Emirates Palace

I went back to the Emirates Palace tonight!  It is absolutely beautiful at night, unfortunately the pictures that I took outside didn't show up due to lack of light.  I was able to take some inside, but they aren't that great. 

largest dome in the world

grand lobby

Cassandra, Lakisha and I went back so we could see the 2030 exhibit and the embroidery exhibit.  There are so many amazing things planned for Abu Dhabi in 2030.  They are going to build a Guggenheim, Louvre, performing arts center, maritime museum (which will be partly underwater), and a Sheikh Zayed museum.  It is amazing what they are going to do and how quickly they will get it done.  They will have the Guggenheim, Louvre, and performing arts center done by 2014.  If I am not here in 2030, I will definitely have to come back to see all the new museums!

Abu Dhabi in 2030

The embroidery exhibit was beautiful.  The details on each piece were amazing.  Unfortunately I was not able to take pictures.  Each piece told a story with the embroidery done on it.  I loved the colors and the different designs on each one.  There was one that had a picture of a princess (I believe from Iran) on it.  Her face was all over it, along with a man and a woman.  The guide told me that in Iran the image that was on the wall hanging of the princess surrounded by a man and a woman is seen frequently. 

This Middle Eastern culture seems to really respect their leaders.  Pictures of Sheikh Zayed are all over the place here.  He was a man with a great vision.  He embarked on this 2030 vision and his plan to transform education.  He is very respected.

I had training today for the first time since last week.  The training was very good and the people that were running it were informative and funny.  One of them will be my cluster manager in Al Ain.  He said that the school is very good with a progressive principal.  Ammorriyah Primary School is really embracing this change in education.  The focus of our meeting was on classroom management.  They told us some pretty scary stories about what happened to LTs last year; kids jumping on desks, running around the classroom, taking things off the wall, and constantly talking among other issues.  This seemed to be a big problem last year.  They made a point to tell us that it is perfectly fine if we spend 1 month on classroom management.  They know that it is impossible to teach a class of students that aren't behaving.  They were very positive.  I am sure those incidents happened last year, but I am hoping that they were the exception, not the norm.

I am moving to Al Ain tomorrow afternoon!!!  I will be in a hotel there until I get my apartment ready.  Once I get my furniture allowance, I will have 5 days to get the apartment ready and then it's bye bye hotel hello apartment!