Weird title, I know, but they go together here. When the temperature drops the flies come out. And they come out in droves! They are annoying and persistent. We joke that even the flies are Emirati! They don't care if you swat at them, they just keep coming back to get what they want! What makes the flies extra difficult to deal with is the fact that my school is outside and I have to keep my door open. So they just keep coming in. It's very annoying when I'm teaching and a fly is buzzing around my head!! Funny, but annoying! The flies come out from November till about February or March, then it gets too hot for them!
The flies aren't the only thing that comes out when it gets cooler. The sweaters, fur coats, hats, and boots come out as well! It is so funny seeing the girls dress for winter! They truly have no idea of cold. They start by wearing their sweater, which evolves into a jacket and then out come out the coats, hats, gloves, and boots. You'd think they were going to go play in the snow! Right now most of them are just wearing a sweater or a light fall jacket. Winter in the UAE!
So the week after Eid when we were supposed to come back to school for Wed. and Thurs. was very different. I had 6 girls in 4th grade and 9 girls in 3rd grade. So they combined 1st and 3rd, 4th and 5th, and since 2nd had the most they left them alone, and put them in 3 different rooms. The teachers took one period to "babysit" and then had the rest of the day off. Everyone got sent home at 12:00. That was Wed. Fewer kids showed up on Thurs and the car riders were sent home when they got out of the car. It was only the bus kids that stayed. And only one bus did its route. The same situation took place, except there were only 2 groups instead of 3, and we all left at 12:00. Hopefully ADEC has figured out their mistake; you don't mess with Eid!
Friday after church I went to a German families' house and learned how to cook German food. The lady goes to the same church and invited the women and their daughters over. Since Cindy was going I went (I'm practically Cindy's daughter anyway, although she is too young to be my mother:). Anyway the food was very sour. I could taste and smell the vinegar in everything. The meat was marinating in vinegar water for 3 days and she used that same marinade to cook the meat and vegetables. She made this bread thing that resembled stuffing until it was baked and then it looked like meat loaf. It didn't taste like meat loaf though. I can't tell you if it tasted like stuffing since I don't eat stuffing, but I can tell you that I didn't like it. I'm not really sure what it tasted like, but that was about the only dish that I couldn't taste the vinegar. Even though I didn't like what was offered my mother taught me well enough to try everything and eat it. OK I didn't have the mashed potates, but other than that I tried everything else! The desert was delicious! It was like black forest cake, only in a pudding. Chocolate, cherries, and cake, you can't go wrong! We are going over to this same house for a late Thanksgiving meal on Sat. That should be yummy, but there will be no stuffing or mashed potates for me!
Next weekend is National Day and it's a big one; 40! The decorations are coming out and the cars are getting all decked out. Ashley and I were wondering if the people who were around when the USA was only 40 years old decorated and made a big deal out of the fact that their country is 40? We figured they probably decorated their horse and buggy!! I will be celebrating with a local family that lives next door to Cindy. It will be really interesting! That'll be my next blog.
88 degrees at 4:00pm
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
عيد مبارك - Eid Mubarak!
Eid was celebrated this past week in the Muslim world. Due to this holiday I got 3 days off work! Here's a bit of information regarding the holiday and then I'll tell you what I did to celebrate my time off work.
Eid Al adha is celebrated to give thanks and praise to Allah for providing the sacrifical ram so Ibrahim (Abraham) didn't have to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many Muslims celebrate this by sacrificing a sheep. If they cannot afford a sheep they will sacrifice a goat. This is a 3 day festival, kind of like Christmas. There is gift giving and spending time with family. I guess the main difference is the sacrifice of the sheep! Everyone has the 3 days off, but there are some that have the entire week off.
