heartstrings 20: for real... my home sweet home

Ok, super fast post since this will probably be my last for awhile.

I went today and signed the lease for a new flat in a tower called Al Murjan. I loooooove it already. Spacious and lots of windows. Overlooks the water in the distance and some of the Abu Dhabi buildings. Construction around... but nothing new for this city. It's on the 8th floor.

I am checking out of the Yas Viceroy (finally!) after I send this blog post.

Tomorrow I will be on my first flight out of Abu Dhabi. I am heading to Amman, Jordan. I am stoked about this! I will be going on a day tour of Petra and also a day tour of the Dead Sea and the site where historians now believe Jesus was baptized. I'm also super pumped because I will get to see a friend who I have not seen in many years. She lives there and hopefully we will be able to meet up at some point.

I will post pics of the new place and my visit to Jordan as soon as I get the internet back up. Take care everyone!

Eid Mubarak... this is the holiday we are celebrating right now here in the UAE.

heartstrings 19.0: Jetson living no more? Yes, please!

Start off with a little happy note: I had my first little boy tell me something incredibly sweet. As I'm teaching (ahem, if you can call that what I do now) a little boy walks over to me as I'm explaining how to write your name at the top of the paper, he walks over to me and says...

"Ms. Krista, I love you." 

I had to stop for a moment and process what had just happened. It's very rare for me to even have a sentence spoken to me in English, let alone a child share with me such a thoughtful and deep emotion. My immediate response of course was, "Aw, I love you to," and to continue teaching. But my mind was definitely wondering if this boy really understood the depth of the word love as it's full meaning in our language. He speaks English fairly well so I'm sure he knew what he was saying... it just caught me off guard since half the time my students can't even tell me if they need a pencil or how to ask to go to the bathroom correctly. Definitely a moment I will not be forgetting any time soon.

I have found while living in a hotel that I am not very good at keeping up with blogs and emails. I should work on that but I'm hoping I don't have too much longer here at the Viceroy to actually start working on that.

After three incredibly loooooong weeks at the hotel, some of us have started the moving process. It will take three days (Inshallah--in God's will, as they say here) to complete the process. I have been told that the flat I signed up for will be the next group of out here so we'll see. They're only doing 15 people at a time right now. Basically, we get on a bus, go back to Rayyana, pack our stuff for the movers. The next day, the movers will come and get the stuff. On the third day, our things will be delivered to the flat and we unpack. Again, this is Inshallah, so it could take 5 days or 5 years... whenever they feel up to doing it. They're finishing up the families and people moving into the Sun/Sky Towers on Reem Island now.

I myself could have lived on Reem Island in a nice sky-rise apartment overlooking the water but I opted for convenience instead. I will be moving into a 23 story building (on the 8th floor) that is about 8 minutes away from my school and right in the middle of loads of things (including a Starbucks next door). Reem was further away and I would have had to drive through traffic to get to work. I wanted some more sleep (surprising, I know... but these early wake up calls are killing me!) so I chose location over the nice amazing and beautiful flats on Reem where there's a whole lot of nothing going on yet. Not to say that mine is not nice by any means of course... it's a nice set up. I'm just praying right now that my fridge fits in the space allotted (it might be too tall since this new place has cabinets above the fridge and my old place doesn't).

Anyway, gonna sign off now and get ready to start prep for this next week of school. It's a shortened week this week and next. We officially have our first holiday on Thursday and Sunday for Eid. I'm thinking of heading to visit my friend Maria down in the west where there is nothing but water and sand. Get the true desert experience... kind of my only option since I had 2,000 dhs stolen from me at school (around $540). Long story... but it was gonna be my plane ticket out of here for Eid so since it was a forward on my pay for October from ADEC and I was forced to take the cash from them I just have to eat the loss. Live and learn...

Til next time; which will hopefully be sooner, rather than later! Miss y'all sooooo much!

heartstrings 15.0: homeless... again.

As most of you know, I am now homeless again due to a good chunk of ground collapsing at the complex that I had just moved in to recently. Luckily, nobody was hurt or killed in the collapse. They now believe that the reason for the fall was due to the installation of fountains filled with water and grass just being planted and watered. I guess the extra weight caused the structural beams to buckle.

There were a few people who had just left the courtyard right before it gave. A couple had just walked back into their flat from there and felt the ground shake. They looked outside and saw the hole. Another girl was standing there about five minutes prior.

Some people felt their whole buildings shake, some said it sounded like trains/low flying airplanes/10 trucks slamming together. I didn't hear/feel anything myself... I had just gotten home and driven through the area about 10 minutes before the collapse. My friend, Khadijah, called me and told me I needed to get out of my apartment now because the ground in front of her building had just collapsed. I was worried, but not panicked... grabbed my bag and macbook and headed out the door. The last thing I wanted to do was fall 8 stories to the ground if the building were to go next. As soon as I got downstairs I didn't really know where to go... there were no people around anywhere... so I did something, admittedly not the brightest of ideas; but I walked toward the collapse. Found the people and walked towards them. We were ushered by Ahmed away from any part of the road that was not supported by the ground.

A bit later, His Excellency, Dr. Magheera showed up and let us know that he would not leave until every person was safe and accounted for. He told us our safety was of the utmost importance. He chatted with us individually and really kept things calm while we waited to find out what would happen next. The police, ambulance, and Civil Defense were on the scene rather quickly. We waited  for the next four hours until we were bused to the Yas Viceroy Hotel.

I arrived at the hotel with nothing but myself, purse, jeans, and a t-shirt. Let me just tell you how fun it is to sleep in those and wake up the next day without washing your face, brushing your teeth, and wearing the same clothes. Could have been worse... some people walked out of their flat's without shoes, shirts, wallets, cell phones, etc.

Monday morning we woke up and attended a meeting with ADEC to discuss the siutation. My favorite line from the meeting was, "Raise your hand if your car is in the hole." We were told that we would be allowed back in one group at a time to collect 2-3 days worth of belongings. We would also be given an advance from next month's paycheck, and ADEC would pay for our meals here at the Viceroy. In time, we will be moved to a new location and ADEC will pay for the move as well. So that will be the 5th time I will have moved since July.

I was in the first group to head out to gather my belongings. It was quite a workout up 8 flights of stairs (we weren't allowed to take the elevators). We were given about 20 minutes to get whatever we could get and lug it back down. While I was gathering my things, the stupid alarm rang again, "please exit the building... this is an emergency..." not the correct way to notify people that their time is up since the night before that very same alarm meant the ground had collapsed. They didn't sound the alarm with any of the other groups. I think I now have a fear of the emergency alarms (I heard one here at the Yas and felt my body tense up a wee bit). I was allowed to get my car (kind of worried me since I was parked in the very spot where the other courtyard/parking area collapsed) but clearly, it was okay.

before

emergency response team... in their Mercedes

His Excellency, Dr. Mugheer speaking to the group

Dr. Mugheer and some very important men discussing the situation

the police bus

Tulip 4 lining up for a head count

My room in the Viceroy Hotel at about 12:30 in the morning

My friend Adam's view of the courtyard when we were allowed to go in and collect some of our belongings

Another person's view from their flat

The hole as I walked by it to gather my things

Today we have just been chilling here at the hotel. We are to report to work tomorrow morning bright and early. Should be fun. I spent the morning up at the rooftop pool getting an awkward sunburn--haha.

I have to keep in mind that I did sign up for an adventure... and an adventure I am surely getting. Although I can't complain... ADEC has done a nice job handling the situation that has been out of their control. The people there are working hard to ensure that we are taken care of in the best way that they can do for us.