The Twilight Zone

 My weekend was consumed with working on my teacher portfolio.  In the UAE, there are three parts to you yearly evaluation as a teacher.  Two formal evaluations and a teacher portfolio.  You have to keep evidence from the year to prove you've met the necessary standards in the area of professionalism, curriculum,  classroom, and community.  If there isn't evidence, it didn't happen.  Throughout the year, I took thousands of pictures of activities, field trips, parent visits, professional development meetings, collaborative planning meetings, and just about anything that would stand still.  There were many moments that went undocumented because I was too busy teaching.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Our First Day

We made kites for K.  Hamad wanted me to write the English word for his pictures :)

Lion for L.  They cut the circles out themselves.  Nader was proud of his.  

Things that come from a Farm

We learned to sort with Skittles and M & M's and they learned to make bar graphs. 

On Monday, I went in for a meeting with the Head of Faculty and Vice Principal to discuss my portfolio.  I'm an overachiever, so my notebook was huge.  Even though I was never a Girl Scout, I'm always prepared :)  The meeting went very well and left the room with a spring in my step :)

My Portfolio

 This week we are studying about one of my favorite topics...plants.  Sunday, we started several experiments to prove that plants need water, light, and soil to live. On Monday, we planted lima bean seeds in clear plastic cups so the children could see the roots when they start to grow.  They'd never seen large lima beans (butter beans).  Most people here eat small dry lima beans.  I bought the biggest ones I could find so they could see the baby plant inside.  On Tuesday, we pulled apart lima beans that had soaked overnight and found the seed covering, baby plant, and "food".   On Wednesday, we were supposed to talk about seeds that we eat, but something interesting happened....

What started out as a pretty "normal" week has ended very strangely. The weather has been really weird this week.  The skies are dark, cloudy, and ominous looking.  It has rained some every day this week and the temperature is cool compared to last week. The amount of rain here has surprised me.  On Tuesday night, I was awakened to thundering and rain hitting my window @ 1 am.  Something that happens very rarely.  When going out to wait on the bus on next morning, the pavement was wet and there were puddles.  Again, something you don't see here very much.  Usually a rain is a few sprinkles and it's over.  As we drove out in the desert toward Al Wagan, began to notice that the sides of the road had large puddles.

There are no "ditches" here and no drainage systems.  Water has nowhere to go.  You would think its so dry that it would soak in, but it puddles.  As we drove into the town of Al Wagan, which is about the size of Unadilla, there were larger puddles.  Thatch fences which line the road close to my school were blown over.  These fences are in sand, but took some wind to blow it over.  The road to the school was filled with large puddles on each side.

People here are not used to rain and act like Georgians do when it snows.  We don't know how to drive in it.  When there's bad weather, the students will stay home.  As we entered the school, the cleaners (custodians) were mopping furiously.  There were "Wet Floor" signs down the KG hall.  Around every corner, there were puddles of water in the halls.  As I entered my classroom, the door to my back porch was open and there was a half inch of water from the door all the way to my Art Center (quite a distance).  One spot on the ceiling was wet and had leaked on the floor and there was a puddle under an air conditioning vent.  Some of our materials were ruined due to water blowing in when the back door slung open.

I went to get a cleaner, but soon found that I wasn't the only flooded room.  In varying degrees, there was water in every KG room.  Ms Lynette had wet ceiling tiles all over her floor and her entire rug was soaked.  The children would not be able to stay in this room for today.  Ms. Whitney had leakage in some of the same areas a me and her rug was soaked.  This school is only two years old, but roofs here are all flat and not really intended to withstand much water.  According to those that have been here for years, this weather is very strange for this time of the year. 

When looking outside the window, this is what I saw:

These are large covers over our outdoor areas which shield us from the heat.  This is before the storm. 

This is after the storm.  Several were blown down.  Must've been some strong wind in the storm.  

Ms. Hiba Mohammed, one of my friends from work, showed me a picture of "hail" that was in Al Wagan last night.  She blew me away.  I had no idea that there was hail in the desert.  It was the size of ice cubes.  I will post picture later. 

I went back to my room and out on the back porch.  My lima beans were in the cups outside.  Had no idea there would be a storm to come along.  Well, let's just say that my clear solo cups were filled to the top with water and think we are going to have to replant.  There was trash and art projects that were taped to my door all over the back porch.  The wind had clearly thrown the door open.

This is the covering over my back porch.  If you look closely can see the water pooling and seeping through the bottom. 

Roof damage caused by the storm at left corner. 

The engineer, which is the person responsible for all maintenance to the building, came in to inspect all the rooms and made a list of repairs.  The courtyard, where we meet our students each morning, is littered with plant parts and is very wet.  Students came and we muddled through until our regular dismissal time.  I only had 7 to come today.  Everyone stayed home and I bet their homes had water damage too because they have the same type of roof.

