Long Weekend

I am at the end of a four day weekend, and ready to back to school for the last two weeks of term one. Mark and I decided it would be nice to see a bit more of the country, so we got in the car and headed north. We followed the map, and drove for about two hours, until we got to a place on the map called the "Friday Market". We stopped here because it looked quite interesting. We had been looking for a floor rug, and the Friday Market had floor rugs by the thousands. We inspected a few, before settling on an Iranian silk rug, 2 metres by 3 metres in size. It is quite traditional, and very beautiful. It looks lovely in the lounge room. I paid AUD 166, so was pretty happy. I talked the vendor down a hundred dirhams, and off we went.
We drove on to the seaside resort town of Dibba, but didn't like the look of it too much, so kept driving along the coast until we got to the Fujairah Rotana hotel, where we stopped for lunch. What a beach-side paradise. The restaurant was right on the beach, and there were lots of tourists sunbathing and swimming. We took a different road back, over the Hajar mountains, and through a spectacular tunnel cut through the mountains.
Today I had a phone call from my lovely librarian. She had been waiting to have her baby, it was due any day. Finally the baby had arrived, a beautiful baby boy she called Mohammed. Mark and I visited her and her husband in the hospital, we were fed so much that we didn't eat for the rest of the day. Mother and baby are both beautiful and well.

Signs around my school

My school is full of bizarre signs that have been translated by the social worker who doesn't really speak good English. This one had us in stitches for a few days. She has since asked me to help her with the translation of signs, which I happily do, although it does mean we don't have as much to laugh at.

Driver's Licence

I have finally received my residence visa, and applied for my Emirates ID card, so it was time to get my UAE driver's licence. Firstly, I had to get my Queensland licence translated. I knew where I thought I had to go to get it translated, but of course was in the wrong place, and finally found the building I needed. Mark came with me, and we entered the building only to find it was a supermarket, with a small department store downstairs. We asked for help, explaining that we were looking for the translator, and were directed to the back of the building. We entered a really smelly lift, and found the translator sitting at his desk. He looked to be about 85  years old, and took my Queensland licence and said "That's too small for me to see, you'll have to get it made bigger." He directed us to where the copying shops are, so off we trudged. We got my licence copied, and Mark's too while we were at it. We made our way back, going past a pet shop that had rabbits, chickens and parrots for sale. One of the parrots had a beak that was so long it had curled around. I wanted to buy it to get its beak clipped, but we are not allowed pets in the flat. The old man translated our licences, then directed us to go to the fifth building down the road to get the translation typed up. We went to the fifth building and couldn't find anyone who looked like a typist, so we went to the fifth door, but no typist. We made our way back to the old man who this time told us the name of the building we were meant to go to...of course it was the sixth building, why didn't I guess that? We had the typing done, then went back to the old man to get him to sign the typed version, and to pay him the 140 dirhams to do all this work. Three hours later, we made our way home, only to find that the typist had put the wrong date of birth on my translation. My god! Mark offered to return the following day while I was at work, then after work we drove to the other side of town, where the traffic section is, and I paid 200 dirhams and got my licence. At least the woman there let me see if I was happy with the photo she took. I didn't really care by that stage, and just took the licence and went home. No driving test, no eyesight test, just pay the money and you're done. But what a rigmarole!

Getting to know Al Ain

I've been here just over two months, and am living through my second bout of head cold. It feels good to just stand in the sun to dry out. The weather is still warm, but very pleasant first thing in the morning. Mum and Dad called in for a weekend on their way to London, we took the opportunity to be tourists in Al Ain while they were here. We took them to Jebel Hafeet, the mountain we can see from the lounge room window. It is about 1200m, with a Mercure Hotel part way up. From the hotel you get fantastic views of the oasis (when it is clear, a lot of the time it is dusty because of the sand). We took them to the palace museum, which is a large compound/house where the sheik used to live, and is now preserved for all to wander through. We took them shopping to see the amazing range of goods we have available for pretty cheap prices, and we took them to the Golf Club for lunch. The best thing though, was actually driving through the Oasis itself. We got to the gate, where a sign reads that you can only come in if you are a farmer or a tourist. Not for locals!! With our Australian accents, we easily passed as tourists, and headed on in. From the outside, the Oasis is fenced, and all you can see are the tops of the trees. From the inside, you see a warren of narrow roads, with meandering turns, so you don't know which way you are going. There are irrigation channels, as under all the date palms is where local farmers grow the fruit and vegetables that are sold very cheaply in the local supermarkets. We eventually found the exit gate, and were amazed at how large the Oasis is. There are a few more oases around the town, but not as big as this main one. Their visit was over too quickly, and now we just talk to them on Skype while they are visiting my sister. Mark and I will be heading off to London on December 17, for Christmas.

