Winter Vacation - Phase 2

The second part of my vacation was a one day stop in Glasgow before heading to northern England.  My flight from Munich to Amsterdam was delayed due to heavy fog, and because of the delay I nearly missed my flight to Glasgow.  Thankfully I arrived at the gate, with plenty of other late passengers, about 10 minutes before our scheduled departure of 3:50.  Due to the fact that there were many late passengers we did not leave 3:50, of which I am extremely grateful for.  I arrived in Glasgow and breezed through passport control and headed to get a taxi to my hotel. 



After checking in and resting for a bit, I decided to head out and do a bit of exploring before it got too late.  Glasgow is a nice enough city and I explored their city center and pedestrian street while looking for the train station so I could pick up my ticket for my trip to Carlisle in northern England.  During my exploration, the heavens opened and it began to pour and that quickly changed to hail.  Even though I was soaked and quite cold I kind of enjoyed walking around in the rain and hail.  It's just something that I don't experience anymore.  When I realized that the storm wasn't going to let up I gave up and headed back to the hotel to get dry and warm.


My train to Carlisle wasn't until 2:00 pm, but checkout was at 11:00 so after breakfast I checked out and headed to the train station.  With nowhere to store my luggage I waited 3 hours in the cold, albeit nice, Glasgow train station.  I had a nice warm coffee and lunch while I waited.  The train to Carlisle was quite full as it continued on to multiple other stops with its last stop being London.  There was no room for my luggage so I had it on the seat next to me, thankfully it wasn't reserved until Carlisle which is where my luggage and I would be getting off.  I tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery of rolling green hills, but I quickly became nauseous so I gave up and closed my eyes.  Deborah met me at the train station and we took a taxi to her mom's house.  I arrived in Carlisle around 3:00 and it started getting dark by 3:30 or 4:00.  It didn't help that I arrived on the shortest day of the year!



Carlisle Cathedral

We visited for a bit before I took a nice bath, yes a bath - Deborah's mom has an amazing bath tub that I can actually fit in - to get warm and refreshed from traveling.  After getting cleaned up we headed to a local pub for dinner where I had a nice burger and lemonade (sprite).  We walked back to her house where I played with Sophia, Deborah's 2 year old daughter, before she went to bed.

View of Carlisle Castle from the museum

 

Dressed as a Roman soldier in the
Carlisle Museum

 

My first full day in Carlisle began with a tour of the Carlisle Cathedral, a local museum, and a great view of the Carlisle Castle, which was closed due to the Christmas holiday.  We fought the freezing temperatures, high winds, and rain and walked to the tourist destinations after stopping at a local market for an umbrella.  After touring the cathedral we had scones and tea at the cafe in the basement, which reminded me of going to get hot chocolate and a brownie at the local church after cutting down our Christmas tree.  At the museum I learned a bit of Carlisle's extensive history, which dates back to the time of the Roman Empire.  Carlisle was the northern most point of the Roman Empire and served as a border between the Roman Empire and neighboring Scotland.  After touring Carlisle we stopped for lunch at another local pub where I had a nice warm jacket potato (baked potato) with chili and cheese.  It really warmed me up!

With the touring done for the day, we headed to the local theater for a children's production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."  We took Sophia and Deborah's 3 year old niece, Lucy, to see the show.  Lucy enjoyed the show the best!  I was a bit confused because it was billed as a pantomime, which I thought meant that there wouldn't be any talking and it would just be acting.  Wrong.  A pantomime is a musical comedy production for families.  Then there was the fact that it started out with Snow White's 18th birthday.  More confusion, as I thought the British version of Snow White was different than the American version that I'm familiar with.  Turns out they just needed to add to it to make it more appropriate and into a theater performance.  After the show we headed back for lasagna for dinner.

Christmas Eve began with a trip to the post office to mail my Christmas presents back home and the local car rental place so Deborah could pick up the car.  Fortunately the post office is located just a short walk from the place where Deborah needed to pick up the car so she dropped me off on the side of the road and I walked to the post office.  When I was almost there, I tripped over some uneven pavement and landed on my left side.  I scraped up both my hands nicely and did some damage to my ribs and wrist.  I picked myself up and walked the rest of the way to the post office so I could get my gifts sent.  Fortunately there was no line and the attendant was very helpful, as I couldn't assemble the box, due to my hand and wrist damage.  With everything completed at the post office I walked back to where I was to meet Deborah and we headed back to her place so I could get cleaned up and bandaged.  The plan was that we were going to go to a church for Christmas carols, but I could barely move.  The damage to my ribs was getting intense.  I ended up trying to take a nap, but it was even more painful to lay down, so I just sat on the couch and we watched Christmas carols on TV.  Deborah and her mom tried to persuade me to go to the hospital, but knowing that there is nothing that can be done for broken ribs I didn't find it necessary. 

Late that night I was able to Skype with my family as they celebrated at Ann's house.  I missed being there for Christmas Eve as everyone was together having dinner and opening presents, but I was enjoying my time in Europe. 



My swollen hand

Christmas morning was when we gathered around the tree and opened presents.  Mom and Dad had sent my gifts to Carlisle so they were there waiting for me under the tree with all the other presents.  Sophia got a ton of gifts and after opening about 5 of them she got bored with it so we took a break and I ended up going to the local hospital.  Say what you will about national health care, but because the UK has national health care I got treated in their accident and emergency (emergency room) for free.  I had x-rays of my wrist and hand, but nothing was broken, and was given some paracetamol (Tylenol) for my ribs.  Since there is nothing that can be done for broken ribs they don't x-ray unless there is suspicion of internal damage and since I was breathing fine and wasn't coughing up anything they ruled out internal damage.

 



Part of Hadrian's Wall and amazing scenery

Lanercost Priory

After the short trip to the hospital we returned home so Sophia could open more presents.  She got through about another 3 before she didn't want to open anymore and we headed out to see part of Hadrian's Wall, a priory, and a fort.  The sun was shining and the temperatures weren't as bitterly cold, but the wind was fierce.  It probably wasn't the best idea as I was in intense pain walking around looking at the Hadrian's Wall and the fort, but the views were stunning.  The fort was closed and the gate was shut, but that didn't stop me.  I was persuaded to open the gate and walk around for a bit while Deborah and Sophia remained in the car.   We just missed the Christmas service at the priory, but we were able to go in and look around.  It was beautiful and I enjoyed being there and silently worshiping God for sending His Son to be my Savior.  We didn't stay out long as I was finding it quite difficult to move, Deborah's cold was getting worse, and Sophia was wrapped in Deborah's coat because she had an accident while trying to pee outside.  So we returned to Carlisle where Sophia could open the rest of her presents and I was able to Skype with my family as they celebrated Christmas morning.

The following morning I was able to move a bit better so I was able to finish packing without experiencing too much pain.  Deborah and her mom loaded my suitcase in her car and we headed to the bus station so I could catch the 12:15 bus to Glasgow.  By catching the 12:15 bus we figured that I would have about 2 hours before my 4:15 flight to Amsterdam.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case; the bus was late and we got stuck in traffic so I didn't make it to the bus station until 2:50, which was plenty of time to catch the 3:00 bus to the airport, but I didn't get to the airport until 3:30.  Thankfully the airport was nearly empty so check in wasn't a problem at all and I arrived at the gate just as they were boarding.  What is it with the close calls at the airport?!  This flight was full so I couldn't get a seat with extra leg room, but it was OK because it's only an hour flight.  We arrived in Amsterdam on time so I was able to get something to eat and try to relax before my 10:00pm flight to Abu Dhabi.  Walking around the airport was not an option as walking was still quite painful.  The flight to Abu Dhabi was also full so there was no changing seats.  I just took some Panadol PM after they served dinner and managed to sleep for 1/2 of the flight.  That sounds good, but the flight was only 6 hours, so I only got my typical 3 hours of sleep.  We arrived in Abu Dhabi on time at 7:30 and were greeted with an extremely long line at passport control.  I waited for 1 1/2 hours before making it through and collecting my luggage.  The good point about waiting in line was the fact that I exited the airport at 9:45, just 15 minutes before the free Etihad shuttle to Al Ain.  So I took the bus and then got a taxi home.  I arrived home at noon, 4 1/2 hours after landing.  I took a shower, did my laundry, and visited with Alexandra who came over with coffee before heading to bed.

