Great Camping trip!

Our last day of the trip started with Ben and I waking up early and watching the sun rise over the mountains. We woke up early because Ben had a cold while we were on vacation and as soon as he woke up he started coughing. But the sunrise was beautiful....

You can see our camp site down there.

So we headed to Wadi Damm because it was a great middle point for us. Paul, Ben, Lisa, and I were here in the spring but we had so much fun we thought we would show Brad and Heather. When we were there in the Spring there weren't that many people but since it was a Holiday there were many people there. Many who bring huge picnic lunches. Well we walked around for a while, the boys pushed a big rock down a hill, and swam while Heather and I just shook our heads at them. When we were coming back in to set up our camp Brad said to a large group of Sri Lankens that their food looked good. Before we knew it we each had a big plate of traditional Sri Lanken food. It was sooo good, much better then the hot dogs that had been in our cooler since the beginning of the trip. They were so kind and we really appreciated their hospitality. Another reason we love Oman.

That night we had another great fire and relaxed and talked. We did play 2 games of cribbage that ended up in a tie. But we were all tired so we went to bed. The next day we packed up and got back to Abu Dhabi around 3 pm. Time to unpack and relax.

This was another great trip and we are so lucky that we are getting these experiences. Sometimes I get caught up in everything and forget how lucky I am to have great family and friends. There are so many people who don't have the support I do at home and I am so grateful for all of you. Thank you...

Still in Oman

The third day we said goodbye to Nasseem camp and headed to Wadi Bani Al Khalif (spelling might be wrong) a very popular wadi in Oman. So popular they even have a little restaurant there. The pools are so big and you don't need a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get there so many people go. We were greeted by these small Omani boys who had wheel barrows and wanted to take our stuff to the wadi and then charge us. Well we all had backpacks so that really wasn't a problem. Then when we got there (not a long walk at all) there were more boys telling us they would take us to the waterfall and the cave.

Here is the waterfall we obviously found it and we also found the cave by on our own as well. The boys were funny at first but then got really annoying because they wouldn't let us be in peace. We swam around for a while and walked around and found this cave. At that moment we didn't have our head lamps so Brad and Ben went back to get them. Heather and I had brought our bags, silly mistake, and the boys were so nice to bring them back for us. Apperently on the way back to the car some tourist ask them to take a picture of them. So they did and then Brad asked them to take a picture of them with there, pretty bags.

The picture is precious and so are the boys. They came back with the lamps and we headed into the cave. I thought it might be cool down in this cave but boy was it hot. We could hear water but we couldn't see it, we tried to find it but were unsuccessful. I was a little nervous of the bats that were flying above our heads.

So after a couple hours there we left to go find a camping spot. We weren't exactly sure where we were going to camp but had a general idea as to where to go to find a spot. We ended up finding a great spot in the mountains that had a tone of fire wood. We had a great fire that night and just sat around talking and enjoying nature. We also saw the biggest, brightest, longest shooting start I have ever seen. This start came over the mountain, went over our heads behind us and then died out 30 seconds later. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. I didn't think it was real, but there was no noise so there was no other real explanation. It was awesome.

The next day we packed up our things and headed out to Wadi Damn but you will have to wait for that :)

Oman Adventure Day 2

So sorry for not doing this sooner. The first week back from school has been more then crazy. Today is Thanksgiving and I had to work, which didn't make me too happy and to top it all of it was a hectic and crazy day, but one filled with lots of smiles when I used the flipvideo to tape some of the Pre Kers while they were doing balancing stations and then showed them. They were all laughing and smiling as they watched themselves up on screen, so precious.

Okay so Day 2!

Like always when you camp you wake up when the sun comes up, so we were up around 7 oclock. Ben and I got our bread out to make some peanut butter and banana sandwiches when we realized that our bread had already gone moldy! grrr, good thing Brad, Heather, and Paul brought their own supply and shared. Once we got all packed up we head to the wadi that we weren't far from. They guys like to jump into deep pools and this wadi really wasn't cutting it so we didn't stay long.

It was a long day of driving for us since we didn't get as far as we wanted to the day before, but we finally made it to Al Nasseem camp. Now we made reservations here but didn't know what it looked like. We knew it wasn't far from the turtle beach and it was cheaper then many of the other places. When we pulled up this is what we saw....Now we were judging a book by its cover because we drove away. We didn't even go check it out. We headed to the turtle beach to see if we could just do a tour and then we would camp somewhere. But when we got there they said no that they were booked till the 25th of November. BUT, we could try and come at 4 am because many times people don't get up and miss the tour. Well we didn't really want to do that so we headed back to Al Nassem. This time there were people there, a lot of families actually so we pulled in talked to the guy and realized that if we stayed here we could get a tour of the turtles and we could go at 8 pm, which we thought would be much better. So we unpacked our stuff and settled in. The guys wanted to check out the beach so they could swim and I went with them. The water temperature was perfect! And the waves were actually really big, I was surprised.After a quick dip we went back to the camp and showered up. The bathrooms were shared but they had hot water which was so nice. All of the structures were made out of palm frawns and the bathrooms were no exception.

