The Land of Coruscant (long awaited post)

 At the palace fountains looking at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi




The land of Coruscant,  referring to the planet in "Star Wars" that is all city, teaming with the latest and greatest, never sleeping, and the place of mixing 100's of languages and cultures together for business and pleasure is how we would describe the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  A common advertisement seen around the city of Dubai, "In 1999, Dubai had 20 skyscrapers in the city and today they have more then 900!" A resident of Dubai told us that in their high time(2007), they had about one third of the world's construction cranes.  One gets the impression, that these cities are vying for the World's capital center of the future.


The Post Gazette recently wrote , "The rulers of the United Arab Emirates wanted Dubai to become a city filled with the world's biggest and best (oil money talks!), and, to a great extent, they've succeeded. The population has doubled in the past 10 years to more than 2 million while the city continues to set astonishing world records. The iconic Burj Al Arab, the massive hotel shaped like a sail, was the world's tallest hotel when completed in 1999. Now it's just the fourth tallest (two others in Dubai rise even higher)."(1)





Dubai Fountains at the base of the Burj







We live about two hours Southwest, close to the kingdom of Saudi, in a desert that is transforming, much like Abu Dhabi and Dubai were 30 years ago. Al Ruwais is one of the world's largest oil refinery centers and manufacturers of oil by-products, this oil money is how Dubai and Abu Dhabi have grown. Some say there are plans and projections that Ruwais will be even bigger than Abu Dhabi in the future. Since we have been here, we have watched multiple (8) apartment structures go up around us this year that are 4-5 times larger then our apartment and ground is being prepared for new construction. Last year, a new power and water distillation plant was inaugurated in the area to supply power to 300,000 homes and 100 million imperial gallons of water a day to the city and region of Abu Dhabi (2). 


Water is a life-giving and extremely necessary item out here.  We never go anywhere in the car without taking extra water with us. Dubai and Abu Dhabi each use approximately  250 million gallons of water a day to water their parks and green ways throughout their cities! That is not including the potable water used for drinking.  There are two main sources of water in Abu Dhabi Emirate: Desalinated seawater and groundwater. "While groundwater is used for agriculture in Al Ain and Liwa, drinking water is provided almost entirely from desalinated seawater across the Emirate. In 2008, groundwater contributed 71% to total water demand for all purposes, desalinated water 24% and treated wastewater 5%" (Wiki, 2009).





Palace Grounds in Abu Dhabi




The country is aware that it has a problem in the near future with not having enough water as they are growing at an expediential rate. Reuters reports, "Abu Dhabi, seat of the seven member UAE federation and the wealthiest of its emirates, consumes 550 liters of water per person per day, Daoud said -- two to three times the world average of 180-200 liters. Analysts say per capita's water use in the UAE overall is roughly four times that of Europe. To ease groundwater use, about 60 percent of consumption in the desert country, the UAE has invested heavily in desalination, producing nine million cubic meters of water daily at $18 million a day." (3)





A nice ride, a Ferrari




Dubai and Abu Dhabi are only one hour apart. If you don't care about the road cameras every five kilometers and the speeding cameras every 15 kilometers giving you a speeding ticket (driving over 140 km/hr, 86 mph) and are driving a Maserati, Ferrari, Porsche Cayenne, Bentley, or Audi R8 (which are seen often) then the two cities are even closer. We drive a Nissan Sunni that we rent per month for about $420.00. It gets us around town and to the city when we need to go, at a putt putt speed.





Emirates Tower on Left, Dubai Metro on Right




Each city has it's own character and unique flavor. Dubai is the hot and flashy, building faster and higher, creating islands, and inviting the world to come and see. Abu Dhabi is the old money, conservative, holding to traditions, and building slow and steady. Abu Dhabi is the Khalifa family and they own Dubai after 2009. Back in the building boom and bust, Dubai went from 20 or so skyscrapers to 900 in a matter of 10 years or so. They were also caught in the bust and Khalifa came in and bailed them out. In doing so the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world, seen on the movie "Mission Impossible 3") was renamed the Burj Al Khalifa "Tower of Khalifa," after the Abu Dhabi ruling family. 





