New Lessons.....New Experiences!!!

Yes, it has been about three weeks since I have had the opportunity to share my new reality. Even though times are less stressful for the most part, the days seem to pass by pretty quickly. Before I start, an online experience last week left a really bad taste in my mouth and I want to share my thoughts before I move on to the events of the past week or so.

For ANYONE that is thinking about taking this leap of faith and seeking advice or insight from those of us inside the “bubble”, please understand that each of us have or are having our own experience and much of our perceptions and attitudes are shaped by our individual experiences. Even I understand that because my experience is wonderful, does not mean that each person here is having the same thoughts or feels the same way. So much of this experience depends on these factors:

1  First and foremost, your school placement.  I am so lucky that I was placed where I was. YES, I have heard about other placements and the experiences that go with being certain places. This country is no different than the U.S. in some regards. Some schools and neighborhoods are better than others.

2 Your ability to let go.  “Stuff” happens for no rhyme or reason and you HAVE to roll with the punches. There are some that have been transferred 3-4 times. Others have had different issues with a number of things from plumbing, deliveries, to not so up front business dealings. This is not America and you have to understand when to “push” softly and when to “push” more assertively.

3 You will see things done in schools that make you scratch your head. Again, this is a different world and they do things differently. You must keep things in context. This is not your HOUSE. You may let your dogs lie on the furniture or get in the bed with you (on a personal level, that’s gross), but when you bring your dogs (attitudes and perceptions) to someone else’s house, you may in fact have to leave them in the car or outside on the porch…Their house, their rules!

4 Have an open mind. Most of us are 20 hours from home and multiple time zones and in that change, the world becomes completely different. Yes, there are so many amenities that remind us of home, but there are many things that do not and your ability to accept, adapt, and then appreciate those differences will have a significant impact on how you few your experience in the U.A.E.

   Be Sociable! Being far from home you need to make some friends! LOL Most are quite good at this bonding during the interview phase, or the waiting phase, and/or the orientation phase. There are many groups on Facebook and many other events. The quicker one has others to share this experience with, the better.

This job IS NOT for the faint of heart. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Yes, the American Public Education System and probably some countries are broken and some might argue irotrevably. But there are systems, mindsets, procedures, but mostly importantly CONSEQUENCES if jobs, schools, teachers, and organizations do not perform at acceptable levels. Notice, I used the word acceptable and not exceptional. From my short time here I have experienced, as well as other collegues, a certain amount of frustration and that varies from place to place. To give you some context, I am at a good school, in a good neighborhood and there are still daily frustrations. So I can only imagine what others might have to experience or endure at other schools that are not so good or are not in great neighborhoods. This is a huge job and a herculean climb with EMTs doing a great deal of the heavy lifting by design. Which means, a great deal of the issues and problems must be solved by the people doing most of the living.

I can only give you my experience through my lens. I have been accepted and welcomed by all. Ironically, the only negative experiences that I have had, that were not self-inflicted (more about those later), have been with ex-pats who were not of this country. To see the Muslim faith up close is humbling and truly an eye opening experience. The reverence that Emiratis have for their God and their leader is truly inspiring.  Again, others will give you a different opinion, but I am here to tell you this is as close to heaven on earth....for me. If you can deal with the heat, the laissez faire culture, and camels riding in the back of trucks down the rode, then this is an opportunity I would recommend. Now off my soap-box and on to the last few weeks.

How did I go from a Ford Explorer to a candy-apple red Hyundai Elantra?

So this story actually begins before "we" even left the states. Part of the reason for this move was to provide us with more financial freedom. To be honest, I do not know what "I" got in such a rush to get a car. Long story short, as I mentioned in my last post, we went to purchase a car with some friends. They began the process before we did and during the process, there were a few surprises that came up with regard to the bank assessing fees. The fees weren't necessarily high, it was just the fact that the banker was not transparent. It is so important to find a banker that you are comfortable with and who is HONEST. Even though people have an account at a particular bank, different bankers from the same bank, but different branches will call you and tell you not to deal with any of the other bankers. It is truly a crab in the bucket mentality. When I arrived, I was introduced to a great banker, but he was not the one that was handling the financing at this particular dealership. After thinking about it more, examining our "true" needs, and reflecting on our initial goals, we decided that this was not the best time to purchase......which brings us to our new red cadillac:) I was driving a different rental but it had absolutely no power so I took it back and got a better car and guess what.....IT WAS CHEAPER!!! That was confirmation for me that we had made, not the best decision, but the right decision. 

Church in Dubai!!!

We had an amazing time last Friday at church in Dubai. We drove up with our friends the Carters (Shout out to Renee, Bobby, and Carter). It was amazing to see so many different nationalities worshiping together. The pastor was from India. Praise and worship was different as the band played mostly contemporary Christian music. The people were extremely welcoming and we will definitely be attending again. After church we decided to "visit" the Dubai Mall. LAWD HAVE MERCY! It was big and nice! I'm not really a mall person, but this one was really nice. We had a great time walking and talking with the Carters:) Check out just a few of our pics:

Huge waterfall

Indoor Aquarium

Aquarium view from the second view

An Octopus holding nothing but credit cards!!! LOL

Ice Skating Ring

So the only thing left for us to do in Abu Dhabi was to finally get the rest of our furniture. On tehe scheduled delivery day, Sherrica and I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. My mind kept telling me to call during the delivery window but I didn't. So after the window had passed, I called only to find out that they had been calling the wrong number. What further made me mad was that they never even attempted to deliver the furniture. When I talked to the driver, he kept repeating the same thing over and over and then he refused to come back and re-deliver. Of course I was furious so Sherrica and I decided to take the 30 minute drive back to the store. Before we arrived, she asked me to allow her to "handle the situation."

I must say that she did just that, even though I interjected a few times:) I have to admit that it was ALL my fault. I had given the wrong phone number and they had been trying to contact me but couldn't. I could only be so mad:) Oddly enough as we were trying to reschedule a new delivery date, the delivery men, called and said they were waiting...HUH??? After all that arguing back and forth, they came back and delivered the furniture anyway. In the end, it all worked out!!!

Lesson: MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR PHONE NUMBER!!!!!