Term 3!

Term 3…

Well looking back at term 3 it for sure flew by.  i actually never thought the day would come that we would be out of school for the summer that term 2 was so long!  This term brought many exciting new things though!  At school we continued to work away to ensure we could get through the rest of the curriculum needed for the girls to succeed to go to Grade 6, we went on three field trips!, and many other things I will get to in this post.

So when I got back from Thailand I was refreshed and ready to get back to school yet exhausted at the same time!  i don't think that looking daily at my countdowns helped too much!  However, the week after we got back from spring holiday- I took my girls on a trip to the eastern mangroves at yas beach- here we got to kayak to the mangroves (slightly entertaining watching 5th grade girls attempt to kayak- but they did it :)) and then learn about the mangroves!  it was really fun going on a trip with the girls!  The next exciting thing that I did at school was help with our Grade 11 fashion show- what happens is two teachers from the secondary school have an after school club for the grade 11's- in this club throughout the year the girls raise money as well as design their own dresses to be modeled at a fashion show.  The girls do an incredible job with this event to say the least!  They put on a huge water carnival to raise money and do other various things.  Then the fashion show is amazing- they transform our theatre into a true fashion show spot!  They have the run way and all!  The girls then model their own dresses for this show for their moms, aunts, cousins, etc.  These girls are some of the prettiest people i have ever seen and they are quite talented as well!  Helping with the fashion show was a really neat way to be able to meet some of the students from our secondary school as well.  Back to 5th grade---the next exciting thing we did was go to Dubai to the 360 planetarium.  And wow- road trippin with 20 10-11 year olds----whaaaat a ride!  We had an absolute blast though!  We were able to lay our huge bean bags and watch imax movies while learn about the solar system!  Way better than listening to me i am sure!  Our third and final field trip I took 1/4 of the students to Emirates Palace (please google this place!!) and we were able to meet an artist and participate in a workshop.  In this workshop we learned about Arabic Calligraphy.  We were each given our own styrofoam board and were given 2 different pastels- with these pastels we all wrote Allah in Arabic (meaning god).  At the end all of the pieces were put together to make a even bigger Allah (see picture!!).  This was a really neat thing to be able to do with the girls as well!  With this term being so short my girls had kept a huge secret with me and we had to prepare for our Poetry party for our parents a bit early since they knew i was taking off to the states for the weekend for Meg's graduation!  Our poetry party was absolutely great!  The girls decorated our classroom, all wore tea party dresses, memorized poems, and set up a actual tea party for their parents!  They also learned a song and even made a dance to go with it!  This was our end of the year celebration and the girls did such a wonderful job with it!  

On a social aspect….Yacht Party, Justin Timberlake, Shaggy, Monday Trivia, Paintball, Go-karts, Archery, Brunches, Al maya island!, Yas Waterworld and finally my first Iftar! I don't think my life was too lame this last term either.  One of the girls and her husband rented a huge yacht for the day and we all went out and swam in the arabian gulf!  During this time we also were jumping from the 3rd floor of this yacht, tubing, and just swimming and partying the day away.  Not a bad way to spend a friday!  Justin Timberlake came to Yas Island- need I say more?!  AMAZING!  Shaggy came to emirates palace!  Monday Trivia became a weekly event in our lives as well- we would go to the good old Park Rotana- Coopers! to play trivia/pub quiz night each week.  Our teams varied in size but usually we had 5 of us consistently there- and two weeks we were even the champs so we were able to eat dinner for free the next week!  I can not wait to get back for this however, will certainly be missing two of our team members that have retired and moved back to the UK :(.  We went paint balling at a sports complex one night for two of the girls birthdays that was also super fun! We had to wear jumpsuits and all!  Go-Karts and archery were at the same place a couple months later.  Brunches for birthdays!  Al Maya island is this island that takes about 30 minutes on a ferry to get there from Abu Dhabi- we went out here for another one of the girls birthdays and there is a huge pool, pool bar, beach, dj, etc and we just spent the day out there- it was a greaaaat day!  Our last weekend in Abu Dhabi a group of us went out to Yas Waterworld for the day-this is a huge watermark in AD that was just a good way to spend a day!  And thank goodness it wasn't too hot!  The last thing that I did that i found to be interesting enough to write about was I went to my first iftar meal.  So as you all know the UAE is a Muslim country- so during the holy month of Ramadan the people fast.  This means from sun up to sun down they do not eat anything or drink anything including water- as a non-muslim they do not make me follow these guidelines however- out of respect there are no restaurants open and you are not to eat or drink in public.  We had secured areas where we could go to eat and we also had certain places that would deliver to us.  But at sun down- "the breaking of the fast" they have what is called their Iftar meal- this basically is the time where they eat and drink and just sit with family and friends after the day of fasting.  I went with a few people I work with to a hotel and had my first Iftar meal- it was a  really cool thing to be part of!  After this year I don't think I could ever say I lacked a social life as many people thought may happen when I moved over here.   

