First Week at ENS

My first week at my new school was pretty uneventful. It was filled with a lot of meetings and a ton of information. Most of which I have already forgotten!

A bit of information about ENS. There are 4 campuses; KG (which is made up of KG1 and KG2), primary (grades 1-5), boys school (grade 5-12 boys; I know there's an overlap between primary and boys/girls schools I'll explain later), and the girls school (grade 5-12 girls). The primary school is made up of students in grades 1-5, but the grade 5s are single gender so their classrooms are in the boys/girls school.  It is a huge campus and if it weren't for the bus transportation I would have gotten lost trying to find the primary school (eventually I did when I got my car). ENS provides bus transportation, which is great, but I had to get a car.  The driver was not a good driver and it was so hot; I don’t think the AC was working properly. 
During this first week, I got to meet a lot of new people.  Many of whom I won’t see again when school starts since they are working at a different campus.  So far the staff seems really nice.  There is one other new 4^th grade teacher and she and I spent the week together.  She seems nice and we’ll make it through this year together!  She lives in the Sharjah bank apartments (which is only like 5 minutes from where I live).  There were 5 other new primary teachers (2 Arabic, one grade 5, one grade 2, and one grade 1).  They seem nice enough and we spent time chatting and getting to know each other.  I know once the rest of the staff arrives (Aug. 26^th) things will change, but right now it’s nice to just be a small group.

In addition to meeting people at work I got to know Deborah (she will be teaching at the girls’ school).  She lives upstairs with her daughter Sophia.  We went to the mall a few times together, had dinner, and rode to school together once I got my car.  She’s really nice and it’s been good to just be the 2 of us in the complex!  That will change as more people come back from their vacation.

I also got sick this weekL  I think it was a cold that was aggravated by the fact that the AC in the bedroom blows directly on me.  I had a sore throat for a few days and then a terrible dry hacking cough for about 1 ½ weeks.  Not good.  The worst day was Tuesday.  Brian, the principal, looked at me and asked if everything was ok.  Things were not ok.  I was sick.  I felt like I was going to throw up and my throat hurt and I couldn’t have a cough drop due to the fact it was Ramadan.  I made it through the day thankful for the short hours (9-2) and the fact that Eid was coming up so I would have 3 days off.  I just had to make it through the rest of the week.

I ended up getting my car on Tuesday.  I was so sick Tuesday morning due to the ride on the bus that I had to take matters into my own hands.  I had emailed Fast Cars and told them that I was going to come on Wednesday, but I went a day early.  I ended up getting a Hyundai Elantra.  It’s a nice car; bigger than the car I had last year and it’s cheaper! 

We got the news on Thursday that we would be off until Wednesday for Eid!  A 5 day weekendJ

Arrival

Logically following Departure comes Arrival! 

My arrival into Abu Dhabi International Airport was without excitement; which is a good thing.  I got off the plane and headed to passport control.  Before I could go through immigration I had to go to the Visa Collection area.  No problems.  I just had to wait in line, then show them the copy of my Visa that ENS sent me and he promptly gave me my second official residency Visa.  From there I headed to the eye scan area where they scanned my eyes for authenticating my identity.  Very quick.  Then I got to go get  my passport stamped, collect my luggage and exit the airport.  Amazingly my luggage was off very quick so I grabbed it and headed out to meet my ride.  ENS had set up transportation and they were to be waiting for me.  And sure enough they were.  He took the luggage cart (free mind you, not like at Detroit where you have to pay) and we went out into the heat.  I know I have done this many times, but the heat and humidity still shock me when I exit the airport.  It's like a slap in the face.  Yes, I was cold on the plane, but once I got outside I was more than hot.  It was a short walk to the car and then we had to load all the luggage into the van.  He had picked up another ENS teacher and her family (husband and baby) so there was more than just my luggage.  He squeezed it all in and we began the drive back to Al Ain.

Once we hit the freeway, he needed to stop for gas (called petrol here) and I ran into the little store to get Etisalat minutes and a water.  Now I knew it was Ramadan, but that didn't even occur to me as I bought the water and took it back to the van and opened it.  I totally forgot that you don't drink water during Ramadan.  Ooops.  It didn't occur to me what I had done until later that evening when I was home.

