to experience the children running around, it is quite the experience.

Friday 11/15
Today was a lazy, lazy day.  Melissa made a super yummy breakfast for us (pretty sure since she was the guest I was supposed to make breakfast, but she offered!).  We had hash browns, onions, mushrooms, and eggs all mixed together.  It was delicious and of course there was coffee!  We decided to get semi dressed up and have dinner at the hotel out in the middle of the desert.  Well, we have no idea where everyone was, but they sure as heck weren't at the hotel!  It was dead!  They were having a special Arabian BBQ buffet, but it was super expensive and I didn't feel like paying that much for dinner.  We decided to have dinner in the restaurant instead.  I had a pasta dish that was delicious!  After we got back from dinner, the boys (Alex, Brandon and Gram) invited us up to their rooftop to just chill.  It was nice, the weather was perfect and the conversation was fun.  There was one casualty, this poor cheap lawn chair.  It produced a good laugh though.

Saturday 11/16
This morning I video chatted with Daniele.  Oh, how I miss her!  She discovered the Zombie setting on the camera, so she was playing around with it.  Here is what she looks like as a Zombie.

Later on, I picked up Pepper (teacher from my school) and we ventured to the fish market in search of some sort of Abaya to wear for National Day at school.  We found them, were measured, and payed half down for them.  They will be ready this Thursday.  When I returned, Melissa headed home and I headed back to my couch!  Rebecca and I made our way out to where they have the camel races to see what exactly they are selling in those tents that seemed to have popped up.  While driving on the sand (do what the locals do right!?!?), we started to go through some rather thick sand.  I noticed Rebecca started to slow down, I immediately told her not to slow down, that's how you get stuck.  I told her that's what you have to do in snow, her response was "I'm from Florida, we don't have snow!"  Ooops, I forgot!  Well, now she knows what it feels like to drive in snow haha.  I have been working on lesson plans and catching up on TV shows.  Here are some more pictures from the week.  Enjoy!

The bakery I stop at each day

More of the bakery

The baker randomly gives me some of the yummy treats they have, this one was a sweet bread with pistachios on it

The flags for National Day outside my school

Large UAE flag draped over the entrance to my school

Bugsy

And we recycle in my complex!  Woohoo!