Hot water brought to you by the sun!

The camp also provided dinner, which was so good. Some traditional Arabic food and fried chicken. It really hit the spot!

While we were waiting to go see the turtles we played a game called, left, right, center. Heather's mom gave this game to her and she brought it along. We first played while we waited for Ben's car to get fixed and we loved it. It's a really simple game, everyone gets three chips, and there are three specialized dice. Each has a L, R, C, and a dot. The L=left, R=right, C=center, the dot meant you kept your chips. Your roll the dice see what it lands on and the give your chips out accordingly. The last person with chips wins. Its a very simple game but so much fun! We even taught Ali, the manager of the camp.

Around 8oclock we headed to the beach. There were four groups to go out and see the turtles. We were group 4 so I don't think we got out to the beach until 9:30 pm. We were all so tired I think we were all falling asleep in the lobby. But it was worth it. The turtles were amazing, we couldn't take pictures and we couldn't turn on lights so that we wouldn't disrupt the turtles but we had a half moon which was enough light to show the massive figures digging holes in the beach. They did turn on a flashlight to show us a turtle laying its eggs. The female turtle comes back to the beach it was born on to lay its eggs, and it lays 100 eggs every year starting when its 37 years old, really amazing. We also saw 3 turtles heading back into the ocean very slowly, it was funny to see a wave hit them because it was like the water hitting a brink wall, they are so large. Now the turtles lay 100 eggs but unfortunately only about 3 survive. When the baby turtles hatch they go to the ocean but sometimes if they are too slow they will dry up in the sun. Or once they get to the ocean something might eat them. It was such a neat experience and we are so lucky we got to see it.

The next morning we thought we would sleep in a little more but, since there were so many kids there that really didn't happen. The camp also provided a basic breakfast but it was pretty good! We had a great time here, and if you ever want to see the turtles we would recommend Camp Al Nassem.

The crew the morning after the turtles

Oman Adventure Day 1

Well the trip started off on Saturday with a visit to a souk (market) to get fire wood for our camping trip into Oman. We started driving to Al Ain which is on the border of the UAE and Oman. On the way there it started to get really hot in the good old Trooper. I thought it might be just that I was sitting in the sun. But then we tried going around a round about a Ben had no power steering. So we stopped at a gas station in Al Ain and opened the hood and the timing belt was sitting broken on top. Well that would explain it, now how do we fix it? The men at the gas station told us, in very broken English, that they could fix it. So Ben took a taxi to where he could get a new timing belt.

While we waited for Ben, we played our new favorite dice game, left, right, center. Very fun and simple game that we taught to a Omani, more of that too come.

Ben returns, and guess what! The men at the gas station actually don't know how to put it back on. So we drive to where Ben got the timing belt and well actually something else is broken that needs to be fixed. SOooooo an hour later Paul, Brad, and Heather left and Ben and I were finally on our way to Nizwa Oman.

We met up with Paul and the gang before we headed to our camp. By this time it was night and we were exactly sure where we were going to stay that night. So we headed up this huge hill to a camp site that ended up not existing. So back down the hill and we take a road that turns into gravel, we can't really see anything so we just pull off and set up our tents. The men went looking for fire wood and actually found some, good thing we bought some as well.

It was a long day but the next morning we awoke to a pretty good camp site.

The trooper and the rover. Being awesome in OmanPaul, Heather, Brad, Ben and Tanya at the first camp site in Oman!

Stay tuned for more on our adventure!

We are going on a camping trip and we are bringing....

Our friends Paul, Brad, and Heather!

We are very excited to be going camping in Oman on Saturday with our friends from ACS. Its been a long time in the city for me and I am ready to breath in some fresh mountain air. I would tell you were we are going, but I don't really know :) We are meeting up with friends tonight to eat (at the same restaurant the last post was about) and talk about where we want to go and how long. So you all will just have to wait till we get back and see the wonderful pictures (and hopefully awesome video!) of our trip.

The week is going well! I have been playing with the parachute with my kids. I decided that I wanted to do this before I actually looked at the parachute. So on Sunday morning when I took it out of the bag and I realized that it is the biggest parachute they can make. You could probably get 50 kids around it! So for my class of 18 kids who are all 5, it wasn't going to work so well. But the other PE teacher (Jen) and I combined our classes and they did a great job working together to play with the parachute. It has been great fun all week. I really love how the older kids are helping out the younger kids. So instead of just ignoring the huge parachute we are putting it to good use!

