As I boarded the plane back to Abu Dhabi, my heart was filled with mixed emotions.....sad to say goodbye to family and friends but excited about year two. This year I would not be a "newbie" and knew what I was getting myself into :) It kind of felt like when you go off to college. You have two homes....college and your parent's home. In this case, I have a nice two bedroom apartment in Al Ain and a nice home in Vienna, Georgia. Strange to say, but they both feel like home.
In case I've never told you, I HATE FLYING. A fourteen hour flight is torture on your body. By the time the plane landed, my backside couldn't stand anymore sitting. Sleeping on a plane is very hard for me. Never seem to get any rest. End up watching movies and watching others sleep. Bummer!
I must admit that my body had acclimated to the cloudy, rainy, cool weather (compared to here) in Georgia. When leaving the airport terminal, my glasses fogged up. I smiled because this is my first memory landing last year. Luckily, I didn't find it as surprising. At 9:00 pm, its a warm 100+ and very humid. Dubai and Abu Dhabi seem to be more humid than Al Ain due to all the cars.
I landed in Dubai and a friend drove me to Al Ain, about 90 minute drive. When arriving at home, the apartment looked the same except for the layer of fine sand on everything. In case I haven't said it before, sand is everywhere and very hard to keep everything clean. When your water stays turned off for a while, murky, sandy water comes out of your shower heads and all sinks. After clearing the lines, I took my long awaited shower, left my suitcases where they landed and headed off to bed.
Jet lag is a no fun. There is an 8 hour difference between Georgia and Abu Dhabi. Night is day and day in night. There are nights when you can't go to sleep until 2:00 a.m. and you get hungry at the wrong times of day. The first night, I slept 12 hours and by day 3 I was feeling more like myself. After about a week, I finally slept and was hungry at the right times. Just in time for work!
At the end of the school year, I brought all my "teacher stuff" home and stored in my extra bedroom. Needless to say, it was wall to wall. I admit it....I don't travel light :) I live on the second floor and there is no lift/elevator. Mr. Ali, my building manager, helped me carry all the boxes to my rental car. (Yes, it took more than one trip to my school!)
As you might recall from the blog at the end of the year, I am "looping", or will be teaching my KG2 students in First grade. 12 boys/23 are my students from last year and 12 girls/26 are my students from last year. I will have two classrooms. One in the boys school and one in the girls school (Remember boys and girls only share classes in kindergarten here). Yep...two rooms to decorate and figure out the logistics of traveling between. While I'm on the girl's side, my Arabic counterpart will be on the boy's side. At lunch we will trade places.
Remember all those boxes I brought in my car...well, they are really going to come in handy. I still had lots of decorative items to make to put the "Christine" into the rooms. My Arabic counterpart, Rodina, and I will divide up wall space, bulletin boards, etc. I was very spoiled last year with having Hanaa as my Arabic counterpart. She speaks very good English and we were very close. Rodina and I will only see each other in passing and she speaks limited English. Since we share the same children, communication will be important. She seems very nice and looking forward to working with her.
I have worked my fingers to the bone this week between our meetings (yes, we have them here too!) and preparing for my babies. Thursday came way too soon. Finished decorating late today and everything is tidied and waiting for the babies on Sunday. Have to admit that I NEVER sleep the night before school. The anticipation keeps me awake. I LOVE being a teacher :)
As I prepare to begin my sophomore year, I feel more at ease than last year. The culture shock was huge for me. Now, I understand....well sort of. I look forward to the challenges I will face and learning more about myself and my babies. Pray for me! Will post pictures of first day. Until we meet again! :)