Freaky Fog

Saturday 11/9
Today I had the honor of watching Gizmo and Vinnie for the day.  They are such cute dogs, and today I received several kisses from Vinnie, he is becoming lots more comfortable with me.  I also received a text from their owner asking if she could put me down as their emergency contact at the Vet!  I truly felt honored that they would ask me to be that important person for their pets.  I made a breakfast in my Crockpot that I sent with them after they dropped the dogs off and Rebecca came over for.  It was hash browns, cheese, ham (forbidden in this country due to religious beliefs, but one grocery store chain in the city carries pork products), eggs and onions.  It was to die for!  I will definitely make it again!  Later that evening, Rebecca and I made our way out to the Liwa Hotel (beautiful hotel in the middle of the desert).  We met Alex and Brandon out there for dinner.  It was delicious, I had Pad Thai with chicken.  Next time we go, I want to do the buffet, it looked amazing!  On Saturdays they have Teacher's Day which means you can come and use their pool, gym, have high tea and some other things I'm not sure of.  Rebecca and I are going to check it out on Saturday!  As we drove to the hotel, we noticed they are starting to set up tents for the Camel races/festival.  I can't wait to check it out!  My goal: to hug a camel, I don't care how smelly they are, I want to hug one!
Sunday 11/10
Today was a pretty good day for teaching, the students pretty much listened to me and my lessons went well.  When it came to practicing for National Day, my HoF had recorded herself singing a made up song about the colors of the UAE flag.  I played it for the kids and we practiced singing it.  I then let them play with blocks and puzzles while the song played, the kids kept singing it, it was awesome!
Monday 11/11
Today was another ok teaching day.  I had to swap my teaching time for English with my Arabic co-teacher because I needed to go do a peer observation in another classroom.  It was nice to see what other teachers are doing in the classroom and get ideas from them and what they do.  I wish we had those back in the states, I think we can learn so much from each other and it helps us become better teachers.  The teacher I watched did a great job of managing her kids as well as teaching the lesson on the letter R.  We practiced the song for National Day again and my kids really like it, it's so cute to see them sing it.  During out playtime, I put out some paper and colored with some of the kids.  I drew a picture of what home looked like for me so they could see.  I drew a tree with red, yellow and orange leaves falling from it into a pile on the ground.  I drew green grass with flowers in it as well as dark clouds with rain falling from them to the ground.  Oh how I miss the RAIN!  I have always loved the rain.  I remember when I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher was teaching this great lesson on something (so I don't remember what she was teaching me, it was 12 years ago, but I know it was a great lesson, because she was a great teacher!) and she stopped in the middle of her lesson and told us to turn around and look out the windows.  It was raining super hard and she told us to look at the rain hitting the cement and how it looked like hundreds of little people dancing and having a party.  I will never forget her doing that, thanks Mrs. Harbaugh!  From that day on, I have loved the rain and even stop my classes and have them look outside at the tiny people having a party and dancing.  Anyway, I really miss the rain, the sense of the earth being cleaned is so refreshing.  They were super impressed with my drawing and even pointed out what I was drawing so the others could come look at it.  One of my little girls who is super smart and super hyper (seems to always go together!) finished her drawing of a rainbow and said "teacher, TaDa!".  I could not stop laughing, she is so stinkin' cute even though she drives me crazy because she can't sit still or control herself.
This evening, I was video chatting with my parents and while I was doing so, I was getting an incoming call from my brother.  I told my parents I would call them back as my brother was going to open his birthday presents from me so I could see (pretty cool that his birthday is on Veteran's Day and he served in the US Navy for 25 years).  I pressed answer on the call and instead of hanging up on my parents, it added my brother to the video chat!  I added my sister as well, so we could all celebrate his birthday together, it was the best conversation via video chat I have had yet.  Technology although at times very frustrating, is totally awesome!  
Tuesday 11/12
Is it Thursday yet?!?!  I had a rough day of teaching today.  It is super difficult to get my kids to do anything when my co-teacher isn't in the room to translate.  English went ok, but from Math on sucked.  My students weren't listening, doing what they wanted, laughing at me when I tell them to do something, running away from me when I tell them to stop and try to get them to sit on the carpet.  It was very frustrating.  I have definitely implemented some of what I have seen on SuperNanny when it comes to time outs.  I had two students who sat out the WHOLE play time because they weren't listening and continued to not listen after being put in time out.  Of course of them turned on the waterworks when my co-teacher came back into the classroom, but she didn't show sympathy for him which was nice.  I think we have the same feelings towards behaviors which is nice!
I had a good chat via text with my HoF this afternoon which started out as me just asking questions about required things for school such as portfolios (I NEVER thought I would move 7,000 miles away from home and have to do portfolios again, ugh) and planning.  It then turned into her telling me that I am doing a good job.  Boy was that nice to hear!  I also told her that she is doing a good job of being a HoF (it's her first year) and I can tell she is trying to make our lives as unstressed as possible and I appreciate her hard work.  I have found that the smallest of compliments or even a smile (a genuine one) can make all the difference in someones day.
Oh!  I forgot to talk about the fog this morning.  I was told when I moved out West that school can be canceled due to fog.  This morning I set out for school and about 10 minutes into my drive turned around.  I drove through fog one morning a few weeks ago, but this was worse, the car that was in front of me disappeared into the fog and I felt for my safety I needed to turn back.  I got back to my place after talking to my HoF and her advising me to wait and leave later and sat in my car.  I text the other teachers that I knew left earlier than I do (one takes the bus and the other share a car with someone else who teaches in Mirfa) and asked them how the fog was.  The teacher on the bus said it wasn't bad once you hit the E11 and the other two said basically the same thing.  I decided to try it again, it was pretty scary in a few spots, but I made it.  I wasn't late for school, but I was late for me.  I didn't want to show up late to school, it totally throws my whole day off.  I remember my first year at Visitation (my school I taught at for 6 years), there was a morning my alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 7:45.  School started at 8!  I woke up panicked and immediately called my principal and told her I would be there ASAP (she didn't know I wasn't there).  I made it to school by the second bell at 8:15.  My whole day was thrown off, it wasn't a good feeling.  So, that is why I powered through the fog.
Here are some pictures from the last few days, enjoy!

Wish I could do this myself, but they do a great job

Miss these two!

Vinnie and his duck pillow

Best ooVoo chat ever!

Today lots of students dressed up in UAE colors, so cute/cool!

I Have No Idea What Just Happened!

