Rowdy Pupils Scare Away Newly Arrived Expat Teachers

Rowdy Pupils Scare Away Newly Arrived Expat Teachers

Some of the facts in the article are not right.  More than 50 teachers have left- I think it is around 300.  We got the exact number in an email in December and I am sure more did not return from the Christmas Break.  There is no support, no training (we have PD, but it is about things that are not useful to teaching here.  The last one was- okay, you speak English in the classroom, but sometimes you speak Arabic too, so the kids can understand you.  We are doing this in January?  I have been teaching here since September- I think I figured that out by now... It's called code sharing anyway.)  Basically everything that Vincent Ferrandino says in the article is false.  I have never seen a translator either- I at least have an Arabic teacher who speaks good English, but some people don't at my school.  And when we do "trainings" in English, they are lost.  An English teacher left my school for the reasons in the article, and another is pushing for an Arabic teacher.  They are 1st grade teachers, not KG, and that is why they didn't have them in the first place.  Still, not what we were told when we were coming.

And the wind blows!!!

While those of you at home have moved to the north pole, we have had our fair share of storms, too- SANDstorms!  Last weekend I saw my first one while I was in Sharjah and Ajman for the weekend, and it came out of nowhere!  I was in a hair saloon (yes I spelled that right) getting my hair done with some friends when all of a sudden we heard crashing wind sounds outside.  An hour or two earlier when we had arrived, the sky was crystal clear blue and beautiful.  No longer the case- black sky and sand whipping around.  Since there are no windows to look outside, I had to move the Open/Closed sign so I could see what was going on out there.  It was wild!  There are no windows because when the Emirati women get their hair done, they take the shayla off and don't want the men to see their heads.  Anyway, wow!  I ran to get my camera so I could take some pictures and video of the storm.  For a few minutes, it was sand and wind, then the rain comes.  It looked like a hurricane out there.  Birds were flying, well actually they were flapping their wings but they weren't getting anywhere!  Papers were coming out of windows, and a water heater blew off of the roof of the building I was in and landed on a car!  It didn't last long, maybe a half an hour, but it did it's damage.  The streets were flooded because there is no drainage system.  Sharjah and Ajman are right on the water so the storm blew in from the Arabian Gulf.  Some of the people I came with were still in the hotel when the storm hit and they said that the winds and water were coming in through the closed windows and they had puddles on the floor in their rooms.  We have had sandstorms all week now in Al Ain and the ride to and from school has not been fun because it has been very windy.  I think it is probably similar to driving in a blizzard but since I don't drive here I don't know.  But the way the sand and wind blows that is what it reminds me of.
We went to souks in Sharjah- those are shops, and I got a couple Abayas.  Also got some cheap earrings.  There is so much jewelry in the souks it is amazing.  Also found some Thai food finally- yum!
In other news, apparently I have changed my name according to ADEC.   I still do not have an insurance card and since that is kind of important to have decided to go around some of the regular procedures here (which basically include just waiting until someone else figures it out months later) and try to figure it out on my own.  I called the insurance company and they had no idea who I was.  Well I was told that they had all the names of ADEC employees so that didn't make sense.  So off went a message asking what the deal was- no response.  Back to the insurance company to confirm- still no idea who I am, so they tell me to call HR so they can forward my information to them.  Okay, I'll do that.  So in the U.S. when you call HR, they answer the phone, right?  Right! So it's been over a week and I've called I can't even remember how many times and NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE.  I've tried every extension possible.  And it's in Abu Dhabi, which means that I would have to take a day off of school to go down there to figure it out.  Without pay, probably, because you have to go to the doctor to get a stamp to get paid for being out.  But I don't have an insurance card, so I can't go to the doctor.  Hmmm... So I went in to see the support people, and they said they would take care of it.  A couple days later, they came back with a card.  The name?  Jennifer Lorien Macdonnel Osborn.  What?  Okay... Whatever, no one looks at your name here anyway.. my bank card doesn't even have my whole name on it because Arab names are so long they can't fit them all on so they just don't care.  So I had someone who was going there pick it up for me.  I had to use that name when I did report cards, too.  I thought the people at my school at typed my name in wrong because most people there don't speak English.  So someone in ADEC must just not like my name and rebranded me or something.  I don't know- they don't really have their act together.   This is a pretty big mistake to make.  Anyway, when I saw the card, it's not my birthday, or my ID number.  Somehow- they pulled a complete switch with me and this other girl.  Someone made a big goof and they've got some fixing to do.  Just as long as they keep paying me.  And give me an insurance card soon.  Like before I need it.

It's been a long time...

Well it has been a long time since I have written anything and that is because my internet has not worked very well.  I now have an iPhone and use that as my internet connection and since I have an apple computer this is working much, much better.

I just got back from a couple of weeks at home for Christmas and now we are back to school everyday.  We just did report cards for the kids and that is interesting.  No one ever gave us a curriculum or anything like that so now that we have a report card with expectations on it, well okay.  And are they realistic for kids with no English- not at all!  Especially not for math.  Hopefully the people developing this program are really taking a good look at how things are going and reevaluating for next year.  I somehow doubt that, though.

Anyway, I moved out of the Hilton on November 4, about 1 month later that most people because I got my furniture allowance a month late.  But now I live in my house and it is nice and cozy! 

I have been very sick since I came back from visiting home.  I had a long wait in the airport because of the blizzard and I think I picked up the flu.  Ever since then I have not been able to hear out of my left ear.  I am about to start my second round of antibiotics to try to clear this up.  The good thing is a doctor yesterday said it is because of being sick and it is just being stubborn and it is not forever.

I have had to go to the doctor twice since I have been back in the last couple of weeks, and we don't have our health cards yet.  They expired on the last day of December and I guess ADEC purchased new insurance.  Well mostly everyone else has gotten a temporary card now, but I haven't, so I have had to pay out of pocket for all of these visits and prescriptions with the promise of being reimbursed.  For some reason I am having a hard time believing that will happen because I have been promised to be reimbursed for other things (purchases made for school- handed in receipts over two months ago and STILL waiting!!!!!) so I am hoping I did not just lose 1,507 dirhams or 410 dollars in doctor costs.  That will make me very angry.

Now that I have internet I will try to write more.  We got some rain the other day- that was exciting because it was the first time I saw rain since I have been here, almost five months.  It wasn't a downpour or anything, but enough to wet the ground.  When it rains a lot, I hear everything shuts down because there is no drainage system.  We will see!