Things I have learned about Dubai in 3 short weeks

I have learned a lot about life in my school in three short weeks.  The first thing I have learned is that they say "Inshalla" A LOT!  In Arabic, this means God willing.  So, for example, when I ask about my paperwork going in for my residency, they say "I will do it Sunday, Inshalla".  Never happens.  A week later my paperwork still has not gone in.  When I ask about moving in to the apartment, they say "On Sunday, Inshalla".  Then "Thursday, Inshalla".  Then "Oh, Sunday Inshalla".  Still hasn't happened.  When I ask about getting paid, getting a bank account, getting the medical testing done, all these big things, it is always Inshalla.  It has become a word that carries a negative connotation to it.  I am still waiting for all of the above.  I have been greatly disappointed with how this system works and the lack of communication.  Every day I have to go to HR to ask about something and can never get the straight answers I want.  I am hoping this week that some good things will happen.  There always seems to be some reason whey things aren't happening.  I don't want to complain or be negative about these things but it is hard to stay positive all the time.  I have my seat belt on and am trying to enjoy the ride without getting off. 

The second thing I learned is about the people.  Most people here are so friendly and easy to talk to.  They are so curios about where I live and what I think of Dubai.  They are also very giving people.  But, there are also very rude or inconsiderate people.  While I was at the pool this I week there was a lady who stole on of our pool chairs.  There was clearly our things on the chair and we were standing right there.  She had the audacity to move the things off the chair and put her things down.  Then, when confronted about it, she acted like it was no big deal, closed her eyes and began to get her tan on.  She refused to move.  I know that this was not a local person, but I still can't believe the nerve of some people.

The third thing I learned is that people here love their money and love to show off how much they have.  On Friday night, we were at JBR and enjoying a coffee at Tim's (Oh, yeah!!!).  We were sitting outside and watching a parade of cars drive by, over and over.  I have never seen so many Lamborghini's, Mercedes, Audis, BMW's, Ferrari's, Hummer's etc in one place.  It was absolutely astounding.

A Mercedes Maclaren (starting price is $450,000US)

A beautiful Lam

  The last thing I will share with you that I learned has to do with this:

This is my toilet/sprayer in my bathroom.  Virtually every bathroom I have seen in Dubai has a sprayer.  There are also two flush options above the toilet.  One does a full flush and the other does a "water change".  I learned that if you want something to disappear you use the bigger button.  Muslim people are very clean people so they use the sprayer to keep themselves clean.  No need for toilet paper here.  I have officially learned the sprayer technique.  The first few attempts were an utter disaster with water everywhere.  I could not figure out with bathroom floors were always wet everywhere I went.  So, if you ever visit a Muslim country, I will leave you with this information so you will not go through the embarrassment that I did.
Step 1: Do what you need to do
Step 2: To use the sprayer, make sure that you sit far back on the seat and that there are no spaces for water to go.  Use your cheeks as a barrier.
Step 3: Spray away (but not too close).

I have fallen in love with this tool.  I will have to install one in my home one day.  That is all for now.  Until next time...

Week #2

This week was very busy.  I am thankful for that because it keeps my mind off thinking about Evan and Paul all the time.  Again, I can't wait for them to get here.  Please pray that they will be able to get a visit visa soon so they can come in two weeks before Evan turns two (so we don't have to pay for a ticket for him). 

My classes are getting better each day.  My KG2 class is a dream.  They are so good (except for one students who loves to kick and hit me).   One of my students calls me Ms. Wolf because I taught them the game "What Time is it Mr. Wolf?" He thought it was my real name because they were asking me what time it was.  I had to tell him that I am Ms. Danielle. HAHAHA!!! So cute. He would say "Mr. Wolf, may I use the toilet" etc. It was too funny!  My KG1's are settling in and I only have 1 student who still cries all day.  The nannies want my personal number so parents can call me whenever they want.  This is so not going to happen.  I have received great feedback about my program and there are some parents who want to switch their children into my class.  They love that I am a native English speaker and want their children to learn from me.  That way, I can't revert to Arabic to speak to them.  The children are forced to learn to speak English because that is all I know.  They also know how much fun we have singing and playing games. 