Another bit aspect of this Eid is the Haj. This is when Muslims travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. In Mecca is the Kabba which Muslims walk around 7 times chanting الله أكبر - Allah alakbar (Allah is the greatest) among other things. In addition to walking around the Kabba 7 times they walk between two mountains 7 times. This is to remember what Hagar did when she was in the wilderness with Ishmael. Muslims believe she needed water so she walked between the two mountains 7 times and Allah provided her with water. Haj is one of the 5 pillars (shahadah - professing faith in one God; not 3 like Chritianity Father, Son, and Spirit, Salat - pray 5 times daily, Sawm - fasting during Ramadan, Zakat - giving 2.5 % of your wealth to charity, and Haj) of the Islamic faith. By meeting the 5 pillars you are able to enter heaven.
There's your Islamic lesson for the day.
I went to Dubai and spent the Eid holiday with the Wilson's. I had a good time in Dubai and the surrounding emirates.
الشارقة - Sharjah (although it technically should be pronounced Sharqah)
Friday afternoon we loaded into the SUV and headed out to Sharjah to meet up with Cindy and Craig's small group from church. We were going to have a campfire in the desert. I was looking forward to this since I haven't really been "in" the desert yet. We rendezvoused with the rest of the group at a local gas station and then made our way into the desert. True dune bashing was happening! This would have been fun, but I got sick. I get carsick and all the bouncing and turning made me quite nauseous. I didn't actually throw up, but I certainly felt like it. Even though we stopped a few times to get out and look at the scenery, which was beautiful especially with the sunset, my tummy was still shaky. I didn't even take any pictures:( By the time my tummy settled down enough for me to even think of taking pictures it was way too dark out. I missed the sunset:( I guess that's just an excuse to go back into the desert! Once I wasn't feeling so nauseous I had a good time sitting around the campfire and talking. I even had to wear a sweatshirt!! Some of the group was planning on camping, but we left. I would love to camp in the desert! Maybe next time.
راس الخيمة - Ras Al Khaimah (RAK)
Saturday we took a road trip along the coast of the UAE to RAK. There is not much in RAK except the beach, but it is beautiful. The pictures don't really do it justice. The water was a crystal clear greenish blue and it was absolutely beautiful with the sun glistening on the surface. I walked along the beach for a while looking for shells since the beach was littered with them. Most of them were broken creating this white sand. It was pretty amazing. There was white sand and then the typical sand colored sand started. Pretty interesting. Although I didn't find any shells, Sarah and her friend found a sand dollar, a starfish, and a fin. I guess they were looking harder than I was!
أم القيوين - Umm Al Qwain (UAQ)
After our time at the beach in RAK we travelled to UAQ to look for more shells. Cindy and Craig know of a great location to find shells so that's where we went. Unfortunately when we showed up there were tons of Arabic men around and the 4 of us girls just got quite uncomfortable being stared at so we didn't stay all that long. We did look for some shells, but didn't really find anything too interesting. I climbed between two boulders looking in the sand and sponges for anything interesting, but I'm just too tall to see way down in the sand! And my knees can't take squatting so I had to use my toes to move the stuff around. Not a very effective means of finding anything interesting!
دبي - Dubai (no silly abbreviation for this one:)
Monday we had Thanksgiving dinner! It was delicious. We celebrated early because Craig won't be in town, he is leaving for Saudi tomorrow and won't be back until the beginning of Dec. So Cindy and I spent the day in the kitchen preparing. I made the pumpkin pie and helped with the potatoes. I love Cindy's mashed potatoes. She leaves the skin on them so they're not looking like they're supposed to be smooth and then a lump shows up. I know the lumps are going to be there so I don't get grossed out when I eat one! We had all the typical Thanksgiving dishes; turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (don't like these) green beans, cranberry sauce (which I still don't like), corn, and pumpkin pie. Yummy!
While we were waiting for the food to cook Cindy and I went driving around to look at houses. I finally took the pictures of the houses for my dad! Granted these are in Dubai, but you get the idea. They are huge and ugly! We had a blast driving up and down the streets laughing and pointing out the gaudy houses! They just don't know how to do huge tastefully. Check out Facebook for more pictures.
75 degrees with 53% humidity at 7:50pm. It's wonderful:) I have my windows open! Loving it! 2 day work week then back to Dubai.