The Front of the Old Palace of Sheikh Zayed




The first President of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed is the most famous architect and visionary of joining these seven emirates together to form the UAE. He and the Sheikh Rashid of Dubai formed the  beginnings of the UAE. Sheikh Zayed would say, "We must not rely on oil alone as the main source of our national income. We have to diversify the sources of our revenue and construct economic projects that will ensure a free, stable and dignified life for the people.” Since then there has been significant effort (lots of money) put into agriculture and planting trees (mostly in the Abu Dhabi region), building a solid education system (both public and private), opening an Economic Free  Zone, becoming a tourist destination (mostly for shopping), becoming a financial center and a travel (Emirates and Etihad ) hub for the world. These efforts have translated into 147 world records out of the 380 that are in the Middle East today. 





Saadyiyat Island Art Musuem




For Abu Dhabi, growing to catch up to the modern world has meant building: a new$2b Sheikh Palace; dozens of malls, with millions of square feet; Ferrari World, the world's largest themed park and fastest roller coaster; a Formula 1 race track with the most modern looking hotels surrounding, the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, larger and grander than the Taj Mahal Hall; on Saadyiyat Island a vacation destination full on golf clubs and resorts with an art center as exquisite as the  Louvre and Guggenheim; the airline company 'Etihad,' Abu Dhabi's national airline competing with the larger Dubai 'Emirates' airliner for control over the world market; Masdar city, a city completely off-the-grid with solar, wind, and green technology to sustain the entire city. Still in it's infancy, it is the worlds most environmental city designed to be zero-carbon, zero-waste; Shams 1, a concentrated solar plant developed by Abu Dhabi energy company, the largest solar power station in the world; and the largest automated parking facility, the Emirates Financial Towers with a 9 story automatic vehicle stacker, just to name a few.

The Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Dubai for now is the leader in the biggest and best in the Middle East having: the worlds tallest hotel, 72 story,  The JW Marriot Marquis; even more malls than Abu Dhabi and bigger; the world's largest indoor ski park at The Mall of the Emirates; the world's largest mall, The Dubai Mall, with 1,200 shops plus an ice rink and aquarium with the world's largest acrylic panel holding back the 2.64 million gallons of water and 33,000 marine animals; the largest billboard with the most brands on it , 1,233 logos 100 meters long and 10 meters high; the Burj Al Arab "Tower of the Arabs," the world's only 7 star hotel, over looking the Palm Jumeirah;  The Palm Jumeirah, shaped like the fronds of a palm tree with an eight-mile crescent breakwater composed of 7 million tons of rock. The palm tree branches are made of sand, dredged up from the adjacent Persian Gulf. Reached by a causeway, the offshore complex is filled with apartments and luxury hotels, including the Thai-themed Anantara Resort, several suites are built over the water with a glass floor to observe the active fish life below; The Atlantis Hotel, attracting thousands of visitors weekly to its water park and aquariums, where 65,000 marine animals are on display; The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at 828 meters(2,722 feet), with 57 elevators and the world longest and fastest elevator, moving at 10 meters a second; The Dubai Fountains, the world's largest dancing fountains set to music, can be seen with the naked eye from space; the world largest fireworks display, on New Years Eve 2013, 400,000 fireworks being set off continuously for 6 minutes around and off the Burj Khalifa; Dubai Mariana, the world's largest man made marina; The Infinity Tower, the tallest skyscraper, 80 stories, that twists 90 degrees; The Princess Tower, world's tallest residential building at 101 stories; The World Islands, man made island off the coast, 300 islands in the form of the world continents, currently some islands are not stable for development; a Dubai Health Care City, a Free Zone, bringing the best medical care in from around the world.

