Where do I start??
I left Houston on July 27th to drive up to
Chicago to live at mom’s house until it was time to leave for Dubai. I stayed
with mom until August 19th, the day of my flight.
While at mom’s I continued my quest for knowledge regarding
Dubai, my school and anything else I could learn. As usual not much information
available.
My sister’s boyfriend (at the time of this writing) was
working a summer camp, so he invited us up to the camp in far western MI to
join him. Mom turned this idea into a vacation so we could all be together one
more time before I left. We had a great time doing things around the city, and
also visiting Michigan’s Adventure which is an amusement park and water park
combination. On the way home from MI we stopped at a pricey chocolate shop and
bought some truffles that had ready good flavor. Strong one note flavors called
the Chocolate Garden.
The last few days at mom’s where a little melancholy because
I knew I was here now, and in a few days I’d be on the other size of the
planet. Literally, 8000 miles away! Mom made steak for me the day before I left
which was awesome. Also on the day of my departure she made a shrimp and orange
salad she knows I like and was light so I didn’t have any digestive issues on
the plane.
August 19th: So the time had finally come, I got
to say good bye to my “puppy dog” and my “kitty cat” (staying with mom for now)
and off we were to the airport. We had the grand tour of the airport finding
the international terminal in Chicago. Once we got there and she parked, I knew
it was time for water works because my mom rocks and she gets emotional on good
byes. So I unloaded all my stuff from her car and onto the curb (3 bags, one
suit case, one large backpack and my computer bag – the airline allows two bags
up to 50lbs. [I flew Royal Jordanian]). So after I unloaded everything there
was that awkward moment of what do I say to keep mom from crying, knowing full
well there is nothing I can say. So I just waited for it happen, in the
meantime my little niece ran and jumped up for hug number one. Then my sister,
and mom. After several hugs and good byes I was off into the airport. Once I
was inside, check in was very quick and easy. So the two hours I gave myself to
get through security and what not wasn’t needed, but needed to be safe just so
I didn’t miss my international flight. While sitting in the terminal waiting I
heard two other ladies chatting about teaching. At that point I didn’t say
anything.
Once we finally boarded it wasn’t long before we were off
the ground in Chicago and embarking on the trip of a lifetime! Royal Jordanian (RJ)
was awesome! Not only were they the cheapest, but they had great service! We
ate about two hours into the flight, and by then I had figured out the
in-flight entertainment system and was watching movies, playing games and
listening music. The entire system was very interactive and personalized. I
tried to sleep a bit, but that didn’t really happen. It was more of a resting
time. I also read a few chapters of my book on my new Nook Color. So after the experience
of the flight, we finally landed in Amman, Jordan. Approaching the airport one
could definitely tell that we were not in “Kansas” anymore, this was the desert
of the Middle East! Disembarking from the flight went quickly and we walked
down the long jet way and got a blast of the desert air which actually wasn’t
too bad.
August 20th: Once in the Jordan airport I had a
chance to look around and get a feeling for (at least) Jordanian culture. I
stopped at a shop and got a small sandwich and drink. Then tried to get though
security and wait for my final flight to Dubai. The man there said we could not
enter until a certain time, we were too early. So I went back to the shop that
had a seating area and tried to get on the Internet which actually worked! I
started talking to another guy and turns out he is also in education at a
school here in Dubai. After that I knew I was going to meet my colleague, Allison,
in Jordan so I approached the only other ‘white’ woman in the area with a Texas
shirt on and asked if she was Allison and she confirmed. So we talked for a
long time about our education experiences and what brought us to Dubai. While
waiting to enter security we started up a conversation with two other ladies
that were also headed to Dubai to teach. They were not rookies though, so they
told us a lot of what to expect. Long story short, Dubai is just like Chicago
only there are higher percentage of Arabs, and for that matter all other
nationalities.
We finally got on our plane to Dubai (delayed over an hour
for maintenance issues) and that short two hour flight was very smooth (RJ fed
us again!).
August 21st: Once we landed in Dubai I could feel
the opulence around me. That will be my theme word to describe Dubai, this
place is opulent! Whatever one would possibly want is available here in Dubai.
