Deeper and Deeper

I arrived in the UAE in August 2011 and taught for a year in East Camel Funk, about 40 minutes from Abu Dhabi. In September 2012, I moved to Al Ain and taught for a few months.  Al Ain is in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, about 60 minutes away from Abu Dhabi. Half-way through that school year I moved to a school in Dubai and obtained housing in Sharjah. This is about 75 minutes away from Abu Dhabi. For September 2013, I have accepted a position teaching at a well-respected private school in Sharjah, staying in my current housing in Sharjah. This is about 90 minutes from Abu Dhabi. 

I continue to addressing the distance from Abu Dhabi as this is where my social life, my weekends, my non-working life, are centered. Yet, I keep ending up farther and farther away. A friend stated recently that by August 2014 I will be in Umm Al Quwain.  

The school where I have worked since February 2013 has done everything that people warn will happen when someone accepts a job overseas. There is a plethora of small things they have done but I’m just going to complain about the biggies on this blog. Let me say in advance, these situations occurred in violation of UAE Labour Law. This IS NOT the norm. 

What do you mean you’re holding my passport? Yes, they tried to pull this. I discovered that my Residence Visa had been processed a week prior and yet I still did not have my passport. Following the chain of command, I asked the principal…..”the company holds your passport, call HR“.  Thus, I called HR…….””the company holds your passport”.  Luckily, in walked the Operations Manager while I was calling the US Consulate.  I smiled and reminded her that I am a US citizen and that if my passport was not in my hands by Monday (this was Thursday), that I would be addressing the situation with my Embassy. Needless to say I received my passport, along   with a story about how I MISUNDERSTOOD….…..”we only hold the Philippine, Indian, Pakistani, and African passports” . Wow!  It is so nice to hear that you discriminate with respect to your illegal employment practices. 

What do you mean I have to use your bank? After having submitted my banking details TWICE and still receiving my pay in cash, I was advised that the company uses International Bank of Boroda and that if I did not switch to that bank, MY bank would charge me  50 dirhams per pay. Really? Being as that I am an American and we don’t accept things that don’t make sense, I went to my bank. My bank, the largest in the country, explained how my COMPANY is charged 50 dirhams per salary deposited due to a government decree and that they were apparently trying to pass this charge onto me.  Just to play Devil’s Advocate, I checked out the Humpty Dumpty  Bank: no debit cards, astronomical international transfer fees, and cannot  use the ATM card in North or South America. I took a pass on Humpty Dumpty and advised HR that they were not to pass the fees onto me. Late Note: I learned last week that though ALL of the other employees changed banks, they are being charged a 20 dirhams per pay fee that the bank stated "your employer refuses to pay".

Amazingly enough, I did pass my probationary period.  LOL The fact is that I can teach and I do it well! I managed those 3-4 year old students  without whining every day that I need another assistant or less students (not that I am pointing fingers). I dealt with the autistic boy who should have had a one-on-one ABA Assistant, the 4 who were not yet potty trained, the Sociopath in Training aka Mr. Big Head, and being the only native English speaker in the ENTIRE SCHOOL. 

As of this posting, they still have not accepted my resignation, though I have started working in another school. They have not paid my August Salary, which I am entitled to AND I AM BROKE. Most importantly, they have not canceled my Visa, making it impossible for my new employer to obtain a Work Permit or move forward with the Visa process.  I have been called in twice for meetings in which the Operations Manager attempts to bully me into returning.  Unfortunately this is what has succeeded for them in the past. I would hazard a guess that they will never hire another American, or at least not a Jersey Girl! 

Luckily, though the US Embassy does not get involved in labor disputes, they do get involved with Passport and Visa issues.  

Sharjah (Maybe a Third World Country)

In November I was given notice by my school that my position was being cut. They gave a whole boatload of reasons that didn’t work for me. Delving a little deeper, as is my habit, I discovered that the school and the corporation that owns it are in financial trouble. I am still considering what to do about the shoulder injury that occurred there…….but that’s another story. 

The timing worked well since I was able to focus on PT for a month while looking for another job after winter break. On January 28^th I moved in with a friend in Al Ain. Thanks again, Jasmine and family! Less than two weeks after moving in, I interviewed for a job in Dubai and got it. For two weeks I commuted the 93 miles between Al Ain and Dubai. Then another friend let me stay with her in Sharjah while I looked for a flat (it’s not an apartment here). Her flat was only five miles from my school but it took an hour to drive it. Same amount of time in the car as the trip from Al Ain, but less gas. 

I looked at flats and pretty much had a choice between 1. rat feces and mangarillos 2. the Dubai Power Station and cancer or 3. a nice two bedroom flat less than a mile from my school. After spending an hour waiting for the manager to return from “break” I was told that I could not rent the flat because I am single. Welcome to Sharjah, the dry and pork-less Emirate. Wallah! No beer and no bacon. 

I finally found a flat that I liked in the same general area but almost lost it because the school, which does not employ many westerners, had not YET processed my work Visa more than a month after I started. Many tears flowed while showing up in the management office daily and I got the flat. I should have been an actress. 

To the right of the building on the right is Dubai. The rest is Sharjah. When I say I am on the border, I mean ON the border.

Love the living room window, though a balcony would be better.

