Photos of the Mall

Last night I went to Khalidiyah Mall.  I hadn't been there before but wanted to visit a tourism exhibition to help me decide where to travel to.  The exhibition wasn't much and I'd been around it in about 5 minutes so found it disappointing. 

However, the Mall wasn't.  It was amazing and I've been to a few now.  It was very busy with a lot of local Emirates shopping there.  The kids fun park was full and the kids weren't that young either.

While I was in one shop I kept hearing a steam train whistle.  Yes, that's right, a steam train whistle.  I kept repeating that to myself while shopping and wondered where it was coming from as they have no trains here.

After leaving the shop I followed the sounds until I found it.  Anything is possible here and there it was!  A kids ride on a steam train around the mall.  Only on one floor of course as I don't suppose, even here, that a train could navigate an escalator.

I am getting better with my phone for taking pictures so here are some of the train and from outside the mall.  The coloured lights change every few seconds so the mall was bathed in various hues while I stood there looking.

OOPs! Perhaps not that good with the photos yet.  My phone was on video so the train ones won't work.  My goal it to master getting a video onto this blog.  I could do it at home but can't manage it here, yet.


Kids playground entrance.

Mall entrance with varying coloured lights.

Today I've been to a massive book fair, so different from the tourism one last night.  In fact, at opposite ends of the spectrum.  It was in a new exhibition centre that is world class.  And so many books, most in Arabic which is interesting as they are not a reading culture.

Getting there in my American friend's car was a journey in itself.  As I remarked to him, 'It's not the destination, it's the journey.'  We certainly had a few laughs after numerous wrong turns.  You have to experience driving here to understand what I mean but nothing is straightforward.  As the roads are all one way you have to travel until the next set of lights and do a u-turn.  That works fine if there is a set of lights, otherwise you are half way to Dubai before finding an off road.  We travelled a fair distance to get there, around little known neighbourhoods.  Then we discovered it was only up the road from our hotel!  We took the long way there.

We ended up with a free book compliments of the Sultan.  It is a beautiful hard covered book on the history of the UAE.  So worth the trip for that.  I got a map for Mum so she can follow my travels around the UAE.  I also got the details of where the library is here but that was a mission in itself as no-one knew where it is physically located.  And the phone number didn't work.  We wondered if it is a work in progress like so many things here.

I got this picture of me with a huge cyclinder of used books all stacked up.  Apparently it was stacked with the man working from inside the structure so it must be hollow.  It sat inside a clear glass bell.

As today is the big horse race in Dubai, the richest in the world, I took the opportunity to get a photograph with a horse & rider (at the Book Fair of course).



It's getting warm

Wow, yesterday the temperature got up to 42 degrees!  Yes, it is heating up.

What do you do in that sort of temperature?

Well, I went up to the pool around 4pm and as I opened the door to go onto the roof the heat struck me.  I can only liken it to putting my head in an oven, not that I've spent any time doing that.

I took a 1.5 litre bottle of water up with me and had drunk it in a short time.  My skin felt like the moisture was being sucked out of it.

I took a swim.  The pool is small but deep.  The water is over my head so you have to tread water all the time.  It takes six strokes to reach the other end so swimming as exercise isn't really an option.  There were three families up there but most children were in the spa pool due to the depth of the pool.

I noticed that most children here don't swim then I realised that they probably don't spend any time in the water.  I saw an opportunity for a wee sideline teaching swimming lessons.  Couple that with English lessons on the side and there'd be no reason to work.

The pool itself was warm and was pumping out hot water.  I'm not sure where that was coming from or if it was the recirculated water and that was the temperature of it.  The pool didn't feel that hot.

I noticed one of the other mothers asking for a towel immediately she got out of the spa and I thought that odd as a warm breeze was blowing.  However, after swimming for a while I felt a cool breeze on my shoulders while floating in the pool.

The pool is on the rooftop, 16th floor.  It has it's own lifeguard who sits inside the stairwell.  We  have to sign into the pool area, for safety I presume.  He runs around and puts the cushions on the loungers for us and hands us towels.  I don't know if he can swim or what happens if he has to save someone. 

The beach umbrellas are wrapped up in black plastic, presumably to keep the sand from damaging them during the recent sand storms.  They certainly don't seem to be used for shade.  Or perhaps it's always too windy up there.  It isn't a relaxing place due to the wind and the noise from the enormous air conditioning vents that blow onto the roof.