Strategizing at the Palace

Building continues in the country with: a skyscraper that has each individual floor rotating 360 degrees, 90 stories high; an underwater hotel called the Hydropolis; a nuclear power plant in the Western Region; expanding the Etihad and Emirates airports; and dreaming up other bigger and better feats to take on.  One signification challenge for this small country is the need for the Emirate people themselves to take up the roles of leadership and greater responsibility. The current political and economic climate is to encourage their people to go as far as possible in education and to join the work force by paying them to fill the spot/seat/position.  The pay can be 2-8 times the amount compared to a peer of equal title and responsibility, who would most likely be an Expat. As this keeps money and the perceived positions of power within the country's people, it has yet to show as an efficient and effective way to prepare the people to take on the challenges that lie ahead of them.  Seeing this challenge, Skeikh Zayed said, "It is my duty as the leader of the young people of this country to encourage them to work and to exert themselves in order to raise their own standards and to be of service to the country. The individual who is healthy and of a sound mind and body but who does not work commits a crime against himself and society.” 




1. Nowlan, John and Sandra, April 5, 2014. "As it Grows, Oil-Rich Dubai creates ‘biggest and best’ -  This Middle Eastern City is “Part Arab, Part Indian and Part Disneyland,”  Retrieved from http://www.post-gazette.com/life/travel/2014/04/06/As-it-grows-oil-rich-Dubai-creates-biggest-and-best/stories/201404050147#ixzz31wx9Utic2 


2.  Virtanen, Allan, October 10, 2013 "Sheikh Hamdan Inaugurates Power and Water Plant in Abu Dhabi." Retrieved from http://www.taqaglobal.com/media-centre/press-releases/2013/10-10-2013?sc_lang=en


3. Solomon, Erika. June 21, 2010. "As Tiny UAE's Water Tab Grows, Resources Run Dry"  Retrieved from <http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/21/us-emirates-water-feature-idUSTRE65K3MK20100621>

Settling In The Land of Tatooine

It has now been 6 months, since the big plane ride to the other side of the world. We are finally starting to

We are in Ruwais 4, building 129. Can you find us? 

feel settled with a routine of work and daily habits. Our plants are beginning to shoot up new leaves and the "fruit shop" man is smiling and welcoming us by name when we come by. We have walked most of the streets in town and know where the shops are to get the necessities.

What is it like to live in the Western Region of the UAE? The most vivid and colorful description that we have found to be useful in describing our life here is a reference to the two planets in the movie series "Star Wars." Life here is a cross between the planets Tatooine, a desert planet that is rough around the edges and is on the outer rim of civilization and Coruscant, an entire city planet, high tech, teaming with life and a diversity of culture. As with anything, it helps to be creative and add a little humor to things here. :)

We live in Al Ruwais (Tatooine), as Wikipedia says "is a town located some 240 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi city in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi Emirate. The Ruwais industrial and housing complex has been developed byADNOC as a major contributor to the national economy and represents a series of multi-million-dollar investments by the company. The Ruwais story began in the 1970s, when plans were laid to transform a remote desert site into a self-contained industrial town, geared to fulfilling the downstream requirements of Abu Dhabi's booming oil and gas industry. Centered around Takreer's Ruwais Refinery, the complex was officially inaugurated in 1982 by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and the visionary behind Abu Dhabi's remarkable development and prosperity. Once a small fishing headland from which a handful of people scratched a seasonal living, Ruwais today is one of the most modern industrial complexes in the Middle East. In addition to the original 120,000 barrels (19,000 m³)-per-day refinery, which was expanded in 1985 with the commissioning of a 27,000 bbl/d (4,300 m³/d) hydro cracker complex, major facilities at Ruwais include a natural gas liquids fractionation plant operated by Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd (GASCO), a fertilizer plant run by Ruwais Fertilizer Industries, Borouge, a marine terminal and a sulfur handling terminal (Borouge). Industry needs people and so Ruwais has also been developed into a model 'new town' with a population of several thousand. The Ruwais Housing Complex, covering an area of six square kilometers, is located 10 kilometers away from the industrial plants. In line with ADNOC'S policy of offering staff and their families all modem amenities, comfortable air-conditioned housing units are set in beautifully landscaped grounds. The complex has its own shops, schools, banks, mosques, clinic and hospital, and a wide range of sporting and leisure amenities including a beach club and an 'in-house' TV and video station (taken from Wikipedia, 2013)."

The entrance of the mall! The refinery off in the distance.

