Getting Lost...

So! I've officially made it through orientation week and am anxious to start school! The school is really engergized and a lot of the returning teachers are feeling beyond excited about the new Admin staff and the vision that they have for the school. I am definitely drinking the Kool-Aid and am loving the whole picture of this school and what potential the school has for being one of the top schools in the international setting. If you haven't already, check out the ASD website. I am also pretty much in debt to my team partners who are beyond wonderful and have shared everything and anything with me to get me going. It is nice to walk into a team that is organized and has clear objectives, but lets me take those objectives and adapt my own teaching style. I really couldn't ask for much more :) My department leader, Deb, lives on the Palm Jumeirah and I get to go hang out there soon. :)

Beyond school it is nice to meet some fresh faces, not only with returning staff, who are all welcoming and FUN, but also with meeting people in Motor City. We met a bunch of people who teach at the British Schools here and are super fun. We went out for a Ladie's night mixer with some of them, and drank champagne and reveled in being an Ex-Pat. It was 'quite smashing good' as most of them said towards the end of our evening. As the school year becomes closer there are British people everywhere.

The only down side to going out in the bars and clubs here is that they can still smoke inside. I hate it, and feel like a dirty ashtray the next morning. And they chain smoke. It is unreal how I feel like we have stepped back into the 1990's with some of the health things going on in this city. Like the fact that recycling is pretty much nonexistent here...? My shipment came in giant cardboard boxes, and I had to throw them in the trash... so strange.

The other exciting news is that I have a car!!! I rented a tiny little Toyota Yaris which I am very happy to have, so I don't have to pay tons of cab fares and I don't have to bum rides. I only rented for a month to see how much I like that, and then so I can have the ability to go check out cars for leasing or buying. I went exploring (and to IKEA- yet again) this morning, as Friday mornings are the best to learn the road here because it is Holy day. We got successfully lost and more lost and then found IKEA and from there it was good. I honestly cannot stand driving the car because it has no power, and being used to my V6 in the States, I feel like I am driving a wind up car. It is awesome because it is super maneuverable and great gas mileage, but here you really do need to accelerate quickly, and that is just not happening in the Yaris. *Sigh* But, I am mobile, so I can't complain. And I know Maddie Z loves the Yaris, so I hope you're proud girl.

I finally had Sushi at a decent place here too. It's called SUMO and it is super amazing. It is close to the school and apparently it delivers (as everything pretty much does). This could be very dangerous. I also found a golf course right next to my development, called Arabian Ranches. Very excited to play this.

Another dangerous thing that I have discovered is that on Thursdays our Middle School Principal and Associate Principal suggested we have Middle School Faculty Team Building activities. Sounds kind of lame at first, until I learned that these 'activities' take place at a certain PUB nearby. And the school pays. WHAT?!?! Life just gets more interesting the longer I am here.

Wish me luck in the first week. Hopefully all you other teacher pals have successful weeks as well. 

Souqs and Creeks

Today was adventure day. We decided to take the metro. It was enjoyable on some aspects, but definitely not on others. I have never felt so violated by man staring at me. It is almost as if they have never seen a woman before. We were in a large group, and had some of our male coworkers with us, but it did not discourage the men from staring. These men were not Emirati men (or nationals), they were mostly Indian men. I (and all of our group) were conservatively dressed, and the stares we got were unreal. A group of men even decided to take out their camera phones and snap photos. Uncomfortable and strange.


So we took the metro to Bur Dubai, which is old Dubai, to go to the souqs. Souqs are the open air markets where you can by textiles, gold, spices, etc. We went to the textile souq and I tried my hand at bartering. I ended up getting a beautiful wall hanging for about half of the original price. They are so desperate to sell and don't want you buying from their neighbor, so you can get basically any price you'd like. I felt somewhat guilty for bartering, knowing that they probably need that money much more than I do, but I thought what I paid was still a fair price, since they expect you to barter down anyway. The other interesting thing about the souq, was that there were no women. Vendors are yelling out to you and running out of their stalls to try to entice you to come into their booths or little shops. I've never been called "ma'am" so many times.... barf.

The boat's steering mechanism. So
awesomely mechanical! Using ropes
and pulleys, along with levers in
series. I thought it was sweet.
Everyone told me I am a nerd. TRUE!

Before going to the souq, we took an Abra, which is a water taxi, across Dubai Creek. They are super cheap, and probably not too safe, but very fun! I was in HEAVEN to be back on any type of boat, and on the water. I definitely miss the lakes and access to them in MN. Below are pictures of our boating and souq adventure.

Me and Dubai Creek

Kathy, Ambre, and Sarah

Our departing station full of other Abras

Yay! I'm on the water! 

Bur Dubai is beautiful, and the water was aquamarine!

Address

For mailing through post to me (might be expensive) the address is:


Care of: American School of Dubai
P.O. Box 71188
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

No ZIP code. 

Eid Mubarak

Happy Eid-al-Fitr! The Holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan is great news for everyone here in Dubai, including locals and expats alike. This means that for Muslims, their holy month of fasting is over. See above link for more on that. For Expats and your favorite Minnesota girl, it means that stores and governmental agencies now have to hold regular hours (and do their job in timely fashion) and that we can drink and eat in public. It also means I can wear more normal clothing, still on the more conservative side. We new-Bs from the ASD community had our own party to celebrate both the fact that Ramadan is over, and that we have made it through relocation and jet lag. Anything to have a few Coronas and Cocktails! The real celebration for me will be when my shipment arrives! 

