An Index of People

I just thought this might be helpful. I might add to it as need be.

Farah (pronounced FAH-rah) - my flatmate, who is from Lebanon. She teachers grade 1.

The Qusais Girls: (for the area of Dubai that they live in)
Michele - teacher from South Africa. She teaches grade 1
Katrien - teacher from Belgium. She teachers KG (kindergarten)
Sherry - teacher from Zimbabwe. She teaches KG
Buelah - teacher from South Africa. Taught KG, but unfortunately she's leaving in a few days.
(By the way, all of these girls are white)

The Cousinos (COO-zin-oh) - I went to Grove City with their oldest daughter Naomi.

Miss Amna (AHM-na) - the Arabic teacher I share my class with

That's it for now.

'Twas the Night After Christmas

Friday was a really nice day this week. In the morning I was picked up by a girl named Elizabeth who goes to the Cousino's chuch (the family with a daughter I knew at Grove City), and we made the 40 minute trek to church. The sermom was on Psalm ... 78? It's the second longest Psalm, and it is a maskil, which is sort of meant to teach and reflect and carry on history. In this maskil/Psalm, the author basically goes through the history of the Israelites until around the time that they enter the Promise Land. His point is to remind the current Israelites not to forget, to intentionally look back and remember God's goodness and faithfulness--something that wasn't done by the generation who died in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It was a nice sermon, and a good reminder to make a point of looking back over the last year with the purpose of remembering when God has answered prayers, where and how he has blessed us, and to intentionally look for times when God has been faithful to us, particularly when we haven't been faithful to him.

After church I went with the Cousino's for lunch (really good sloppy joes), which was followed by a fun group game with the other family who had come, and then a nice afternoon nap. A number of people show up around 4:00 every week to play volley ball in the sandy-ish lot across from the Cousino's villa, but I slept through that as well. I'm trying to get over being sick again, and I was completely wiped out. Anyway, around 6:00, a massive caravan of cars formed, and a large group from church drove out into the desert to have a bonfire. We pulled off the side of the road and headed behind a sand dune to a nice spot, which is a pretty common thing to do. There were a number of other groups out there behind their own sand hills, as well as a group of "quad-bikes" (also known a 4-wheelers or atv's) driving around. But the bonfire was pretty wonderful. They had a nice buffet of snackish foods, a time for some singing and some sharing, and I had a lot of time of meeting new people, including two students who go to school in the Twin Cities (that's in MN for all you college friends). It was really, really nice. Oh, and we killed a little scorpion. Normally I would have thrown him into the bushes somewhere, but they tend to seek out the heat and light of the fire, and a lot of us were in bare feet. Plus, he was pretty little. And little=dangerous. So, Mrs. Cousino whipped out this knife with an 8 inch blade, and we said goodbye to our little sand-colored friend.

After the bonfire I ended up staying at the Cousino's. During the night some friends of theirs flew in to stay for a few weeks. The Bustraks lived in Dubai for a number of years, but they currently reside in Brule, WI, which is 3-4 hours from Grand Marais. What a small world.

Yesterday and today, we FINALLY got our new furniture delivered, which was awesome. I was a little nervous when I saw it in pieces all over the apartment--it's pretty dark in color. But, now that it's up, I like it. My wardrobe went from four doors to six doors, which is great, and I got a little dressing table as well. Plus, since Farah got the same things, she gave me the desk that was in her room. It doesn't match the furniture, and she didn't need it. So, I now have a nice spot to put my computer and books. It's worked out really well because I was seriously lacking in storage space.

Tomorrow I'll go back to school. The four-day weekend (Thursday off for Christmas and today off for the Islamic New Year) was much needed, and greatly enjoyed. Plus, I'll have this Thursday off for the calendar new year, which makes for a three-day week. Hurray!

As for closing thoughts, I'd love to hear from you for a change. Here's the question. In the theme of the sermon I heard this week, how has God worked in your life this year? What prayers has He answered, and in what ways has He been faithful? I'll ponder this and reply as well, but just leave a little comment at the bottom of this post.

Thanks again for stopping by. Still wishing you a Merry Christmas, and now a Happy New Year,
~Nikki

Merry Christmas to All

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit, He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it! "Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming. "They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!" "They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!" "Their mouths will hang open a minute or two Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry Boo-Hoo!"

...

He stared down at Who-ville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?" "It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!" "It came without packages, boxes or bags!" And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store." "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Yes, even without the decorations and normal holiday cheer, Christmas came to Dubai. My first parent-teacher conference were on Christmas Eve, and, praise God, they went well. It is not at all uncommon for parents here to get upset at a 95% or a 99%. They want to know why their child didn't get a 100%. In my class, not a single child scored in the 90's. In math and science, only two were in the 80's, and only 5 were in English. All of my other kids were 70's and below. I was waiting for something unpleasant to hit the fan.

But it didn't. I had roughly two conferences that were less than pleasant. All of the other parents pretty much came in slightly (or immensely) shocked at their child's grades, but once I explained the hectic first term and having only two weeks to give grades caused all of the marks to be low, showed them the breakdown for the grades (I'd made a little table that showed for each subject how many students scored in the 90's, 80's etc), and said how I fully expect marks to be higher next term, most of the parents were really understanding. It was amazing. The day was very very busy (I saw parents/guardians for 21 of my 25 children) with a number of conferences lasting 20 minutes or more, but it was good, and I was extremely blessed. One of the moms even brought in two cakes and a huge tray of local-style goodies for my Arabic teacher and I.

