Remember me??

Hope so…

My adventures have kept me busy and the lack of internet in my apartment has limited this lovely blog. I know, you are all shattered and lost without constant updates. Maybe I’ll devote a prep a day to this… I have 15 a week so it’s doable.

Things here are great (minus the internet blockade and an ear infection)… Ramadan is over so we now are working “full” days, and I can eat and drink in the sunlight hours. I was giddy when I walked into the Bawadi Mall in Al Ain and I realized people were in coffee shops. I tell ya, you go for 30 days where you can’t eat or drink in public during the day and then get back to me on how day 31 feels. Bliss…

I have seen most malls within a 1.5 hour drive of Abu Dhabi. Malls are a competition here… they need to be the biggest, most extreme: hello, you have a life-sized junk in your mall, oh sorry, these guys have an aquarium… BUT these guys have a ski hill. Winner. Yeah. Then there is the actual shopping.

Dubai has the world’s tallest building and more construction than Nova Scotia during an election year. Al Ain has a mountain that is amazing to drive up, with lush green grounds along the base where people come to picnic and relax. You don’t realize how much you miss green until you see it. I am pretty full on sand coloured anything…

Work, you know, the reason I am over here, is great. Kids are good and they keep coming… received 2 new ones this week. Basically my classroom is a model UN… kids from Chile, USA, England, Egypt, Canada… all over. I start my day at eight and the kids leave at three. My biggest class has 14 kids. I am not overworked, let’s leave it at that!

My apartment is slowly becoming my own space. I need to get some pictures up soon. I miss those. I have cable. Oprah is a day late but I somehow survive. And this weekend I am going to buy myself a Wii. I know, sounds silly for a grown woman but anything for some entertainment. People, I am in the desert.

I had a father tell me yesterday at our school’s open house that if I stay over here too long my brain will shrink and I’ll get desert madness… My question: how long is too long?

Ok… I’m going to keep this one brief but I’ll update this weekly, I promise. Keep me honest on this!

Cheers!
Joyous



View from Jebel Hafeet


More of the view


Sunset


Mountain from the base


Roundabout featuring the Sheikh


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