Phase 3 of my vacation will include taking Panadol and ibuprofen every 4 hours so the pain goes away.  I don't think I'll be going to the gym like I had planned, but I may just go to the pool and sit out in sun if I'm not in too much pain.  I have to make the most of the my last week off.


Winter Vacation - Phase 1

I had an amazingly wonderful holiday vacation.  Granted, I truly missed spending Christmas with my family, but I had a great experience in Germany and the UK.  I am extremely thankful that I am able to travel and visit such culturally and historically rich countries.

Departure and Arrival in Germany

My trip to Germany began Sunday, December 15.  I had a 9:30 am flight on Monday morning, so Alexandra and I decided to spend the night in Abu Dhabi to avoid leaving Al Ain at 5 in the morning; we thought that was a smart decision.  Alexandra and I weren’t on the same flight and didn’t go to the airport together, but we did run into each other at the airport.  In retrospect, I should have gone to the airport with her, but I didn’t.  I arrived at the airport at about 7:15 am and only made it to the gate about ½ an hour before it closed.  The lines were unbelievably long.  I guess I should have expected that since it was the Christmas holiday, but I figured I was leaving later than the crowd, since schools finished on the 12^th, so I thought I would be fine.  I made it to my plane, but I didn’t have time to join Alexandra for a coffee while waiting; all my waiting was spent in line. 

My flight to Amsterdam wasn’t full and I was able to change my seat to one with extra leg room.  The flight was fine and it arrived on time which was good, because if it would have arrived any later than it did I probably would have missed my connecting flight to Munich.  I had to go to the transfer desk to make sure that my luggage was being sent directly to Munich (I didn’t want a repeat of what happened in Toronto).  I was directed to transfer 9; which of course was at the opposite end of the airport.  I walked to transfer 9 only to find out that they didn’t handle KLM flights at that desk and that I needed to go to desks 2-6.  So I headed back in the direction that I came from.  When I got to transfer desk 6 I stopped to ask about my luggage, hoping that it was being sent directly because I didn’t think I’d have enough time to get it and re-check it.  Thankfully it was being sent directly so all I needed to do was proceed to my gate.  I arrived at the gate just in time for boarding; no time to sit and have a coffee.  The flight to Munich wasn’t full either so I got my seat moved to an exit row seat.  I arrived in Munich on time and was totally surprised to not have to go through passport control.  Evidently Europe is like the States; once you’ve entered you can cross borders without a passport.  Since I had arrived in Amsterdam there was no need to go through passport control again.  Once this was explained to me I felt much better.  I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to leave Germany because no one knew that I was there.  With that issue being settled I grabbed my bag and headed out to get a taxi to the hotel so I could meet Alexandra and get some dinner.

Germany

View from the hotel

The first things that I noticed about Germany were that it was cold and dark.  I kind of enjoyed the cold; it was refreshing.  The temps were probably in the upper 30s when I arrived.  It was also dark; I arrived around 4:30 and it was already getting dark.  Yes, it was winter but I thought that was a bit early to be getting dark.  Turns out I would be wrong as it gets dark even earlier in northern England.  I got to the hotel a little after 5 and got settled in and refreshed before heading out with Alexandra to get a bite to eat.  We got a city map and asked for directions to the famed Haufbrauhaus and began walking what we were told would be about a 10-15 minute walk.  After walking for a bit and not finding the pedestrian street that we should have found we asked a pedestrian and he said it was “the big building all lit up at the end of the street.”  We could see that so there was no way we were going to get lost!  On the way to the beer hall we walked through an Arabic section that had signs for Dubai and, believe it or not, Al Ain.  I had to take a picture of the sign for Al Ain!!  I mean come on, I’m in Germany and they’re advertising an Internet Café in Al Ain.  How odd!  We reached the beer hall and sat down at an available table and enjoyed the pretzels that were available while we waited for our waitress to take our orders.  Alexandra and I ordered beer with lemonade and after tasting mine I had to ask for more lemonade in mine.  The waitress gave me a “are you crazy” look, but took it back to the bar where they added more lemonade.  With the extra lemonade added it was drinkable, definitely not totally enjoyable, but drinkable.  I ordered a sausage platter that came with 4 different types of sausage, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sauerkraut (turns out I really like original German sauerkraut; it’s not super sour like the stuff that you can buy in a can in the States).  Alexandra ordered pork roast, and we shared our supply of pork products for dinner.  After dinner we walked around for a bit, but decided to save a lot of our sight-seeing for when it was daylight, so we headed back to the hotel around 9pm and just spent the time relaxing and trying to adjust to the 3 hour time difference.

Nymphenburg Palace

Our first full day in Munich included our city tour on the hop-on, hop-off bus and a train ride to Stuttgart to meet Alexandra’s friend and walk around their Christmas market.  We walked to the central train station, where we boarded the covered double-decker bus.  Once on the bus we were informed that all the buses were full and that it would be difficult to get on another bus if we chose to get off and explore at one of the stops.  That was a bit annoying since there were a few stops that I would have liked to get off at and explore, but I didn’t want to risk not being able to get on a future bus.  We saw a few pretty neat sights such as Nymphenburg Palace, Olympic Park, BMW Museum, and the old city walls.  The rest of the sights on the tour were museums and fountains.  It wasn’t the best tour I had been on, but I think that was because I was afraid to get off the bus and explore, so we basically just rode the bus until the end of the tour.  At Nymphenburg Palace we were allowed to get off the bus for 10 minutes so I used that as an opportunity to get out and stretch.  After the tour we had lunch and then walked back to the train station for our 1:30 train to Stuttgart.

Stuttgart's Christmas Market

 The 2 hour train ride to Stuttgart was very nice and comfortable; nice scenery, smooth ride, and a decent amount of leg room.  We arrived in Stuttgart about an hour before we were to meet Matt, Alexandra’s friend, so we walked around the Christmas Market for a bit.  When Matt arrived we continued to explore the market before heading to the food stalls to get some dinner.  I had a salami and cheese crepe while Matt and Alexandra had apple and cinnamon crepes; they decided to have dessert first.  We also had the traditional Christmas Market drink of gluhwein (mulled hot wine), which I did not like at all.  Warmed up and full, we continued to explore the town of Stuttgart before we headed to a local café for apple streusel and tea.  We sat enjoying the warmth of the café until we had to head back to the train station for our 8pm return to Munich.  The return trip wasn’t as comfortable; the train was more crowded than the trip to Stuttgart and it wasn’t as new as the one that picked us up in Munich, but it was warm and we did return on time.  Once back in Munich, we decided to return to the hotel so I could get some rest for my 7:30am tour to the Linderhof and Neuschwanstein Castles.