After conferences I went to Michele and Katrien's place, where we were joined by Sherry and Buelah (the four Qusais girls) to have our Christmas party. First, we took a little shopping trip since we had agreed to all get everyone else a little 10 dirham ($2.50 ish) gift, then we went back to the apartment and got out a bunch of little finger foods and wrapped our presents. Since half the girls there open presents on Christmas Eve, while the other half open them on Christmas, we compromised and decided to open them at midnight. So, while we waited, we sat around and ate BBQ (good) and Paprika (not so good) Doritos, Salt and Vinegar Lay's potato chips, Lindt chocolate truffles, something-or-other Street chocolates, deviled eggs (which I made--they were really good), egg salad on crackers (from the eggs that didn't want to peel so well. They would stick to the shell and come out in layers, making them unsuitable for deviled eggs. So, they became egg salad), little tooth-pick kabobs with cheese and mini sweet gerkins and tiny little onions, and some rocking-awesome cake that was from the aforementioned mother. Coupled with some adult beverages, it was a really nice evening. The present opening was a lot of fun too. It was really nice to have a few different things to open, and to see others get excited about the things that they got. Oddly enough, one of the more popular things came from me. In addition to the little presents that I picked out for individual people, I also got a little chocolate egg for everyone. They're popular local treats that have little cracker-jack type toys inside of them, and for some reason or other, the girls were just having a riot with the little 15 cm"spy measuring tape" and miniature red car with stickers you put on your self. It was absolutely hysterical. So, anyway, it was a really fun Christmas Eve.

Christmas day began with a phone call from my family (at 8:00 am!). It was still Christmas Eve, and my mom was wrapping presents, my dad was wrapping presents, and my little brother was, well, I'll add that later. Let's just say he's a punk. After I talked with everyone at home for a while, I laid back in bed for about a hour and talked with Katrien (the beds here are all king-size, and I was sharing hers). Eventually, we got up and had ourselves a nice, big, special Christmas breakfast. There were left-over and slightly stale chips, egg salad on rolls, more of the rocking-awesome cake, vanilla pudding, a couple of chocolates, one very good apple I'd brought with me from my apartment, mini chocolate chip muffins, cottage cheese on crackers, and some 7-up. In any normal situation, I would have been more than a little revolted with myself. As it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eventually we left the apartment, went grocery shopping, went to school where I picked up my first whole-month's salary (HURRAY!), and then to the Mamzar Beach Park where we spent the afternoon attempting to barbeque. After several hours, borrowing some lighter fluid, and much frustration (not necessarily in that order), we finally got the charcoal to the point where we could grill our meat. In the end, it was good, and we had a nice evening.

Today I got a ride to church with a girl I met at church two weeks ago named Elizabeth. At church I hooked up with the Cousino's again (COO-zi-no, not casino), and they brought me home for lunch. Around 4:00, a bunch of people showed up for the traditional Friday afternoon volley ball, and at 6:00 we left and drove out to the desert for the church's annual Christmas bonfire. It was really wonderful, and I got to meet a number of other people close to my age (actually most of them were college and high school age), as well as some other lovely adults (isn't it weird that I'm technically not a student any more? That I'm not really "college-age" anymore? Since when am I a working adult?) Now I'm staying over at the Cousino's, and about to head to bed. But, since I had access to a computer, I wanted to make use of it.

So, dear readers, I hope you've enjoyed this post, particularly my Grinch quoting at the beginning. :o) And I hope you all had a very joyous Christmas, wherever you are, whatever you're doing in life right now. Soon I'll be back at my apartment, where my phone charger and phone numbers are (it's hard not to have those things when you want to call people for whom you don't have numbers and your phone is dead). So, there's a possibility that you might actually hear from me soon. Oh, and for those who have been asking for it, my phone number is 011 971 55 622 8802.

Ok. Goodnight, sleep tight, good morning, and again, Merry CHRISTmas.

~Nikki

Report Cards and Christmas

Hello again.

Well, I promise that at some point I will finish my post about my desert safari (and my birthday--I turned 23 on the 7th. Wow). But, for now, something new.

This past weekend was consumed by report cards. Today feels much more like it should be my Friday, rather than my Monday. Gross. Anyway, it's a long and somewhat ugly story, but suffice it to say that I didn't exactly appreciate having to make up nearly 100+ grades for 25 students. I was informed that, even though I had only spent the last two weeks of the term with my class, I responsible for all of their grades. Each of my subjects--English, Math, and Science--had grade sheet with 12+ categories, like behavior, handwriting, participation, problem solving, experiments, homework, classwork, etc. Those categories made up 70% of the grade. Then there should have been three tests for each subject, which made 30% of the grade. After making up all of the grades, I took the total out of 70%, the total out of 30%, and the total out of 100% and wrote them on the report cards. THEN there were at least 40 other categories on the reportcard of "informal ongoing assessment" that I also had to give each child--Excellent, Very Good, Good and so on, plus writing comments. On top of that, the actual report cards, which we should have been given over a week ago, were handed out on Thursday. They are due tomorrow. The administration wanted to revise the format and didn't get them printed in time. So, on top of all of my things to do, I also have to give the report cards to my Arabic teacher, the IT teacher, and the PE teacher. Blech. But, praise God, they are nearly done. So, my weekend didn't really feel like a weekend, but God is good, and life goes on.

