The news of the American teacher stabbed to death by a local woman in an Abu Dhabi mall was unsettling for sure. However, as the week went on and condolences were sent via email, life resumed for most of us as usual. The Sheikh announced that he will pay for the women's children's education until they are finished with college. I was terribly impressed with his gesture.
School resumed as normal, we still feel very safe here but we know this incident will not be seen by all in the same way and we anticipate that some Americans might 'run' this Decemeber. We shall see what transpires once we return from the break in January.
We only had about half of our boys on Sunday, but almost all of our girls were at school. On Monday, the boys that didn't come on Sunday showed up, and the boys who had showed on Sunday decided not to come. Numbers diminished as the week drew on.
At Stuart's school they dismissed at 11 am all week, even though the majority of their students were at school on Sunday. Because he is at a common cycle school (grades K through 12), their senior students had exams so they just dismissed all students once tests were over for the day. He was gone from school by noon most days. Tough job he has!
Jack had no rugby on Sunday so we just stayed home and watched movies. Once we got the kids bathed and in bed, I looked up at the clock which read 7:40. I then realized I had missed my orthopedic doctor appointment. Oops! I had to reschedule it for Monday the 15th. Hopefully there will be nothing of it, other than arthritis.
On Monday I could feel a sinus infection coming on. I came home early from school, got some drugs from the pharmacy and missed rugby practice.
Since we didn't go to Jack's rugby practice on Sunday I decided Millie and I would skip Mama/Millie night and head to the club. They really were the only team practicing. This time of year rugby is really difficult to be a part of because of the other festive options in front of us. As I mentioned last year, I believe, for a Muslim country they really do up Christmas, primarily for the numerous expats that live here.
I missed my rugby practice again on Wednesday because we went to a going away party of a fellow Head of Faculty. In fact, I had to tell my team that I would have to miss practice until January 5, when we return from the winter break. That frightens me a bit because there is a lot of fitness work we do. I'm afraid if I am away for a month I will lose some of the fitness I have gained over the past three months. I have vowed to workout at least 4 days each week while I am away.
On Thursday we had training for some professional development we will be delivering to teachers the first week we are back in January. It wasn't the most riveting training I have ever been in but we will do what we are told.
After training we finished our Christmas shopping at Bawadi Mall. We have tried to calm down on the buying this year but I am not sure we succeeded.
All of our Christmas presents were stored in our guest room. Then on Monday morning I put all gifts from us under the tree. Needless to say the questions started about whether the kids could open just one present. I remember begging our parents for the exact same thing. The answer was almost always 'no', which was our answer as well.
The 'Santa' gifts remained in the guest room and we have locked that door. I happened to be in there hanging some clothes the other day and Millie came in, looked up in the closet and said,'Qho are those gifts for?' Oh wow! What to do when your three-year-old sees Santa gifts? I just said they weren't presents and she seemed fine with that. Hope she forgets that whole incident when she sees the Santa presents again.
We went to the golf course around 3 pm for my school Christmas party, which actually only includes the English teachers and unfortunately there were only about 10 of us there. It's very difficult to unite a staff unless you arrange it at school, which we will next week. There is sure to be a big food celebration at some stage, all paid for by the school budget. Cracks me up! We actually have a budget for 'entertainment'.
After socializing for a bit we headed to the rugby club for a carol service. It was a bit crap, sadly. So after Millie fell asleep in her friend Riley's arms, we called it an evening. It was an early night because I was running in a 10 K the following morning.
I originally signed up for the 10 K thinking there was a t-shirt I would get. It's kind of one of the only reason I sign up for races, because everyone knows I move like a turtle and would never win a running race. I also had a friend who said she would walk it with me.
We got up and headed to the rugby club at half past six on Friday morning. Everyone was there waiting for the police to show up and block off the road so we wouldn't get killed running around the roundabout just outside the rugby club entrance. Although the race was to start at 7 am, it was a little after that when we actually took off.
Although my knee started hurting halfway through and there was chaffing that was unexplainable (ouch!), I actually ran the entire thing. In mile terms it was 6 miles. That is further than I have ever even imagined running. My friend Clare told me I could run the whole thing. So I took that as a challenge and actually did it. So I can now check that off my 'to do' list, even though I had never put it on the 'to do' list.
When we got home from the race Stuart made me a big omelet. He is my biggest fan for sure. Although Jack and Millie were hooting and hollering all the way as well. After some breakfast we decided to head to the mall and get our last minute presents we had forgotten about.
When we had lunch and discovered the children's hairdresser had closed, we returned home for the kids to take a nap. We had a big evening ahead of ourselves. Sunflower School had their annual Christmas party. They had games, pizza, crafts, a pantomime (English play that is a spoof on fairy tales), and a visit from Santa where he passed out presents to the kids (purchased ahead of time from Santa's 'helpers'-us). It was a great night.
Saturday morning when I woke up I was sore from the previous day's 10 K. Sadly, for some of the race I had hunched over, looking a lot like my dad's mother, and as a result the muscles that run the length of my back were knotted up like no one's business. After moving around a bit all
Muscles started to losen up. Thank goodness because I had some craft shopping to do in Dubai.
Gina drove up to Al Ain to go with Cathy, myself, and DeDe to a craft fair that is normally held in the center of Dubai. It moved to a place called Green Community. Although there were not as many vendors there, I got what I came for, a nativity made of felt. I love it so much.
After some shopping, we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It wasn't Arizona Mexican food, but it was pretty good. DeDe had to be back for a choral Christmas concert that she had bought tickets for. We were so close to the Park n Shop, the place I love that carries American comforts, we just had to stop. We bought some items, mainly crap I didn't need, and then hit the road back to Al Ain. We got back just before 6 o'clock only to find out the doors opened at 6 pm but the actual concert didn't begin until 7 pm.
Once we were back, Gina headed back to Abu Dhabi and Cathy, Kayleigh and Claire came over for a proper Christmas meal.
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