A Student Teaching Blog

Welcome to my blog site for student teaching in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This blog documents a few elementary lessons and professional reflections while at the American School, as well as some of the other things we did while abroad. The blog was designed reverse-chronologically, so to read the blog from beginning to end, you must follow the subheadings on the toolbar on the right side of the screen. Feel free to comment directly on a post or email me with questions/ comments. Enjoy!

- Elizabeth

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Like an intricate Lite Brite board


We are here!

Emilee and I arrived Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Unfortunately, the internet has been touch-and-go, so we have been contacting families more so than updating blogs when the signal is kind.

As the plane descended over Abu Dhabi, all I could think about was one thing: it's like an intricate, bedazzling Lite Brite board (google it if you were not an American '90s kid). But better. Much better. Also at that point, we had been traveling for 17.5 hours, so when we touched down in Abu Dhabi, it was an oasis for our traveling. Ha! The desert was our oasis!

After we exited the plane and gathered our bags, we quickly changed into long skirts and watched for the driver. We were welcomed by two drivers. The gentlemen took our bags and led us to the large, fancy SUV that took us to the host's compound. Their compound includes their main house, villas (small houses with living quarters), and a "yard"… which is a very polite term for their landing, fountain, children's area, porch, outside garage, garden, and some grass with lawn figures and exotic plants (pictures in the next wave of internet!). Our things were delivered to our room and we ate a delicious meal with our host.

What did we eat? We had baked potatoes with chicken and sauce, papaya juice, cooked vegetables, soup, and flat bread. Following the meal was hot tea – or chai –with milk sugar, along with various cookies and sweet dates. Enchanted by the new environment and sedated with full bellies, we floated to our cool bedroom and fell fast asleep. Jet lag hit us like a brick.

More to come soon!

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