Very quickly, because the internet cafe is about to experience technical difficulties, it finally feels a little bit like Christmas. I've come to realize how entirely strange it is to live in a country without four seasons after having grown up in one that does have them (or at least in an area of the country that has them). Thanksgiving didn't really happen for me. I'm the only American, and Thanksgiving comes when it's cold outside and the leaves are falling off/are off the trees. Snow may even be present. Here, it was warm, sunny, and sandy--with palm trees. Also, I missed my friend Liz's birthday (and I almost my dad's, which is the same day). Liz's birthday is first semester, near Thanksgiving, when it's cold outside and the leaves are falling off/are off the trees. Then there's my birthday. Nearly missed that one too. My birthday comes after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, when it's cold outside, the leaves are all off the trees, and there is usually snow. Here, it was warm, sunny, and sandy--with palm trees. And now, Christmas, which is in the winter when I get to go home and it's very cold and snowy (it's been -17 at home and there's a good batch of snow). At home, decorations herald its coming as soon as Thanksgiving is over, as does all the music on the radio. Here, there are no decorations, there is no music. Here it is, you guessed it, warm and sunny and sandy--with palm trees. BUT! Today I finally got some decorations on the 5ft tall tree that Farah got me for my birthday. So now, in some small way, it finally feels like Christmas might be coming. :o)

Ok, I have to run.
~Nikki

An Interlude About Cars

I realize that I haven't finished my last post about the desert safari etc, but hopefully that will be forth-coming soon. In the meantime, I wanted to post a bit from an email that I just wrote.

And now I'm seriously considering getting a car, which ties in with the fact that I met the family of the person formerly known as Naomi Cousino (I forget her married name) this past weekend. She grew up here, in case you didn't know that. Her parents moved to Dubai about 15 years ago, and she put me in touch with them. I really liked them a lot--they were extremely warm and welcoming; I don't think we had a single awkward moment. I went over on Friday (the holy day here) for church and stayed afterwards. Both lunch and the company were great. Which ties back into a car several ways.
1. They're keeping their eyes open for me because they know a lot of people, a number of whom are probably leaving soon--largely due to the economy. Mr. Cousino works at a university here, and many other people they know work at schools, which are for profit. Parents are becoming less willing/able to pay high tuitions, so students may be leaving. Also, many companies are starting to let upper-management people go because of finance, and because they can now bring in new people for half the salary. So, they'd know the car's history, reliability, and a good deal if they saw one.
2. Cars and insurance are really cheap. They bought a 2001 Mazda for a little more than 4000 dollars, and insurance on that car is about 275 dollars a year. I'm a fan.
3. Getting around here without a car is really difficult. My one-way taxi to the Cousino's cost me almost $20, and that was with no traffic (which almost never happens here). Plus, the bus system is basically non-functional for daily use. There are no up-to-date route maps or time-tables, and if you call the company three different times, it's very likely that you'll get three different answers (of which two will be nearly impossible to decipher). And
4. (and 5) I'm feeling like I'll definitely be here longer than my current 2 year contract, which magnifies all of the above. On top of that, I am really feeling like I should get involved with the church here. I'm feeling such a sense of purpose and a working of God in my life that I haven't felt in a long time. I'm re-learning how to really pray--knowing How / What to pray (due largely in part to a book I just started: Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer. Interesting, but pretty good. And it's not a Purpose Driven Life kind of book.), which is so often hard for me. There is also a real mission field here. Before I left home, I was commissioned at church, which was really just one of those "nice" kinds of things to me, but I figured I would just have to live my life in a Godly way and hope that people would notice, like high school... But I'm feeling now that my purpose here is much more than that. I think I really have potential to make an impact with the Philipino nannies here. At 30 to an apartment (!), with a small salary and no means of transportation, they seem like really sweet girls who would be easy to befriend. Having a car would be a great in for that as well.

All of that is to say that I'm seriously considering getting a vehicle when I can afford it. I'm still praying about the decision, but it's feeling like the right thing to do. Besides convenience, I really do think it has the potential to make lasting impacts where things that matter are concerned. So, if you wanted to pray about that with me as well, that would be really fantastic.

Thanks,
~Nikki

A Week in Review

Guess who finally has pictures!?! Pick me! You can see them at http://picasaweb.google.com/sweetpickle05. More albums will be coming, so check back (though I'll probably post when I put a new one up)

In case I didn't post it previously, I've been on break for nearly a week now. Last Tuesday was National Day, and now the Muslim world is in the middle of the second Eid holidays (there's Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, which is a Festifal of Sacrifice that commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mount. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha) So, I've been up to a good bit of exploring.

Last Monday, Farah and I went out walking in the evening, which I posted about. Tuesday was, of course, National Day. Wednesday, Farah and I went with Katrien, Michele, Bulah, and Sherry (henceforth known as the "Qusais girls", due to the fact that they all live in Al Qusais, which is near the school) to the Dubai Outlet Mall, which is a big outlet mall in the middle of the desert. There really isn't anything around it but the road. We got off the bus, had to walk across some sand, find a spot to get through the fence, walk across some more sand to where they were still doing some construction, navigate across a ditch that looked like they were doing some piping, and then we were finally at the back side of the parking lot.

It was interesting. As far as shopping goes, nothing really to note except that I got a new pair of tennis shoes for a really great price. Treadmill, here I come. As for catching the bus back home, we again walked to the far reaches of the parking lot, but were told about a tunnel that goes under the highway, rather than having to try running across it. Apparently this little one-lane tunnel is actually the entrance and exit to the mall, or so it seemed. There was a road perpendicular to the tunnel, and then a very steep, short hill that just sort of dropped into the tunnel. But, we watched (and waited for) a number of cars drive down the gravel hill and into the tunnel. We walked through, then came out onto the sand/gravel on the other side, where the cars would just drive up the the shoulder, and then merge onto the road where there was a break in traffic. There were also a set of tire tracks leading down to the tunnel for people wishing to enter the mall, and sure enough, we watched cars just drive onto the shoulder, then down the sand tracks and into the tunnel. Wild.

