Another Week

So, let's see.... What's been going on this week. 

Well I believe I am finally over my cold.  I still have a little cough, but not much.  I didn't end up having to take a sick day either!  That's great because I really really didn't want to have to go to the hospital and go through all the steps.

Testing.  I can't get away from testing even 1/2 way around the world.  The EMSA is in March and I've got to do test prep.  It's so frustratingly difficult.  The amount of English is unbelievable!  My faculty head is really pushing test prep and she even got some grade 3 test prep materials from Canada that she wants me to use. Yeah, like my girls can read and answer questions based on Canadian grade 3 students.  So, I went and found some ESL reading comprehension stuff.  A lot better.  They still need a lot of assistance reading it and comprehending, but it's better than actual grade 3 material.  What in the world was she thinking?! 

I went to register for Arabic classes starting in March and I discovered that I'm between levels.  I had conversation with the Arabic teacher over the phone and from our short conversation she thinks I am between a level 2 and 3.  Not sure how I could be considered a level 2 when all level 1 did was the alphabet and I am way beyond that.  I mean I am writing full sentences and paragraphs and reading.  Not that I'm understanding what I'm reading, but I'm reading.  I kind of think I'm beyond that, but I didn't get to tell her all I know or show her what I've been doing so we'll just go with that for now.  I went to Alliance Fraincaise and was told that I could sit in the first week and see what I think.  I will go and talk to the teacher and show her what I've been working on, and hopefully get a better evaluation.  The thing is Alliance Fraincaise only has a level 2 class now.  The level 3 class won't happen until May and level 4 (which I think I may be, or at least between a  level 3 and 4) won't start until August.  That's a lot of waiting.  So, do I just go through the class and consider it a review, find another place/teacher, or just wait until Sept. when I come back?  The issue with signing up for the class is that it would be an expensive review (1500dhs).  If I don't sign up though I am likely to lose it all.  Decisions, decisions.

I decided not to buy a car; I'm going to go to Bangkok instead!  After discussing the car issue with Susan I have decided that the amount that I'm paying for a rental car (2200dhs/month), even though it's ridiculously expensive, is for convience.  I won't have to worry about it in the summer when I'm back home in America.  I won't have to worry about trying to sell it when I leave next August.  I won't have to worry about getting it fixed if I ever get in an accident.  I won't have to worry about getting insurance (that's included in the monthly rental price).  So, the money that I have been saving to buy a used car has been sent home to pay off college loans and is being put towards a trip to Bangkok in March.

Winter is over:(  It's been in the mid to upper 80s lately.  It's getting hot!  I am not ready for the heat.  But at least I won't be in Abu Dhabi where it is super humid.  It will be hot here in Al Ain, but not nearly as humid.

I guess that's about all here.  I know; not too terribly exciting.  But, that's pretty much my week.

انا مريضة (ana mareeda - I am sick)

Not much to tell this week.  It was a short week due to Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH - peace be upon him) birthday.  Everyone writes PBUH after his name; some kind of respect.  So we had Thursday off.  It's a good thing too because I am sick.  This cold finally hit me.  I went to school on Wednesday even though I probably shouldn't have.  It's just such a hassle to stay home.  I would have had to go to the hospital (they don't have doctors here), wait forever, get a note, and then go somewhere else to get it authenticated.  I didn't want to bother with that so I went to school.  I didn't have much of a voice at all, but other than that I felt fine.  The girls were actually pretty good when I explained to them that I was sick and couldn't talk.  They were quiet and listened!  Maybe I should be sick all the time!!!  No, it's really not worth it:)

Here's an actual conversation that I had with a student on Tuesday:
Shouq - هل انت مريضة ابلا (hal ante mareeda, abla? -  Are you sick, teacher?)
Me - نعم (na'am - yes)
Shouq - go     الى بيتك (go ela baytooke - go to your home)
Me -لا  (la - no), who would teach you?
Shouq - We play!

So, was Shouq concerned because I was sick, or did she just want to play??!  That's the question:)  They would probably literally have played because when an LT is sick they don't get a sub and MAYBE an Arabic teacher would fill in.  And if an Arabic teacher did fill in she would probably let them play.

