Dubai...Sort of...

At around 9am we set off (in Patti's car - thank you!) to Dubai. Tony was keen to see the museum, Palace, spice souk and to ride along the river in a water taxi. I was hoping to also fit in a swim and a trip to the infamous Dubai Mall (just to get Tyler a new sun hat of course!)

The journey from our home base at Hili took about 50 minutes and we saw orange sand dunes and some wild camels - hooray. Small restaurants appeared intermittently throughout the journey as well as many exits to farms and smaller communities.

Approaching Dubai was pretty amazing - it went from desert pretty much straight into city and the tallest building (whose name everybody except for me will probably remember) really stood out against the skyline.

Our plan was to follow the signs to the trade centre, which would eventually lead onto the corniche (beach). We however, managed within minutes of our approach to get seduced by a brown tourist sign which said 'floating bridge' - I'm sure you would have too. We never did see the bridge or end up doing any of the afore mentioned bequests...what happened you ask...well...kid city happened. We somehow stumbled upon the most amazing looking park with beautiful greenery and the most amazing playgrounds...we never did get to those amazing playgrounds as right in the middle of the park was this huge primary-coloured building, which turned out to be every kids (and perhaps adults) dream. I guessed from the outside that it might just be an indoor play centre, but no, for 40 dirhams (approximately $14AU) for the whole family, we had six hours of the most interactive fun the kids have ever had in an indoor space (our home excluded of course.)

Kids City ended up being an interactive science/cultural centre, where everything was child-based, from putting cogs on to make a wheel turn, pulling the same weight with different levers, creating life-sized bubbles, crushing cans to make art, putting telephones on an over-sized globe to hear people speak in languages from around the world...oh, I could go on forever. Having probably read a few of my blogs by now however, you will have come to realise that they are very short and concise in nature and not likely to ramble...much.

To cut a possibly long blog short, we had a great day out. Did we see much of Dubai...erm, no...but there's always next time...

Bec in Oman

Omani Mountains

Eid Al Adhar (big Eid) for those of you who don't know, is currently being celebrated. This is a very special and important religious occassion for Muslims. Briefly (and with my limited knowledge) it involves the sacrifice and eating of a sheep for each family. The meat is shared with the poor (charity) and it is a time when many people make the once-in-a-lifetime trip to Mecca.

It also means a week off from work, so we decided on a couple of day trips; the first being to Oman.

We can see the Oman border from the front of our complex and conveniently, there is a border crossing about 500m away. We invited Patti (a fellow teacher and friend) to come with us and she bravely agreed.

It was at 7ish when the six of us set off in an impossibly small car whose name I keep forgetting. I would never have dreamt of travelling like this in Oz and still can't work out why I am...I guess everything is just more...relaxed, shall we say. Let me create a picture of the backseat: Finlay, Tyler, Bronte and I are tightly packed across it. I think I will use a little poetic licensing and say that for the duration of the drive and the immigration offices to get a multitude of stamps, the children were impeccably behaved and it all went smoothly. Nah, I'll go with the truth - lucky you!

Border Crossing 1 - This was a two minute drive away and by copying what other cars seem to be doing, we work out that we have to park the car and head into one of two possible buildings, depending on whether you are arriving or departing. We head into what we hope is the right building and wait (sitting of course) as standing up in queue appears to be impolite. 20 minutes later, after which Tyler has befriended a few people, we head to the car, pile in again and drive towards the exit where we hand over a minisure piece of paper and are waved on our way. We then follow a road around the facility and find ourselves in Oman - hooray! Tony comments that it was much easier than the last border crossing he and the kids did at a different location...hmmm, we'll see about that later...)

We follow our noses in the direction that we hope will lead us to Sohar; an old coastal town about 60km away that used to be a major port in Oman. We soon locate signs and are happily on our way.

Sohar Fort

Scenery - the buildings tend to range from ruins through to the ornate, all mingled in together, in a range of beautiful arcitectural types. Soon however, we come to mountain ranges only made of rock. It is almost like being on the moon. No trees or shrubs. In parts of the coast though are palms and lots of gorgeous cobalt blue domed mosques, fields of goats, wild camels, souks etc.

Once we reach Sohar (and this is after another surprise border crossing about 15km from the first one) its initial approach consists of dramatic white mediterranian style buildings (favoured considerably by Tony) and we proceed quickly in the direction of Majees Jetty, which was famed (via travel guide) to be a deserted strip of beach suitable for swimming...I am sure you can guess which three little wild things were very keen for this part of the trip at this time...