While a young boy was swimming the lifeguard decided that the pool needed to be cleaned.  So out comes the vacuum hose and long handled cleaner and off he goes, working around the child.  It must be a fairly relaxing occupation I think.  Other than unlocking the toilet I haven't seen him do much else.

I took my book up but could hardly stay awake after my swim due to the heat I think.  I sat in the shade but noticed this morning that my face was burnt.  Yet no-one here wears sunhats.  Obviously they aren't fair skinned like me.

Here are some pictures of the pool.

 Lifeguards Post

 Pool.  Note the umbrellas in the background wrapped in plastic.

Spa (cool temperature), shower & toilet

Making headway

I awoke yesterday and then again today to an unusual sight.  The ground outisde our hotel is wet.  Yes, rain I presume. Or precipitation of some sort.  I haven't seen it rain and apparently it has only rained 2 or 3 times in the last year.  But the prayer gound was glistening.  I haven't been here long enough to call it amazing but I'm sure in time it will be.

I've had progress and my son now has a residency visa.  Once I have it stamped at immigration (yes, another stamp with a huge cost) then he can go and get his medical card and start the process for his ID card.  So a major step forward.

There has been no word on our accomodation yet.  There are four of the original group left in the hotel, everyone else has been placed in their appartments and have been busy moving.  The hotel is very quiet and I miss the company at breakfast.  As it is currently a two week spring break I imagine we'll be here in the hotel for that as the staff have gone on break also.  Besides, I don't want to hassle them as those that have received horrible appartments.  They are putting us mostly into furnished appartments of teachers who have left as the lease is already paid on them until the end of the school year.  Once the lease if up we've been told we will be able to choose where we want to be.  All my close friends got unfurnished places so they've been busy organising to get furniture delivered.  I've spent more time in furniture shops in the last few weeks than I've ever done in  my life.

I'm staying here in Abu Dhabi for the break due to having to renew my passport.  I had less than six months left on it when I arrrived in the UAE so couldn't travel anyway.  It seems to be quicker to get a new passport issued in London so I've sent it off there.  Consequently I can't travel on my old one now so need to wait.  I've arranged to have it sent to the NZ Embassy here in Abu Dhabi.  I've also got myself a PO Box so I can get mail sent to me here.

We've beeen out looking for schools for my 16 year old son.  We've been to two so far.  It's a major mission to get into a school here with many full.  It was a major to organise to have time off work to do this as most of the schools are way out of town.  Also the school year doesn't correspond with the southern hemisphere one, neither does the programme and exams.  He will have to sit exams to see what year level he will fit into.  At one school they have half the number of places in year 12 as students so you have to get an A to get into the year 12 academic classes.  When I asked the Principal what happens to the other 60 kids, his response was, "I tell them to find another school."
We were lucky to visit that school twice as I had been told repeatedly that we wouldn't get into it.  It is a long way out of town from where I work and as I'm not sure where we'll be living the travel would be slow due to the volume of traffic.

The second school is one block from where we're staying now.  It has the most amazing architecture and we were very impressed.  The facilities are the best I've seen in a school with small class sizes.  6th formers have their own common room with direct access to a mezzanine floor in the library for their use.  They also have a strong sport programme especially in rugby.  The negative is that their fees are out of my league.  The school itself was very welcoming with the rugby coach making an effort to come over and talk to us then the Principal himself arrived to invite us to have a chat after our tour.  Which we did.  Within an hour or so he'd phoned back to Nelson to get a reference and was waiting to phone Blenheim.  He was interested when I mentioned that there'd been a sport scholarship previously and he said they have one.  So we're hoping that this school comes through.  Class placing and subject choices will be based on testing after the spring break.  As both schools run a British system you only choose 4 core subjects to take in Year 12.

I'm trying to update my blog with some modern technology as my skills at computing seem to have gone out the window.  However, I couldn't even download a video yesterday so will have to stick with photos until I master my new iphone and the programmes on this PC.  Watch this space.

