"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.

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:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crhinckley