Inshallah

...Inshallah, Inshallah, Inshallah.

A helluva lot has happened since I last posted. It's October now, the third month I've seen since arriving in August.

Let me start by updating you all on my housing situation. On Sept. 24 (five weeks after arriving), we got notice that our housing keys were ready for pick up at Paris Sorbonne University on Reem Island. I had heard rumors and been told I would be placed in Beach Towers on Reem Island, but being here for a few weeks and seen how things change on a dime, I wasn't holding my breath until that key was in my hand!

We spent the whole evening at Paris Sorbonne University signing lease agreements, reading contracts, standing in lines, paying deposits, standing in more lines, and finally getting keys. The deposit was something we were not notified of at all until a few days before key day. It sounded like only those placed in the city were paying deposits on their flats. AED5,000 for one-bedrooms, AED6,500 for two-bedrooms, and AED7,000 for three-bedrooms. I owed AED5,000 ($1,361.29) out of our AED20,000 ($5,445.14) furniture stipend ADEC provided us. This deposit is refundable, but still unexpected. Luckily, I did find out I was placed in Beach Towers, and this building came with a fridge, stove/cooktop and washer/dryer combo and built-in wardrobes. Most buildings come with none of the above and these purchases come out of the furniture stipend. So, if I had to pay a deposit, at least I didn't have to then buy appliances/a closet. #silverliningswherevericanfindthem.

Beach Tower B

 



My friends John, Nicole and I were one of the last ones to get keys and we grabbed  a taxi to the property together to check our layouts out.



I, somehow, landed a one-bedroom large flat. There are one-bedroom smalls and one-bedroom larges in our building. My flat has marble floors throughout and tile in the kitchen, three bathrooms, and a "maid's room." There are doors, locks and sets of keys everywhere. My living room has a door with a set of keys, as does my kitchen and my bedroom. All my bathrooms have locks on the doors. I have tried to reason with the amount of security within the apartment, and can't. I have a huge balcony space with access from my living room, kitchen and bedroom. Walking around in this huge space, my voice echoed. Moving on up (square footage wise) from a garage studio in downtown Phoenix!

Since this night, I've had furniture delivered and now have a bed, a few chairs, and a couch, as well as balcony furniture. I have an air mattress in my maid's room and a couch that pulls out into sleeping space for anyone who wants to visit! I bought a dining room table and chairs, nightstands, a dresser, a rug, and a few mirrors that will be delivered Saturday. Little by little, my corner in Beach Towers is feeling more mine.

 

Ok, now school. Maybe two weeks ago, I was having a great day with my girls. Things were running smoothly, I remember actually thinking that I had found my groove. Then I was called down to my principal's office, along with two other teachers mid-day. Rumors about ADEC cutting classes due to low enrollment had been circling for the past two weeks, and I knew whatever I was about to hear would be connected to that. Indeed it was. In third grade, ADEC was cutting one of my two groups of girls. They would be dissolved into the remaining five sections of third grade. I was going to move classrooms and take on two new groups of girls. This was on a Wednesday afternoon. We were told the switch would happen on Sunday. I was grateful to not have been transferred, but my head was going a mile a minute about how I and my students would manage this transition smoothly and elegantly. At least I had the rest of the day and the next with my current classes and to move items into my new room, right?

Ah hem. As soon as I made it back to classroom, the bus aids and social workers were speaking loudly and quickly in Arabic at me and my girls and telling them to move their stuff and sending off the girls in the cut section to their new classes. What?? I thought not until Sunday? Sigh. "Miss, you have period five in new room right now. Go there now. Teach." Oh. Ok. Brand new room. Brand new girls. No materials of my own. Still third grade. I can do this. I felt reeeeeaaaaally pushed out of my comfort zone, but I did it. I went in to my new room and introduced myself to my new class, we practiced my class rules, we talked about what they do if they needed to get a drink or go to the bathroom, I showed them how I expected them to line up/walk in the hallways. We talked about rewards. We talked about their families. We skip counted. We ended the day the best we could.

The next morning, I multi-tasked having my girls work on mini-projects while I transferred my things into my new room. The day went quickly and I prayed thanks that it was the weekend. I needed some time away to gain composure and perspective.

Since this time, I have got my room set up (mostly), have gotten to know my two new groups of girls (oh yeah, we had parent night last week - thankfully only two moms came to me and thankfully it was more centered on school expectations and not class progress), but am feeling overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. It did make me smile when a mother of one of my original girls came to talk to me about getting her daughter switched back into my classes. She said her daughter came home crying every day because she missed me. After talking to the principal, not once, but twice, she got her way. Must be doing a few things right??? However, I got myself sick over the weekend, lost my voice and stayed home from school today to see a doctor.

My coworker helping me cut down creepy, dusty stuffed animals from my new ceiling during Parent Night.

Four more day until our Eid holiday (nine days off if the moon phases cooperate!) begins, so I'm going to try to keep my chin up, orange juice in hand, and mind calm through these next few days. 

Wish me luck!