The children were fascinated with rain like I am with snow.  First flake and I want to run outside and try to catch a snowflake.  The children wanted to go outside and play in the rain and feel it on their faces. We walked across the courtyard on our way back from the auditorium and there was a soft rain falling. I couldn't help but smile as I watched their faces.  Big smiles and sheer joy!  

Tomorrow is Thursday, the last day of our school week.  Very interested to see if students come back tomorrow.  Cloudy and chance of rain over the next few days.  Should be very interesting.  Until we meet again!  :)  

Spring Break, Getting Back into a Routine, and It's Hot, Hot, Hot!!!!!

It has been several weeks since my last blog and a lot has happened.  At the end of March, the children in the UAE (Grade 3 and above) take a standardized test named EMSA (Educational Measurement of Student Achievement).  Students are given multiple choice and open ended questions in the subject areas of Arabic, English, Math, and Science.  Arabic is given in all Arabic.  English is given in all English.  Math and Science are given in Arabic and English. Teachers don't give the test to their own students, so the KG teachers have to act as readers for the test.

 On Sunday, there is only an Arabic teacher in the room.  On Monday, there is only an English teacher in the room.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, there is an Arabic and English teacher in the room with the English teacher reading the directions.  Directions are pretty much the same as in 3rd and above in America except....the test booklet has dual pages.  On the right questions 1-5 are written in English and on the opposite page questions 1-5 are written in Arabic.  The student may answer the question in either English or Arabic, but not both.  The booklet blew my mind.  I read zero Arabic and just seeing that much of the language on a page was overwhelming (remember I teach KG2-5 year olds.  I've only seen her teaching letters and beginning blending).

Students have to bring their own pencils, erasers, and scratch paper.  Anyone who knows me, knows I am over prepared and brought pencils, erasers, and scratch paper daily.  I was surprised that they did bring materials, but no one had scratch paper on the Math day. (These young ladies were so sweet and they loved my Southern accent.  Their teacher is from Colorado, so hearing my accent was very different for them)

I found the test to be hard and the questions were higher order.  The open ended questions had 2 and 3 parts to lots of questions and students actually wrote the answers in the book.  The booklets had their name digitally written in with their ID numbers....most impressed.  No bubbling!  I must say....for all those teachers who have sat through my PD on the CRCT, I want you to know that I tried to make it as painless as possible. My administrators here were straightforward and to the point.  I really appreciated that.  Only signed one paper and was given my freedom!

On Thursday afternoon, I began my Spring Break.   Two whole weeks of freeeeeeedom!  Never had that long of a break in the Spring.  Learned the art of sleeping in (getting up at 4:30 every morning had really tired me out) and going for a morning walk before it got too hot.  Went to the Rotana Hotel and vegged by the pool for several days.  Had a pedicure and facial and just watched a lot of movies and RELAXED.

Then came the sandstorm.  If you've ever seen Mission Impossible:  Ghost Protocol, the sandstorm in this movie is a really bad one.  This particular sandstorm was on a much smaller scale.  Imagine going outside when it's raining, but it's sand.  It gets in your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and on anything that will stand still.  It's like standing inside a sand blaster.  If you're an allergy sufferer, stay indoors.  Unfortunately, I needed milk, water, and sandwich materials, so I braved it.  The streets were fairly empty and driving was easy because just a few people out.  When I walked in the grocery store, the wind and sand blew inside the grocery store like a small storm. Bought my groceries and drove home slowly.  Later than night, I went to sleep around 11 and was awakened by the sound of thunder and heavy rain hitting my window (something I've never heard here).  Scared me for a moment.  Thought I was dreaming.  Went to the window and checked for myself.  Yep, it was rain!

The sand storm continued again the next day and I stayed inside all day.  Rested, watched movies, and did a little cleaning.  Sand gets on everything here.  I am lucky because my windows are on the interior of the building, so no sand was blowing in from the storm.  Just can hear the wind howling sometimes. Rested really well. 

Was feeling pretty good until I woke up on the following Friday morning and the water in my bathroom had no pressure.  Could barely get the soap out of my hair.  I called our building manager, Mr. Ali, and asked if he could come and check my water.  He speaks broken English and I speak broken Arabic, so we were having trouble understanding each other.  Talking on the phone is the hardest to understand him.  Usually I can pantomime or he can and communication occurs :) 

In a couple of minutes, he knocks on my door and tells me that the owner of our apartment building has cut power to the hallways and the water because many of the occupants of the building have not paid their power and water bills.  I looked at him like....REALLY????    When we moved into this building, received a letter about transferring power into your name.  You must pay a 1000 dirhams deposit (about $275) and pay all power bills since moving in.  The owner will not turn on the power again until the 5000 dirhams owed by the tenants of this building is paid for.  As a person who owes 0 dirhams, the owner cutting the power to the hallways and water supply really ticked me off.  There are maybe 4 apartments with people here and everyone else is in an exotic location enjoying their vacation. It will be over a week before they return for work.  On Friday and Saturday, the ADEC housing office is closed, so I'm stuck until then.

