Finally moved in the apartment and started school. Things are still a bit chaotic..but will hopefully settle down soon. I teach at a rural school (seems to be my theme) about 30 minutes away from where I live, on the way to Al Ain. Many similarities to the rural school that I was at in AZ. Great staff of teachers, 800 girls grade 1-5. I am teaching 1st again, though they are similar to Kindergarten or even preschool in the states. We are currently learning to write our names, and sit in our desk. Arabic and English have very little similarities so immersing them in bilingualism is a challenge.The letters are extremely different, and they read from right to left instead of left to right like us. I have 2 classes of 20 girls. One for half of the day, then a 30 minute break (not lunch here...the girls bring candy and junk food from home, eat and run around for a bit) and then another class in the afternoon. The whole school (800 girls) takes break at the same time, with no staggering of grade levels...and no adult supervision. If you can only imagine what it looks like! So we just take them to the cafeteria, and run for our lives.
My apartment is beautiful. Brand new building..2 bedrooms, 2 bath. It's like being in college again; almost the whole building is teachers. There are 4 high rise buildings that have been bought out by the employer to house those of us in the city. The only problem is they had to rush to finish for our arrival, so some things are still in the process...like missing lights, constant construction. We are still running off a generator. We were given an allowance to furnish the apartment, including all utilities..Which was hard at first, but was fun getting to buy all new stuff. I am saving, so I went with the cheapest I could find...including a small fridge, little oven, but it’s nice to be able to design it on your own. Now that I'm settled in…..always welcome to visitors!
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