Busy with paperwork

I missed my blog entry over the weekend as I was out watching U19 rugby in 35 degree heat.  Not the best for either the spectators or the players.  I’m not sure how they managed as I had enough trouble sitting in the shade with a breeze and copious amounts of water.  One girl fainted while at the water counter.  She obviously left it too late to top up.  You must drink heaps of water here.  I’ve bought us thermos bottles to keep the water cold but they are heavy to lug around and mine only holds 1 litre which I drink quickly.

How did I get there?  I’ve met this kiwi woman who has a 16 year old son and it was his team’s semi-final game.  They lost to a Dubai team which was well drilled.  I was interested to see the level of the rugby, nothing like at home in NZ.  The lineout was dismal to say the least and I’ve seen U12 teams do better.  There were lots of injuries due to lack of experience and knowledge on how to play.  The dads were the same as any rugby game in the world, plenty to say.  So I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult to progress to top level here.

One thing that struck me was the size of the western men here.  It seems to be the land of plenty and I’ve heard talk of the Abu Dhabi stone.  I think it’s due to lack of exercise and ready access to anything you want.  I am aware of it myself already, not a stone but a few pounds anyway.  Even at school I don’t move around like I did back home as I am in my classroom and not going outside.  That will be the thing I miss the most, being able to hop outside in the shade and read a book.

I had to take a concrete pill and harden up yesterday morning.  I feel I’ve been given the runaround to get Lochie’s visa.  After the last entry I had to take my already attested documents (they have at least 4 stamps on them before we got here) to the NZ Embassy for another stamp.  Of course they are only open two mornings a week for three hours.  So Lochie took them to find out the stamp wasn't required.  Funny that.  Then I dropped them over next door and paid the extra to have them translated and stamped there. It was worth the money as I didn't have to run around town.

The latest episode involved them telling me that he was too old to be here and couldn’t get a visa.  So I was sent to immigration to find out what I needed to do to sponsor him.  What an experience! About 200 people in one room all waiting to get their visas.  So I get to the counter and then the only problem seemed to be that I didn’t have a husband.  “Where your husband?” I was asked by three different men as my forms are waved around the room.  Comments were then shared in Arabic which had all the men in the queue behind me laughing as well as the men behind the counter.  Talk about humiliating!!!!   I was then told to come back tomorrow morning to see the head man in his office.  Pity I have a job isn’t it????

So next morning I’m back and sensibly decided to take Lochie with me.  We go into the small office to find the man who tells me, “No English.”  Good start.  So I ask, “Is there anybody who does speak English?”  Yes, the other man sitting there.  Once again I ask what I need to do to sponsor my son.  They ask him how old he is then tell me I need letter from his father.  Which I explain I have and is in his hand.  So it needs to be translated into Arabic.  Ok.  Back we go to the office where our visas are being processed by our employer…

To find out that instead of translating the birth certificate I'd had my degree translated!  Very useful in a visa application.  So another 220 AED to get two documents translated.

By now the levels of frustration were running fairly high.  So left it all there and wait for a phonecall and see what the outcome is.

No wonder I don’t have time to blog.  Also I now have my iphone so have a life, plus the paycheck certainly  helped keep me out.

Action & reaction

Another week has passed in varying degrees of heat, work & play.

The temperature is beginning to rise at times then it cools down.  We actually felt cold the other night while waiting for a bus back home after getting dinner.  (I keep getting flack for saying tea!)  Today is hot and windy, although the temperature at present only says 23????  More like over 30 when I was waiting for a bus earlier.  I've decided that the buses won't be used during the summer as it will be too hot to stand out in the sun and wait.  As I'm never sure what time they are due and you don't seem to be able to get a timetable it's a bit hit and miss.

A bit like crossing the road really.  Talk about chaos.  Yet every day we do it to catch a bus or get a taxi going our way.  The city is beginning to put up overhead walkways at some local spots and I can't wait.  Pity there isn't one going up by our hotel.

The face of the city changes daily with major construction and road works continually underway.  There are so many Pakistani workers working out in the heat all day laying millions of bricks around the footpaths and central islands.  The plan seems to be to green up the city so grass and palm trees are planted and watered in the middle of the roads.  Ready lawn I imagine as I'm sure normal grass wouldn't grow here.  It truly is a city that never sleeps and all night long you hear various things happening.

I've had my two friends who are out west in town for the weekend.  Thursday night they crashed in my room at 4am!  Last night they had Lochie's room as he was away for the night.  I made sure his room was serviced for them first!