On the ride I chatted with Leah (the other ENS teacher).  She had been living in Egypt for the past 2 years with her husband.  She will be a KG teacher.  I tried to fill her in on Al Ain and give her some tips as to where to go and where to avoid.  We chatted for a bit and then we both kind of rested.

Leah was dropped off first at Sharjah Bank; that's where her apartment is.  It's right in town center and she wasn't too thrilled about that.  Leah and her husband got their luggage and inspected their apartment.  I was left alone in the van while the driver got them situated and then it was off to my apartment.  The drive from Sharjah Bank to Al Ain Mall was about 5 minutes.

Since I had already seen my apartment it would be a quick process of checking the form and giving the required documents to the driver.  I was hoping that the AC in the bedroom would be working.  I checked the form and handed it to the driver along with my Visa and then I was left to unpack, shower, and fall into bed.  I was exhausted.  Well, that was my plan anyway.  Thing is the AC in the bedroom wasn't working so I had to make some phone calls.  I called Nicolas, director of ENS, and told him that it wasn't working.  He said he'd call maintenance and then call me back.  I began unpacking while waiting for Nicolas to call me back.  He called back within 5 minutes and told me that maintenance should be able to come out tonight after Iftar (that's when it hit me that I was drinking water during Ramadan) and if they couldn't come tonight they would be there tomorrow.  My original plan was to go to a hotel if the AC wasn't working, but since maintenance was going to come out after Iftar that changed.  I finished unpacking in the sweltering heat of the bedroom while waiting for Iftar to end.  At around 9pm (Iftar was definitely over) I moved the mattress into the living room and collapsed.  I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and was out until 9am the following morning when maintenance woke me up by knocking on my door.  They couldn't fix the AC, but they called someone who could and I was told they'd be there before noon.  I took a shower and met some neighbors while waiting for the guys who could fix the AC.  They showed up at noon and got it fixed!!!  Yeah!!!  I moved the mattress back to the bed and headed to LuLu to get some groceries.  I hadn't eaten since the pizza at the airport and I was famished!!!!

Departure

Although this was a week and a half ago, it is just getting posted now due to the fact that I haven’t had Internet at home since I arrived on Aug. 10^th.

My departure on Aug. 9^th began quite early seeing as though my flight was at 10:30 am.  That meant that I should be at the airport by 8:45 am at the latest.  We would have to leave the house by 7:45 and that would mean dealing with rush hour traffic.  So I got up at 5:30 and took my shower so Amy wouldn’t have to adjust her schedule too much. 

We actually made it out of the house two minutes early!!  That’s quite impressive for us!  And there wasn’t too much traffic until we hit I-275.  I guess it was just a steady flow of traffic, not really too bad.  I’m not sure what time we arrived at the airport, but I knew I was going to have plenty of time.  Dad dropped me and Mom off and went to find a place to park (just in case they could wait with me at the gate).  We walked right up to the Royal Jordanian ticket counter and I began to check in.  My checked bag was way over weight, but they didn’t say anything!  Praise God!  I’m really not sure how it was way over weight this time since I had extra room when I came.  Yes, I did go shopping, but I left some stuff too.  Oh well, no worries since there wasn’t a charge.  I asked if there were any extra leg room seats available; and there were, in the exit row.  I had to pay an extra $100 for them, but that’s nothing for a comfortable ride!  So I paid and got my boarding pass while Mom asked if they could go to the gate with me.  Unfortunately, Royal Jordanian is the only airline that denies gate passes so the answer was no. 

Mom and I began walking to the checkpoint when I looked at my boarding pass and realized that I had been given a boarding pass for my flight from Amman to Abu Dhabi, but not from Detroit to Abu Dhabi.  We turned around and went back to the ticket counter.  I was going to wait in line, but the guy motioned for me to go to the front so I did.  He was busy with another customer so I talked to the lady next to him.  She wasn’t sure what to do, but he told her to just print out a boarding pass.  Simple enough.  With both boarding passes in hand we walked back to the checkpoint when we bumped into Dad.  We said our good-byes, knowing that we would see each other in 4 months when I returned for Ann’s wedding and Christmas.  That made it easier!  I walked to the checkpoint and made it through quite easily.  Mom and Dad stayed there so we could wave and blow kisses before I headed towards my gate. 

