Week 2:
Steve's comments are in italics.
Week 2 has been busier.
The week started with an overview orientation and was followed with
medicals on Monday. We have bank
accounts, telephone numbers, school placements, and requests for an
apartment. Steve will be teaching Cycle
3 English (grades 10-12) at Al Ittihad School in the Al Banteen Area of Abu
Dhabi (The oldest school here and the
only exclusively Emirate public school.
Sort of like all-boys Central High—you
get the picture). I will be teaching
Cycle 2 grade 6 science and ??? at Al Lulu (a bit of a change, but flexibility
is a must over here). Our schools are on
extreme sides of Abu Dhabi so a car is a needed quantity. We have put in a request to live on Al Reem
Island, which is downtown and beautiful.
We would have beachfront property with a pool, a gym, and covered
parking. My commute will be
approximately 30-45 minutes. On
Saturday, we rented a car and did trial runs to locate both schools and the
possible new apartment. Abu Dhabi does
not currently use address numbers to identify buildings, schools, or homes; addresses are on the docket to arrive with the
Guggenheim in 2015. Instead, we use
GPS coordinates and landmarks to locate places.
Garmin is a good friend in the car!
Alison did well driving. People here use the horn more frequently than
turn-signals. It is not uncommon to have
someone cut you off and then continue over two more lanes to exit. One definitely needs to pay attention. The radio remained off.
The rest of the week was filled with school operation
orientation and professional development.
The school operation orientation was held at the Sorbonne University
Auditorium. It was very informative. The professional development centered on the
ADEC twist of gradual release, inquiry, and an introduction to the
curriculum. Because our medical reports
are not back, we will have 2 more days of professional development and
hopefully be in school on Tuesday! (Insha’Allah). Though
school starts Sunday officially, students wander in piecemeal.
We started at school on Tuesday. There was a little confusion for both Steve and me as to what we would be doing at each of our schools. At the end of the day, things sorted
themselves out – I had a classroom and a basic schedule. Steve was told he would be teaching grades 10
and 11 and would begin with his students on Sunday. After 2 days in school, I can say I love my
girls. This year will be a challenge to
find appropriate materials for them, but they are eager.
Tourist Update:
The exhibition center hosted an outdoor living exhibit with
falcons and horses! Steve and I attended on Friday afternoon and Saturday
evening. Friday we explored the exhibits
on camping, hunting, and traditional desert dwellings and lifestyle. It was very interesting to see the old ways
along side of the new. They had
traditional tents and then modern RV’s. They
had several displays of real falcons. At
one location, they allowed us to each hold the falcon. What an experience! While
holding the falcon, the trainer kept urging me to hold the bird closer. Go figure.
That beak looks much bigger up close. Saturday evening we went back to the arena
area to watch the showcasing of working dogs, horses, camels, and predator
birds. Each show was interesting, but my
favorite was the horses and amazing display of horsemanship. I
preferred the camels.
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| Camel racing |
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| Alison holding a falcon |
Friday evening, we went on a desert safari, which consisted
of dune-bashing, camel-riding, sand-boarding, henna, dress-up, “hubbly-bubbly,”
dinner, and a belly-dancing performance.
Our driver was very skilled. The
drive was better then any rollercoaster ride. Steve tried the sand boarding and
the hubbly-bubbly pipe, which had a
licorice aftertaste. I stuck to
henna. Dinner was yummy traditional fare
with kebobs followed by a fabulous Kim
Khardashian-like belly dancer.
Definitely a worthwhile experience that I would recommend to all.
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| Riding over dunes in a Land Cruiser |
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| Camel riding is not really comfortable |
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| Steve in front seat ready to dune bash |
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| Steve tried sand boarding |
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| Going Native |
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| Enough said... |
