Halfway There

Well during lunch this week one of my colleagues said, "Ok girls, we're halfway through this trimester." I wish you could hear her because she's from South Africa but has lived in New Zealand for years. So her accent is something else.

Anyway, I couldn't believe it. Trimester 1 is 15 weeks and here I am beginning Week 8. These past 2 weeks have been rather eventful.

• My old Principal, who left Cochrane to be a principal in Mumbai, India was in Abu Dhabi (of all places) for a conference. He told me he would be in my new country and that dinner was a must. Mike and I met him, his family, and coworker/friends of theirs for dinner at a restaurant called El Sombrero. El Sombrero is in the Sheraton which is on the Corniche. The Sheraton is the same place where Mike and I experienced our first brunch. If you've not read that blog post, click here to see some AMAZING pictures and videos of food. 😁 Back to dinner though. We talked, we laughed, we compared our experiences. It was so great to talk to others who could directly relate to what we are currently experiencing as well as take advice from them about what's to come. All in all dinner was great and we plan on going to Mumbai to see them.

• When we were planning to come here one thing I told myself is I don't want to be a homebody and miss all of the excitement happening around me. So, when events occur and as long as it's something that will interest me, I definitely want to attend. My new BFF, the person who was instrumental in getting me here, asked if I wanted to go to a comedy show, of course I said yes! I love to laugh and I told myself I would make the best of my move so we went and sat right up front. The show lineup was comedians that if I listed them you would not know who they were. In my opinion only 2 of them were seriously funny. This one guy from Sri Lanka and a guy from New York. We laughed at them so much we had tears in our eyes. The other comics need to go and look at some Def Comedy Jam or something! In spite of all of that we had an awesome time and we ended our night at a little Jazz Club for a late night snack before turning in for the night.

• Mike and I are very different people. We have different interests. We are in very different circles but the one thing we have in common is music. We are lovers of music! I saw a post for
  
  a Silent Party and was definitely intrigued. The concept seemed dope but I wanted to see for myself. This is the concept. Everyone gets a set of wireless headphones. This party had 3 DJs and you choose from which DJ you want to listen to. You can change to any DJ at any time. The options were R&B, Hip Hop, and Reggae/Carribean. We walked in, got our headphones, and immediately started jamming. It was so awesome! It was something to see everyone with their headphones lit up having a great time. Each DJ was a different color so if you saw someone really dancing and singing hard it made you want to change to their DJ and hear what they were listening to. We had soooo much fun!

 

 

• Before leaving the Queen City I was working out with friends. I mentioned in a previous blog. When we first moved into our flat, I was going to work out first thing in the morning. I did that for a week and then one day I didn't go and the routine was broken and I stopped completely. I walked by the mirror one day and I scared myself by how much weight it looked like I gained. The very next day I got up early, before work, and went to exercise. My friend had sent me some things I could do each day. So I walked/jogged 2 miles and then did some of the exercises. The 2nd day I did this I was mid run and the security guard told me I could not be down in that area. (I was walking the little trail around the pool.) He killed my vibe and my routine was broken. I had been talking to my new BFF about working out and she said she would. We met after work and walked. She had been working out before the summer break so I decided to walk the route she had been doing. It felt good to have a workout partner. We did this for 2 days. On day 3 she was tired and needed a nap but I was determined to be consistent so I asked Mike to join me so I could keep up my routine. He was happy to join and I got it in. So far, I've been consistent for 6 days! I know this is small to some but for me it's an accomplishment! Below are the sights we see on our walk around the island.

 

 

• School life is going ok. I'm starting to get in the swing of things and build relationships with my boys. One day this week, DURING MY LESSON, an Indian man came in to show the boys some art. (Remember that word flexibility that I so adamantly talked about. Here it is again.) He rolled some paper up and made some cuts and the finished product was something nice and creative. He told the boys they could buy the set for 15 dirhams. That equates to like 4 US Dollars. The very next day he came back to my class and over half of my students bought a 2 page booklet and some paper. 

