Road Trip

The Trip
Now normally I don't do the whole "let's all get in the car and ride somewhere that is over an hour away thing."  Nevertheless, this weekend, since we got our checks and our passports returned on the last day of work before the Eid holiday, I had no choice.  I hopped in the car (soccer mom van actually) with four friends and proceeded on a seven hour trip to Muscat, Oman.

UAE Family

Confession: I really had no clue where Oman was until deciding to go on this trip.

But anyway, here are some highlights and other random facts from the trip:

• Eric, a friend/co-worker, forgot his passport and did not realize it until we were an hour into our drive.  Therefore, we had to turn around and go back to the desert.  Yes, the road trip that I was reluctant to take went from 7 hours to about 10 hours.
• Crossing the boarder in a car is an interesting process.  Did you know that you have to pay to enter certain countries?  We were required to pay for the Visa and the car insurance.  SMH.  I haven't traveled much prior to this experience so this was new for me.
• I didn't know much about Oman but I am glad I experienced it.  The country is absolutely beautiful.  Like the UAE, the architecture is breathtaking.  I would like to meet the architects that design the buildings in the middle east.  

  

  Mosque

  

  The Souq (think flea market)

  

  Ceiling of the Souq

  

  Ceiling of the Souq

  

  Mosque in Oman

  

  Opera House

  

  UAE Family

  

  Opera House

• I drove a boat on the coast of Oman.  I know what you are thinking..."Who in their right mind would let me drive a boat?"  Well, the answer is that the captain, who looked all of 15-years-old himself, allowed me to drive the boat.  My friends and I were lucky to be the only passengers on the boat.  The captain drove us to the middle of the ocean to look at dolphins.  As we chased the dolphins, I asked to drive.  He got out of his seat and allowed me to sit in it.  Of course, I thought the boat was on cruise control until I moved the steering wheel and we actually started turning.  I did pretty good so I might have a new career to explore.  Well, maybe not because I did sort of do a donut in the ocean when he told me to speed up and go straight.  I taught him a lesson, keep me at one steady speed.

  

  Driving a boat can be checked off my bucket list!

  
  

  

  
  

  

  Blessed 

  
• People in Oman are very friendly and a little more laid back than the people I have come across in the UAE.
• I should do research about people in Oman because a lot of them look exactly like African Americans.  Their skin tone and hair texture match ours.
• Wind actually blows cool air in Oman.  In the UAE when the wind blows it just spreads the heat.
• We went to a club in Oman and broke out the electric slide during an Arabic song.  A man from South Africa joined in.  
• We ate Omani food on a floor at a restaurant.  This task is not as easy as it seems.  It's hard to sit criss-cross-apple-sauce with your plate on the floor and actually enjoy your meal. 

  

  Before the food.  The men look uncomfortable.  HAHAHA

A visit to the souq gave the men with us a chance to try on traditional headwear and white robes.  In the UAE, they are not allowed to wear this attire to work but I think they can wear it in public if they chose to do so.  

• The Rial (Omani money) is worth ten of our Dirhams (UAE money).  I am still trying to get used to Dirhams so shopping only confused me.  It doesn't take much to confuse me anyway.  
• Leaving Oman was an intense process.  First we went to the wrong border because GCC countries have their own special border to enter back into UAE.  Then, we had to go through a ton of traffic and find a way to stop and go inside to have our passports checked yet again.  It was much easier to go into a country we have nothing to do with than it was to get back into the country that gave us residency visas.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip.  I am learning so much through this experience.  I am embarrassed that it took me 31 years to actually start living life and experiencing new things.  It's ok though, I got a late start but I am going to have a strong finish.  Next up, London to see the Falcons and Calvin Johnson play (fingers crossed).

The Return

My vacation ended today, but apparently the children didn't get that memo.  I had eight students, the neighbor classroom had one student, and the classroom next to that had six.  We combined the classes to make a class of fifteen.  It was a good day overall.  The highlight of my day a little boy knocking over a bucket of numbers as we cleaned our literacy centers. When he picked it up, he came across the number two and looked at me and said "two."  This may not seem like much to you, but two was the number of the week last week.  Not only did he learn to identify the number in English, but he also remembered it from last week after returning from a holiday.  That was all I needed for the day.  But to add icing to the cake, when we finally did do math, most of my students that were present could count to ten AND do one-to-one correspondence (touch each item as they count them).  I told y'all I came here to work!  

The not so good part of my day was that the little boy that comes once a week (no literally he has only shown up one time every week) has no concept of what school is.  It is a weekly play day for him.  He tried to fight with a child from another class all day long.  However, I giggled inside when another of my students chastised him.  I have no clue what he said to him but the gestures were priceless.  As he fussed, he proceeded to the behavior chart and moved the little boy's picture from green to red.  Hilarious. Hopefully, today was that child's one day appearance and he will stay at home where children not ready for school belong tomorrow.  Needless to say, he does not know the number 2, or how to say "good morning," or how to sit on the carpet, or how to clap during the days of the week song, or any other routine that we have established by actually showing up.  I have to remember that this is pre-k though, so even in America it is not required nor does it matter if your parents choose not to send you.