Heartstrings 10.0: Officially a Working Woman

While the rest of my friends are back home surviving their first day of school with kids... I should like to inform you that I survived my first day of work with ADEC today. Nah, it wasn't bad at all. We woke up super early and went down to breakfast. At 8:00, we were shuttled on the bus to go to a Model School here in Abu Dhabi City. Being the dorks that Cathy and I are, we pulled out the Abu Dhabi map I purchased and searched high and low until we found where we were going.

The school was pretty fantastic. I think I was expecting more elaborate classrooms and hallways when I first walked in (not to say it's not incredible... just expect more I suppose). It was huge! The classrooms were all glassed up... doors, walls, and windows. Every room had 25 chairs for tables and they all had a form of a Promethean Board (Hitachi brand) and I saw a few Smart Boards sprinkled throughout the school. As we arrived, we were instructed to pick up our packets with our contracts (which reminds me, I still need to read over it and sign it). Khadijah, Kahleel, Alison, and myself all waited in line until the last possible minute to get our fingerprints for ADEC done so that we wouldn't have to come back and wait for 200+ people to get it done at lunch. We rushed into the auditorium right as His Excellency Dr. Mugheer Al Khaili and the rest of the board walked in. We listened to him speak about his vision and goals for Abu Dhabi and it really hit home that I would be a part of a growing country's future growth. It was really neat to hear it in this perspective. He said that "when the oil runs out, [they] want their children to be better off than their ancestors before them were." And that's the thing about this country... they know that one day the oil will be gone and they want to be better off for it. They want to be prepared for a future outside of oil. And I have the honor and privilege to be a part of that in a small way by teaching the children here.

We listened to a ton of speakers after that--my favorite being an Emerati woman named Sara Salem Mohamed Al Suwaidi (can you tell I copied that from the program?!) She was hysterical and has personality! When she first stepped up she said, "I wonder who out of all of you will be the person to thank me when I am finished." (after each speaker, someone got up and thanked the speaker for their time, knowledge, etc.) She spoke about the culture here, the religion, how to develop relationships within the schools, and topics to avoid. She clarified which maps to use in the classroom, the five pillars of Islam, and shared stories. I think I learned the most from her... and had a few laughs to go along with it. For example:

• the Bible is a book that they believe is from God, but it has been touched by humans (unlike the Quran)
• The Five Pillars are (Faith in Allah, the five daily prayers, "Zakat" which is given out to those in need during Ramadan and based off of your savings, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca (for those able bodied).
• Adah is the call to prayer
• people here are NOT okay with the Arabian Gulf being referred to as the Persian Gulf 
• we are not to use illustrations of Mohamed 
• it is highly offensive to name non-living things or animals Mohamed--he is so loved here and is a role model to all here
• It is Palestine--not Israel here in the UAE and is frowned upon to reference anything related to Israel. 
• Muslims do not believe in the Human Evolution Theory--they believe that Adam and "Eve" are the mother and father of all people. 
• angels only speak to prophets only 
• birthdays are joyous occasions, but are not typically celebrated (family decision)
• pigs are not here in the UAE... Sera has never seen one.
• Dogs are not loved here either... they are seen as unclean and if you come into contact with one, you must wash your hands. 
• Asalam-Aleikom is a greeting that means "peace be with you"
• your response should be, Wa-Aleikom el-Salam which means, "and with you be peace"

After a lackluster lunch, we were back at it with guest speakers from ADEC in the sauana that was the auditorium. We were all hot and tired... I won't mention any names, but a few people around me even dozed off (KHALEEL and CATHY! lol) that lasted until around 4:00. We were told that we would hopefully be receiving our housing Halloween in 4-5 days time. So we'll see...

I got back to the hotel and did some Pilates (boy am I out of shape...!) and then went to dinner with Jen up at the food court. Rewarded myself with some chocolate frozen yogurt with strawberries from Pinkberry for my workout.

Now it's off to look over my contract, sign it, and then get ready for Day 2 tomorrow. We're supposed to find out which school we will be going to (again, we'll see how that works out) and we have a lot of different seminars to attend tomorrow. Looking forward to it...

Hope everyone back home had a wonderful first day of school with your new kids! It's weird not being a part of that for the first time in 4 years.

heartstrings 9.0: lasting memories

When I first arrived in the UAE, I was amazed and I think a little floored by how much English is plastered all over the place (as in, I'm pretty sure there's more English here than Arabic... no lie.) The longer I've lived here, the more I feel like I'm back at home with a sprinkle of cultural differences here.