Snow covered Alps

My tour left Munich at 8:00 and made its way north to the town of Bavaria.  On the way north I was stunned by the snow-covered Alps in the distance.  I spent most of the time looking out the window focusing on God’s amazing creation.  The first stop was at Linderhof Castle.  Linderhof Castle was built by King Ludwig II in 1886 for a total of 8,460,937 marks ($5,975,953).  King Ludwig II was very private so this castle was also quite private.  He didn’t do entertaining there or invite guests; it was more like his private house.  Although Linderhof is a relatively small castle, it is still quite impressive with a hall of mirrors, a grand bedroom, large chandeliers, and sculptures of peacocks and swans.  The gardens are supposed to be magnificent, but since I was there in the winter they were covered in snow; which I thought was quite beautiful. 

Linderhof Castle

 



Bavarian Town of Oberammergau

After touring the castle we headed to the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau.  This small Bavarian town has quite the history.  It is known for hosting a passion play every 10 years, and all of the residents participate.  The first play was in 1634 after the residents made a vow to God that if He spared their town from the Plague they would perform the Passion play every 10 years.  The town survived and the residents continue with this tradition only slightly altering the dates so that it occurs every 10 years ending in a zero.  The next one will be in 2020, and if anyone would like to go let me know; we have a few years to save some money!  I enjoyed doing some Christmas shopping in this small Bavarian town nestled among the Alps. 

 

Neuschwanstein Castle

The short stop in Oberammergau was over and we continued further north to Neuschwanstein (pronounced Newschvaanstein) where I had a fantastic bowl of homemade Hungarian goulash soup before walking 20 minutes up the mountain to see the castle.  The walk was spectacular, as it offered amazing views of the Alps and the castle in the distance.  Neuschwanstein Castle was built by King Ludwig II using his private fortune in addition to extensive borrowing of more than 14 million marks.  It was never completely finished as construction stopped after his death in 1886.  Six weeks after his death the castle was opened to the public.  This castle is much more impressive than Linderhof and served as the model for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle.  Neuschwanstein is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe with approximately 1.3 million visitors per year!

 

After finding out that the beer hall where Alexandra and I had dinner the first night wasn’t the Haufbrauhaus, we decided to try again.  We were able to locate the pedestrian street and followed it to the end until we found the Haufbrauhaus.  Alexandra had a massive mug of beer and I had a nice glass of spiced apple juice.  We shared a table with tourists from Canada and enjoyed sharing our stories as we ate dinner.  For dinner I had meatloaf; traditional Bavarian meatloaf.  I have a certain picture of meatloaf in mind and that was what I was expecting, but not at all close to what I was served.  Traditional Bavarian meatloaf kind of resembles Spam, but it was good.  I also had traditional German potato salad and that was delicious, which is surprising since I don’t like potato salad.  With dinner finished we walked around for a bit and then headed back to the hotel.

It was nice to get a late relaxing start since our plans for the day consisted of exploring the local Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Markets).  After a late breakfast we headed to the main one at Marienplatz, where I was able to get quite a few Christmas gifts as well as delicious cinnamon roasted almonds.  We wandered around and fought the crowds for about 2-3 hours before we headed back to the hotel for a break.  After a nap we walked to the ethnic market at Tollwood where we had dinner and got braided hair extensions put in our hair.  After Tollwood we went to another local market for crepes and a hot drink.  I got almost all of my Christmas gifts at the local markets where they are all handmade in Germany.  I also got a few souvenirs for myself as well. 

Munich's Christmas Market

Our last day in Munich was the most sobering as we toured the Dachau Concentration Camp.  The weather for the day completely matched the mood at the concentration camp; it was freezing, gray and overcast, and there were periods of rain intermixed with snow.  Dachau was originally built during WWI as an artillery camp, but it was transformed to a concentration camp prior to WWII to house political prisoners who opposed the Nazi rule of Germany.  It was built in 1933 to house 6,000 men with 34 barracks, a crematorium, a gas chamber, an infirmary (which was not used to take care of sick patients, but was used for medical experiments where prisoners were intentionally made sick), and watch towers, and was completely surrounded by barbed wire that would kill immediately on contact.  Dachau was considered the model concentration camp and was used as a training ground for future camps.  Although it was only built to house 6,000 men, when it was liberated in 1945 there had been approximately 200,000 men, women, and children at the camp at some time.  This tour was a sobering reminder of the horrific treatment of the prisoners at various concentration camps.  May we never forget.

Sculpture that is supposed to represent 3 evils at Dachau:
starvation, barbed wire, and death

The last Munich tour was a night ghost tour.  It was simply a nice walk around Munich at night with some interesting stories about the deaths that occurred in Munich.  After the tour we stopped at Marienplatz for crepes and a hot drink before returning to the hotel to repack our suitcases for our departure the following day.  I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Germany and would love to return one day!

 

Thoughts on Leaving

A couple of lists for you.

Things that I'll miss when I leave

1. My friends.  Yes, I know this is pretty obvious.  I've made some really good friends here, probably the best friends that I've had since the friends that I made at MSU.  They will be extremely hard to leave, but I know they will be life-long friends and due to the advances in technology I'll be able to keep in touch with them even though I'll be over 6,000 miles away.
2. Redeemer Church of Dubai.  OK another obvious one.  I have learned so much about Jesus and being a Christ-follower through the gospel centered teaching at Redeemer.  They have truly become my family away from my family.
3. Camels.  I love seeing them in the back of a truck and wandering around the desert.  Beautiful animals that I'll only get to see in the zoo once I get back.
4. Shwarma and hommous.  Yummy!  I'll have to go to Dearborn and taste theirs to see if they compare to what I've gotten used to.
5. Traveling.  With the salary that I've been blessed to make and the location that I'm in it's been extremely easy to travel to different countries and experience different cultures.  I know this will probably stop when I get home, but hopefully I'll be able to fully explore the wonderful country that I live in and get to do a little international traveling (maybe one trip every other year?).
6. 3 weeks off for Christmas.  Yes, it's amazing that in a Muslim country I get more time off for Christmas than I would in the States.  Granted it's not billed as Christmas break, but it falls around that time and I really appreciate the extra week off; it allows for more traveling.
7. Roundabouts.  I know they were quite difficult to get used to, but they really do help keep traffic moving.
8. Diversity.  It's been so refreshing to be around so many different people and learn a bit about their cultures. 
9. Laundry.  I don't wash and iron my work clothes anymore.  It is quite cheap to have my clothes cleaned and ironed here so I don't have to waste my time doing that chore.
10. Not having to pay my bills every month.  It's quite a convenience to not have to pay a bill every month and not worry about the service being shut off.  I don't know if I'll be able to get back in the habit of monthly bills!

Things I'm looking forward to when I get home

1. Family.  Obvious.  I can't wait to see them more than just on holidays.  I am praying that I get a job in MI or a neighboring state so I can make it home more than just once a year.
2. A shower that doesn't leak.  Weird I know, but the way they are built here all the water runs out of the tub and onto the floor.  Bath mats get soaked so they are useless.  How nice it will be to not have to have a towel on the floor and then have to hang it up to dry after I get out of the shower.
3. A real vacuum.  I am so tired of dragging around the canister vac that doesn't really suck up anything, especially hair.  I can't wait for a nice upright one again.
4. Heat.  Yes, it does get cold here and my apartment isn't heated so it gets quite chilly at night and in the mornings.
5. Left turns.  As much as I have grown to like roundabouts sometimes they are annoying, especially when you have to go out of your way to get to the next roundabout just to make a u-turn so you can get to your final destination.  Waste of time.
6. Dryer.  I won't have to let my towels and sheets hang dry and become stiff and hard.  How nice to have soft towels that I can dry at home instead of taking to the laundry.
7. Pork.  Hotdogs.  Bacon.  Sausage.  Pork roast.  All the yummy deliciousness of pork.
8. Grocery shopping.  Yes, I go grocery shopping here but it is so hard to find the products that I'm used to and the ones that I need to make simple things like a Thanksgiving dinner with pumpkin pie!
9. Being understood.  Sometimes it gets so frustrating trying to express my ideas to people that don't speak English.
10. Holidays.  Halloween.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  I can't wait to see the decorations and listen to the Christmas music when I get to Germany and then back to the States next year. 
11. Teaching instead of managing behavior.  I feel like I spend more time managing behavior instead of teaching and it gets quite tiring.
12. Tigger and Chloe.  Having my cats around me again will be so nice.  I just hope Mom, Dad, and Amy can part with them!

