National Day Week
This week has
been busy, particularly preparing for National Day celebrations this weekend.
We only had to
plan for two days this week and with the girls in and out for a never-ending
array of practices for dancing, sport, or whatever else they do, it passed
quickly.
Tuesday was the
day the parents & staff come in dressed in their National Dress. As things are never very organised I got the
day wrong and didn’t dress any differently than normal. Luckily the other two western teachers in my
block didn’t either.
So much for not
needing any planning! Of course we ended
up teaching 6 periods on top of having a shared lunch with parents and girls
hypo after gorging themselves on sweet treats.
Then to top it off the Principal tells the parents to come and talk to
the teachers about how their daughters are doing. Impromptu parent interviews! We loved that and several of us managed to
find our way to the bathroom about then.
Even though I
bombed out on the dress I did take in some food. What to take for your National Food? That’s a bit tricky as a pavlova won’t do at
functions where it’s shared kai. Seafood
would go off in the heat and I worry about giving everyone food poisoning. So I opted for the tried and true
scones. I made plain ones the night
before and cut them into small squares.
In the morning I buttered half and put on curried egg. The other half I took to school and during
period 3 put raspberry jam and cream on them.
I gave each girl in my class a taste and they loved them. So now I have many families in Abu Dhabi
baking scones. The staff enjoyed them
also, but the sweet ones were far more popular than the savoury. Easy!
Then Wednesday
was our National Day celebrations at school.
Parents arrived in time for assembly at 8.30am and sat down
outside. 8.45am comes and goes and we
are still standing there. No HOF, no AP,
no Principal. In fact no-one but the
girls, western teachers and parents.
Ummmm...
Eventually the
girls disperse into classrooms and (you guessed it) I find myself with two
classes to look after. So on goes a
video of Cinderella which we watch until 10 when suddenly it’s a frantic rush
with the Principal yelling at us to get out there for the National Anthem. It’s no wonder the girls are so flighty and
disorganised. We (western teachers) have
decided this is part of the culture as living a nomadic lifestyle you have to
be ready to pack up and move at a moments notice, especially if a sandstorm is
coming. Everything is done at 100 miles
an hour with no forward planning.
I can think of
one Principal back home who would be having a coronary! Especially when we go on trips with no notice
or idea of who is at school or where they are.
It’s crazy.
So back to the
celebrations. My girls are all decked
out in their National Day finery.
The makeup
would have made a model look twice and I wonder how many hours were spent
getting these girls ready.
Their hair was
loose which was a delight to see as it is always tied up. The swing their hair around during the hair
dance.
As the dance
began the mothers let out this incredible yelping sound en-masse which was like
a blood curdling yelling. I wish I had
managed to capture the noise as it was spine tingling.
So anyway all
these parents have been sitting for 2 hours by now and it’s quite warm out
there. I take out my water bottle and a
chair and sit down to enjoy the performances by the various classes. I didn’t do anything as it was my first year
and I didn’t know what was expected. Of
course, I was the only western teacher not to, yet lots of Arabic teachers
didn’t.
So for the day
I wore Emirate National Dress and arrived decked out in an Abaya &
shela. To complete the authentic look I
wore high heels (which the girls noticed immediately) the obligatory hair
decoration to give the shela the height and nice shape, bling, nails, handbag,
heavy eye makeup, and big sunnies.
Talk about
elegant. Wearing these clothes makes you
stand up tall and walk in a ladylike manner.
You can’t do
too much as the shela keeps slipping so I ended up pinning it with a badge with
the Sheikh on it. That was much
better. The girls in my class showed me
how to wear the shela then the local girls told me it was wrong and to wear it
the Emirate way. Far more fabulous and
trendy!
(Ms Gaylene & Ms G)
The Arabic
staff didn’t recognise me and thought I was the new Arabic HOF arrived from
ADEC.
Today we had
been told we could leave early to travel as we have a four day weekend. But yesterday the Principal told the girls
they had to come to school today so lots arrived. If they don't come when she says (and I say don't come) she lines them up at assembly and canes them with her goat herding stick. True! So of course all my girls come as I'm always saying no school & they get into trouble. No early leaving as we had to work one period
each. But with some swift talking while
the Principal was out (as was the AP) we got the buses to come at 11.30am and
by 12 we were sitting down on the mats outside to partake in tea and cinnamon
buns and zatar croisants with cheese filling which one of the Arabic staff had
made for us. It was a lovely way to
finish the week and I was out the gate by 12.15.
Our school is
opposite the Abu Dhabi Municipality Finance building and over the last two days
they have had huge marches, speeches, food, music, dancing and all sorts going
on outside. Outside the main
Municipality building they have an enormous flag held up by two cranes.
Today I
listened to traditional music all day from the celebrations next door and as I
was leaving was intercepted by two men leaving the festivities. They seemed out of place to the traditional
city men dressed immaculately in white Kandora and looked as if they had just
come in from herding the goats or camels.
