This past summer was slightly confusing for those who aren’t
used to the fact that my life NEVER goes smoothly. Following the decision to
leave ADEC in June, I accepted a position in July to teach Middle School Girls
in Doha, Qatar beginning September 2nd. While checking in at Philadelphia
International Airport for my flight back to Abu Dhabi on August 26th, I
received an email requesting an interview for a position in Al Ain, a small
city 150km from Abu Dhabi. Thusly, I interviewed less than 20 hours after landing
in Abu Dhabi. After being offered and accepting the position and the ensuing
maelstrom, I never did get around to canceling my flight to Doha. I blame it on
jet lag and not the party that weekend.
I entered Al Ain English Speaking School the first day to
discover that I would be teaching Reception, the British Curriculum name for a
4 and 5 year old class. While I love this age group, I had not taught little
ones since May 2007. It did take a little time to readjust after 5 years of
teaching Middle and Secondary English. The next day, I met my students for the
first time. After teaching English in a government secondary school, the fact
that my students speak English was a wee bit of a shock. Out of the 17 students
I currently have on role, only 2 don’t speak English. Being a private school,
other demographics are a little different as well: only 4 of my students are
Emirati and 3 are not Muslim. I am teaching both the child of a Sheikh and of an
ADEC Vice Principal.
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| Ca you imagine this much on the walls of a US Pre-K classroom? There is no such thing as too much visual stimuli here. |
I didn’t get housing until the second week of school and was
not completely pleased to have been assigned housing on the school grounds. The
lack of a 90 km round trip daily commute is a nice plus, but I still drive to
work as the dirt moat between “The Accommodations” and the school makes walking
not an option. Yes, I am a PRINCESS. I was very pleased with the flat itself;
though it has only one bedroom, it is extremely large. I am completely
convinced that the showers here were purchased from a submarine supply company.
I have never seen such a small shower in my life. I keep hoping that the water
that lands in different areas of the bathroom while I shower will make it grow.
Hope springs eternal. The very wonderful husband of a very good friend
installed pool-side-raised-rubber thingies so that I wouldn’t fall on my ass
one morning navigating the puddles.
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| A very common sight, goats in the back of a pick-up! |
The thing that is most annoying about Al Ain is the
preponderance of roundabouts (aka traffic circles to us Jerseyans). I cannot
get a handle on directions since I am always getting turned around. UGH. I
spent 4 years navigating the Airport Circle in Pennsauken during rush hour
traffic while attending Rutgers so these roundabouts don’t intimidate me; in
fact there is actually a system for driving through them. I am used to “the
faster car/less expensive car has the right of way” system. There are actually
lined lanes in the roundabouts here! People can slam the Emiratis for their
driving all they
want, drive in Jersey if you dare!
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| Something I see way too often on my drive between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi: a blown tire at 140 kmh is dangerous enough, this guy had passed me going about 160kmh. |
The biggest downside is that I was used to living in a 20
story tower with 178 other teachers. There was ALWAYS something to do and
SOMEONE to do it with. Not so here. Well, there is if I want to drive. I was
spoiled by the ability to jump on an elevator and go to the pool, the gym, the
Jacuzzi, and to find someone with food or drinks. So, Smurfette and I make the
trip to Abu Dhabi every weekend.
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| Zofia, the cause my my missed weekend in the city! I think she's cute enough that I won't hold it against her. |
Since I arrived back in the UAE on August 27th,
there has only been one weekend that I spent in Al Ain. That was only because
the previously mentioned very good friend with the very wonderful husband was expecting
and the Baby Shower was that weekend. The
baby did arrive on October 16, the day after one of my student’s tore my
rotator cuff. But then that’s a WHOLE different blog post. So what I save in
commuting mileage expenses I make up for in entertainment mileage expenses. I still only spend 100 dirhams a week (that’s
$35 US) on gas. BUT, my tan is seriously suffering.
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| Orange sweet potatoes this year!! Woo-hoo! This was the first of the three different Thanksgiving dinners that I attended this year. Thanks Jackie, Mimi, and Nicole! |