I didn't realise how much I'd missed the female company as I've only had the boys (4 of them - men really) to hang out with for the past two weeks.  So it was wonderful to head to the mall and shop and have a pedicure and massage.  The massage was a relaxation back one but there was nothing relaxing about it.  Those of you who enjoy a good massage would have loved it, like I did.  So I got the Phillipino woman's name to go back to her again.  Hate to think what a sports one would be like.

It has been a week of action.  First we got our passports back with our residency visas in them.
Then we finally got paid on Thursday night so the bank was full of teachers from the hotel.  Before we could use our money we had to take in our visa to activate our accounts so more paperwork.  Then I got a new phone.  An iphone 4s so right up there with the technos.  I just need to have a week or so learning how to use it now.  (Yes, I am teaching recount writing at school this week).

It was hard to see my sister have her 50th without me today but thank goodness for Skype and free international minutes on my new phone.  That allowed me to see what was happening at Mum & Dad's place early in the morning then phone my other sister.  So talked to all of them.  A tip for Skype users -  remember we can see you so wear clothes!  It was good to be brought back down to earth by family who don't pull punches when it comes to telling you how it is.  Even after only two weeks in the classroom my English has become pidgeon and words rather than sentences.  I shudder to think what I'll sound like by the time I return to NZ.

It was also hard to get bad news about one of my basketball friends back home in Blenheim who has had sad news about her health. 

School is settling slowly as the girls become used to my way of doing things.  It is difficult as many do not understand what you are saying and tune out after the first word or two.  The curriculum is moving towards a child centered one but it's not happening in the classrooms due to the fact the children (at all the schools it seems) can't follow instructions or be left to work independantly.  Worksheets are the way to go if you want to maintain any control.  It is obviously more difficult coming into someone elses classroom three weeks before the end of term, as we all know.  So it's one step forward, five backwards.  I tried maths groups this week, Woah!

I found it challenging to teach measurement when there are no rulers.  Little things like that make the day interesting.  To top it off the children are tested weekly on what has been taught so tomorrow will be the test to see if they can measure in millimeters & centimeters.  It is also the day they are tested about the brain & the nervous system.  My students range in age from 8-12 years and the content of the science and maths lessons is above most of them due to lack of understanding.

You'll be impressed to know that next weeks planning is already tabled to the HOF.

I've spent a lot of the weekend running around from one mall to another trying to sort documents.  We went to get our drivers licences done today but the place was shut.  How's this for fun. 
First you get it translated into Arabic.  Then you go to a second building for processing.  Then you go to another building and get an eye test.  Then you go back to the second one to get the licence done.  And of course you pay for each stage.

I also went to get Lochie's birth certificate stamped at a different mall to find they don't do that on Saturday and come back tomorrow.  Once it is stamped it goes to another place for translation then goes with a pile of paperwork to apply for his visa.  I am hoping to get that done this week before we leave the hotel as the building I take it to is next door.

My 40AED monthly bus ticket has certainly had its use!  And did I mention the shopping?

Settling in

I survived my first week teaching.  The other teacher came back on Wednesday so I got her to teach for the afternoon while I observed!  I haven't seen her again though.  Apparently she is going to come in and do all the assessment for me so I hope so.

I did pick up some tips on how the girls behave.  Everything has to be micro managed or you lose control of the class.  Transitions from one subject to another take so much time and exhaust you.  As we teach 3 subjects per class a lot of time is wasted trying to move the girls around between activities.  It may be a case of showing the planning and doing something else.

I had my first run in today with an Arabic teacher in the room next to me.  Every class has beautiful display boards outside them and mine was grotty, torn and only had a few sheets of paper on it.  I was told it was mine by the Head of Faculty and given paper and borders to redo it.  So on Thursday I ripped it all down.  This morning at 9am the teacher comes banging on my door and tells me off, while I'm trying to teach.  Apparently for the last two years it has been hers and I didn't ask if I could change it.  She was very upset and no amount of apologising or explaining would fix it.  Sometimes I wonder how much the language barrier is a barrier or used when it suits others.  Anyway I spoke to my HOF who said, "Keep smiling," which I did and she'd talk to her.  Which she did.  Now I have half the board to put some work on.  The board didn't fit with her image or her immaculate classroom or the rest of the school so naturally you'd think it belonged to someone who no longer cared. i.e my teacher.

