The last few months there has been lots of talk and gossip
about the latest teachers who left. We
call these people “runners”! Lots of
runners lately. They pack what they can
in their suitcases and head to the airport and off they go – probably never to
return again – EVER! When I hear about
these people who just abandon their job and leave the country, I never really
question why. I think anyone who is a
teacher here can sympathize with the runners.
It is, however, very interesting that people are running during their 2nd
year here. But again, I sort of get why
they left and don’t blame them. But it
does cause an issue for our employer who then has paid rent for the year,
electric bills left unpaid, and it seems to take forever to get a new tenant in
the place. And if you are a new teacher
moving into a home where the previous tenant just “ran”, you have the hassle of
dealing with transferring the water/electric in your name and that’s a whole
different blog entry! I have had the
thought, “If Jennifer was okay with us pulling a ‘runner’ then I’d be on the
first plane,” but then I remember the things that are keeping us here for our
full 2 years: the opportunity to travel, the friends we do have here, and more
importantly the end-of-contract bonus pay we get. We’re talking two months’ salary for each of
us when we leave here in July 2012. That’s a nice chunk of change to walk away
with, in addition to our summer pay. So when
I consider those reasons I take a deep breath, and walk into the classroom and
attempt to do some quality teaching. And
I suspect that when we all return from our travels in January that we will hear
of many – MANY – more runners. Not us
though! Well….not as of now.
The kids have been busy with Rugby – and they LOVE it! We went to Abu Dhabi a few weekends ago for a
rugby tournament. It was the kids’ first game!
They lost all of the games they played.
There was one try (try = goal) which was scored by Cole. And when the coach gave the kids their
medals, he said Caralyn got the most tags (we call them flags like in flag
football). They played every game since
there were only 7 in their age bracket for their team. They were worn out that night!
We’re counting the down until we go on safari in South
Africa! We can’t wait!!! We decided to do something “Real Housewives
of Atlanta”ish too! We booked a tour
with a highly recommended tour company out of the Langa Township (the oldest Apartheid
segregated township). We’re going to
tour the township (which includes a performance from their Happy Feet dance
group where these children dance and
beat with their gumboots – which are rain boots to use American folks), and
we’re going to have the kids pick up school supplies and other things we think
the Happy Feet kids would like. I think
it’ll be good for our kids to do something like this. And they’ll love it! Can’t wait!
And we haven’t even taken our South Africa trip and we’ve
booked our spring trip! When we first
got to the UAE, we saw an article on The Maldives and immediately we both
wanted to go. But then we decided to
make plans for Europe, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. Until now.
We decided to do a few Europe stops on the way home next July (last July
we were not able to go to Disney Paris since my sister passed away suddenly). So this spring we’re going to go to
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and the Maldives!
It’s a 13 day trip and will be amazing I’m sure!
The next two weeks before our winter break – we’ll be busy
with various things. We’re heading to
Global Village in Dubai this weekend.
Global Village is basically a shopping center/flea market set-up with
booths representing countries from all over the world. I think this year they added 16 more
countries. There is a lot of junk as
well as some very nice things! If I
could just convince Jennifer to buy some African masks to bring home! She’s not interested. We will celebrate National Day here on
Sunday. It’s the UAE’s 41st
birthday! Well – according to come car
decorations we saw on Monday it’s the 41th National Day! We’ll cruise through town center and check
out all the cars and see how patriotic these people are! I wonder if when their country turns 237
years old they’ll exhibit the same patriotism.
Then we head to Dubai the
following weekend to visit Santa and some Christmas festival. The weekend after that – we head to South
Africa! And when we get back from SA,
we’ll have family waiting in Dubai for us!
We’ve missed our family soooo much!
It’ll be a fun break – a busy break – and a well-deserved break.
Not to bring the mood down – but – this is my first holiday
season since my sister died. While I’m
sure it was a whole lot more difficult for my parents, it really seemed normal
to me – only because I was not home last Thanksgiving. We worked Thanksgiving Day and so it was like
a normal time of year for me. Christmas
will be the next holiday and we’ll be in South Africa. I’m sure when my parents are here visiting
after Christmas, I will frequently remember the memories I have of my sister
visiting me last spring. I am sure it
will be different since she will not be here – but then I smile thinking of
when I told her last May that we were not going to be coming home for Christmas
in 2012 and then I told her she could always come and visit me. She said something like, “No thanks! – That
flight is too damn long. I did it once,
that’s enough!” I remember my parents
and mother-in-law talking at the airport about how the flight wasn’t bad and then
Frannie had this crazy look on her face (after flying 16 hours! – and she was
somewhat afraid of flying) and says, “I don’t know what flight y’all were
on!” I think the 2nd year
might be more difficult for me, since I’ll be home again, back in our “normal”
setting, and she won’t be around. Each
day that passes, it gets easier to grasp the fact that I have no more siblings,
that I am my parents only child, and that I will not see my sister until I pass
from this life. I often wonder what life
might have been like if my sister hadn’t died.
But since I can’t change the past, I continue to remember her daily –
through Facebook posts from her friends/coworkers who still miss her a lot,
when my daughter gets sassy or has an attitude, when my kids talk about her and
their memories of her, and pictures! And
I rely on these memories to carry me through and remind myself how much worse
it could have been.
Well – that’s enough for now.
Some car decorations we added to our vehicle - to celebrate the 41st National Day here in the UAE!
These few pics (above/below) are from the weekend we spent out in the western region of Abu Dhabi. It's about 3 hours from Al Ain, very small, and quiet. This hotel, Tilal Liwa, was very nice and quiet. It was a nice weekend away. We swam alot, met up with a friend, and visited a camel farm where we got to feed camels.
Jennifer and the kids dressed up for the National Day festivities at their schools.
Stay Tuned...
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