Internet, Bad Jokes and Babushkas

I finally got internet in my house today! Hooray! It is kind of sad considering I have been here only 8 days and feel like I have been having a significant void without it! But, it is set up, and I can Skype and FaceTime and will be getting a small TV soon. I don't really miss TV all that much though, so I am in no rush to buy one. However, now with internet the first website I went to was Pandora to listen to music- annnnnd... they don't provide outside of the U.S.!!!! I wasn't happy. So I went and asked Sarah, my colleague and friend from Canada/Britian/Thailand, and I found a lovely substitute music player called 8Track. It was so nice to have a little country music playing. But, I digress.

We had our first inservice day today and just went over the general procedures and expectations for both students and staff. It is nice to have these academic discussions to hear what different people's philosophies are. My team partner, Larry (coming by way of the American school of Warsaw, Poland), is very experienced and I am grateful to have him in my corner here. He also has this extremely dry and witty humor that I find to be hilarious. His wife, Michelle, is our Director of Learning, and she warned me that Larry is full of bad jokes. I assured her that I will appreciate them due to the fact that my Dad is also full of bad jokes (love you Dad).

This is just a picture of my friend Ambre and I. We did have to cover our hair for this particular place we were at. I look like a babushka. Sort of ridiculous, and clearly I don't know how the local women look so stylish when they do theirs. Mine kept falling apart and just in general looking disheveled. Fail. Perhaps I will get a little better, but it's not like I am going to be practicing.

Mosque in Bur Dubai

Our Iftar feast! Notice the diet Pepsi....

So, I finally downloaded a few pictures! Here I am at our Iftar dinner at the Cultural Center. I am drinking Arabic coffee, which has saffron and cardamon spices ground with the coffee beans. It is rather bitter, but actually delicious in small quantities. This was a picture of some traditional buildings near the Cultural center. The buildings have been restored to what they were when tribes or large families lived in them for houses in compound like settings.

Dubai is incredible

Greetings! I must say, Dubai is unreal. It has been a whirlwind and I am still reeling from how much we have packed into these last few days. Internet is very limited and so I have not been able to write, so this entry could get long.

Customs was a breeze. Hire a company to get you through, because you don't have to stand in any lines and they don't ask you any questions. Wham, bam, see you later all you folks in that ridiculous line. :)

My apartment is giant. Way too much room for one person and I have been at a loss as to how I am ever going to furnish it. I honestly don't think I will, and I'll have a yoga studio/art room/sport equipment room/spare bedroom in my apartment. We have been shopping like maniacs the last few days, as well as going through various steps to become a resident of Dubai. I have succeeded in buying a bed and beautiful frame, a side table, a random other entry table, a big comfy chair and random other things. I have realized that I am terrible at making big purchases (such as a bed or couch) because I have never really done it. There will be pictures forthcoming, but I'll wait until my place is a little more put together.

As for my colleagues, I couldn't ask for a better crew of people to be around. The general description would be young, female, and very much eager to teach and travel. I feel very much like I have known these people for a lot longer than four days. We are all in the same boat as far as being completely overwhelmed, and so it is nice to have a support system. My admin staff is very wonderful. It is such a unique group of people with so many experiences and different international teaching backgrounds. I know I am going to learn so, so much.

So far, we have gotten our blood tested for HIV/AIDS, and x-ray for TB. Apparently, you are not allowed in the UAE with those. Interesting. Another interesting fact is that in every government building that we have gone to, the seating areas are either segregated by gender, or women are given preferential seating. Security guards are also there to enforce this. Today a man sat in the wrong section, and was told he had to get up, and then he had to relinquish his spot in line and go to the end!!! I was really intrigued. We had to get fingerprinted for our National ID card and being a resident of Dubai. We have to get these things before being able to get our driving license and get anything, like internet in our home.

The most interesting thing would be coming into this country during Ramadan, as the UAE official religion is Muslim, everywhere is moving at a much slower pace and often is not open. This includes government processing buildings and customs at port. For this reason, I have no idea where my shipment is or when it will arrive or if it is here. Lovely. Ugh. During Ramadan Muslims fast all day until sundown. This fasting includes everything; water, chewing gum, food, and impure thoughts. At sundown, they break their fast by drinking water and eating a sweet date (which are incredibly delicious). Then they eat. Sometimes they have a traditional feast called an Iftar. We were able to go to the Sheik Mohammed Cultural Center for Understanding where we had a traditional Iftar feast, and just a general presentation on the cultural aspects of being an Emirati. The women and men are both dressed head to toe, the men in white and the women in black. Women can show their face, and if they choose not to show their face, they are just more traditional. The proper etiquette for when you meet an Emirati in public is to basically treat them like a normal human. This sounds funny, but they don't appreciate being stared at because of their dress, and especially because Dubai is tourist centered, it happens quite a lot. You are not allowed to take pictures of them, and you are not allowed to greet them unless they greet you first. This all seems strange, but they are more informal than that. Overall, I am learning a lot about a very interesting culture. I am sure there will be more and more as I am here longer. Check out the link above.

I finally got into my classroom about an hour ago. It is beautiful. I have unreal storage and nice windows and a balcony! I am excited, and need to get into it and make it welcoming! More pressing than that is getting lessons planned for the first week or two and just being really on top of everything before the students get here. Again, pictures will be forthcoming.

Last night we went out to Dubai Mall, where the Burj Kalifa is and watched the water show, which is much more elaborate than Las Vegas. We ate and then went to the Observatory Bar on the 52nd floor of the Marriott in new Dubai. It looks out over the Palm and the Marina. It is beautiful.

Okay, I think that is way way to much for now, and I promise that these entries wont all be this long. I will put pictures up and will also post a few on facebook. Hope this is interesting, sorry if I am boring (and for any spelling/grammar errors)!