~~*ChAoS*~~

What a week! I moved out of my hotel on Monday and into my half unfurnished/half uncleaned apartment. I'm loving my new place. Still no internet. Still no tv. Still no bed. Still no gas. Fortunately, I have been too busy and too tired to care! I am having my curtains made tomorrow and my chandelier and bed are also being delivered-Inshallah =)I have realized that my couch is very uncomfortable to sleep on every night, especially with the city lights peering through the 12ft windows! Another obstacle was trying to figure out why I don't have HOT water...hmm..each room has it's own "hot water switch". This too was something new!

One accomplishment...I have all my appliances installed! I have come to notice though that it's extremely difficult to buy appliances in the UAE. For instance, I bought an alarm clock and unfortunately when I went to plug it in, I needed an adapter. So many appliances are shipped from foreign countries and the plugs are not changed. Same goes for my hair straighter and microwave! Inconvenient. I think so, but I am learning! But my house is feeling very homey and is looking more beautiful each day! Absolutely love it.


I had my first official week at school and now it is the weekend. I don't even know what to say....words can not explain it. Basically, 10 new LT's were assigned to Saad Bin Obadah Primary. All last year LT's left. One LT decided to transfer after the first day. The Arabic teacher keep saying "boys are very rowdy", "1st is the worst", "boys are cry, cry, cry..." and they keep mentioning...behaviors....Well, 1st is the worst, is the one that sticks in my mind now.The Arabic teachers all shake their heads when someone mentions grade 1..All week, we tried determining who would get placed there and hoping that it wouldn't be us. Most, if not all, the first graders come to school not knowing a word of English. They also have not been to any form of school before. So you can about imagine....The principal and all the LT's had a quick 20 minute meeting on Wednesday to discuss previous teaching experience. All I said is I taught 5th grade for 3 years hoping this would get me a higher grade and kids that knew a few English phrases...Well, you probably guessed it...I have been placed in FIRST!!!! The principal called us in the office 20 minutes after the meeting. She said "Andrea, you have grade 1/1 and 1/2 (2 groups of first graders), God help you, Inshallah!" Now, that should tell you something! Ugh. I spent the entire day pretty stressed. Well, I guess I'm still pretty stressed. To make it better- the entire week we sat in the lobby from 8am-12:30am doing absolutely nothing. I usually don't complain about not working, but we were not allowed to do anything in our rooms. They said to wait until school starts! So, as you see in the below pictures, my room looks the same for the 1st day of school. We had a meeting with the entire staff today. The principal talked completely in Arabic and a couple of the English speaking Arabic teachers translated what they wanted to. My teacher accidentally left out the part where we will dismiss school at 11am the first week of school=) I found that out on the ride home! ha

My class sign...Look! My name in Arabic! 

 

Today is the end of our work week. We work Sunday-Thursday. We are going to start at 7:10a and the kids leave at 1:10 and the teachers leave at 2:30. I have 2 more days of freedom! I'm going to check out the city of Al Ain tomorrow with my new co-worker/friend. Will post pictures later!

Last but not least....I got in my first car accident today. I was leaving the mall in a taxi, 2 minutes down the road I feel my face plaster to the front seat and smoke filling the car. There was a 3 car pile up. My taxi driver just said, "Get out, Get out!" Then he very calmly went to shake the hands of the other drivers in the accident and asked if they were ok. The cops came in about 20 seconds. The whole situation was very calm. Everyone was quiet, calm and collective! The cop offered to take me to the hospital in case I was hurt and then let me sit in his air conditioned car as they all talked. They hitched me another taxi and I was on my way....The rest of the day was a blast. Out to supper with 3 friends and some sheesha for dessert!

My little excursion today!

In all the chaos...I love this place. I would not change a thing. Be calm, there is nothing you can do! Be stress-free, there is nothing you can do to change it! Be happy, there is no reason not to be! This is Abu Dhabi!!!