Egypt

So the great adventure began with us waiting in the airport for twelve hours, yes we were worried about driving somewhere we had never been in the dark, but it ended up okay we all got some sleep and we all had fun joking around.

Once we got to Egypt we had to take a bus ride to Cairo it was three hours, which most of us slept. We then went to the Sphinx light and history show that night. We started the tour on Wednesday, it started with seeing the Cairo Museum, which was nice, but really crowded, after the museum we headed to the to the Papyrus museum where we were taught how to make papyrus paper. We then head to the Pyramids of Giza, they were so beautiful. I was so excited when we got there. I actually was able to walk on the Pyramid of Giza and get my picture taken on it. The pictures I got of it do not do it justice. We wrapped up our day heading to the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar. We were all so excited to be able to walk around and shop in the open air market. We were waked around with an armed guard; it kind of felt like being herded like cattle, but it was so much fun.

The next day we had off in Cairo so all of us went back to the bazaar, which was fun, this was the place where I was able to get all my souvenirs. After a long day of shopping where headed back to the Hotel to have some dinner and get cleaned up. After that we headed to the ballet to see the Nutcracker. It was so great to have great friends and to get to see something that reminded me of home.

On Christmas Eve we headed to Alexandria were we toured all day. The drive took us four hours because of the fog, but we were happy with the drive since we saw over nine car accidents on the way, but we were lucky to not have one. Once in Alexandria we headed to the catacomb, then to the roman theater, after that to see the a few more land marks. The day was long so all of us were pretty happy to be back at the hotel once we got there.

On Christmas Day the small group of us headed to the Alexandria Library the Largest Library in the world. It was a great time we walked the whole way there, after visiting we went to a show at the planetarium. After the show we walked back to the hotel, did a little more shopping on the way, once at the hotel we again freshen up and then headed to dinner. We were lucky to find a place that was having a special Christmas dinner. So we ended up having a four course dinner that night with Cream of Mushroom soup, pastier with chicken sauce, roasted turkey and a chocolate Yule log for dessert. After dinner we head back stuffed and packed to head back home.

We headed home on the 26^th of December, I was lucky and got back to my house by 11:00 pm. I was able to unpack and then shower before I headed to bed. I have posted a slide show of some of the pictures from Egypt I hope you all enjoy.

 

Dubai

Wow what a day. I wasn’t expecting to get up and head to Dubai today. I was actually thinking that I would end up here sitting all day watching tv. However that is not the case. At about 11:00 am, my neighbor decided that we needed to go to Dubai. Well we were off.

We started the day at the Dubai Mall largest mall in the world, but a great mall. I got to see the Aquarium, where there were divers and a shark, and I also got some Garrets popcorn.  I finally got to see Christmas decorations up at stores; it was kind of like being home but without the snow. We did a little shopping and tried to get to see the fountains, but they were not running the normal times due to it being a holy day. I was able to see the tallest building in the world. It was such a sight to see, I was amazed at the architecture and the sight of it. We then walked around the mall a while longer and head out.

This is where my fun of the day really started. Thanks to my neighbor we stopped at a pet store to look at a cat that she was hopping was there. Well we got in there and I was looking around and I ended up falling in love with an animal myself. So I bought all the things that I need and we headed home. It was an interesting car ride with her in a box, but we made it the two hours and she was safe. When I got home I was able to set up her cage and let her out of the box. She got away from me and took flight for a little while, however she is now safely in her cage and I can welcome Mac to my family over here.

I think that she is finally calming down and welcoming her new home. She is singing to me at this time and it is great to have. 

The Quick update

Well just a quick update for those who don’t have facebook. This week came and went really fast and with it came some great hassles. We had tons of testing to do in the classroom, I love testing. Well it wasn’t as bad as I thought, however when it came to the mapping we had to do with the testing it was a pain.

Outside of school well that was a different story; things were going well until someone decided to back into my car. Yeah I was at a complete stop, parked in a parking stall and someone backs up and hits me. There was damage to the light, trunk and bumper. I ended up having to wait an hour for the cops to come so that I wouldn’t end up paying for it.

On the upside I got my first Christmas card this week too. I was so excited to see one, thank you Aunt Marilyn. I also broke down and bought the Digital Satellite box, so I now have TV. I am kind of happy I did, it is nice to watch something I don’t own or haven’t seen in a while.

We headed to Morune Dune for something to do, while my house was cleaned today. I got some great pictures and had an amazing time. The four of us packed a lunch and headed out to see the dune. It was laughing and fun the whole time.

National Day Celebration and Parade

So this week has been a week of fun and events. School was only normal for one day, which was Sunday. On Monday we started the week of activities with our National Day Celebration. Let me explain that National Day here is like the Fourth of July for us, except they didn’t win a war. National Day is the day the UAE was founded 39 years ago, yeah the country is that young. Anyways back to the events of the week, our national day celebration was a long one for the kids. We didn’t teach classes that morning since we knew the celebration was going to start at about 9:00. So at about 8:30 they gathered all the students and made sure that they were ready to line up and sit down. It would have been great had the celebration started on time, however it didn’t so we just went with the flow. The celebration finally started at about 11:00, at this time we watch the student demonstrate traditional dance, games, and rituals. They also then went on to show what the UAE is doing today to become more modern. It was great fun.

Yesterday we came to school being told that there would be no teaching for the next two days. We were like okay let’s have fun. So Gayle and I cleaned our rooms and worked on paperwork finally. The students just played in the courtyard. At about 8:30 they lined the students up and put them on the bus. We where head to the parade, which the students were walking in. We were told we could walk with the students if we would like. However we decided to walk in front and see more of the parade. I was quite a sight to see. The Emirates had painted their cars, horse where brought out, and the finest cloths on the girls, after the parade back to school to get the students on the bus to go home.

Today is not much different only about twenty students showed up at school, I am sitting here working on lesson plans which I have finished and not typing this. The students were sent home only 30 minutes after they got here. I just have to wait to be told I can head home. Tomorrow I am having a BBQ party at my house, which should be fun and then we are going to head to the roof of the building to watch the firework and the festivities in town.