Today is the last day of the semester. I am sitting in Jordan’s classroom and I am supposed to be grading, but I’m too burnt out and antsy for our winter break. This semester was interesting as halfway through I was promoted to Social Studies teacher, which has been an Read more…
I’ve been really bad about blogging lately because I’ve been pretty busy. A few weeks ago I got promoted to Social Studies teacher, so I’ve had a lot more on my plate (and in my paycheck)! I’ve had a few exciting weekends this month and I’ve written a few drafts Read more…
As the weather cools down, outdoor activities become more and more enticing. Given how much Jordan and I love camping and hiking back home, we were eager to figure out how to make that happen here in the UAE. We first tried searching about camping on Google. We found many Read more…
Jordan and I got up Friday morning and were pleased to see that the temperature had made it down to a high of about 89F. Heat that I would have complained about a few months ago now seemed like a welcome cool down! We decided to take advantage of this Read more…
When Jordan and I arrived in the UAE, we spent 5 long weeks in a hotel. No personal space and no kitchen (not even a microwave). We were elated when we were told that we could finally check out of the hotel and move into our home. Our apartment is Read more…
One of the best discoveries we made about living in Al Ain is the cafeteria. This does not refer to the place children eat at school (our school doesn’t even have one of those). These are tiny places to eat, often without any space for seating where food is dirt Read more…
A great thing about the UAE is that they treat teachers well. Not only are teachers well-respected here, but they also get some great perks. The first teacher night I attended here was at the Ayla Hotel were I am still staying. In their ballroom they had tons of vendors Read more…
Jordan and I decided we wanted to make the most of our last weekend before work began, so we headed out on a Dubai day trip. On this trip we wanted to see old Dubai and the souqs (a souq is a marketplace). We drove to one of the bigger Read more…
A great thing about living in Al Ain is that we can easily have date nights in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. During our first week in the UAE, after some meetings with the school, we decided to do just that. We made the easy drive to Abu Dhabi in about Read more…
With no obligations yet in Al Ain and a short-term rental car to get us going, Jordan and I were itching to explore. Still jet lagged, we accidentally slept 12 hours and woke up at 1 PM. We didn’t let a late start stop us and jumped into the car Read more…