Heartstrings 31.0: Dubai lovin'

Howdy, howdy, howdy, ho!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend back home. I had to work today (blah!) and I went full steam ahead with no food allll day... guess that's what you get when you go to Dubai for a day and then come back and meet friends for dinner. So it was totally my own doing... still not fun.

Last Tuesday, I got in touch with a fella off of dubizzle (kind of like a craigslist) and he was selling a ticket for the ladies semi-finals match on Friday. I was a little worried about meeting some random person and was hoping it was a legit ticket... I ended up meeting him in the Dubai Mall and turns out, he had an all expense paid work thing to Egypt that came up and apparently it was a lot more important then tennis. Can't argue with that. I got there a little early and wondered around the mall for a bit doing little "touristy" things on accident after taking a wrong turn in the mall.

The Burj Khalifia on a beautiful night

The Dubai fountain... right outside the Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifia. Beautiful.

Little MJ fountain show while waiting to meet up for dinner.

After collecting the ticket, I met up with someone for dinner at Roadhouse (I needed a little bitta home after my observation and longish week.) We had a nice dinner and I got home suuuuper late for my standards--no thanks to some idiot who almost clipped the back end of my car going an easy 160 km/h. Definitely woke me up a little more for the last 30 minutes of my drive. The people here are insanely bad drivers... makes Texans look like world class drivers.

On Friday, I met my friend Andrea at our hotel we were going to be staying in called the Media Rotana (I am a big fan of a Rotana hotel as that is the place where I lived for a month when I first got to Abu Dhabi). We checked in and headed straight out with the intention of taking the Metro to the Tennis Center... good thing we asked where the stop was because it was Friday morning and the metro doesn't start operating until 1:00 (or was it 2:00? I can't remember now.. hmm...) So we hailed a taxi and headed for the Irish Village (which is a nice little place outside the center with a really great atmosphere--if anyone is ever in the market for something to do whilst in Dubai on holiday!) We ate a quick bite at a local restaurant there... walked around for about 30 minutes waiting on the gates to open (I bought a RAFA HAT! yesss!) and then we be-lined for some really fantastic seats. Andrea met a German dude the day before and he joined us for the day. We settled in for a nice afternoon in the sun full of tennis! I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't too terribly excited about attending a women's tennis match (I'd MUCH rather see the men play; but seeing as I couldn't even register to purchase tickets before they were sold out... I figured the women were better then nothing.) It's a different pace and atmosphere, but it was still fun nonetheless. The women are a lot smaller than they look on TV... quite interesting. I'm currently trying to find some tickets to the mens match now. We'll see how that goes. I'd love to see Roger and Novak in person!!

I hope everyone has a lovely week this coming week! Won't be too much longer before spring break is here! I'm praying my granny gets over her shingles that she's had for a bit... it sounds incredibly awful! And my mama... she's been in the ER with some mini-strokes. Praying the doctors can figure out what's going on so she can get to feeling better!

Heartstrings 30.0: I miss the south!

Last night I really missed Texas for some strange reason. I found myself watching The Last Song on tv while I was waiting for a few friends to finish with their trip to Ikea. I found myself enjoying the southern-ness of the movie and then watched Reba on her new show to get more southern-ness into my life. I miss the yes ma'am, no sir, slow pace in life, and just plain ole twang! I'm about this close to going to Dubai just to go to Texas Roadhouse! :)

This week is going to be a big week for me... I have my final observation on Tuesday. It's supposed to be an English lesson so I'll have to come up with something this weekend for it. I'm supposed to have 44 student portfolio's done in a binder as well as my teaching portfolio. Not sure if I'll have all that goodness finished in time; but we shall see.

