The Telfords hit England

Friday morning we got up and rushed around to do those last minute things that have to be done before going on holiday somewhere; emptying the trash, making sure all things not needed were turned off or unplugged, and being sure we didn't forget anything. 

Wade drove us to the airport in our car so we wouldn't have to worry about airport parking fees for three weeks. You know, every airport has different rules. So when we got to the counter to check our bags and car seats it was a bit of an ordeal. We have never been made to wrap our car seats.  We do wrap Millie's because it has an all fabric cover that if it got wet in transit we would have a difficult time getting it dry by the next time it was needed. However, we just fold Jack's seat and have always stuck it on the belt and waved goodbye. Emirate Airlines will not let that be. Stuart had to go all the way back to the entrance of the airport to have the seat wrapped in green plastic, and it cost him 20 dirhams. By the time he returned we only had a little over and hour before they started boarding for our flight. 

Because we bank with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi we are allowed to go to the Mubara Lounge in the airport.  They have delicious food and drinks....for free! We quickly had a bite to eat and then headed to our gate. 

We literally walked down to the gate, checked in with the front desk, went to the waiting area and walked onto the plane. On Emirates they board families first. Again, love this country.  

The plane journey was uneventful. As always there was plenty of food, drink, and movies to watch. Millie is not quite old enough to stay tuned to a movie for more than 10 minutes, therefore I didn't really watch any movies either. Neither kids slept until the plane was getting ready to land. Typical. Both dropped off as we were approaching the runway. Stuart and I kept poking and pestering them to keep them awake. When we stepped out of the plane it was chilly. Jack noticed and said, 'Ooo, it's cold. It is very close to Christmas now!'  He was so excited. I, too, have difficulty believing it is time for Christmas when it's 90+ degrees outside. 

When going through customs there is a line for UK and EU citizens and then there is another line for 'Other' passport holders. Since at least one of us (actually three of us) holds an 'other' passport, we were told to go to that line, which was a lot shorter than the UK/EU line. It pays to marry an American in my opinion. 

Got our passports stamped and headed to get our luggage. While Millie sat in her stroller, she dropped off to sleep. We had our bags, got our rental car, and headed south to Hastings. The time difference is 4 hours earlier than in the UAE. Although it was only 7pm, in Al Ain it was 11 pm. The kids slept all the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house and I might have as well. Fortunately Stuart didn't:) 

It was a typical night in England; rainy and dreary. Stuart said the driving was exhausting. We arrived at 8:30 pm, flopped Jack on the sofa but Millie was then awake and would have nothing to do with going to bed. After a bit Millie started to explore the place. I put Jack to bed and we had some food. By the time we all hit the hay it was 3:30 am in Al Ain. I didn't anticipate jet lag with that short of time difference but I suppose I was wrong. 

Saturday we woke up, way too early, and later in the morning we headed to Granddad and Grandma's house. We had bacon sandwiches and mince pies .......and caramel tarts.  Grandma pulled out some tea toys for Millie, which she loved. She has asked Santa for a kitchen for Christmas. She is very into serving people food and tea. Of course Jack loved the tea set as well. 

After we ate, Stuart and Granddad took the kids down to the beach and to the park.  Granddad and Grandma live on the seafront in Bexhill. The view from their penthouse is amazing.  Both kids had a lot of fun running on the beach and collecting treasures. One of the 'treasures' stunk so badly that I am going to have to accidentally break it so we have to throw it away. It was the shell of a crab. Heaven forbid the men in my family discourage the collection of such a thing in the first place. 

When the crew returned from the beach we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's. Not surprisingly, both kids feel asleep on the way. We hauled them up to their beds and Stuart and I made our first trip to Sainsburys, the local grocery store. We usually are very keen to buy things at the store that we can't get in Arizona. But now that we live in the UAE there is very little we can't get in Al Ain, excluding some things from the states. So we didn't spend nearly as much money as we normally do. Instead we bought essentials like shampoo, diapers and wipes. After all these years we have finally figured out that instead of wasting space in our luggage we can wait and buy some things when we get to our destination. Duh!

We tried to make sure the kids didn't nap too long because their time clocks were already messed up. When they woke up they ate an early dinner, played with some toys, watched a movie and then headed back to bed at 7:30 pm. They both went to sleep very quickly. Grandma and Grandpa had a holiday dinner with some of Grandma's colleagues from before she retired. So Stuart and I had dinner on our own. By 8:30 pm we had both fallen asleep on the sofa and decided going to bed might be best. 

I am sad to report that our early bedtime resulted in Jack being wide awake at 4 am. We convinced him to play his DS for an hour but then downstairs we went. He stated, 'I want to see where Elfis (our elf on the shelf) is.' When he left the room Stuart and I just stared at each other. Operation 'move the elf' went into action. I am not a huge fan of this elf on the shelf thing anymore. I thought Elf on the Shelf was going to be a fun addition to the holidays, but I've come to realize that Elfis may actually ruin the Christmas spirit if his puppet masters (Stuart and myself) can't remember to reposition him each night. Ugh!

After breakfast and getting ready for the day, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to Tenterden to go on the Santa Express. I have never been on the Polar Express in northern Arizona, but I believe it is the same idea. Karen and Barry (aka Grandma an Grandpa) left before we did to pick up Bella and Sophia, our nieces. 

We got to the station and went in to enjoy a carousel ride before the rest of our party arrived. This had the be the fastest carousel I have ever seen. Stuart took Jack while Millie and I stood outside of the gate. Millie had actually fallen asleep on the car journey so she would not have gone because of that, but when I saw the speed I was glad she was asleep. While we waited, I got us some chips and hot chocolate. 

When Jack and Stuart got off of the carousel it started to rain a bit harder. It had already been drizzling, but it now started to come down with more force. Funny thing is the rain did not stop anyone from coming out. Of course, as I've always said, if the rain were to stop the English from any outdoor activities, they would never come outside. It ALWAYS rains!