I found out this week that I gave many of you the wrong PO box number. I found this out when the owner of the PO box brought all my mail to school (oops). So just to clarify here is my address:
GEMS American Academy
P.O. Box 110273
Abu Dhabi, UAE

Thank you to all of you who have sent Ben and I cards! We really do appreciate them, especially the season pictures because we are missing Fall so much! When we go to Thailand we will make sure we pick up lots of postcards to send to you. Beautiful beaches while you are all looking at the snow :)

The Best Little Restaurant in Town

About a month ago, Tanya and I went out to eat with some friends, who live near this small little Yemenese restaurant (yes I did say Yemenese, don't worry it was safe). Our friends had some very good things to say about it, so we decided to give it a try. Man, the food was amazing, Tanya and I just had dinner there again last night, ordered the same food (spicy chicken, rice, soup, and pita bread). The dinner as you can see from the picture was quite large, but we managed to polish it all off, and enjoyed some very tasty mint tea after dinner. If anyone ever decides to visit, we will definately be making a trip to the Abyan Restaurant. We hope everyone is doing well. We are getting excited about our week long break which is fast approaching. We plan to travel with friends to Oman and camp. Take care and talk soon.

Cooling Down

I think we are all hopefully that it might be cooling down here in Abu Dhabi. Although some days I (Tanya) walk to school and it feels great, low humidity not too hot nice breeze. But then I start teaching and I leave my air conditioned room and it has become Hot and Humid and all those awful things we hate here. Last Friday I had a swim lesson and a cloud covered the sky, it was amazing, it cooled me off and even almost gave me a chill!

Things have been going well here! My kids make me laugh everyday. This week I had a KG2 class that were very naughty in my class so they came back with sorry notes on post its. That same day I was taking a usually naughty KG1 class into the big gym for the first time (big deal) and they were excellent! I was so excited for them, the teacher, and the teacher assistant. It has been a long time coming for them.

Today was picture day. The other PE teacher Jen and I decided it would be funny if we dressed up. Our usual attire consists of workout shorts and a colored shirt or tshirt. So we blew everyones mind a dressed up. I had my pre k kids today and one of my favorite kids comes up to me and puts his hand on my shirt and says, in a very funny accent, "Ms. Tanya I do not like your shirt, I like your other shirt better". The teacher assistants and I just start cracking up, while everyone else said I looked great, good old Noor did not like my outfit and wanted me to wear the same thing I do every day. Your wish is my command Noor, I will be in my shorts and tshirts next week. No fear!

Ben and some friends left tonight to go fishing! So expect another great post of fishing, I am expecting some great fish in my freezer!!!!

Miss you all!

No drug smuggling

While Ben and I were cursing around in the trooper (actually we were just going to have dinner at my apartment) we were listening to the radio. They were talking about a man who was arrested for smuggling 400,000 dirhams ($111,111). And this wasn't cocaine or marijuana it was pills. It said that the man was having trouble in his family so he needed the quick cash.

He was sentenced to life in prison! With the possibility of execution if the drugs were really bad.

Yeah we don't do bad things here for that reason. I mean we would never smuggle drugs either, we watch too many episodes of banged up abroad to know thats a bad idea.

So if you ever want to come and visit us which we would love. You all better be on your best behavior!

Taxi Rides

Ahh the taxi ride. You never know what you are walking into when you flag down that taxi going well above the speed limit. There are many different types of taxi drivers you could run into. Here are a few:

"I just moved here" taxi driver: You get into the cab tell him where to go and he says "ugh" I just moved to Abu Dhabi, I am still new. Great, let me lead you to where I need to be. Sometimes you might strike up a conversation with the man and ask where he is from why did he move here and the like. This ride will really keep you on your toes because you actually have to pay attention. Sometimes I just like to read a book going to my destination.

"I don't speak English": This driver knows where he is going but knows very little English. You might try and strike up a conversation but it is not worth it because his English is so bad and well you don't know Hindi now do you?

"Please slow down...": In the taxi's they have a screen that tells you how much you owe, has a picture of the driver and his name and other information I ignore. But when the taxi driver is going too fast, a red square will pop up and it will tell the taxi driver to slow down that he is going to fast. Now MOST taxi drivers ignore this and just continue to speed along at high speeds while you grip the door and wonder why you ever got into this taxi anyway.

The chatty taxi driver: There are some taxi drivers who love talking to you. They will ask all sorts of questions to you and give you information about themselves. This leads me into my taxi adventure the other day...

Wednesday I finally got my quilt and picture frame from a women who was visiting Dubai. I was so excited to finally have a blanket on my bed. I also received a feather mattress pad for my bed. Another teacher moved here with it but it doesn't fit on her bed now so she was going to throw it away but instead gave it to me. It was SO large that I couldn't walk the 10 min walk home but had to take a taxi. Which seams so silly because the school is so close to my apartment but the mattress pad was as big as me. So I get a cab and I had a very chatty taxi driver. Who asked me all about my life. I don't mind talking to the taxi drivers if they know English, its actually a lot of fun at times. But this guy took the cake, he asked me if I had children and I laughed and sad NO. He said "oh you must have children soon when you are young and strong so the baby is strong. If you wait too long the baby will be frail" okay well thank you taxi man I will think about it. Then he started telling me all about his children, who he started having at 17, and why he moved to Abu Dhabi. He was originally from Singapore and had to leave because he had "many problems". I couldn't really hear him and I was getting anxious for this taxi ride to be over but he said something about taxes and how if he stayed he would go to jail. HA.

Oh taxi drivers thank you for giving me such great advice on life and getting me safely to my destination.