One thing I love about being here is how stinkin' friendly people are here. There are some hard workin' peeps here, y'all and it is absolutely their pleasure to serve you or take care of you in the best way possible. Yesterday, Cat, Trina, and I were at the Mushrif Mall at a store and I saw the people who work there going around the store asking people if they needed a trolley or a cart to push their things around with. Not only did they give them the cart, but they proceeded to place all of that person's items inside their cart. They great you at the local Pinkberry with warm smiles and say, "Hi, my name is Ken/Joel (our favorite Pinkberry dudes!) and it will be my pleasure to serve you..." and then your next visit... y'all... they... remember.... your... name! After ONE visit... that's how invested these people are in their service. It's amazing. Puts Texas to shame with how friendly they are.

Speaking of friendly... One of my dear friends, Kahleel, asked (and by asked, I mean ordered us to go upstairs and get ready--lol) Cathy and I if we wanted to go with her and a few friends to Dubai for the day. Dubai is only an hour by car away from Dubai... that's like driving from H-ville to Houston! How sweet is that?!?

We had a super fantastic time together... we were escorted around the town by some awesome ladies from South Africa; Jackie, who has lived here for 12 years; and Fiona, who has lived here for 8 years. Jackie and Fiona took us all over and were so hospitable--they wouldn't let us pay for petrol (which by the way is only 1.64 dir a liter so like $0.40 a liter--ridic!) and Jackie refused to let us give her money for the parking ticket and speeding ticket she received during our adventure.

Here's a picture walk of my second trip to Dubai... (wow. Did I really just write that?!)

the bus that took us to the Atlantis hotel

yep, that's right... gold atm's in the UAE

sand art at the Atlantis... pretty cool to watch

After we left the Atlantis, I had a brilliantly naive idea to go to the beach. So being the fantastic hostess that Jackie is, she obliged and took us. Little did I know that in a few moments I would be standing on the most gorgeous of beaches I have ever seen. The water, the sand, the Burj Al Arab off in the distance. Simply stunning.

the Burj Al Arab at the beach

yep, that's the beach... no photoshopping required

some people swimming

my footsies in the salty warm water... :)

me and my Jamaican, Kahleel

jumping over the crashing waves

me, Cat D, and Kahleel doing what we do best...

After we left the beach all sandy (not a great day to wear sperry's...) and made a massive mess in Jackie's car; we headed to Nando's (Portuguese place that's famous for it's South African spice, Perri Perri) for lunch. It was delish. I had a grilled chicken pita with lemon and herb and some spicy sauce and chips (fries). Ate the mess out of some Arabic bread as well. Our last stop was a souq type place called Karama where you can get any fake designer anything you want... but it looks pretty real. All their stuff is made from real leather so it's good quality stuff. But it was a little weird going behind the walls and such to get to these places. I bought a white ceramic "Chanel" watch that was super cheap... they had Ugg boots, Marc Jacobs, Coach, Loius Vuitton, Mulberry, Jimmy Choo, Hermes, and a bunch of others--none of which I had really heard of before this adventure.

We had some wonderful laughs bargaining with the people in the shops and headed back to Jackie's villa in Al Reef. There we stayed until about midnight eating bbq that Niel and his lovely wife made for us while we were out. Had some amazing chicken... tried some lamb and ate the best pita bread and hummus I've ever had. It was a nice ending to a lovely day.

So that was just another day in the UAE... tomorrow we get back to work! Orientation for the next two days and then rumor has it that people will be shipping out to Al Ain. Still unsure of what the next few weeks look like for us... but! I did buy a couch yesterday. It's probably the most comfortable couch in existence. For realz. It was originally marked at 6500 dir ($1762) and they were selling it for 2500 dir ($640) and then 720 dir for each pillow ($196 each). What a steal... here she is:

Heartstrings 8.0: Home Sweet Home

Well, at least when I move in it should be that way. Last Monday ADEC took us to see our new flats and get our keys. After waiting on the bus for 30 minutes for the whole group to show up, we left and set out to Khalifa City A to check out our flats that we were told were just finished being built. There was an air of excitement and anticipation on the bus since we had all googled our compound's name. We knew we were pretty close to the city and also close to Ferrari World, which excited us all immensely.

As we got closer and closer and kept making turns in the roundabouts, the air kind of died down because we realized how much construction is going on all over our new residence. We finally pulled up into our compound and everyone was really excited once more. This is what we saw when we pulled up:

construction city

this will eventually be the pool area, gym, market, pharmacy, etc.

Al Rayyana

When we arrived, it was a crazy mess because one; the compound is still heavily under construction with at least 150 men working at once, and two; they didn't even know which building to take us to. We pulled up, turned around, arrived at one building, turned back around because it was the wrong one, and finally made it to our building which is called Tulip 2 or B-14. We sat on the bus, filled out some forms, and chatted away until finally they started taking us up. A lady came to get each person one by one and I couldn't help but think, 'this is gonna take alllll day,' but eventually a man came and said we could all go up and see it.

I was so excited to see my new apartment. I am on the 5th floor and in flat 5. They handed us our keys and we went up the unfinished elevator that has to be manned by a person because they are still testing.