I also found out that I have to do break duty on a Thursday.  It got up to 34degrees and was very hot outside in the concrete courtyard where the girls eat and play.  It is sheltered by a tin roof which I feel adds to the heat.  I had to buy extra water that day.  Lucky for the two air conditioners in my room.  I jumped into the pool back at the hotel once I got home.

In terms of resources our school is well resourced for here.  We use PM Writing books and can photocopy worksheets.  There is even someone to do that for us, provided we get them down to them in time.  We have a Collins Maths workbook for each student and a Science workbook also.  Parents like to see what their children are doing and expect homework.  Kids take their workbooks home each night to show what they have done.  We are expected to take guided reading sessions but there isn't much in the way of resources for that.  So not sure how I'll incorporate that into my lesson.

It is a challenge to teach such high level maths, science & english when the girls have little vocabulary and less understanding of english words.  The curriculum would be on par or even higher than ours yet this is in their second language.  Parents expect their children to pass, usually with an A or perhaps a B.  Try explaining neurons (science) & orientation (recount writing) to a class of 8 year olds who don't speak much English.  I'm finding maths the easiest to teach as long as I'm just handing out worksheets and not working in small groups.

We are awaiting our accomodation and hopefully some pay this week.  Once we get our furniture allowance of 20,000 AED we have five days to move out of the hotel.  Hopefully we have our apartments by then or we will be sleeping in comfort on the street.  Perhaps I could move in two doors down where the buiding has filled up with Pakistani men.  You see them walking down the street with their bed frames and blankets.  I am unsure how so many men live together in  harmony as they just seem to all get along all the time.  They are all very respectful although they stare a lot but they don't make me feel unsafe even if I am out at night on my own.  I learned very quickly to cover up, especially when on the bus.

I've been taking taxis to work each day.  It takes around 15-20mins from the hotel and costs between 7.50-11.50 AED which is around $2.50-3.50 NZ.  I'm not sure if I will rent a car, it will depend on where I live.  A rental car (not the big 4WD) is around 1500-1900 AED a month depending on the cc rating and year.  For a 2012 Nissan Tida it's 1600AED so divide that by 3 roughly.  It's also a lot less hassle than buying with insurance and repairs.  Even easier to terminate than trying to sell it when you leave.

We've got monthly bus passes for 40 AED which allows us to ride the bus as many times as you want and as far as you want.  I think I've said that it's 1AED for a bus trip, regardless of the distance.  You can spend a fair amount of time waiting though sometimes.  I don't think I'll be doing that in the heat but at the moment it's fine.

Life is settling into a rhythm much like at home.  The main difference being that we eat out every night, usually very cheaply.  You can pay 5-10 dirhams for a takeaway meal at the supermarket. 20AED is expensive for our dinner and for that you can  get a piece of grilled fish, chips, salad, pickles, breads & sauces.  Or a huge piece of fish (2 meals for me), way too much flavoured rice, salad, pickles & 3 sauces.  Everything comes with pickles that are very salty to our taste.

As our cooking and kitchen facilities are limited I have been buying fruit packs with the fruit already sliced and salad packs.  They have such a variety and flavours that you can always find something different to try.  My favourite mall for food is Mushrif Mall on Airport Road or 2nd Road.  That is the one we are staying on and we catch the 32 or 52 bus down there.  The Lulu's supermarket has an amazing variety of food stalls inside it.  They sell just about everything you want, including tvs, computers, clothes, bags etc. 


Still no update on school for Lochie.  They are very difficult to get into and have no chance of getting into once halfway during the year.  We've applied to the American International School but haven't heard anything yet.  I'm waiting for the NZ Correspondence School to reopen its enrolments so that he can reapply as an International Student there.  Then hopefully he'll get some work to do.  There is a Catholic School close by here which I looked at but it's a Pakistani School and they run a different school year so he'd be at school while I'm on holiday.  So it's a waiting game.

Apparently another kiwi has arrived today so I'll look forward to meeting her tonight or tomorrow.  People have been arriving in drips and draps and they don't seem to know what to do with them.  Today the last lot have been in schools shadowing teachers.  Lucky them.  I'm missing my two friends but they are coming in to stay at the weekend and we're getting glammed up to go to ladies night.  Free drinks in return for being leered at!  Watch this space for an update.