My 10:30am flight was delayed and we didn’t leave until 11:30.  That was fine with me.  I figured the later we left the later we’d get to Amman and that would cut down on my 7 hour layover there. 

My seat was in the exit row in the second half of the plane.  I usually sit in the first half so this would be a new experience for me.  Not a good experience though.  As it turned out the people sitting in the first couple of rows were all family (I think there had to be at least 15 of them – including 3 infants).  So it was like a huge family reunion at the front of the plane.  That made for a very noisy trip.  Eventually the grandmother came to sit next to me because she said there wasn’t enough room for her where she was sitting.  Mind you, I paid $100 for this seat and she moved there for free.  That slightly angered me, but she was quite old so I guess she needed a better seat.  So with grandma sitting next to me that meant that the reunion moved to in front of my seat.  UghL  Too much noise and people, including the kids, moving around.  Not fun.  I tried to talk to the grandma, but her English was about as good as my Arabic.  We did have a few conversations about time and when the plane was going to land thru the help of her daughter.  There wasn’t much talking for me, just letting people pass by to talk to grandma or to hand her a baby. 

In addition to the noise, it was quite a bouncy flight.  Lots of turbulence.  That meant that for a good part of the flight we had to be in our seats with our seatbelts on.  That ruined my typical flight pattern which is to watch a movie, read, or do some puzzles, for about 2 hours and then stand and walk around.  I didn’t have much of an opportunity to walk around, but I did stand and stretch frequently enough I guess.

Even though we left late, we arrived on timeL  Now that would usually be a good thing, but I wasn’t looking forward to my 7 hour layover in Queen Aliah International Airport.  I made it through customs easily enough and then headed to the transfer desk. That was a nightmare.  There were 4 people working and all they had to do was tell you what gate your plane would be leaving from, but I waited for nearly an hour, and there weren’t that many people in front of me.  OK so I should have been glad about waiting an hour, but I was tired and didn’t want to be standing in line.  I wanted coffee.  When I made it to the front, the guy told me what gate my plane would depart from and I went to get some money changed to Jordanian Dinars.  As soon as I got my money changed it hit me that I was Ramadan and I might not be able to get anything to eat.  Oh well I could always change it to dirhams in Abu Dhabi. 

As I was walking through the airport I noticed many people eating and drinking so I figured Ramadan rules didn’t apply in airports.  Good thing.  I needed coffee and something to eat since Ramadan rules do apply on airplanes they hadn’t fed us anything since breakfast at 4am (which wasn’t good so I skipped it).  I found a café and got a mocha and turkey sandwich (I know not very breakfasty, but that’s all they had) and did some checking in on the Internet since I knew that I wouldn’t have access at home.

The airport has kind of like a holding area, before you can go to the gate, which has the restaurants, bathrooms, a few stores, access to Duty Free, and cold metal chairs.  I walked around for a bit and then headed to the chairs to stretch out.  I knew there would be no sleeping for me, but I did try to make myself as comfortable as possible. 

While I was waiting a guy noticed me (he was on the same flight from Detroit) and sat next to me.  We talked and I found out he was an American citizen originally from Jordan but his family now lives in Abu Dhabi while he lives in Detroit and works internationally.  He was headed to visit his family and start the process of moving them to Detroit.  A nice guy and he didn’t hit on me at all!!  He didn’t propose to me or tell me he loved me!  How un-Arabic!  I guess that could be because he actually loved his family and couldn’t wait to be with them!  We got pizza around 10:30 and then headed to our gate.  Turns out we sat next to each other on the flight to Abu Dhabi.  We didn’t do much talking on the flight; we were both pretty exhausted and tried to sleep as much as possible on the 3 hour flight to Abu Dhabi.  We got to Abu Dhabi at 4:30pm on the 10^th and that ended my 22 hour departure from the States.

Summer Vacation

My time in MI with my family has been going by very fast, but I have enjoyed spending time visiting as many family members as I can.