I finally found my flat and opened the door ready to see my new place. I was a little disappointed because as soon as I opened it, I saw a giant puddle and my kitchen was filled with water dripping from the ceiling and down the kitchen cabinets. But other then that, I was pleased... wish I had more window space like my neighbors, but I can't complain.

The Nile River

that leads to my giant lake by the door

But here's the rest of it, complaint free:

living room/dining room and balcony shot

kitchen shot from the living room with guest bathroom and bedroom door

built in wardrobe... which means I don't have to purchase one

bedroom to the left of the wardrobe

front shot of my bathroom

here's my friend, Jen, playing with my working shower... and yes, she found out the hard way that it's operational... lol

So there's my new casa... I have to go back to the contractor and inform them of the mold issue that has already happened with my cabinets and how they have already bowed inside and on the bottoms. Not sure if they will move me or fix it, but I will be pushing for that with my allergies and stuff. Scared to see them now since it's been over a week since I last visited.

moldy and bowed cabinets after one day... yikes.

heartstrings 7.0: Eid Celebrations

Side-post to start off today: If I were back home in Texas, today would officially be my first day back to work. So to all my friends over in Huntsville and surrounding areas, hope you had a lovely first day back. I still have until the 27th until I report back for orientation. 

The last few days have been very chill for me. I have stayed pretty much in the hotel and only ventured out for a few select things. Refilled my minutes since I spent them all talking to Nikki last night, ran some errands for food/laundry, watched the end of Water for Elephants (today is only the second day I have turned on the television), and a documentary on Marion Jones, and went to hang out with my new friend Maria. It's been very nice and most importantly, cheap! Not a bad way to spend your afternoons... what do you think?

I spent yesterday with a group of lovely ladies and just had a wonderful time. I now have a new Jamaican friend, Leela, who is a youngin' but her body is feeling like a 100 years old. I have a new "sexy Brit" friend named Cathy whom I just adore. And a fellow country-woman from Houston named Khadijah that makes me laugh so hard I hurt. We shared lots of laughs, played games, and shared some good stories yesterday. After dinner and some ice cream at Pinkberry, we decided to drag Khadijah out with us to celebrate the Eid festivities at the Khalidiya Mall. After trying to pronounce the mall's name correctly the entire cab ride and cracking up over mispronunciations--the cab driver kicked us to the curb (to avoid traffic) and we set off inside. 

It was beautifully decorated on the inside of the mall. Here are a couple of pictures to show how elaborate and stunning it was:

outside the mall which lights up purple as well

inside the mall at 10:00 at night... yes, that's right PM.

We goofed off, took pictures, and wondered around the mall... total tourists here. I'm sure the locals were like, "be quiet, get out of the way, and take your pictures somewhere else please..." Some man even told us to do something with Khadijah because her purse bumped into him. We laughed it off because we couldn't really understand what he was saying.

look up ladies! 

"get out the way..." Khadijah likes to be the center of attention ;)

Whilst roaming the mall we ran into some of my sweet Houstonian folks who  were getting some henna done. The lot got some henna from a local Emirati woman who was pretty awesome. She does henna, makes gorgeous dresses from fabric, and will even design an abaya for you. She is a divorced woman who has been on TV for her designs. Unheard of for the women here... she would eventually like to move to the USA and she's not particularly picky about where in the US she should go. Khadijah and I recommended Texas :)

Fadaah free-handing Angel's henna

My Maria getting her henna done up!

Cathy's henna as it's been applied

The sexy Brit--according to the McDonald's lady

After queuing for a long while and chatting with Fadaah, we were finally finished with the Eid celebrations--which aren't really celebrations. To compare Eid to a holiday we celebrate would be like saying Christmas back home. The people stay home and exchange gifts, give money to the children, feast, and go to the mosque. They wish their neighbors well and spend time "repenting" as we would say. It's a festive time for the people here in the UAE and gives them a reason to get all dolled up and enjoy time with their families. 

As our night ended, we set out to find the death-cab... or taxi. It's crazy here y'all... they weave in and out like it's nothing. Been some close calls in some of the taxi's I have been in, but no accidents as of yet. It's a wonder their roads aren't flooded with more emergency responses... it's a quick exchange of info and on their way if there is an accident. Here is how the local children hail a taxi (and I wouldn't recommend finding your own this way): 

Middle of the lane taxi call... not a smart way to find a safe ride home.

Well, I am off to bed... I'm gonna attempt an early-ish wake up to hit the gym with Jen in the morning. G'night from Abu Dhabi (and good afternoon to y'all that are stateside).  