The surrounding area of this gated housing complex is only a few miles away from one of the largest oil refineries and peatroleum plants in the world. From our school, on a clear day, I can see about 8-14 burn off flares atop huge chimney towers. These towers give a unique impression and are often fondly referred to as the towers of "Mordor" (reference to Lord of the Rings) by the Expats living here.

The Ruwais complex is always under construction and in some places it undergoes construction in the same place multiple times a year. If not under construction, they have continuous work crews sweep the sand off the streets and sidewalks or else they would be buried in only a few days.

We have a  new mall! This is very useful for many reasons. One reason is because Abu Dhabi is 2 hours away and is the closest place to get the things you need and want to live here with. Like on Tatooine, all social life takes place inside. This is why the Mall is so exciting, because Ruwais now has a meeting place where both men, woman, and children can meet. Third, the mall has a major grocery, house wares, and clothing store. We still choose to go to our local fruit shop, as it is more personal and possible more organic. All the fruits and vegetables in any store come from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Oman, Yemen, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Philippines, Australia, France, and the US.

I would have never imagined have such a huge global foot print in my eating choices, yet this would be a common experience for most of the world. Just think of all the vehicles, gas, man power, shipping, packaging, and work that goes into getting this produce just to the UAE not to mention other places. We have come to see even more how blessed and unique Oregon and the US is in its lifestyle and way of life.

We have people over for dinner about 1-2 times a week. Some are regulars and others are new. Most of

Dinner with a local family out on their camel farm.

them are people we know from work. It is nice when we get a chance to meet others here working for different companies as we hear a new perspective and local news. Having people over is what makes living here a lot easier as we get to share our lives together and talk together about other stuff. Sometimes we even get out a board game and in the near future will pull the projector out for a movie.

Recently, we heard that many of the Europeans are leaving as their companies are about finished with their building projects. Some of the companies are Borouge, building a plastics manufacturing plant; Siemens, building a natural gas power plant and nuclear plant; and Schlumberger, managing the oil extraction and refining process. The nuclear plant will be completed and operational in 2-3 years, which will provide power to the major cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Their are hundreds of other companies here as well, which makes Ruwais a transient town of families and workers coming and going.

I will save the comparison of Coruscant and the big cities here for another post.

We Are Moved In!

View out our windows

After three months it finally has come for us to move in to our flat that will be our home for the next three years. As the UAE is growing quickly, Ruwais is working hard to keep up. This is a bit of a challenge as this small oil refining city (a compound, which means it is like a gated community) is two hours drive away from Abu Dhabi and is in the middle a desert (although we are situated very close to the Persian Gulf). Thus the housing conundrum, of needing more people to settle in Ruwais to build the infrastructure , but first they need more housing (infrastructure).  As wonderful as the hotel and service was, it is nice to finally have our own place and living schedule.

Living Room and Dinning

 

It is rather incredible to think about all that is necessary and the people involved in the process for us to move into a permanent residence. First, a work visa must be issued by our company "Glenelg" submitting a form to the government. Then, we must apply for a residency visa, by getting fingerprinted, our blood tested, verifying all of our credentials, and passing national security by different government agencies. After this, has happened, another government agency "ADEC" needs their own copies of our credentials, work visa, residency visa, and we must pass their security clearance.  While  the government, ADEC, ADNOC, and Glenelg are working  on some part of this process for every international person ADNOC has hired, many people (100's)are moving in and out of Ruwais with different companies all working for ADNOC. Some are scheduled to arrive and do not and some are not scheduled to arrive and do with schedules, paperwork, and arrangements working out or not working out. With 85% of the

Dining Room

country being foreign workers and ADNOC being the largest corporation in thecountry this makes for a large scale set of challenges.
 

As the country just celebrated, this December 2nd their National Day, they are forty-two years old. What this means is that while they are one of the fastest growing countries in the world there is not a well oil (no pun intended) and smoothly running machine with all the kinks worked out yet. Companies and agencies have their own set of growing pains here not to mention staying well connected to the other companies (with their growing pains) in the chain of production.  The more I think about it, the more it is a miracle we have a place to live here!