Speaking of Dubai, I went there last weekend with my friend, Cathy. It was loads of fun (and firsts) for me. Here are my firsts I experienced last weekend:

1. tried Indian chicken (wasn't as spicy as I was expecting!)
2. ate Korean food (it was really good... I picked up the art form of chopsticks quickly!)
3. sang karaoke for 4 hours (my family would be proud, I sang Sweet Home Alabama and attempted Walk This Way--did much better when I wasn't reading the screen.)
4. ate some form of Indian food I did not know (surprisingly, it wasn't bad)
5. stayed out until 2 am (paid for it the next day!)

I was the only American at dinner and at karaoke... it was a new feeling for me. We met up with Cathy's friend, Jo, to celebrate her new job in Dubai with some of her friends--all who happen to be British. There were a couple of ladies there that were lawyers and asked some pretty funny questions about Texas. They asked me if I wore uniforms to school, if it was "cool" to be a cheerleader, and then finally... they asked if high school in America was like the movie Clueless. (I got a big kick out of this question). Then they asked about the death penalty and if the Texas Chainsaw Massacre really did happen. Gotta love the Brits! Ever so amusing! 

This week had it's moments of ups and downs in the classroom... my allergies started acting up after leaving Dubai so I didn't get much sleep for the first few nights of the week. I was a tad less patient with some of the boys; but nothing they couldn't handle! One of them in the middle of teaching told me to "wait a minute," as he got up and walked over to another boys desk to talk. So I made him and a boy who laughed stay in at foosa (recess).

We finally started reading books in class (I got a document camera--sort of like an Elmo for all you teachers back in Texas, but not as fancy). The book is about dogs... one of my littles named Salem raised his hand and said, "Ms. I go to America, and in America, I see dogs everywhere!" I couldn't help but laugh because it's true. I then proceeded to tell them about how sometimes dogs wear clothes in America when it is cold outside (I had been showing them the snow in the East when we do the weather). They loved that bit of information.

Hope you guys are having a good week back home! Not too much longer before spring break will be here. I'm so ready--as we all are. I'm thinking about heading to Thailand for 10 days to relax on a beach, ride some elephants, and do some fun water things!

Heartstrings 29.0: Are You Ready for some Football?

Happy Day After the Super Bowl to everyone back home!!! Things are still pretty cool here but they are starting to warm up a little in the day. I'd say it's about 80 here now in the day and I am NOT looking forward to the heat that is coming. I kinda dig this cool weather.

So I saw the Ravens won the Super Bowl. As most of you know, I decided to wake up at 3:00 in the morning (yes, that time DOES exist!) to watch the game. I was super stoked to find out last night that I got the channel that would be broadcasting the Super Bowl live and in HD... which meant that I wouldn't have to stream it on my MacBook! I slept on the couch so my lazy bum wouldn't have to get out of bed to watch the game. I did really well and made it all the way up to half time before I had to turn the tv off and catch a few winks of sleep. I slept for about an hour before my alarm went off. Obsessive as I was; I immediately turned the TV on to find that I had only missed 7 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Didn't quite understand at that time how I missed so little of the game until they said the lights had gone out. Lovely. I didn't get a chance to watch the last 12 minutes of the game (so sad!) since I had to leave for work; but I did keep up with the live feed during my morning assembly whilst instructing boys to stand on their white circles ;)

I didn't really care who won... saw the 49ers last season in the playoffs and knew they would make it to the big dance this year. And the Ravens had the whole Ray Lewis and Michael Oher (the dude from Blind Side) story line to go with it... so I was pulling for both teams. Although I did find myself rooting more for San Francisco (but mostly because I really wanted an actual football game instead of one team dominating the other). I'm happy that Oher won a super bowl... and Lewis went out with the perfect ending.

Lord help me in March when the NCAA bball tourney starts. I will be beyond sleep deprived like I am now but throughout the span of weeks! 

Work is going okay (in the classroom.) Having some pretty ridiculous issues with one of my head of faculty. Trying to push through that is proving to be harder then I thought it would be.