Iron Man Coeur d'Alane

I hope everyone back home is enjoying the fall weather, I know I definately miss being outdoors during this time of year, but I guess it will make me appreciate it that much more when I do get back for it. I hope those of you living in the upper midwest (southern MN) are not still sandbagging because of all of the water you got. Tanya and I saw video of Owatonna on Good Morning America and it did not look good. We are both doing well, very busy with school, swim lessons and for me training.

For those that may have not heard yet or not, I recently signed up for an Ironman Triathlon in Idaho. Those that know about Ironman triathlons probably think I am crazy and you might be right. A triathlon is a race consisting of swimming, biking, and running one right after another. Normal triathlons are not nearly as long as an Ironman. An Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4mile swim, followed by a 112mile bike, then finishing with a 26.2mile (marathon) run. It takes fairly intense training to complete this type of a race, and again you still may be asking yourself why I would do this. Well it just so happens that my Athletic Director at school has completed in a couple Ironman triathlons, and convinced me to sign up for one as well. I am looking at it as a once in a lifetime opportunity, the time that it takes to train for a race like this is very time consuming, in fact my training schedule right now consists of getting up at 5a.m. every morning except Saturday to either run, bike, or swim. Fortunately I have the opportunity to train with someone who has already completed this type of race, and that has been and will be big help. I don't know if I will ever have the time to train for a race like this again and being in Abu Dhabi allows me to run, bike, and swim throughout the year, unlike I would be able to do in MN. I have always looked at individuals who have competed in races such as this and thought how cool it would be to actually do one, but never thought I would have the opportunity or even ability. So next year on June 26th, 2011 I will be competing in Ironman Couer d'Alene in Idaho. I will keep you updated as to how my training is going.

This link will take you to the Ironman Coeur d'Alene website: http://www.ironmancda.com/
(the area around Coeur d'Alene looks beautiful).

Take care and talk soon:)

So should I leave now...

Well today was fun. I didn't do much planning this weekend like I had hoped to do...opps. So I had to go in early this morning to actually write some lesson plans. Everything turned out fine and classes were actually going pretty well. I even told the KG1 teachers that we would go into the big gym for the first time this year! This is quite the task for 4 year olds. Going from a small carpeted gym to a full size gym can be really exciting that they just loose all control!

I literally had to teach the kids today how to play tag. You take those kind of things for granted and it was interesting try to teach kids who don't know English how to play tag as well. The first class was kind of a disaster but thats okay. They ran and ran and ran, so I think there teacher loved me. The second class I had a different strategy and it was going well. Then my principal walked in, I don't really mind being observed. I figured I have been teaching for a while now I like feedback and it's not like he is going to fire me...or is he? So he walks in, I switch taggers and write in front of the principal two 4 year olds go head first into one another fall down and start crying. OHHH great, so I am going to get fired. So I pick one up the teacher assistant picks the other up and they start dealing with it. So I had a talk with the other kids and we continued to play. The kids were fine just a little bump which happens and they need to learn to run around in space and not fall down or bump into each other. It was just awesome that they decided to collide right in front of my principal!

Oh well, it was still a good day. I ended the day with an hour and a half of yoga, which was really really nice! OMMMMMM.........

Busy Busy Busy

Well I have a wonderful kindergarten 2 teacher who reads my blog. Today when I was so generous and gave her some of the beer bread I made she was giving me slack that I haven't updated it. So hear I am writing to you all, so you know I am alive and well in Abu Dhabi

This week has been crazy busy! We started soccer try outs at school. Now we aren't too serous about soccer at our school but we had a good showing on Sunday and Monday. I will be coaching the Under 11 girls team. The girls will only practice once a week and have a tournament about once a month. It is pretty laid back and I heard today that one of the girls who came out, only did so because there was a pizza party at the end of the session (in March, it obviously made an impact on her!). So we will see how that goes this year. It is one of the after school activities that you do get paid extra for which is nice (bet you didn't know that Lyn :) ).

Monday I had swim lessons yet again. They are nice to do to get extra money but boy it makes my day very long. I ended the day with a tough KG1 class and they always make me feel like I am doing something wrong, ha (I know I am not but they are a tough group). So when I went to swimming lessons my nerves were fried and the two kids were not ready to listen to me at all. So it was a tough hour but I got through it and I went to Ben's apartment and he had already made a pancake dinner for us. So nice!

Tuesday Ben's school did a "training" camp for their mini viper basketball program (elementary level, vipers are the mascot). Ben and I helped out with it so it was again a long night. A very fun night though because I got to see a lot of the kids I worked with in the spring. I can't believe how big they got over the summer and that they remember me. They were as excited to see me as I was to see them.

I am glad tomorrow is Thursday (the last day of the work week for us). Glad to have a weekend to relax and catch up on some more sleep! Even know I have been going to bed at 8:30 pm every night. Gotta love playing with 3 year olds all day.

I drink water whenever I want now!

Hello everyone!

