About Winter Break

So, I took a long break from everything including this blog.  A lot happened over the break.  I should have taken notes because I probably can't remember most of it.  But, here goes my attempt:


Before the Break
One thing I have learned about this country is that they love to celebrate and have gatherings.  I am not sure what we were celebrating, but before the break began we had a school wide "tenting" event.  I know what you are thinking, "what is tenting?"  Well, we took all of the children in the school to the beach.  While at the beach, we set up tents...hence, tenting.  The children were given opportunities to visit various activity stations that were set up (sports, sand art, searching for seashells, etc).  Additionally, teachers and parents grilled corn, chestnuts, and potatoes while children ate sacked lunches and fruit laced with chocolate from a chocolate fountain.  Needless to say, these four and five year olds had a blast.  Their parents seemed to have fun too.  At the end of the day, the children were given gifts of coloring books, crayons, and some other age appropriate objects.  Like I said, I don't know what we were celebrating but this was clearly some sort of celebration.

Some of the English teachers

Visiting America
In a nutshell, going home to America was overwhelming.  I forgot my mother moved from Georgia to South Carolina.  Plus I still have family in Savannah and Claxton that I wanted to visit and a plethora of friends in Atlanta that I wanted to see.  When I arrived in Atlanta it was the last day of school at my former place of employment.  I went to visit the kids for a little while and then went to see my hair dresser and get this hair back on track.  Then, I left Atlanta and went to Savannah where I visited a few family members and picked up my car to head back to Atlanta.  While in Atlanta I Christmas shopped (so last minute), got necessary work done on my car, paid some necessary bills, and met up with a few friends.  I missed a lot of them because before I knew it, it was Christmas Eve and time to head to South Carolina with my family.  I spent Christmas Eve and a few more days in South Carolina, and was then driven back to Atlanta so that I could catch a flight to Barcelona.  Like I said, OVERWHELMING.  I enjoyed my time at home but being there and seeing my job reassured me that I made the right decision coming over here.  I miss people, but other than that I am not missing anything at home.

I took very few pictures while in America.  Ooops.

Former Co-Workers and some friends made sure they saw me while I was at home.  

Look at Lyric taking over the pic with all that cuteness.

Barcelona
I think I am in love.  Barcelona was amazing.  It was also amazingly cold! (I have been living in a desert, lol).  But, the architecture, the history of the place, the shopping, the paella, the flamenco dancers, and everything else was just amazing.  NYE was so much fun.  I met people from all over.  And can you believe that across the world, they were screaming the song, "I'm in Love with the CoCo."  I didn't know whether to be embarrassed or impressed.

Quick nerdy fact: The language of Barcelona is Catalan.  It is a dialect of Spanish, but not exactly like the Spanish I learned in high school (as if I actually learned Spanish anyway).  Also, Barcelona is discussing separating from Spain and establishing themselves as their own country called Catalunya.

Cathedral.....pics don't do it any justice

Going to see the Flamenco Dancers

An Italian friend on NYE.  I knew not a word he said and he knew nothing that was coming out of my mouth. But, fun is universal.

I forgot where this guy was from.

My Dutch friend.  He worked at the Go Car Tours place and we ran into him at the club on NYE.

I'm sorta internationally known now.  My new friends from Manchester, England.

Go Car Tour!

This is a Go Car.  We rode this around Barcelona on a long GPS guided tour.  This is probably more fun in warmth!

Eric and I on the Go Car Tour

I can see myself living in Barcelona

Gaudi is my new favorite architect.  Love his story.  Love the mysteriousness and uniqueness of his work.

These Flamenco dancers were not playing with anyone.  LOL

Returning "Home" to Abu Dhabi
My mother always told me, "you get what you pay for."  I bought a cheap flight on Pegasus Airlines to Dubai.  Epic fail.  Have you ever heard of a flight that has no complimentary food or snacks on the plane.  Not even a glass of water unless you pay for it.  The flight was so cheap because they nickel and dime you in every way possible.  Between my baggage fees and paying other little fees that came up, I could've flown on a real airline.  Lesson learned!

Then, we come back to Abu Dhabi for a Professional Development week.  This is common for teachers, so no big deal.  Day 1 we discussed some strategies for teaching, Day 2 we built a bridge from paper.  Day 3, we built a tower using straws, Day 4 was foggy so I didn't go, Day 5 we met back at our school to plan and discuss what we learned.  I will let you read over those four days and figure out how I felt about this Professional Development week.  Last year, teachers were given three weeks off with the children.  This year, we came back a week early for Professional Development.  No further comments.

When the Kids Came Back
I missed my kids!  It actually felt good to hear "Ms. LaTwonya" again.  But boy they came back on GO.  No, "I'm tired from the break."  No, "I'm not used to waking up."  Go mode!  It has been three days and I need another break.  Too bad there are no more breaks until spring break in April.  I'm thinking Bali around that time, but we will see.