Thursday was the Big Bus Tour. Farah stayed home while I went with the Qusais girls. The Big Bus Tour is a company that owns a bunch of London double deckers, and they stop about every 20 minutes along two routes--the red line and the blue line. You buy a ticket and can hop on and off as many times as you like while the buses run, which starts at 9:00, with the last bus leaving around 5:00. So, we got there around 10:30, then went to Al Karama, which is supposed to be "Little India" and an area where you can get tons of knock-off and cheap brand name stuff like hand bags and clothing. There was a hallway with shops on either side, and the vendors were absolute vultures. "Yes madam! You like a nice hand bag? Tommy Hillfigger, Hollister..." and every other brand name they carry. They would close in on you from both sides, no matter how much you were obviously ignoring them. We got fed up with it pretty quickly and left.

Also on our tour was the Herritage Village. There were a couple of neat shops with some traditional crafts--I got a new cover for my bed (the comforter that was on it when I got here is atrocious. Someone took a box of crayons and made a zigzag pattern on fabric. Gross) I absolutely love it--you'll get to see it when I do the video tour of my apartment. On that stop we also got to view the house of the first Sheik. It was really fast, and not as grand or glamorous as you might think, but there were some really neat pictures of old Dubai. I'd like to go back again some time when I'll be able to look longer.

After the Sheik's house we got back on the bus and went to a stop where we got a free cruise on a dhow boat on the Dubai Creek. We grabbed some dinner to go and took that with us, then just spent on hour cruising the creek with commentary in the background. It was really laid back, but neat. The creek is filled with traditional dhow boats--a style that doesn't use any nails. They're really intersting, and the whole thing makes you feel like you go back in time. I'll post more details with the pictures when I get them up.

After the dhow cruise, we took the bus to where it meets up with the Blue Line, and switched over. We got stuck in traffic, so the Blue Line bus, which was the last one running for the day, waited nearly 45 minutes for us. We got on right after sunset, and had a nice evening tour of the beach area of Dubai. The bus took us past the largest mosque in Dubai, out onto the Jumiera Palm islands, and then to the mall with the indoor ski hill--Festival City. We got off there, grabbed some food in the Ikea food court, then headed back to Michele and Katrien's place. It was a long but fun day.

Friday I went back to my place, and Farah and I hung out for a while since the weather was pretty gross. In the late afternoon/evening we went out, and I decided to get my hair cut. I thought putting a little layering in the back and a little more shaping around my face would be nice. Oh my. The woman I went to didn't speak English so well, so Farah described what I wanted (she and I had looked at a picture). I decided to just close my eyes until it was over. When I opened them again, I was in total shock. She really took a lot off in the front, and I didn't like it. She then blow-dried it, after which I looked like a poofy poodle. Yikes. I was freaking out a little, but Farah told me it looked great in back and just needed to be styled differently. I decided she was right, and when I got home, I found that if I flattened it a little and put a headband in that it was ok. The headband is the real clincher, and now I like it. It's different, and not something I'm sure I'll stick with for a while, but it's not too bad at all (the woman curled the whole thing under to start with, which was a huge, poofy mistake).

The picture is when it was poofy, and before I figured out the headband thing. It looks better now. I'm working on another picture.

Saturday was the day I went on a desert safari. Farah went to visit her cousin Saturday morning, and I went to meet up with the Qusais girls again. We got picked up around 3:30 pm and were then driven out into the desert. It's funny, because you're heading along this 4-6 lane divided highway, and pretty soon you realize that there isn't really anything around you--just sand and scrubby plants. After a bit, we turned onto another 4 lane divided highway (by which I mean two lanes on either side) and drove for a while. After a while, a driver went across the sane median and just started driving on the wrong side of the road, not slowing down a bit. And then a minute later, he just drove off the left side of the road and up a sand dune, again, not slowing down a bit. That's when the fun started. We drove along the ridge of the dune for a bit, then slipped and slid our way down the other side to a flat area where one or two other Land Cruiser/Range Rover type vehicles were waiting. We got out, got our picture taken, then played around in the sand for a while as we waited for the others to arrive. By 5:00, there were probably 20 vehicles all together.

Ok, I'm going to have to work on posting more often--this takes forever. This post will be continued, hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime, thanks again for reading.

~Nikki

A Commentary on Life

Today, I had one of those moments. After visiting the local open-air markets, my fresh-produce purchases in hand, I ambled along the corniche that borders the lagoon near my apartment. A soft breezed whispered intermittently--the air a perfect temperature, and the sounds of the circling birds and strolling crowds played in the background as I watched the late afternoon sun spread hazy rays from behind a cloud as it sank toward the upward-reaching buildings. As I stared across the water at those buildings, it seemed as though time and reality were suspended for a moment. I stared at the buildings, the water, the birds, the sea of dark faces, and I thought of a car salesman. I literally stopped walking and took in everything around me. I was standing on the other side of the world from my home, seeing all of those things, because I met a car salesman, after which I put my name and resume on a website. Now, I firmly believe that I am ultimately here because it's where God wants me. But it all got started because of a Honda Civic, and a car salesman named Moody.

I let that realization wash over me, then smiled, and walked a little faster to catch up to my new roommate. Only a few more steps until I was back "home".