I (Tanya) told myself I would do a better job updating this, and look, its already been too long! Well to update, we had a nice long Eid break. Very relaxing and great to catch up with friends. Another short week for us was really nice. My classes are going well. I had pre K for the first time this week and they are just super cute. 3 year olds have so much energy and just love to play. I have pre k everyday so we do a lot of the same thing, but on Thursday we discovered our shadow, because we were playing a groundhog game. It was pretty exciting for all the 3 year olds and myself. Who doesn't love discovering their shadow?

My class are a lot of fun, I have a lot of kids who don't know English very well which is really interesting and is truly testing my teaching ability. I think that I am doing an okay job in that department so we will see how the rest of the year goes. Sometimes I do wish I was a more linguistic person and could pick up languages better, but that isn't my strong suite.

Well we miss you all and hope you all are doing well. I talked to my parents today and they said it was cooling down there, something Ben and I are very jealous about.

The end of Ramadan

Happy 50th Birthday Jan Rollings!

Ahh what a first week for me (Tanya). I started on Sunday with short days because it is still Ramadan. We were supposed to go till Wednesday but the UAE decided that we also needed Wednesday off. So my first week of school consisted of three whole days. Ahh it was so nice. I had a great time with my kindergarten classes. KG1 (4 year olds) will be so much fun. The first day I had a couple criers. One little girl was crying the whole day and when it got to our long 25 mins together she fell asleep in the circle. I found out later she fell asleep for all of music. KG1 will be a challenge but I need to work on my patience and they are the perfect subjects to teach me that. Next week pre K (3 year olds) will be coming in. Although I don't know how much I will be leading a traditional class it will be fun to see how it progresses. I will see them every day as well! Wahoo.

So Ben has a 6 day weekend and myself a 5 day weekend. Some of our friends went away but we are staying here. We are thinking a lot about Christmas and where in Thailand we would like to go. We are getting very excited to be there for a few weeks. Although we are going to miss all our family and friends at such a great time of the year.

Ben took his car in to get fixed the other night. They said next week he should get it back but that is going to be debatable I think. We will let you know how it comes out.

Happy EID

I am Back!

Hello Everyone!

I am back in Abu Dhabi and it's Hot! But I am very happy to be back and can't believe my kids are coming tomorrow. I have been here for almost two weeks and the jet lag is finally over, which is really nice. I came in with 7 other girls who are new teachers from Canada and the US. They are really nice and they will be fun to live and work with. Almost all of them live in the same building I do. I got internet on Wednesday so now I can easily update the blog from home. My apartment is really nice. All the teachers in this building are on the same side of the apartment complex, and the school furnishes our apartments. So when I go into another teachers apartment it pretty much looks exactly the same as mine does. Which is funny, but they are very nice. I am more downtown then Ben is so I have lots of stores outside my building. None of them I have really explored yet because it is still Ramadan and they are closed during the day. I do have 6 mosques outside my building so at 4 am everyday I get to hear the call to prayer. I am learning to ignore it and I don't wake up but every once in a while it will be extra loud.

This past Thursday Ben treated me to a night at a resort. His school gives teachers a discount on the resort to give them a little getaway at the beginning of the year. I have never stayed in such a nice place! There were robes and slippers in everyones room. The pool was probably the best part. It's so hot here pools usually aren't very refreshing. This pool though had a chiller so it was awesome to jump in and not feel the 115 degree heat and humidity outside. We had a great time socializing with the teacher and talking to them about Thailand (where we hope to go this Christmas).

The boat is was docked at the resort we were staying at, it was huge! And we joked that it was actually ours, and that the resort was cleaning it for us :) The other picture is the nice chilled pool! ahh

Well we miss you all and I will try and get some pictures of my apartment up soon!

I am back and I know I havin't written in a while

Hello all, I did make it back to Abu Dhabi, and we are going to be starting our third week of school. As hard as it was to leave the states, it is nice to get back to school and into the swing of things again. School is going well and I will be coaching the elementary swim team again, we just had tryouts last week and will have around 43 kids on the team.
Tanya made it safely over as well, and was busy last week working on new teacher orientation at her school. The staff within the P.E. department at ACS definately miss her at school, as do I, but I know she is very excited to have her own classes and students this year.
For those of you that did not hear about the incident with my vehicle 2 weeks ago, I will fill you. I was actually biking back from school and was very close to my apartment, my Trooper was parked near the street on the other side of the curb. It just so happend that as I was riding my bike to my apartment, another vehicle somehow drove out of control, jumped the curb and drilled the back end of my Trooper (all while I was right there). I have no idea what was going on with the guy, but the best I can gather is that he was more or less out of it because it is Ramadan, and Muslim's cannot eat or drink anything (even water) while it is light out. The driver's vehicle was completely smashed up, but luckily the gentleman was wearing his seatbelt, otherwise, I may have been scraping his carcas off of the road. I did take a some pics of the back end of my vehicle, and I have talked with his insurance company about fixing it. Although it is Ramadan right now, everything moves very slowly, so I am hoping that I can get it in and fixed soon. Luckily I can still drive it around.
I hope you are all doing well, I would like to call many of you through skype, but I currently do not have internet at my apartment, and again it is Ramadan, so it will take some time. I do hope to talk to you soon, until then take care and I will make it a habit to update this:)

Ben - Always working hard

Some of you may know this, but I have been going to school everyday with Ben and teaching in the pool with him. There are three teachers in the pool each with our own group. Ben has the highest level swimmers and I have the lowest, which of course I love. Now I love being outside all day, one of the reason I love being a PE teacher, but being in the 80 plus weather and in the sun all day everyday can exhausting.