Anyway one was very friendly and told me to take a photo with him! Then he invited me over to join the
celebrations but I declined as it seemed to be winding down and most had
left. I didn’t want to get caught in a bedouin tent with a couple of goat herders! He’s
probably some wealthy sheikh from out west with an oil well or two. He had the wheels, all decorated but like
most men here, smoked like a trooper.
So I walked out
to the road to get a taxi then caught a ride with a girl from work over to
Marina Mall. On the way we passed all
the decorations going up and decorated cars.
Already National Day fever is alive and well. The shops are full of clothing and accessories and everyone is all decked out in them.
Apparently it’s manic down on the Corniche on
National Day with cars for miles, all playing loud music, teenagers spraying
silly string over cars and people, all the cars decorated from top to bottom,
kids sitting on roofs of cars, etc, etc.
Some say you must see, others say keep away.
I was off to
the mall to get some shrimps to make spicy garlic shrimp. So I order 1.5 kg at 59 AED kg. I ask for them to be cut and cleaned for BBQ
and am told it’ll be 20 minutes. I
wander off and do some shopping then return to get them. They are all bagged up and sealed in foil
bags so I don’t know if they’re cleaned or what.
I get home and
pop up to my HOF’s apartment to learn the marinade. The prawns are as requested except he’d
shelled them. Next time I need to tell
him to leave the shell on. She has all
the ingredients so does it for me, toning down the chilli to suit my milder
taste. So here’s the recipe if you want
a super tasty dish - still with a kick.
Garlic Prawns
1 kg raw prawns
(med/large) heads & feelers off, cut through back of shells for BBQ &
deveined.
For the
marinade you need (quantities are depending on taste but make a fairly runny
mixture)
olive oil -
good 1/4 cup
garlic sauce -
more of this if you want it milder (less of the other sauces)
chilli sauce
(not sweet chilli)
hot peri-peri
marinade
garlic
peri-peri sauce (I think you could get away with two sauces, garlic & chilli, and oil)
Mix together to
suit your taste then pour over prawns.
Sprinkle over some paprika or chilli pwd to taste. Mix through prawns. Marinade about ½ hour or less if no shells.
To cook: (Best
in good non-stick frypan)
Heat good knob
of garlic butter, 1/4 lb butter, 6 cloves garlic crushed, dried parsley or
herbs on low heat until melted.
Add
prawns. Squeeze ½ lemon into marinade
bowl and stir then add to prawns.
Cook on medium
heat for around half an hour. (I know,
much longer than we’d cook prawns for).
Once prawns appear cooked, remove lid slightly to let sauce reduce and
thicken. Prawns are ready when sauce is
reduced down and the oil comes to the top of the sauce. (I asked what this meant and in Indian
cooking it means the spices are cooked).
Sprinkle with
fresh parsley, mint and/or coriander to serve.
Serve with
savoury rice or steamed rice, steamed vegetables, bread.
Delicious! These were gobbled up quickly once back in my
apartment by the teenager and his friend.
My prawns cost 95 AED which is around $32 NZ and fed three with big
helpings. So a cheap meal really. I think they will become a favourite of ours.
I finally
bought my insulated jug so I can make my Arabic tea for tomorrow morning. The HOF also mixed me up some of her traditional tea mixture of cardamon, ginger, black pepper, & cloves. You add this mix to boiling water (they all use wee milk jugs on the stove) with a couple of tea bags then add milk to taste. A spoon of sugar gives it the sweetness. Delicious and enjoyable. Same concept as the Arabic tea, Chai to us.
I also got a new mop and bucket for the
cleaner, as requested by her. I got some
NZ rump steak and some Indian lamb chops.
Not sure about the Indian lamb but it’s much cheaper than NZ or
Australian lamb. I won’t be eating it
anyway and the teenager is always attending BBQs and marinating meat to
take. Lucky he can cook.
I’m staying
home this weekend and relaxing down by the pool. The weather is cooling daily but I’m loving
it. But somehow I don’t think I’ll be
needing the winter clothes on sale in the shops here. I couldn’t help but take a photo of this in
our local supermarket/department store.
Last Monday I
went for a massage to see if I can get my shoulder sorted. I had a Thai massage which was expensive, 200
AED. But man, was it worth it. I thought I’d had a good massage a few weeks
ago but his woman was amazing. It didn’t
feel like she was doing anything but she worked on those knots in my shoulder
for ages. I could feel it the next day
so I’ve not been swimming this week to give it time to adjust. I may have to go back again. The stretching she did across my back was
amazing and I can see I need to be doing more of that. Today when I sat down on the mat with my legs
crossed I remembered that as it was difficult to sit like that. Not a normal position for me.
Then to top the day of we had a few drops of rain. People were getting upset as they thought it's going to rain over the weekend. One girl at work said she wouldn't be able to go for her run! Strange how you adapt so readily, isn't it?
After such an
busy week I’m sitting down tonight with a beer at home watching TV. I think I’ll finish the week off with an
early night.
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