There's probably more for both categories, but that's all I can think of right now.  73 degrees at 8pm.

Rain and More

I know it's been a while since I've posted and a lot has happened in November.  This should really be like 4 or 5 posts, but I combined it all into 1 for ease of reading (I hope!).

Rain in Al Ain

About 2 weeks ago there was a huge rain storm throughout the Gulf and the UAE got hit with high winds, torrential downpours, thunder, and lightning.  It was amazing; an actual storm!  It happened on a Thursday during school, but the buildup began on Tuesday when the students were talking about what had happened in Qatar and Oman.  Evidently the roads were flooded and houses were “broken.”  We knew it was coming and I could hardly wait!  Not for flooded roads or broken houses, but for rain, real rain.  Thursday dawned overcast and cold, just like the rest of the week and rain clouds were in the sky.  After leaving the library around 9:40am, we glanced outside and the kids noticed that it looked like it was pm instead of am (side note, we had been talking about time and I had been trying to get them to understand the difference between am and pm and to hear them use it in context was pretty impressiveJ).  Fortunately enough we got to see the storm blow in, as we stood in the hallway looking at the dark sky.  All of a sudden it started to rain!  We heard the rain pour on the roof and saw it fall from the sky, and later on we would see it fall from the roof as well.  Well, I would have loved to spend more time looking at it rain, but the kids had to go to PE so I took them there and told Mr. Tahar (the PE teacher) to let them run in the rain.  After getting rid of my students, I went outside to get some pictures and a much needed video of this storm.  The rain was coming so fast that the drains couldn’t keep up with it and the parking lot looked like a shallow pond.  I went out under the awning so I wouldn’t get drenched since I was at work, but I would have loved to run out in the rain and play with the kids and Mr. Tahar.  So I was outside for about 5 minutes and then the craziness started.   I went back in to find Jenn and discovered that the third graders were packing up!  What?!  Jenn informed me that the kids were going home; ADEC announced the closing of schools due to the rain.  Well, who would have informed me if I hadn’t seen Jenn?  I went to try to find Pete, but he hadn’t heard anything.  I asked Kevin to call Roz (his wife and the third grade coordinator) and he got some information.  Parents were being called, buses were coming, and we needed to get our kids lined up for dismissal.  I went to PE to collect my students and try to maintain order on this early dismissal day.  Yeah right!  As soon as the kids found out they were going home they all cheered and shouted.  Why wouldn’t they?   So I joined them.  Hey I was excited too!  Mr. Tahar helped regain control so I could take them back to class and get them packed up.  This all happened around 10:30 and students were still at school at 12:30.  At 12:30, Una took all the kids and let us go to our rooms to work!  I called Kristie to see how she was faring in the storm and found out that there was a flood.  Now when I hear the word flood I think serious damage with water covering the floor, so I was quite shocked.  Apparently it wasn’t a “flood” but a leak.  Water was streaming out of the AC and creating a puddle underneath it.  Thankfully Kristie was there and able to get it cleaned up by using all of my spare towels.  Kristie got it cleaned up and I called maintenance to come and check the leak.  They arrived immediately and attempted to fix the leak, but wanted to come back when I was home.  By 1:15 all students were gone and I was told I could go home as well.  I arrived home to a nice clean, al be it, damp smelling house, but there was no puddle and maintenance arrived shortly after I got home and thoroughly fixed the leak.  What an adventure.  I guess rain in Al Ain is like snow in NC or any other southern state!  Yeah for an early dismissal on a Thursday

National Day

After the rain storm things were just as crazy with National Day Celebrations coming up on Wednesday; lots of practices, students not listening, and just good ol’ excitement in the air.  The 42^nd National Day Celebrations were to take place from 10:00-1:30 on Wednesday, before 10 was to be a regular day and students would be dismissed at 1:30.  I had 10 students show up Wednesday morning and we tried to carry out our normal routine, but they were just so excited.  They went to music then we played some games, had breakfast, and then Mr. Gheath came for Islamic.  Just before 10 I informed my students about the procedure for this year’s National Day Celebration.  There were stations set up around the school and we were to rotate through them following a schedule.  In theory this should work very well, but hey we’re dealing with a people group that doesn’t like schedules and order.  From 10-10:45 we were to be in the grade 4 pod where there was henna, toys for sale, and traditional clothes for sale; not much to do for 45 minutes in my opinion.  10:45-11:30 we were to be in the main pod where there was yolla (traditional dance), a falcon, some Arabic contest, and cartoon characters; again not much to keep them entertained for 45 minutes.  11:30-12:30 we were to be outside where there were camel and pony rides and an ice cream truck.   Really a whole hour just to see a camel and a pony and buy ice cream; seems a bit long in my opinion.  Anyway I went through the schedule with my students and told them that they would get to experience it all, but they had to stay with me and let me know if they were going home with a parent.  What in the world was I thinking?!  At about 10:02 I could only account for 3 out of my 10 students!  All the rest had disappeared.  So much for staying with me and following the schedule!  The 3 that stayed with me came back at 10:45 to go over to the main pod and that’s about when I gave up and told them that they could do whatever they wanted just so long as they let me know when they were leaving.  I wandered around for a bit and talked to some teachers and then I headed to my room to get some work done.  When it was time for lunch at 12:30 I only had 2 students tell me that they were going and after lunch another 2 told me that they were leaving, so for all I know the other 6 could still be at school!  Oh well.  I will say that this year’s celebration was not nearly as hectic as last year’s celebration and they certainly tried to organize it!

Expo 2020

Dubai won the ability to host the World Expo in 2020!!  So, what does this mean?  I’m not really sure, but all I know is that I got an extra day off!  Sheikh Mohammed cancelled school for all educational institutions in the UAE in honor of winning of the Expo.  This should have been an easy thing to inform the teachers, because as far as I know ENS is a school and it’s in the UAE so it shouldn’t have taken 3 hours for an email to be sent letting us know that we had the day off.  Lots of text messages, FB messages, what’s app messages, and email messages were sent amongst teachers trying to figure out why we were the only school waiting for official word about Thursday.  Isn’t Sheikh Mohammed official enough?  Evidently not!  We needed to hear from Una, who heard from Khuloud, who heard from Dr. Ken, who heard from Sheikh Mohammed (just like the rest of us).  Anyway, after hours of waiting I did get the day off and was able to begin my 5 day weekend!!

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving holiday began with a wonderfully weird Thanksgiving dinner at the Crowne Plaza in Dubai with Vanny and Kristie.  We had turkey, gravy, brussel sprouts, carrots, cranberry sauce, stuffing, chicken sausage with veal bacon, and pumpkin mash.  It was marketed as a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but I have to wonder traditional from where?!  The turkey was a bit dry, but the gravy was really good.  I have gotten used to chicken sausage and veal bacon so I enjoyed that as well.  The pumpkin mash was disgusting, and I don’t like brussel sprouts or stuffing so those remained untouched, but the carrots were good.  All in all I’d say it was nice, especially being able to celebrate it with Kristie and Vanny.

