A Ginger Teacher in Abu Dhabi: Another Week Down.....

Last week involved teaching (obviously) but with a few minor burps in the schedule. We started the week with Color Day which was put on by KG1 and was also supposed to be held at the local park. Since the weather wasn't the greatest, we had a change of plans (shocking) and held the events in our indoor play area. The events consisted of tug-o-war, various competitions that I would play with my PreK and K kids last year in PE, as well as a banana eating contest. They sang songs about different colors and painted pictures in their color groups as well. The day was fun, but not exactly organized, which seems to be how most things go. Later in the week we took a field trip to the public library. This library was beautiful, the kids section was so cute, the chairs were unique as well as the tables. There were lots of books in English as well as Arabic. The librarian took my class into a reading room, read them a book about feelings and had them pick from a fish bowl different faces with expressions from the book. The kids loved it, and the librarian even invited me back with the class so she could teach them an English lesson!
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity (last min.) to go to Fujairah which is one of the seven emirates. I stayed at a resort, swam, relaxed, ate amazing food, tried Moroccan tea and watched the filming of a show called Abu Dhabi Top Ten. This show highlights various things you can do around Abu Dhabi and in this case a weekend getaway. The sea was absolutely beautiful, not too warm and not too cold. I of course put my feet in the water multiple times, you can't go to a body of water and not out your feet in, anyone who knows me knows this. I also visited one of the oldest Mosques in the Emirates. It isn't built like any other mosque I have seen here. I also walked up to the watch towers to see where the watchmen would look out for the pearl divers to come back as well as if any enemies were coming. This part of the emirates is very mountainous which was very strange to see since all I have seen here is sand. On the way back, I caught a ride with Casey and Anna back to Abu Dhabi from Dubai. Casey and I shopped a bit at the mall before I headed back west. On Saturday, Rebecca and I decided to head to the Tilal Liwa Hotel and use their pool. For a fee which we LATER found out would have been cheaper if we had told them we were teachers (they told us it was too late). The pool was very relaxing and we also enjoyed some afternoon tea. Rebecca informed me that real afternoon tea (AKA in London) is nothing like what they have here and not to base this experience on a true afternoon tea. I can't wait for London and to have real afternoon tea.
This week started with almost a full class (not too sure why they are coming to school since we have been told that attendance will be down due to this being the week before the holiday, but oh well. Hopefully by tomorrow the kids will dwindle in numbers. I always have my UNO deck with me just in case! Enjoy the pictures!