Well I can't believe it, but I've been in Dubai for over a month now. Time has really flown by. It took 4 weeks to get the internet so FINALLY I am back in the real world....or so it seems.
Dubai, Dubai, Dubai....It's strange. I love the heat, not having to transition to fall clothes, and the amazing amount of things there are to do here. You can hear the call to prayer 5 times a day (I mostly hear it early in the morning and in the evenings) coming form all of the surrounding mosques. My students tell me that the morning call to prayer says something to the effect of "Praying is better than sleeping. Get up Get up." They could very well be pulling my leg on this one but I sort of believe them, haha.
I'll start by showing you pictures of my apartment and the surrounding areas.
This is the view off of my balcony.
Mosque near my apartment.
I teach at an all girls American school. They girls are great.....really....you wouldn't believe how well behaved they are. They aren't perfect, but compared to the students I had in the US, they are flipping angels. Almost all of the girls are Emaratis, locals, and most of them have nannies, drivers, maids, etc, etc. There are even 5 princesses at the school.....like real legitimate princesses. They are called Sheikhas. I'm hope I'm spelling that corrrectly. The curriculum is American, so the girls are learning all about George Washington, pioneers, and the gold rush. I find this.....pretty strange. Most of these girls will never set foot in the U.S., unless they are going to Disney World. They really don't learn much about their own country at this school. They do, however, have to take Arabic and Islamic. Not all of them do, but most, and I really can't figure any of that out so I won't even try.
The library has Arabic books which are cataloged (THANK GOD) by my assistant, Safaa, who is Syrian and speaks Arabic. The Arabic books confuse the heck out of me, obviously, but I am starting to recognize the Arabic and Islamic textbooks, as well as learning some Arabic phrases from Safaa.
Ok, I guess that's all for now. There is loads more to tell but I will hopefully be blogging more so I can get it all out!
Dubai, Dubai, Dubai....It's strange. I love the heat, not having to transition to fall clothes, and the amazing amount of things there are to do here. You can hear the call to prayer 5 times a day (I mostly hear it early in the morning and in the evenings) coming form all of the surrounding mosques. My students tell me that the morning call to prayer says something to the effect of "Praying is better than sleeping. Get up Get up." They could very well be pulling my leg on this one but I sort of believe them, haha.
I'll start by showing you pictures of my apartment and the surrounding areas.
Downtown
Downtown
I see these everywhere.....must figure out what the heck they mean :) I'm assuming they are Sheikhs.
Burj Khalifa...Tallest building in the world. I can see this build from my apartment on clear days. I live about 15-20 minutes from downtown which is where this is.
I teach at an all girls American school. They girls are great.....really....you wouldn't believe how well behaved they are. They aren't perfect, but compared to the students I had in the US, they are flipping angels. Almost all of the girls are Emaratis, locals, and most of them have nannies, drivers, maids, etc, etc. There are even 5 princesses at the school.....like real legitimate princesses. They are called Sheikhas. I'm hope I'm spelling that corrrectly. The curriculum is American, so the girls are learning all about George Washington, pioneers, and the gold rush. I find this.....pretty strange. Most of these girls will never set foot in the U.S., unless they are going to Disney World. They really don't learn much about their own country at this school. They do, however, have to take Arabic and Islamic. Not all of them do, but most, and I really can't figure any of that out so I won't even try.
The library has Arabic books which are cataloged (THANK GOD) by my assistant, Safaa, who is Syrian and speaks Arabic. The Arabic books confuse the heck out of me, obviously, but I am starting to recognize the Arabic and Islamic textbooks, as well as learning some Arabic phrases from Safaa.
Ok, I guess that's all for now. There is loads more to tell but I will hopefully be blogging more so I can get it all out!