Anywhoo, just wanted to stop by and update you on my "stupidity"... guess you gotta make a few sacrifices to feel a little closer to home when you're 6,000 miles away.

Heartstrings 28.0: Issac

Have you ever woken up in the morning and been thoroughly confused as to where you were? That was my exact thought on the first morning I woke up in Texas. It took me a good minute to realize that I was in Nikki's guest bedroom and not in Abu Dhabi anymore.

The trip back home was realllllly long (over 22 hours and 3 flights) but it was totally worth it. When I touched down in Dallas, the real fun began. I had to gather my baggage and then re-check it for my flight to Houston. I wasn't worried about the time (almost 2 hour layover) but then I got into line for customs and suddenly, I started to worry a little. After finally making it through, I ran and checked my bag in only to find that my flight to Houston was not on the departure board. I didn't have a clue where to go, so I saw what gate most of the other AA flights were departing from, and headed that way praying I made the right assumption.

I ended up getting stuck in the line for security with less than an hour before my flight started boarding. Shortly after getting in line, a guard told a group of us to go to the next line because the line was shorter... so we complied--wrong call. The same dude came back about 20 minutes later and told us that there was a shorter line down the way if we wanted to go wait in it--the same line that he had moved us from before. I now had less than 20 minutes before my plane started boarding and I was still stuck in line for security--then the fun began... my flight started boarding and I was still a good 20 people back in line.

I was certain that I would be missing my flight to Houston and I didn't have a way to get a hold of Nikki to let her know what was going on. I woke up mid-flight to London and realized that I left my US cell phone charging on the counter in my kitchen--not the place for it to be!

After finally making it through the line, I checked the board once again. My flight was still not on there. I was a tad stressed and a little unsure as to what to do--so I asked some workers who were chatting away for some help. They looked up the flight and told me that my flight was leaving out of the farthest gate from where I was at that moment and that I needed to run to catch it in time.

So that's what I did--minus the running part. I just walked quickly. I made it to the gate and asked if this was the flight to Houston. They naturally said yes and that they were closing the door. I had made it. Good times.

Nikki picked me up and I got to see my little man, Issac for the first time in 3 months. I wasn't greeted with a smile immediately, but I told him I would break him... and by the time we got on the highway, he smiled. :)

We had dinner at Denny's... Issac and I played with the "balls" on the Christmas tree while mama tried to finish eating her dinner and then made our long drive back to Bryan, Texas to spend the weekend. We got home pretty late and prepared for a long weekend of packing for their big move to Nebraska.

The first order of business Saturday morning for me was to get some potato and egg breakfast burritos and a Diet DP. It was delish! I could have had it every morning if I was allowed to--haha. We were supposed to meet up with our good friend, Katie, and her family that morning; but her son woke up with a fever. We ended up running to Target and Wal-Mart to pick up the most important things I needed back here in the UAE--goldfish and sweet-tarts.

Nikki's dad and brother arrived later that day and thus the packing and painting process began. In the midst of the move, Nikki's dad was really adamant about using plastic tubs to move with. So they went and got tubs and when they got back; I did what I do best, trying to occupy little man whilst the others packed.

I didn't get very many pictures because some little guy is obsessed with cameras... but our tub time was a blast!

Someone remembered the camera as soon as it was pulled out!

spinning around in the tub mid-air was a blast!!!

what ya up to Issac?!? t-r-o-u-b-l-e...

just look at how much excitement a tub can bring!

it was a little dizzying after though... lol

Needless to say, I missed (and currently miss) this kid. I was blown away at how much he had grown/learned since I left 4 months ago. He was talking and learning things minute by minute. It was amazing to watch him mimic everything that I did... like putting my foot on a metal bar to rest it while at Home Depot getting carpet samples and seeing him follow suit. They really do watch every little thing you do and see if it's possible for them to do it as well.

keeping the kid occupied during an unwanted diaper change... camera distraction!

just look at that face!