After church on Friday they came back to Al Ain with me and I was going to prepare a truly traditional Thanksgiving with turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  So I began to hunt for a turkey breast knowing that a whole frozen turkey would never thaw and it would be way too much.  I had heard from various people that you could find a turkey breast at Spinney’s or LuLu so that’s where I started.  I even looked at Spinney’s in Dubai, thinking they would have a bigger selection, but none was to be found.  Just whole frozen turkeys.  No luck at LuLu or Carrefour either, so we settled for chicken breast.  With the necessary supplies in hand, we headed home to cook our turkey-less post-Thanksgiving dinner.  We had chicken breast, turkey gravy, smashed red skinned potatoes, and corn.  I had burned the pumpkin pie because I bought a graham cracker crust without thinking that those crusts are already cooked, so there was no pie for dessertL  Other than no pumpkin pie and no turkey the dinner was really good.  The girls loved the chicken breast that I had cooked in the slow cooker and the smashed potatoes were a huge hit as well.  We all shared a few of the many things that we had to be thankful for and spent time thanking God for the multiple blessings that He had given us this year.

I’ll end this post with the fact that I can’t wait for Monday the 16^th when I travel to Munich!  It’s going to be cold and I’m glad that I accidentally brought my winter jacket back with me.  I can’t wait to see the lights, Christmas trees, wreaths, and other decorations along with hearing Christmas music.  I sure hope it snows!  Although I will miss celebrating with my family I’m looking forward to spending Christmas in the UK with Deborah and Sophia.  Check back at the end of December to read about my travels.  Merry Christmas to all!!!

Last Birthday in the UAE and Other Stuff

I have celebrated my last birthday in the UAE!  Next year I hope to be able to celebrate with my family!

First of all, I can't believe that I'm really 38.  Time just seems to fly much faster when you get older!  Where did all the time go?  I also can't believe that I've celebrated 4 birthdays in the UAE.

My 38th birthday wasn't all that exciting; it fell on a Friday this year so I was in Dubai, which was nice.  After church I had lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Kristie, Vanny, and Jane.  The girls wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday and my response was sleep!  I know not exciting at all, but it had been a long week and I was exhausted.  So we went back to Vanny's for a bit and I relaxed on her couch.  I didn't really sleep, but it was nice to just sit there and close my eyes.  We spent about 1/2 an hour at Vanny's before I had to go to the women's Bible study at church and Kristie had to go to a birthday party so we parted ways.  Kristie met me at the Bible study after her birthday party was over and we headed home so I could sleep.  Boring!  But, that's OK.  I didn't really want to do anything anyway.  Plus it was nice to just have lunch with friends.  That's really all I wanted to do.  I did talk to my parents on my birthday so that was nice as well.  But, like I said, hopefully next year we'll be celebrating together.

Other information:

1. Kristie came back to the UAE Sunday 10/27 and she's been staying with me.  I drove to Dubai to pick her up Sunday night and we had a good reunion with Vanny and Jane.  I spent longer in Dubai than I had originally wanted, especially since it was a school night, but I enjoyed the time with just the 4 of us!  Everything is back to normal!  It's been fun having Kristie stay with me.  It's nice to have someone in the house; someone to talk to and have dinner with.  It's not so lonely anymore.  A weird fact that I'm learning about Kristie is that she likes to eat interesting (and stinky:) foods.  I've come home to my house smelling of fish after she makes her fish head soup, and some bitter radish smell after she boils her radishes.  Gross!  And, no I don't eat what she cooks.  After the sardine episode I've given up on trying these weird dishes!  So that only makes me continue to wonder what I'll eat when I go to the Philippines.  I know I like si-sig so I guess I'll live off that when I'm there.  Vanny and Jane said that they'll take me to the Philippine version of McDonald's where they serve rice!  Rice at McDonald's; now that's weird!
2. Hijra New Year (Islamic New Year) is this weekend and I have Sunday and Monday off!  I don't plan on doing anything; just rest.  I did my planning (it was easy since it's only a 3 day week and it's my 3 short days) today so I'm all done with that.  We have 4 days off because we have to work next weekend for training:(  I'm not looking forward to working 10 days straight, but I'll enjoy the time off now.
3. I booked my flights for Christmas!  I'm so excited.  I'm going to Munich, Glasgow, and then meeting Deborah in Carlisle UK.  I'll be in Munich 12/16-12/21 and I'll probably stay in Glasgow until 12/23 and then head to Carlisle (about 1/2 an hour from Scotland) to spend Christmas with Deborah and Sophia.  I'll be back in the UAE on 12/26.  I'm only going for 10 days, because it's really expensive, but I think that'll be enough time.  It'll be nice to be with a family for Christmas, even if it's not my own.  I have also been asked to go to India so I may do that after I get back on 12/27 and before school starts on 1/5, but that will all depend on how much it is and how much money I have left over. 

Well, I think that's about all here.  93 degrees at 5pm.  I am loving the cooler weather!  Kristie and I have been taking walks at night and it's been quite pleasant out!

Ras Al Khaimah - Otherwise Known as RAK

There's not much to tell about my holiday in RAK, but I'll try to describe it for you.  Fara, Arian (her 11 year old son) and I left Dubai around 1:30 and arrived at Acacia Hotel in RAK around 3:30.  We checked into the fully booked hotel, went to our room (which was super tiny) and then went across the street to have some lunch.  Our lunch wasn't all that pleasant as we were attacked by flies and cats.  The season of the flies is upon the UAE, but this was beyond ridiculous.  It was like we were sitting right in the flies' nesting spot.  They were all over our food.  Disgusting.  Then there were the cats.  There were two and they almost had a cat fight while we were having lunch.  Needless to say we left ASAP!  Once we got back to the hotel, Arian and I went to the pool while Fara went to the gym (I didn't bring my gym clothes so I couldn't work out).  Arian went swimming, but I just sat on the edge soaking my feet.  By this time the sun was beginning to set and the water was cold.  After some time Arian convinced me to get in and I swam a few laps anxiously avoiding all the kids who were having a blast with water guns, in and out of the pool.  Fara showed up about an hour later and we sat outside for a while before heading back to the pint-sized room to get cleaned up and head to the mall.  Because our holiday was during Eid not much was open, just the hotels and malls, so that's what we did. 

Tuesday we spent the day at the beach.  The Acacia Hotel is part of a group of hotels and although the Acacia is not on the beach one of the their other hotels is and we got free passes to their beach and swimming pool  The Bin Majid Hotel was much nicer than the Acacia, but I'm sure it was at least twice as expensive since it had its own private beach.  But we got to enjoy the beach without paying the beach resort price!  Nice deal.  Relaxing on the beach was nice; the water, not so much. It was like someone had dropped all their grass clippings in the gulf.  It was gross.  Arian and I pretty much stayed as close to the shore as possible until we found this path (I know sounds weird, a path in the middle of the gulf, but that's what it was) that enabled us to venture further out.  We spent a good portion of the day at the beach and at the pool before heading back to Acacia to get cleaned up and then make an exciting trip to the mall for dinner. 

Prior to checking out on Wednesday we just spent some time by the pool.  I enjoyed my time at the beach, but I definitely won't be going back to this hotel.  The room was small, no extra towels, crammed breakfast area, no pool towels, and the beds were nearly on the floor.  If I end up back in RAK I'll definitely be going somewhere else; most likely paying the money for a beach resort, just not during Eid when everyone hikes up their prices!

95 degrees at 4:30

Life at ENS and in a Muslim Country

It's been a few weeks since the changes all took effect and I suppose the chaos has settled down things have gotten a bit back to normal!  Things are still really busy, but not like the first week when all the changes went into effect.