Eid Al adha is celebrated to give thanks and praise to Allah for providing the sacrifical ram so Ibrahim (Abraham) didn't have to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many Muslims celebrate this by sacrificing a sheep. If they cannot afford a sheep they will sacrifice a goat. This is a 3 day festival, kind of like Christmas. There is gift giving and spending time with family. I guess the main difference is the sacrifice of the sheep! Everyone has the 3 days off, but there are some that have the entire week off.
Another bit aspect of this Eid is the Haj. This is when Muslims travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. In Mecca is the Kabba which Muslims walk around 7 times chanting الله أكبر - Allah alakbar (Allah is the greatest) among other things. In addition to walking around the Kabba 7 times they walk between two mountains 7 times. This is to remember what Hagar did when she was in the wilderness with Ishmael. Muslims believe she needed water so she walked between the two mountains 7 times and Allah provided her with water. Haj is one of the 5 pillars (shahadah - professing faith in one God; not 3 like Chritianity Father, Son, and Spirit, Salat - pray 5 times daily, Sawm - fasting during Ramadan, Zakat - giving 2.5 % of your wealth to charity, and Haj) of the Islamic faith. By meeting the 5 pillars you are able to enter heaven.
There's your Islamic lesson for the day.
I went to Dubai and spent the Eid holiday with the Wilson's. I had a good time in Dubai and the surrounding emirates.
الشارقة - Sharjah (although it technically should be pronounced Sharqah)
Friday afternoon we loaded into the SUV and headed out to Sharjah to meet up with Cindy and Craig's small group from church. We were going to have a campfire in the desert. I was looking forward to this since I haven't really been "in" the desert yet. We rendezvoused with the rest of the group at a local gas station and then made our way into the desert. True dune bashing was happening! This would have been fun, but I got sick. I get carsick and all the bouncing and turning made me quite nauseous. I didn't actually throw up, but I certainly felt like it. Even though we stopped a few times to get out and look at the scenery, which was beautiful especially with the sunset, my tummy was still shaky. I didn't even take any pictures:( By the time my tummy settled down enough for me to even think of taking pictures it was way too dark out. I missed the sunset:( I guess that's just an excuse to go back into the desert! Once I wasn't feeling so nauseous I had a good time sitting around the campfire and talking. I even had to wear a sweatshirt!! Some of the group was planning on camping, but we left. I would love to camp in the desert! Maybe next time.
راس الخيمة - Ras Al Khaimah (RAK)
Saturday we took a road trip along the coast of the UAE to RAK. There is not much in RAK except the beach, but it is beautiful. The pictures don't really do it justice. The water was a crystal clear greenish blue and it was absolutely beautiful with the sun glistening on the surface. I walked along the beach for a while looking for shells since the beach was littered with them. Most of them were broken creating this white sand. It was pretty amazing. There was white sand and then the typical sand colored sand started. Pretty interesting. Although I didn't find any shells, Sarah and her friend found a sand dollar, a starfish, and a fin. I guess they were looking harder than I was!
 |
| Differnt colors of the sand |
 |
| Rocky "beach" at RAK |
أم القيوين - Umm Al Qwain (UAQ)
After our time at the beach in RAK we travelled to UAQ to look for more shells. Cindy and Craig know of a great location to find shells so that's where we went. Unfortunately when we showed up there were tons of Arabic men around and the 4 of us girls just got quite uncomfortable being stared at so we didn't stay all that long. We did look for some shells, but didn't really find anything too interesting. I climbed between two boulders looking in the sand and sponges for anything interesting, but I'm just too tall to see way down in the sand! And my knees can't take squatting so I had to use my toes to move the stuff around. Not a very effective means of finding anything interesting!