The approach to the ocean was down narrow roads with amazing ramshackle buildings crowded close by at either side. These opened up to an expanse of gritty shell-filled sand, with old fishing boats and semi-permanent covered day dwellings; some used for storage and others social gatherings. We drove further up the road to find an area that wouldn't be directly on anyone's doorstep and came to a small stretch of suitable beach. It was pretty windy so we weren't really sure about swimming, but the kids were keen, so in they went. We never did find the promised deserted strip, so Patti, Tony and I made do without swimming as it just wouldn't have been appropriate for us to strip down and dive in. Finlay, Tyler and Bronte on the other hand, had a great time in the water leaping about, falling over and collecting shells etc.

After about an hour, we left and headed a few kms in the direction of the town of Sohar. The entrance was marked with a huge grand arch. We stopped for a little while and walked along the promenade, took in the sights of another beautiful Mosque, then with hunger calling, headed back to the car in search of lunch.

We went to the first restaurant we found, called something like the Yellow Palace - it didn't look too promising from the outside and we weren't even sure it was open. Luckily for us it was as we had the nicest meal (Tony's cooking aside of course) that we have eaten since we've been here. It ended up being an Indian restuarant and the curries were amazing. Mmmm...my tummy's rumbling just at the thought.

After lunch we piled back into the car and headed back home. We pretty much had to follow our nose and outstanding sense of direction, as there weren't any signs pointing to our destination. Just when we were beginning to think we'de missed out turn and were heading too far up the speedy freeway, we found it and took the road back to Al Ain. We went to the Oman crossing and then to a different UAE border crossing first of all, but turned around (in retrospect - WHAT WERE WE THINKING!?!) to head to the one in Hili where we live.

On the way we stopped at a Souk, which is a market. This one sold cushions, carpets, industrial-sized pots, housegoods etc. We didn't buy anything this time, but Bronte charmed her way into: one lollipop, one bottle of sherbet, a pink sparkly headband and a colourful drink bottle - we are not quite sure how she does it and we think the boys are a little puzzled too. She did happily pose for photos and practice her Arabic, so that may have had something to do with it...

There was a cattle souk attached and Tony accidently started haggling over the price of a brown cow - given that he's not taken on the idea of a fish, bird, kitten or puppy, I was a little surprised!

Having left (somewhat later) without a cow, we headed off to the last part of our journey to the Hili Border Crossing. We had no idea whether we had to get out and wander into the building again, but parked to make sure. A security guy pointed to a building with a swarm of people trying to get in the door. Our hearts collectively sank as it was 5:30pm and pretty close to the 'wild things' dinner time. This border crossing was extra....erm....special and really deserves a blog on of its own. You will be relieved to hear however, that I shall summarise and say that two hours later after visiting three different locations and dealing with various different personnel, we left with all the necessary stamps on our passports and papers. The kids I am pleased to say, didn't fall apart, but played games like ring-a-ring-a-roses and rock, paper, scissors, much to the entertainment (I'm hoping) of bored onlookers. Bronte surprised everyone by loudly mimicking the words of one of our custom officials when he called (in Arabic) 'Entry Stamp!', so much that he came back into the room, ruffled her hair and had all the Arabic-speaking people murmuring appreciatively. I asked a lovely Omarni lady, whom we has befriended in our wait for the translation and she told us and said that it was a perfect immitation. We will try and visit her next time we are in Oman at her bakery.

Our day in Oman was fun. We only got to see a snapshot of course, but will definately head back (via a quieter border crossing!) for longer. We hope Patti enjoyed her day too - when questioned on her favourite part, she replied 'All of it.' Bronte liked collecting pink shells, Tyler liked chatting to the nice lady about his new toy laptop at the first border crossing, Finlay liked collecting shells, Tony liked the approach to Sohar (not the rain which I can't believe I forgot to mention that fell on the way back) as I expected he would say, based on the amount of excitement it produced on his part - yes this was our first bit of rain since leaving Oz. And I really liked the cobalt blue and gold trimmed Mosques, with small dwellings dispersed in between and the sight of women casually sitting out the front of these in beautifully bright coloured clothing - a lovely sight.

Stay tuned for a MUCH shorter blog about our trip to Dubai.

A Typical Day

5:00am Awake to the sound of call to prayer (the Mosque is approximately 100m away from our bedroom window. Fall back to sleep briefly before dragging myself out of bed at 5:15ish.

