Culture Shock

     As the year comes to a close I know two things.  #1 I didn't blog enough! #2 Culture Shock is a B@$%^!  Russ and I have been here about 10 months and I have learned so much about myself during this time.  I now know that moving overseas is not for the faint of heart!  Before this adventure began I can honestly say I was ignorant about the world around me.  I had seldom left my home state of Texas and knew little about the world and cultures other than my own.  I thought that moving to Abu Dhabi would be an adventure of huge proportions and boy was I right!  This year has been a time of emotions, excitement, apprehension, fear, depression, awakening, and joy!  I read about culture shock before arriving but I thought I could handle anything.  I can honestly say I have been through every stage listed in the description of culture shock  http://moving.about.com/od/internationalmoves/a/culture_shock.htm
and I feel like I am slowly coming out on the "other side".
      I began this year with a sense of adventure and excitement!  We were welcomed to the UAE in a 5 star resort, the Beach Rotana, along with many other expats.  This time was filled with meeting new people and exploring a new city.  I was also given a teaching position in a community outside of Abu Dhabi, Baniyas, in a girl's school teaching grades 2 & 3.  The honeymoon stage was lots of fun but unfortunately it led to the distress stage!
     We began to hit bumps in the road and I realized that it was up to us to solve the problems.  No longer was I able to use help from my family and friends or the "good ole boy system in Texas."  I was no longer a big fish in a small pond but a small fish in an ocean!  I began to resent many of the differences I was experiencing both professionally and socially.  Every difference or challenge at school  and home sent me further down.   I began to struggle with depression and even anxiety attacks.  If we had been able to handle it financially I would have boarded the first plane home.
     During re-integration I was just plain angry!  Mad that I couldn't go home, mad that the educational system was "backwards" in my opinion, and mad that those around me couldn't see it the way I did.  I am so thankful that this period didn't last a long time for me.  I am generally a pretty up-beat person and this type of anger doesn't sit well with me.  I'm not even sure how long it lasted but I imagine it felt like a lifetime to Russ.  I know that I wasn't able to stand it for long and I began to look for answers.
     I slid into the acceptance stage as I began looking for answers.  We have hit so many obstacles and we now realize that we're the only ones who can work to overcome them.  Health issues seem to be our number one priority as we move into the end of our first year overseas.  Finding doctors who are familiar and supportive of our issue, psoriasis and chronic pain being the most difficult, seem to be the biggest challenges so far.  I realize now that I took for granted the accessibility of health care and pain management in the US.  For those who live in this part of the world pain management is actually nonexistent.  We feel extremely blessed to have found a doctor who is understanding of my skin condition, psoriasis, and willing to go above and beyond to help me get approval for the needed medication. We are also coming to terms with lack of understanding in the area of pain management and are currently in the process of meeting with doctors at a local military hospital for Russ.
     I knew I had finally topped the hill to the independence stage last week when I mentally began to blog "Things I Love about My Life in the UAE."  I said goodbye to my grade 2 and 3 girls and began looking forward to a new school year.  On the way to school, I began to think of all the things I loved about living in the UAE and it suddenly hit me, I  love my life!  I have never had so much time to enjoy life.  I am home early everyday, I have new friends, and I am not working myself to death.  I am beginning to enjoy the differences I find in myself and those around me.  Of course there is always one thing holding me back from true happiness and satisfaction which is the distance between us and our kids.   I told Russ just yesterday that everything would be perfect if I could just get my kids to Abu Dhabi!
     As we begin to look forward to a summer at home I hope to catch up with family and friends, but mainly my two amazing children.  I pray that this year away will bring us all closer together as a family as well as thankful for the time we are able to spend together.

We Are Blessed!

     First let me apologize for not posting over the last few months.  I will try to update from October to January over the weekend.  One of my new year's resolutions is to post on my blog at least once every 2 weeks. So here goes!
     We are truly blessed her in the UAE.  I continue to tell myself that so it sinks in.  Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees but I am trying.  We were moved out of the Yas Viceroy hotel after several weeks into the best high rise apartment in Abu Dhabi.  Not only were we given this beautiful apartment but it is a 2 bedroom to boot.  We now reside in Sun Tower on the 39th floor on Al Reem Island.

