Picture the 4th of July in the United States. Now add about 100 million dollars, more lenient traffic laws, and an intense sentiment of national pride and then maybe you can start to comprehend National Day in the UAE.
We got the entire week off from work/school. The entire city closed down on the actual day (December 2nd), but in actuality, this holiday lasts for much longer than that. Every street is decorated with lights...now, I'm not talking about streaming Christmas lights...I am talking about giant, fully-lit signs of the number 37, palm trees, faux fire works and so forth. Giant buildings are lit from top to bottom with images and colors of the flag and pictures of some Sheikhs. (Can you picture people in America posting larger than life-sized portraits of US presidents on their buildings/cars??) People get their cars professionally decorated with various images including giant pictures of flags and the Sheikh on all of their windows, and hearts and streamers on the sides of the cars. On the night of National Day, there was a massive fireworks show. It was more expensive than the fireworks show at the China Olympics. Following the show, people created their own mini-parade in the streets...children were hanging out of car windows, people were cheering and playing loud music. It was quite the celebration.
We of course celebrated the night in our own way with a trip to PJs followed by Heroes. Many exciting events took place: Toe gashed open...lots of blood. Karaoke butchered. Fanny pack discovered. Hat stolen. Voice lost.
Look at some pictures... http://picasaweb.google.com/crhinckley/NationalDay
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday Brunch is No Sunday Brunch
"Friday brunch is an institution in Abu Dhabi."
These are not my words. This is written on a travel advisory site for people interested in visiting Abu Dhabi. I have now been in Abu Dhabi for two months, and I had yet to partake in such a monumental experience. My first month here was Ramadan, which meant no open eating during the day time. We decided we needed to attend Friday brunch before we head home to the States. We also decided we should properly prepare for such an occasion. We went to bed early Thursday night. On Friday morning, we woke up, worked out at the gym, went to the pool for a bit, and then hit the buffet lines. We all got dressed in little summer dresses (even Amanda). Jeni, in particular, looked lovely... (perhaps as a side effect to the conversation she had earlier that morning).
Brunch pretty much went like this...
champagne toast, followed by a plate of food, then champage, then food...and the cycle continued from 12:30-4 PM. In the midst of all the eating and the drinking, there was also a lot of good conversation with friends. We had to make a few rules, though (Similar to the rules we have to make on Holiday dinners at the Hinckley household...those that sit at the "kiddie" table know what certain topics I am referring to). Topics that were banned at Friday brunch: No ABA talk, no work talk, and no Harry Potter talk. It was not easy.
The plan was to leave brunch and then go somewhere else for the rest of the night. We were going to go BIG.
This is what really happened...
These are not my words. This is written on a travel advisory site for people interested in visiting Abu Dhabi. I have now been in Abu Dhabi for two months, and I had yet to partake in such a monumental experience. My first month here was Ramadan, which meant no open eating during the day time. We decided we needed to attend Friday brunch before we head home to the States. We also decided we should properly prepare for such an occasion. We went to bed early Thursday night. On Friday morning, we woke up, worked out at the gym, went to the pool for a bit, and then hit the buffet lines. We all got dressed in little summer dresses (even Amanda). Jeni, in particular, looked lovely... (perhaps as a side effect to the conversation she had earlier that morning).
Brunch pretty much went like this...
champagne toast, followed by a plate of food, then champage, then food...and the cycle continued from 12:30-4 PM. In the midst of all the eating and the drinking, there was also a lot of good conversation with friends. We had to make a few rules, though (Similar to the rules we have to make on Holiday dinners at the Hinckley household...those that sit at the "kiddie" table know what certain topics I am referring to). Topics that were banned at Friday brunch: No ABA talk, no work talk, and no Harry Potter talk. It was not easy.
The plan was to leave brunch and then go somewhere else for the rest of the night. We were going to go BIG.
This is what really happened...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
"K is for Cake"
I have talked to some people from home regarding my extra-curricular/recreational activities, but I have yet to really discuss my new job. I probably should do this considering that this is the reason why I no longer live on the continent of North America.
