Expressions of an Exported Expat

سالم (Salam) & Chelloooooo,

.... I mean, I think thats how you write it in Arabic... Needless to say, I've not been going to my Arabic classes... but more of that later...let's catch up!!!

So, obviously so much as happened since then, which is why this whole "blog thing" dropped off to the side---- Anyway in a nutshell, this is what's been going on, ***(takes deep breath)

Okay, so I last left off telling you aaaaaboouuuut..... my first day of work, and finding out my placement-that was almost A YEAR AGO!!! Can you believe it?

September- School=perfect, on island, Abu Dhabi city-10min drive to work. Teaching KG1 equivalent to like preschool in the USA. Colleagues=supportive, HOF supportive & teaching schedule is "gravy." I actually have time to use the restroom & eat & prep during the break.

September days were spent in malls, & IKEA looking to furnish my flat.

Some of the men who made a piece of furniture for me:

celebrating new friend bEARTHdays,

& hangin' out at the monthly poetry event.

October/November- Weekends mostly spent in Dubai, site seeing, exploring & riding suvs in the sand. November =Nimo’s bEARTHday & game nights w/ the crew.

December- 2^nd = National Day! The country’s citizens & residents alike dress in their flag colors (red, green, white & black) parade the streets, walk the corniche and engage in silly string/foam battles with complete strangers, cars, & even babies in strollers.

Sharjah, Global Village & enjoying the UAE.

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Checking out many of the local mosques, trailing thru the city and ..... taking "snaps" on the roof.

Dubai, Burj Khalifa & the sea.

--Winter Break--- Istanbul Turkey & Egypt. These two places = good food & nice people. Great sites and good memories.

EGYPT

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Jan.Feb.March.April- work work work & more work; though nearly not much work as LAUSD special education. I came back to writing, reading & painting much more too.

May- My birthday- my UAE family surprised & pampered me.

From a breakfast, to a relaxing massage, to a mani/pedi/thready,
to Hunger Games adventure in paintball,
topped off with dinner & sweet treats! I couldn’t be more thankful to have this as my home-base crew.

June & July- Here we are, almost done, the last day of school before summer is tomorrow. Ramadan is in full effect here, the days are dead and all the food places are closed. There’s no eating in public places until after Iftar (when sun has set).

Saw a sign in the mall that said if one was seen eating in public they could be fined… **ouch** This is reason #1 I’ve discouraged so many of you from visiting during the summer-

----I promised to keep it short & I tried to show highlights for the last several months.

---Inshallah I will do better with this & keep updated… especially because its summer & I’ve much more free time with a few surprises up my sleeve!!!

Until next time guys; feel free to leave a comment, or a question & I’ll try to address them in the next blog; questions about Islam, specific questions about “life” here or some of my DIY projects or whatevs!!!!

***Ma’salama