The airport alone was MASSIVE, I am not kidding when I say I walked a half mile
from the jet way to the baggage claim. There was a long linear hallway, and
then we had to transverse several escalators to descend at least four floors
down. Then more straight, long hallways and finally the baggage “hall” it was
huge too! After waiting at least 20 minutes for our bags we had to pass through
“passport control”. While waiting for our bags the “experienced” ladies told us
to tell the immigration people that we were visiting friends. So I did that,
but then the guy proceeded to ask more questions which I need to come up with
crafty answers to so I could get through. They took my picture, and stamped my
passport and I was on my way. Another quarter mile walk (not kidding!) and we
finally found our way out of the airport. At this point we were wondering what
the next step was. The school was supposed to pick us up, but where? The
“ladies” told us they would be holding up a sign with our name. Sure enough
soon as we got a blast of Dubai’s hot desert air we saw a sign with our names
(Allison and I). So I said here it is, and the one man said “Oh hi Mr. John” at
that point I was little ashamed I didn’t know his name but he knew mine. So we
followed them out to their vehicle (a small school bus) and they insisted to
load our bags on to the bus in the 100 degree heat (yes 100, at 2:30am). I will
say they take care of females quite well. They took Allison’s bags as soon as
they met us, and I still took my own all the way to the bus. Once on the bus,
they drove (pretty fast) through Dubai to the hotel. Once at the hotel, they
insisted that we not worry about our bags. At the desk, they took our passport
and checked us in. It was 3am by now, and we were instructed to go up to our
room and they would bring our bags to us. That’s exactly what happened about 10
minutes later. After an experience trying to figure out how to operate the
lights, I was finally in bed. I was so tired I crashed pretty fast.
I slept until about 12noon. I took a shower and started to
unpack a bit. As I tried to figure out the TV, there were maybe two stations
that had English programming. So I ended up watching Mighty Ducks for a while.
Then I went to knock on Allison’s door to see if she was ready, no answer so I
went down stairs to see if maybe she had left already. The front desk man
didn’t really understand my request, so I went back upstairs to watch more
Mighty Ducks. J A
little while later I went knocking again and this time she answered the door
and needed a bit more time to get ready. So later we went down to the desk to
get our passports and to take off for the day. We had no idea where we wanted
to go, but staying in the hotel was boring. We started out on a quest to buy a
SIM card for her phone so we could call the school personnel to find out what
else we needed to do. The taxi driver took us to small shop, as we got there I
suggested we go to the Dubai Mall. So we asked him to take us there instead. A
15 minute drive later and we were outside the mall. Mall is probably the wrong
word, even though that is its title. This isn’t a mall; it’s a medium sized
city all under one roof! The Dubai Mall has to be one of the largest manmade
structures on the planet. I bet if one were to count the number of people
inside, it would rival the population of medium sized cities. We spent the day
at the mall, we checked out the largest aquarium on the planet, the many stores
and shops on the first floor. Then we finally focused on the mission finding a
SIM card for her phone, even that task was complicated due to the many options!
We finally settled into a place and got the card. I was also shopping around
for rate plans and a phone. My US phone doesn’t work on the network here. So I
will need to buy one. There are many options like the states, different plans
and different phones are available. Some of the phones are very expensive so
I’ll have to shop around a bit more. After that experience we were both hungry,
hadn’t really eaten since the meal on the plane (I had some cookies with me
though). Of course my first hunt was for Subway! I am addicted to Subway in the
states, so I wanted it here too. We found one in the mall. Price for my same
meal was AED 26 which is approximately equivalent to $7 USD. So it’s about the
same price as in the US, a few cents cheaper. They didn’t have my pepper jack
cheese, and they didn’t have sweet tea. In fact, I have yet to see any kind of
cold tea. So after walking around more, we decided to leave the mall for now.
We hadn’t even seen the top two floors yet, or even the rest of the first
floor. It’s just too big to see all at once. As we were leaving I mentioned to
Allison I bet several people walk this mall for exercise because it’s air
conditioned and massive. We walked around to find the taxi queue. Luckily for
us there was no line, and we got a taxi pretty quickly. Next stop was the
beach; she wanted to see the beach. So we had the driver take us to one of two
free beaches on the Arabian Gulf (I have to get used to calling it that and not
the Persian Gulf, apparently Persian refers to Iranian ownership). We walked up
and down the beach, took our shoes off and walked through the water for a
while. The water is as warm as bath water. I will get very used that quickly!
After checking that out, we walked around a bit along the main drag. Along the
beach there were several shops selling everything under the sun. As we were
walking I spotted “Spinneys” which I read about before I got here. It’s the
place to go if one must have American branded groceries. Of course everything
is imported, so it was costly. I got an Arizona tea and chocolate, it was AED
16.75 which is about $4.56 USD, and those same two items would be about $2 USD
at Wal-Mart in the states. We sat at the café at the store for a while enjoying
the AC once again since we had walked quite a way to the store. I also noticed
the “pork room” I read about it on the web, of course Muslims don’t eat pork so
in the stores they separate all pork products in a special room off to the
side. I was a little miffed that all the packaging had the British flag on the
label, but whatever. Across the street was a grand Mosque. On the way out of the store I got to hear my
first “call to prayer” from the mosque. We hailed a cab from the store back to
the hotel. We got back around 7:30pm. Surprisingly, I was pretty tired. I was
going to go check out the pool on the roof top, but once I got up there the
door was locked. There was another sign up there that mentioned the pool closed
at dusk, so that was a bummer. I came back down to try the TV again, but still
nothing worth watching. So I read another chapter in my book and then crashed.