I got the opportunity to see my Great Aunt Margaret and 2nd cousins Alan and Linda along with 3rd cousin Allison.  I would typically see them at Christmas and Easter as well as maybe one other time during the year but it's been since last summer since I've seen them.  Aunt Margaret is looking very good despite her age and health concerns.  We had a very nice visit. 

After spending a few hours with Aunt Margaret we (Mom, Dad, Amy, and I) went on to Grand Blanc to visit with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Emma.  We had a very nice visit followed by a nice dinner at Brick Street where I had some wonderful pecan encrusted salmon and smashed potatoes (I love smashed potatoes, not mashed potatoes:).  On the ride to dinner I went with Aunt Emma in their 1995 Corvette.  It was a nice ride, but unfortunately she couldn't gun it and show me the power it has due to the fact that Grand Blanc police have been out lately catching speeders.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.  After dinner I got behind the wheel!  I must admit I look pretty good behind the wheel of the Corvette!  You can't tell, but I'm not all that comfortable.  My legs are folded underneath the steering wheel.  Oh yeah and my head is touching the top, now that wouldn't have been a problem if the top was down.  There would be no possible way that I could drive this!  Although I did enjoy pretending!

In addition to spending time with my extended family I have been totally enjoying the time spent with my niece and nephew.  Amy and I took Alexa and Mason to Zehnder's Splash Village for an overnight stay followed by a day at the Detroit Zoo.

Splash Village was tons of fun!  Alexa loved the slides and Mason had a blast splashing, falling off the tube (no worries either Amy or I always caught him), and playing basketball in the pool.  I was very proud of Alexa.  She did a great job with the slides, even the big ones that were enclosed, dark, and twisty.  She loved them and she loved splashing in the pool and going under when we (she couldn't go down by herself so I went with her) burst out of the tube!  She did go down a few by herself, but they were kiddie slides.  I did have to help her with the "yellow slide" because of the ending, for some reason she didn't like going underwater at the end of the "yellow slide" but it was ok if I was with her.  Whatever.  She had a blast! 

After splashing for a bit we went to Zehnder's for our chicken dinner.  I love the chicken.  It is so moist, juicy, and seasoned to perfection.  The butter noodles and coleslaw are pretty good too.  We survived the dinner and went for a nice relaxing carriage ride around Frankenmuth.  Mason and Alexa were pretty social saying their common response ("I'm Alexa and I'm 5"  "I Mason - sounds like Meson- I 2") when they were asked anything.  They weren't all that interested in the ride, but they loved the horse behind us.  Why you ask?  The horse was white and his name was Mason!  Coincidence?  Unfortunately that wasn't our horse, but the kids loved looking back at him and talking to him!  Our carriage ride finished and we walked to the Cheese Haus so we could get some squeaky cheese - cheese curds - for mom.  Then it was time to head back to Zehnder's so we could catch the bus back to the hotel.  We were all exhausted!

We woke up bright and early the following morning so we could enjoy the breakfast buffet and some more splashing!  Well, we could have slept in longer, but those of you with kids know that is kind of impossible!!  The 2nd day of splashing was a bit more terrifying for Mason.  The Zehnder's Chicken was parading around the room and Mason didn't like him one bit.  From what I understand Amy and Mason spent a lot of time trying to avoid any contact with the chicken.  They eventually went up to the room (to avoid the chicken) while Alexa and I continued to enjoy the water slides. 

We decided to extend our checkout time so we could get cleaned up and sort of relax before heading to Grandpa Tiny's Farm and then home.  I think it was worth the extra money.  It just made checkout a lot more relaxing and less stressful.

Grandpa Tiny's Farm was a waste.  Alexa was bored during the guided tour and Mason just wanted to play in the sand.  Alexa did get to milk a cow!  I suppose the wagon ride was kind of neat, but we could have skipped the guided tour.  Thing is they don't like you to just walk around the farm.  Mayberry and Kensington are much better.