Unfortunately then I entered the “moving furniture from two different locations while physically in a third” zone. Here the shout out goes to Rob and Nic for coordinating the movers. When I moved from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain in September, I moved into a fully furnished flat. I didn’t like the cooker (range) or the washer so I had mine moved from Abu Dhabi. I sold Lauren’s bedroom furniture along with my futons and baby fridge. My bedroom set and dining room set remained in Abu Dhabi at a friend’s flat and that is where I stayed most weekends. Thanks Melany and Nic! 

The bedroom is a LITTLE small for a king size bed and a wardrobe but.....

As a western female, I rate a primo assigned spot. That is Smurfette on the left. No dings for me!

BATHTUB. After the shower in Al Ain, I don't care that this isn't as huge as the one in Abu Dhabi.

I also bought a real sized refrigerator.

One truck arrived at 6:40pm and the other at 8:00pm. My bed was finally together at 10:00pm. The refrigerator was not scheduled to arrive until the next day. Now, I live on the border of Sharjah and Dubai, only because it is cheaper. My view from one side of the living room window is Dubai while the other side is Sharjah. The fridge was accidentally loaded onto a Dubai-bound truck and for some retarded reason; delivery trucks aren’t allowed to cross Emirate lines. WTF? The fridge got off loaded and then disappeared. That was Monday. I finally got my refrigerator on Wednesday night. 

It is now beginning to feel like I live here.   I have located the pork store right across the border but the beverage stores in Dubai will be a problem as they require a license to purchase……..which requires a letter from my landlord and my employer. Since liquor is not allowed in Sharjah, bringing it to my flat requires yet another license. Then again, the stores in Abu Dhabi don’t check for the license so………

On Site Accomodations

When I first moved to Abu Dhabi, I lived in a 5 star hotel for 5 weeks. Yes, I got a little spoiled by the walk in shower and huge bathtub. There were some pitfalls though: having to eat out for every meal but breakfast, which was horrifically bad anyway. Having my bed made for me and my bathroom cleaned daily pretty much made up for that. 

The first week of school I got the keys to my 19^th floor flat in Danat B and I was thrilled. I had 2 balconies and another huge bathtub. This one was even long enough for my 5’8.5” self to lie down in. Some people complained about the construction in the area and the fire alarm that constantly went off for no reason, but I was happy there. Ladies Night and Starbucks were within walking distance. Heaven. 

Then I moved to Al Ain. The first 2 weeks I lived with a friend (Yo! Jasmine) while my housing got sorted (British term for organized). I was finally given keys to a flat behind the school. I was happy not to have my previous 90km daily commute but……….yeah. The school parking lot is sand, the entrance to said parking lot is sand, and the parking lot for the accommodations is quicksand. I have seen more than one car get stuck out there. The parking lot also contains the detritus of any and all construction that has ever occurred in the area: screwdrivers, broken bottles, pavers, and some big green metal thing. Add to that whatever random trash falls out of people’s bags on the 500 meter walk to the dumpster (I refuse to call it a scow). 

I walked into my furnished flat and was happy to see a sectional that would match my rug, a TV, and a computer desk. The kitchen came complete with all necessary items still in boxes: new pans, dishes, glassware, utensils, etc. I wasn’t happy to see only a washer and not a washer/dryer. I’m guessing that’s why I also got a brand new drying rack, ironing board, and iron. The bedroom contained a king sized bed and a full wall built in wardrobe. YES! It also came with new sheets, pillows, and a comforter. Then I walked into the bathroom to discover that they installed a shower smaller than those in a small RV. My first shower involved the whole bathroom getting wet and me almost ending up on my ass. Hence the rubber pool floor. Thanks Rob!

I ended up having my washer/dryer and cooker moved from Abu Dhabi. This decision came after the washer shot water out of the front AND the oven took 90 minutes to make a pan of Hungry Jack biscuits. The fact that The Mills couldn’t move in their kitchen due to the existence of my appliances along with theirs made that decision easier. 

 I had walked out to the roof once and knew that there was a whole living room set, several lounge chairs, and a grill but I had never used it. I actually stayed in Al Ain one weekend in December and decided to use the roof for tanning. That worked out very well and I was a shade darker and got my endorphin boost for the week but………….the view was not TO DIE FOR!!!

Behind the accommodations are the remains of the abandoned worker housing from when “something” was built, presumably the school.  Yes that big white thing with the ladder to it is the water storage tank. 

Look at the ant hole looking thing with the cement hole on the top-this is apparently an incomplete sewer line.  From what I have been told, it is not unusual for this to be used as a “squatty potty”.

 

 

Next, the sandlot I had to traverse daily. The little building on the right houses the cleaning staff for the school-all 20 of them. Apparently, the Teacher Accommodations are the Taj Mahal to them. They are often sent over to clean the hallways in the Teacher Accommodations because teachers are too lazy to close the front door and the sand creates a dune in the building.  On the left is the far rear of the school. 

This is what happens when a country develops faster than their public works infrastructure. The debris has no place to go.

 

Ahhhh…….the sun deck (aka the roof).  No, that is not my lounge chair in the shade! Look in the background and you can see the Jabel Hafeet. It supposedly has the awesomest driving road in the world; I think the Smoky Mountains are better. They ARE actually mountains after all. 

We DO get some pretty awesome sunsets in Al Ain. The sun has set on my time in Al Ain. I accepted a job in Dubai in February. Stay tuned for the “I have to find my own housing on a shoestring budget” zone. Lucky me.