Because of the rain, we got on the train as soon as it came into the station. We rode down the tracks and had mince pies, port (kids had juice) and each child got to see Santa and received a present. It was fantastic! There were only 6 children in our car so Santa really spoke with each child. It was so cool. We all had a wonderful time. I left my iPhone on the train beacause I was trying to juggle 3 jackets, 3 scarves, a back pack, 2 presents and a partridge in a pear tree. But someone turned it in and I figured out I had left it before we headed home. So all is back to normal now. 

Because it gets dark much earlier here, by the time we got home it was only 4 pm but Jack insisted he take a bath. Both kids had bathed and eaten by 5:40 pm and both Jack and Millie asked if they could go to bed. We stalled them off until 6:30 and then they went to dream land. 

Initially we were supposed to go over to see Stuart's granddad's on Monday morning. However it was decided that all of us going might be too much so Stuart and Karen went alone. He has been very ill. It's such a sad time at what is supposed to be such a joyous time. Karen is determined to make everything wonderful for all of us which she always does. I would say of all Christmases Stuart and I have been married, this is by far the most important one for us to be with his family. So I am so glad we are here. 

After Stuart and his mum returned we went to pick out the Christmas tree and saw some reindeer at the tree farm. Jack was amazed that Santa would leave his reindeer at someone's farm. We told him that there were reindeer who stayed with other people so they wouldn't distract Santa and the elves as they had to get a lot done before Christmas. It worked. 

We put the tree on top of the car. It was a good old fashioned Griswold family Christmas. 

As you would guess the tree was too big and it took us a good hour to decide where to put it so that it would be the most out of the way. Hmmm. 

While the tree was being wrangled around, Grandma and Jack were making mince pies in the kitchen. Millie tried to help but she was really more in the way than she was any help. 

In the end the mince pies turned out perfectly as did the tree. 

Tuesday morning we woke up and Santa had left the kids a pair of wellies a piece.  Apparently Elfis had told Santa that the weather in England was very wet and muddy. Therefore Santa assumed the kids would need some rain boots. He's clever, that Santa. 

We had breakfast at a seaside cafe called the Mermaid. We met up with a couple of friends we used to teach with. After, we walked into town to the local shopping center. Jack got good use of his new wellies, as he stomped in every puddle from the cafe to the shops, causing soaking wet sweat pants and maybe not getting the rusult of a dryer child Santa had hoped for with the gift. We ended up stopping at the Game Center so Jack could waste our money on some games. Millie fell asleep so she didn't cost us a thing. 

The afternoon brought playing in the house and relaxing with a cup of tea, my favorite. The kids didn't nap, so bed time was relatively earlier than normal. In fact, at 6:30 Millie fell asleep on Stuart's lap. Both kids slept until around 7 am. I think we have adjusted to the time change. Yahoo!

We headed to Eastbourne on Wednesday morning to see Granddad Tom and Granny. We only stayed for a bit so that we would not overwhelm them.  We ended up eating some lunch and shopping around the town center. 

Traffic was terrible on the way home. I kept Jack awake but lost Millie to Mr. Sandman about 20 minutes into the hour journey. The plan was to not let the kids nap so they would go to bed relatively easy. Grandma and Grandpa were going to babysit so making it easy on them was our goal. 

Wednesday evening we went back to Eastbourne to have dinner and spend time with our friends Nathan and Craig. It turns out that Craig had a prior commitment so we had a cup of tea at their new house then headed to The Belguim Cafe for dinner. When we got there the weather was wicked; rainy and blowing. The waitress, all 18 years of her, inquired, 'Did ya have reservations?' (Ask that previous question in your best English accent). As we all three looked around the incredibly empty restaurant it was all we could do not to laugh in her face. I said, 'No, we don't have reservations', to which she responded,'Ok, just have a seat anywhere'. I felt like I must be on candid camera! Really?

At any rate we had a lovely dinner and headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a good night's sleep. 

Thursday morning we got up and kind of lazed around. We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the 7th time, and vowed that we were putting it away and starting with another movie that afternoon. Jack, Stuart and Grandpa went for a walk in the woods behind Grandma and Grandpa's house. They were gone for a while and when they came back they were filthy muddy and needed some major cleaning up. Jack had a great time and told of stories of seeing owls and foxes, none of which were true. He has a vivid imagination (he's a big fat liar). 

The kids took a bath, ate dinner, and headed to bed. The days are going way too fast for us. 

Friday we headed out around 9:30 am to go shopping and eat lunch on the Bexhill seafront. After lunch we went to Granddad and Grandma's (aka Andrew and Lyn). We had a cup of tea and visited with them for a bit before they had to head out for their holiday to New York. They are meeting up with James- Stuart's brother, Louise-his wife, and Billy-their little boy. They are all spending Christmas in New York City. They will be coming back to the UK (all of them) for New Year's. Jack can't wait to see Billy. We spent last Christmas with them and had a wonderful time. 

Friday evening was back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a quiet night. Jack'a new movie? Elf! During dinner on Friday he said, 'I think I'll eat in my room'. If you've seen the movie the part he was quoting was when Buddy's dad (the workaholic) came home for dinner and immediately  took his dinner and said he was going to his room to eat. Jack loves quoting movies, but not the best for us when it is inappropriate. Quality parenting, I always say. 

Saturday we went to Dover to deliver some Christmas presents to Stuart's great aunt. Since Stuart's grandfather is ill it is not possible for them to get down to see the relatives in Dover so we became Santa. We had a nice visit and then we went for lunch at a pub by the seafront. The waves were spraying up on the walls of Dover Harbour. Our original plan was to go to Dover Castle but it was raining cats and dogs so the castle was out. 

Two more weeks of our vacation left and the kids, especially Jack, are getting anxious for Santa to come. Have a wonderful Christmas and we will be in touch in a week. 

Merry Christmas!