This week I found it fascinating to listen to the Muslim prayer calls.  These happen 5 times a day.  Even in the mall and restaurants, the music stops and all you hear is the call to prayer.  I was in the park just outside my hotel and recorded this video :

It was pretty amazing to see the number of men who flock to the mosques to pray.  I began to think of how cool it would be in Canada to have Christian prayers ring out through the city 5 times a day.  I wonder what would happen if the Christians too would flock to the churches to pray and lift of the name of Jesus.  The Muslim people have amazing dedication to their religion.  I went to a church today (Friday).  It was so amazing to be in a Muslim country but be able to worship together with people I have never met.  The church is called Redeemer Church of Dubai.  There were a lot of families there and it felt like a great church.  I will go back there.  They have an upcoming series called "The Expat Life".  The sermons will look at 6 things: You were CHOSEN for this assignment, Retirement Benefits, How to Live in Dubai, Your Home Away from Home, Shining Brightly in a Dark World and Honoring God at Work.  I think I will check out this series.  They sing contemporary songs and the church reminds me of my church back home. 

One other quick thing I learned this week.  The cars here all have license plates.  The lower your number on the plate, the more money you have (apparently).  The lower ones cost more.  This week I found this car in the mall parking garage.  It is lowest number I have seen yet (36).  Apparently the number "5" plate sold recently for 25 million dollars.  Yep, that's right...25 MILLION.  People here have so much wealth that they can afford to spend that kind of money on a plate.  WOW!  It shocks me to see how people can spend this kind of money when there are people here who have moved away from their family for years to make $300 a month.  The guy that cleans my room at my hotel told me he has a wife and two children (2 and 5) at home in Sri Lanka.  He moved away this year in order to make some money and send it home.  How can anyone live on $300 a month???  Another cleaner at my school moved here from Pakistan.  He makes about $400/month.  He decided to move here because there are no bombs or Taliban here.  I could not imagine this at all.  My eyes have been opened to the difference between the haves and have-nots here.  Sometimes it makes me sick to see the inequalities.  Anyway, I am off to go shopping for my apartment.  We will be in the hotel for another week at the most.  Until next time...

Letters to my people

Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement.  I absolutely love all the comments on my pictures and updates.  It means a lot to me that I have all of you behind me.  Please keep me up-to-date with what is going on with you.  Although I am living my adventure, I want to hear about your adventures as well.  I am so thankful to have each of you in my life.

Dear Church Family,
Thank you for your prayers and support.  Please continue to hold me and my family up in prayer as we adjust to life in Dubai.  We miss being with you at church and doing life together.  We hope to find a church here soon that we will fit in to.

Dear Family,
WOW!  Can you believe it...little D is in the big city!  I want to thank all of you for your support and your blessing as we have moved away.  As you know, this has not been an easy road for us, but with you behind us, it makes it easier.  I hope you enjoy your day together today celebrating mom's birthday.  Give her a hug for me.  I love that we can speak or text with each other often.  I miss you all soooooo much.  God has given us an amazing thing...each other and parents who are great example to us.  I am so thankful to be able to call you not only my family but my friends as well.  Give all your kids an extra squeeze for me tonight and tell them that Aunt D loves them and misses them.

Dear Paul,
I don't know where to start other than saying I love you so much and miss you incredibly.  I am so thankful that you are able to be home with Evan and loving on him.  I can't wait for you to join me here and begin living life somewhere new.  I pray for you daily that you will find here a new experience that will make you excited to get up every morning.  I get excited thinking about us exploring this new place together and raising Evan in such an exciting city.  Hopefully you will be here soon!