This guy will soon be a big brother... like this week kind of soon. I'm excited that he's going to have a sweet little sister. Bummer I won't be able to be there and meet her though :/

heartstrings 27.0: city livin'

Should be planning a lesson for my possible observation tomorrow... but seeing as the I only had 12 kids in each class today, I am not expecting a big turnout tomorrow.

Instead, while I wait for the laundry to finish, I wanted to give you a sneak peak into my home now that I am settled in. It's still a work in progress, but I love it here!

my living room area - love the windows and the view of the city

dining room with a "Christmas-y" feel

view from the couch -- I need to add something to the walls

view of the living room, dining room, and kitchen

my reading and traveling room! I love love love this room! I will add more to it as I travel more

hutch and the travel map

so far, red is some of the places I have been and green is where I want to go -- I need to get smaller pins to work with but I can't find them here in this country.

my bookshelf clock (that I have yet to put batteries in). Everything on there is a souvenir from another country

my newest collection in Abu Dhabi... super hero action figures! lol

little sand art and holy water from the Jordan River along with my Jordan shadow box

my reading chair where I can sit and read and watch the city below me

my newest friend from Dubai, Cap'n K9... aka Cap

Heartstrings 26.0: pure kid joy

What is this... two posts in two days?!? Someone must have a lot of time on her hands... actually, I had a couple of really cool experiences today at work (aside from the fact that this morning Mr. Salim, the principal, announced that the kids would be going home at noon today).

I was sitting in my room attempting to do eSIS and talking to my co-worker, Rimi, when one of my kids came in the room. He popped his head in, I said hi, and he ran out... haha. A few minutes later, this boy's mom comes in the room to explain why Saif had missed the last week of school. Poor thing was in the hospital all week.

Anyway, this mom proceeded to tell me that her son loved me a lot and was excited to come to school. I was so touched. This kid is precious--he is so interested in the world around him and really enjoys learning. He's always smiling and you can't help but smile back at him. She went on to tell me that Saif loved me so much that he didn't want her to take the doctor's note and the money for his Kumon books to his Arabic teacher... he wanted his mom to come see Ms. Krista. My heart just about melted. I think I just may have a favorite now :)

Another really cool story about my awesome 1B boys: Earlier this morning, we were doing picture cards for vocabulary development and I showed the boys a picture of the UAE flag. I asked them if this was my flag and they said no. Saif then asked me what my flag looked like... so I showed the class the US flag. They told me the colors on the flag and I explained to them that there were 50 stars on the flag. One of the boys said, "why Ms?" so then I had to show them the United States map. I showed them Texas and asked if Texas was big or small. With big eyes, the boys said, "Ms.... biiiiiiig." haha... then of course they saw part of Canada and they ran up to the board and said, "Ms.... this is BIG!" And that was that for the US.

Saif was so fascinated in the map at that point so he asked, "Ms. where is the UAE?" I pulled up a world map and they got a big kick out of how far away my home was. Especially when I drew the trajectory the plane takes when I come and go back to the states. They thought that was the best thing. I showed them where London was (one of the boys will be going there for the winter break).

It was the coolest thing seeing the kids actually excited about the map and where I am from. I shared all of this information with them when we first started school but they didn't really care too much about it then (most likely because I was some strange lady speaking a language they didn't have a clue about).

I'll end this post with a funny short story... while doing our vocabulary cards we came across the picture of a nose. The boys told me the name of it in English and I asked them what we do with our nose. None of them answered so I asked them if we eat with our nose. They all laughed and said "YES!" I told them they were silly boys and that I would bring them food for them to eat with their nose because I would like to see that. Of course, I went on and asked them if we walked on our nose... they laughed again and said, "YES! YES!" I called them weird boys and said I'd like to see that too. We went on and on as I asked if we write with our nose, if we see with our nose, etc... they all laughed and said "YES!" every single time. It was good fun. I'm still waiting for them to show me how they can walk on their nose!

heartstrings 25.0: run the race...