 It is strategically located next to down town Abu Dhabi so we are close to the many malls and restaurants in the city.  Our Island is just a small jump to the highway which takes me to work each day.   I carpool with 3 other teachers on my campus so I only have to drive every third week.
     Welcome to our home, apartment 3907.

                   Our hallway from the elevator.                      Our new home.

We are so blessed with this beautiful home.  Our living room is spacious with an absolutely amazing view of Al Reem Island, which is a natural island 600 meters off the coast of Abu Dhabi.  This is a newly developed island which began offering residential leases in 2010.  It is also one of the first free zones in Abu Dhabi, where foreign nationalities can buy property as leasehold. We are so lucky to be provided this home by my employer, ADEC.

Our kitchen is small and cozy.  The best part is that it looks out into the living room so you can enjoy the view from the kitchen as well.  Of course this is Russ' favorite spot.  He has been cooking lots of meals for me since neither of us are crazy about the local food.

The guest room (kids' room) is also my work area.  I keep my supplies for lesson planning in here as well as my printer and laminator.  This was my splurge so that I am able to work on lessons at home rather than staying at work.  There are two closet areas in this room which makes for a perfect tool storage for Russ as well as clothes storage for guests. As you can see we have plenty of room for visitors and we would love to have anyone who gets a wild hair to travel to stay with us!

The guest bath has a huge walk in shower that is amazing!

I am so lucky to have an american washer and dryer.  The machines sold here are combo washer and dryer in one. We purchased this set used from another expat, Jim, that I met after searching for appliances on Dubizzle.  Dubizzle is the UAE version of Craigslist. Jim has been a lifesaver with his handyman company.  They were able to move our furniture for both apartments and they are all from the US!  Handy Russ was able to build a shelf in the laundry room so that both machines would fit.

The master bedroom is huge with enough space for a couch as well as our bedroom furniture.  We have a wonderful walk in closet that includes built in drawers and cabinets.  There is also another wall of cabinets leading into our bedroom so storage is plentiful.

We are lucky to have an indoor parking garage with our own parking spot on the 2nd floor.  We bought a Yukon XL which gives us plenty of room for traveling.  We bought it from the nicest guy who was moving to another job post overseas.  He was so kind and gave us many other household items that have really come in handy.  We have also be blessed by the generosity of fellow expats here since arriving.

Our apartment building has a wonderful deck on the 5th floor.  This deck connects the two buildings Sun Tower and Sky Tower together.  The buildings share an amazing pool area which includes a family pool, a lap pool, and a kiddie pool.  The lap pool is heated in the winter so we are able to swim year round.   There are two jacuzzi pools outside but they are not hot.  It seems no one heats their hot tubs here.  There are 2 tennis courts and a soccer/basketball court and a playground.  The whole area is sprinkled with covered seating areas where you can lounge around and read or eat.  There are also uncovered tables and chairs available.   Each building has a work out facility with steam room and sauna. We are free to use either one.

Downstairs on the first floor we have Waitrose, the most incredible grocery store.  It is a franchise from the UK and it feels a lot like home. They have a wonderful deli with hot and cold items.  We especially love the rotisserie chickens, egg rolls, and oriental noodles.  It makes shopping super easy because we never have to leave the building.  It carries many of the types of products we use at home unlike a lot of the grocery stores here in Abu Dhabi.  I love being able to run downstairs to grab things day or night.

We also have a nail spa, frozen yogurt store, La Brioche restaurant, and a bank branch.  Everything we need so there is no reason to leave unless we just want to.  There are also spots for future shops yet to come.  Needless to say, we feel like we have won the housing lotto here in Abu Dhabi.  