Saturday 11/2
Today, I decided to say in Abu Dhabi one more night.  Since we didn't have school on Sunday, I decided, why not?  We made our way down to Cindy's apartment for another amazing breakfast and delicious coffee!  This time Buddy was attached to the door and the kitten was roaming about the house.  Cindy wasn't sure what Buddy would do to the kitten since she is so small and vice versa, so in order for them to exist in the same room, Buddy had to be attached to the door.  He was perfectly content there and the kitten stayed away from him, for the most part.  After breakfast, we ventured to the mall and did some shopping.  I decided I was sick of the 2 different smells I had to choose from for air fresheners at the store in MZ, so I decided to splurge on some air fresheners, candles, and soap at Bath and Body Works.  Let me tell you something, my place smells like delicious apples! 
Sunday 11/3
We went to Melissa's spa for an afternoon of pampering.  They were having a special which included an hour full body massage, mani and pedi.  I also got my eyebrows waxed, which was interesting.....I miss Dina and her wonderful talents!  Everything was amazing, I will definitely be back!  After that, I headed home, where I met Rebecca for dinner and picked Cormack up to have him work on my Roku.  He FIXED IT!  Took him a little longer than expected, but he saved me AED 300 and I bought him some ice cream as a thank you.  
Monday 11/4
Well, today went ok teaching wise, I can't remember anything significant other than we watched our HoF do a model lesson for us.  Her lesson was great, but she understands as well as us, that our co-teacher isn't always in the room to interpret for us and the kids aren't always well behaved either.  
Tuesday 11/5
Well, today was difficult, the kids weren't listening, my co-teacher wasn't really in the room which made it difficult to teach.  I also discovered that my tire had gone flat while I was teaching.  I called Hertz and the explained that someone would come out to change the tire (I will admit I know nothing about cars, I can turn them on and work the radio, that's about it.  Not really, but I can't change a tire).  Long story short, another teacher at my school was kind enough to wait until I figured out what was happening and drive me home.  I explained to Hertz that I was going to leave my car unlocked and at my school and they could change the tire when they arrived (coming from the city, it would take them 2 hours).  With the help of my HoF (who offered to change my tire for me, reminded me of Daniele), she helped me explain to the security guard that I would be leaving the car and they would come and change the tire.  He was kind enough to offer to change the tire himself, however I was irritated with Hertz (they told me flat tires were not covered under insurance and I needed to pay to have the tire repaired myself) and wanted them to drive all the way out to Mirfa to change it.  The security guards for the schools live on campus, so there is always someone there.  It wasn't a problem for him to make sure they knew what car, etc.  
I headed home with the teacher from school, this was about 2 pm, from 2-6:30 I received 6 calls from the gentlemen looking for my school/car.  Let me tell you something, Mirfa is tiny, you could drive through it in 10 minutes.  There is only 1 KG school in the whole town and 4 school campuses total in the whole town.  I kept telling them what it was close to and they couldn't seem to find it, finally on their last call to me I told them it was close to the hospital, apparently they understood that because they never called again.  
Wednesday 11/6
When I arrived at school today, my tire had been changed.  I noticed that looked exactly like the rest of the tires.  I at least know that spare tires look different in size than the rest.  I checked the spare and it was still in the trunk.  So, what had happened was they decided to change out the tire maybe because it was damaged beyond repair.  The security guard came up to me and told me they did come out to change it.  I figured they would add the cost of the new tire to my bill, which I wasn't too excited about, but was thankful I wouldn't have to deal with taking it to the tire shop.  After school, Rebecca and I met some friends at the mall for dinner.  We had some great conversations about traveling and where we had all been.  We talked a lot about Paris and how many neat things there are to do there.  I can't wait to go back and see more this summer or spring.  
Thursday 11/7
School was so fun today.  The English teachers organized something called Science Day.  We basically taught science all day to the different classes in our grade.  I taught my lesson on sound 4 different times, to all the KG2 classes.  They absolutely loved it!  I demonstrated LOUD sound and quiet sound with different objects and then had them make telephones out of string and two paper cups.  I showed them how it worked and the look on their faces when they could hear my voice was priceless!  They also were able to keep their phones and take them home.  I came home and ventured to the mall with Rebecca for a treat and then went to bed early.  
Friday 11/8
Bright and early this morning (8AM), Rebecca and I hopped into my car and headed to Abu Dhabi.  Our mission this time was to exchange my car for something smaller and more affordable.  After our trip to the airport (I got a Honda City, look it up, it's a cute car), we headed to Casey and Lindsey's apartments to check them out!  They are gorgeous, beautiful views and the perfect size!  We then went to Jones the Grocer for lunch (I am obsessed with this place!) which was delicious of course.  After that we went to the mall so I could get a few items for the crock pot breakfast I was going to make the next day and a few other items you can't find in our town (shocking, I know!).  After shopping, we headed back to MZ.  It was really weird driving in such a small car when I was so used to an SUV here and that is what I had back home as well.  Rebecca made us some delicious ham, brie, and apple sandwiches on a fresh baguette that she got at Jones the Grocer, for dinner.  This sandwich reminded me of the sandwiches Windy made for the teachers at Dylan's school.  After dinner, we decided to take a walk to get some exercise.  Well, that is something we will do again, however we will never do alone.  The same car (Emirate) drove past us 4 times, each time saying something to us out his window.  First of all, that's super creepy, and secondly, you look like an idiot doing that.  The walk was nice, it was cool out, but I still worked up a good sweat.  
Here are some pics from the week, enjoy!