Due to all of the changes, I got 4 new students (3 from Vemal and 1 from Kevin), but only 3 have been in my class, one is out of the country for medical reasons and I don't know when he'll return.  I'm hoping that he won't (not that his medical issues are bad enough to make him not return, just that he'll go to another school or stay out of the country) because I have heard that he's "bad."  That's coming from the students, but they know.  They have told me that he "shouts" and "doesn't listen."  I don't need another one of those!  One of my new students, from Kevin, is a huge behavior problem and was causing complete destruction in his class, so they moved him to my class, is continually disrupting the class.  He doesn't stop talking or making noises, he sings, laughs, makes noises, yells, anything to hear himself. Thankfully my boys are pretty mature enough to ignore it.  I did have a hard first week with my class adopting his behavior, but I talked to them about it and they have gotten much better.  It's still hard, but not like when my class was going crazy because he was.  I have just decided that I'm going to send him to the PCO (parent care office) every time he gets out of hand and when my strategies (move his name, separate him from his group, ignoring, take away points, praise, and give points) aren't working.  What typically happens when a student gets sent to the PCO is that they call the parents and let them know of the behavior and in extreme cases they demand that the child be sent home.  Yes they really do that.  But in this case the parents know the school number and are refusing to answer the phone when the PCOs call so nothing can be done.  Frustrating.  Although thankfully they don't send him back to class until the next period so I do get a break.  It is going to be a long year and I have to rely on God's strength and patience to get me through it.  The question now is what will happen after we get back from our week break for Eid.  Looking forward to that!  Just kidding!

Eid Mubarak!  Joyous Eid!  My holiday officially started Thursday afternoon and I get a week off.  I'll be going to Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) on Monday with Fara and Arian, her 11 year old son.  I've only ever driven through that emirate and stopped at a beach so it will be nice to spend a few days there and explore the region.  Everyone that hears that I'm going to RAK says that I will love it.  They say that it's completely different from anywhere else in the UAE and it's very quaint.  We'll see.  I am looking forward to it; knowing that I'll spend some time at the beach and the pool relaxing and not thinking about school!

Eid Al Adha is the festival of the sacrifice where Muslims celebrate the saving sacrifice that Allah provided when Abraham was set to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isaac in the Bible).  So they sacrifice a lamb or goat in memory/honor of the sacrificial ram that Allah sent.  This is not a good time of the year for a lamb or goat!  Anyway we had our Eid assembly Thursday morning where the 3rd and 4th graders dressed in Haj attire and walked around the handmade kabba (represents the one in Mecca).  In addition to that someone brought a goat!  Poor thing.  I thought they were going to sacrifice it right there during assembly, but all they did was role play the sacrifice with a plastic knife.  After the pretend sacrifice they led the goat away and proceeded with the rest of the assembly.  The assembly lasted the entire first period so that was nice to have a break.  We didn't do much on Thursday given that I only had 15 students; thankfully Suhail, my behavior challenge, wasn't one of them.

I had to leave school early to help Fara work on getting paperwork for her divorce.  She is Muslim and needs to get an Islamic divorce in addition to a legal one, so she needed witnesses to get the process started.  We (Fara, Tara, and I) went to the court at 2 only to find out that they were closed until 3 (Fara was told they close at 3), so we waited around until they reopened at 3 to find out that she needed male witnesses.  Women don't count; they are weak and may lie (the reason given to us by the attendant, with us women standing right there).  After getting over the initial shock of being called weak and a liar simply because we're women we found out that the witness just have to be men, she didn't actually have to know them.  So two men were rounded up from the courts to be her witnesses.  Not sure I agree with that, but oh well.  She had her witnesses so she could now get the paper granting power of attorney to her friend in the UK.  Once the attendant found out that the recipient of the power of attorney was female he stopped the process.  Nope.  Power of attorney can't be granted to a female, for the same reason.  Ugh!  Frustrating and it didn't even really effect me.  It's just seeing how women are treated here.  Fara eventually found a male family friend who agreed to be her power of attorney so she could get the paper.  So they printed out the power of attorney paper, and had her sign it.  Not a problem except it was in Arabic!  No English translation at all.  What in the world was she actually signing?!  OK I know that I live in an Arabic speaking country and that I am a guest here, but so is 80-90% of the population and English is the predominant language.  I guess not at the court.  An additional frustrating fact is that if Ali, her husband, wanted the divorce all he would have to do is go to the court and sign a paper and it would be granted.  Thankfully she got the paper and is sending it to the Imam (like a Muslim pastor) in the UK that is going to grant the Islamic divorce.

On a side note, Kristie is coming back!  I'm excited, but I'm also sad for her because she will be coming back without her husband.  Their marriage didn't work out at all and he's not willing to leave so they can get work elsewhere.  She's working on getting her visa and a job in Dubai, so I don't know for sure when she'll be back, but she will be back!

95 at 3pm and it's only supposed to get to 99!  Hopefully no more 100s for a while!!!

Weekend

Just a quick post about my boring, yet productive, start of the weekend.

I had planned a weekend in Abu Dhabi to visit Kisha, but that had to be postponed due to the amount of work that I needed to get done.  I am now planning on going the last weekend in October, which will be much better because the weather will be cooler and we shouldn't be nearly as busy.  So with Abu Dhabi being rescheduled I had planned to go to Dubai for church and then come home.  But after thinking about that, I changed my mind.  I usually don't get anything done after I go to Dubai, even if I come home after church, so I decided to stay here.  I went to the Anglican Church in Al Ain so I could get as much done as possible on Friday.  The Anglican Church is very different from Redeemer, and I could not do it every week, but it is very Christ centered so it can be an option if necessary.  After church I did my grocery shopping and was home by 12:45.  Amazing!  Then I spent the rest of the day finding resources for my non-readers, lesson planning, and figuring out the online component of Reading Street, since that's what everyone wants to know how to use.  I got my class set up and assigned some lessons and sent an email with instructions so the teachers that want to do that can.  That was my Friday.  I managed to get most of my work done so I can relax today.  I'll get some cleaning done and then go to the gym/pool.  I haven't been there since I've been back and with the cooler temperatures it'll be nice to sit outside.  I may also work on finalizing my Christmas plans.

So with three posts in September, I should be all clear for October!!!  Just kidding:)  I'll have to post about my Eid holiday, whatever I end up doing.  Just 2 more weeks!

Changes

After a pretty slow and normal start to the school year the changes have begun. I will start off by saying that this could happen at any school, no matter where it is located, and that management did a fantastic job ensuring that no one will lose their job despite the many changes taking place.

This all started due to lower than expected enrollment. No one knows for sure what caused the decline; it could be that Brighton College (a prestigious UK private boarding school) opened, it could be because parents just don't want to pay the extremely high school fees, or it could simply be because parents are dissatisfied with the education their children are receiving. Whatever the cause, enrollment has dropped and when that happens there are small (in management's eyes) class sizes and things need to be done. So with lower than expected enrollment in Al Ain and higher than expected enrollment in Abu Dhabi City (ADC) and Madinet Bin Zayed (MBZ; on the way to Abu Dhabi) something needed to be done. So here is a list of all the changes that will take effect on Sunday.