Raise Your Hand If Your Car Is In The Hole

     Though I am about a month late in my follow up post about our new home, Al Rayanna, prepare yourself it will be a long one!  We began our Al Rayyana adventure in early September when we were scheduled to meet the gas man at our new apartment for hook ups.  We arrived a few minutes early and we should have known it wouldn't be pretty when we saw water running over the threshold.  Upon entering we found our apartment flooded.  There was about 3 inches of water covering the entire place.  Many items had been moved from the hotel awaiting our arrival, several pieces of furniture and all our clothes in duffel bags.  We immediately called maintenance who sent about 15 men with squeegees to push the water down the floor drains which had been closed.  First lesson learned, NEVER cover your floor drains in Abu Dhabi.  The apartment rep said to let them know about everything that was ruined and they would reimburse us.  Well, we are still waiting and not holding our breath.  We did finally get moved in though the water issues continued.  We had water running from the ceiling in our bathroom continually and the air conditioning was a joke.  Lesson #2, water cooling air conditioning doesn't work, at least not on the 8th floor in the desert.  Many days the humidity in our apartment was so high that everything was wet, floors, sheets, clothes, paperwork ...  I can only tell you that the management system was #1 on my speed dial and I prayed many times that we would finally get an answer to all our wishes for a nice place to leave.  Well guess what, blessings come in mysteries packages!
     This past Sunday evening after I arrived home from work and had a shower, Russ and I settled in for a night of tv and cutting lamination.  Right in the middle of our show we heard a boom and the apartment literally shook.  You have to understand that by his time, nothing phases me in AD.  Russ got up and looked out the window but didn't see anything so he wandered out to check it out.  You know me, I kept on working and kind of forgot about it.  About 45 minutes later there was a knock on the door and a man yelled "COME, COME!" Obviously this was the only English he possessed so I slipped on my flip flops and grabbed my keys and headed out the door.  After hitting the hall, the alarm starting going off which was an ever day thing so I thought it was another false alarm.  I cussed the management all the way down the 8 floors of stairs.  As I walked out of the building I was met by a huge hole in the parking lot outside our building.  Several cars had apparently fallen in but our new/used Yukon which we purchased 2 days earlier was not in the parking space.  Luckily I saw Russ at the corner and he hollered that he had moved our vehicle.  He had been waiting for me to come down because once outside we were not permitted back in.  Neither of us had a cell phone & I had no purse or undergarments.  Lesson #3, never leave the house without a bra!  Emergency services took about 50 minutes to arrive and everything was pretty chaotic but luckily no one was injured.  We stood around for about 3 hours until we were finally bussed to The Viceroy Hotel on Yas Island.  We looked like a crew of about 200 homeless people in our pajamas, house dresses, and slippers all wandering into this luxurious hotel.  Boy did we look out of place.  We were excused from work and met in the ballroom the next morning.  The team from ADEC, Abu Dhabi Education Committee tried to reassure us but they also had very little information.  We were given a cash advance on our next paycheck and everyone was allowed a few minutes back into their apartment to grab clothes and necessities.  Questions flew during the meeting, especially from those who lost their vehicles in the collapse.  When they announced "Raise your hand if your car is in the hole."  everyone pretty much lost it.  Where else in the world would this statement be made other than the UAE?
     So long story short, we are blessed to be here at The Viceroy enjoying another little mini vacation.  Russ and I are so fortunate to be here with the ups and the downs.  We are experiencing things that would never have been available to us.  Each day we talk about the rough stuff but marvel at all of the experiences we have been blessed with.  As I sit here at the pool working on my blog I know that that huge sink hole was just another of many blessings to come!
      I am attaching some photos of our hotel, excuse the personal items, we have obviously made ourselves at home!