If I am not better tomorrow I will be going to the hospital and I will be taking Sunday off of work.  So, I have lesson plans to do today.

Still trying to figure out this mess with Najwa.  She's hurt, I'm hurt but we're really not getting anywhere.

Dubai Shopping Festival

I went to Dubai with Susan and Christine (Susan's co-worker and someone who was in group 1 at the beginning so she was at the InterCon with me when I arrived) today and had a very successful trip!  We left at 9:00 am and spent the entire day at the Dubai Mall.  That mall is huge!  I know we didn't see everything that is there.  When we got there at a little after 10:00 the mall wasn't crowded at all.  But, when we left at 7:00 the mall was packed.

The Dubai Mall has a Bath and Body Works, so I stocked up!  I bought a ton of lotion, soap, hand sanitizer, and body wash!  I think I have enough now to last me until I leave in the summer. 

I got 2 pair of Birkenstock sandals for 400dhs ($109)!  I was so surprised to be able to find shoes.  I wear a size 43 and no one, I mean no one, has that size in this counrty.  But, I had heard that Birkenstocks run big and I only needed a size 41.  I would have bought more, but they didn't have many to choose from in that size. 

I got a new purse!  I love it!!  It's a little big and a lot more than I have ever spent on a purse, but I love it!  It was only 185dhs ($50), and the wallet was only 57dhs ($15), so that's really not that much for a purse and wallet, but as I said it's a lot more than I have ever spent.

Inside the Mall is a grocery store that reminded me a lot of Whole Foods.  There is a Pork Store in the grocery store!!  I got some real pork chops.  I was going to buy bacon, but I didn't.  I couldn't find sausage, which was upsetting because I really, really, really want sausage.  But, I can't wait to eat my pork chops!!

There is also a Hershey Store in the Mall and I found Reeses Peanut Butter Cups!!  Those are my favorites and they don't sell them here.  I was super excited and bought a bag!  Not like I need them, but I love them!

We sat outside at a nice little cafe for lunch and got to see the Dubai Fountain!  We had no idea that there were shows during the day, we thought they were only at night.  Evidently there are shows every 1/2 hour!  Well, not really shows because it is only one song.  But it was amazing anyway!  Surprising, but wonderful to see.  We even got to see more than one.  At night there are lights, but we weren't there for that.  Maybe the show at night is more than just one song, or maybe not.  Anyway the Dubai Fountain is pretty neat!

On a totally different note, if I don't keep practicing Arabic I'm going to lose it.  I discovered that I had mistaken one of the letters when I was reading a sign today.  I thought it was a /d/ when it was really a /a'a/ (the crazy letter in Al-Ain).  I know, kind of a minor mistake, but I know my letters and I was really reading the sign wrong for a while even though the English transliteration was right there.  Although I am sort of speaking it at school, I'm not writing or reading anymore.  So, even after only a week of no classes I can already see me forgetting.  I am just going to have make sure that I spend a little time every day doing some writing and reading, until the class starts in March (hopefully I'll be able to sign up for it).

So, after a long and successful day of shopping I'm pretty tired.  I better get some rest because tomorrow I'll have to work all day:(  





Air Show

The Al Ain Air Show was last weekend.  Cassie and I went on Friday afternoon.  The price to enter the Air Show was 40AED, so we decided to park and watch from a parking lot instead of going in.  There were a lot of people doing the same thing.  Plus tons of people in the desert.  If I had a better car we may have tried to drive in the desert!  Yeah right!   There was a car stuck that reminded me of when Dad tried to drive the van on the beach!!  There was no way I was going to attempt driving in the desert!  The Air Show was pretty neat.  There were all types of planes performing aerobatics and stunts.  I especially liked the last performance that we saw.   There were 8 stealth bombers (I think; those are the really quiet ones that you can't hear until they pass??), whatever they were they did really good.  They started out in a formation and did some stunts and then they split off.  Two made a big heart while the others did something else.  It was amazing to see them do the bottom of the heart.  It looked like they were going to fly right into each other, but of course they didn't!  We had a good time and left before the crowds.  I didn't want to get stuck in traffic with these impatient drivers.