The things that i have learned in just one year of teaching abroad is absolutely amazing.  I really do have to thank everyone in my life for all of the support i was given throughout this year.  It would not of been possible to have done this without everyone.  I would say that overall this year was extremely stressful, not easy, at times downright sucked, but looking back it really blew by and the bad memories are hard to explain to someone.  So I guess seeing it that way I have been blessed beyond believe and have had a fantastic year.  I know each year i get attached to a new group of kids but these girls that brought me in from the first of the year and taught me so much are always going to have a special place in my heart.  From me not having luggage, to knowing no arabic, to being completely new to a culture and place- these girls and their families have brought me in and welcomed me- taught me things i need to know, have cared and loved me back.  I will never be able to forgot nor thank my class enough for the things they taught me this year and can't wait to see what my next group of kids teaches me!  

i am staying in Grade 5 next year and am excited to see what another year in the UAE brings!  But first…onto my summer Europe trip through Italy (Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice), onto France (Paris), and finally the Uk (London) before heading back to the states for a month of fun! :)

Thailand! Spring break 2014 :)

Thailand...

For spring break this year we had two weeks off of school.  I decided that I was going to travel to Thailand for the holiday (no one over here says they are going on vacation- you are going on 'holiday').  We got out of school on Thursday and had a 5:40am flight out of Abu Dhabi. After packing my backpack and trying to jam as much as it possibly could into a backpack & after a sleepless night we were dropped off at the airport.  For those of you that read my blog about Germany and Austria we knew a tad more about our plans in Thailand seeing we wanted to see so much of the country in such a short amount of time.  We flew out of Abu Dhabi and had a couple hour layover in Oman..there were two other girls we work with in Oman so we decided to all sit just together and try to stay awake so we could sleep on the flight (thank goodness for diary queen!) we finally made it to Bangkok around 5pm- went through passport control and found our luggage (everything made it!).  Then Thailand has a super cool travels sim that we all got since our phones are unlocked and meant we were able to have data on our phone and some credit to call and text for less then $15 for the whole two weeks!  As we were standing in the line to get our sims another girl walked up to us and asked if we were going to Khaosan Road (there is a very populated road in Thailand for travelers)- we told her yes and decided to all share a taxi. During the taxi ride Belinda and I found out this girls name is Zoe and she is from the UK. After our taxi ride we decided we would meet up after we checked in and got settled a bit.  That night we explored Khaosan Road a bit- got dinner- tried our first Changs and took our first ride on a tuk tuk (these are the taxi-ish things all over Thailand). Bangkok is truly a city that doesn't sleep the first night we were up until after 4am! The next day we met up with another girl from our school and got our first Thai massages (hour and a half massages for about $10!), then had dinner with two others girls from school.  We had a great day just taking it easy and exploring with friends from the UAE.  Later that night we met back up with Zoe and a group of people from Canada who had been living in Australia (it is amazing how some people truly just pick their lives up and travel for 6 months no questions asked!). Our next day in Bangkok we decided to go explore the floating markets and more of Bangkok with Zoe- basically we were in our own boat and we got a water tour of Bangkok and stopped by people in tinnnnnyyyyy canoe looking boats and they are filled with things they are selling. After that we made a deal with a tuk tuk driver and he took us to the big Buddha, the grand palace, a suit store (huge in Thailand), a market area and then a jewelry-ish store where you can watch them make things- all of this was 60 baht for the three of us which is like $3 so pretty good deal for us! That night we decided to go and watch a cabaret show (lady boys...) which was a fun change of scenery! After that we rode what was the equivalent to the Bangkok eye and got to take a higher look at Bangkok. We then found a local area called RCA and hung out there for a bit before heading back to Khaosan being full of people! The next morning we had to journey around to find our train tickets and then just had a relaxing day before taking the overnight train to Chiang Mai which is in Northern Thailand.  The overnight train there was about a 13 hour ride.  We got two bunks on the train.  When we got onto the train we had fairly comfortable seats and lots of room.  Around 8pm the train attendants start coming around to lay beds down.  As we are watching them lay the beds down the top one is looking rather scary. We made it through the night on the train however not so well rested! But we were lucky enough that our hotel let us check in early for a little nap! In Chiang Mai we stayed rather busy! We went ziplining, to an elephant farm, tiger kingdom, explored the city (we had our own tour guide to all the temples!), and even had a fish foot massage (they eat at your feet...grosssss)! Chiang Mai was a beautiful place! After we stayed here for a couple of days we flew back to Bangkok for a quick night at the airport hotel and off to ko samui we went! We stayed at a resort right on the beach here! In ko samui we finally got to just lay around and enjoy the beach. Our resort overlooked mountains and some beautiful Thailand water! In ko samui I even went to my first ice bar...however it was more like a food freezer decorated! Seeing the beaches and just relaxing was a great part of the vacation! However, our next stop was even more amazing- koh phangan! This is a veryyyy small island about an hour ferry ride from ko samui- here we stayed in our very own beach front bungalow! Our friend from the UK that we met in Bangkok also decided to join us here which made it even better! We also met two boys from Minnesota and so the 5 of us went exploring together! We layed by the pool and beach all day! Very quiet resort and we had a hammock on our balcony and all! Also on this island is where they do the big moon festivals- they are kinda like a techno rave- they go throughout the whole night! All five of us went to the half moon festival and w even ran into people we met at the ice bar! It was an awesome festival and you get body neon paint there! It was nice to then go back to our quiet area and just enjoy the last few days of vacation! After that we had one last night on Khaosan road before ending back to Abu Dhabi! Thailand was an amazing place and somewhere I would loveeeee to go back to!  I will update my next entry with an overview of term 3! :)))