The hallways are dark and I live on the second floor.  I'm the only one upstairs.  So, I tried to make the most of the situation.  Went to the store and bought tea light candles so I could put outside my door and on the stairwell, so I could see any bad guys coming :)  Learned to live with less water washing my hair....very hard.  On Saturday, Mr. Ali came back to my door and said that we only have one to two more days of water in the water tank.  I thought, OMG, is this a third world country????? Decided then and there that I would be at the housing office the minute it opened tomorrow morning (Business days are Sun-Thurs here and people in the County Office don't get Spring Break!)

Spoke with a very nice gentleman who asked to see my receipt of payment with the stamps....yes, everything here has to be ink stamped by someone, usually two or three. (Remember the car accident story :) )  I was ready for him with my stack of stamped papers and he asked who the owner of the building was.  Showed him the letter from the first of the year and he promptly rang up the owner and told him something in angry Arabic (I imagine it was something like.  This is the desert.  You can't leave people without water!).  The gentleman told me that the owner said in 1 hour you will have water.  He didn't say anything about the power.  When I drove back to the building, Mr. Ali met me outside.  He said the power company was on the way to turn on the water tank long enough to fill it up.  We will not run out of water, but there will be no water pressure and the hallways will be dark.  So glad I bought the 100 tea light candles :)

My neighbor returned from her trip the following day, so I wasn't alone upstairs anymore.  I washed clothes and bought paper plates, plastic silverware, and plastic cups so wouldn't have to wash dishes.  On Thursday morning when I woke, there were lights in the hallway and the power had been restored to the water tank.  I WASHED MY HAIR 3 times :)  Some of those who owed money had paid their bills. 

The final days of Spring Break flew by and soon Sunday was upon me.  I was excited to see my children and hear about their great adventures and see Mrs. Hanna.  Everyone was excited to see each other on the bus and chatted about activities over the holidays.  Many people don't come back until Friday or Saturday and go to work on Sunday.  Jet lag hits you hard and just don't feel like yourself for a few days.  Just getting up at 4:30 almost killed me on Sunday.  I'd been sleeping until 8 or 9 every morning and going to bed at 10, 11.

I loved seeing my English and Arabic teacher friends again.  Everyone was all smiles, hugging each other, giving Arabic kisses (two kisses near each cheek), and recounting the events of our holidays.  I chose not to share my events :)  Just said rested a lot!

 The children were just as jet lagged as the teachers.  Obviously they'd stayed up late and slept late.  The first day back after a holiday, the children look at me like I'm an alien from Mars when I speak to them.  They haven't heard English in about 3 weeks and I have a Southern draw to boot.  :)  We sang our morning songs and went through our day with ease.  Just before it was time to leave, we started to gather our things and I looked at Mrs. Hanaa.  We both were so tired and the children looked like they needed a nap.  I told everyone to get some rest, because tomorrow we have lots of work to do.  I said that's for Mrs. Christine and Mrs. Hanna too!

As the week rolled along, the 4:30 wake up call was a little easier....not that I like it any, but easier.  By Wednesday, I was feeling like my old self.  We learned about living and nonliving things and studied the letter "J".  We worked with lots of jellybean graphing and jellybean activities this week.  The children had a good time.  I was surprised they'd never tasted them.  Only 1 didn't like jellybeans.

On Thursday, we celebrated International Day.  Students came dressed in traditional clothing and some teachers wore clothing from their countries.  When coming here, I was told not to bring things with the American flag or anything to publicize that I was an American. I am always respectful and dress appropriately when going out.  Since the only American thing I have is blue jeans, decided to wear a "kandora" for women today. 

Went to a tailor and had this made.  He made all the embellishments on the sleeves and around the bottom by hand. This kandora is made of silk so it is very cool even though sleeves are long and goes all the way to the floor.  When I go to work, must be covered from my ankles to 3/4 sleeve or wrists. 

The children wore these clothes today.  

Here we are ready for our parade.

The children on the front row are holding a jar for perfumes, a gold incense burner, a large wicker plate with cone cover and a fan made from wicker. The large wicker plate is used to keep food off of the sand the the cone cover keeps insects out. These are reminders of their past.  Being true to the culture is very important here. 

As you can imagine, the children were all excited and we all needed a nap by the end of this day. 

Only a few more weeks of school here and the temperature is rising. Temps are 100+ now and the heat really zaps your energy.  Staying hydrated and out of the heat are very important.  I drink over 64 oz of water a day and still feel thirsty sometimes.  I'm going to beat the heat and stay in most of this weekend, but have a very important birthday party tomorrow.  My friend, Ethan, turned one day and want  to send a shout out to the cutest dude ever!  

Am really enjoying my time here, but miss my friends and family dearly.  Think of you often with love!  Until we meet again! :)