Al Noor Girl's School

     I know it has been a while since my last post but life has been crazy here in the UAE.  Back to school is always stressful and busy for teachers but thins year the stress was x20!  I began the school year teaching grade 3 girls.  I have a class in the morning and another in the afternoon.  I have 2 began with 2 partner teachers.  Kenita is a veteran of one year here in the UAE and she is such a blessing with her knowledge of how things work here in Abu Dhabi.  My other partner is Chris.  She and I are both new and she and I are treading water together, trying not to sink.  The first couple of weeks went as well as can be expected.  My class list changes almost daily and boy do I miss the organization of the US.  No class lists or procedural manuals here!  I would give thousands to have Gaye Steadham here to  create some order in this chaos!
     Last week my dad lost his battle with COPD and emphysema.  This was an especially hard time for my mom and sister along with both of my kids.  I wish I had been able to be there to support them more.  I was given several days of bereavement leave.  During these days I was also trying to deal with some excruciating heal pain.  After a day in the emergency room and an X-ray later I found out I had a heel spur.  We were able to find a wonderful orthopedist here at the German medical center.  He was able to get some shoe inserts for me that seem to help the pain.  His biggest blessing was getting me hooked up with a dermatologist in his practice that has a 3 month waiting list.  Dr. Berger was able to prescribe my injections for psoriasis and we are praying his in depth report will pass the muster to get the insurance to pay for my meds.
     The last day of my leave my HOF, which is English Head of Faculty, called to tell me that our school was not going to receive anymore English teachers this year so we were going to have to add girls to each class and I was the lucky winner who was losing a class of third graders and gaining a class of second graders.  This means I teach 1/2 a day of each grade level.  This would be considered difficult in the US but it is a nightmare here in AD.  In the land of paperwork I now have double the work load, planning and documentation.
     So my first day back to school was a little crazy.  After lunch I received a group of 21 second graders who speak a little broken English.  They arrived after having 2 weeks of totally managing themselves for the past 2 weeks, literally.  If you can imagine what a group of 20 seven year olds would do without an adult for 1/2 a day in a classroom in the US, multiply that by 50 and you have it.  So not only are they out of control but I don't have a class list and have no idea what their names are and if they are actually in the right room.  We spent the day on Goldilocks and the Three Bears which they seemed to love, thank God!  I made it through the day!  I was then told I would have to move my classroom downstairs to a new room the next day, REALLY!!!!!  As you can imagine, I did break down and cry for a few minutes.  So bad foot and all I moved the classroom downstairs the next afternoon.  Thank God it was Thursday (our Friday in US) and I had the weekend to recoup.  20 years of teaching could never prepare anyone for this adventure.  I am holding it together one day at a time hoping this calm down and I get some sort of routine set in the next few days and weeks to come.

     These are all pictures of my first classroom.  I hope to have my new room in this shape soon!  The bottom picture is a shot of the classrooms from the middle courtyard.  The courtyard has a covering a some playground equipment for the girls to play on during recess/lunch.

Back To School in the UAE

     Today was the Bedaya Forum 2012 at the exhibition hall here in Abu Dhabi.  We were bussed over bright and early this morning.  Of course everyone was wearing their new school clothes and we all seemed excited to finally be starting this new school year.  The exhibition hall was huge and reminded me of a back to school day when I first began teaching in Ft. Worth, Texas.  There were literally thousands of teachers from all over the world.
     The first thing I realized was that a new tote bag full of goodies is a back to school tradition no matter where you are.  That small white canvas bag was a little bit of normalcy in this new place.  We had about an hour to have juice, coffee, and danishes.  There were lots of booths set up throughout the hall.  We were able to pick up info from hospitals, public health, and even the police department.  The best part of the morning was having my picture taken with a falcon!
     About 11 a.m. we all headed into the massive coliseum for a speech by Dr. Mugheer Al Khaili the Director General of the Abu Dhabi Education Council.  He gave a lovely presentation outlining the New School Model and the goals for education in the UAE.  It was all very inspirational and given totally in Arabic.  Those of us who do not speak Arabic were given translation headsets to wear which made me feel like I was in a movie of some kind!
     Following the presentation, we were served a delicious lunch with a wide variety of ethnic foods to choose from.  I tried several new dishes and loved them all.  My caesar salad even included anchovies.  I have found that chocolate is delicious no matter where you are!  We finished up and headed back to the hotel by 2:00.
     Tomorrow is my first day on my campus and I am so excited and just a little nervous.  I am meeting 3 veteran teachers at their apt and riding out with them so hopefully I will learn some things on the way.  I will post again soon with specifics on my teaching assignment!

Shopping, My New 4 Letter Word!