I was hours away from guessing the correct due date for Melanie's baby!

Melissa has been here for 2+ years, if there's no parking at Starbucks, you make your own!

Cormack working his computer magic!

Is it Thursday Yet?

Monday 10/28
Today as an amazing day of teaching.  I can't exactly remember why, as I didn't write down what happened, but I can take a guess.  I am sure my lessons went well, and the students were engaged and listening.  Oh, I do remember that only 13 of my students showed up, the smaller numbers make it really nice to teach them.  I also gave them a worksheet for homework which they were so excited about.  I wanted them to practice writing the number 6 since that was our number for the week.  I walked out of my room at one point while the kids were at recess(they call it brake here which is strange to me) and saw my HoF and said "I just taught some awesome lessons, they were engaged, listening, they understood, etc.  She was very encouraging and explained that days like today make being here worth while.  
Tuesday 10/29
It was a conspiracy, I am convinced!  These kids had it out for myself and my Arabic co-teacher today.  My lessons went horribly, the students were not engaged, not listening, they thought everything was funny, ugh!  This day is kind of a blur, the only thing that made it worth while was the fact that Rebecca invited me over for TACOS!  You are probably going to think that I am crazy, but I desperately miss Mexican food!  She also invited Cormack over to try his FIRST taco!  He was really excited about it and Rebecca even recorded the first bite and his reaction.  He brought over some of these AMAZING homemade no bake cookies that he always makes back home in Ireland.  They were to die for, and super easy to make, I will be attempting them here before I make them when I'm home in July.  He is the sweetest man, Rebecca and I both really enjoy his company.  He is so full of information and wonderful stories about Ireland, etc., I can't wait to visit!  I was explaining to him about my Roku and how when I set it up, it ended up registering that I was in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and so I can't put Hulu or Netflix on it, which is the whole point of me having the darn thing.  He said he would love to take a look at it, he spent probably 2 hours looking at it and my router, found my router came with an old version of software on it (really unhappy about that, Rebecca's did as well), updated it and said he would research how to make the Roku work that night and hopefully fix it this weekend.  I am so thankful, dinner will definitely be at my place next time for him in thanks for all of his help!  
Wednesday 10/30
So here in the UAE, they don't celebrate/believe in Halloween, so normally in the states I would chalk up their behavior today as they are excited Halloween is tomorrow, oh no, no excuse here!  This morning I was told, how everything is communicated here, LAST MINUTE, that I would be teaching English first thing in the morning as well as either Math or Science.  The Arabic teachers were going to go into their HoF's classroom and watch a model lesson and be back after that, so in time for breakfast.  So my morning lesson actually went ok, they are much more teachable in the morning than after they have had breakfast (sugar).  So breakfast rolls around, the teachers are nowhere to be found, I ask my HoF if they are coming back to teach Islamic and Arabic after breakfast because I have already done my lessons for the day.  She informed me they were "supposed" to come back.  It turns out, that some people from ADEC were at our school, watched the lesson and wanted to talk with them about it, so they were in a meeting from 9:30-11!!  My students were absolutely the worst I have experienced them.  I had 4 kids sitting out and away from the carpet at one point (I wanted to sit the whole class out, minus 5 of them, but that wasn't going to happen) because they weren't listening. I found my HoF coming out of my neighbor's classroom and asked her if she would take a child that was COMPLETELY disruptive to my class, she said of course, no problem, I then asked her if she would take another one as well who was equally as disruptive, she said yes.  She gave me a great idea to open the door to outside and have them play on the patio until break time and she would sit in the classroom with the two students who weren't listening so they could watch everyone have fun.  BOY, did they look SAD when she did that, that made be chuckle haha.  My co-teacher finally came back by the time break was over (11 o'clock) and very kindly told me to go take a break.  She is such a kind woman, she tried to be very fair when it comes to breaks, always making sure I get one.  I know the meeting wasn't her fault, but when I saw her, I was relieved.  I tried to come back after 30 minutes because that is how long our break is supposed to be and she shooed me out of the room saying in very broken English that I had them all morning, no problem, go rest.  Let me tell you something, after that day, ALL the EMT's (English Medium Teachers) at my school didn't want to come back the next day.  It was just really hard to attempt to do our jobs properly.  
