Great Night!

Last night our athletic director and his wife hosted a dinner for all the coaches at my school.  It was a wonderful night with good food, fantastic company and terrific friends.  Today I am going to celebrate a friend's birthday at a brunch.  Life is good!

Top 5 Things on My Mind Today...

1. Finding the right topic for my book
2. Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
3. Getting over my fear of masks to try scuba diving
4. Skydiving
5. Planning my trip to Spain and Austria this summer

Being without internet sucks!

So, I have arrived safely.  Much of the past 5 days has been spent getting myself set up in my apartment and finding my way around.  What is really nice is that orientation ends at 1pm each day so we have plenty of time to get situated.  There is a huge mall that is only a ten minute walk away from my apartment.  It has everything (well, almost everything) that I would find in the states.

The only problem now is that I don't have internet access in my apartment and can't get it until I get my residency visa.  That depends on the US Dept of State so I am not holding my breath.  My roommate should get her visa before me in a couple of weeks, but until we can get internet in our apartment I have to walk over to the mall and sit in a cafe.  In addition to that I have to wait until after 7pm because of Ramadan.  The Muslims fast during daylight hours and cannot eat or drink until after 7pm each night so all restaurants and cafes are closed until then.

Last night we took a cruise on an old type of boat called a dhow that the Arabs used for trading back in the day.  It was fun except when we were standing on the open air deck it was still really hot.  I'm told the weather will start getting cooler in the next couple of months as we enter "winter" here in Dubai.  Nonetheless it was a neat experience and I will post pictures on Facebook in the next day or so.

Tomorrow night we are going out for Thai food for an end of the week celebration.  It's hard to believe that I was still in the states a week ago at this time.  I was probably getting ready to have lunch and wait for the Young and the Restless to start.  It's crazy how things can change so quickly.

Two Days to Go

After a wonderful summer spent with family in friends in the US I am getting ready to head off to my next destination in Dubai, UAE.  I am feeling anxious right which is typical for me when I am about to travel.  While I have never missed a flight in my life due to my own fault for some reason I always worry that something will happen that will cause me to be late.  But my anxiety is totally unfounded.  My new school has made this transition totally brainless.  I had my ticket more than a month ago and just received an email last week with my visa and details on where I will be greeted at the airport.  I know where I am going to be living and have been in touch with my roommate already.  This school has already blown away my last school in Vietnam as far as creating a comfortable atmosphere and taking the stress out of traveling to a foreign country.  All I need to do is get on a plane.  I don't think that should be a problem.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

I've been home for less than a week and I already feel healthier and happier than I have in a long time. I underestimated what a mental toll being in a foreign culture had taken on me. After the jet lag wore off I was able to get outside in the fresh air and ride a bike for the first time since I was in Bali. Today I am will soon be on my way to see more family for the weekend.

Ah yes...this is going to be a great summer!!

Home!

I've been home for three days and think the jet lag might be easing up a bit. It is sooooooo good to be home. This summer is going to be a time to relax and regroup before heading off to Dubai in August. I plan on spending a lot of time reading, doing yoga and cleaning out the crap I left in my sister's basement! I know it doesn't sound exciting but being home and doing normal stuff is the best medicine for me right now. I already feel healthier all over just by being home and close to family.

Seven More Days

Can I really last that long? If I was busy with having to grade finals or cleaning out my classroom or having something of value to do I think this week would be a blur. But by 1pm on Friday of last week everything I needed to do to wrap up the year was completed. Due to terrible scheduling we are left with a week with nothing to do. Our principal feels the need to fill the time by scheduling short events in the middle of the day which forces us to have to come to school. Monday we have a teacher lunch, Tuesday we have graduation practice. Do I really need to practice walking down an aisle?? Then on Wednesday we have the kids back in school, for what reason I have no idea. Thursday she tried to schedule a MANDATORY field trip that the kids had to pay for. She was upset when only seven kids paid their deposit by the deadline. So, it was canceled. Big surprise.

I would like to say that I am able to pass the time by spending it with friends that I have made here, but unfortunately many have turned out to be quite lame. I truly cannot wait to get out of here.