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. 

Observation/Evaluation Time of Year

This week was a little nerve-wracking!! It was time for Formal Observations to start in preparation for Evaluations coming up. While I am used to being evaluated by principals or assistant principals showing up in my classroom, these observations are different. For the first 14 years of teaching, observations were a simple satisfactory or unsatisfactory, but NOT here. These are much more detailed and the evaluators are looking for many minute details which makes these much more complex. Since these observations were to be unannounced, the stress level went up simply for all the minute details they were looking for. 

Fortunately, I was very excited about my lesson on Tuesday and was hoping and praying that the evaluators would come in. Well, God is good!!! The evaluators came. I had everything ready. Both evaluators, my Principal and the English Head of Faculty, were very impressed and I was extremely happy with the way my girls were responding to questions asked and their engagement in the lesson. So, now I feel really good about the observation and it is time to gather all my documentation in a notebook to prepare for the Evaluation that will happen later. I will let you know how that goes whenever it may happen. 

Fruit Day

Fruit day was interesting!! All the girls brought in various fruits. Some of them I have seen in the stores and others I had no idea about. So, my class and I gather in the courtyard and sit on a rug. They bring me different pieces of fruit to peel and for them to eat. For those of you who know me, I don't like my hands to be dirty. However, this day, my hands were GROSS!!! All for the sake of the girls. My hands were dripping with various juices from various fruits...YUCK!! But the girls had a blast and honestly, I did too!!

 

Since I was encouraging them to try new fruits, I had to do the same. So I decided since I see this fuzzy, "porcupine" looking fruit in the store frequently, I would try it. 

As you can tell by the picture, I'm not so sure about this fruit. You crack the shell and eat the inside that is the texture of a grape but has a seed in the center of it. I liked the juice but didn't like the texture with the seed in the middle. Anyway, it was an experience. 

I also tried mangosteen that day too. Once again, interesting and I can say that I've done it. At first, I saw one of my girls eating it and eating several of them. She could only tell me the Arabic word for it which didn't help me know what it was. So, I asked an Arabic teacher. She said it was "sweet garlic" which was a little strange to me. But I had my "adventurous" hat on that day and decided to try it. When you crack open the hard, purple shell, inside is the fleshy fruit that looks like the cloves of garlic. I ate a couple of them and it was ok. Not bad, but not good! 

                                                   

The girls really enjoyed sitting around peeling and eating the fruit.  It really was a nice day!!

                                      

Mom's Blog

As you know, my parents were here from December 21 until January 4. They had a blast and I really enjoyed them being here. While I never shed a tear when I left Atlanta in August, I cried half the way home from Dubai when they left. It was much harder than I expected. 

We went to the store the first day and she had to buy a Journal "to record" all that we would be doing. I thought it was a joke when she said she would be taking notes. After the first day out, I learned quickly that she was not joking. The first day, she had 4 pages of notes. Dad and I continued to laugh at her through the two weeks about her notes. I think she had used half the journal by the time they left. So, her blog is much more detailed about the things we did and what we saw. 

Here is the link to mom's blog about all the things we did while they were here. 

http://www.randyandclarabrown.blogspot.com

Feel free to read and enjoy her blog too.

Vegetable Week

The last few weeks have been crazy. Things at school have been busy with Vegetable Week and Milk Week. Coming up will be Fruit Week. During these weeks, classroom instruction is to be devoted to the subject (vegetables, milk, fruit) in all curriculum areas. Doesn't sound so crazy except that on one day during each of the weeks, the girls bring in the item of the week (vegetables, milk, fruit) and we spend about an hour have a "free for all" when it comes to the item. So during Vegetable Week, the girls all brought in various vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, lemons, and much more). So, during our lunch and fourth period, we all gather in the courtyard and the girls share their vegetables. Doesn't seem so bad! The "strange", for lack of a better word, part is that the girls brought their own knives from home and were cutting up the vegetables and making salads for anyone and everyone. Here are a few pictures of the organized chaos. 

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

One day, we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Located in Abu Dhabi, it is the largest mosque in the UAE and the 8th largest in the world. 

Lots of pictures. Be sure to go to the end and continue reading.

                                     

 This is a water fountain. 

 These are the times for the Call to Prayer. 

 An amazing chandelier made from Swarovski crystals.

A flower design between four columns. 

 Arabic writings on the wall.

 The Quran

 Intricate details in the glass window

 The view of the mosque as we were leaving. 

 Ladies have to be covered from head to toe. So rather than borrow clothing from the mosque that others have worn, we wore long sleeves and pants and took pashminas to cover our heads. 

 Place inside to wash your feet

While the mosque was quite grand, beautiful, and immaculate, I  did not have the sense of peace and reverence that I have felt when entering some beautiful, grand churches. Now. was it the children running around, the constant photography, or something else? I do not know but I didn't feel it. 

All good things must come to an end!!!

All good things must come to an end....Mom and dad have been here with me for 2 weeks. It has been amazing!!! We have laughed and explored all kinds of new places. Over the next few days, I will be uploading pictures and telling stories of our adventure. This picture was taken at The Rainforest Cafe on New Year's Eve. Usually, on NYE, we all stay home and watch the ball and peach drop on TV and dad goes to bed early. However, this year I told them that it wasn't every year that they could go to Dubai for NYE and we would be going. For those of you who don't know my dad, he HATES crowds!!!! 

So, we went to Dubai with a million of our closest friends...hahaha!! We watched the fireworks from the base of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. While it was fun being there on NYE, the fireworks were not as grand as I expected them to be. Leaving there was crazy!!! And that is putting it mildly. With millions of people trying to leave at the same time and the ability to use lines is virtually non-existent here, it was basically a mob of people PUSHING their way to the exit which was not clear. It was very difficult, hot and smelly. Several people needed lots of rock salt (see previous post if you don't know what that means). 

Anyway, we finally made it to the exit, to the car and home by 2:30am. Then, we called all our friends and family back home to say HNY!!! We finally went to bed around 4:30am and slept late the next day. 

It was a lot of fun!!