School

School has started at last. Hajer is a girls' school, with an all female staff. The girls wear long green dresses that touch the ground, the little ones cry, and the bigger ones gossip and laugh. They all have mini suitcases to carry their books, and rush into the school ground like they are rushing for a plane.
My job is going to be busy and interesting. I am working with the American grade 2 teachers and the Emirati English teachers. I will, of course, also be delivering ESOL classes to the Emirati teachers who do not yet have a high enough IELTS score. There are only five teachers in this position, but I'll have to find time for them to have five hours of lessons a week.
Mark has arrived, and we have bought essentials like a TV. It is good to have him here, he has been cooking and cleaning, while he looks for a job.
I am very sorry to be out of Australia for the Grand Final, of all years. I hope I am able to see it on a TV somewhere, maybe at one of the hotels. If not, I will be using the computer to listen to the internet radio.
I've become a lot more confident with my driving, I was so nervous to start with, but now that I am more easily finding my way around, I am learning how to avoid the bad driving of the locals. Some of the worst drivers in the world live in this country!
Well, it's been a month today, and I'm still here. I think it will be ok.

Waiting.

I've been here two weeks now and am anxiously waiting for Mark to arrive. Days have been spent at the Rotana Hotel learning about what to expect in our schools, and the afternoons have been spent looking around the city and shopping for provisions. I have read three novels, and listened to so much music. I don't have a TV, so I've been visiting the apartment of one of my colleagues and now friend's to watch a bit of TV. Last night we were invited to a party by the Americans who live in the building next door. The party was in a villa on the edge of the city. Mostly the Americans work at the local airport, they are training the local people to work on aircraft. One of the men is leaving soon to go to Afghanistan where he will work on computers to deploy search balloons, and be paid very handsomely for his trouble.
I still do not have my own internet access, everything is taking such a long time to organise. I also need to open a bank account, but need to have a letter from my employer to be able to do this. Little frustrations that make life difficult. I am looking forward to going up to Jebeel Hafeet, the local mountain. At night the road is lit up and looks very beautiful. When I have my own internet access I will load some photos.
Bye for now.

Arrived!

I'm in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, in a city called Al Ain, about 160km from Abu Dhabi city. I'm in an apartment block, which is exclusively for staff of the company. We are all based in schools throughout the city. Mine is a girl's primary school, about 10 minutes drive away from the apartment.
School starts on September 15, and it looks like I will have to get used to the fact that I'm not in an Australian school! Children go home at 1:30, and are in class for a maximum of 165 days a year, but I've been warned it is actually much less than this, but not to stress!
The apartment is good, porcelain tile floors, very high ceilings. Practically no storage though, but we'll not worry about that. The washing machine is in the kitchen, the balcony is tiny, but adequate for drying clothes. I put my washing out overnight to dry and it was all dry by the morning.
Outside the building are lots of Indian men who work on the construction sites that are around, they just look at the women as we walk past, but don't talk, and are quite safe. They just sit on the steps of the building, a bit like strays. Many of them sleep in the open air, on the roof of the building next door. I can see them from my window on the third floor.
I have visited two malls, the Al Ain Mall, and Bawadi Mall. Bawadi is amazing, full of shops I know from the UK, as well as a huge Carrefore which sells anything you could want. I'll wait until Mark arrives to get a tv, only another two weeks away.
I don't have a lot of internet access yet, and will not have full access until I get my residency visa, and that might be a couple of months away, so I'll write more when I can.

Tickets are here!

Finally I have my plane tickets, leaving on the 20th August. I will be living in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi's second main city, and the birthplace of Sheik Zayed, so a very important place for the Emirati people. It is an oasis, and a lovely place to live. There will be lots for me to photograph when I'm there.

Getting ready to go.

So much to do. I'm off to Abu Dhabi in less than two weeks and there is still packing to be done, and the house to leave nicely vacant. I'm going to write about my time in Abu Dhabi, I hope to be there for two years, and want to let all my friends and family experience it with me. 

Will be posting regular updates, see you in two weeks!

Cheers,

Michelle