I'm feeling Hot Hot Hot!

So, I am still living in the beautiful hotel. It's lovely. I can't even bare to think about leaving, though, I know for a fact that several of the units are ready, so we're all going to be leaving in the near future, and It'll be staggered entry I'm sure, so, fingers crossed I don't go first. Being out there basically means that I need to get a car, won't have internet set up in my place for months, and will not be within walking distance from anywhere....also, i'll have no address...so mail things to the school


p.s. school address is: p.o. box 3976, Abu Dhabi, UAE (note the lack of postal code...it's all good.)


So, part of being pampered is to be able to get decent food most of the time. So, with it being Ramadan right now, most food shops are closed, but some offer take out, until roughtly 7pm when the whole world begins rushing out places. So, at night, for what we call Iftar (breaking of the fast) often people go out to eat. Then, breakfast is free here, so that leaves lunch. Somtimes lunch is hard to come by. For the most part I have some fruit and nuts to get me through the day, but sometimes it's fun to have something different. What they do still have open, are delivery places. Great! So, one day, I decided to try it.
The first attempt was at a place called Hardee's...much like Carl's jr. in the states...in fact, they use the same logo. SO, I placed my order, and within half hour, they were at the hotel. Great. But, they had sent the wrong food. All the wrong food, and they didn't even ask me what I wanted to drink, because the assumption is made that I love pepsi, along with the rest of the world. Shoot. So, I ate a few bites of my mushroom/swiss burger (that was supposed to be bacon/cheese) and bascially gave up, dissipointed.
Second location to try...KFC! They deliver everywhere, so how could they possibly mess it up?
Well, let me tell you.
I made my order, and waited an hour. Then I phoned and asked where it was. They told me, it's on it's way, the driver has left....so I wait another hour. This time, I told them when I phoned, that they should just cancel the order because it had been too long. Ridiculous...and once again, they told me, the driver was coming. Once again I waited...I waited for another half hour. Then I called and yet again said, "just cancel it, it's no big deal". This time, the guy put me on hold and made a call to see where the stuff was...and, it turns out that it was miss ordered, so he told me he would tranfer the order, and then I'd have it in no more than ten minutes...and I told him to cancel it, and he told me it would come. Ha ha, they won't take no. So, then, I waited yet another half hour, and the food finally came. The order was almost all right, with a few changes, but I was fairly annoyed with the process...three hours?! That's a long time to wait for lunch. Apparently, that's just how it is here, and so I decided not to order delivery anymore. It's not worth it.

Other than that, I've not done very much this week except for get my room in order. I've sorted out my books, everything is clean and organized, I have work for my T.A. to do, and a plan for the first week. With it being Ramadan, we have to leave the classroom by 1:30 every day, so we won't have our afternoons to prep and plan for a couple more weeks. Hopefully I can stay ahead until then, and after then, I'll have a few hours every day to stay ahead! Hurrah! For all of you teachers, it seems that having many many preps is a theme in this school. It's a great place, and a great job! I am loving it so much here!

It's good to be an expat.

Anyway, school begins tomorrow, and I'm really excited to get it going. I'm also nervous, which I'm assuming is typical. But, ensh Allah (which is God Willing in Arabic), things will work out fine.

Eli told me to keep it shorter, so that's all you get for now. Questions? ask.

TR