Kitchen w/ tomoato, mint, and basil

Once we received our keys, we also received the company funds to purchase our own furniture.  Although, we were told our flat would be furnished, we did not mind selecting the things we would like. This took more effort then we first considered as  we needed to continue our teaching schedule, rent a car (first get a UAE drivers license),  and find the stores that had the things we wanted. Any store would be at least two hours drive away and would only have a few items we wanted in it. After finding the item we wanted, then came the bartering process as every price is negotiable. If  you are white and speak English the price is always double what you could pay for it. Now enters convenience,  with our only time on the weekends, with limited shopping around-time and knowledge of the area there was an IKEA. :)   Although, they did not barter, they were priced within reason, we knew the quality, it was familiar, it had almost everything we needed, and it was Scandinavian!
 

Hallway for Front Door

Kithcen Appliances and Pantry Door

So within three weeks from moving in on November 17th, we have the furniture we want, pictures on the wall, kitchen full and working, washing machine working, plants growing, clothes out of the suitcase, and a welcome mat at the front door. It is nice to wake up around 6:30am and get to school in 10 minutes, rather then waking up around 5:15am and taking a bus for 40 minutes to get to work. We have a local fruit and vegetable shop we go to every few days who recognize us when we come by and know what we like. There are three main grocery markets in town with a limit selection of the basics.  Abu Dhabi is the place where we go once onemonth for more specialty items.
 

If you are thinking of moving to the UAE, here are some notes to think about. Everything is concrete, so you will need to hang things with a hammer drill.  The water is hard, so you will need to put a filter in the shower so you can keep your hair and a filter on the washing machine so the soap can work properly. The air has a very fine dust-film in it, so you do not open the windows much and should look to put filters in the vents. If you have an AC/fan unit in your room, have maintenance check it immediately as every 3 months enough dust sticks to the filter to make your our throw rug.  The dust inevitably collects on the floor and you can usually hire a maid for about $20 a week to vacuum, dust, and mop. The air is not so fresh, so 17 indoor plants with a large surface area of soil in the pot per person (as researched by NASA) will provide agood amount of oxygen for you. A water service is recommended to get your drinking water or a very good filtration system.  If you are bringing anything electrical that plugs into the wall, read the manufacturing specifications to see that it can take INPUT 120-240V. The UAE uses 220V so if the unit does not go above 220V it may not work or it may fry in a puff of smoke. It is best to rent a car the first 6 months of living in the UAE to make sure you will be staying and to give you time to look around for deals. Belhasa Car Rental has reasonable rates for renting a car and good customer service.

Bedroom

Bathroom

If you have time to shop around and barter: Sharjah is a good place for automobilesand carpets; DragonMart has everything you can imagine from China; Al Ain has some great home furnishing stores; the Iranian Souk is a great place to buy indoor or outdoor plants (barter for half of the asking price). The stores do their biggest sales of the year from December to January (40-70% off). DoBizzle.aue is like Craigslist.com and is a great site to find used items.

Thanks for reading. We are excited and looking forward to visitors as our guestroom is nice and big :) Masa il-khair (good night)!

An Interview with Mrs. E

An interview with Miss E. (that is how they call her at school)

How did you end up here in the UAE? - Airplane (haha). Well, my husband and I were looking for teaching positions. This was one of several offers. We saw this as one of a great cultural experience and opportunity. The rest is history.

What are you teaching here? 7th and 8th grade middle school science.. 7th is environmental. 8th is physical science, consisting of chemistry and physics.

How are you liking it so far? Teaching here is thrilling. Kids will be kids, no matter where you go. The array of cultures in our little middle school has ...  this is what I am trying to say, I can not just teach science. For instance, I use the word "marsh" the other day, typically kids in the States would know what a marsh is, but most of my class did not know what a  "marsh" was or had ever seen one. My teaching  has to morph into where my students knowledge base is at. 

How many cultures are in your class? - 5 continents are represented.  What are some of them? Four different countries from Africa, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Rwanda, S. Africa, Germany, Malaysia, Philippines, Lebanon, Jordan, and the UAE.

