Week Three

Hi everybody: I can get on the internet with my computer every day at work for a few minutes, but I type pretty slowly, and I have been spending my time corresponding with the CEO's secretary, as I decide whether or not to rent or buy a car, and whether I want a new or used car, cost of insurance, etc. Every time I think I have made a decision, we get one more piece of information. I'll let you know what happens.

Right now I have a signal at my house, but Sam is bugging me every minute, so I am having a hard time finding a time to email. If I continue to be able to pirate off someone else's signal at night, I will be able to do a better job of staying in touch. We are supposed to have our own email at home by the end of the week, but I find in general, things take longer, so I will let you know when I am up and running online on a daily basis. Today is the first day of Ramadan. Our work hours will be shortened throughout the month of September. We still don't have a date set for when the school will open, but my guess is mid-October. Sam will miss a bit of second grade, but I figure what he is gaining in multicultural experiences will make up for the loss. And we read every night before bed, of course.

Right now at work we are working on setting up a curriculum, a mission statement, norms for the staff, and we are giving each other professional development workshops. I will do a mini presentation on reading strategies and how to run a book fair. We get daily classes in survival Arabic. I have a terrible ear and memory for this language! I hope it will improve. Of course everyone we are dealing with speaks English, but I still want to try. Sam will have rudimentary Arabic as well. He seems to have no ear either, unfortunately.

As we predicted, Sam has many, many friends here. There is the doting school staff of women, and all the workers here at the resort. Sam has the director of transportation at Al Hamra's phone number programmed into his phone, in case he is ever in a bind and needs a ride in the resort in one of the staff taxis. He has befriended all of the security guards at the check-in point for the resort and goes down there (it is right next to my apt. building, and I can see him from the balcony) and drinks coffee with them and talks about various things. He also has friends at the fort, where the luxurious rooms are, and he's toured the fanciest suites with the cleaning staff. The cake eating in the front lobby is slowing down, thank goodness, as funding this hobby is not cheap. He has a new bike, and his old scooter. He has been hired by some of the school staff to take heir trash out for a dirham a pop (25 cents), so he's making some money. He also bought a sqeegee and is offering to do windows and "organize" people's belongings, but no takers on these services as of yet.

It is still quite hot, but not unbearable. We do laps at 6 p.m each night, and I add two each time, so I am up to 30. I have had two get-togethers on my balcony, which is the only one to face the golf course (right below), lagoon (across the street), and the sea (1 mile away).

I am enjoying the other hires. There are various alliances forming, but I remain unencumbered, as a single parent. The vice principal, Donna, has married an Emirati (unusual) and we are becoming friends. She and her husband have a 2 year old boy, much treasured, and I have gone over to their house to help them unpack and to eat supper. Sam's teacher Rachel is a lively Canadian, and we do laps together. There is an American librarian who I go to for professional expertise. I especially like a 28 year old woman who has taught overseas in two posts and grew up in Lebanon. She is from Georgia, originally, but doesn't seem American. She is fluent in Arabic, and sweet and gentle, also kind to Sam, which is always a plus. I get more phone calls and texts here than I care to answer, so my social life has speeded up considerably since my lazy summer days in Paonia, when the only game in town was a trip across the railroad tracks to visit Mary. And a good game that was! But this is nice too.

I am cooking more as well. The way that food is presented in supermarkets here is more conducive to cooking. Lots of spices and tempting fruits and vegetables, plus I have a tiny freezer, so processed foods won't fit. Sam likes his Filipino babysitter, Arlen. They enjoy ironing together, and watching cartoons. Sometimes they go to the pool. Sometimes they walk up to the fort. She has a phone, and so does he, so even though I am in meetings several miles away, I can get a hold of him quickly. He called me the other day, while I was in a more formal meeting, I might add, to tell me he had located the secret pork room at the back of Spinney's supermarket near our house. He was excited to find that they had his beloved bacon. I noted the sign when I saw it, PORK ROOM NON MUSLIMS ONLY. There is everything pork in there, including Cambell's pork and beans. It is kind of a trip. So is the secret door next to Spinneys, innocuously labelled SP Beverages, with an array of alcoholic beverages, if you can brave the nondescript storefront.

Sam is pretty desperate for me to stop this nonsense typing. He's a guy of action, and I am a part of the plan, apparently. We miss you guys. It is so different here, that it is hard to make the connection home. But I miss the mountains, and friends, and family. It is such an abrupt stop between the old way of life and the new. A plane ride away... Now I think I understand a little better how Meg and Ted might feel. We are happy and comfortable, and well taken care of (a cleaning lady comes in two days a week, and Sam's babysitter irons everything, from our clothes, to fitted sheets and Sam's ties!). We are happy, but still exprerience some culture shock, for sure. I hear it is worse returning home, after a year overseas. I am making a little mental list of things I like better here, like the tupperware! I know that sounds kind of stupid, but it seals shut in such a practical way, with little locks on all four sides. We should have this invention back at home!