We took Alexa and Mason back to Grandma and Poppy's so we could go to the zoo the following day.  I am pretty sure I have decided that I only want to go to the zoo on cloudy, rainy, overcast days.  It was wonderful!  It wasn't too hot and there were no crowds to fight.  The kids could walk right up to the enclosure without having to push and shove to get a good view of the animals.  The kids could run around without us having to worry about them getting in the way of the other people.  It was nice!  Yes, it rained for a bit, and that was nice too!  But nothing too much other than when we were eating and we were undercover then so it didn't really matter.  The big attraction of the day was feeding the giraffe.  Both Alexa and Mason got the feed the giraffe 2 leaves.  I was quite disappointed, and Alexa was too, by the fact that they only got 2 leaves each.  I paid $10 for each of them to feed the giraffe and it lasted about 2 seconds.  I guess it's making memories, but still.  The 5 year old was disappointed and wanted more leaves.  I  had to buy the pictures that the guy at the zoo took because it happened so fast that I couldn't get a good picture of either of them feeding the giraffe.  Not sure it will happen again, but at least I got the picture of it happening once!  Exhausted again we left the zoo around 3:30 and took the kids home.

It was an exhausting, but memorable 3 days with my sister and niece and nephew.  I am thankful that I was able to "borrow" them for a few days and that Amy was able to go with me. 



Home

My summer vacation started Friday July 13th.  I had a 12:10 am flight on the 14th but I arrived at the airport around 8:30pm on the 13th. 

After spending the day with Craig he took me to the airport to return my car and catch my flight.  It was a long waiting period, but I would rather be early than late and I can't complain because he was willing to take me which saved on cab fare and allowed me to go to Redeemer on Friday morning.

I flew United, which wasn't all that bad.  They were really the cheapest (for a nonstop flight) and they allowed economy passengers to upgrade their seats.  That was a huge plus for me.  That meant that I got to have a seat with extra leg room.  Yes, I had to pay more for it but it was well worth it!!

Getting through security wasn't a problem it just never ceases to surprise me how many times you have to go through security: once before you even check in, once after check in, once before entering the international area, and finally before boarding the plane.  Lots of security.  Due to heightened security they were manually searching all bags prior to boarding the plane.  That caused a delay, but it was more than made up during flight time.

The flight wasn't bad at all.  Not much turbulence and not being disturbed too much for food and snacks.  Dinner was served at about 1:30 am (UAE time).  Weird I know, but I guess they're trying to get you on the schedule of your destination.  Dinner was some rice and beef combination with a salad and a roll.  Not bad, but not all that great either.  I had McDonalds at the airport so I wasn't all that hungry I just knew it would be a long time before breakfast was served at 4:00am (USA time).  So I ate.  After dinner I watched most of Hunger Games, but I fell asleep at the end.  Oh well.  I didn't really want to watch it in the first place, it was just something to do.  I think I slept for about 5 hours, although not 5 uninterrupted hours.  After my nap, I read, did some word searches, and watched 1000 Words.  Then it was time for breakfast.  Breakfast was terrible.  It was some egg thing with something that looked like red hashbrown potatoes and hotdogs. I didn't eat much.  I figured I could grab breakfast when I got to Washington Dulles.  Which I did.

We got to Washington around 5:30am which was 45 minutes early.  Arriving early is supposed to be a good thing right?  Well, that's only true when you don't have to wait for customs and passport control to open at 6:00am.  We had to wait on the plane for about 20 minutes.  Quite frustrating.  Passport control and customs were no problem, although I didn't hear the standard "Welcome Home" that I was expecting.  Oh well.

My flight to Detroit was delayed for over an hour while we waited for the crew to arrive.  Since the flight was delayed that meant a change in plans.  I was going to have lunch at Mark's and visit with the kids but it would now be near nap time when I arrived so we had dinner with them instead.  I was warmly greeted at the airport by Mom!  It was great to see her and she even said "Welcome Home!!"  So I got the welcome home from a more important person than some silly customs official!!  On the way home from the airport we stopped and got some fresh tomatoes for BLTs for lunch and some chapstick since I lost mine because it fell out of the hole in my pocket.  After lunch I took a shower and a short nap before heading to Mark's to see the kids.