Last week of term 1

This week was quite different than any other experience I have had in an educational setting. At this point in the term, I am told, there are very few students who come to school. This year seems to be no exception. The reason? I am not sure exactly. The parents whom I have spoken with are very concerned about their daughter's progress, so it is not a lack of concern for academics. I believe a great deal of it is generational. Also, the country as a whole gives a great deal of attention and concern to the family. It seems when my students are not at school, they will be traveling with their family or doing other family activities.

The entire week, each day, the numbers in our grade level diminished.  The first day was relatively normal, by Monday we had about 30 of our 160 4th grade students in school. Tuesday we had 8 students and Wednesday we had 2, who seemed to disappear during our 1st hour class. The teachers were in a meeting. The specialists were in classes with the kids who remained and.....mysteriously gone at the beginning of second period. On Wednesday no children were in school so we had meetings to finally get our new school organized. In the best of conditions, when there is only one language to consider, opening a new school is really difficult and we have been no exception to that rule. So we were all very productive on Wednesday. By Thursday we were ready to celebrate. We had one short meeting in our committee meetings and then we all enjoyed some time together as a staff, with food of course. By noon the place was nearly a ghost town. I stayed for a while so that I would not have to work over our three week break. I have no need for that. 

Outside of school, Christmas shopping was completed, our family photos were delivered (which we love!), we finished packing for England, and managed some special time with Cathy and the girls.

Tuesday evening we had our Christmas celebration with Cathy and the girls. We had initially planned to have dinner at Cathy's place. But after a long (or short in our case) day at work we decided to go to our favorite curry restaurant, called the Curry House, ironically enough.  As always, the food was delicious. We went to Cathy's apartment after and opened presents. 

When we left our place for the Curry House we stopped at the dry cleaners to drop off Stuart's work clothes. As we were coming out of the neighborhood onto the main road, we noticed the police were doing random stops to check for driver's licenses and insurance cards. I think people try to get away woth not having either.  Seems that is the same in all countries. Naturally I was one of the people they randomly stopped. The officer took my license and insurance card. Stuart had decided he didn't want to drive my car, which never happens. He always drives. At any rate I was the one who had to give out the information. He took down my license plate number and checked a few other things. Then he passed my insurance card and driver's license back to me. We were stopped at a round about so I pulled forward to see if I could get out into that crazed crowd. As I did I head Stuart say 'Um, this is not your license'. Clearly the officer had another set of information in his hand when he returned the cards to me. He had given me Mohammed's license and insurance card. Hmmm. I held it out the window and said, 'These are not mine'. He didn't exactly understand me until I showed him the picture and pretended to circle my face with my finger while saying 'This is not me!'  He had me to drive around the round about, park behind his patrol car, and then he was able to give me the correct information. Whew! Losing something like that here, I would guess, would be difficult to replace. 

We are off to the UK tomorrow so I will close out this post for now. It seems strange that Christmas is two weeks away since outside it is still 90 some odd degrees. I used to find the warm weather a strange phenomenon when I first moved to Phoenix.  Through the years I have learned to think of temperatures in the 50s as a sign of Christmas. But now I guess my new temperature gauge will be in the 80s we will know that Christmas is close. Seems abnormal, but I think a lot of new 'normals' are starting to enter our lives. Still enjoying our lives here. Love to you all!

The Telfords

The day the UAE became the UAE

The story really is quite amazing. I am sure there are people who could make it much more interesting than I will, but the short of it is there was a man named Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He was frequently referred to as the father of the nation.

He led the UAE through economic and political change which could not have been imagined when many were born.

Sheikh Zayed was born in Abu Dhabi around 1918 although the exact date is unknown.

As a young man he spent time with Bedouin tribesmen, learning about their way of life and the desert in which they lived.

His first taste of government came in 1946 when he was appointed Ruler's Representative based in the oasis town of Al Ain.

In 1971 he orchestrated the union of the 7 emirates, forming what we know of as the United Arab Emirates. 

So on December 2 each year there is a grand national celebration, referred to as National Day. 

In honor of this we were given Sunday and Monday off last week. And then of course that 4 day weekend was turned into a 5 day weekend because of the announcement that Dubai got the bid for the World Expo in, wait for it, ...... 2020.

On Sunday we got up and went to do some Christmas shopping that was supposed to have been done while we were in Abu Dhabi the day before.  I am pleased to report that we had some success. In the early evening we went to Cathy's and headed from there to the Hili Archeological Park for a picnic and fireworks that were supposed to go off at 8:30 pm. We met with yet another ADEC family there. And at about 9 pm when no fireworks appeared we decided to head home. Later we were informed that the promised time of 8:30 pm actually changed because the mood hit at 7 pm. We had heard but didn't see the fireworks. Oh well. 

Monday was National Day. We invited Cathy and her girls, as well as Fechin, Gemma and their kids over for dinner. We had an English roast dinner, which would only make since considering all guests were British. 

Tuesday we resumed school as normal, or so I thought. Of my 49 students, only 26 showed up to school. We ended up combing classes and I only taught 2 of my 6 classes. It worked out nicely for me because Jack's National Day celebration that he should have done last Thursday was rescheduled for Tuesday. I knew I would be able to go since we were most likely going to have no students anyway.  My principal is very accommodating when it comes to our families. 

Tuesday evening an tech guy came by to hook up our buffalo router and magic jack, both of which I know very little about. What I do know is now we can watch Netflix and Hulu Plus. Yahoo!

School was a little busier on Wednesday. I had one full class and was only missing 7 girls in the other one. I had to teach a whole 4.5 hours, my regular schedule. In the evening we tried to do a little more Christmas shopping. We ended up buying some decorations for our house and a lamp, all of which were wrapped in bubble wrap. Sherry Bollard, you will be happy to know that the only thing Jack was concerned about was whether he was going to be able to play with the bubble wrap when we got home. So as you can see, the answer was 'yes'. Thanks for that tradition. Although we may not do it at New Year and not running bikes over it, still we have claimed it as our own. 