Around 10:00pm Allison called me and said that she had talked to someone at the
school, and we really don’t have to go to the school for another five days and
we’d be at the hotel for about 10 more days! Apparently, she worked it out
though that we are going to at least visit the school tomorrow and check things
out. So hopefully, we’ll have more of an idea of what to expect tomorrow. They
also still need to provide a visa us; we are on a 30 day visitor visa right
now. So tomorrow we meet at 9:30 to go to the school. I don’t know anything
more yet.
Other general things I have noticed: We exchanged our USD
for AED today also. I had already brought with me AED 310, which I paid $100.50
USD to buy. That was a terrible exchange rate based on what I saw on xe.com
(worldwide trusted exchange rate website). Today however, in the mall we
stopped at Al Fardan Exchange for me to exchange the additional $200 USD I
brought and all the money she brought. Today’s exchange rate was nearly the
same as the rate on xe.com! So I was much happier with the currency exchange
today. So I have no more USD, guess I’m stuck here. J
Second thing I noticed today and I could be completely wrong
on this. There is a definite class system here. I was judging on attire only,
but it seems there is a large (highly) upper class and then there is the
service class. The service class seemed a lot small in number, than the upper
class. I really didn’t notice what I know as a middle class. Perhaps the
employees at the stores and restaurants represent that middle class, I have no
idea. Really didn’t notice it though. I saw plenty of traditional Arab grab,
and even Allison commented that they keep their robes very clean. Not sure I
understand the different robes either, some women are completely covered except
their eyes and most of the others had what I’ve seen outside of the UAE, the
robe with scarf around the head but the entire face showing.
August 22nd: We started the day waiting
downstairs for a teacher to pick us up to take us to the school for our “first
day.” She had a sick child at home so she was 45 minutes late to the hotel.
After waiting all that time, she finally showed us and drove us to the school.
We had no idea what was in store, but how bad could it be? The teacher
explained to us that school was still being worked on, and wasn’t yet ready for
the school year. She walked us in, and we met the receptionist. Then she said
would you like a tour, Allison and I said yes we’d love to see the school. She
pointed down the hall and we started to walk, and she stayed at the doorway to
the office. Apparently she had meant for us to walk the building on our own. So
we did just that. To me this is a very small school, but that is in comparison
to the high school were I last worked and had 4100 students. We have 1100
students here and it’s K-12. There is a hallway for the high school level
students! After we walked around the entire building, we were back at the front
office and tried to ask what to do next but they had nothing for us to do. So
apparently we arrived a week early to enjoy Dubai and adjust to the temperature
and time difference (for me it’s 9 hours!). After that we had the school drive
us to Carrefour (think Wal-Mart super-center nearly doubled!) I need a SIM card
and new cell phone. So I bought a mid-range phone and Allison also bought a
cheap phone (she was so proud of her $18 phone J).
From there I we walked into the attached mall to find one of the two cell
providers here in the UAE. There is Etisalat and du. The first is a state run
provide of all media, cell, TV, phone and internet. The latter is another
choice in the UAE, their plans are cheaper for what I “need.” I wanted to buy a
regular monthly contract type deal, but since I don’t have the proper paperwork
yet from the school I can’t claim I’m a resident for utility services. So I
went with the pay-as-go plan for now. It’s not bad as far as price, and I can
upgrade to regular plan soon as I get my apartment. For now though, I can only
talk on this phone. No Facebook or texting, which really stinks! So after that
wonderful (sarcasm, I had to wait in line like 20 minutes!) experience Allison
wanted to leave and return back to the hotel. I agreed because by that point we
were on our feet for a few hours. Got back here and she bored me her sun screen
and went up to the pool for a little while. Nice little pool on the roof, the
water was very warm. I’d say somewhere between bath water and a hot tub. So I
messed around a bit in the pool and then got back inside, grabbed the camera
and took a few more pictures of the area from the ground and from the pool
deck. Then I finally broke down and bought Internet access for the day. I
wasn’t in a hurry because it’s AED 40 for a day’s worth of access that’s $10.89
USD for one day! Well that’s all I have for now. Pictures are coming too. I
will need to return to the mall and take a lot more.
So far so good from Dubai, United Arab Emirates!
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