On Sunday, I returned to my ENT for a 7 day checkup. He was pleased with my progress and changed my allergy medicine to something I take at night....makes me very sleepy. Have to go back in 3 months for a checkup. Went out to the desk to pay for my office visit and the attendant said, "7 Day Checkups are free.". I said, "NO WAY!" Obviously it was loud because everybody in the waiting area stopped talking and stared at me! OOPS! (I was the only American there) The attendant did say I could give him a tip if I wanted....and smiled at me and winked. I sat down quickly :) and waited on my appointment with an endocrinologist (thyroid).
As I looked around the waiting room, realized that I was the only woman in the entire room. This area is about as big as the waiting room at Crisp Regional and every chair is taken. There are many more men in this country than women and don't really think about it until I go shopping or to the hospital. There are herds of men that walk around together. After sitting there for about 5 minutes, I noticed directly behind me there was a ladies only waiting area, but it was full of ladies in abayas. 5 minutes later, I was seeing the endocrinologist and giving blood for my thyroid level checkup. He replenished all my prescriptions and scheduled a checkup in 3 months. His nurse will call if I need to change my thyroid medication. 30 dirhams ($8.25) for the visit and I'm on the way to fill my prescriptions.
Pharmacies are inside the hospital and can be filled there before going home. Upon entering the pharmacy, you take a number. In the UAE, every business that deals with the public usually has a machine that gives you numbers. Some people don't quite understand the process of waiting. Every time I am waiting my turn, there's always someone who comes up without a number trying to get service. Emirates (hometown people) are the worst and don't wait well (I said it nicely!). After a 30 minute wait, I saw a pharmacist and all prescriptions were filled. I trudged home at 7:45, ate leftovers, and went to bed...4:30 will come early.
Tuesday tested my children on the Baseline test and worked really hard on the Community Helpers unit, counting, and patterns/nonpatterns. On Wednesday, I had a surprise. 30 minutes before my children leave for the day....all teachers know that the last 30 minutes of the day are not prime teaching time. Well, my Head of Faculty came in for my first observation....I saw the "clipboard" and I knew it was my day. We were on the rug reviewing centers and introducing new ones for tomorrow. I haven't had a classroom observation for about 9 years.My heart was in my throat and beating wildly. I have no idea what I said or did during the time she was there. Auto-pilot came on and I went into teacher mode. She stayed until we lined up for the bus. When she left I looked at my Arabic counterpart, Hanaa and shrugged my shoulders. The good news is my children were fairly well behaved and enjoyed the activities. My procedures were in place and children knew what to do. I was positive and we used English and Arabic while she was in the room just like always. One of my students made a connection to our big/small lesson from earlier while HOF was in the room....yes! As a whole, think things went well for my first observation in a LONG time. Can't wait to see the feedback and see how to improve my teaching. I LOVE MY JOB and MY BABIES!!!!!
Thursday is holiday for us. Everything here is based upon the moon. There have been 12 lunar months, so there is a new year on the Islamic calendar. We still write 2012 like US and will change to 2013 in January. Regardless, I'm happy for a long weekend. Chilling at home and catching up on some of my favorite shows.
Next week is Thanksgiving and all the EMT's here are thinking of their families back home. I've Skyped my family more this week than normal and am planning on Skyping around lunchtime on Thanksgiving. Several of the EMT's are getting together on Friday for our own Thanksgiving celebration (we work on Thursday). Everyone is bringing a dish....broccoli casserole and homemade mac and cheese from me. It will be fun! Having friends here helps pass the time and make missing family a little easier. Nice to know there's someone to talk to when you need an ear. God has blessed me with some great friends here that help take care of me and I watch out for them. Hope all my friends back home have a great Thanksgiving with your family and enjoy those after Thanksgiving sales!!!!!! Until we meet again!
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