On Thursday the majority of my class showed up for school but not until after we had combined classes.  So although we had a few too many girls in the classroom, I still only taught three classes that day. It was a great way to end the week. 

Thursday evening we went to the rugby club to hear the Al Ain choir sing Christmas carols. It was nice and put me a bit more in the Christmas spirit. But it does take a great deal to get in the spirit in 80 degree weather, which was the low that day. 

Friday morning we got up, I went to fetch Ms. Janet to clean our house, and off to church we went. When we got there we were surprised to find out that Jack was going to be a part of the Nativity. That was the entire service. It seems that two weeks ago they made animal masks. Jack was a cow. He sat in the manger so quiet and still. Then just when I thought he was going to get restless and need to come back to sit with us in the audience, he lowered his face to the floor. Obviously, the cows at the manger needed nuriousment. It truly looked as if he were eating hay. I started giggling way down deep inside. Then as the Christmas story was finishing, our little cow laid down for a rest, not like a boy would, but like a cow would. So stinking cute. Our boy was in his first, of many his mother hopes, productions. 

Yet again, after church, we headed to the mall for the last of our Christmas shopping, ate lunch and headed home for a much needed nap. Because Friday evening there was a Christmas party at Jack's school. Santa was there!

There were a number of activities for the kids to do, but Jack an Millie seem perfectly happy to just play on the playground. There was a tree and Santa came to deliver every boy and girl a Christmas gift (that needed to be delivered to the school prior to December 3, with names clearly marked on the gift. Oh, and no gift should be over 50 dirhams- about $14. Didn't want it to look as if Santa has favorites). Jack and Millie thought it was great. 

Saturday morning we got up and went to a gingerbread making party. Again, Santa showed up and brought everyone a .....book. Yippee! We could use these, St. Nick.

The gingerbread houses were all pre-made and we got to put the icing and the candy on. It was so fun. Millie ate more of the candy than she put on the house so our decorations were a bit lacking. 

After making gingerbread houses we decided to go to the Sands Golf course, where our church meets, to check out the farmer's market, which also had crafts from around the world. Jack just played outside when we went inside to check out all the crafts. Amongst the beautiful wares, Santa was sitting there greeting children. When we got ready to leave and got I to the car Stuart asked Jack if he had seen Santa inside the building. Here was the conversation.

Jack: Santa was there?

Me: Yes. Didn't you see him?

Jack: No. Was it a girl Santa or a boy 

         Santa. 

Me:  What?  What do you mean?

Jack: Some Santa's are girls. 

Me:  Why do you say that?

Jack: The one where we made our gingerbread today was a girl. 

Me: How do you know that?

Jack: Cuz I just do. 

Um......help!  We went on to explain that since the real Santa can't be everywhere at once, he sometimes asks others to help him out by dressing up like him. He was fine with that and kept on playing his Nintendo DS in the back of the car, while Stuart and I were secretly cracking up in the front seat. 

Just one more week of school and then we are off for three weeks and off to England for the entire break. I can't promise much of a blog for that time, but will fill you in if we do anything exciting. 

Here we go again! Another busy week.

Sunday was crazy at school, getting ready for the National Day performances for the parents. Our schedule for practice was a bit evasive so we ended up being in the auditorium for most of the day. No teaching? Ok. 

I went to the Zone to do another step in the kids' visa process. It seems it always takes one day for each step. So 'come back tomorrow and bring me the money' has become a common phrase I hear. 

We went to the mall for hair cuts for the kids because we are having family pictures taken on Friday. Both Millie and Jack were stars. Neither cried, although Jack is past that, and both can now see again, rather than peering from under their fringe (bangs).

Shopping for our clothes for pictures remains to be a difficult task, but I will persevere. Pray for me! 

Monday was our celebration of National Day at school. It began with a parade and the making of a flag out of people. All students were told to wear colors the color of the UAE flag. It was quite cool. 

There was a rotation for each class that consisted of tradional food, henna, face painting, an art activity and Yola dancing in the gym. Yola dancing is meant to be for men only but my friend, Mary, and I joined in the fun. It was a fantastic day all in all. 

By the way, those are not my hairy knuckles. I did not have henna done, but one of my students did. Stuart is the person who pointed out the hairy knuckles. I am not sure I would have noticed had he not said something and made me curious to not only go back and investigate for myself but also post about it. Ha!

I left school as soon as the kids did on Monday. It seems I do that a great deal. However, since everything takes a few steps to complete I have no choice. My principal has been very wonderful with me having to leave to get things done. She is a westerner so understands a bit of what we are going through. I went to pick up my items to take to immigration for their final residence visa. I paid my money and now am just waiting for the call to give exact directions to our apartment so we can be done with this process. 

A gal from work went with me to complete a step in her daughter's residence visa. She wasn't as far along as I was so I was happy to help as much as I could. If it weren't for people who have gone through this before, I am sure there would be more 'runners'. It can be frustrating.  

Our sofas were delivered on Monday afternoon. I think they are lovely. Our furniture hunt is almost over, thank good ness. 

When I got home from work I bathed the kids and we headed to the bank for a 'stamped' bank statement which proved we have been paid three times in the UAE.  I actually forgot to get mine stamped, had to run to the bank, and got lost on the way, which is not shocking to anyone who knows me. The stamped paper is all you need to qualify for a car loan. We went to the Kia dealer (most affordable and actually we like them) to once again look at the cars. The silver one we wanted was not there. Apparently the only 2 silver Sorentos in the country were already reserved for other customers. The thing I didn't like about the white Sorento was the tan interior. Again, the salesman tried to convince me that the white one was the best. After a lot of going back and forth, he finally knocked off some money so we could go get black seat covers and we bought the car, or should I say Stuart bought the car? When the salesman told me that a silver car in this country indicates you drive a taxi, that was all I needed to hear to be put off the silver car. 