Do any have English as their first language? Some, probably a quarter. Typically, each student knows three or more languages. Which is their original country's language, then English, and the third is one they are working on.

What do you like most about teaching here? Building my ESL skills. When you have one culture in the room that has walked with elephants in the savannahs, another culture that has grown up in the dessert with camels, another from the mountains of Northern Europe, one that has lived with monkeys in the rain forest, who are all speaking the same language, but are still trying to understand each other, that provides for some sever ELL strategy use to be implement in the classroom.

Do you consider that fun?  I consider it a challenge.  To optimize ELL strategies so students from all over the world can learn and communicate together.

Tell me a little bit about your school.  Haha - I don’t know that much. It is the 3rd year it has been operating, almost 400 students 6-12 grades, first year we have graduating seniors,  laid out in a square donut, courtyard in the middle is their playground, 2 stories, 1 big beautiful library from a small private college, a cafeteria, administration is on the opposite side of the cafeteria.  The rest are classrooms, from  art and music, economics, AP bio, physics, French, German, Arabic, Islamic social studies, American social studies, PE, and math.

What does your classroom look like?  There fourteen, two man movable lab tables (no gas lines in the room), a wall of windows, a Smart Board (touch sensitive white board), a dry erase board, cabinets in back, more electrical outlets then you know what to do with, counter space under the window and in the back. I have all white walls, which are made of cement, so my acoustics are loud and sound echoes.

What was like preparing to go here?  Unsettled, we did not know anyone here, not did we see the place before we got here. We had a small idea about the culture. It was difficult to leave our friends and family, with a hope to settle down.

Do you have anything we would like to add about your teaching experience? We don’t coordinate like the elementary school teachers do, together with the other teachers of the same grade. We work with a community group of teachers per subject matter in our departments.

Tell me a little about the people you work with.  I work with people from England, Scotland, Lebanon, SE United States, and Tonga (but he is most recently from New Zealand). The guys have their office and the girls have their office, not per the culture, it just worked out that way. We each have our individual way of teaching, but in the end we each care about the kids learning their subject matter.

What has been different from teaching in the States? The States you have three to four cultures in a classroom, yet everyone is familiar with the same community and environment the school is in. Here the classroom does not have a common or familiar environment to relate to or springboard off of. We all come from different backgrounds of understanding.  With the ESL strategies, I have to find one that works and use it often to know that students are learning the content material.

Are you experiencing what you expected? Yes and No. I did not expect to be living out of a hotel for two months. In the classroom, I was not expecting the rooms to be so loud and echo. I was not expecting the kids to not have a  place to play, like a playground or a field of grass. No expecting the humidity to be so high, or the high schoolers to not know how to throw a football. I expected a good staff and they are. I have a good team to work with in the science department. I did not expect Randell's school to look so beautiful inside. I never expected to see so many buses outside the school . They are not the typical yellow buses, but little white buses (30 of them). I did not expect the air-conditioning to be so cold that I would have to wear a sweater inside.

What is one of your favorite things about being over here? Meeting people from other countries, that have lived and worked in other countries and experienced other cultures. Making friends with people who come from all parts of the world.

What is  one of your hopes while living here? Already did it - I rode a camel (haha) :) Another one is to ride a Ferrari coaster. 

Last few comments? I am still watching for flying carpets, I have yet to ride a Ferrari roller coaster, and meet the Sheikh. 

First Few Weeks of Teaching...

This will be a fun fact filled entry... My elementary school has 800 lovely uniform dressed boys and girls! The town of Ruwais is a large petrol processing area that draws the majority of its labor and management from outside the UAE. Which is why the students come from over 40 different countries around the world. Glenelg School of Abu Dhabi is 1 of 3 schools in the area and has made a good name for itself since starting in 2010. As Ruwais grows quickly there is always building going on, in and outside the city limits.

They just started building the annex to my school, because of the demand and future projections for the area. My elementary school has 2 floors, about 30 classrooms, a swimming pool, a music room (with 28 guitars!), a library, a canteen (lunchroom), and 2 teacher lounges, copy rooms, and science labs. Murals are painted throughout the entire building, which gives great color and ambiance to the hallways.