1. Two kindergarten classes have been lost. These teachers will not be replaced and the students were moved to other classes. This is because they had 18 students, which in my mind is perfect for KG, but according to management that's too small. So now the classes have about 23 students. The two teachers are now becoming system wide subs. Fortunately they will get the same pay. One of them is taking the library position because she is out on maternity leave while the other is helping with 3rd grade.
2. A first grade teacher is being moved to third grade and the students in her class are being moved to the other classes.
3. A second grade teacher was promoted to PYP coordinator and her position is not being replaced so her students are being moved to the other classes.
4. Two third grade teachers have been lost. One due to a medical emergency (she fell and is still in ICU at Al Ain Hospital) and the other to cover an eleventh grade English position at the Boys School in MBZ. She was chosen because she had expressed interest in moving at the end of the year. She no longer wants to make the move and is very upset about this decision. Her class will be replaced by the first grade teacher and the other students have already been moved to other classes. The thing is the teacher coming to third grade is black and these people are very racist. They do not want their children taught by a black person. They think Sudanese and for some reason they don't like Sudanese. So once they find out she's black, it doesn't matter that she's American, they will probably want their child taken out of her class and more changes will need to be made to the other classes.
5. Vemal is leaving fourth grade and going to fifth grade. His position will not be filled his students are being divided amongst the remaining 5 of us. According to the list that Pete generated on Thursday I should only be getting 3 more students, which would put me at 25, not too bad. Then there's the case of Kevin's problem child who is most likely going to be moved to my class. If that happens I'll be at 26 with one of the most challenging students in the grade. Needless to say that my current class dynamics will change.
6. A fifth grade teacher is going to be the new counselor at the Boys' School. Vemal is taking his place so there aren't really any major changes there.
7. An Arabic teacher is going to ADC to teach at the Boys' School. His position will not be filled so all the other Arabic teachers will have to take extra sections to cover his classes.
8. The IT teacher is going to MBZ to teach at the Boys' School. His position will not be filled so now we all have to teach our own IT. Yeah, like that is going to happen! Just being honest here. I'll most likely use that time to teach reading or math or catch up on the little UOI that I currently teach. The only IT that I'll be teaching is using the Internet to find information.

So that is what is happening at ENS Al Ain City Campus. I certainly hope that all the changes are done, but I highly doubt that. There will most likely be scheduling changes now. Can't wait to see what Sunday brings! With all that being said, I will close with the fact that I am very grateful that I have a job, at the same school, at the same campus, and in the same grade level. I thank God for that! And I thank God that all of the teachers are still employed!

93 degrees at 11:30 am. It is getting cooler as it's only supposed to get to a high of 100 today!!

Back to Reality

Well I've been back in Al Ain for about 4 weeks now and back at school for 2 1/2.  It's been a transition, but I'm doing good.  The toughest part has been getting back in the routine of waking up early and going to work, but other than that it's been fine!  I was sick my first week back at school with the terrible cough that I had last year, but thankfully it only lasted a week and I'm feeling better now.  I was hoping that it wouldn't drag on like it did last year and leave me with pharyngitis and bronchitis.  Praise God it was nothing serious, just allergies as I adjusted to being back in the desert.

School has started of quite well.  Currently I have 22 students (I say currently because I may be getting one of Kevin's due to the disruption that he's causing in his class); 16 boys and 6 girls!  Very different dynamics than last year, but so far so good. By God's grace I seem to have a really good class.  They work had and follow directions (mostly:).  We're still working on the raising your hand and one person talking at a time, but other than that they're good.  I'm enjoying them; even the boys!  So far!  I pray that it continues and that I am able to show them God's grace and patience as I am patient with them.  I'm really trying to learn from my mistakes from last year and not spend so much time shouting and getting angry.  Yes, there are times when I will fail, but I know that God will forgive me and I can hope that the students will as well.  My schedule is also a bit better than it was last year; my full days are at the beginning of the week instead of the end of the week as they were last year.  I also have more 2 period blocks so I can focus on literacy and math, not sure how much science and social studies I'll get in but the focus this year for the school is reading and math.  We'll see.

I have a new position.  The literacy coordinator left at the beginning of the year so that position was available.  I applied for it, somewhat hesitantly, but with lots of encouragement from the principal and the grade 4 team.  I didn't want to apply because I don't agree with the program that we have to use and I honestly don't think I'm that good of a leader (although I've been told by many people that I have 'quiet' leadership skills, whatever those are).  Well I got the job!  As of right now I'm not exactly sure what it entails, but I've been told by the principal that we could discuss how to "creatively" use the program that we are being forced to use.  I had my first tasks as the new literacy coordinator on Thursday of last week.  Melanie was having issues logging in to the online system and she wanted to know what to do.  Now I must say that I am the literacy coordinator, not the technology coordinator so I didn't think that would be part of my job description, but I offered my help anyway.  I sent an email to the tech support at Pearson, which she could have done herself, and gave her some ideas that I saw online and we'll go from there.  Now the other task is more geared towards literacy and what I want to do.  Alexandra's PGP (personal goal something) is to improve her reading instruction and she has asked for my help.  We're going to meet on Wednesday to draft a plan and come up with ways I can help her.  I mentioned model lessons, suggestions, observations and just discussing what's going on and what she's doing.  That's what I want to do; help others improve their reading so the students benefit.  I just want to make myself available to others who want/need assistance with reading and writing instruction.  I'd love to work only with small groups doing reading instruction, but unfortunately that's not the way the school is going.  We shall see and I am looking forward to helping. 

I've been to Dubai for church every weekend and it's been great to see friends there.  Last weekend I went to The Cheesecake Factory with Vanny, her sister, and Jane.  Funny that I couldn't go to the one that opened in MI and I had to wait to get back to Dubai to eat there.  Now that the mafia men have left it's easy to get a table!  It was really good spending time with them and catching up.  I do miss Kristie, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I had feared that Vanny, Jane, and I wouldn't have anything to talk about since it was typically Kristie who was leading the conversations but that didn't happen at all.  Our trip to the Philippines in April is still on so I'm excited about that!

I'm thinking about heading to the UK for Christmas.  Deborah is going home for Christmas and she invited me and I'm seriously thinking about it.  If I do decide to go I won't be able to go anywhere for Eid as it would be quite expensive, but it would be worth it since I've never been.  She lives about 20 minutes from Scotland so we could go there as well.  I've just got to check prices and stuff.  This will probably be my last year of international travel for a while so I better do all I can now!!

109 degrees at 1:40

Details

I was so busy describing the classroom that I forgot to mention a few details about being back home.  Either that or I'm just getting old!

I walked into my oven of an apartment and was greeted by a line of ants in the living room, kitchen, and bedroom.  Disgusting, but not as bad as I had imagined.  I was hoping that I wouldn't find roaches or stinky dried out drain pipes.  So I was happy with just the ants.  I know weird!  I turned the AC on and got out my handy dandy can of Raid (I keep one on hand at all times) and began spraying.  Only after ensuring that the ones that I could see were dead did I begin unpacking.  In addition to the ants crawling all over the place, most of the surfaces were covered in sand.  We had some pretty bad sand storms while I was gone, and even if we hadn't the insulation isn't great here, so everything by the windows, and the bath tub, had a fine layer of sand on them; it reminded me of my years at Ammoryiah.  I wanted to take care of that problem, but I was so tired so once the place cooled off I went to bed knowing that I would have to deal with ants and sand in the morning.  The following morning I did some basic cleaning but I didn't really do any heavy duty cleaning.  I saved that until this past weekend.  Now that it's all nice and clean and guess what blew through last night?  Yep, you guessed it, another sandstorm!!!  Oh the joys of living in the desert!

Back to the Desert

I arrived back in Al Ain on a sweltering hot Friday night.  After being in the States for 2 months and enjoying the much cooler temperatures (even the days when it was in the high 80s), coming back to the 110s was not pleasant!

