A Ginger Teacher in Abu Dhabi: 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!