Well, I have been here for 2 weeks now, and there has been a ton of info that has entered my brain. It has caused one sleepless night (just couldn’t shut off my mind), but otherwise, I am back to waking up around 5:30-6 am with the sunrise. And at that time, I can also hear the call to prayer from the nearby mosque. (*Update: I am back to my Canadian hours of midnight to 8:30-9 am, which is not so good when school starts at 7:40…)

I arrived late on Friday night after the longest flight I have ever been on (16 hours… I think it was longer than New Zealand/Australia). The flight wasn’t that interesting, other than the plane itself was the fanciest I have ever been on! I sat near the front of the plane (3rd row back) and we had 5 toilets up near the cockpit (the cockpit was raised) and then there were stairs up to 1st class. The flight attendants also had a little cubby where they could complete their computer system work. Also, they had an amazing entertainment system and tasty, real (not airplane tasting) food. (I had lamb biriyani, pizza, and then omelet for breakfast). They even offered fresh fruit.

Once we arrived at the airport, we were met by a “Marhaba” agent (marhaba in Arabic means welcome), who helped us through customs (we had a separate line) and then collected our bags with the porter, while we (myself and Travis, from California) went to Duty Free. This is quite the thing, and the limit for entering the country is very high. 4 litres of spirits, or 5 bottles of wine (or 4 cases of beer*, as they consider one case of beer to be one litre *this is what I was told by another teacher, but I did not ask myself). I took advantage of this, and stocked up, as I will not be able to buy alcohol for personal use (in my house only) until I have an alcohol licence (there are ways around this, but for now, I won’t try to figure them out). On the topic of alcohol, as it is not easily accessible, the prices are extremely high (ex: 20$ for a drink, even a pint of beer). At these prices, I will be protecting my wallet and my liver from damage! Of course, Dubai is famous for its discounts and deals, so there are many 2-4-1 coupons on Groupon, Cobone and through the Entertainer booklet. (Food is also expensive, so these sites/apps are your friend if you want to dine out). There is also a concept of brunch, (not in the morning, as I thought, but in the afternoon). When I get to a brunch, I will let you know. They are pricey, and from what I can tell, it is all you can eat and drink (drinks are dependent on which package you choose, and can be all non-alcoholic or could include house beverages such as wine and beer). This is supposed to be quite the experience, so I will definitely try at least one while I am here!

Anyways, back to my arrival. We were met by the Primary and Elementary school principals, and then taken to our apartments. My place is in a building called Al Telal, and my one bedroom is quite large. I do not have a storage space, however, but some of the other teachers have offered the use of their places for my suitcases. I am now in the process of making the space more my own, decorating and adding colour (it is very white…). Mom is sending me some more quilted items with Mark, so it will still be a couple of weeks before I am really set up. I have joined the gym beside my building, even though the school and the apartment have gym facilities. I know myself well enough to know that without classes like Zumba, spin, bellydance, or someone to hold me accountable, I will not get to the gym (having to pay for it also is motivation!).

I am situated reasonably close to school and the Mall of the Emirates (MOE), but have decided to rent a car. I must say that I love having wheels. You can get around the city using the metro and cabs/uber (*uber is not cheaper than taxis here, but you are guaranteed to be driven in a white Lexus!) but I have found that I like the freedom to get groceries or go somewhere when I please. I am also driving others to work (there are I think 40 apartments belonging to teachers in just my building). My little Yaris is doing fine, other than it is lacking the pep of Dad’s camry, and I find myself coaxing it to speed up! I have also learned that the streets here are mostly one way, with not many turn offs. If you miss one, you will be driving for a bit, until you are able to U-turn (acceptable as long as you are not a truck, at most stop lights). Also, DO NOT RUN A LIGHT!! People actually do stop as soon as the light starts to flash green. I have been the last car, and will need to pay closer attention so as not to run the lights. I have also discovered that although there is radar on many of the roads, there is approximately a 20 km/h buffer before you would be ticketed on most roads. So, I generally find it is best to go with the flow of traffic. I know that Mom would not like driving here, since you have to be aggressive and most people don’t use their signals (unless they are u-turning), and although some of the other teachers feel that there are a lot of horns being used, it is significantly better than my apartment in Barranquilla, where it was a constant chorus of honking.

What else?? Carrefour is probably the supermarket I frequent the most, which means that I am at the mall quite often. I am looking into a few food delivery services, since they are almost the same price as groceries. That was something else that surprised me, that everything is imported. There are fruits from all over the world, and trying to choose can be overwhelming (part of why I have been to the supermarket quite a lot, as I miss or forget things). I have been told that the best time to go is Friday morning, as it is the Muslim Holy day, and most things (aside from the mall) are closed until 1 pm, as people are at the mosques.

So yes, orientation has been fine, other than they are still constructing our classrooms, so we haven’t been able to unpack anything yet. The school itself has a lot of facilities, and will be very cool once everything is up and running. On the school side of things, I have a grade 6 homeroom and am part of the Jaguar house (our school mascot is the leopard, so all the houses are big cats). I have now met the rest of my science team, and we are planning our first unit (Engineering and Scientific principles). We are an all female team, and I think we will be awesome!

One of the members, Liz, from NS, and I went to Atlantis water park last weekend, and I think I will be getting an annual pass (I had a free voucher for my birthday, and Liz has a pass, so we went later in the afternoon when the sun wasn’t as strong). It was a lot of fun, and I will definitely go back!

We also had a “Big bus tour” put on by the school to help orient ourselves to the city. We stopped at the Madinat Jumeirah, where we had amazing views of the Burj Al-Arab, and then passed by several beaches, Box park, the gold souk, a ride on a dhow across Dubai creek, and finally ended up at Dubai mall and the foot of Burj Khalifa (way too many people!). I am looking forward to Mark’s visit in a few weeks time, so that we can go explore more of the architecture. By the end of the tour, I was DONE! I had reached my limit of people, and just needed some alone time.

We also had a trip to the Sheikh Mohammed Cultural Centre, and I will write about that visit in another post.

This past weekend, we had Thursday and Sunday (today) off, as it is Eid Al-Adha, which is at the end of Hadj (the muslim pilgrimage to Mecca). We went to Jumeirah Beach to watch the fireworks display, and then a few of us went out dancing afterwards. They almost didn’t let me in, because I was in my Birkenstocks, but the girls at the door decided they were nice enough and they trusted that I wouldn’t lose my shoes. I guess I will have to wear other shoes next time. This coming Thursday, we will be going out for Ladies Night (there are many discounts and such for women, men unfortunately, do not get the same treatment). Should be good!

Ok. Not sure what else to post in this one. I apologize for some of the ramblings! I will try to vary my posts (some more informative, if you want to see/do things and others much like this one, where it is whatever I happen to be thinking at the time!).

See you next week (my goal is to make one post, whether recent or from earlier this year, per week) 🙂 (this may be easier once I finally have internet at home…)