This year's greeting from Alexa was much better than last year's.  She remembered me!!  As soon as I walked in she said "Aunt Sara!!!"  What a sound to hear!  Mason on the other hand wasn't all that sure about me.  He did warm up quite quickly though, even though he kept calling me Amy.  Well he's only 2, what can you expect?!  I had a wonderful afternoon playing with the kids.  We played baseball, went for a walk, played jump rope, and I even got a free spa treatment!  Dinner was smoked meatloaf and potatoes followed by a Mark creation of S'mores pie.  It was a nice night, but I was beginning to feel exhausted by 7:00 so we went home so I could go back to bed.

Amy and I went to church on Sunday and then we took Alexa to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday and then shopping.  Since I missed her 5th birthday party I decided to take her out shopping.  It was Amy's idea to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  I thought it was a great idea.  We got a pizza, 3 drinks, and 50 tokens for only $25!  Not a bad way to spend the afternoon and a birthday!  Alexa enjoyed the day and it was fun to spend time with her and Amy. She wanted a movie for her birthday and I had to try to find a camera charger so we went to Best Buy.  No luck on the camera charger, but she got her movie.

After a busy day with Alexa I was feeling quite tired so I went home for a nap and another early bedtime.

Monday was spent in Portland catching up with Michelle and Angie.  It was another long, but good day with promises to see each other again before I head back to the UAE in August.

Today I worked on my tan.  Believe it or not I am not tan at all.  I just don't spend much time outside.  It's too hot and when I am outside I have to be fully covered so I don't get much sun.  I went down to the pool after going to the bank and I am slowly getting some color!  Time to go outside now and add to it! 

Continue to check back for updates as to how I spent my summer vacation and remember to check out the pictures on Facebook; that is if you want to see my awesome niece and nephew!!

Last Day at Ammoryiah Primary School

Yeah, I know my last day was a while ago but I've been busy!  Hey better late than never, right?

So my last day as an EMT (previously called LT) at  Ammoryiah was July 11, 2012.  It was definitely a bitter sweet day.  I will miss a lot of the teachers there but I was definitely glad to leave!  It was a roller coaster ride of many ups and downs, but I learned a lot and overcame many professional and personal obstacles. 

Ups

1. Seeing the girls' English improve
2. Making new friends
3. Only working until 3:00
4. Growing as a teacher
5. Learning how to teach without many of the resources and conveniences I had in the States
6. Doing well on both evaluations
7. Being respected by the principal
8. Gaining respect and love from the students
9. Being respected by the Arabic teachers
10. Finally having my own classroom

Downs

1. Outdoor school
2. Not having many of the conveniences and resources that I had in the States
3. Creating a portfolio
4. Not having consistent water
5. No administrative support
6. Being kicked out of the staff room
7. EMSA with its way too high expectations and not realizing that these students are learning a foreign language
8. countless meaningless PDs
9. Inappropriate behavior being tolerated and not being allowed to have any consequences

All in all I learned a lot and as I continue in the UAE I hope to continue to learn and develop as a teacher and as a person. 

Completing the Exit Process

I know it's been a while since I have posted, but honestly I've been quite busy with the entire exit process and moving. So, let me give you a taste of life in the UAE when you're trying to get multiple signatures and correct forms.

I am going to start by giving all the glory to God because this entire procedure could have gone a lot worse than it actually did. He faithfully lined people up to help me and move me through this process in a short amount of time.

I began the exit process on June 10th and didn't actually finish until July 9th. Almost an entire month. In addition to trying to figure out where I was moving, pack, and move. So it's been a busy month. The first step of the exit process was to get a signature from Ms. Keltham (principal). No problem there. I "interrupted" a meeting and got her signature. I say "interrupted" because really no meetings are ever interrupted here. People continually walk in and talk to anyone they want and get whatever they need. So really no problem there. That is something that I will have to adjust to when I come back to the States for good though. Closed door meetings are really closed door meetings! With her signature on my clearance form I headed to the Al Ain Educational Zone (simply referred to as the Zone) to get a signature from IT saying that I didn't borrow any IT equipment. That took a little as he had to call Abu Dhabi to confirm that I really didn't borrow any IT equipment. After waiting about 10 minutes for the confirmation I got his signature and then headed to payroll to turn in my clearance form so they could calculate my summer pay and bonus. This is where things got a little messy. While waiting I was informed (by fellow LTs) that we needed a school stamp on our clearance form and we needed to include a copy of our acceptance of resignation letter that was emailed to us. Neither of which I had. So that was it for the day. Simple fixes, but something that could have been avoided if I had known. Once home I printed a copy of my acceptance of resignation letter and added that to my file of necessary paperwork for the exit process. The following day I returned to school with my clearance form and got the required stamp to make it official. Ms. Salema (sort of like a secretary) even let me use the stamp myself!! With the stamp on the paper and the acceptance of resignation letter in hand I returned to the Zone to turn my clearance form in to payroll. No problem. She was really kind and told me she would call when I could come and pick it up. Now just waiting.