After the air show we went to the Hilton for dinner and ate at Paco's.  I had a chimichanga.  It was good, but definitely not Burrito Brothers!!!  Oh, how I miss Burrito Brothers!

Saturday was spent doing lesson plans.  I spent a good portion of the day on the Internet trying to find activities and lessons to teach animal adaptations (camouflage, hibernation, and migration).  Those are some big words, and concepts for English language learners.  I am going to have to get the Arabic for those words to help them grasp the concept in English.  They aren't in my Arabic/English Dictionary so I'll ask at school tomorrow.  We're going to do some sorting, watch a PowerPoint presentation, do motions for each one, and play a camouflage game.  Hopefully by the end of the unit they'll get the concepts.

The strangest thing happened with my Arabic teacher.  I am not going to dwell on this, but it's got to be mentioned.  On Wed. (my last class) she gave me a list of verbs and told me to work on them and when I finished I could come over and she would check them and we could talk about them.  She also said that I was welcome at her house anytime, for tea, to chat, or to play ping-pong with her son!  I thought things ended very well.  Well, I was quite wrong.  On Thurs she sent me an email telling me that she wasn't going to be able to offer a speaking course and she ended her email with "goodbye".  I emailed her back and thanked her for letting me know and asked if I could still come and work  on the verbs.  She replied "sorry".  So, that's that.  Not sure what happened, or what made her change her mind.  But, I'm thinking that I misinterpreted her kindness, and hoping that she didn't intentionally lie to me.  I don't think I'll ever get an explanation.   So, I have found a class that starts in March.  I am going to try to sign up for that one because I have to continue to learn this language.

Weekend trip to Dubai

Last weekend, Cassie and I took a much needed trip to Dubai (دبي).  Well, we didn't necessarily need to go to Dubai, we just needed to get out of Al Ain (العين).  We were planning on meeting Kisha there, but she was sick so it was just me and Cassie.  We left Friday afternoon and spent the day there.  We drove through a sandstorm!!  Yes, a real, true sandstorm.  Awesome!  Never thought I would experience one of those.  Well, ok maybe since I've been here I've been waiting to experience one of those.  Kind of like when I first arrived in NC I wanted to experience a hurricane.  Now that I've seen a sandstorm and a hurricane I don't think I need to experience them again.  So, in a sandstorm the sky gets all dark and sand flies everywhere.  It was super windy.  Winds up to 120kph (75mph).  Cassie did a good job driving by the way!  It was weird seeing flying sand; we couldn't see very far in front of us.  I don't think Cassie was driving through the worst of it, but nevertheless it was a sandstorm.  Signboards (road signs, and building signs) were knocked down and when we arrived in Dubai we could see a lot of evidence of the destruction caused by the storm.  There were holes in the "fence" on the Corniche (it's not literally a fence, but I'm not sure what to call it and I can't really describe it in words, other than it's a border between the Corniche - beach walkway - and the road).  Even though the sandstorm is over the winds are still terrible (this is one time I wish I wore a sheylah - head covering; I am sick of my hair blowing everywher) and there is a fine layer of sand just about everywhere.  Disgusting. I am tired of eating it!

OK back to our trip to Dubai.  We stayed at the Intercon!!  We needed some luxury!  The room was fabulous.  Since I am an Ambassador Member we got a free room upgrade.  We only had to pay 1350AED for a room that costs 2700AED!  It was fabulous!  Wonderful view overlooking the city.  We could see the Burj in the distance.  It was beautiful when the sun was setting.  Unfortunately my camera didn't do it much justice, but it was stunning! 

When we checked into the hotel there was this really, really tall man outside greeting.  I mean really, really tall.  He was at least 1 foot and 1/2, if not more, taller than me!  I wanted to get my picture taken with him, but my camera was in my bag which was still in the car. Bummer:(  I shook his hand and couldn't help but be fascinated by the size of his hand.  It was huge!  Maybe the width of both of my hands!  He was very friendly and allowed many people to take his picture.  Just wish I had my camera because by the time I got checked in and got my bag he was gone.  We lounged in the hotel for a while and then ventured out to find something to eat. 