Last week Ben was making fun of me because I was falling asleep on the couch at 8:00 pm. Well so what! I didn't sleep well when I was in Kuwait because of the sand storm, a hard bed, and being in a different place, and being outside all day can be tough! So I needed the extra sleep!

Since Thursday though we haven't been in the pool, because they had to drain most of the water because there is a leak in a pipe. So with the 4th and 5th grade we play a large group game outside, which Ben usually leads. But the first day it was so hot we couldn't be out there all day (104 degrees), so I said why don't we do some tumbling downstairs on the wrestling mats because that was the only space we had. So for the past 3 days I have been teaching the KG2 - 3rd graders some basic tumbling. It has been a lot of fun and the kids get really excited about it.

So Ben hasn't been doing a whole lot of teaching ;) . We also haven't been outside all day. Ben and I usually work out after school but today we didn't. So we went home started watching TV and 30 mins later I see Ben on the couch like this. Gosh he just worked so hard today, it really took a lot out of him. :)

But really we have had a great time teaching in the pool and are really looking forward to getting the kids back in the pool swimming. Especially since it is getting so hot outside!

EMAC Badminton

The bubble




Hello Everyone!

I am back from Kuwait and Oh what a trip. If any of you thought about traveling to Kuwait I would save your money and go somewhere else. Kuwait has oil, malls, lots of sand, really bad drivers, and sand storms. All the teachers from the host school (American School of Kuwait) live in one of two buildings. The teacher apartments are about 20 miles away from the school! The school also starts at 7:15 am. The teachers who were hosting myself and the varsity badminton coach left the apartments at 5:45 am to get to school early to get things ready for the day. Buses also take teachers to school, and the last one leaves at 6:00 am! So it was some very early mornings for us. The first day of competition for the JV team was held in the bubble. The bubble is a dome that has a swimming pool and badminton courts. The first day the bubble was super hot, and I wasn't even playing badminton! The first couple of days was the round robin tournament where we played all the teams. This also dictated who the winner would be. Saturday afternoon was the elimination tournament where people were award for their individual effort. All my players made it to the elimination tournament (top 4). I was very excited and anxious to see how they would do. They had a little bit of trouble with the host school but during the elimination tournament they beat almost everyone! I was very impressed with their play and they truly played their best. As a team we won first for the boys and girls teams but place second in the overall competition. We lost by only 3 matches. The kids were still excited and I was very proud.
During my time there we went to one of the many malls, where there wasn't a book store because Kuwait it so conservative they censor all material going into the country. The one night there was a major sand storm. The apartment building we stayed in wasn't made very well so the windows weren't seal too great. So the faster the wind blew, the higher whistle the windows would make. The next morning there was sand on the floor in the apartment. It was an experience. I don't think I will returning to Kuwait any time soon. :)

EMAC Softball Tournament

I know it has been a while, but there has not been a lot to write about. This past weekend I traveled to Doha, Qatar for the JV boys EMAC (Eastern Mediterranean Athletic Conference) Softball tournament. The American School of Doha hosted the tournament. This tournament is basically the only real time for the softball teams to face competition. Our boys did play against
ASD (American School of Dubai) three times, but no other school is close enough to play. The teams in our conference included schools from Kuwait, Dubai, Doha, and Cairo, Egypt. Last year the boys softball team did not win a game, this year they did much better finishing third and winning 5 out of 7 games. It was my first time coaching softball, as I am used to baseball, but it was a pretty easy adjustment. There has been talk about moving to baseball in the next couple of
years, but who knows what will happen. Tanya is coaching the badminton team and is at their conference tournament in Kuwait at the American School of Kuwait. I hope to talk with many of you soon, as school will be wrapping up in the next month and a half. Take care.

Oman Vacation

Hi everyone!

I know again we haven't been updating the good old blog. But we have a better excuse this time! We were on spring break and went to Oman for 4 days with friends! The video highlights some of the great places we went. We left on Monday with our friends Paul and Lisa. They work at ACS too, Paul is a high school math teacher and Lisa is a middle school Spanish teacher. Paul is from Iowa and Lisa Chicago so we were in good company of the mid-westerners.

