Just another weekend in the UAE

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to visit Dubai. It's about an hour away from Abu Dhabi along the coastline. We began our weekend at a place called, Bikers Cafe where I got an American-style breakfast, which if you know me, you know that I really needed it.

We then went to Dubai Mall, which is one of the biggest in the WORLD! Wow, it was huge and filled with extremely expensive stores. Inside the mall itself had two souks. (Souks are outdoor market places in the Middle East)

Just outside the mall is the Burj Kalifa building. It is the tallest building in the world with 160 stories!! It is located right on the coast of D

 

We also went to the Dubai Museum which originally was an old fort built in the late 1700's. We were very lucky to be given a tour of the place from one of our host family's friends. There were people from all over the world that visited. We learned about not only the history of Dubai but also about all seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates. After the museum, we went over to the Old Souk behind the Museum. Wow- what an experience. I learned how to barter with the shop owners, which is very different from how we shop in the US.

This is picture of one of the wall surrounding the courtyard of the fort. You can see shells and other materials that are stuck inside the walls from when it was built.



You might not be able to tell, but it was around 95-100 degrees that day...and the top of the museum is in the open.

On Saturday we went shopping in Abu Dhabi with Liz's cooperating teacher. She took us to yet another mall (Abu Dhabi is filled with just huge malls all over the place). Then we went to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque.

 

 

The mosque was on my list of the top 3 things that I wanted to do/see while I was here, and let me say that it was all that I hoped it would be. IT WAS AMAZING!! Not only because of my interest in art history and the Arab culture, but it is something that needs to be seen in person. I will say it was breath taking.

 

 

 

 

I have been at the school for three days now, and I am starting to pick up on the structure that this school has. This is an American school and all schools here in Abu Dhabi are very different. Our school is private and is modeled a lot like a secondary education program in the United States. I teach 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd grade science. The kids here start at what they call, KG1 (4 years old), then move on to KG2 (5 years old), then move on to 1^st, 2^nd, etc, just like the US. The difference is that at Al Sorouh, one class of students has a classroom that they always stay in, but they have many different teachers.  They teach; Arabic, Islamic Studies, English, Reading and Writing, Science, Computer Lab, and Math. The teachers move from class to class every period. There are 7 periods total with two recesses with the periods lasting 45 minutes and the recesses lasting about 25 minutes. They also do not eat lunch until after school at 2:30. The schedule is a little bit different for the KG because they are so young; they have the same teacher all day. For this experience I have 6 different classes of students! It’s strange for me because in the US, Elementary teachers usually have one classroom and teach all subjects. My schedule also changes every day so some days I have all 6 classes of students, and other days I only have 4.

The concept of having teachers who speak Arabic and come from all parts of the Middle East, teaching in English to Arabic children, is very complex. It makes me think about what if they decided to build a school where the teachers spoke English from all parts of our country, teaching Arabic to American students. No matter how well the teachers spoke Arabic, it would be different because our culture and where we are from is attached to our identity and how we see the world. It’s just an interesting concept to think about.

The snack that the kids and I get in the morning. A juice nectar pouch and cheese croissant!

 

Working in the Principal's office during a free period.

 

We also went to the Delma Mall last night for our first adventure out shopping. It was huge, and surprisingly had many stores that we have back in the US. It had American Eagle, Gap, Starbucks, Caribou, etc. There was only one store in the mall that sold anything traditional called, Khaadi. We each bought a kurta which is very comfortable. The other store that is here in Abu Dhabi is called, Carrefour. It’s the supermarket of the Middle East and has anything and everything that you could want.

              This is a close up picture of some of thee treats that we have gotten. We

aren't really sure what all of them are but as far as we can guess there are.... dates, coconut, sesame seeds, nuts, chocolate, and pistachio.

 

Today after school while Liz and I were waiting for the driver to pick us up, we felt a rumble. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but the walls and furniture were shaking for about 30 seconds. I have never felt an earthquake before, but that was definitely it. After listening to the news we found out that it was a 7.8 on the Richter scale from Iran which is just across the Gulf. It was nothing serious and there wasn’t any damage in Abu Dhabi, but it was a surprise for sure!

 

Here are some Flat Emilee adventures for the 2nd graders:)

Dates are very popular in Abu Dhabi! They are a kind of fruit grown on a palm tree here.

This is only a small part of the "couch" in our family room inside the villa. The couch surrounds the entire family room and can fit up to 15-18 people comfortably! It's very beautiful.

Here are a few pictures from outside. The first one is a great view of the main house on the compound. Also in our yard you can see the mosque and minaret. It's very pretty at night because instead of the sky turning black, it goes from a light purple to a deep purple. Against the color of the house, it's amazing!

Did you know??? Abu Dhabi means, "Father of Deer" in Arabic.

Home away from Home

Here is a quick "tour" of the compound. It's hard to show details in pictures, and even videos for that matter. Oh...by the way it's 95 degrees here! :)

April 10th, 2013

A 2 ½ hour ride to the airport, an 8 ½ hour flight to Amsterdam, a 5 hour layover, then another 6 ½ hour flight to Abu Dhabi……and WE’RE HERE!!

I have traveled a lot in and out of long car rides and trips, but I have never gone through so many different times zones in a matter of 1 day. We basically skipped a night because we left Minneapolis at 3pm our time and arrived at 6:30am Amsterdam time. Thankfully, Liz was my lookout while I slept in the airport at Amsterdam. On our way out we had to stop and take pictures with the cute teapot and cups which are made after the Netherlands famous “Delftware.” I also had to take a couple of FLAT EMILEE pictures for the students back at Park Elementary (We did a Flat Stanley Project with the 2^nd graders, so don’t be alarmed if a lot of my pictures include my flat version instead of the real meJ).

We arrived in Abu Dhabi at around 8pm their time and we were taken directly to our new villa and greeted by Mrs. Naema. She gave us a tour of the whole compound and then we had a light dinner (I thought it was a feast!) before having some tea and going to bed. Mrs. Naema has 6 daughters and 1 son. We were also just informed that her son’s first baby was born the morning we arrived, so everyone is very excited!! In the United Arab Emirates, families are very close and usually tend to live by each other or with each on what they call a compound. All of Mrs. Naema’s children live on the compound in separate villas with their families. We are staying in the guest villa which I think is very extravagant and beautiful as it is, but I was definitely speechless when I saw the main house. It is amazing!

 

Where in the world...

For those of you who may not know where in the world Abu Dhabi is....it is located in the United Arab Emirates. It is in the Middle East, surrounded by Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.