Pictures to come!!

oooopssss...finally blogging!

So 2014 I am going to get back to my blog!  School got pretty crazy with inspections and then conferences and report cards I couldn’t keep up with it all!  And the one time I did try and keep up I lost my blog.

So I am going to give an overview of the past couple of months and all the things I have done!  I feel that I am really adjusting to the country and beginning to know where things are.  I do still have a hard time understanding what people are saying sometimes but I am getting a tad better (or at least like to think I am).  We have traveled to Al Ain and Dubai in the Emirates a couple of times and they are also great places.  I have explored multiples malls in Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai.  School was like the end of any 1^st quarter back in the states- testing, report cards, conferences, the whole nine yards.  The new thing for me this year was the inspection process.  The word is so intimidating!  People come in and observe each teacher to create a review of the school.  I was totally relieved when that was over!  But two more to go this year…

During the time I was not blogging ( L ) it was the 42^nd National Day in the UAE.  This is the time 42 years ago the Emirates united.  This is a huge deal here!  It is kind of like our 4^th of July.  The kids all bring in items to decorate the classroom we plan a huge celebration at school!  Our celebration was set to be the Thursday before National Day since everything closes so people can celebrate.  However….Wednesday night Dubai won Expo 2020 so it was declared a National Holiday!  I will never complain about a day off that I don’t have to make up!  So we were lucky to have a 5 day weekend just a couple of days before a 3 week vacation!  The celebration was the following week.  It is so neat to see all the students dressed up in their National Dress and the staff even joins them!  I got a new THOBE for the celebration!  Being full immersed in this culture is so eye opening!  So we had a great time seeing performances, having camels and falcons at school, traditional food and so much more!  The kids are so proud of their country it’s amazing to be a part of!

During the long weekend Belinda and I traveled to Dubai to find her a jacket for our trip to Germany and Austria.  When we were there we decided we wanted to go to Outback for dinner (have to get that American food in J).  When we went over to the Dubai Mall (the biggest mall in the world) it was SLAMMED!  We were totally not thinking everyone would be there to watch fireworks at the Burj and watch the dancing fountains!  So we decided well we are all the way up here we might as well join!  The burj was lit up with the colors of the UAE and we were able to see both fireworks and the dancing fountains!  So of you got videos from me- so neat! 

When school wrapped up Belinda and I began our journey a few short hours later to head to Austria.  We left from the Dubai airport so we have to drive up to Dubai and head out.  We took an overnight flight to Austria.  Talk about EXHAUSTION!  We both woke up halfway through the flight and truly thought we were not going to survive having to stay awake!  Lucky us—it was only halfway through the trip!