During our PD (professional development) that afternoon, I was visibly pissed off, I didn't want to be there, I was annoyed with the lack of communication, etc at the school, it wasn't a good feeling.  I was quickly amused at this meeting though.  So, we were talking about what we are going to do in preparation for National Day (their version of the 4th of July) which is December 2nd, but we get two days off for it.  So as they were talking about what to do and our translator was translating (she is awesome and funny and so kind), since they kept saying celebrate so much, I quietly (or so I thought) started singing "Celebrate good times, come on".   Well, Amani our translator heard me and said "Miss Colleen, maybe you want to sing and dance for the students at the assembly?"  I looked at her with a dumbfounded face and said absolutely not, and she told me she could hear me singing and maybe the students would like that (she said this with a smile on her face, trying to hold back laughter).  I told her she wasn't supposed to hear that!  That started to bring my spirits up, then came the thing that brought me to tears, I was laughing so hard.  Amani, our translator was going back and forth translating things for us that the Arabic staff was saying.  She was doing a good job, however all the talking from almost all the Arabic teachers at once must have gotten to her, because she turned to my HoF to translate and started speaking straight Arabic to her.  My HoF was like I have no clue what you are saying!  Amani slapped her forehead with her hand and started laughing, which got all of us laughing, and me tearing up from laughing so hard.  It was the perfect end to such a difficult day!  
Thursday 10/31
Today was Halloween right?  Well, here it didn't seem like it at all.  The kids were again behaving horribly, even my co-teacher had a difficult time with them.  I decided that for math since we were doing patterns, we would scrap the centers for the day and I would have students help me out by being the teacher.  In my classroom there are these ball things that stack on top of each other and there are all different colors.  I had them stack them in simple patterns and tell me what color was next (working on colors and patterns, woohoo!).  They loved getting to be the teacher and helping me, but as soon as my co-teacher walked out of the classroom, they stopped listening.  At one point I sat a student outside my door, I've heard from other teachers that they have done that, not too sure if it is accepted here, but if you are being so disruptive to the class that you are preventing me from doing my job and the other kids from learning, there shouldn't be an issue with it, I would think.  After work, we presented out cleaning ladies with gift bags, full of toiletries, scarves, hair things, etc just as a thank you to them for all that they do.  They were totally moved and shocked.  I guess last year the English staff did the same thing for them as well. 
After school, I headed to Abu Dhabi to stay with my friend Melissa for the weekend.  I drove another teacher at my school to the mall right by Melissa's house and we walked around the mall for a bit before we parted ways.  It was so nice to sit and get to know her a little more.  It was also very nice to be in a MALL where there are lots of people and not everyone is staring at you.  I headed to Melissa's place which is awesome, where she was having a get together for Halloween.  It was fun getting to meet some more veteran teachers and friends of hers.  
Friday 11/1
Yikes when did November get here?!?!  Melissa and I went downstairs in her building to another teacher's apartment that was hosting brunch.  This was SUCH a good brunch!  Cindy is from Texas, so it was Tex-Mex style breakfast food, and the best part, there was real bacon!  Melissa wasn't feeling her 100% self, so she went back to her place to rest a bit to try and fell better.  I stayed at Cindy's with a few other people and just chatted.  They were filled with so much information (they are all veteran teachers here) and it was nice to be around vets here that were feeling the same way I was about the whole situation.  Cindy has an 8 week old kitten, so I got my kitten fix, and she also has a medium to large sized dog!  I took Buddy(the dog) for a walk outside before I headed back up to Melissa's apartment, I haven't walked a bigger dog in 2 months!  He is very well behaved and super cute!  Melissa and I decided to go to dinner at a place that has become my favorite restaurant in the city, Jones the Grocer.  It is an Australian restaurant, I went there with Cindy the first day I was here, and with Melissa a few days later.  The food is so fresh and presented in the coolest way, square plates, they spread the ketchup on the in a line instead of putting it in a dish.  They also sell kitchen supplies, food, cheese, and bread!  It is like a deli/grocery store/bakery.  I invited Casey to come to dinner with us, and she was dying to eat there!  We then went to Carefour which is like LuLu's and did a bit of shopping, headed to Starbucks (which happens to be right behind Melissa's building, very jealous) and headed back to her place.  I was able to finish lesson planning for the week and found some fun things to do with the kids which you'll have to stay tuned for the details on next week.  I forgot to mention Melissa's cat, Bugsy.  He is such a cute cat, super friendly, and very talkative!  He comes and snuggles with me in the mornings after meowing to wake me up haha.  Anyway, here are a few pics, enjoy! 

Buddy

Since we were learning patterns, they made their flag!

Story of every teacher's life!

Bugsy