I actually bought the Kia Soul. So much for waiting until after the holidays for a second car. In the end we decided it really wasn't feasible for me to take a taxi each day because of the hassle of the car seats. So my independence will remain in tact. 

Tuesday, of my 48 students only 24 showed up for school. Because we had our celebration on Monday there was not a huge inclination to be at school the rest of the week because National Day is this Monday (2 December) and we don't have school on Sunday or Monday. The big reason most of my students were there was because we had a performance for the parents both Tuesday and Wednesday. After school we went to the bank to finalize our paperwork. Somethig suspicious occurred and I will tell you what it was the next time I see you if you remember to ask. Once the papers were signed we just had to wait until the banker delivered the information to the dealer and knew the following day we could pick up our cars. 

Wednesday I had about the same number of students in my class as on Tuesday. The rest of the 4th grade classes together only added up to about 30. So it was decided that we would each have all of the students for one period (45 minutes). Suited me just fine. However, I am starting to panic that I won't get all of the outcomes taught. But everyone just says not to stress. Little teaching took place that is for sure. I did get a great deal done on the computer for my grades, though, and that made me happy. 

Wednesday evening we went to pick up our cars. There was some final paperwork and then after that was signed we had to wait another hour for a guy to go and get the registration for each car. We decided to get something to eat at the mall. When we returned our cars were ready to go. They turned the key in mine.....dead! What? They swapped a battery from another Soul, just like mine, and we were off. Oh, that is, after we had taken all of the plastic off the entire car; seats, doors, break lights, the entire car. There are many people here who drive around with the plastic still on each of their seats. You would think these cars were brand new, but I would venture to guess the majority of the ones you see on the road still dawning the plastic are not new at all. 

We arrived home in both of our new cars safe and sound. Stuart parked his next to his rental, which he had technically turned over to the company that afternoon but they had not picked it up at that point. Stuart jumped in my car, as the driver of course, and we headed back to the dealership to pick up my retal car. Now we only have one car to return. 

The kids were asleep by the time we got home so went straight to bed. It was about 9 pm by the time we were relaxing in the living room. At about 9:30 Stuart said, 'I don't think we are going to school tomorrow.'

Me: What?

Stuart: I don't think we are going to school tomorrow. The Sheikh just announced that all schools will be closed tomorrow because It was announced at 9 pm that Dubai had won the bid to host the World Expo in 2020. 

Me: Only in the UAE!

So on Thursday no students went to school. We knew we would have no students anyway because that's how they roll around here, but the teachers were going to have a luncheon and be able to get some grades put into the system. Oh well, another day I suppose.  So we took the kids to the play area at the mall, had coffee with some friends, went shopping, and were home by 2 pm for kid naps. 

The funny thing about this day off is that we also have Sunday and Monday off for the celebration of National Day. I can't promise, but after that we only have 8 student days before December break and it is quite possible that attendance will be down those last 8 days. But in the meantime it's like we are having a Thanksgiving break. Again, fine with me. 

Thursday evening, like many of you, we went had a Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and all. We went to the Al Ain Golf Club with Wade, Karen, their two girls, Cathy and her girls. We had a nice time just sitting and chatting with each other while the kids played outside on the play structures. It was a great night, and a suitable substitute for being so far away from other friends and family. Although I did miss my sister-in-law's sweet potato casserole. 

Friday was a lazy day. Earlier in the week on one of our shopping adventures, we did actually find something. For our photo shoot. Stuart wore something he already had, but the rest of us bought new digs. So Friday afternoon we headed out to the dunes close to my school and took pictures. I hope to have them back very soon and will post as soon as I do. Jack and Millie loved playing in the sand. Jack rolled down the dunes numerous times and ran towards the photographer on a few occasions for photos. Can't wait to see how they turn out. Needless to say, getting the sand out of crevices was challenging once we got home, but I'm pleased to report that all are clean and free of red dune sand. 

Saturday we left the kids with Kayleigh and Claire so we could go return the last of our rental cars, pick up a few things from Ikea, and do some Christmas shopping for the kids. The Christmas shopping was put on the back burner because we didn't restrain ourselves at Ikea. Our living room is nearly finished. All we need now is a dining room table. We did do some shopping at a mall and met up with Gina. She had some friends in town from Al Ain, ironically, who were very nice. They only stayed with us for a bit and then headed on their way. We ended up having dinner at Lebanese Flower, a cheap but very delicious plae to eat. Yum!  And we still have two more days off. Yahoo!

The week at a glance

Since Sunday is our first day of the school week, why not start it with a field trip. Our grades 3, 4, and 5 were asked to select some of our best behaved students to go to the Science Festival in Abu Dhabi.      

 

Field trips are a different experience here, to say the least. I am going to list the facts and then you can draw your own conclusion. 

1.  We were scheduled to leave the school at 8 am. 

2.  We left the school at 9 am. Abu Dhabi is probably an hour and forty-five minute drive on a bus. 

3.  Our first scheduled session was at 10:30 am. 

4.  We stopped halfway for one of the buses to get fuel. Some of the adults with us got coffee and snacks:) The driver of the other bus went inside to get sunflower seeds. 

5.  We were supposed to go to Yas Island but passed the exit. 

6.  On more than one occasion the driver seemed displeased with the person he was speaking with on the phone. 

7.  We arrived at 11:30 am and were scheduled to leave at 1 pm. 

8.  We did not get off of the bus until 11:50 am. 

9.  We did a really great activity using some of the items from the periodic chart and putting them under a buns and burner to see what color it would turn. 

10. We were told we could look around the center when we were finished eating. 

11. My students had just sat down to eat when someone announced it was time to leave. We were told the buses were waiting on us. 

12.  When we got to the area where we were waiting for the buses, we had to wait. Buses were waiting on us? Not quite. 

13. We left just before 1:45 pm and ended up getting back to school just before 4 pm, and waiting till after 5 pm for some of the parents to pick up their kid. 