Vienna, Austria

We landed in Austria and really did not plan how we were going to get to our hostel other than we knew we would take the train.  So thank goodness for iphones and wifi- we found the route that we needed to take and the trains that would lead us there.  We changed our clothes in the airport since it was about 7am and walked out into the cold.  The desert has reallllyy spoiled me and I am a complete wimp now when it comes to the cold!  Anyhow- we began train ride and we were very confident that we knew what we were doing.  We dragged our suitcases down the road and found Wombats (the hostel we were staying in)---however- jokes on us- they had 3 hostels in Vienna and of course we didn’t pay attention to that!  Details and I don’t always seem to get along so OOPS!  Sorry Belinda!  But the people there were super friendly and we just had to drag our suitcases back down the road and then hop back on a train- all while freezing- no big deal! Austria was beautiful though!  We went to multiple Christmas markets, ate lots of pretzels, had some hot wine, enjoyed being in a snowy environment and had my first hostel experience!  The hostel was great!  We stayed in a room with 2 other girls who were super nice but we all were hardly in the room together just really for sleeping! During our time here, we met up with a couple of other girls that we work with and saw some beautiful markets and even experienced a bit of the night life in Vienna!  We took the train one day to find beautiful hills and scenery in Vienna and then somehow ended up at an amusement park!  We only stayed a few days in Vienna and then took the train to Munich, Germany.

 vienna!

 beautiful!

 amusement park!

 our first christmas market!

The train ride is only about 4 hours long- however…for those of you that know me- I do NOT sit still very well.  And again…poor Belinda needs to stop listening to me- I see the train-perfect ok lets get on- however, on the train tickets there are lots of different numbers but the problem is they are all in German and I speak ZERO German.  So I have us hop right on (with our 50 pound suitcases)- and come to find out---WRONG CART! We only had to drag them through 3 carts/push through people/lift them up to put them up..yikes.  Well after that the train ride begins- we pass where the Sound of Music was filmed and it really was a nice ride just soooo boring.  I had to get up quick a few times just to walk around! 

Munich, Germany

We get to Munich and the train station we stop at is only a block from the hostel- no worries- it was the RIGHT hostel this time!  We met up with another girl we work with who was going to finish the trip with us in Munich.  In Munich- we continued our Christmas market adventures, the pretzels, and the hot wine.  Here we also went to castles in the Bavarian Villages, went to Olympic village, saw the Alps, hiked up 300 steps to look over Munich, and saw lots of snow!  We also went to beer gardens which is a really neat experience.  You basically walk into a huge restaurant- find a couple open seats at picnic tables and join the fun!  The first night we went we were looking around and I found a table that had quite a few seats with some younger guys so we sat down.  We began talking to them and they were from Switzerland.  While we are here enjoying some German folk dancing and music I get up to go to the bathroom and somehow end up trying to learn a new game with a bunch of old German guys.  I however, am TERRIBLE at the “flipping the coaster” game- so I bring the non-English speaking people to Belinda who challenges them to the game!  She of course is good at this game!

 <3 beer garden!

 300 steps later a look over munich!

 alps!

 olympic pool <3

 Olympic field

 touring the castles!

The Hostel Experience…

So, during our time in Munich we stayed in another hostel.  The type of hostels we were staying was from the Wombat family.  Great reviews, great locations, great staff- everything!  Welllll- at this hostel we stayed in a room of 6 (Belinda, Charlotte and myself) and 3 others.  One morning when we were getting up we were showering and such- I had just gotten out of bed and Belinda was going to get in the shower.  I was deciding what I was going to wear that day and such.  Belinda goes in to begin getting ready and a minute later- she comes flyinggggg out of the bathroom clearly NOT happy!  Well, I guess not everyone what knows what is and isn’t appropriate for people to share- one of the girls used her loofas…so gross! But looking back- I still find this story quite funny- however do not be alarmed- Belinda DID throw the loofa AWAY!  So FYI- don’t ever leave your things out to dry even under your towel! :)

Mulhall’s arrive!

We had no problems getting home and got back into Dubai and headed back to Abu Dhabi- exhausted but now thrilled for our families’ visits!  As we were leaving Dubai our families had both arrived at JFK to begin their trip to the UAE!  Luckily, our families were on the same flight!  So the Mulhall’s (gracefully, of course) met up with Belinda’s mom to begin the introductions.  Well, since all of you reading this probably know me- when came my family go ANYWEHRE without causing some sort of episode?!  I arrived at the airport around 8pm seeing their flight was supposed to land at 7:30- I was giving them some time to go through passport control, etc.  Well Belinda and I are waiting at the airport all excited- and let me give you a visual of the Abu Dhabi airport- you do not have a regular baggage claim where people meet you- you get your bags and a cart (which you have to hold to handles together to move- which is quite funny to watch people try and figure out) but then you roll down a hallway and there are big glass doors- past the doors you have a wall that people stand behind SO excited to greet their visitors!  So Belinda and I are making our way closer and closer so they can see us right when they walk out!  Welllll….most of you heard that John had a pretty rough trip over to the UAE- after standing and waiting for about an hour and a half I hate to say the excitement was beginning to wear off a tad bit!  Well finally I get an imessage from my mom that they are having to wait at the clinic for John to see some doctors to get checked out.  Well I wont go into that long story because this blog is already going to be long enough- however, a bit later they come out and we are on our way!  Even though it took hours we were still thrilled to see them!  And yall remember my funnnnn trip to the UAE and not having any bags well guess whatttt- ETIHAD struck again!  NO BAGS FOR JOHN!  At least him and dad wear the same size!