Eid Mubarak: Eid has begun... which means Ramadan has officially ended! For those of you who don't know what that means for me as a Westerner, it means that I can now eat and drink in public! It hasn't been as hard as I expected it to be to not eat and drink out in public, but I have had my grumpy days and headaches. All of the restaurants around town have been closed all day and only places in the hotels have been opened so it has done some damage to my pocket book. I did go to the market and get some snacky foods (which really only helps if you are at your hotel in the day--which I have not been). Here is a picture of my new friend, Angel, as we are in the mall (yes, the markets are IN the mall) and you have to go up and down the giant escalators.

 It's not abnormal here to see people pushing their shopping carts along inside the mall trying to get their groceries out to the car. There aren't little convenient stores or grocery stores on the street corners or anything like that... and the pharmacy's I have seen are not like CVS and Walgreens--they just have medicine. 

For those of you who were worried about me eating, I think I'm going to be okay here. There are a LOT of foods from the US here in Abu Dhabi. They do taste a tad bit different then in the states, but it's not bad at all. I even found my Peter Pan peanut butter!!! I will be okay now! :) 

 Sorry this post has been about nothing but food... I am starving right now so I guess that's where my focus has been. Will post more later about my flat and some things I've done around.

heartstrings 5.0: beginning a new journey

Good morning from Abu Dhabi... it's around 7:00 in the morning here and I just wanted to write a quick post before I head down to breakfast.

My journey so far has had some ups and downs but overall, I could not have asked for a smoother transition period over to this new country (that to be honest, makes me feel right at home). My trek across the Atlantic started off on a wonderful note (sarcasm inserted here). My precious iPhone fell out of my backpack on the plane to Doha, Qatar and was then taken by someone. Wouldn't have been so bad if said person had not decided to send out some nasty spam emails and german iMessages to all my friends and former co-workers. There are better ways to spend your time then mess with people's daily lives. The gentleman at Qatar Airways was very helpful in trying to get someone from the plane on the phone, but we never heard back from them in my hour layover. Go figure... apparently iPhones can go for over a $1,000 over here. So I had to give up hope pretty quickly on finding my phone. I tried locating it on the Find My Phone App, but it was switched off. Putting a passcode on it did not work so I had to do the only thing left--wipe the phone clean, which gave up all hope of recovering it. Oh well... just a phone I suppose. Just sad to lose all the videos I took on it before I left of things that would make me smile when I was a little homesick.

After that though, treatment here has been nothing short of amazing. The people here are extremely friendly. It is their pleasure to do EVERYTHING for you with a smile on their face... it's very refreshing and different from the States. I have nice accommodations at the Beach Rotana Hotel... the water here is beautiful and just the perfect temperature to wade around in--sand gets a little/lot hot.

I've met some really great people over here from Houston. We were on the same flight over and are staying in the same hotel. There is a group of around 8 of us that hang out together. I will post more on them later...

I have visited Dubai already (wonderful trip about an hour and a half away maybe.) I will post some pictures later and talk about our adventure up there.

Malls here are everywhere... I am not much of a mall person, but I have been to one every day here because everything is located in the mall.... even their grocery stores. It is nothing to see a person pushing a cart through the mall with their groceries. More on that later though... but I have found food here that I can eat. Shocking, I know. But there is actually a LOT of similar things here that are back home in the States. I think I have actually seen more of that then local foods.

I need to start heading down to breakfast here now... today is a big day for me. I will be heading over to see my apartment at 9:00. It is located about 20 minutes from my hotel and close to the Abu Dhabi Airport. Seems like a really good location... off the highway with quick access to Dubai and Al Ain and easy access to the edge of Abu Dhabi. Haven't found out my school placement yet--that is still to come.

I will post more about things that have happened here and more details about the things above (with pictures). This was just a quick post to update y'all... good night to you guys! My adventure will continue on this Monday morning...

heartstrings 4.0: lasting memories

Tonight is my last post before I leave US soil and head on over to Abu Dhabi. At the moment, I have several mixed emotions going on right now. I left my co-workers today and it finally hit me...

I
am
leaving.

Like, for good. It's weird to process.

It always seemed so far away and now it's just a matter of savoring every last moment.

It was my last time to step foot in the only school I have ever worked at. It was my last time to sit in my old classroom (as I watched the new teacher decorate and hang out with a few old co-workers). It was the last time I will drive with Nikki from Bryan to Huntsville. My last dinner was at Roadhouse (and was sent away with a dozen rolls--yum!). Tonight I got my last night-night kiss from Issac (which makes me extremely sad as I sit here and think about it). My last night to sleep in this bed is tonight. And it's the last night Nikki, Fernando, Issac, and I will have alone.... ever. Strange.

But as I sit here and think about the lasts... I can't help but think about the list of firsts that I am about to embark on. I look forward to those and will hold on dearly to those lasts and the people in my life that have created those memories. Even though I may be thousands of miles away, I will carry them in my heart as I start my list of firsts in a new place with this mixed happy-sadness in my heart.