Two Weeks Back

I can't believe that I've been back at school for 2 weeks.  Only 10 more to go until spring break when I head to the Philippines, but who's counting!!

The transition back to work was a bit difficult due to my injuries, but thankfully I am healing.  The first week back was the most painful; it hurt to move.  It felt like there was constant stabbing on my ribs and if I moved the wrong way, or took a deep breath, the knife went deeper.  I couldn't bend down to help the kids so I had to have them come to me.  They loved that!  That's what they're used to, and it typically takes a while to break that habit, so they really didn't need much prompting to come to me instead of the other way around!  I also had to tell Una, the principal, and Omar, the head of school, that I couldn't do any moving or lifting.  Which meant that I would be no help for the organizing of the literacy room that they wanted to start.  They totally understood, but it's just funny because that's the only thing that they have told me to do as the literacy coordinator and I couldn't even do that!  Believe me though, when the pain finally does go away I'll have plenty of work to do as the literacy coordinator.  There are 2 rooms stacked full of books and other supplies that have to be organized and inventoried, and guess who gets to do all of it?!  It's not what I thought I would be doing as the coordinator, but at least it's something.  I made it through the first week back by taking Panadol (Tylenol) and ibuprofen every 3-4 hours and coming home and either falling asleep or just lounging on the couch. 

During that first week back I got flowers from a student and I turned in my resignation!  Oh, and I didn't get the new student that I had been told I was getting before we left for break.  Turning in my resignation wasn't quite as big as I thought it was going to be. Yes, it felt great to make that decision and make it official, but that's it.  Jenn, Alexandra, Maureen, and I headed over to the boys' school to turn in our form to Ms. Khuloud, the director, but she wasn't there and we couldn't find her secretary so we went to HR and gave them to Ammar.  He was curious about how many from primary were planning on resigning and asked us why we were resigning.  We briefly explained our reasons then returned to the primary school to send our email to Khuloud, Una, Omar, and Ammar to confirm our resignation.  Done!  That was it.  The whole thing could have been done in 5 minutes if we didn't have to travel to the boys' school and if we didn't chat with Ammar.  I don't know what I was expecting, but that wasn't it. 

The following week was a short week, due to Prophet Mohammed's birthday, but it felt like 2 weeks!  Why is it that 4 day weeks end up feeling longer than a regular week?!  This was the week where more changes were instituted, so maybe that's why.  They changed the mosque schedule, got rid of art and IT, and changed music to a block of 2 lessons every other week instead of one lesson a week.  The annoying part of the new mosque schedule is that the grade 3 and 4 boys eat lunch together and they only have 10 minutes to do that.  It makes for a stressful 10 minutes if you're in the cafeteria on duty and on the playground rounding the boys up before lunch is more intense then it was before.  I don't think it's going to change though.  With art and IT being cancelled I now have 2 less free periods, but 2 more periods to teach content that I so desperately need to teach.  So, right now I'm not really sure how I feel about that.  It will be hard on Sundays when I only have one break, and that is lesson 2 so that will be a long day, but Sunday's are good to have long days because the kids are a bit more focused then they are the rest of the week.  We'll see how it goes.  We didn't have music last week so I don't know how that change will be, but the kids were upset to know that their specials were being taken away from them.  My new music day is Wednesday lessons 1 and 2, which will make for some very short Wednesdays, on the music week, as I will only teach lessons 4, 5, and 10.  I guess that's the day that I'll be working in the new literacy room!!

In other news I am cat-sitting for the next 6 months!  Fara's friend had to give up her cat, I'm not really sure why, and Snowy (the new cat) doesn't get along with Jasper (Fara's cat) so I volunteered to take her until I left.  She's quite freaky looking!  She's a Persian and Fara had her shaved so she looks weird.  I'm sure once her fur grows back to its regular length she'll look less freaky!  She's a really good cat and has adjusted quite well.  She enjoys sitting by the window during the day and sleeping with/on me at night.  She's really quiet too; I haven't heard her meow since she's been here; she does like to purr though. 

It's cold!  I know that this makes no sense for those of you who just had tons of snow and ice and lost power, but trust me it's cold.  In the mornings and evenings it's about 50 with high temps during the day of about 68-72.  The afternoons are quite pleasant, but it's cold in my apartment and cold getting to work in the morning.  I've had the heat on in my car and I'd have it on the apartment if I had heat.  Instead I'm drinking tea, wearing socks and sweatshirts, and wrapping in a blanket.  I don't know what I'm going to do if I get a job in MI.  Oh yes I do, I'll turn the heat on!!!

72 degrees at 3:15pm.

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