Watch What You Do Around Children

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery.  Today at recess, a student decided to imitate my coteacher and I.  She went through an entire lesson that included making her students (we were two of the students) line up, leading them on a choo choo train to the next area, and doing a center activity in which we were given books and had to find the arabic letter.  It was so cute.  Children at this age really show you what they learn when they are playing.  In addition, they show you that you need to watch what you say and do because they are absorbing EVERYTHING.

After our lesson, we moved from school to a salon.  The student and a couple of others grabbed color pencils and did our hair and makeup.  Yikes!  The pencils were used mostly to color in our eyebrows.  This is hilarious because Arabic women color in their eyebrows really thick and often wear heavy make-up.  Like I said, these children pay attention to everything.

National Day is coming up.  The country will be 43 years old.  The school and community looks like National Day threw up all over...red and green everywhere.  Today, the children dressed in traditional attire.  The traditional attire here confuses me because I think they borrow a lot of their traditions from other countries.  The girls wear garbs and head pieces that are very similar to traditional dress of India.  Nevertheless, the girls are adorable in their dresses and the boys wear the white Kanduras well.

Poor thing had licked her lipstick off by 8:15am, but her eyeliner was on  point for the entire day.  Face BEAT at 4 years old, lol!!!!

Another part of National Day here is car decorating.  Cars are wrapped in the flag, the colors, and pictures of the Sheik.  I heard it is a competition.  I think on Tuesday (the actual holiday) I will go out to the streets and see some of these cars ride around.  I have yet to capture pictures of them, but these cars are the gaudiest  things ever.  Just imagine Christmas colors all over the cars with pictures of leaders.  SMH.

Caught this one in traffic today.  Instead of the colors, the owner opted for the metallic look with the Sheik's images on the side and back.

One thing I can say about this country is the patriotism is real.  They don't play.  My kids can identify the Sheiks before they can identify their own names.


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I finally visited Dubai this past weekend.  My friend's mom came to visit so we attended brunch at the Atlantis.  The Atlantis in Dubai is extremely nice, and so are the visitor's cars.  Brunch is a waste of money for me because I don't drink but I can really see my friends from US enjoying this amazing atmosphere with unlimited drinks.  I forgot to take pics at brunch, but here is a little glimpse of the parking lot and us leaving brunch...

After brunch we went to the souk.  The souk was about the same as the one we saw in Oman (clothes, scarfs, touristy stuff, and wait for it......fake purses and glasses)

I participated in the Color Run while in Dubai.  It was soooo much fun.  I also visited the Dubai Mall while there.  The mall is extremely overwhelming.  This country is the only place that can actually shut my shopping habit down.  These malls are too much for me and I am a person that can spend entire days in a mall.  My time in Dubai was short this weekend but I will be back.  I even found some stuff for my friends from the states and I to do if they ever visit.  Don't tell anyone, but I might actually like Dubai better than Abu Dhabi.

All that shirt space available and they aim for your face.

I don't think this is going to come out.

Quiet as kept that pink ish was hard to get off my face.

As if my weekend in Dubai wasn't enough, I got back to the desert just in time to view my Yellow Jackets take on UGA.  I literally wait for this game every year and no matter where I am, I find a way to watch it.  Shout out to Apple TV and the ESPN channel for allowing me to watch the game live from over 7,000 miles away.  The game had me on edge.  I swear I had several heart attacks during the event.  But we came out with the W in the end.  The jumping up and down I did in my flat, ALONE, really makes no sense.  I flooded Facebook timelines and all.  I could barely sleep as if I played and left my heart on that field.  

And I did roll into work today with a Georgia Tech shirt on!  Hardly home but alway reppin.

You Can Be Thankful Anywhere

The desert doesn't owe me anything this Thanksgiving, I swear.  My desert family showed up and showed out.  We gathered together in Villa 11, and it felt like nothing short of home.  We ate turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, banana pudding, greens, cabbage, corn, chicken, pie, cupcakes, and even had a ham brought to us straight from America (yes it was packed in someone's luggage right next to the greens).  I don't even eat pork but it was a pleasure just to see it on this day.  I had a great time with my new family.  There are too many people, blessings, and opportunities to even list what I am thankful for.

Next up for the weekend is the Color Run in Dubai and what I wait for all year.....the Georgia/Georgia Tech game.  Good, clean, old fashioned hate!  To Hell With Georgia (THWG)

0 to 100 Real Quick!

This week...
     Thanksgiving holiday in the US
     Preparation for National Day in the UAE
     Hate Week for me!!!!!!  I love my Yellow Jackets, and this is the time of year that I love them the   most.  THWG!!!!!

Anyway, I digress.  This past weekend, the Formula 1 race was held in Abu Dhabi.  This meant Formula 1 events.  On Friday morning I went to the city to meet with a savings group.  We are joining together to set personal goals for monthly saving, and holding each other accountable.  After the meeting, I met up with a friend and went to a FREE car show (I'm already on the right track with saving, lol).  The car show was held in yet another mall.  This mall was like Phipps on steroids.  I don't even think I could afford to browse.  The cheapest store might have been Prada.....Geesh.  Nevertheless, the cars, which I also could not afford, were nice.

Before I came to this country, one of the students from my old school told me I would have to trade in my Honda because people out here only have nice cars.  He learned about the country from his video game.  I uploaded some pics to Instagram and tagged him in them so that he could see the cars. He was amazed.