I got the call on June 17th. Of course I didn't get the call until after work and I didn't want to run up to the Zone so it was going to have to wait until the 18th. Not much else I could do at this point so I began packing and working on selling my furniture.

The next step of the exit process occurred when I had to apply for temporary accommodation. ADEC provides 5 days at a hotel to accommodate those that have to vacate their housing before they can leave the country. So, on the 18th when I went to the Zone to get my clearance form I went to Mr. Adel (housing guy) to apply for temporary accommodation. After waiting for a while in his office I was told that I needed to go accross the hall to Mr. Sultan. He had the form. I went to Mr. Sultan's office and asked for the temporary housing form and he told me that I needed to see Mr. Adel. What?! I politely informed him that I just came from there and he sent me here. Nope. Mr. Adel does the housing so I needed to see him. I told him that Mr. Adel sent me to see him. Mr. Sutlan walked over to Mr. Adel and presumably discussed the housing issue. He came back and rummaged in his closet and found the appropriate paper. I guess even Mr. Sultan didn't know what he was supposed to do. I filled out the form and tried to give it back to Mr. Sultan only to find out that I needed to give it to Mr. Adel. So back accross the hall I went. Simple fix - have a box labeled TEMPORARY HOUSING FORMS placed downstairs at reception. Have another box labeled COMPLETED TEMPORARY HOUSING FORMS placed next to that box. That way no one has to deal with talking to anyone. Just grab the form, fill it out, and put it in another box. Easy. With that done I left the Zone for the day.

More waiting. I needed to turn in my passport, get clearance from Etisalat (Internet), get clearance from AADC (utilities) and get a final inspection of my apartment. This needed to happen as close to July 8th as possible. This is where things got chaotic and stressful. I turned my passport in on July 1, and was told that I would receive a call when my residency visa was cancelled, and began the cancellation process with Etisalat and AADC. Turns out that I needed to inform Etisalat of my intetion to cancel my Internet one month in advance. Who knew? So I had to pay a 600dhs fine for not informing them ahead of time. Don't ask me why they need one month to cancel service, that's just par for living in the UAE. I paid the fine and went to get my clearance form. Nope that would take "time". This was July 4th and I was running out of time. My residency visa would not be cancelled without clearance from Etisalat and AADC and my flight was scheduled for July 14th. I left thinking that I could get the clearance form July 10th. After leaving Etisalat I headed to AADC to figure out what I needed to do to get my power shut off. Turns out this was the easiest process of them all. I just needed to call a toll free number the day before I wanted my electrictity shut off and they would come the following day. Easy. I like that.

I took Thursday July 5th off of work so I could get some stuff done - selling furniture, moving, getting the power shut off, and dealing with Etisalat. I went back to Etisalat and nicely asked if there was anyway my clearance form could be ready before July 10th as I needed to turn in all my paperwork so my residency visa could get cancelled prior to my July 14th flight. He looked for my form and told me that I could pick it up on Sunday. I wanted to take everything on the 5th, but Sunday would have to work. I headed back to my apartment so I would be there when they came to shut off the power. No problems at all. The power was shut off, I got the text message telling me to go to the main office on Khalifa Street to finish the process and collect my clearance letter. See AADC can do it in one day, why can't Etisalat? I went to the office got my form and refund and then left.

Back to Hili to finalize the move. I went to the office to get my final inspection but was told that they couldn't do that until all the furniture was out. Problem was that the movers weren't coming until 3:00 and the office closes at 3:30. He was kind enough to stay until 4:00 for me. The movers arrived and loaded up the truck while I went to get the final inspection. One of the maintenance guys walked in, briefly looked around before locking up. I should mention that prior to the final inspection I had received a paper that said "No damages from tenant" and it was signed by the owner. Nice of him to do that before the inspection, but then why did I have to wait for the apartment to be completely empty?