During their visit here I kept them quite busy- from trips to the Grand Mosque, to the hop on hop off bus tours of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Ski Dubai, various Souqs, world’s largest firework display in Dubai for new year’s, Al Ain, desert safaris, camel rides, dune bashing, visiting my school, walking the Corniche, a dhow river cruise, and a Christmas brunch I know it wasn’t too relaxing but they got some great exposure to the UAE!  I absolutely loved having them all here and we even all survived two weeks in my apartment together!  Good thing we kept busy and out a lot :)

 brunchin with the Hilliard's on Christmas!

 tallest building in the world!

 yup, thats a camel with us!

 they really got into the culture!

 john and i riding 4wheelers!

 dhow river cruise in dubai! burj in the background!

 desert safari!

 merry christmas from the mulhall's!

 family from the grand mosque in abu dhabi!

 typical family photo! i make them so proud! :)

 worlds fastest roller coaster

My New Year’s Eve Experience…

Can you say Ice Ice Baby!  That’s right- Vanilla Ice at the Atlantis on the Palm in Dubai (with the attempt for the World’s Largest Firework Display) for NYE!  So this is another great story of the UAE and how things can never just work out correctly!  So we first get to Dubai- Belinda, Laura and I- we have a hotel and plan to get ready and be super on time for this event!  Well- our hotel SUCKED (sorry mom no better way to put it) and we had to change hotels.  Awful AWFUL AWFUL!  So we got a new hotel0 got ready and headed out. We then got stuck in awful traffic- and I won’t embarrass Belinda on the internet but remind me when I talk to you personally or I see you to tell you her taxi story! We then get up to the palm and our taxi driver tells us the tram is the fastest way and from what we had read we agreed so we paid him hopped out of the taxi and headed to the tram.  Again- jokes on us.  Tram is closed.  The police officer looks at us and points 8km and points- 8kms= 5 miles! Hahahaha what a jokeeeeee. Thank goodness I don’t wear heals sorry Laura and Belinda! So we get up to the part of the palm where you go underwater and you are in a tunnel (I will add a picture of the palm below so you can get a visual).  Well the police are telling us we HAVE to be in a car to go through the tunnel- talk about some ANGRY people!  There was a huge concert festival going on as well so no joke THOUSANDS of screaming people!  Well anyhow- I think there is a riot about to happen!  People screaming running others other, police officers screaming in Arabic---scarrrrry!  Well we start to go to a place where we could at least see the fireworks if we were not going to be able to get to the Palm- but then I spot a taxi and take off!  Me and another girl get to the taxi and we share the taxi and get to the palm by 11!  So after a 4 hour adventure we made it and got to meet Vanilla Ice and he took my phone and took a picture with us!  Even though he has like 2 songs we know it was a blast! And the fireworks were AMAZING!

 worlds largest firework display

 atlantis in dubai on the palm!

 a view of the palm from above!

 Vanilla Ice!

  

Term Two

Since being back from the holiday and my families visit school has been in full swing.  We have hardly had any time off I have gotten so wrapped up with school I never got the chance to blog correctly!  We had inspections this term as well as another set of report cards and we are just finishing up parent teacher conferences.  It has come to the point I am really feeling settled in the UAE.  It is beginning to feel like my home.  I have continue to make friends from all over the world!  Such an awesome thing to say I have friends from all over :) 

This term I did lose my grandfather, Pop.  Being away from family in a time such as this was not easy but I am so thankful for the people in my life who were there for me here!

This term has brought…brunches, holi festival, weekends in Dubai, Ferrari world, red bull air show, global village, St. Patricks day with the Irish!, and many random happenings in the UAE!  Also, a great birthday celebration with all of our friends here in the UAE! I have a birthday twin over here so we really had some fun! And one of the best tasks has been planning the trip to Thailand!  A two week trip in Thailand including Bangkok, Chiang-Mai and Koh Samui!  I am so excited for this trip to begin in just 2 days!

 red bull air show on the corniche!

 a night at the beach club!

 brunchin with the girls!

 brunch with the view of the Grand Mosque

 a night time walk around the marina in dubai!

 birthday cake :) y'all have snow...i have the beachhh :)

So for now…this is it…I will blog after Thailand!! :)