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!

I'm back!

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!

I got my housing!

Everyone else got their housing on Friday, which is our first weekend day.  They got a bus in the afternoon and the hotel frantically called the rooms to let us know the bus was here.  Well since I teach in the middle of the desert, really far away, I am living somewhere else and they didn't our housing that day.  There are only about 30-40 of us living somewhere else and probably about 400 living in the main housing complex, so we keep wondering why we not only get shipped out to the desert but left out to dry when it comes to housing, too.  Anyway, on Saturday, they got us a bus to our housing from the hotel.  We had all waited around, 11 of us from my hotel, all day for this bus.  It finally appeared and we only knew because we waited in the lobby all day.  So we piled onto it and then the bus driver handed someone the phone.  Oh, well, 'we decided to cancel and we will go tomorrow instead.'  You've GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!  We have lived in a hotel for close to 6 weeks now so while it is nice because we are all together and have the pool, etc... we would like to have an actual house now, too.  So we got off the bus without high hopes of ever seeing our housing.
Sunday, being a school day in Abu Dhabi, we all got up at 4:30, 5 a.m. to catch the bus at 6 to our schools.  We had some professional development after school and when we got home, I took my computer down to the lobby to wait once more.  There was the group of us waiting, waiting, waiting.  We took turns going up to the concierge and front desk to ask if they had heard anything.  They told me not to believe anything they told me about going today because they hadn't heard anything.  Finally, at around 7:30, we gave up hope and decided to go eat at a great Italian restaurant in the hotel.  I had some lovely margherita pizza which was pretty good for being Italian/ Middle Eastern pizza.  Just as I was paying I got a phone call from another teacher at my school that her hotel had a bus out front to take them to our housing.  She is at a different hotel, so I threw down some dirhams, and went to the concierge.  Well what do you know, he didn't know a thing.  I stumbled around for a second because I couldn't fathom them taking one hotel and not another, then I asked the front desk (yet again).  I couldn't believe the response.  He told me a bus had come, but he sent it away because HE DIDN'T KNOW ANYONE WAS WAITING FOR A BUS?!?!?! HELLO? TEACHERS LIVING IN A HOTEL FOR OVER A MONTH, WE AREN'T GOING TO STAY HERE FOREVER!!!  Sorry, but I think I am permanently imprinted into the chair I always sit in in the lobby from waiting for the bus for so long.  I don't know how no one could notice me.  Not to mention that I/we probably asked a MILLION times.  So I think he realized that was a huge goof and he called the bus company pretty frantically.  Luckily for him, the bus driver was parked in a dark corner of the hotel parking lot and didn't listen to him when he told it to leave.  I gathered as many people as I could and the driver told us we had to go to the Intercontinental hotel for a meeting.  At this point we were practically begging for not another meeting and to just take us to our housing- no one had heard about a meeting.  A couple people made some calls but we figured out that we had to pick up people at the Intercontinental and then drive to the housing.  It happened so fast that some people from our hotel had to take taxis to the other one to catch the bus.  By the time we were on our way to see the housing, it was 10:30 at night.  We got home close to 12:30, to wake up at 4:30 for school the next day.  And the bus drivers?  Yes, they are the ones that take us to school.  No, they didn't sleep either.  And this is life in the Middle East. 

