hold the phone..

we now have internet at our apartment!  this is good.

Episode- 6 - A brief tour of Dubai

Jenn and I have been working away at getting our selves organized here in Dubai.  This past week all the returning faculty and staff arrived. Many of them were arriving from lots of interesting places.  A few younger guys had shipped their jeeps to South Africa and spent the summer driving from Capetown to Kenya.

The school has been buzzing with workers and staff getting the place in order for the 2300 kids to show up on Sunday (the weekend is Friday, Saturday here).   I was meeting with students and getting them put into their correct classes.  Even with all our hard work in the counseling office, we will still have a long line of students on the first day of school trying to sort out their schedules.  Jenn spent the week arranging her classroom and going to opening meetings.  Thursday night was the first DAA faculty happy hour in a bar called "Apres" which overlooks the ski slope at SKI DUBAI.  huge windows look out at the skiers and from most angles you can't tell it's an INDOOR ski hill.   It's pretty incredible. The happy hour was fun and then we headed to party in our apartment building with many returning faculty who were giving us the inside scoop on what to do in dubai. 

Here are some pictures from our bus tour of the city and also of jenn's classroom.

Jenn on the beach near the Burj al Arab, which is about 2 miles from our apt.

Where's Waldo?  This was a holiday so all the indian and pakastani workers were on the beach.

my first dip in the arabian gulf. nice and warm

us at Atlantis hotel at the end of the man made  Palm island

A fort in old town Dubai built around 1860's

loving the aviator glasses.

near the spice souk in old town Dubai. 

the street and the Creek.

Old school ships line the Creek. 

quick ride across the creek towards the gold souk

Bling.  There was about 100 of these stores selling gold.

gold souk

waiting for the fountain show.

my fav shot.  This is in Jumeirah Madinat, a shopping center that is kind of Disney esque but has great bars on these canals.  Very pretty. This was the end of our day tour of Dubai. 

Who's ready for kindergarten.  Jenn will have 20 kids from 13 different nations.

love the little tiny couch in the reading corner.

sunsets on the pond near Burj al Khalifa.. the tallest building in the world next to the largest mall in the world.

Episode # 5 Moving to Dubai

After much conversation, packing, planning, residency visa documents etc...we finally flew to Dubai on August 21st.  Thanks to Pete and Somer for letting us take over their basement for the last 2 weeks we were in D.C. 

As we boarded a flight at Dulles Robbie recognized his future colleague, Amy Carey, and her family.  Amy and Ryan lived in Kuala Lumpur for a number of years and then moved to Baltimore while their two boys, Ethan and Grant, were young.  Now that Ethan is in kindergarten and Grant is in 4th grade they are moving the family to Dubai!

The first flight got us to Frankfurt and a five hour lay over.  8am in the morning in Frankfurt airport and the only thing to eat was frankfurters and beer? 

Our second flight dropped us into the desert heat of Dubai.  After completing visa processing and picking up all our bags/boxes we were greeted by the Superintendent of our new school (Dubai American Academy) as well as several other school administrators, quite surprising as our flight landed after midnight!

It has been interesting to arrive during Ramadan, a yearly practice in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and during daylight hours, (with the desired outcome of patience, humility and submissiveness to God).  Restaurants did not open until dark for nightly Iftar buffets.  We have now entered the Eid al Fitr holiday, the end of Ramadan.

Everyone at the school has been wonderful and extremely welcoming.  We are really enjoying spending time with all the other new teachers who have a wide range of teaching, travel and life experiences.  Some days we feel great and some days we feel overwhelmed, but all in all we are really excited about our time here and look forward to starting school!

Some initial observations...

1. It is hot.  It is as hot as the hottest day in DC ... day and night.  The breeze feels like hot air dryers blowing at you.  People keep reminding us that this is as hot as it gets here and as the school year progresses it gets more hospitable.  Most people say that late September is the breaking point. 

2. Dubai is extraordinarily diverse.  There is every race, religion, and nationality here.  In the mall you'll see West Africans speaking french, next to scandanavian kids with bright blond hair, next to chinese and phillipino, next to Indians, Bangaladeshi, and Pakistanis.  It's really fascinating and amazing to see so many groups living here. 

3.  Things aren't as expensive as we thought.  Food prices are only high if you buy imported stuff.  Clothes, and electronics etc all seem to be the same as US prices.  Taxis here are cheap which is good since we don't have a car and won't be getting one in the near future.... although I keep eyeing up the Range Rovers (way out of my price range!!) 

This week is the Eid holiday so we are setting up our classrooms/offices, going bowling, going for a bus tour of the city organized by the school, going to the Sheik Mohammad Cultural Center, the bank (not as cool), the beach tonight for my first dip in the Persian Gulf, going to dinner at Lucy's house... and whatever else we can come up with.  Next Monday all the returning teachers will be back as we gear up for the school year.

More soon about our first impressions, but here are a few pictures from our apartment.

view from our balcony. sun setting over the ski hill at Mall of Emirates

View from our rooftop pool area of the elementary side of the school

pool is refreshing even though a touch warm

view of the field and High School & middle school. big school of 2,236 kids!

Living room.  came with some bright couches! 



Entry way with our new ikea additions, two shelves and nice rug



View into the kitchen. We have a balcony off the kitchen

This is the view towards the ocean from the top of our apt. The Burj al Arab is on the left.

our new bedroom.  The 2nd bedroom has become a bit of a storage space for now.

strange man on strange colored couch

The tallest building in the world is faint but there through the haze. The humidity and dust causes the haziness but this goes away in the winter time. 

Jenn on the balcony.

 

Episode # 4 - The Wedding!

Returning from the Olympic Mountains several days after the fourth of July we realized we were just a few weeks from the wedding.  Amy's house (Jenn's mom) became the location for wedding headquarters with the kitchen table serving as the crafting table where Amy assembled the programs, family tree, gift bags, and other bits and pieces. Jenn and I met with all our wedding vendors in the run up to the wedding.

On Tuesday of the week of the wedding, guests began arriving from England and Miami and the week of festivities had begun!

We had a WONDERFUL wedding and Jenn and I were so happy to have friends and family from all over the USA and the World joining us for our big day! Thanks to everyone who made the journey!  Here are a few of our favorite photos!