14.  Note to self: Think twice before volunteering to go on a field trip again.

Your own conclusion?

Monday brought another trip to the Zone to apply for the kids' health cards and Emirate ID cards. I had all the necessary paperwork to give to the gentleman at the health section of the Zone, and he sends me downstairs to get a 'permission to add dependents' form from someone one floor down. I kid you not, I was handed the form you see below that the man tore off of a stack of those same forms and wrote my ID number on it and the date. That was it. Didn't ask for anything from me. 

I was told I could come back on Thursday to get Jack's and Millie's health cards, and their Emirate ID application would be finished Tuesday and I could come back and take it to the Emirate ID building across the street to get it, you guessed it, stamped. Then from there I can go to Immigration and apply for their residency visa. Yahoo! Now who wants to make bets on whether I get all of this done before we leave for the UK?  Inshallah!

Tuesday, as we were leaving our apartment complex someone backed up to leave as well and failed to see me driving. Oops! So this is the second accident the Telfords have had since our arrival in the country, both of which were not our fault. 

Tuesday's Zone visit was successful in that I received the application for the Emirates ID for the kids, went to the Emirates Identity Division and walked to the information counter and got the application stamped. STAMPS are starting to make me a bit nuts. We ordered our sofas after Stuart got home from school and will have them in 10 business days, at most. It will be nice not to sit on camping chairs, using Jack's chair as a foot stool. 

On the car front, we have decided we are throwing away our money in the rental world. So on Wednesday we went looking for cars. There are some 'specials' happening right now, but we don't know if we will try to buy before or after our trip to the UK for Christmas. I will keep you posted.  If you see pictures of shiny new car(s) on here soon, don't be surprised. 

Thursday morning at Tabour (morning assembly) my students performed their presentation for National Day. Our theme was to have students select an occupation they would want to do when they are grown. We focused the entire skit and song around Vision 2030, which is the initiative we are a part of. We had police, teachers, doctors and mothers as chosen occupations. One of my 'police woman' brought this, pointed it toward my face and giggled. I actually laughed because she is the sweetest, most gentle child in my class. Only in this country!

In the states this would be a mandatory report and most likely expulsion. It was plastic and harmless, but still a bit disturbing. 

At about 10 am on Thursday, it started to rain very hard. An announcement came over the speakers to tell all of us to get our home room students in our class and keep them there until they were called for dismissal. I love this country!  It seems our brand new building is full of holes. There were leaks everywhere, scariest was in the electrical room. They had to turn all of the electricity off and we sent the children home. I thought that was reasonable until I learned that all schools sent children home because of the rain. Imagine it snows in Phoenix, about 8 inches and sticks. That was the reaction here. We had girls in grade 4 crying because of the rain. Obviously rain is a very rare occurrence. So I was at lunch with our PE teacher, Helen, by 12:40 pm.  I picked our carpool kids up from school, returned them home, grabbed Millie, took my kids home, showered them both, mainly because Jack looked as if he had rolled in the mud at school, and went to get my UAE driver's license which took me five minutes. By 5:30 pm I was ready to start my evening. I felt as if I had gotten all kinds of chores completed and still had another day to do what I wanted. We ended up having Claire babysit so we could get some things done without the kids. Cathy came with us. Our intention was to go by Kia dealership and look at some cars again. We think the Kia is the best value for us at this point. Much to our dismay the dealership was closed, probably because of the rain. 

Friday morning we got up, spoke with Grammies and Pop (thank you, God, for Skype) which is always a treat, picked up Miss Janet to come clean our house (super cheap and worth it) and headed off to church, late. 

After church we went to the mall to buy a ladder and go help Cathy hang curtains. I, naturally, found something else to do....... I headed to the Souq to buy some rugs. The Souq is a little like crossing the border in Nogales. They expect you to bargain for sure.  So I gave them what they wanted. After insisting I only had 700 dirhams for a one meter by six meter rug and a 2.5 meter by 3.5 meter rug that were originally stated to be 2000 dirhams for both of them, I was asked for about the 10th time, 'Sister, what is your last offer?' And, again, as he passed me the calculator to type my offer I typed 7-0-0. He stated it one last time and considering I had been in his shop for about an hour anyway, I begrudgingly typed 8-0-0. He said, 'Deal, Sister.'  I am not sure who has told these Pakistani men that they should call women 'sister', but they do it. 

After returning from Cathy's place we placed our rugs in the living room and hallway. They look awesome. They are not necessarily what I would have chosen at home, but are very nice an functional and only cost me $216. Hello!

I do realize the camping chairs in the middle of the rug add a little bit of class, but we are replacing them with our sofas very soon. 

We got up Saturday morning and because I can only assume some of you at home are doing the same, I decorated our Christmas tree. Yes, they have trees and decorations all over the place. The quality is not what we are used to, but the idea is there. We still need a few ornaments, but this has helped to get me in the holiday spirit, since up until Thursday it was still in the mid 90s everyday. 

We spent most of the day at home. In the late afternoon we headed back to the Kia dealership to see what kind of deal we could work out. The car we wanted was on the showroom floor. We asked to test drive it and there was a puzzled look on the salesman's face. Obviously that doesn't  happen very often. He kept trying to convince us that we wanted a white car with light tan interior, when really the silver one with black interior was what we were interested in. Finally I had to make the following statement, 'If I am the one buying the at, shouldn't I be able to decide the color I want?'  The salesman shut up and all was well. Most likely we will be purchasing the Sorento this week sometime, returning Stuart's rental car on Wednesday, and then my rental car on Saturday. I will be using taxis until the winter break and we will see how that goes. If it is an epic failure, we will look at buying another Kia at the beginning of the year. 

Can it be that we have no news to share?

Nah! Each week brings on a new challenge. This week's challenge? Installation of the internet and tv service, no water on Saturday evening, and starting the process for the kids' residence visas. 