Driving in Dubai is always an adventure.  Even with a GPS we can never find what we're looking for.  We drove around for almost 2 hours before we found the restaurant we were looking for.  We ate at this super fancy seafood restaurant.  It was delicious!  I had a fabulous coral salad, stuffed rainbow sea bass, and an autumn spring roll for desert.  Yummy!!  We would definitely go back.  While at the restaurant we got a wonderful view of the aquarium and the fireworks that were being set off because of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF).  After dinner we walked along the Corniche for a while and then headed back to the hotel. 

Trips with Cassie are so much fun!  I laugh so much:)  At one point when we were trying to get to the Corniche, I thought she said "wifes (I know not a word, but that's what I thought she said) in the roundabout" when she really said "lights in the roundabout".  Both are strange, but wifes in the roundabout is weirder (is that a word, or is it more weird??).  Anyway I thought we were going to get trapped in the roundabout because of the lights and we missed our "exit" and had to go around again.  We were cracking up because we may have actually ended up as wifes in the roundabout as we drove around and around waiting for our future husbands to resuce us!!!  Hillarious!  OK, maybe you had to be there, but we were hysterical. 

We made it back to the hotel and enjoyed the room and shower.  The shower was fabulous!  I could have stayed in the shower forever:)  I did take a picture of that, but someone thinks I go crazy with bathroom pictures (Amy!!).  The following morning started with a wonderful breakfast at the Intercon buffet!  That was one of the major reasons we chose to stay at the Intercon.  We know the breakfast buffet is to die for.  Then we went to the Dubai Mall.  I didn't buy a single thing, even though it's the DSF.  I couldn't find anything that I absolutely needed or even really wanted.  I guess that's a good thing, but I was looking for shoes and a new purse.  I am not a shopper and I don't like spending huge amounts of money so maybe the Dubai Mall isn't the place for me to shop.  Other than the fact that during the DSF there are huge sales.  I wanted to go to Global Village, but struck out again.  It doesn't open until 4:00 and we needed to head back to Al Ain so we could get ready for the following week at school.  Hopefully I will get there before it closes for the year (end of Feb.).  I'll just have to make sure to make that happen.  So that was my trip to Dubai.  A fun filled 1/2 weekend that was muchly needed!

School this week has been pretty good.  I had another observation on Tuesday.  It didn't go as good as the first one.  First of all it was in the afternoon and that's always worse, then there was the fact that I was coming in right after having my morning group so there was no time for me to set up and prepare.  I hated for Andrea to see that, but what could I do?  It's something I have to deal with every Tuesday.  I don't like it, but since I don't have my own room it's a reality.  Other than that she said it was good.  She liked the lesson and the group activity, so I'm pleased about that.

نهيت مع اللغة العربية (newhetwo ma'a alloograh ala'arabeeah - I am finished with the Arabic language).  She introduced verbs today, but not "finished" so I tried this one on my own.  I tried making it feminine, personal, and past tense following the rules she gave me, but Google translator says it's "forbidden".  I tried.  So today was my last "formal class."  Not exactly sure what this means.  I asked Najwa on Monday if she would consider continuing my classes for the next year so I could work on meeting my goal and be ready to take a language proficiency test next year.   She said that she was working on material for a speaking course and to give her time.  Then today she said I was "finished with formal classes", but I could always come back, and that "if there were another class" .  What am I supposed to make of those?  Plus she gave me homework!!!  Yes, homework on the last class.  Strange.  She told me to work with the verbs; make them femimine, past tense, and personal and that we would go over them when I was ready.  So I'll work with the verbs and let her know when I've accomplished what she wants me to do.  I just wish I knew what her plans were.  Because if she isn't able to offer another course I need to sign up for one.  I guess if she doesn't get back to me soon I'll have to ask her again. 

A funny thing happened in class today.  I was writing the English translation of a phrase and I started to write in Arabic; well not using the Arabic script but from right to left!!  Oh my gosh!  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't know what to do.  I stared at the word I wrote (I) on the right side of the paper and didn't know how to continue.  She laughed at me and said that was a good thing!  I am now thinking Arabic!

One more day and then it's the weekend:)