Just keep smiling

Last night I went to Marina mall which is a large mall in Abu Dhabi city, with a few other teachers. We went to a restaurant called Hard Walls with was serving an Iftar buffet (the evening feast for those breaking their fast after sunset). I didn't recognize much of the food, so I decided to just get mozzarella sticks (I know, how very Canadian of me...). The restaurant was also a shisha bar. Shisha is flavoured tobacco that is smoked out of a hooka (yes, like the Cheshire Cat in Alice and Wonderland!) I am not a smoker, but I thought I would try it just for the experience. The smoke is filtered through water and then flavoured syrup, so it was sweet and not very strong. It made my head a little loopy and gave me a huge headache, so I probably won't do it again...but it was worth the experience.

So after this, I came home and watched some tv till 3am. I went to bed thinking I would get a good night sleep and wake up late afternoon and instead I woke up at 5:10pm. I really needed the sleep but the problem is, teacher orientation started at 4:30pm! So I was running around my hotel room flipping out, calling myself a bunch of expletives. I made it down to the lobby and was greeted by a nice man who worked at the hotel and could see how frazzled I was. I told him I was late for my meeting and he laughed and said "In Abu Dhabi, you are never late!" I thought this was odd until I saw my colleague who told me that they had been sitting around waiting for the orientation to start for an hour. I calmed down at that point and waited in line to photocopy some documents. As I waited for that, we saw all the other teachers walk by, saying that orientation had been post-phoned again for an hour and a half later.

I came back later on to find a mass of extremely confused teachers, all gathered in a huge cluster trying to find their names on lists and line up at the appropriate tables. Finally, after much confusion, checking and rechecking, I found the right table. I was happily lined up, only to find out the table would be closing in order for the ladies to go break their fast, since the sun was setting. While I understand I am in a different culture, and that Ramadan needs to be respected, I was pretty frustrated at this point. I went to go get some food to refresh and calm down.

When I came back I lined up at my table, and someone told me that everyone in line had their forms, so I should go up to the front and get my forms, then line up again. I went to one lady at the front and she directed me to the lady on the other side..so I went to ask her and she told me to wait there. I stood there for about 20 minutes and then she asked me my name. As I was telling her my name, a teacher who was in the other line piped up with "OH NO YOU DON'T! WE HAVE BEEN WAITING HERE FOR 3 HOURS AND YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE?" (which was untrue, they definitely had only been there for 30 minutes at the most). I tried to explain that I was doing what I had been told to do, and she continued to scream at me. I told her I had misunderstood and she accused me of lying just because I didn't want to wait. I said, Okay, fine and was trying to make my way to the back of line, and she continued to yell at me. It was quite embarrassing and I have to say that I sure don't like her very much. Luckily, I foresee that she will have a very frustrating time here, as things will not go as she pleases and she will be constantly angry-until she yells at the wrong person and gets into real trouble. So, to the anonymous, yelling teacher: Good luck lady. The best part is, as soon as I went to the back of the line, they started calling out names for the forms and I still got mine before hers :P The whole thing was hilariously disorganized, but I get the sense that is the norm in Abu Dhabi. My plan is to just keep on smiling...

After I got my banking straightened out, I went to the orientation being held by our employers. They gave us an information package and explained that we would know our city placements in the next week. 78 teachers know they will be in Abu Dhabi city and apparently there will be 384 teachers total placed in Abu Dhabi city (as opposed to Al Ain or Al Gharbin which are more rural) and I am really hoping that I will be placed in Abu Dhabi city. We will apparently all get unfurnished apartments (which are assigned, we do not get to choose those) and a furniture allowance of about $7500 canadian. I am hoping I can cheap out by buying mostly IKEA stuff and save some money out of that.

Tomorrow morning at 7:45 am I will be meeting in the lobby to get my medical testing. Here's to hoping I don't have any diseases, or they will kick me out of the country! For now, I am off to bed.