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?
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?
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