Dear Evan,
This is the hardest letter to write.  Mommy loves you sooooo much.  Sometimes I wonder if this was the right decision to leave you.  It is only for a short time and you will be here with me.  I am sorry that I am not there when you call out for me.  I am sorry that I am not there to see you growing and learning and laughing.  Every time I think of you I get sad because you aren't here yet.  I can't wait to show you all the cool places here.   I feel awful that you can't be here right now.  But, I know that Daddy is taking great care of you.  Please know Mommy loves you so much and misses you terribly.  You are such a joy to me and Daddy.  You make us so proud. 

"I'll love you FOREVER
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living,
My baby you'll be"

Week 1 is done!!!

I can't believe that I have been in Dubai a week already.  Some days it feels like I landed long ago.  Other days it feels like I just got here.  This week has continued to be CRAZY!!!  My KG2 class (like Senior Kindergarten) is absolutely amazing.  They are so good and have a great sense of humour.  And, they actually listen to what I say.  My KG1's on the other hand are not so good (yet!).  Most of them have never been in nursery or outside of the care of their mother/nanny.  So, to them I am just the help.  They do not see me as someone they have to listen to.  They do what they want when they want.  If I have 10 of them listening on the carpet, I have 7 doing whatever they want.  I take these 7 by the hand to show them what they need to do (sit on the carpet).  I get one sitting and go get the next to bring to the carpet.  By the time I get back with the second student, the first one is back playing.  GAH!  It is A LOT of micro-teaching.  It is so tiring.  I still have 5 students that cry all day.  Hopefully this will end this week.  I am also dealing with a language barrier so some of my students have no idea what I am saying and are scared.  Lots of things to deal with here.  Thankfully all the parents and nannies have left my class.

This week I was able to see and do a lot of things (thanks Jannie!).  On Tuesday I went to the Dubai mall.  It is HUGE!!!  There are a lot of stores that we have back home...H&M, Gap, Cold Stone Creamery, Payless, and many more.  There is even a Tim Horten's in this mall.  It is a little taste of home.  We also went to see the Burj Khalifa and the fountains that go off with the music.  It is like the Bellagio in Vegas but much bigger.  I hope to attach a video of it soon.

The people here are all really friendly.  The parents of my students are very warm towards me.  People I meet on the street are so interested to hear where I come from and why I am here.  The people that I am living with in the hotel are also great.  We have been going out a lot together.  Thursday night we went out for Sheesha.  It is basically like smoking a water bong with nothing illegal in it.  It is flavoured water vapor.  I had strawberry and it was so yummy.  I have learned that I need to be more aggressive with people.  This is very new to me as I am not aggressive at all.  If you are standing in line, and you leave some personal space, people just cut in line and stand there.  So, no leaving space in lines.  Also, when I was buying some groceries, I had some lady place her items on top of mine and expected to be served first.  This was the first time I spoke up and told her "No, I was here first".  She took her things off of mine and I could pay for my things.

Yesterday, I went on a nice tour of Dubai.  I saw the Burj (the only 7 star hotel in the world), drove around the Palm islands (Google map it, it is really neat), Atlantis Dubai and a lot more of the city.  We then went to a pool to hang out for the afternoon.  It was a great time.  I had a fun time trying to get home from my friend's house.  What should have been a 45 min cab/metro trip took almost two hours. Got out of the cab and found the metro station. Figured out what to do and made it on to the right train. At this point I am feeling pretty proud because this small-town girl can find her way home. Then the train stops and we have to wait for over an hour. We get to the next station, wait for 30 more minutes to find out that we can't use the metro anymore. Get off the metro and head to bus station. Didn't want to wait for a bus so me and some random stranger split the cab fare. What an adventure!!!  I am excited to think of what this week holds. 