The housing is gorgeous.  I am in the back left hand corner of the building on the entry floor, which is perfect.  It has two floors of apartments with I think 14 apartments all together.  It is a small building in a nice area which is nice because I saw the other housing units today too, and it looks like college dorms on the outside, and LOTS of them.  However, theirs are very, very nice on the inside.  In mine, I have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms all for myself, and a huge living room.  You walk in to my apartment and everything is off a hallway, nothing is open.  So it is a little hallway, and then it turns left and that is the main hallway.  The first room off the right of the main hallway is the living room.  It has a door that leads into it.  You might think it was a bedroom if you didn't know it was supposed to be the living room.  The next two rooms on the right side are bedrooms, with the bigger one being the last room.  On the left side walking from the entry is my kitchen.  It is a good size with more cabinets than I know what to do with.  Then I have a "small" bathroom that is orangey.  It has a stand-up shower, toilet and sink.  The sprayer (you know, because they don't use toilet paper here) in that one is leaking so the floor is soaked.  I tried to email someone but I don't really know who I am supposed to talk to so I hope someone writes back fast.  Then I have the big bathroom which is blue.  It is not leaking in there, and it has a bathtub and that is where the washing machine/dryer combo will go.  The last thing on that side of the hall is a built in closet, which is nice because it is the only closet in the apartment, so it will be good for bathroom things and probably some clothes too.  So I have a whole extra bedroom that is just waiting to be filled... hint hint.
There is no heating here because well, you just don't need it.  But there is air conditioning in every room.  However, I couldn't figure out how to make it work and I will not be spending much time there until that is resolved because I burst into sweat every time I came near the place today.  Someone did tell me at school today that in the next 3 weeks it will become very nice, and I believe them, because the mornings are gorgeous right now.  So, I can't wait to feel that.

Picture uploading is taking a long while right now and I am going on three hours of sleep thanks to the our late night adventure, so use your imaginations for a little while and I'll get you pictures as soon as possible!

My Classroom

Pictures of my classroom... a work in progress.  It was mostly set up when I got there but we will be making changes as we introduce centers and more English into the curriculum.  I have added a lot of English into the classroom already in the past week and a half but there is a lot more to come.  I am waiting to bring a lot in until the parents are completely gone, because until then we do not have full control over the children.  I know that sounds crazy in the U.S. but it is totally different over here.  Today I told a nanny that she HAD to leave because the child will never be able to attend to school on her own if she is always there.  Every time the nanny is out of her sight the child cries.  I told her she just had to go and get it over with.  Then she came back halfway through the day when we eat.  For some reason the parents/ nannies think it is okay to come back during eating time.  I pointed out to her that not only did the child cry once that day, but now she cried twice because she saw her again, and that she had been doing perfectly fine once she calmed down.  It is such a different society.  There is a definite ranking here, with the Emiratis on top, so it is very difficult for us to tell them to leave.  Even though westerners come 'next' in the social ranking, we still are not Emiratis.  So my Emirati mothers did try today, but they sat in the doorway instead of the classroom.  So the kids could still see them and many tried to escape through the open door.  It is a mad house.  We are looking for support in this but it is turning out to be hard to find, so hopefully in the next few days the classroom will be truly mine and my coteacher's and we can actually get some teaching in.  I did have the kids do a great activity today where they drew a self-portrait and traced their name written in English.  It was interesting to see how they did it.  We had been doing head, shoulders, knees and toes, so when I explained it to them saying 'draw your head', they understood.  Of course, they loved my picture of me with hair, because they can't see it under my scarf!  They also are used to 'writing' right to left so that will be hard to switch back and forth.

The Next First- Teaching!