National Day

Hello again.

It's been a while since I've really had time to get one--life has been busy! Thanksgiving came and went basically without notice (except for a nice phone call from my family. Everyone but me got togehter at my sister's place in Green Bay, WI) , first term finished on Monday (the weekend here is Friday & Saturday, so we had two days of school this week), and now we're on 'holiday' for a little more than a week and a half. Hurray!!! My poor kids got slammed with assessments this past week. The only grades I had for them, previous to me getting here, were a few spelling tests in their Spelling Test Books. Everything else I had to give them, grade, record in the grade book, calculate, transfer to another sheet, transfer to yet another sheet, and have handed in by the time I left school on Tuesday. It was a lot. So, with all of that, and staying late a few days at school (which is always followed by the completely unpredictable sojurn home), life has been keeping me on my toes. Now, however, my toes are going to take me 'round the country.

Today is officially National Day, which would be the equivalent of our 4th of July. While Sharjah is inconvenient in terms of where I work, where I live isn't a bad place to be. Last night Farah and I happened to see an antique car show (which was really cool. A few of them made me think of Germany during the WW1 era, among other things) fireworks, a preview to a light and water show, and then masses and masses of people forming an (unofficial?) parade. After the fireworks, eveyone and his extended family piled into cars that were decorated to the rims in everything UAE. Balloons, temporary paint, stickers, window paint, fabric (it was like a badly fitting swimsuit for a car)--you name it. Then everyone drove one direction down Corniche street, honking their horns, hanging out the windows and sun roofs and sitting on the windshield, popping confetting cannons, and spraying shaving cream type stuff. Poor Farah got covered with white foam on more than one occasion. (Mom, dad, you might want to skip to the next paragraph. :o) Not to mention we got hit on more last night than I think I have in all my previous years combined. I think all men here must know at least one word in English--sexy. Gross. It was like a broken record of bad pick-up lines involving the word sexy. And the kissing noises! Ugh, do I look like a dog? Actually, I dealt with it just fine, and even had a little fun with it. End of the story--after three and a half hours of walking around, Farah and I finally made it home, haveing had quite the adventure and having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was a really good night.

Today we walked down to the Central Souk, where we found most shops closed (duh, it's National Day), after which we proceeded to one of the market areas. There is a row stalls where the daily seafood gets brought in (all closed), another enclosed building for fruit and vegetable sellers, a row of stalls for date merchants, and then a street lined with little plant shops (which was my actualy destination). I brought home some greenery, which I was quite pleased about. My apartment and classroom desperately need a little life in them. So, in addition to the basil plant Farah and I picked up a little while ago (yes dad, we actually use it), we now have a mint plant, a little white gardenia bush, an 18 inch-ish little tree with long spikey leaves, and a type of bromeliad (like the one I got from Bryn :o) The little tree I bought on the spot, the mint was a good deal, the gardenia I haggled for though probably still paid a little more than I could have gotten it for, and the bromeliad was a steal, even if it does need some work (Bryn, this 'little' plant has about seven sprouts all crammed into one small pot. They need some love, but I basically just got seven plants for less than three dollars. Although, roommates, I'm fearing spider mites, so it's going to stay by itself for a while.) On the whole, it was a pretty good day. We topped the trip off with some chicken and veggies in Thai peanut sauce for dinner. Mmmm...

Tonight we'll hopefully get a chance to go to the park across the street from us. Etisalat, the big cell phone company here, is having a bit of a festival there. All week we've been watching them set up a miniture amusement park (think state fair), so now I want to go and ride the ferris wheel. I imagine it's a great view from the top. I just have to rememer my camera!! I keep forgetting it at home, and it does me absolutely no good there. Anyway...

Tomorrow we've been invited to go to a large outlet mall with Michele and Katrien from school. It will be another adventure on the bus. I guess I haven't written about my bus adventures, have I? Dad, think Hawaii--it all depends on what side of the street you're standing on. And trying to get a map of the bus routes for Sharjah? They don't exist. You pretty much just have to try and figure things out, and hope that 1. you know where you are and 2.you can understand the operator's English if you call the RTA information number. Even then, you still have to be standing on the right side of the street. Or you wait... ... ....................... and wait. And realize the bus you need is never going to come.

Oh, I've made a few more new friends too. Billal and his sister Nilah live at the opposite end of our floor, with their three other sisters one brother and one brother-in-law. They also have a two-bedroom apartment. Crazy. But, they seem nice enough. They're Pakistani, though Billal was raised in Saudi Arabia. Fortunately his accent is really good, so it's pretty easy to understand him. We met because it was his birthday a few days ago, and I'm American. Interesting, huh? I'd noticed him once before as Farah and I were getting into the elevator, and the other evening we happened to be going up at the same time--though I was taking the stairs and he was taking the elevator. We reached our floor at the same time, and after both of us took several steps in our respective directions, he stopped and called after me. He and a bunch of friends were going out to a disco to celebrate, and he invited me to go with. Unfortunately it was a Saturday night, which meant I had to teach in the morning, but he said I should feel free to stop over any time. One of his sisters studied (I think) in Britain and loves anyone/anything British or American (I count that as half of the "American" explanation). He also had noticed me the first time I saw him, and told his sister "Yes, there's an American living in the building. She's young and she's beautiful and she's lives on our floor." (There's the other half of the explanation). But, he genuinely seems like a nice guy (and for all of you who are wondering, yes, he's pretty attractive himself. But no, I'm not going to fall in love and move back to Pakistan with him).