• I was given another schedule/timetable on this past Thursday and it will start on Sunday. I've lost count on how many schedules I've been given. This one doesn't seem so bad. I feel that now I won't have to rush through my lesson. I think I'll also feel like I'm back in the states teaching because our periods were 90 minutes. Check out Wednesday though! What this shows is when you see 6A, 6B, or 6C that's when I'll have class. All of the blank places are my free periods.

• We have decided that we are going to try a new brunch once a month. This month's brunch will be at the Emirates Palace and we are going today! We have decided not to eat so we can fully enjoy brunch. Don't worry I got up this morning and my workout in! 😃 If you plan on coming to visit me please make sure your stay goes through a Friday so you can enjoy a brunch with me! I'll definitely be posting about the brunch once we get back! If the picture looks familiar it's because it was where the Fast And Furious 7 crew went when they came to Abu Dhabi.

As always Be Kind To One Another and Be Uniquely You!

So Easy

And now for the moment we've been waiting for....We bought a new car!!!

When you buy a new car here they have it covered and then they unveil it for you!

Yep, that's right we are the proud owners of a 2017 Toyota Rav 4 and we could not be any happier. I have never bought a new car off of a car lot. Every car I have ever owned has been pre owned and at least 5 years old. So this accomplishment is something.

We were renting a car from National but when you do the math and look at the numbers it makes more money sense to purchase so that's what we did.

The process to buying a car is so simple here. We went to the lot to look. We had an idea of what we wanted but not sure of the make and model.

Once we got to the lot we were greeted by a salesman. He asked us what we were looking for and our price point. With the feeling of no pressure he showed us some options. The prices were exactly where we wanted. Once we decided on what car we wanted, the finance manager came and told us our options. He made it very clear that we will not have to run around to get things done. We would not have to apply with a bank, the dealership would handle all of that. We ordered the car and were told after we signed with the bank it would be brought to the dealership. A few days after visiting the dealership a bank contacted us and we were approved. We went to the bank office to sign the final papers. 2 days after signing with the bank the car dealership said our car had arrived and we could come look at it and they would prepare it for us to drive the next day. We had to turn in our rental car that day so we told him we needed it the same day. They said no problem. The car dealership is who applies for your registration and tags. There is no wait for the tags to come to another office and we ride around with temporary tags. The tag was put on the car before we drove off. This process was super simple and the car dealership is a one stop shop! Gotta love it!

The one thing I want to point out is in every car you purchase in the UAE it comes with a fire extinguisher! The fire extinguisher is on the passenger side. We asked about it and he said many times when cars catch on fire the driver can't get out and get to the back of the car so it's right there for convenience. Brilliant!

Now you should come to Abu Dhabi so you can ride in my new car! Be Kind to One Another and Be Uniquely You!

Just living

We've been in Abu Dhabi for almost 3 months and we have several experiences under our belt. We are experts at Shop and Ship. Shop and Ship is a way for us to order whatever we want and it's delivered right to our door. Shop and Ship gives you addresses all over the world. We saw these anti theft backpacks online and Mike just had to get us 2. If you are planning to come to Abu Dhabi, I would highly suggest getting a Shop and Ship account. They have promo codes for free memberships all the time. You can go the Shop & Ship site by clicking here.

They are supposed to be awesome for travel which is what we plan to do in the very near future. We saw that they are sometimes made in Dubai so we decided to use our Dubai Shop and Ship address when we ordered these. We thought they would come right to our door like the other packages have but nope, we were wrong. Our backpacks were sent to Dubai. So, a trip to Dubai is what we embarked on. We've been to Dubai a few times but the sights are still something to see! The very tall building is the Burj Khalifa. I did a whole post on visiting Dubai. Feel free to click here to go to that post.

We had to go to the Central Dubai Emirates Post. I know you're thinking why are you telling us about going to the Post Office. I'm telling you because it's not like going to the Post Office in America.