I'm not going to lie, I kind of love it. I am a teacher in Classroom 3 for children 2-4 years old. There are 5 American teachers and two Arabic-speaking teachers. We have either 5 or 6 children in the class. Now, that may seem a little strange, me not knowing the exact number of kids in my class, but let me explain. We had a child sign up for school. The first day of school came, she did not show up. The first week passed, then the second, then the third. The clinical director called her family and each time they promised she would be at school the next day. After four weeks, my director pulled the plug and she was no longer enrolled at our school. So this left an opening. It was filled in one day. The following week, a cute little girl wearing "hello kitty" from head to toe joined our team. She was cute, smart, but extremely shy. She came for three days. The fourth day came but she did not. We heard rumors that her family decided to send her to a different preschool. For days she did not come. We heard no word as to her whereabouts. And then all of the sudden, we arrive to school, and she is here. Not only is she physically in attendance, but she is there an hour before school is even scheduled to begin. I guess we will just have to wait to see if she shows up tomorrow or not. While I understand that was a bit of a tangent, it also served a purpose, and that is to highlight the difference in American practices and UAE practices regarding school attendance. Currently, this school has 4 classrooms for children from 2-9 years old. Each classroom has approximately 6 students. Never before have all 24 kids been here on the same day. They just won't show up.
The heart of this blog is to introduce the world to one of the children in my classroom. He is pretty darned cute and the reason for the title of this blog. He is just under two and a half years old. He has curly dark hair and chubby cheeks...like a tiny Arabian cherub. He is adorable. He also lives a life that none of us could ever even dream of...his diaper bag is Chanel and he wears only matching outfits with desginer labels...D & G, Burberry, Armani, Prada...its ridiculous. The first few days he came to school, all he did was cry. It was pretty miserable for both of us. Now, he has come out of his shell a bit, and can frequently be heard singing and talking about the letters of the alphabet. He is pretty obsessed with the alphabet. He likes looking at letters and pictures that begin with that letter...ie "A is for Apple, B is for Boat, C is for Cat...etc." Sometimes when he is being naughty or non-compliant, the only way to get his attention is to show him a picture and state its corresponding letter (ie Present a picture of a Dog and say D is for Dog). There is a downside to this, however. Sometimes he then associates you with a particular item or object and that then becomes your identity. I, for example, became "Lemon." He called me Lemon; when he walked through the school door and saw me, a big smile would come across his face and he would shout LEMON. As cute as this was, I would much rather have preferred he acknowledge me by name. So I then came up with a brilliant plan. I would teach him that "K is for Kate" and it would be a great way for him to learn my name. Well, after many mini practice sessions, he came up to me and with great confidence stated, "K is for Cake." So much for that plan...
Some random things about the school/my job
1) There is a very nice gentleman whose sole duty as an employee of the school is to bring us coffee when we want it. We have a coffee guy. I have a coffee guy. What is that???
2) Within the past week, we finally got toilet seats installed in the children's bathrooms. I am not talking about lids here. I am talking about actual seats, as in the part of the toilet your bum touches. We only had one in the teacher's bathroom and that was the result of direct and frequent harassment to "the man."
3) It rains in our team office. More specifically, it rains on the area between my and Amanda's desk in our office. I'll be sitting there, and out of the blue, will get pelted in my head with a giant water droplet.
I'm not going to lie, I kind of love it. I am a teacher in Classroom 3 for children 2-4 years old. There are 5 American teachers and two Arabic-speaking teachers. We have either 5 or 6 children in the class. Now, that may seem a little strange, me not knowing the exact number of kids in my class, but let me explain. We had a child sign up for school. The first day of school came, she did not show up. The first week passed, then the second, then the third. The clinical director called her family and each time they promised she would be at school the next day. After four weeks, my director pulled the plug and she was no longer enrolled at our school. So this left an opening. It was filled in one day. The following week, a cute little girl wearing "hello kitty" from head to toe joined our team. She was cute, smart, but extremely shy. She came for three days. The fourth day came but she did not. We heard rumors that her family decided to send her to a different preschool. For days she did not come. We heard no word as to her whereabouts. And then all of the sudden, we arrive to school, and she is here. Not only is she physically in attendance, but she is there an hour before school is even scheduled to begin. I guess we will just have to wait to see if she shows up tomorrow or not. While I understand that was a bit of a tangent, it also served a purpose, and that is to highlight the difference in American practices and UAE practices regarding school attendance. Currently, this school has 4 classrooms for children from 2-9 years old. Each classroom has approximately 6 students. Never before have all 24 kids been here on the same day. They just won't show up.