Day 1

Hello from Dubai.  I am sitting here looking at the tallest tower in the world.  I have now been in Dubai for 24 hours.  Wow!  Is that all?  It was a heart-wrenching goodbye at the airport.  It was so hard to say goodbye to the 2 favourite boys in my life.  After lots of tears and hugs, I was on my own.  The flight was really good.  It was very smooth and the food was pretty good.  I did not sleep at all but was able to watch 2 movies (The Hunger Games and We Bought a Zoo).  The plane was HUGE!  When I got to the Dubai airport I had to pass through immigration.  Thankfully it was very easy.  They did an eye scan which was different.  I found my bags and made my way out of the airport.  There was a man there with my name on a sign who brought me to the hotel.  I am staying at a hotel that is right across from the Dubai city center mall.  It is massive!  It is great because I can do groceries and find anything I need.  I go across the road to the mall for dinner.  After I made it to the hotel, I was greeted by my friend.  It was so nice to see her right away.  She was able to give me some great information, a cell phone with minutes on it and a much-needed hug.  I am so thankful she is here with her family!  After she left I crashed and fell asleep.

I went to bed and woke up at 3:00am.  I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed...well, maybe not.  But I was awake and couldn't get back to sleep.  I sat in bed and watched an episode of Glee and some late night talk shows.  I got ready at 5:30.  I had to wait until 6:30 for the breakfast bar to open.  I was able to talk with Paul and see Evan for a bit.  It was a great start to the day.  After breakfast I went outside to find a taxi to take me to work.  Thankfully, the school had arranged pick-up for me.  There are 4 other teachers from my school staying at this hotel, waiting for housing like me.  One girl is from Toronto, one lady from South Africa, a man from the UK and a man from Jordan.  They are all super nice.  I will be in the hotel for at least 12 days. 

We got to the school and I found my classroom.  It is small and the AC is not working yet.  So, it was a VERY warm day (it was 41' outside).   The KG1 students were the only ones there today.  There are 17 of them in my class.  Tomorrow I will have both the KG1 and KG2 with 37 students in total.  The KG1's will be with me half the day for English.  Then, I see the KG2's for the second half of the day.  When the students are not with me they are with the Arabic teacher.  This will take a lot of getting used to.  It was different than I imagined it to be.  There were LOTS of tears today from my students.  I was kicked and scratched.  I even had parents staying in my class to watch and they stayed after being asked to leave.  There were also two nannies who didn't want to leave.  So, in total this morning, there were 2 teachers (me and Arabic teacher), 2 TA's, 8 parents and 2 nannies in a small room with no AC.  Needless to say, it was a HOT morning. 

I have a teacher's assistant in my class who does everything for me (photocopying, preparing the crafts, helping with the students, gets coffee, laminates etc).  I am supposed to tell her what I need done.  Again, this will be challenging for me.  Every week the KG team (14 in total) get together and plan the next week.  These weekly plans get submitted every week and approved by the head of KG. 

I got home from work and had a great nap.  I think the jet lag is finally catching up.  I made it through today on pure adrenaline and from your prayers and support.   Tomorrow should be interesting.  Thank you all for your kind words and support.  I feel so loved and encouraged knowing that I have you all behind me. I will update again with some pictures once I upload them.  Until next time...

Finally...I know when I am leaving.

I will be leaving Friday night for Dubai.  I will be arriving at 6:30pm Dubai time.  I start working Sunday morning.  My students will be arriving at 7:50.  Ummmmmmm...YIKES!!!  I have not seen the curriculum and have NO IDEA what to expect or what I will be doing.  I am going in blind.  The next few blogs should be very interesting.

It turns out that Evan and Paul will not be joining me at first.  I have to be there about a month before they can make it to Dubai.  I have to get a stamp on my visa in order to sponsor them.  This is the part that makes me the most sad.  It will be a really long month without them.  But, it will give me a month to focus and plan my program.  I will also be busy looking for an apartment and buying furniture.  Each night I hold Evan a little longer and give him a few more cuddles.  I am hoping that they will be able to join me before Evan's birthday (October 5th) and our anniversary (October 8th).  I will be devastated if I miss these things. 

I have started the sad goodbye's.  Each day it becomes more real that I am leaving.  I will miss all of you!  Thankfully, I will be home for the summer.  Enjoy your winter!  HA!

This is a short post because I better get packing.  Until next time...