Being seen so differently here is something I'm still getting used to. Nilah told me straight to my face how gorgeous I am and how attractive and yada yada yada. She just wanted to stare at my eyes--I mean, she actually asked me to open them wider so she could see them better while she stared at me. I think it's very well meaning, but it's so strange to me. The best comparison I could make for myself was thinking about the Afgan girl that was on the cover of National Geographic a while ago--the very famous picture. She's a fairly dark skinned, dark haired girl, but she has these strikingly bright eyes. Or like an Asian with bright blue eyes, like on the cover of Memoirs of a Geisha. It's just so different to what you're used to seeing that it's beautiful to you. At home, I feel decently attractive when I try to. But here, I still turn heads when my greasy hair is a mess and I'm in an old t-shirt and mismatched capris. Here, my non-descript lightish-brownish hair and greyish-blueish eyes are transformed into stand-out blonde and blue. It's just odd.

So, after coving about as many different topics in this post as I did streets last night, I think I will take my leave. Hopefully I will be getting internet in my apartment before too long, which will make for more regular, and less lengthy, posts and general communication.

Take care,
~Nikki

PS. I've noticed that much of my posts are written in "asides" (or whatever you care to call them, but by which I mean these comments in parentheses). What does that say about me?

Forms of C

This post is brought to you by various forms of C. Since there are many forms, this is going to be a long post. So strap yourself in.

C, of course, can be a letter. As in the first letter of the work Cooking. Farah and I have been doing a lot of cooking--and loving it. So far I've made lasagna, sugar Cookies, and Cassava Cake (Cassava is also known as tapioca. That happened when I accidentally bought fresh tapioca root while trying for a yam/sweet potatoe. You grate it until it's like raw mashed potatoes, add coconut milk and sugar, then bake it. It's sort of rubbery-spongy. Weird, but not bad.) Farah made Lebanese the other night: Babaganoosh (I have no idea how to spell it), which is mashed roased eggplant with tahina sauce. You eat it with pita-ish bread. Not bad. And she made taboulleh, which has over nine different veggies and herbs in it. Apparently it's pretty strong on the digestive system--it gave me a stomach ache. But it wasn't too bad either.

C is also the first letter in Confidence. My confidence level is most definitely higher now than when I arrived two weeks ago. Living in a large city, where I am most definitely the minority, with a language I don't understand, and a transit system that is a little tricky--I'm managing pretty well. It feels good. I'm a very self-conscious person, but I feel that diminishing, and it makes me really happy.

C is also the sound of the Spanish word si (instert accent symbol over the i). Si, which means 'yes', is something I'm learning I don't have to say. I can say no. Those sales-people who pester you, who suck you in a trap you... I can look at them and say no thanks, without ever walking into the store. That's a new thing for me too, which I think goes hand in hand with my increase in confidence.

Curious. I orginally started this post nearly a year ago, and I forgot what I was going to write about "curious".

C also make me think of the sea of faces here. So many people to walk past, to see without ever really seeing. So many lost people who all cling to something that resonates falsely with me.


And then there's the vitamin. I've had plenty of that, and will be taking plenty more now that it's September 2009 and there is a flu on the loose that people here are very concerned about.


I finally finished this post (and got rid of other old drafts I chose not to publish).


See you later.

Day By Day: or Pancakes and Palm Trees

Day by day, my class is getting better. I had several phone calls today (which I fortunately didn't have to make personally. It's difficult communicating with many of the native Arabic speakers), but despite that, I am encouraged. My children are far from angels, but they are getting there. I don't feel like ripping my hair out at the end of the day.

As for other recent days: I went out with a few of the other teachers this weekend. Michele, from South Africa, lives with Katrien, who is from Belgium. We met up with two other teachers--Karen, who is from Canada (actually she's probably 3-4 hours from Grand Marais), as well as an Irish teacher who works at the Jumiera branch (I work at the Mamzar branch). A number of places have Ladies Night on the weekends, so we had a couple of free drinks. Afterwards, I crashed at Michele and Katrien's place. It wasn't my ideal way to spend a Thursday night--I was absolutely exhaused and I can't stand music that makes my eardrums feel like they're going to rupture--but it was a nice ice-breaker just to hang out beyond the confines of school, and to be invited over.

When I returned home on Friday, Michele and Katrien came with me so they could go shopping (there is a store not far from my apartment that everyone loves. It's called the Gift Market. Everything is 2-5 dirhams. Since the convertion rate is 3.67 dirhams to the dollar, it's a really great store). While they were at our apartment beforehand, Farah decided we should make pancakes before we left. As I began, I found out that pancakes are in fact called crumpets in South Africa, and that what they call a pancake, I call a crepe. Michelle had never had a fresh American pancake before--aparently they are sold pre-made and then eaten with jam or reheated, and Katrien had never had one at all. After that fun discussion, we decided that we need to start having cultural meals. So, on weekends, we're going to take turns traipsing cross-emirates to make food that is rather distinctive of our respective homeland (though I get to start early. I made lasagna the other night, so Farah is making Lebanese food this evening).