1. We walked in and there was a Ladies only line at the reception desk. I walked up and told them why we were there. He told me to go to Counter 17 which is the Information Desk.
2. We get in line at the Information Desk and tell him why we are there. He types the tracking number into his computer, prints something out and sends us back, with that paper, to the Reception Desk.
3. The Security Guard at the Reception desk hits a few buttons on the kiosk screen and gives us a ticket and tells us to sit and wait.
4. I sit in the Ladies ONLY section and Mike sits in the section next to me.
5. Our number is called and we go to the corresponding counter. We give him the paper, my Emirates ID, and Mike shows his Entry Permit. He writes down Mike's mobile number and we have to pay 5 dirhams. He gives us a receipt with a number at the top and he says to sit back down and wait for our number to be called.
6. I go back to the Ladies ONLY section and wait.
7. They call our number, give us our package and we are on our way.

All of that just to pick up 1 package. Dorothy, we aren't in Kansas anymore. As a treat to ourselves we stopped at the Last Exit which is literally the last exit before you go to Abu Dhabi. The Last Exit has several food trucks that have drive throughs. The food is said to be amazing and it is very interesting to see. We went to the Burger Pit and the food was actually good. I told Mike I'd like to experience all of the options. 😁

We went to a Lip Sync War which was fun. Mike was trying to get me on stage but my shy side (Yes, that does exist) wouldn't let me. It was so interesting to see how music transcends across all ethnicities and countries. We saw a Sudanese girl rap Snoop Dogg, we saw an Emirati and Sudanese man lip sync R. Kelly and Usher, we even saw a black guy lip sync Will Smith's "Get Jiggy With It" and when he announced his song choice the crowd went WILD. "Get Jiggy With It" came out in 1999. Let that sink in! 😳😏

We've celebrated birthdays of our new framily. I got dressed and Mike decided he wanted to wear the shirt that I made him that looks like mine. He always tries to compliment me in that way. I need to recognize that more. So, Mike if you're reading this, THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU. Anywho,
We went to the Challenge Chambers, which is like the Escape Room. It was very fun.

 






















Mike has been an AMAZING husband. I come home to a super clean house, clean clothes, frozen drinks, and some days Mimosas in bed! He is supportive when I talk about school and when I have to bring work home which is very seldom. On top of all of that he allows me to be the big kid that I am. He talks about me but he still allows me to be me. I couldn't ask for anything else.

 














School is still going ok. The sunrises I see on my way to school are gorgeous and makes me feel hopeful about my day!

 

I was given a new schedule last week but I was told this week that I'd be getting a new one very soon.

They actually closed one of my classes and split my smallest class up between the other classes. This happened in the middle of the day. FLEXIBILITY! I'm still having to be creative with my classroom management techniques and classroom set up because in this culture it isn't seen as rude to talk when someone's talking. This happens all the time. I've been in meetings where someone is talking and there are several other conversations happening AND someone might even be on the phone carrying on a full blown conversation. So, them talking while I'm trying to give instructions is not seen as rude or as a problem.

Last week, DURING CLASS, another teacher came in my room and made an announcement in Arabic. I had no idea what he was saying but what I noticed was while he was speaking Arabic, the boys' first language, many of them began shouting out questions and having conversations about what he was saying or about whatever. At that moment I didn't feel so bad. After he left they told me that he told them they were going on a field trip. This was my face 😲😳😮😯😃. My first question to them was, "Do I have to go?" Some said no, some said they weren't sure. Come to find out, I don't have to go. So, while they are on the field trip I'll be at school planning some awesome lessons! 😂😏

We have booked our plane tickets home for the Winter Break which is giving me something to look forward to. We are also going to begin planning what we're going to do during the National Day Break. We are supposed to have a Thursday and Monday off. It has been said that once National Day comes the students will stop coming to school so I need to teach everything on my pacing chart for this first trimester before December 2nd. No problem! I can be FLEXIBLE...OBVIOUSLY!