Friday night we went to the Corniche to the FREE concerts.  The only acts I was familiar with was Miguel and Jason Derulo.  They put on a pretty good show.  Saturday was a kickball scrimmage.  I didn't play because I was sick but I did have a good time meeting some new people from the other team. 

That sums up the weekend and leads us to this work week.  So far, it has been a joke.  We have been delayed each day by fog, gotten to work late only to babysit kids that are not participating in the National Day program.  National Day is a huge deal here.  The patriotism in this country is unreal!!!!!!! Buildings are decorated in lights, cars are wrapped in red and green, the Sheiks' pics appear on cars and buildings, etc.  I can't wait to tell the stories of the 43rd National Day.  Dang this country is only turning 43 years old.  SMH.

Fog Days

I heard about fog days in UAE but never did I think about how serious they really are.  Today, buses that transport teachers pulled over on the side of the road because of the dense fog.  Since we also live an hour away from work, we don't make moves until the bus does.  Therefore, I am sitting in the house waiting on the word that it is safe to drive to work.

Update: once the fog cleared and we got to work, our cluster manager (does something with all of the schools in our region) was disappointed because he made it through the fog, and we didn't try.  Excuse me sir but I have not seen a job or a person yet that I am willing to risk my life for.  Driving already isn't all that safe here at the speeds they drive and the way people get close to you to flash you for going only 20km over the speed limit.  Moments like that one I wish it was professional to say, "kick rocks."

32 Candles

This year I turned 20+12 (I'll always be in my 20s).  I have to say this was the best birthday yet, thanks to my desert family and the love from my former students and US friends.

We took a trip to Sri Lanka and it was well worth it.  I'm not sure pictures or words can do the trip justice, but I will try.

We flew into Colombo.  We met our weekend guide at the airport.  Shout out to Morris (pronounced Maurice) for treating us like royalty for the weekend.  Fresh off the plane we went to Amaya Lake, changed clothes, and went on a safari.  Now, I would say this safari was wack because all it had was elephants.  However, the beautiful landscape coupled with the wild elephant that tried to attack one of the safari jeeps was well worth it.  Plus, don't laugh, this was the first time I saw an elephant actually run.  It almost got the jeep too.  It was only funny because it wasn't my jeep!  It rained throughout the safari.  I enjoyed the rain because 1.  I haven't seen any rain in months living in the desert and 2.  It made the safari experience feel authentic.  After the safari, we went to Amaya Lake and had dinner.  Amaya Lake reminds me of an upscale Rock Eagle 4-H camp that I used to go to when I was younger.  

These ladies greeted us every time we came or left Amaya Lake by playing the drums.

Why do ducks hang with the elephants?

Day 2 was my actual birthday.  The first thing we did when we woke up was ride elephants.  Now, some may argue that this is inhumane but the way I look at it was that the elephants seemed to be eating better than some of the people I saw.  *Shrugs* I'm not that big on animal cruelty.  It has to be extreme for me to care.  But anyway, you have to respect me for spending my birthday on an elephant.  

After the elephant ride, we went to Kandy to the spice garden.  Normally, I would never plan to go to a spice garden, it just doesn't seem like something I would want to do.  However, it was probably the best part of the trip.  We were introduced to a lot of herbs and spices and told how they were useful.  We were even given a ten minute massage using some of the natural herbs.  This was my first massage ever.  I don't really like people touching me, so I had never gotten one before.

Coco

When the massage was finished we headed to a gem museum to look at some of the gems of Sri Lanka.  Then, we went to a cultural dance show.  Very interesting.  It's funny to me how other countries have so many traditions, but the US does not.  Well not any countrywide traditions.  Or do we???????

Dinner was at Kandyan Arts.  This restaurant was phenomenal and the service was outstanding.  My desert family even snuck and had the man make me a cake and sing for my birthday.  I cried a little.  I'm not a crier but it feels good to have new friends that would do so much for you.  I am grateful that I met this group of people.  

The chef literally whipped this up at the last minute.  He had to sneak and get my name from one of my desert friends.

The second hotel that we stayed in was the sister hotel to the first.  It was called Amaya Hills.  This hotel was literally up in the hills and had a breathtaking view.

On the last day, we visited the botanical garden and snuck in a few pictures at the Buddhist Temple.  At the Botanical Garden gift shop I tried to buy a saree (traditional women's clothing) but realized that it was only four pieces of fabric that you construct into your outfit, no needle or thread necessary.  It didn't come with instructions so I left it in the store.  

We were on go the entire trip.  It was so much fun, yet it did not involve one party or club.  It was a real cultural experience I guess.

One thing I respect about Sri Lanka, and even the people from similar areas that live in Abu Dhabi is how free they are....free from judgement and materialism.  The people in Sri Lanka that were actually working rarely wore shoes.  The men wore these long skirts that I like to call blankets (some of the men here wear them as well).  When they were too hot, they would fold the skirt up and make it a shorter skirt.  No judgement...shoes, no shoes, sandals, mandals (male sandals), skirts, sarees, whatever.

Our server one night asked why a lot of Americans don't visit Sri Lanka.  Great question!  I personally didn't know much about the place until this trip was planned.  Plus it is really far from America.  However, I think I will pass the word about the country, especially to those that are in the Middle East and not too far away.