Last Sunday was the first day with kids.  I brought a few things to school with me and had a couple activities planned (haha!) and boy, it was like no other first day of school I have ever seen.  When I went to my classroom, there were parents, nannies, and students crowded all around the door.  I decided NOT to go through it because I couldn't get through the mass of people.  The school is set up around a large courtyard, and each grade has a section off of the courtyard.  So I guess the best way to describe it is that the kindergartens have a room off of the courtyard, and then off of that room are our rooms.  There are no hallways.  So the room that leads to our rooms had no walking space because the parents were trying to figure out where their kids go because they didn't find out ahead of time.
Each day starts with an assembly, so I headed out there.  Remember, I don't speak Arabic, so I can't communicate with too many people at this school.  I waited with the other English teachers, and finally our co-teachers showed up.  They are the Arabic teachers, and they knew exactly what was going on so that was very comforting.  The kids starting coming, and so did the tears.  I wish I could say they lined up, but no such thing happened.  I have no idea what goes on during the assembly, but a lot of chanting, hand movements, the national anthem, and some drumming.  Maybe some day someone will tell me what they are saying. 
We walked to the classroom, and silly me thinks the kids will come in and the parents and nannies will go after a little while and I will get the children to myself and maybe get to do the activities I had planned. HAHA!!!  Those parents and nannies made themselves comfortable in that classroom.  I asked my Arabic teacher, and she said it is the way they do it here.  Wow, okay.  The first day was such a blur but I can really say that I am not in America.  They played a little and we colored and ate and by then it was time to go home.  The kids are leaving early this week.  I think they were only there for 2 and a half hours, but there are no clocks in the school so I don't really know.  I have asked for a bunch of things for the classroom so hopefully a clock is coming. 
There were lots and lots of tears, because these children are not used to being away from their families.  They never are away from them because a lot of times the mothers do not work.  The families are so rich that they don't have to work. 
The second day, I wanted the families to leave so I tried to have the Arabic teacher relay the message in Arabic, but one of the parents who can speak some English explained to me that I am not in America and that they will stay with their children for one week to ten days, because they love their children here.  Well, parents love their children in America too, but they leave them at school.  I think what the parents don't realize is that they are making it harder for the children because they don't allow for the separation to happen.  They bang on the door when we lock it to be let back in, and when the kids finally stop crying they start again because they see a mom.  It is crazy.  Every day this week there has been at least one mom or nanny in the classroom at all times.  On Sunday, I am going to tell them they have to go so we can start teaching.  It has been impossible to get anything done because of all of the crying.  It is not just one kid crying, but half of the class (30 kids!).  Oh, and some kids are just coming because they "love their brother/ sister" not because they are in the class.  But again, I can't speak or read Arabic, so it is kind of hard for me to figure out who is supposed to be on the class list and who is not. 
Tuesday was the worst day, but the rest got better.  By Thursday, I was able to do a little bit with the kids.  I taught them how to say "My name is..." and we sang Head, Shoulders and the ABC's. 
The lunchboxes are amazing here.  And by amazing I mean disgusting.  I promise I am not exagerrating when I say that one child will pull 4 bags of potato chips, 2 candy bars, a roll and juice out of their bag.  And they only eat the chips and candy.  And they nannies and moms always pile back in at snack time and literally FEED the kids.   I mean, feed them.  Rip the bread apart and feed them, hold the juice box for them.  It is disgusting.  What is even more disgusting is the kids teeth.  They are all gray and rotten.  I feel so bad for them.  The principal handed out candy bars on the first day of school.  This is going to have to change.  Diabetes is rampant here and it is obvious why.  I sent home a letter translated into Arabic asking for some things for the classroom and saying that some foods (chips, candy, soda) are not allowed in school and they still came the next day.  This will take some time.  On Thursday, I had a nanny hold a kindergartener like a baby, cradled in her arms, and feed the child milk.  It made me sick.  These kids are babied and given everything they want.  They are allowed to throw their trash on the floor because there is an Asian there to pick up after them.  It is amazing.  We have a lot of work to do here.  But, they have to let us do the work, and that is going to be the challenging part.  Because even though they want to learn English, they can learn the language all they want but they also have to learn the other parts of the culture for it to be of any use to them.
Wednesday night we had a meeting about housing.  It is ready for us.  They were literally going to hand out 400 assignments one by one.  Finally they realized that would not work, so this weekend we are getting our housing.  I am waiting for a call right now to tell me that I can go to see my house.  Some people got theirs yesterday and said they are beautiful.  But of course, others are complaining that they are not big enough, or don't have a garden, or they are too high.  Okay, these places are bigger than my house at home and some even have two or three bathrooms.  Big deal if your 2 kids have to share a bedroom, it's free housing.  You don't have a garden, well gee, you MOVED TO THE DESERT.  And hmm, your apartment is too high, well, didn't you fly in an AIRPLANE to get here?  Just wondering.  Some people are a little ridiculous.  I found a couch and bedroom set that I like a lot yesterday and they are holding it for me for 2 days so I am hoping that I get paid the furniture allowance by tomorrow because if not, they will probably sell out because there is a big sale.  I love this couch so much because it is actually soft.  Everything here is so hard that you bounce right back off of it.  Fingers crossed.  Once we get our money, we have five days to get out of the hotel.  I am kind of sad to leave the hotel, because we won't be able to just go downstairs and see everyone whenever you want to anymore.  But it will be nice to have a refrigerator and a washing machine again.