As for palm trees. Last night Farah's brother Sami, along with two other friends they know from Lebanon, came and picked Farah and I up. We were supposed to go to the beach near our school, but Sharjah traffic was so atrocious that we didn't make it before it got dark. So, instead, we went to a really nice mall in Jumiera, where we had some dinner at the food court. They may have some of the same restaurants, but the food is still a little different. My Hawaiian pizza from Pizza Hut just wasn't the same with hamburger instead of ham or Canadian bacon, and don't expect potatoes and gravy or a biscut from KFC. You get coleslaw and a roll. Anyway, after we ate, the guys drove out to the Jumiera Palm Island, where the new hotel Atlantis just opened up (apparently the fireworks from the opening celebration could be seen from space). Inside they have one of the most amazing aquariums that I've ever seen, rivaled only by the underwater adventure thing at Mall of America. This tank was massive. It had to be at least 30 feet deep. Inside they had created ruins to look like Atlantis. They even had sort of an Atlantian-looking vehicle 'crashed' on the bottom (think the Disney movie Atlantis). And the fish. Oh, the fish. There wasn't a lot of color, but the ones they had were fantastic. At least four different kinds of sting rays, including leopard rays and eagle rays, a very odd-looking shark that was really pale yellow with muted black spots, tuna, big blue fish with yellow stripes, barracudas, and to top it all off, they had a 15 foot whale shark. A whale shark. I have never known an aquarium to have a whale shark before (let alone adequate space for one). I could have stood there for hours watching. They actually had one wall that was nearly as tall as the tank was deep, and probably 50 feet wide. The glass was so thick. If you stood at the right angle, you could see a seam in one spot to get some idea of how incredibly thick it was, but they really did a fantastic job with it. Unless you were looking for it, you couldn't even see the seam.

So, for my first real weekend, it was really good. Very productive too. I brought half my classroom home with me, and went through and organized a ton of stuff. Today I finally felt like I wasn't a chicken with my head cut off. Now we just have one more week of school, and then two weeks of vacation. Hurray!

PS. My internet time was pretty limited last week--that's a whole other story (mumble mumble stupid taxi companies and waiting for over an hour and a half mumble mumble). I know I have a number of unanswered emails, phone calls to make, etc. I'm working on it! But in the meantime, thank you so much to everyone who's said hello. Even if I've been rather silent, it's really nice to hear from familiar people. Life feels a lot less lonely. :o)

~Nikki

Grace and Happy Dance

Today I am doing a happy dance. In my first two periods, I managed to get the spelling test administered, AND we even read the story from the Language Book. Last week, in three periods, we barely got the spelling test administed and books arranged.

Not only that, But! The end of the day is the part that makes me want to tear my hair out. It is absolute chaos--my kids take forever to get packed up, they leave their homework, parents come in the door early, and my kids are running all over the place like it's a mad house. By the time the last ones are out of the door, my voice is hoarse and I have to sprint to make it to the van that takes me home (I'm not joking. Yesterday, I literally had to take my heels off while I ran around, then grab them and jump on the van) But today, MY KIDS WERE READY EARLY!!!!!

I also sent a note home to parents yesterday, which was very well recieved by everyone who spoke to me, and I have noticed a difference already (end of the day was something I talked about in my letter. :o)

God's grace abounds, and I am happy. Now I've got to go clean up my classroom and get out of here (we made fruit salad today as one of their classes. I asked each child to bring in one piece of fruit. I have about six bags of left-over fruit, after what we cut up. I'm not exaggerating.)

As a good friend likes to say,

Cheers
~Nikki

Nikki No More

Except among a select number of people that I met in the very beginning, I have ceased to be Nikki. Apparently there is a word in (local) Arabic that sounds like my name and which has a dirty connotation. According to my classroom Arabic teacher, it means "A woman and she is ready for a man to come and mmm hmm mmm hmmm mmm hmmm, you know?" I only wish that you could see this woman and the hand motions that went with it. It took everything I had not to completely crack up in front of her. Fortunately, while I think that "Mama" Ms. Amna has quite laughable mannerisms, she has her own sense of humor as well. We get along.

So, I am now Nicole, Miss Nicole, or as Ms. Amna suggested, Miss Cucu (spell it however you wish, though I've decided to shy away from Cuckoo). But to you who are reading, I remain

~Nikki

Other Firsts and Seconds

I have had some other fun firsts and seconds while I've been here. This is my second time really living far from home, and of course it's my first time in another country, but so far it has been really good. God blessed me with friends almost before I had my feet on the ground here. My roommate Farah has been wonderful, and on my bus ride to school the first day I was greeted by Michele and Katrien, who I had emailed before I accepted the job. Let me just say how much that eased my culture shock. Life isn't nearly so bad when someone immediately takes you in and shows you the ropes.

So, here is a list of firsts and seconds.

Farah and I were shopping the other day, and Farah bought a toaster. She has never had toast from a toaster before. Apparently home appliances are insanely expensive in Lebanon ($100 for a toaster, $1000 for a microwave). So, when we got home, I sliced up a roll that I had and made her very first piece of toast for her. She liked it, and yesterday bought a loaf of bread so she can make more. On top of that, we had pancakes this morning, which is only the second time Farah has ever had them.

I was also invited out for the first time by Michele and another teacher that I met right away--Karen. Karen is another grade 2 teacher (Michele is actually a grade 1 teacher) who is from Canada--actually only 3-4 hours from Grand Marais. I didn't end up going out with them because I was so tired, but instead, Farah and I went out later, which was another first.

Farah's older brother lives in Dubai, and last weekend he invited her to a barbaque with some friends. This weekend, Farah was invited again (though her brother wasn't there, so I didn't get to meet him), so I got to go as well. We were supposed to get picked up at midnight. Both of us fell asleep, but the phone rang around 1:30, and we dragged ourselves outside to the waiting car. I am so happy that we did. We drove to one of the nearby lagoons and had a picnic with a Morroccan girl and her husband, and a Pakastani woman and her sons. The lagoon had a sand beach, but there is also a small retaining wall and a grass strip that runs the whole length of the beach--this is where we were camped out. Apparently it's the thing to do, because there were a number of other families there for a while as well.