As you know, we had our Internet installed over a week ago. When the technicians left they stated it would take an hour or so for everything to be working correctly. For the Internet, they were right on the money. But the tv was a different story. I called the support number several times but got nowhere. The second time I called I spoke to a very nice lady who informed me that the television would actually take up to two days to work properly. Two days later the tv was still not working. Stuart called and they informed him that someone would be out to install our services on November 14. What? We already had it installed. Apparently, Stuart put in an order on October 31 that was lost in the system. Because of that he put in another order around November 4. Who knows where the first one disappeared to and why they didn't have it in their system that we had already had the necessary equipment installed. But long story short, our tv is now working and there was no need for anyone else to come to our apartment from the cable company. However, Thursday (the 14th), there was a cable company car sitting outside our apartment. Turns out, it wasn't for us. Whew!

We have been having trouble with the water heater in our kitchen. We have had the maintenance man come over a couple of times but what he has done to 'fix' it really hasn't. So, after he came over late Saturday to 'fix' it again, he told us if it wasn't working Sunday morning we could call him and he would get a new unit then. Later that evening, the water went completely out. We called several times but got no response. After about 2 hours of this, I called and asked if someone was coming and was given the response, as before, 'will be there in a minute'. Fortunately, this time he was telling the truth and did actually show up. He went up on the top of the building and within minutes you could hear the bubbling of the water as it made its way through the pipes and back into our house. It ran dirty for a bit, but at least it was on. And wouldn't you know it, the water heater started working. It seems when there is not enough water in the water heater to heat, it doesn't work. Go figure. 

It seems that everything is a 10 step process. You have to 'come back' the following day to get whatever it was you had dropped off to be 'processed'. Sometimes I think jobs are created so people can be paid. It can be a bit wearing on a person. Now that we have our visas and Emirate IDs we can now sponsor the kids. There are many papers immigration needs and I thought I had all of them together. But I had not printed a salary certificate prior to going to the Zone. I was told I could get it printed there. Once I got to the window I asked another American where I was to go to get the certificate. She told me I could print it from my information on my school website. I told her I was told I could print it once I got to the Zone. Not true, said the man behind the glass. However, after begging a lady on the third floor to help me print the needed information, turns out the man misunderstood me and I could have it printed in Human Resource. Good thing, because since Stuart's name is on the housing contract, he is actually the one who needed the salary certificate, not me. And he ended up needing to be the one who sponsors the children. So in actuality he really should have been the one who was doing all of this. Ugh!

The following day I picked up their residence paperwork and headed to immigration just three buildings away. Nothing was very clearly marked so I asked an Emirati if I could go throughthe  gate marked 'employee entrance only', to which she responded, 'yes, here'. Fine with me. I headed to the customer service counter where an older gentleman gave me a ticket and told me to go outside to the typing center. Jack was with me so I marched us both out not really knowing where to go. Low and behold, who was standing outside of the front entrance? Sunil, the guy who took the kids across the border the first time for a border run. He said hello and I said 'Help!'  He took the piece of paper I had been given, walked into the typing center, asked me for 2 dirham coins, walked right up to someone behind a computer (even though there must have been 15 people waiting for the next available person to help them), and out I came with the needed paper in my hand. Well, actually it was in Sunil's hand. He came with me back to customer service and handed the paper to the same gentleman who had been a bit short with me the first time. They gave me a number and I was the next person assisted. It was great and I am so thankful Sunil was there. I turned in all of the paperwork, a man wrote some numbers on a tiny ticket (picture below) and told me to return the following day to get the residence pink ticket. Then he said we could either pay the office of immigration 570 dirham per kid or do a border run again to get the needed stamp. Since the border run is only 85 dirham per kid, we opted for that. 

Friday morning I got up and Jack, Millie and I walked that dreaded border walk one last time. I really don't have anything to complain about. I haven't had to do one before so it was a new experience for me. Thank goodness Jack was with me. He told me which way to go a couple of times which was really very helpful. Stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp, and done! Now about 7 more steps and we will all be residents. Yahoo!

The new experience for the week? I went to an Emirati wedding on Thursday night. It was so fantastic!  I didn't even know the bride. At school we had an invitation given to some of the teachers and placed on the message board. So that means we are officially invited. I went with another teacher from work and a daughter of another teacher and her friend. The girls had been to an Emirati wedding before but the other teacher and I hadn't.  We walked in and the place was white from the top of the ceiling to the floors. There were rows and rows of tables facing a central stage. At each table there were 8 chairs and table settings at each. We sat down at a random table and the food kept coming for about 2 hours. It was the craziest thing I had even seen. There were servers coming on all sides. They passed out a perfumed oil at the door, which is the picture below, and then women were walking around placing the oil on your arm if you wanted. There is another picture of me at the wedding. I would have taken more but you are not to take pictures of Emirati women, especially if they are not all covered up. 

Their was tradional Arabic music being played and food being served. There is a huge chocolate industry here. So chocolates were coming out of the woodwork, so much so that we ended up stuffing a great deal in my handbag. So Stuart benefitted from the wedding as well. Oh, did I mention no men can be in the women's side of the wedding. There are two different celebrations, one for the bride and one for the groom. Because the women deck out and are often seen without their traditional dress, no men are allowed. The wedding was held in the district where my school is, so of course I saw some of the students from my class. It was truly great and was definitely on my 'to do' list before I left here. 

Saturday (the 16th) we headed to Abu Dhabi to do our last Ikea run, hopefully. We haven't seen Gina since we left AD 11 weeks ago. She met us at Ikea, shopped with us, and had lunch with us. It was so good to see her. Our shopping trip was a success. We even bought a Christmas tree and a few decorations. We will be putting that up in two weeks, the weekend of Thanksgiving. 

Big event in Jack's life this week? He learned to tie his shoes. Not perfect, but good enough. 