I teach a wonderful class of 27, 2nd graders who come from all over the world (India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Finland, Sudan, Jordan, Turkey and the UAE). We start school in an assembly every morning at 8 am and then head to class, finishing at 2:30 pm. I teach English, Math, Science, and Social Studies with lots of supplemental learning and differentiation as all of my students have English as their second language. I love my class!

Picking up and moving to a different culture and part of the world, has sure given me a greater sense of empathy and compassion for others who have done this or are in the process of doing this. We (the new teachers) continue to work with HR to take care of government and company policy requirements in order to get our residency visa and housing. It is a long and daunting task, especially when you do not understand Arabic. We have a great team of people working  at Glenelg to get us through as fast as possible.

In the meantime, we have been well taken care of by being put up in a nice hotel. Although we get on the bus at 6:30 am and finish the day getting off the bus at 4:40 pm, we are provided meals, laundry, internet, transportation, and a gym and pool. This communal living (which Kaaren and I have been used to)has also allowed us to create better connections as we have lots of time together on the bus, at the dinner table, and around the pool and weight room. We also come from all over the world, so everybody brings such a rich background and perspective to the table for some fantastic conversations. Great times, great people, great expectations!

Greetings from the UAE

Traveling on Etihad Airlines

We have been in the UAE now for nine days. Although there are some adjustments with our move we have been warmly received and work with a wonderful company and group of people. After the reasonably comfortable fourteen hour plane ride from Chicago to UAE, we arrived in Abu Dhabi. While arriving at the airport we met twenty other teachers and their families also arriving in Abu Dhabi at the same time. We made a long luggage caravan through the airport, customs, and eventually to our drivers waiting to pick us up.


Now I won't lie, when we stepped outside of the nicely conditioned airspace of the airport lobby, it was like

walking into a Finnish sauna where water is collecting at the roof of your mouth and the pores on your skin immediately begin releasing gallons of water. What makes it bearable is that everyone is sweating buckets just like you and then after a few days you adjust more to the climate. At this time of year there is very high humidity and heat and should only last for a couple more weeks.

Our hotel lobby

As this move requires a lot of coordination with two government agencies and two large corporations there are a multitude of requirements and procedures to complete. Fulfilling these requirements is one thing we have been doing since we have arrived. To best be able to complete these requirements ADNOC has graciously put us up in very nice hotels, with full service, swimming pools, gyms, and laundry service. Kaaren and I have been enjoying our fresh fruit, tabulli, fresh mozzarella cheese, guava juice, sweet melon, saffron rice, and curry lamb, and I can not forget my Turkish coffee for meals.

This week we have been busy in our classrooms preparing for the students that will be here this next Sunday. Both of our schools our only a few years old, with my elementary school having eight hundred students! I will be teaching Second Grade with English, Science, Math, and Social Studies. The other subjects of PE, Art, Music, Arabic, French, and Islam will be taught by those respective teachers. Kaaren has seventh and eighth grade Physics and Chemistry.

There are still a lot of details, fine tuning, and planning ahead, but with God's help everything will get done and we will have a great time. Bismalla Raman Rahim, Saba il-khair (In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate, good night)

Off to the United Arab Emirates!

How it all started... being at a place in life to use the education and gifts God has given us and ready to grow our family with children, we started the job hunt. Over the years in Corvallis, we have appreciated and enjoyed the ability to teach in multiple schools, create beautiful friendships, grow and mature in the place God had us, and were extremely found of the Oregon topography! With that in mind we were looking for jobs in the local area.

During this search and while at a teacher fair, we ventured over to a booth looking for teachers to come to the United Arab Emirates.  We had a wonderful chat and interview, which was followed up with two job offers. After a month of deliberating and dreaming, we chose to go to go the land of flying carpets, racing camels, and opportunity.

Friends, Family, and the Beach!

 While preparing our minds and packing our luggage for our move overseas, we have enjoyed the time to connect with friends and family. When preparing to leave for a year, a special recognition happens... of how valuable our time (each moment) is with our loved ones!