Weekend update:)

This weekend was fabulous!! Thursday night (our weekend here is Friday and Saturday) I went to a few clubs with new teachers I work with. It was great getting to know them on a non-teacher level. It was great because we took cabs around Jumeirah, which is basically where all the famous buildings are. The first club, 360, you take a golf cart out into the marina which was pretty sweet. There are definitely some fancy yachts here!!

Friday night was a staff dinner at a Lebanese restaurant. We had some weird appetizers which were all cold... like cold green beans in cold tomato sauce, but there were tons of them. I tried almost all of the dishes, but stuck with the pita bread and hummus (delicious). After most of the staff walked over to the Irish Village and had a few drinks there and chatted. I met a couple who are both high school PE teachers here. After the Irish Village, I went back to their apartment with one of their friends who is also a new teacher at the school.

Saturday I went to the mall (again) with my roommate and we bought some more things to make our place homey and I bought some things to make my bedroom and bathroom a little more cozy.

Ayman, Haddy, Me, Emma on Friday night

The school here is absolutely amazing!! If you have ever worked in the public school system in America, this is like spoiled to the MAX. We have cappucino machines on every floor, an incredible amount of support staff, and so many resources. We are ENCOURAGED to schedule field trips. What!? Yes, seriously.

Examples:

• teacher assistant in PE
• 2 copy rooms (they will bind books for you)
• the school has a full time doctor and 2 nurses
• amazing cappucino/coffee machines on every floor
• staff that will make your bulletin boards
• 4 full time IT people

I mean it is seriously amazing! Oh, and we get picked up and dropped off by a school bus each day just for teachers. It is great. I have also met some fellow Iowan teachers:)

That is all for now. Love and miss you all at home!

I arrived!

I'm finally here in Dubai:) Strange sleeping patterns, as in I got up by myself with no alarm clock at 6:30 am! We have a cute school bus that picks us up at the apartment buildings and brings us to school. Today is the first day of our orientation and we are learning lots.

 My "buddy" teacher is great! She has been teaching PE for many years and showed me around our PE area. There are 3 or 4 storage closets and there is tons of equipment. The gym/pool/tennis courts is in a separate building from everything. The school campus is huge! The pool is outside, but covered. Teachers can use it whenever.

Also, it is really flippin' hot. Currently it is 109 degrees, but feels like 115 degrees. They use the metric system here and so people keep saying things in Celsius which is confusing.

What else.... the flight here was super long, especially the 12 hour one. Not so fun. My apartment is awesome, it is HUGE. The ceilings are high, I have a king bed, and my own private balcony. ROCKSTAR STATUS.

Pic of me on the first day!

Packing

Guess what everyone?? I PACKED ALL MY STUFF!! And I have a tiny bit of room to spare AND it is all under the weight limit! What? Are things really going smoothly with packing? Yes, yes they are. Congratulations... to myself.

<43 hours til takeoff

Colorado was super terrific. I got the cutest/nicest good bye note from my friend Michelle and my 15 mo. old niece said "Ali"...sort of.

 

 Some beautiful Colorado scenery:)

 

My niece is cuter than your niece. There, I said it.

Sentimental Alison: I had my going away party with my friends this weekend in Iowa fashion-- sitting around a bonfire drinking and camping. Lucky to have such great friends!

I also think both of my parents are starting to freak out in their own special ways. My dad (I'm his youngest girl) has been calling me at least twice a day, and my mom (I'm her only child) keeps telling me she is freaking out and on the verge of crying. Kind of makes me sad, but I'm glad to know that they still support my adventure. :-) Love you mom and dad!

Today I was super duper productive. There are so many things to do before you leave the country!!

• returned my license plates and will get $20 back.... in 3 weeks
• ordered AED money from the bank so my mom will simmer down
• closed my Nevada water account
• cancelled my Alliant
• bought some new underwear
• picked up a doctor's note
• returned my work phone.... 2 months after I quit
• cancelled my car insurance

Yep, that is my exciting day.

Also, shout out to my step dad, Joel, who has let me drive his car the last few days. Thank you.

VISA!!!!!!

I got my visa e-mailed to me today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And arrival procedures. Somebody will be holding a name sign which makes me feel fancy:-)

Colorado has been great with family and friends. This morning I went horse back riding with Michelle, and we also climbed up the Alluvial Fan in Estes Park. Back home tomorrow and more craziness before my departure in exactly ONE WEEK. So crazy! Emotional support is welcome. So is your presence at my going away party (to those who actually read this. Anyone?)

So the last week has been really difficult, literally purging ALL of my belongings. I mean, I know I have wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many clothes/shoes/stuff, but it is really difficult giving all this stuff I feel I have worked so hard for--away! Four laundry baskets full of clothes! I mean it is partially liberating, but right now it is mostly difficult.

In other news, I decided to run away from this to Colorado for a few days and got to see this sweet face... seriously it is so sweet.

This is Waverly, my 14 month old niece. Just eating spoonfuls of sour cream. I wish I could steal her for 2 hours everyday, because I probably couldn't handle more than that. :-)

 

Oh yeah, so this blog is about going to Dubai.... t-10 days until take off!!