دبي - Dubai (no silly abbreviation for this one:)
Monday we had Thanksgiving dinner! It was delicious. We celebrated early because Craig won't be in town, he is leaving for Saudi tomorrow and won't be back until the beginning of Dec. So Cindy and I spent the day in the kitchen preparing. I made the pumpkin pie and helped with the potatoes. I love Cindy's mashed potatoes. She leaves the skin on them so they're not looking like they're supposed to be smooth and then a lump shows up. I know the lumps are going to be there so I don't get grossed out when I eat one! We had all the typical Thanksgiving dishes; turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (don't like these) green beans, cranberry sauce (which I still don't like), corn, and pumpkin pie. Yummy!
While we were waiting for the food to cook Cindy and I went driving around to look at houses. I finally took the pictures of the houses for my dad! Granted these are in Dubai, but you get the idea. They are huge and ugly! We had a blast driving up and down the streets laughing and pointing out the gaudy houses! They just don't know how to do huge tastefully. Check out Facebook for more pictures. |
75 degrees with 53% humidity at 7:50pm. It's wonderful:) I have my windows open! Loving it! 2 day work week then back to Dubai.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
حديقة الحيوانات - Zoo (literally animal park)
Another surprise field trip. Well, the first for this year, but it reminded me of last year's surprise trip to the zoo. I had no idea I was going until this morning. I found out the girls were going yesterday, but I wasn't sure I was going. I didn't know what would happen since I teach both 3rd and 4th grade. I had to go and ask Hamda, the social worker, and she said that I was going and that we would be back in time for me to teach 5th period. Oh yay! I would get to go to the zoo and teach! I was quite excited! Notice the sarcasm?!
The zoo wasn't that bad, other than the heat. We got there and the girls went to the education center and had the same presentation on teeth as last year. Interestingly enough I didn't understand any more of it this year than I did last year. I guess I did know the animal names, but that's about it. The woman doing the presentation showed the girls some skulls and they thought they all were lion skulls. I must tell you that one was kind of small, it was a skull of a leopard. But they wanted it to be a lion. She showed us a zebra skull and the girls fist guessed lion and then someone guessed frog!! That got a laugh!
After the presentation we boarded the train for the tour of the zoo. The girls excitedly pointed out every animal as we drove past it. There are tons of monkeys and gazelles. The white lion was quite interesting, but we didn't stay long enough to really see it well. The zoo is supposed to be getting a white tiger, but right now just the lion. We walked around the bird house and then had about 10 minutes for breakfast. A breakfast that consisted of chips, candy, chocolate, cotton candy, and ice cream. Yummy! It's a wonder these girls have teeth (although some don't) and aren't extemely over weight. Diabetes is a huge problem here though. The girls scarfed down their "nutritious" breakfast and then we headed over to the bird show. This was interesting. They had some very well trained birds. One played basketball, one matched colors, one picked up trash, and one flew through a hoop (ok that one wasn't all that impressive, but the others were neat). The bird show ended and we went outside for playtime. There was a jungle gym type thing and a bunch of bouncey houses that the girls could play on. By the time it was time to go the girls were hot, sweaty, tired, and thirsty. So we stopped at the concession stand where they could buy water. But did they get water? No, they got more junk! Surprised? Not me, not anymore. We boarded the bus and I heard more complaints of "Miss hot, want water!" Well of course you want water you just played outside in the sun and then bought candy. Oh well.
We arrived back at school to find the gate closed and locked. So we sat there on the bus while the driver honked and honked waiting for someone to come and open the gate. We must have waited there for about 10 minutes. All the while I was thinking there are many other solutions to this problem. 1. Use the other entrance. 2. Let me off the bus and I will walk around and get someone to open the gate. 3. Call the school and have someone open the gate. 4. Call the security guard to open the gate. But that's a main issue with the people in this country; they don't know how to think. There is only one way to do something and if you can't do it that way you have to wait. Terribly frustrating.
The rest of the school day was fine. 4th grade was waiting patiently with a bus lady for me to get back. I only had them for 2 1/2 periods so we didn't get much accomplished. Well, honestly we don't get much accomplished in the afternoon anyway.