The heart of this blog is to introduce the world to one of the children in my classroom. He is pretty darned cute and the reason for the title of this blog. He is just under two and a half years old. He has curly dark hair and chubby cheeks...like a tiny Arabian cherub. He is adorable. He also lives a life that none of us could ever even dream of...his diaper bag is Chanel and he wears only matching outfits with desginer labels...D & G, Burberry, Armani, Prada...its ridiculous. The first few days he came to school, all he did was cry. It was pretty miserable for both of us. Now, he has come out of his shell a bit, and can frequently be heard singing and talking about the letters of the alphabet. He is pretty obsessed with the alphabet. He likes looking at letters and pictures that begin with that letter...ie "A is for Apple, B is for Boat, C is for Cat...etc." Sometimes when he is being naughty or non-compliant, the only way to get his attention is to show him a picture and state its corresponding letter (ie Present a picture of a Dog and say D is for Dog). There is a downside to this, however. Sometimes he then associates you with a particular item or object and that then becomes your identity. I, for example, became "Lemon." He called me Lemon; when he walked through the school door and saw me, a big smile would come across his face and he would shout LEMON. As cute as this was, I would much rather have preferred he acknowledge me by name. So I then came up with a brilliant plan. I would teach him that "K is for Kate" and it would be a great way for him to learn my name. Well, after many mini practice sessions, he came up to me and with great confidence stated, "K is for Cake." So much for that plan...
Some random things about the school/my job
1) There is a very nice gentleman whose sole duty as an employee of the school is to bring us coffee when we want it. We have a coffee guy. I have a coffee guy. What is that???
2) Within the past week, we finally got toilet seats installed in the children's bathrooms. I am not talking about lids here. I am talking about actual seats, as in the part of the toilet your bum touches. We only had one in the teacher's bathroom and that was the result of direct and frequent harassment to "the man."
3) It rains in our team office. More specifically, it rains on the area between my and Amanda's desk in our office. I'll be sitting there, and out of the blue, will get pelted in my head with a giant water droplet.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The reason I decided to have a blog...
I have now been in the UAE for a month. (Quick recap of that month...first 2 weeks = strep, then helped open classroom, kids arrived, Ramadan, pool, class...that pretty much sums it up).I told myself and everyone else that I was simply not going to write a blog. I know me and I know that I am just never going to stick with this. But, here I am and it is because of stories like the one that I am about to tell. That, and because I am already sick of telling the same anecdotes in various emails.
And so the story goes...
It was the last Saturday of Ramadan. For me, Ramadan meant that everything was closed during the day. And by everything, I am especially concerned with establishments that provide food and sustinance. We spent the day at the pool (its awesome, check out the pictures) and made the critical decision of staying there until the hotel restaurant opened up for dinner. After a full day of sun and full stomachs, we were ready to head home. All we needed was the perfect cab. And boy did we find one.
A shiny, silver cab pulled up. Three of us got in the back, and I, the lucky one that I am, got the passenger seat. Enter Jerome, our anxious, yet very friendly and English speaking cab driver from the Philippines. We told him to take us to Al Falah Plaza (where we live). He then asked us how to get there. Perhaps this was a little foreshadowing for what was to come. Before exiting the parking lot, he ran over two curbs. This was followed by the confession that tonight was his first night and we were his first customers. We turn onto the street and take a right, a direction we never before encountered. He again confessed; this time he professed that he did not know where he was going. Somehow the ramp led us straight back to the parking lot of our gym. And still, he did not know where to go. At this point, he ran over another curb and went down a one-way street, all the while saying things like, "oh this is so embarassing," followed by a girly giggle. Sarah is sitting in the back saying things like, "Don't worry. This is just a learning experience." Meanwhile, I am alone up front in the death seat. Finally, we find ourselves on a real road, driving at a normal, perhaps slightly slow for Abu Dhabi standards, speed limit. Sarah thinks this is a superb time to ask Jerome for his number in case we ever need a cab. Splendid, Sarah. Splendid. Now remember, this is Jerome's first night. He just got his phone. What does this mean? Oh, I'll tell you. This means that Jerome needs to take out his phone and look up his number, all while continuing to operate a moving vehicle. Not soon enough, we arrive at a vicinity near our house. In hindsight, we just should have gotten out then. He turns in to the parking lot and within 30 seconds, ran over two more islands/curbs. Sarah then asked him if he was going to be in trouble. His brand new car already had a number of dents and he had his inspection the next day. We felt so badly for him that I think we paid him double than what we owed him.
Maybe we should give him a call just to check on him.
Pictures
I have some pictures on facebook. Not all of these are family-friendly (sorry Mom!), so also check out pictures at:
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