Back to Al Ain to start another week. We are practicing for National Day here which is December 2. The country will be 42 years old and the decorations have been going up in the round abouts for a few weeks now. It is quite the celebration from what we've heard. We will get two days off, a Monday and a Tuesday. We may even get the Sunday before off, but won't know that until we are closer to the time. And what I mean by 'closer to the time' is the Thursday afternoon prior to December 1. For my class performance I have   written a song for them to sing and they are going to have little speeches to deliver to the audience. The girls are very excited.  We have been told that the kids in the outer lying schools have been know to not come back to school after National  Day until the first of January. This means Stuart may be done teaching from this Thursday on because his National Day ceremony is this Thursday. I will let you know. 

Take care and we love you all,

Dana, Stuart, Jack and Millie

Home Sweet Home

Ah! What a relief to finally be in a place to call home for the next two years, at least.

Our Irish friends, Gemma and Fechin, came around to our place on Sunday and helped us install our black out blinds, which happen to be white. Fechin had all his tools shipped from Ireland, so he was extremely helpful. 

We had furniture from Ikea delivered on Tuesday and boy were we glad that we didn't have to put any of it together. All I can say is that both of us might have lost our religion putting those wardrobes together. The good Lord knew our marriage would suffer from that task. It took 4 men about 3 hours to put everything together. 

Wednesday was moving day, although by Tuesday most of our things were at the apartment. We came home from school, packed the rest of our things and went to our home away from home. It's such a weird feeling to actually have to think about making my bed and not being able to just throw my towel on the bathroom floor. You see no one is coming in now to change linens or give fresh towels. Oh well, that is overrated anyway. 

Jack and Millie were so excited about their beds. But, seeing how they had been at school all day and both were dirty as the ground, I wouldn't let them get on their new beds the evening they were delivered and set up. I know, I need to relax. On Wednesday, after baths of course, they were delighted to be on their new beds. Initially they both had difficulty falling asleep. They have been able to see each other in their beds the last 10 weeks so watching them peer up and peer down at one another was very sweet. Finally they fell into slumber around 9 pm. 

On Thursday afternoon a worker here at the apartment complex came by to install our curtains for 150 dirhams, there were 4 sets. That is roughly $40. Now, I had to do a great deal of supervising but they are up and actually pretty stable. Below is a picture of how he charged his drill. Safety is not first here. 

We finally got our passports back from immigration so we are now working residence of the UAE. I think Stuart is collecting the resident ID cards now. We also got our Emirati ID which now means we have to get an Emirati driver's license. I am pretty sure I will pass the 'test'. There are plenty of drivers who have no business being on the road, but I'm sure they have their license.

Friday morning we went to St. Thomas's Anglican Church. It meets in a small building and there were only about 50 people there, but we both really liked it. So we think that will be our new home each Friday morning. It is not exactly what I am used to but I did really like the smallness of it and the people were really nice. 

We went to the souq (local market place) to look at some rugs. Most of the rugs they sell are Arabic designs, but some are more modern. We saw a runner (1 meter by 4 meters) that we could put down our hallway and we really liked it. Initially the guy wanted 380 dirhams for it, Stuart offered 200 and the guy said he would take 250. So we said we would get the cash, do our shopping, and return later. We asked if they were open all day, because some places take an afternoon rest time and close. He said they would be open all day, but when I took the cash back and walked into the store, there were sheets of all different colors lining the walls because all of the workers were under them having a nap. So sorry I did not get a picture of that. I suppose we will have to go back at another time and hope for the same deal. By the way, 250 dirhams is about $68. 

We had promised Jack and Millie that once we had our own place we would go on a toy shopping trip. So after the souq we headed to the mall to Toys R Us to make some purchases. We actually came out of the store with very few things. Jack has been collecting Ninja  Turtles and wanted the last one to complete his set. He also got a skateboard for the turtles to ride on. He bought a Hungry Hippo game and we got a paddle ball game. Millie got a baby doll, a book with a CD we can play in the car, and a bathtub for her baby. We came out spending only about a third of what limit I had set in my head.  Oh, I almost forgot, each of the kids got a rubber zoo animal for the equivalent of $1.35 and that seems to be the favorite thing they bought. Easy!  It was great. 

We had the girls and Cathy over for lasagna on Friday evening. I can tell that Jack and Millie miss them, as do we. Jack asked me the other day if they had gotten their apartment yet. It made me a little sad. We are hoping that happens soon for them. They have been such a huge support to us and have helped us in ways we will never be able to repay. 

We were waiting on the cable to be installed so that all of our electronic gadgets would work. Thus, the reason this post is past due. After scheduling the service twice, Stuart went to the actually service center Saturday morning. Feeling he got no where and they just shoved him off, saying,'You are done now', he stormed out and headed home. Now knowing Stuart, you have to know it has gotten pretty bad in order for him to 'storm out'. On his way home the cable company called and said someone would be out today. Low and behold it actually happened. There is a great deal of 'sit around and wait' in this country.  Since we really don't have much more to do than just that, it's all good. 

School is now gearing up for the National Day celebration. It is a time of year when the country goes all out with decorations, I assume very similar to our July 4th celebrations. Last week we had a Flag Day ceremony which consisted of students going into the common area and waving flags, chanting 'U-A-E'. It happened on Wednesday at noon and I was informed about it on Wednesday at around 10:30 am, as was everyone else. The idea of protecting instructional time hasn't quite made it to the UAE as of yet, which is another reason for this school reform. Our jobs are relatively painless other than some frustrations that come with teaching in a different country with different ideals. Their education seems to revolve around the Muslim religion, where as in the states religion is not even in the picture. Any religious holidays are often celebrated the week prior to the holiday in the morning assembly, which can sometimes cut an entire 45 minutes out of my instruction. Considering I only have 2 and 1/4 hours with them each day, 45 minutes lost is a lot. But we do what we can and move on with our day. A new week begins tomorrow with many new adventures, I can only assume. Love you all!