We took the stuff over to my new apartment and I got some unpacking done before it was time for me to head to Dubai for some much needed rest. I spent the weekend in Dubai praying that I would have my passport back so I could leave July 14th. I ended up staying an extra day in Dubai because my hotel stay didn't start until July 8th. So I got up early and drove to work from Dubai.

After work on Sunday I went to Etisalat to collect my clearance letter. This was only an issue because of lack of organization. He didn't know where my form was, but once he found it there wasn't a problem. I had to pay 10dhs for my landline phone (that I never use) but other than that nothing. I got my form and headed to the Zone to turn everything in and check on the status of my passport. I went to Mr. Adel to turn in everything housing related (clearance letters from AADC and Etisalat as well as the keys to the apartment). After waiting in Mr. Adel's office I was told that I needed to go across the hall to Mr. Ibrahaim. Unfortunately he wasn't there. I think I waited for an hour and he never showed up. While waiting I did find out that I needed to go and collect my passport and not wait for a phone call. Nice. I am glad there were helpful people there to answer my questions while I was waiting to turn everything in. Since Mr. Ibrahaim wasn't there I went to get my passport and while I was waiting for that I found out that I should go talk to Mr. Adel and get his signature since he is the housing guy. Nice again. Why all this guessing and checking is beyond me, but thanking God for placing people there to help and direct me. With passport in hand I went to Mr. Adel and asked him to please sign my paper since Mr. Ibrahaim wasn't in the office and I had been waiting for quite some time. He looked at everything and signed the paper!! All forms turned in, just one more signature to get. I went downstairs to turn in my medical card and get their signature. Another easy step. After getting all signatures I had to turn in my original clearance form to payroll so they could release the money. Back upstairs to the kind lady to who helped me when I began this process. As I turned in my completed form she told me that it would take more than 5 days to get the money. OK no problem since I'm coming back the money can stay there and I'd send it home when I returned. Yeah it would be nice to have it before leaving, but if not no problem. I walked out of the Zone, with my passport, for what I thought was going to be the last time.

Time to go do some unpacking at my new apartment before checking in at the Rotana. I spent about 2 hours and got quite a few things unpacked before I had enough and was ready to collapse. To the Rotana. No problem with check in. Although while I was getting settled a message came on the TV that I needed my original temporary housing form with stamp and signature from Mr. Sultan. I didn't have that. I went to the desk to tell them that I never got a copy and they told me that I could get one and bring it the following day. Oh yeah. Back to the Zone I go.

One more trip to the Zone. Hopefully quick, but knowing that since it was housing it wouldn't be quick. I went to Mr. Sultan's office, which was full of LTs, and waited. He had me look for my form in a binder while he was dealing with someone else. Nope, not there. He looked and couldn't find it. He asked me why I didn't just go to the hotel since I knew where I was staying. I told him that I went and they needed the form. "OK no problem, you just fill out form again and I sign and stamp." Easy enough and it actually didn't take all that long. I got his signature and a stamp and went to make a copy before leaving the Zone for the final time.

Back to the apartment to do some more unpacking and then to the Rotana to enjoy the pool. Unfortunately due to a sand storm I couldn't enjoy the pool, but at least I got to relax and watch some TV. And that was pretty much how the rest of my week went. I found out that I got paid on July 10th so I wired home most of it with plans of returning later in the week to get the rest.

I am all unpacked in my new apartment, but the AC in the bedroom isn't working. I called the maintenace guy and he came as I was on my way to Dubai. He doesn't have a key so he can't get in so it will have to wait until I return in Aug. That means I will most likely stay at a hotel on Aug. 10th when I get back in Al Ain. It's just too hot to stay without AC and the furniture in the living room is not good enough to sleep on after a 16 hour flight.

I am now in Dubai at Craig and Cindy's empty villa waiting to go to the airport at around 9pm. I leave at 12:10 am and arrive at 9:42 am. I will be spending Saturday catching up with family. Check in later for updates as to how I spent my summer!