Rain Forest or Desert????

I thought I moved to the desert NOT the rain forest!!

This has been the strangest weather!!!! For the last 3 days it has rained almost non-stop and cool. Virtually unheard of here. It usually only rains 3 days in the entire year. Friday and Saturday (my weekend), it rained so there was no going to the pool which I had gotten used to doing every weekend. For those of you who know me, know that I love sun and water. It doesn't matter if it is at the pool or the beach that is my "happy place" where I go to unwind and refocus. 

So, this weekend, there was none of that. I was stuck inside....BLAH!!!  Now I know later on I will be complaining about it being so HOT! By next weekend, we will be back into the 100's and sweating sitting still. 

Today, while teaching, I heard lots of noise outside. I opened the classroom door to look out and all the girls run out of the room at the same time and go straight out into the rain. Almost the entire school was outside playing in the rain. Even the Arabic teachers were walking around in the rain taking pictures. While I was shocked at this behavior, I had to stop and think that as a native Georgian, we are usually this way about snow. Anyway, after about 15-20 minutes the rain stopped and all the girls came back to the room. We attempted to get back on task but the girls were so excited about the rain that we just muddled through our math lesson. Then during the math lesson, we hear the rain again. I open to check outside and again the girls run out. However, this time our Assistant Principal is out telling the girls to stay under the shelter and close to the building since it was thundering. The girls were chanting something in Arabic that must have been a praise to Allah for the rain. It sounded like one sentence that was repeated over and over. The only word I recognized was "Allah".  So again, we stand and watch the rain until it stops. 

Here are pictures of the girls playing in the rain!  

This was a great reminder that while rain seems to be an inconvenience to me, it brings great joy to others! 

I'm in awe of what God shows me!

Strange Weather...Wet...HOT!!

The weather the last couple of weeks have been the craziest I've seen since being here. We have had rain, thunder, lightening and temps above 108 degrees. While the HOT temperature is not uncommon, the rain, thunder and lightening is. While many of my colleagues talk about be wakened by thunder and lightening, those of you who know me know that has not happened to me. I can sleep through most anything...including hurricane Opal many years ago. 

Here are a few pictures I have taken showing some of this. 

This is the temperature in my car. Thanks to Christine for showing me how to have this appear in my dash. 

This is The Weather Channel app on the same day. 

24 hours later, the weather looks like this. Rainy and a cool 82.

In the next week, temperatures will begin to climb back up to the mid-90s and will continue to climb until the only way to describe it will be "HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!"

To see more pictures about the strange weather, you can go to Christine's blog (http://www.christinesbigadventure.blogspot.com) and see pictures and read about the damage from storms at her school which is an hour and fifteen minutes from where we live in Al Ain. 

Spring Break is Over!

Spring Break is over!! While this is a sad thing, it is also exciting!! Why, you ask, is it exciting??? Because I am that much closer to coming back to the US to see my family and friends that I have missed dearly! The ticket has been purchased and I will be leaving the UAE on July 9 and arriving in the US on July 10. And the closer it gets, the more anxious I get. I will be home about 6 weeks and will attempt to see everyone while home. 

I have spent today preparing for this week at school. I will also be getting a student teacher who will be in my class for 4 weeks. So, today I have spent time printing lesson plans, making games, and getting activities ready for the week. 

I am truly enjoying my adventure here and I love living here in the UAE and teaching. I wish all my teacher friends could experience being at a school and being respected for what we do on a regular basis. 

Desert Safari

Jeff, who I grew up with, and Jamie Skinner asked me to go on a Desert Safari. Since it is one of the things that I didn't get to do with mom and dad, I agreed. I was pretty excited!  I've heard all kinds of wonderful things about these trips but had not done one myself. So, we headed off towards Dubai to meet some others. Jeff was told to meet at the LuLu's Supermarket behind the Mall of Emirates at 3:00pm. So we leave Al Ain about 1:30pm, giving us time to find this place. It was pretty easy to locate. 

Once there, we take the girls to the bathroom and Jamie sees one of teachers that came in with her in January. They happen to be going on the Safari too. Later, in comes the guy who organized this event for the teachers in Al Ain. He tells us that the guy from the Safari will not be here until 4:00pm. So now we have realized we rushed for nothing!! 

Finally, the guy shows up and takes our money and Cobone certificates (discount). Once everyone is accounted for, they take us across the parking lot to a tour bus. We are told the drive will be about 20 minutes. We load the bus at 4:27pm the bus finally starts moving. We drive for what seems like forever. Somewhere around 5:15pm we pull into these small businesses (tourist trap) and are told to go to the restroom and there are snacks available for purchase. Reluctantly, we get out and head to the "bathroom," I use that term lightly. There was a toilet but the seat was broken and missing a section shaped like a triangle. Needless to say, this will be a squatting "potty" break. The floor is wet from the dripping spray hose that is common around here. Oh, there is also NO toilet paper. Thankfully, I have learned to ALWAYS carry tissue in my purse. This is an adventure I keep telling myself. For those of you who don't know, I HATE public bathrooms and especially if they are nasty and dirty as this one was. But not knowing where we were going and how long it would be, I heeded the advice and went to the bathroom. Finally, everyone has gone to the bathroom and purchased whatever "tourist stuff" they wanted and we are back on the bus ready to go. 

So we drive another 20 minutes or so and we pull off the side of the road and there are multiple SUVs waiting on us. So we all pile out of the bus and load the SUVs. There are about 5-8 people in each SUV along with the driver. The drivers have a special license to drive in the dunes. Jeff, Jamie, Brooklyn, and London get in the back of the SUV. Another teacher, her small son, and myself get in the middle and her mother in the front passenger seat. 

This view looks out of the front window. 

This is another SUV with other teachers in it. I cannot describe the dune bashing, other than it is amazing!! Definitely a MUST when my parents come back. 

This is the view from the parking lot of the location where we will eat, ride camels, see a falcon, and many other things. 

Brooklyn and her friend, Eva, on a camel.

Jeff on the camel with London. 

The belly dancer who should be hitting the gym a few more times a week...hehehe

Tables we will be sitting at to watch the entertainment and eat. 

Another of the entertainers who spun in a circle wearing this skirt of some kind that would eventually light up and he would move it. It was pretty neat. 

And finally, we leave by loading back in the SUVs and driving back toward the road and the bus.