My first week back has been filled with work and catching up with friends.  The 2013-2014 school year has started off much better than last year began or ended.  One key reason is Gursharn is gone!  She was a huge source of trouble.  The 4th grade team seems to be working really good together and we've accomplished quite a lot already.  Another key reason things seem to be much better than last year is that I'm not new anymore!  I don't have to learn how the school works, I get to mentor a new teacher and help her figure out how the school works.  And by God's grace I'm praying that my response to whatever may happen this year will be much different than how I responded last year.

My classroom is pretty much all set up; I'm just debating about changing the seating arrangement.  Currently I have 6 groups of 4, but I'm thinking of making it 4 groups of 6.  The reason for the debate is the ratio of boys to girls this year.  As of right now, things are bound to change, I have 16 boys and 8 girls, exactly the opposite of what I had last year.  The advantage to having groups of 6 I can have 2 girls in each group and not have any groups of just boys.  The disadvantage to having groups of 6 is that it's a large group; 6 kids means that there could potentially be 2-3 that just slack off and let the others do the work.  I'm still thinking about it.

I am applying for the literacy coordinator position that is available.  I love reading and writing, but being a coordinator is not something that I'm all that comfortable with.  It's a position of leadership and although I've been told by many people that I would make a good leader, it's just not me.  Applying doesn't necessarily mean I will get the job though.  Then there's the issue that I don't agree with the program that we are being forced to use.  It's "Reading Street" - a basal reading program designed for American students.  I've talked to the principal about this issue and she's OK with it.  She said if I get the position we can work together to see how to creatively incorporate the program into what we know is best for students.  I'll continue praying about it and see what happens.

I've had a good time catching up with a few friends this week and I'm looking forward to spending time with others as the time goes on.  I have to say that church was quite different due to the fact that Kristie wasn't there.  I definitely miss her!

School starts Tuesday and then things get back to normal!  The first week of my last year has been a good one and I pray that it continues throughout the entire year!

Summer Vacation Part 2

Well now that I've been back in the UAE for a week I guess it's about time to finish describing my summer vacation!!

After returning from my awesome long weekend at various Lake Michigan beaches with Amy, Alexa, and Mason I quickly unpacked, did laundry, and then repacked for my trip to North Carolina.  It was a whirlwind day and a half before I boarded the plane to NC to visit friends from different parts of the state.  I arrived in Charlotte to spend the time with Mariglee and Jake.  It was great to see them and spend the time with them.  They kind of adopted me my first year in Millers Creek and became my North Carolina parents, and since it had been 3 years since I'd seen them I wanted to make sure I got to see them.  While in Charlotte we went to the Raptor Center, did some wine tasting, and took a trip to Millers Creek to meet up with fellow teacher friends and a few surprise guests.  We had lunch at Monte Del Rey, the best Mexican restaurant in Wilkesboro, with Shirley (my assistant for 2 years), Barbara (a kindergarten teacher), Diana (the library assistant), Erica and Jeremy (two of my former students from my favorite class ever).  It was awesome to see Erica and Jeremy; they have grown up into quite mature young adults.  I can't believe that they have graduated high school and are in their second year of college; I taught them in 4th and 5th grade.  Time goes by way too fast.  I really wanted to be there for that class's graduation, but I was still teaching in Ammoryiah and the school year wasn't over yet.  I really enjoyed seeing old friends and students from Millers Creek; it brought back great memories and it was great to reminisce with Erica and Jeremy.

I also got to see some friends from Balfour; Kristen (3rd grade teacher) and Lesha (my assistant for 2 years) came to Charlotte so we could have lunch together one day.  I hadn't seen them since my last trip to NC 2 years ago so it was nice to chat and catch up.  Dee (ESL teacher) came to do some wine tasting with Jake, Mariglee, and me.  It was wonderful to spend time with so many good friends and although I didn't get to see everyone, I'm thankful that no matter the time that passes and the distance between us I'll always have great friends in NC!



One of my favorite parts of the end of my summer was being able to spend some one-on-one time with Mason and Alexa.  They are both growing so fast and it was a joy to be able to spend some quality time with each of them independently.  I started with Mason, seeing as though Alexa was in Tennessee with her Me maw, and we had an amazingly busy day!  My original idea was to do whatever each child wanted to do, but that slightly changed with Mason.  He wanted to go to the zoo, but it was quite cold (only in the mid 60s), windy, and overcast and I thought it might rain.  He was OK with not going, the joy of only being 3 is that you can change your mind quickly and it doesn't effect you too long!!  So we ended up going to the park, Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, ice-cream (with gummi bears) after lunch, and a surprise trip to a circus that just so happened to set up their tent 5 minutes from where they live!  He didn't really like the circus all that much.  He had more fun playing in the bounce house and riding the horse.  He got scared by the fire thrower/breather and the clowns that were pretending to cut and hit each other with construction equipment, so we left at intermission.  My little man is quite the boy!  He loves to wrestle and play rough and tumble.  He is extremely active, curious, lovable, and willing to try just about anything.  I had a blast and truly enjoyed the entire day.  It's all about making memories! 

My day of memory making with Alexa happened the following week.  She called the night before and informed me that she wanted to go to Poppy's house and the zoo!  I probably should have vetoed her zoo idea since it was 85 and humid but it's slightly harder for a six year old to change her mind once she has decided on something so we followed through with her plans for the day.  The day began with a quick trip to Poppy's so I could get lunch packed for our zoo trip.  It was a good thing that we got to the zoo as early as we did because due to the weather we left quite early.  In addition to seeing the animals we went on a motion simulator ride (never again with Alexa - she got sick and we had to stop the ride before it was over) and the merry-go-round.  We had fun walking through the kangaroo exhibit and the big hit was the prairie dog exhibit; they are always out and active and Alexa could go "underground" and experience being a prairie dog in a tunnel.  Fun!  She didn't want to come out!  As soon as she started complaining that she was hot we left.  I didn't want to force her to walk around the entire zoo if she was hot; plus I was getting hot myself!  We drove back to Poppy's so we could check out the pool and go swimming.  We quickly changed into our bathing suits and drove to the pool.  Unfortunately they have limited hours for kids and it wasn't that time when we got there.  We were informed by a lady that no kids were allowed and she was going to enforce it, so we had to leave.  Alexa began to cry and I had a difficult time persuading her to do something else (see what I mean about changing her mind once she's made it up?).  Eventually I convinced her to see "Planes".  She was happy about this so we changed again and headed to the theater for "free popcorn Tuesday!"  My baby girl is no longer my baby girl:(  She is quite the little lady!  She is creative, independent, has her own sense of style, loves to giggle, questions just about everything, and is beginning to think critically.  She is growing up and it is evident in her behavior, speech, and attitude. 

Somewhere in the last part of my vacation I got to play tourist in MI.  I went downtown with my parents and walked along the River Walk.  Detroit has done a really good job transforming this part of downtown, although it was quite funny that where Detroit is on the map they have painted is a light with a broken sign; how ironic since Detroit is now bankrupt!  It was a nice day to spend outside and I loved being able to experience this for the first time with my parents.  I love the fact that they were willing to show me around and spend the day with me!  They are awesome and I am blessed to have such a loving set of parents who enjoy spending time with me and encourage me to be the best I can be. 

I was also able to see my very good friend and college roommate, Michelle.  We had a great dinner and spent time catching up as we walked through the MSU Childrens' Gardens.  The Childrens' Garden was an appropriate choice since we spent many nights there during our college years.  Oh the sheep!  I missed seeing Dave and the kids, but enjoyed being able to talk to Michelle. 

After looking back through pictures I can honestly say I've had one of the best summers I've had in a long time.  It was long, but not long enough, and I was busy with family and friends for the majority of the time.  My family is amazing and I loved being able to be there for family dinners, birthday parties, and just plain hanging out.  I am so thankful for God's grace and blessing of my wonderful family and friends!