Well folks... I have 5 days before we have a glorious 3 week vacation! Those five days will not be a walk in the park either...

Here is what my week will look like this week:

• I have to finish eSIS which is a grading system that is ridiculous and way too time consuming!
• I will have my first formal evaluation on Tuesday with my "bad" class so I am praying they are good. 
• I have to finish data charts for the eSIS information to turn into my Head of Faculty. 
• Organize things for my trips
• Begin the packing process
• Clean up the flat for a 3 week departure
• Clean out my rental car to return to the company 
• Go to the bank and get a payment situated that they messed up royally
• Laundry, which is actually a long process here
• Mail off Christmas gifts from Abu Dhabi

After all that gets sorted out in this short week, I will be extremely relieved and needing this extended break. This whole teaching thing here is not quite what I imagined it would be. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed myself and still thank God for this incredible opportunity pretty much every day; but it's just not what I expected it to be.  I came in here with the hope of really pushing myself to be a better teacher and for the opportunity to grow as an educator and learn different ways to teach things... so far, it's been a much bigger challenge than I expected. My kids don't know a whole lot of English and the culture here with the boys is much different than what you expect--even though beforehand, you have heard firsthand what it is like. It just doesn't process until you live it, I suppose. There are a ton of things that here you just can't exhaust your energy doing because it's just not worth it--it won't change the outcome. For example, I don't know how many boys I let run by me, push, hit, and fight with each other. If they're not my boys, it's not even worth taking the time to waste your breath because once they run three steps away from you; they are back at it again with no regard as to what you just told them. I would never in a million years allow that back home in the States, but it's something that I have learned to let go in order for me to maintain sanity with my kids.

I've been really hesitant to say anything online about the experiences that I am having because although it happens, when it's over and you're given the opportunity to travel, or when you get home at 1:50 every day, or when you can just hang loose with some friends... it all seems to go away and it doesn't seem as bad as it was in that moment. The way I choose to look at it now is that I am experiencing things here in Abu Dhabi so that when I get back to Texas, I can take a look back and be grateful for what we don't have to put up with in the education system. I can look at the State of Texas and be thankful that there is a sense of organization in the way we teach things (even though it changes so frequently) and that there is a sense of professionalism in the way things are handled.

Again, I don't want to give the wrong impression here... this opportunity has been a fantastic experience so far. And it could be so. much. worse. It's hard, it's a challenge, it tests your patience to no end... but the kids can really make you smile. And there is pure satisfaction in watching them grow and finally understand things in English. And to watch the excitement that they have when they see in visual form (aka: flashcards) how much English they have learned. And when they can teach you some words in Arabic... they just flippin' love that! Their little five year old faces light up like nothing else... and they get a good kick out of you when you can't pronounce the words in Arabic the first, second, or tenth time you've tried.

Anyway, here are some pictures of how we celebrated National Day here in the UAE. There was lots of color and some pictures I am not allowed to share for legal reasons...  I was sick the for the first two days of this week and came back just in time for the fun.

Andrew and I celebrating National Day by kicking back and watching the festivities... he took up the wooden flag holders from the boys

My girl, Rimi, and myself... we totally owned some 5th graders in a game and won a pen! Go Team USA!

Cathy, Niamh (my co-first grade teacher!), and myself at the end of the day

little scared at the moment cause I had no clue what was going on... nah, just got impatient waiting for the camera to take the picture... lol

The boys were well excited to celebrate and look at this cute as a button face...

best part of the celebrations... this sweet baby and his mama as they came to school to celebrate the 41st National Day with his brother

They love a good piece of candy in this country... and not just for celebratory reasons either.

Best co-workers in the UAE right here... Rimi, Andrew, and Martin--who was a good sport and let me stick my candy on his face! :)

The 5th grade boys doing a little local dance to celebrate the UAE