Teacher Talia goes to school

Well. At noon on Friday August 14th, I flew out of YEG, feeling not quite ready for my next adventure, but knowing that it was imminent regardless of how I felt.

My good friend from school, Alicia Gross, and myself, first had to start by paying tons of extra baggage...my totaly cost coming to 325.00. Ouch! But, what can you do when you need to take school books, clothes for a year and other essentials? So, we paid, bit the bullet, and flew away with Candian Airlines.

our first stop, in Montreal, was quite smooth. That flight, 4.5 hours was a good starter to the day.

Secondly, we did another 7 hours on a flight, and wound up in London Hethrow. That flight was fairly comfortable in size (we even got seats with extra leg room), but it was freezing. Plus, it was only like 5 or 6 in the evening for us, but with the time changing, it ended up being an overnight flight, so it was mostly dark. My tv broke. Man....

Finally, after running around Hethrow to get finial boarding passes and be sure everything was connecting, we made it on to our last 7 hour flight. Now, it was more like 4 in morning for us...so on this flight, even though it was "daytime", I popped some graval and slept it through.

Then, we arrived in Abu Dhabi....the airport is amazing! I have no way to describe it, other than there is a tiled vortex (decorative) in the middle of the room... yep. I know, that makes no sense. But it was awsome.

We had to go through passport control. We were worried about telling them we had or didn't have work visa's but, they didnt' even ask, and just sent us through. Then, we found out some bad news. Alicia and I had both lost one bag. We had two, lost one. Unfortunately the one we lost was full of useful items. The ones we had were mostly teacher stuff. Lame. Regardless, they'll be dropped off sometime today I'm sure.

So, after about another hour in the airport, getting things settled, we made it out into the open, where we met Micheline, our contact....a very very kind lady who is taking care of us, and about 5 other teachers. One whom I feel is a kindred spirit. Her name fittingly enough, is Joy. And, four others who seem really cool. 4 out of the 7 of us are K or JK teachers, Alicia is grade 1, One of the girls Gr. 4/5 split, and Joy, my friend, is a 7/8/9! So, clearly, the population of the school is very very young.

As was predicted by several people. our housing complexes are not finished. So, we took a van to down town Abu Dhabi (the school and houses are way out by the airport), and ended up chacking into the Cristal Hotel. Of course, the school is paying. I expected we'd be in normal rooms sharing, trying to make all 6 suitcases and 4 carryon's between the two fit...however, I was wrong. WE have huge suites. When we came in, there were cakes, candies, fruit bowls, and sandwhiches waiting for us. and letter that was personalized. We got tour books as well which was nice. The sitting room in huge, includes a desk and beautiful fla screen HD tv, and some lovely couches. That's where the food is. Around the corner is the bed room. A lovely King sized bed was waiting for me, another flat screen, and like 100 pillows!

In the hallway there are slippers, bath robes, and the usual. And the bathroom, has a beday!!! I don't know how that should be spelt...i'm not rich enough yet to need to know that stuff, but there is one in my bathroom, right beside the toilet. And a bowl sink...which I love.

I feel very well taken care of, though, part of me woudl like to unpack at my place so I can organize my life.

By the time we got all settled, it was after ten Abu Dhabi time. So, basically I went to bed after running around in a bathrobe, and eating some free fruit! Today we have a free day, so I'll try and get a cell phone, and maybe some food. Alicia, being celiac, needs to find food today for sure,as she won't be able to eat most hotel food.

So, that's it for now. Tomorrow, we see the school for the first time. Not that I'm here, I feel totally at ease. I know I'm still missing out on things at home, but ultimately, I'm excited to be here, and I know that I'll make the best of my time here as well.

I'll be keeping this blog I'm guessing every couple of weeks, so feel free to stop in and see what is going on. I look forward to hearing from you all as well.

Talia