Eid break is coming up, just one more day. I found out yesterday that we only get 3 days off instead of the entire week. Not a very nice birthday present. I'm not sure why we only get 3 days off, every other emirate is giving the entire week off. I'll be anxious to see how many students and Arabic teachers show up. I know there are a lot of LTs that have vacation plans for the entire week, so they won't be back, but none of us at Ammoryiah are going away for Eid.
My birthday was yesterday. I didn't do anything. I celebrated in Dubai last weekend and I'll be going to Dubai again this weekend. It's not good when your birthday falls in the middle of the week.
It's 3:30 and I am exhausted. That's what happens when you spend the day out in the sun and heat. I need a nap, but I know if I lay down I won't be able to sleep tonight. It will be an early bedtime for me tonight.
91 degrees with 29% humidity yuck:(
The zoo wasn't that bad, other than the heat. We got there and the girls went to the education center and had the same presentation on teeth as last year. Interestingly enough I didn't understand any more of it this year than I did last year. I guess I did know the animal names, but that's about it. The woman doing the presentation showed the girls some skulls and they thought they all were lion skulls. I must tell you that one was kind of small, it was a skull of a leopard. But they wanted it to be a lion. She showed us a zebra skull and the girls fist guessed lion and then someone guessed frog!! That got a laugh!
After the presentation we boarded the train for the tour of the zoo. The girls excitedly pointed out every animal as we drove past it. There are tons of monkeys and gazelles. The white lion was quite interesting, but we didn't stay long enough to really see it well. The zoo is supposed to be getting a white tiger, but right now just the lion. We walked around the bird house and then had about 10 minutes for breakfast. A breakfast that consisted of chips, candy, chocolate, cotton candy, and ice cream. Yummy! It's a wonder these girls have teeth (although some don't) and aren't extemely over weight. Diabetes is a huge problem here though. The girls scarfed down their "nutritious" breakfast and then we headed over to the bird show. This was interesting. They had some very well trained birds. One played basketball, one matched colors, one picked up trash, and one flew through a hoop (ok that one wasn't all that impressive, but the others were neat). The bird show ended and we went outside for playtime. There was a jungle gym type thing and a bunch of bouncey houses that the girls could play on. By the time it was time to go the girls were hot, sweaty, tired, and thirsty. So we stopped at the concession stand where they could buy water. But did they get water? No, they got more junk! Surprised? Not me, not anymore. We boarded the bus and I heard more complaints of "Miss hot, want water!" Well of course you want water you just played outside in the sun and then bought candy. Oh well.
We arrived back at school to find the gate closed and locked. So we sat there on the bus while the driver honked and honked waiting for someone to come and open the gate. We must have waited there for about 10 minutes. All the while I was thinking there are many other solutions to this problem. 1. Use the other entrance. 2. Let me off the bus and I will walk around and get someone to open the gate. 3. Call the school and have someone open the gate. 4. Call the security guard to open the gate. But that's a main issue with the people in this country; they don't know how to think. There is only one way to do something and if you can't do it that way you have to wait. Terribly frustrating.
The rest of the school day was fine. 4th grade was waiting patiently with a bus lady for me to get back. I only had them for 2 1/2 periods so we didn't get much accomplished. Well, honestly we don't get much accomplished in the afternoon anyway.
Eid break is coming up, just one more day. I found out yesterday that we only get 3 days off instead of the entire week. Not a very nice birthday present. I'm not sure why we only get 3 days off, every other emirate is giving the entire week off. I'll be anxious to see how many students and Arabic teachers show up. I know there are a lot of LTs that have vacation plans for the entire week, so they won't be back, but none of us at Ammoryiah are going away for Eid.
My birthday was yesterday. I didn't do anything. I celebrated in Dubai last weekend and I'll be going to Dubai again this weekend. It's not good when your birthday falls in the middle of the week.
It's 3:30 and I am exhausted. That's what happens when you spend the day out in the sun and heat. I need a nap, but I know if I lay down I won't be able to sleep tonight. It will be an early bedtime for me tonight.
91 degrees with 29% humidity yuck:(
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