Another door opens...

Thank God when one door closed another opened shortly after! After losing my last job due to nonsense reasons I looked around for another. My local friends have been very helpful in this process. People I barely even knew at the school wanted to help me find a new job. Some people said they knew people at other schools, some knew other websites to check and I let my current recruiter know. In the end my current recruiter found me a new position right here in Dubai! So I interviewed shortly thereafter, and two days later I heard from my recruiter that my application had been “approved”. Not really sure if that meant I had the job or not I had to wait a few more days to receive an email from HR at the school. Later I got the news I’d been hoping for. I got the job, and the great compensation package. My pay and housing allowance together is double my first school, along with insurance, flights and sponsorship. So same benefits, more pay and it’s only high school this time. Can’t ask for much more! My friends have been great during this transition period too! We have hung out a lot together and had dinner together quite often.

I’m planning to get a studio apartment in the same building that I am originally in from the first school. I figured I’m not home that often, and actually hope to be home even less than I am now. So I’ll keep it cheap, and stay near my friends.

In the mean time I’ve gone to the gym nearly daily, I’m keeping up with Zumba and yoga. I love both classes here in the Middle East. It’s different than the YMCA in the States, this is a health club. Don’t get me wrong I loved the YMCA, got me started with Zumba and more generally enjoying fitness. The club though operates at a higher intensity, especially in yoga. They aren’t afraid to add advanced poses every class, that didn’t happen for me in the US. For me, in Zumba I’ve added flexibility to my class. The instructor thinks I’m a freak of nature and likes to point me out all the time or say “whoa,” although he’s a riot so I don’t care too much. I also tried Body Jam here, and it’s similar to what I remember in the States. It was tough, that class doesn’t stop for the entire hour. As a result of all this I feeling stronger, but my weight hasn’t changed.

I also participated in “Yogathon 2012” last weekend. The club had a fundraiser out on the lawn at the base of the Burj Khalifa. The event started at 4:00, but went through 7:00pm. The main part of the event was to complete 108 Sun Salutations. A Sun Salutation is a set of poses in yoga that involves the entire body building strength and flexibility. I did struggle towards the end; this is an immense amount of exercise. However, I did make it and completed the entire 108, most in attendance did not. What was great about being outside and at the Burj was every time come up from a forward bend the pose is to reach arms up and look up. Usually that means looking at the ceiling, but being outside we were able to look up at the sky and also the top of the Burj! Then about 6:15pm the Dubai fountains came on, and while we were finishing up the event we got to see and hear the wonderful fountains. These aren’t just normal waterfalls, they are huge (in terms of area) all choreographed to music, it’s a show.