The first night we camped at Wadi Damm, this was a great place for swimming, and for the boys jumping off big rocks. We didn't have any good fire wood just some dead palms that burn very quickly. But we had a full moon so we played cards by the moon light, it was really bright! The next day we drove to Jabel Shams, Oman's Grand Canyon. The pictures really don't do it justice, it was amazing. There were a lot of tourist up there and our friend the goat. We were going to eat lunch there but this guy wanted OUR lunch. He actually was chasing Paul around the car because he had the Tupperware full of tuna squares. So we ended up eating our lunch in the car on the way to our next destination. We drove from there to Muscat which is on the western cost. Its a bigger city right on the water. We only stayed there a night, we walked through their souq which was pretty cool. Its like a market, except everyone is selling the same thing. Scarves, shoes, hats, Oman trinkets. We left Muscat and head toward the mountains in Oman. We drove along some crazy roads once we got into the mountains. Many gravel roads that were very steep. We were on this new section or road they made on the side of some mountains and it was kinda nerve raking. Ben did an amazing job of driving. We were looking for this camp site and getting nervous because it was getting later in the day and we were loosing day light. But after climbing up and down the mountains we finally found a great spot, with just enough time to start setting up camp. We didn't have a lot of time in this spot but we really want to go back. We were right next to the start of Snake Canyon which we could have hiked/swam. The book we had said it was a couple hour hike that required swimming in some sections. We explored it as far as we could go then turned around. We came apon one section where we would of had to jump in the water and we would not have been able to climb back out. I think we will visit this place again though.

School starts back up again on Monday and Ben will be swimming with his kids for the rest of the school year. I will also be helping Ben in the pool as his assistant, I am excited to have something to do all day everyday untill I leave. And I know Ben is so excited to be working with ME! :)

I hope you all have a great Easter!

Call to Pray

When I first got here every once in a while I would hear this Arabic singing and I had no idea what it was. Finally I asked Ben what it was and he said it was the call to pray. It happens about 5 times a day at various times. I think there is a rhyme to the reason oh when but I still haven't figured it out. I think it has something to do with when the sun rises and sets so it changes as the days get longer. For a while it would start at about 5:30 am and I would never hear it. But since the days are getting longer it is now going off at 4:30am! Now we don't live to close to a mosque so its not that loud but some people we know live right next a mosque and it is very very loud. I would not be to happy to be woken up every morning at 4:30 to that.

One of our friends said that you can get alarm clocks that have the same singing. Watch out you might be getting one for your birthday or Christmas! You to can feel like you are living in an Arabic country. :)

I am just as bad as Ben

Hi everyone

I know there has been a lag in the blogs, I don't want to have to say it but we have been busy. I know thats not much of an excuse but it's the best I can come up with.

I have been subbing a lot this month which has been really good for my wallet. Swimming finished up and badminton started right away for me. I am coaching the girls and boys JV badminton at ACS. We had our first game last Monday and won! It has nothing to do with my coaching and everything to do with the talent the kids brought. One of the kids is ranked in the world for his age group in tennis! To say the least he is very good. I will be going to Kuwait for a tournament at the end of April, which I have heard isn't that excited but I am eager to get another stamp in my passport.

Ben is also staying busy with the JV boys softball team. They have been playing some high school kids and also the faculty the last couple weeks. Yesterday we went to Dubai and played a high school there. Last year the boys lost one of the games 30 to nothing! This year they lost the first game 14-0 and the next game 4-2. The second game was much better and it looked like a different team on the field. They did really well. Ben will be going to Doha in April for a big tournament that he is really excited for.

We are really enjoying the new car. We went camping in the mountains and we also went camping in the desert! We went with a large group of people from school. The one couple has done a lot of desert camping and also dune driving. We did not take the trooper out on the dunes but we did drive along with the guy who was good at it. We had a great time, our friends got stuck several times, which was a good laugh. We enjoyed the company and especially the vastness that we were in. It was cloudy that night but we could see the stars a little bit. It was a nice change from all the cars, traffic, people, and call to pray noise we hear in Abu Dhabi.

We have spring break next weekend which everyone is excited for. We are going to Oman with our friends Paul and Lisa for a couple days. We don't really have any plans yet, but I am sure it will be fun and I am sure there will be videos and pictures to follow. So stay tuned!

More from Camping in Oman

The area we camped was just across the border into Oman and about 2.5 hours from Abu Dhabi. The moutains are very rocky and there is not a lot of green around. The weather was just about perfect, not to cool during the night, but not unbearably hot during the day. The picture of the tree was taken right near our camp site, it had extremely sharp needles coming out of the branches. I would definately not want to try and climb into one. My mom will be excited to see that I finally got use out of the panoramic mode on my camera. I am still figuring it out, but I did get a couple of good shots. The picture of me w/out my shirt on was down in a cavern that had a big pool of water flowing through it. In fact there were a couple of different pools w/ waterfalls in them. Dan, I was wishing you would have been with as I jumped off into the refreshingly cool water.

The Super Trooper

So I finally broke down and purchased a vehicle. A fellow teacher was selling his 1999 Isuzu Trooper and I decided to jump at the offer. I am very glad I did, Tanya and I just got back from camping in Oman and it was a lot of fun. As you can see from the pictures we definately needed an SUV to get to where we were going. Tanya gave it the nickname "Super Trooper" and it did fit the bill. We had a great trip, as you will see from the pictures.

