To-Do List

Now that I've been in Abu Dhabi for a whole month (WOW!), I feel like I can begin to make my to-do list for things I want to do and see while here!

Let's start with the most important thing on my list at the moment - traveling. One of the reasons I came to the Middle East to work was so that I could have the opportunity to travel. There are so many places I want to go that I'm hoping I will be able to do it all! Here are my "Top 5" travel destinations...

1. Thailand
2. Australia
3. Italy
4. Greece
5. Maldives (round trip plane tickets are under $500! Spring break?!)

Another big thing on my to-do list is to go to Dubai! I think a trip to Dubai will be happening very soon :) I can't wait to post pictures and write about it! One of the sayings here is "Dubai has the flash, but Abu Dhabi has the cash". I'm ready to see some flash!

In Abu Dhabi, there are a few things I want to do and see but I need it to get a little cooler first! It's still getting to around 105 degrees every day so hopefully in October it will be more pleasant outside. 

• Desert Camping - I was planning to go with my dad in October but he has postponed his trip until Spring so my visitors can be more spread out. Hopefully I'll still be able to go desert camping very soon! Some of the activities on a desert safari or camp trip are dune bashing, camel rides, henna, and eating lots of yummy Arabic food!
• Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - I think a picture will sum up why I want to go here. It is so big and beautiful. 

• the Corniche - similar to a boardwalk... it is a beautiful path around the water and beaches. You can see it winding and curving around the water in the picture below. I think it will be a wonderful place to walk!

In other news... I have tickets to the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November!!! I will be going to three days of races and 4 nights of concerts. The practice races are on Friday and Saturday and then the qualifying race is Saturday night. The big race will be Sunday night!! I can't wait! AND Jay-Z is one of the concert performers I get to see! I'm so excited for this event!! 

I'll update on school in an upcoming post! 

Love,

RLD

Getting in the swing of things

Abu Dhabi is definitely starting to feel like home. It really is a great place to live and I feel more and more settled each day.

Last weekend, I got the chance to go to the exhibition center to experience the Abu Dhabi Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition with two other teacher friends. It was not what I was expecting at all! We were hoping to make it in time to see the camel show (I want to see a camel SO bad!!!) but we just barely missed it due to a long dinner and a long taxi ride. One thing I've learned from being here is to budget way more time than I think I need. I'm an early person in general and normally get everywhere 10 minutes early but here I need to plan to be places almost 30 minutes early! Dining can take a long time and you never know what kind of taxi ride you are in for!

At the exhibition, it was mainly local Emirati men and very few women or expats. We were expecting it to be all hunting and equestrian exhibitions but there was so much more! There were many falcon sales (some falcon's were selling for up to 45,000 AED, which is about $12,000)! There were also exhibits where you could buy traditional garments and other items, like baskets and local crafts. A huge weaponry section took up a large section of the exhibition hall where there were rifles, shotguns, and many, many other types of weapons. There were also boats, cars, RVs, and much more. Overall, it was a great experience and I'm so glad I was able to go! Next year, I want to see the camel show and auction!!

In other news, I am done with week one of school! I survived!!!!! It was a great week but I have definitely realized that this year will be much different than teaching 2nd grade in the US. Since our school is on an international curriculum (Common Core and international assessments), it is a very rigorous curriculum. All of my students are Emirati, meaning they are all ELLs (English Language Learners). This poses a challenge when we are supposed to be teaching them a challenging 2nd grade curriculum, but I know they will succeed! The students are so sweet and seem to love school, which is always good :) One very different thing about teaching at this school is that the children, K-12, all call their teachers and administrators by their first names. So, this year I am Miss Rachel! Here is a picture from the school's Instagram account of my on my first day:

The only pictures that are allowed of the kids are ones that administration takes to put on the Instagram so feel free to follow @szpag to see the adorable kids!

I know this will be a challenging but great year for me, not only as a teacher but also as an expat in a country half way across the world. 

Check back soon for my list of things I'm looking forward to doing and seeing this year :)

Love,

RLD

The Life of a Teacher

I've almost been in the UAE two weeks and I'm still loving it! I've adjusted to the heat (well, as much as anyone could), I've met awesome teacher friends, and I've had the chance to explore more of the city. We are on our second week of teacher workdays and the returning teachers are back so it has been a crazy and hectic week! 

Our work week in Abu Dhabi is from Sunday to Thursday, which is something I don't know if I'll ever get used to. Sunday is probably my favorite day of the week but here it just isn't the same because it's like a Monday! I'll have to get used to relaxing on Saturdays and treating them like the Sunday I'm accustomed to back home. The nice thing is that today, Tuesday, is my hump day! 

This week at school has been packed full of meetings. Staff meetings, Elementary meetings, GEMS meetings, PLC meetings, and on top of it all... our first day of school is SUNDAY! I'm freaking out a little. Earlier in the week, I felt extremely overwhelmed because I felt so unprepared to have 25 7-year olds walk into my room in a few days. Luckily, I was able to find a teacher supply store here in Abu Dhabi where I was able to buy some of the supplies and classroom decorations that I'm used to. Now, the room is starting to look more like a place where children can learn and have fun. Once the classroom is set up (hopefully by Thursday since the new students have their orientation!), I'll post the before/after pictures. 

On another note... let me tell you a little more about what I've been up to the past week. 

• Shopping. The malls are huge and extravagant and nothing like malls in the US. The one that we go to a lot (because it is fairly close to our apartment) is Al Wahda Mall. It has hundreds of shops, restaurants, and a cinema in it. While this mall doesn't have an ice rink or a kid's roller coaster like the Marina Mall, I think it has the best shops in it. There are a few other malls in Abu Dhabi as well but I haven't had a chance to explore those yet. There is also an IKEA, which the teachers visited last week to work on decorating our apartments.
• Medical exams, Emirates IDs, and First Aid/CPR class. These were all things required by the school to obtain our residency visas. While the process was fairly painless (aside from the part that literally did cause pain - the blood draw), it was very time consuming. Luckily, the school was great and provided us time and transportation to complete these items during the work day. They also prepared all of our documents so all we had to do was show up and follow directions. Simple enough! 
• Dinner and drinks. We have found some great places to eat. We have also found great places to get drinks, which is a little more difficult in the UAE. There are pubs/restaurants at the hotels that serve alcohol so we have tried a few out. Last night, we went out for one of the girl's birthday to a place called Trader Vic's. It was a delicious Polynesian-style restaurant. We all had a great time chatting and eating dinner together! We have also found places with "ladies night" specials where ladies can drink wine and cocktails for free. It has been a great time going out with the girls!
• Taxis. Honestly, I'm getting a little tired of taking taxis everywhere. However, I would be scared to death driving on these roads with these drivers so I probably just need to suck it up and keep getting taxis. The only problem (besides the fact that it costs money every time and sometimes they are crazy drivers) is that there are not frequent taxis to our island. Since it is so new (started being developed in 2010), taxis don't come out here often so we always have to call the taxi service. Then, it is really complicated to explain how to get to our building, especially if the driver hasn't been on Reem Island that much. We are hoping that the drivers are starting to get more familiar with our location so it will be easier in the future. 

I'm sure there is so much more I could talk about but I need to get to bed! I'm finally over the jet lag but waking up at 5:30 every morning is hard to get used to! I'll leave you with another picture of my tower... I love it.

Love, 

RLD