5:20 Have breakfast by myself (usually porridge - how typical). Enjoy the peace of the day.

5:40 Shower - must run water briefly first as it comes out orange initially. The water quality is rumoured to have our hair falling out in clumps eventually, however I am happy to report at this stage that I still have a full set of hair. Kids will usually wake up and start dressing themselves.

5:55 Dress in appropriate clothes for school etc. Do Bronte's hair if time is kind - this prevents her from looking like a witch when I get home, although Tony's pig-tails are starting lasting longer.

6:15 Say goodbyes and walk down stairs (actually this has been the lift, however given we are only on the first floor I have just started using the stairs!) to Patty's car.

6:15 - 6:55 Either chat or daydream (or a mix of both) for duration of drive to school, depending on how awake everyone is feeling.

6:55 - 7:45 Sign in, get things ready for day, e.g. photocopies, manipulatives. Greet teachers in English and/or Arabic.

7:45 - 8:00 Assembly in a large hall, where all classes sit around the perimeter of the hall in a 'u' shape facing towards the middle. Chn perform a range of fitness movements and sing national song. Three children are chosen to say certain phrases into a microphone and all of school responds verbally with a phrase - these of which I have not yet worked out.

8:00 - 8:15 Greet children, select a leader who counts the number of boys and girls present. Go through days of the week in English and Arabic. Collect money for zartar or cheese sandwiches and juice. Show sight words etc.

8:15 - 8:45 Chn usually go to a 'special'; either PE, Music, Art or Library. Madly prepare some more for day.

8:45-9:15 Literacy - usually introduce/ reinforce letter of the week, sing jingle, form letter, read story, model activities, show sight words etc. Chn engage in activities around the room.

9:15 - 9:45 Leave class (Arabic teacher teachers Arabic and Islamic studies) and go to KG1 - a room with 25 3-4year olds...yikes! Introduce letter sound and jingle briefly, model activity and get chn engaged at desk as quickly as possible.

9:45 - 10:10 Break for 'breakfast' which is a lovely feast with sweet tea whilst Arabic teacher is handing out breakfast to children and sitting with them whilst they eat.

10:10-10:30 Take class to hall for a run around, ball throwing and catching type break. I am pleased to say that the children no longer climb on the cubby houses or scale the doors, so my presence is slowly being accepted. Getting all the chn to line up when they finish still remains a challenge. My 'Yela Atfarley - wahad, itharn, thalatha' (excuse poor spelling) is slowly starting to work. This roughly translates to 'Quick my children - one, two, three' and is used by the Arabic teachers very effectively.

10:30 - 11:30 Numeracy - a range of number songs and a lot of counting. Introduction of shapes, number recognition - usually one a week. The chn all sit in a 'u' shape around the edge of a large carpet for the initial instruction. Introduction of activities - I am hoping to introduce centres soon, but am finding I need to address class management first. The children are usually engaged, which I find absolutely wonderful, as I find it very hard to engage when I am trying to listen in Arabic, so they are doing very well.

11:30 - 12:00 Science - we have looked at Ourselves, Colours, Eid Al Adhar and we will be looking at Our Family next.

12:00 - 12:15 Closing time - giving out notes, messages, packing up, story etc.

12:15ish Bell rings and chn get bags and line up in two lines (boys and girls) for the bus. If the Arabic teacher is in the room, this is done very sensibly. If it is just me, the chn scream when they hear the bell and then line up. We walk the chn to the buses and they climb on, usually saying 'goodbye' in English.

12:15-12:30 Go to staffroom, sip teach and chat.

12:30-1:30 Attend professional development.

1:30 - 2ish Tidy classroom and get resources, lesson plans etc ready.

2ish - 2:40 Drive back home.

2:40 Wake Tyler and Bronte, help them get dressed, chat etc.

3:20 Walk downstairs to pick Finlay up from bus. Have a snack.

3:20- 5:00 Play (either at playground downstairs with bike riding, or some kind of Art and Craft)

5:00 Heat dinner up (thanks Tony!) and we all eat together.

5:30 - 6:30 Bath, books, bed routine (with a bit of homework thrown in for Finlay)

6:30 Chn in bed. Chat with Tony, read, watch t.v. series, write blog :) etc.

9:30ish Sleep (very quickly as so tired - have been known to watch one movie in three separate sittings - sorry Tony!)

The weekends of course are very different.

Stay tuned for the next blog/s which will feature our upcoming trip to the zoo and Oman.