Running for the bus

Hi Everyone

Oh bus number 11, you have been oh so good to us. Bus 11 takes us every where we really need to go. Two different malls, Ben's school, my new school, and a fish market (that we have never been to), and all for AED 1 (.27 cents). Ben's front tire on his bike has been flat for over a week now so we have been riding the bus a lot. This past weekend we had a basketball tournament that Ben and I were site mangers for. Saturday morning we were walking to the bus and it was at a red light, we tried to get on it there but the driver said we had to go down to the next stop, a good distance away. So we start running and the bus waited there for us, which was nice, I was very much out of breath, Ben looked like he just walked, pshh runner.

Yesterday I had to go to the mall to get some stuff and again I saw the bus at a red light, so I started running toward the stop. The bus passed me and I tried to get his attention to tell him I was running for him! I saw the bus pull over and wait a little, then I saw him start pulling away, and I was thinking NOOOOO. But then he stopped just as I got to the stop and let me in, he had a big grin on his face and was laughing. Thanks again bus 11 driver, you are the best.

Soon we will have a vehicle though. Ben bought an a Trooper and is in the process of getting it. On Monday he went with the owner to go switch the insurance, when you do that you have to get it inspected. Ben knew it needed new tires (spelled tyers here) but they wouldn't pass inspection without them. Which ended up being okay because the owner is now going to split the cost with Ben. We also found out you have to get it inspected once a year and that is where you learn how many tickets you got over the year. At almost every intersection and on many highways they have cameras and you don't find out if you got a ticket until you get the car inspected. HA so you might be very happy with none, or very unhappy like one teacher who had AED 13,000 ($3,527!) worth of tickets at the end of the year. Lets hope we don't get any!

Fishing in the Indian Ocean

Yesterday, I went out deep sea fishing with two friends from school. Dave (wearing the read had), and Rob (fishing pool in hand). We drove from Abu Dhabi just over 3hrs to the northeast, to an area on the coast of the Indian ocean. This was a great experience as I had never deep sea fished before. Dave, who is also from MN, has been living in the UAE for about 5 years and has fished the area we were at quite a bit and set everything up with our guide. We all had very good luck while fishing too, we actually parked ourselves up along a huge ship called the "Sea Queen" and ended up hammering Mahi, which is what I am holding in the picture below. It wasn't the most breathtaking area to fish (like the BWCA), but I would definately reccomend it if you have the chance. The fishing was great!

The fish that I caught in the picture was probably a 12-15lbs. Mahi, but when it struck my line it felt quite a bit larger. It was a good sized Mahi from what Dave had said. I had him on my line for about 25 minutes before we were able to get him in the boat. It was crazy when you would get one on your line because they would jump about a foot and a half to two feet out of the water while you were fighting with them trying to real them in.

We ended up keeping four Mahi, and threw the rest we caught back, we filleted them that night and cooked one up. They are very good and have more of a white meat color to them. We were all able to each take a couple of fillets home with us. All in all I would say this fishing trip was a huge success!!!

Windy Abu Dhabi

Its been a while, I know. The one day I was going to update the Internet wasn't working. Things have been going well and we have had some interesting weather, as have many of you. Last Thursday Ben had field day and there was a small sand storm. You couldn't feel the sand hitting you but it was very dusty and the sky was unclear. Its hard to tell on this picture, this was the field that Ben has set up for field day. I guess in years past every field day has been this way. Parents can get upset because it is not great to be out running around while this is happening. It was also hot this day so when you started to sweat the sand started to stick to you, by the end of the day we all felt like we had spent a day at the beach. But the day went very well and everyone was safe, only one Mom complained and took her child home.

Last week I also accepted a job for next year! I will be teaching at an elementary school called the GEMS American Academy of Abu Dhabi. I am very excited for this opportunity and its really nice to know that I have a job, when many people don't.

This week has been slow for me, I only subbed 2 days, and we only had swimming 2 days. Sunday and Monday were actually pretty cold for Abu Dhabi standards and it was very windy. The pool is outside and the water temp was dropping. On Tuesday the water temp was 73 degrees which doesn't sound that bad but for elementary kids, its bad. Ben's school did buy a dance dance revolution, so a couple days this week we have played that for a while, it is fun and hard!

Well I hope you all arent still snowed in, in the East. Friend in the midwest I am sure you are all doing fine! :)

Ben went deep sea fishing today! I hope he brings back some yummy fish! He took his camera so hopefully he will update his blog and tell you all about it!

"I feel like Jesus"

Someones house on top of the moutain! HUGE!

On Friday we went to Al Ain, which is on the border of the UAE and Omon. We went up to the Mercure Grand Jabel Hafee. It was very cool drive with winding roads up to this amazing view of the UAE and Omon in the distance. Ben's friend later told me that you could see Saudi Arabia too! We walked up to the very top and Ben said he felt like Jesus walking around the desert. It was really hot walking up but well worth it. We were thinking about going to the zoo too but we ran out of time. They have white tigers there now, and they look really cool, but that might be another trip. As we were leaving we drove through and oasis, which was really neat. In the middle of the desert is the green lush park. There were a lot of people there having picnics and barbaquing. It was a fun day.

The Yaris we rented! Small little car.

The green is the oasis.