Octoberpus

A'salamulaikum!

We've had a busy Octoberpus!

Let me start out by explaining Octoberpus.  I have to teach phonics to my students. Short O says AH like October and Octopus....you can see where this is going.  One told me the month was Octoberpus, and so it stuck.  Jason and I have now started calling October "Octoberpus."

First, we got a cat.  She's beautiful and scared to death of Jason, scared slightly of me, and LOVES the girls.  Sleeps with them, snuggles with them, meows at them, etc.  Her favorite toys are velcro cable ties and bottle caps. At 3am. We spent two weeks officially deciding on a name for her- the choices varied from Alli (because we live in Al Ain), Molly (because we got her at a mall), LuLu (because that's the name of a supermarket here), and Phineas.  The two finalist names were Rigby (from Regular Show) and Burj Katlifa (super jealous that Jason came up with that name instead of me). I voted for Burj Katlifa, but Rigby won out.  So, here is a picture of beautiful Rigby being super pissed that an adult is near her.

We have been in the process of buying a car for the past three weeks.  It really is easy once you make up your mind, but that was our problem.  We couldn't make up our mind. Kept going back and forth- sensible, cheap, or what we want-

Finally decided on what we want.  Fully Loaded 2014 Hyundai Veloster in Sonic Silver. I realized it was really fun to drive once I undid the emergency brake halfway home. D'Oh!!!!! I blame it on excitement. What's that burning smell?  No more renting a Hyundai Accent for 2000 dirhams per month. WooHoo!

Also- went to the hospital.  No, it's not what you think.  Need to go to the dr? Just go to the hospital.  That's where dr. offices are. Need a dentist? Go to the hospital.

Let me just say that it was amazing.  I have never been happier to go to a medical professional in my life. I didn't need an appointment- just walked in at 9 pm, and was seen within 10 minutes. Nice hospital, awesome facilities.  I didn't have an emergency- didn't need anything other than a prescription refill and answers to some questions. I left the patient room and went straight up to the dental clinic to schedule an appointment for my whole family, and a consultation with another doctor for me. I was home within 40 minutes, and only out $15 USD. Jason went to the dentist the next day, and in the same appointment had work done.  He left after one hour with a prescription and major dental work done for a total of 98 dirhams.  That's about $27 USD. A-MA-ZING.

We're going trick or treating tomorrow at a Western community area, then to the Rugby Club so we can watch the kids have fun as we sit back, relax, and have a cold one.

Happy Halloween!

Ded the shep

    

That means Happy Eid-I think.  Eid al Adha is a big deal here, and we get an entire week off of school. I don't know what it is, but it has something to do with the Hajj to Mecca and sheep. My students told me that they get money and presents and sweets and go to family gatherings. I had them write sentences and draw pictures about their favorite thing to do for Eid. I had many pictures of children killing animals, and a sentence that said "I ded the shep"- which I finally figured out meant that the girl's favorite thing to do for Eid was to "dead the sheep" or kill it.  I'm glad a colleague told me that killing a sheep is part of the festivities, or I would have been calling several parent-teacher conferences.

Kandora and Abaya

We had an Eid celebration at school that consisted of kids dressing in Abayas and Kandoras and walking around a reproduction of Mecca.  They also re-enacted something with a sheep, but everything was in Arabic, so I don't know what was going on.  Not knowing what was being said, it was still neat to watch.  I had my personal kids stay and watch and experience it, too.  Most of the other expat kids were sent to the library, but I wanted mine to see it and ask questions.  We have interesting discussions in the car- the most recent being "Why don't they have 'Mohammedmas' if we have Christmas" (well, they do celebrate Prophet's birthday, but Eid is more like Christmas, plus, Mohammed was a prophet, not God's son).

I joined several Facebook groups for ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) and EMT (English Medium Teachers) 2013.  They are very enlightening.  Enlightening in that I appreciate where I work every day when people post the things they are dealing with and going through. Are there things I would change about my school?  Of course- everything can be improved. But, I like it and I am happy both personally and professionally. My students and I are getting more and more used to each other- they know what to expect of me and know what my expectations are, too.

Road up Jebel Hafeet at night

Al Ain with Jabel Hafeet in the distance 

We spent the evening tonight driving up Jebel Hafeet and hanging out at the top of the mountain.  The weather was beautiful and windy- in the low 70s. The girls played, we chilled out, and then had ice cream and people watched. Jason loves driving the winding road up and down the mountain, and drives much slower for me than he would if he were by himself. I spent half the drive down with my eyes closed saying "I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it" while Jason laughed maniacally.  In his mind, he was picturing himself in a Porsche, drifting on the tight corkscrew turns at 100 km an hour, while in fact, he was actually in a rented Hyndai Accent with no power going about 60 km down the mountain.

This week, we plan on visiting Dubai's Global Village, and many free Eid celebrations throughout the UAE. Circus shows, fireworks, and whatever else we find out about.

Ma:a Sala:amah!