I haven't written in the past month because my internet connection is not the best. Nothing has really changed all that much, really. I am still living in the hotel, believe it or not. For some reason, I fell through the cracks when it came to the furniture allowance along with about 57 other people and we have now waited an additional month for our money. For the past two weeks they have told us it is 'processing' and we should receive it, but it never appears. So it is a good thing that I enjoy my Hilton hotel room because for now it is home and it has been for 2 months now!
School is pretty good for me. The kids are calming down a little bit but it is still very hard obviously because of the language barrier. They are picking up a little bit of English but it is very, very slow because they only hear it for a few hours at school and then they don't hear it at home. The behaviors are a little better... not as much jumping on tables. That is the way they are used to behaving so for them to come to school and be told they can't do it is just so foreign to them and it is taking time for them to get used to.
A lot of people are going home. I at least have an Arabic speaking teacher in my classroom to help a bit but the older grades (1, 2 and 3) do not have that. Also the boys schools are a lot harder too. There is not a lot of support out here for teachers and we are kind of left on our own so if you are having trouble then instead of working with you a lot of teachers end up just going home. It is sad because they came all the way out here and end up having to leave. One person left from my school, it was very sad.
There are no supplies in the classroom- only what we buy or brought from home. Every time I want to do a project or activity, I have to buy the supplies. No colored paper or anything. I haven't gotten paid so this week we are not doing anything fun so that is too bad for the kids. It is just so ironic because this country is so rich you would think they would supply their schools with items. Or pay their teachers. One or the other.
I did go to Dubai last weekend. That was fun, it is a cheap (thank goodness!) bus trip to Dubai. I saw the ski slope inside the mall. It does look like a real mountain but it is small. Then I went to the biggest mall in the world. That was pretty amazing- it is like a city! Wow, I will need to go back there someday! You need probably 2 weeks to get through the whole mall!
Dubai looks a lot different from Abu Dhabi. From the sand, to the buildings, you can tell that you are in a different emirate. It is very interesting. Abu Dhabi, especially the part that I teach in, has large sand dunes that are almost red in color. Dubai's sand looks more beachy. The buildings in Dubai are very modern looking and all glassy and look like true architecture. Abu Dhabi kind of just looks like a regular city.
I would post pictures of it to the blog now but it just takes too long. I am hoping to eventually get a better internet connection and be able to do so, but I guess the apartment building they are putting me in is not wired with fiberoptics and does not have a good internet connection. Of course... So anyway I will put them on facebook and hopefully eventually here!