     I have discovered the one thing that makes me want to cry in the UAE, shopping!  You cannot imagine the amount of unfamiliar information and behaviors that you experience while shopping.  Most product information is in arabic.  You may recognize the product logo or package but it does not mean it is the same.  The smells/flavors are usually a little different than you are expecting.  On top of that the prices are all in dirhams which I am constantly using a converter to translate to US dollars and everything is weighed using the metric system.  Remember when we were young and they said some day we would use the metric system for everything?  Well, that day has arrived and I was unprepared.
     On top of all those differences, cultural differences are everywhere.   The concept of waiting your turn in line does not exist here.  It's every man, woman, and don't even get me started on the kids, for themselves.  By the time we leave the grocery store I am either on the verge of tears or ready to tear someone's head off.  Thank goodness for Russ!  He had taken on the chore of shopping for everything. I am hoping that when we get into our home and a normal routine my anxiety over shopping will improve, but until then Russ is my personal shopper.
     Thursday I traveled to the Madinat Zayed shopping center with a new friend to purchase my first Abaya.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am a budget shopper.  Many had posted on Facebook that abayas could be found for 85-100 dirhams at this shopping center so I was on a quest for those $25 abayas.  We did find a store that had a discount rack with an abaya that fit and had yellow sleeves!  Everyone knows that yellow is my favorite so I was ready to begin bargaining with the shop keeper.  He did come down from 180 to 150 but I was not ready to spend that much, so I hung it back up and headed back to the hotel empty handed.
     After posting on Facebook and conversing with many here in the UAE, I learned many new things about abayas.  Cheap abayas do not make the best impression.  They should be of good quality and fit appropriately and wrinkles are a no no.  So Russ and I jumped back in a cab and headed back to the shopping center.  Little did we know, it was Thursday night, the last work day of the week and EVERYONE was shopping.  There went my anxiety level.  We headed back to the shop and I tried on the abaya to show Russ.  He thought I would fit in well with the Baptist choir.  We purchased the yellow sleeved abaya and headed out to try to find another one.
     The next shop was the funniest but most frustrating of the night.  The shopkeeper brought out a cape like abaya that was totally sheer and covered with small crystals which he put on me along with the large hood attached.  I tried to tell him it would not be appropriate for work while he told me "No, it is beautiful.  I pick especially for you."  It took me 5 times telling him it was not what I needed while he insisted it was perfect, only 400 dirhams, just $100 for you.  The whole time Russ was trying not to laugh.  I finally started peeling myself out of it and told Russ to grab my purse and purchases as I headed out the door.  Needless to say, I only purchased one abaya.

This is my first abaya!  The sleeves are yellow under a sheer black material with yellow cuffs.  It will be super comfy for work!

New Teacher Orientation, Abu Dhabi Style!

  Today and yesterday was our New Teacher Orientation, UAE style.  Let me just say that I have been through this type of orientations with 6 different school districts in my career over the last 20 years.  There are many commonalities but over the last two days I also experienced many differences too.

     Monday began with a bus drive to Mubarak Bin Mohammed Cycle 1 School.  It is an absolutely beautiful "flagship" campus in downtown Abu Dhabi.  Once inside the theme for the day was "wait in line" which I have definitely mastered over the last 2 weeks.  We received our contracts and had our fingerprints and photo taken for our school id.  This was all pretty standard when it comes to orientation which tend to be a hurry up and wait type of format.

     Before entry into the auditorium though, changes were being announced.  One of the ADEC administrators instructed us to stand when the emirates from the department of Education entered the room and to wait to sit until he had done so or instructed us to sit.  After we all entered and found seats in the auditorium a line of men, all dressed in white Kanduras with Guthras (head dress) headed in as we all stood.  The national anthem was played to a very inspiring video depicting emirates of all ages.  It was all very patriotic.  We heard speeches from many administrators welcoming us.  I personally have never had an administrator use a translator before when presenting so I was able to enjoy the welcome in both English and Arabic which is a beautiful language.  

     Throughout the first day we were also presented with several presentations on cultural sensitivity.  I heard many things I had already discovered through my research but also received lots of new info that I was not aware of previously.  I definitely feel confident that I won't go in and make any huge cultural mistakes.  The day was finished up with a question & answer session with several officers from the local police department.

     Tuesday began with the proverbial line where we were asked to turn in our signed contract as well as our proof of employment verification for our teaching experience.  We then spent the day in small group sessions on Teacher Resources, Pedagogy, Language, & Kidwatching.  I found all of these sessions to be extremely informative and inspiring.  We finished up the day with a large group presentation on Authentic Assessment.  I found the information to be extremely helpful and inspiring.  I ended the day feeling ready to get back to work!  I look forward to the beginning of teacher inservice beginning Sunday, September 2.

     This evening after dinner I received an email that said I will be teaching at Al Noor School.  The only information I have so far is it is a grade 1-5 girls' school.  It is a little ways from our apartment but straight highway all the way.  I met a lovely lady this week, Chris, who will be teaching there as well.  Hopefully together, she and I can get some information on our new school over the next few days.  I am attaching pictures of myself and the beautiful school where our orientation was held.  Remember, this is a "flagship" school and most are not this beautiful but it was a great spot to spend the last 2 days!