Everyone talked in Arabic for nearly the entire time, but I enjoyed it so much. As soon as we got there we were greeted by the youngest son, who was about six. A greeting is a handshake with three kisses on the side of the face, changing sides with each kiss. It was so cute. He went to sleep in a little tent before too long, while the adults stayed up. First we ate, which was a baguette with labneh (something between yogurt and cream cheese) and marinated olives--I skipped the olives, corn, and orange pop. After we ate, I had my first shisha (also known as hooka), which was grape flavored and also a lot of fun. Mixed in there was some really good tea (shai, in Arabic), and chicken curry flavored Ramen, though I was full and passed on that. The fact that I couldn't understand anything didn't matter. Farah translated sometimes, and once in a while they would speak in English to me. But the atmosphere was so fun and relaxing. It was really great.

I also have to add that Farah and I found a live starfish crawling around in the water. That was pretty cool too.

So, God is good and I am blessed. For being here only about three days, it has been great. I've already made some really nice friends, and had some neat experiences. I look forward to what the next few weeks will bring.

First and Second Day of School

It's currently Friday, which is the holy day here, so my first teaching days are over and I have two to relax (though I slept until nearly 4:00 this afternoon--it's now 5:30. But that's another story). My first day was God-sent. My second day was straight from Satan.

At 5:10 am on Wednesday, my roomate and I boarded the school van that picks up the teachers who live in Sharjah and made the hour long trip to school. We're about the middle stop, which means the first teacher probably gets then began the meet-and-greet as well as the intake of an avalanche of information. Fortunately me, I had emailed a few times with one of the other new teachers at the school, Michele. She was half the reason my first day was bearable. The other half was due to the fact that I only had to teach two periods--the first and the last.

The school is divided into English and Arabic classes, with the English teacher being responsible for 21 periods a week, teaching English, math, and science (there are 7 periods a day, which puts the total number at 35). The children have Arabic and Islamic each day, and scattered throughout the rest of the week are subjects like library (English and Arabic, sort of), PE, "music" (which really means chaotic indoor activities since there is no music teacher), and art. The schedule is different each day of the week, but it doesn't change from week to week (meaning every Monday is the same, every Tuesday, etc). So, Wednesday was the perfect day for me to begin.

My students have been without a teacher for the past month. The teacher that began the year had some issues and I guess wasn't really cut out for the job, so she was let go after about a month. The next teacher they hired left after two days because she was informed that being the English teacher meant she had to teach in English, not Arabic. Apparently that didn't sit so well with her. So, my kids--known as the "clever class" of the grade, have been taught by all of the other grade two teachers during the teachers' free periods. There is no classroom organization, no structure, and I have 26 eight year olds who are bored, smart, and therefore dangerous.

Fortunately, as I said, my first day I only had to teach two periods. Michele--who is a petite South African native with a Brittish sounding accent (she's white though)--helped me get settled in before class started, and then showed me around and introduced me to a number of the other grade two teachers during our free periods (she only had to teach two as well). The other teachers were wonderful as well, and everyone is so grateful that I'm here. All day people would come up to me and tell me how happy they were to see me, how long they have been waiting for me, and say things like"Please! Don't leave! Please, please! Don't leave!" I'm dead serious about that too.

So, the people were absolutely wonderful my first day, and getting settled and familiarized with the school went well enough. My kids were difficult--I kicked five of them out of class during my last period (which I was subsequently told I wasn't allowed to do), but more or less what I expected. By the end of day one I was still standing, hadn't cried, and wasn't getting online to book my ticket home.

Day two, on the other hand, was a different story. I had three periods in the morning, and one in the afternoon. In the first three periods, which are each 50 minutes long, all that I managed to accomplish was to get their spelling tests administered, have them pull their books out of their cubbies, and then get most of their books put back in a different order. And even then they missed half of their time to eat at lunch. The most frequent comments that I hear in my classroom are "Miss! Miss!" and some variation on "He bit me! She hit me! He beat me! She took this! He stole that! He beat me in my stomach!" And of course more "Miss! Miss!" They all need to go to the toilet too. All the time. (It's the toilet, not the bathroom). My last period, I got the books handed out that they needed to take home, and that was about it. I literally had students jumping around the class and howling like a monkey, playing tag, attacking other students, and just wandering aimlessly. The moment you give attention to one problem, five other students create new problems. I have three to five boys who are constantly out of their seats attacking other children/fighting with each other. It's great fun.

We also had "music" during the middle of the day, during which time I was supposed to supervise indoor board games for the boys while another teacher made jewelry with the girls. However, the other teacher had another class during that time. So, one of the school nanies came in to supervise the jewelry table while I ran the rest of the cageless zoo.

At the end of the day, I am supposed to make sure that the children go home with the right parent/nanny. There isn't a school bus, so each child is picked up. Half of my class was going crazy, while the other half was making a mad rush at the door. I would open it up far enough to ask the parent which child they wanted, then close it again and try to find that child above the uproar. One of the father's asked me how it was going, and in my wearied state of mind I made the mistake of telling him the truth. "It's awful." "Really?" "Uh... yeah, but it'll get better soon..." He was still very happy to have me there. Whew.

After getting nearly all of my kids out the door, making one girl cry, and wanting to cry myself, I nearly did. Half the reason was because of frustration, while the other half was because as I was sending a child out the door, one of my kids and her mother walked up to me, and handed me some flowers. Now, when I say flowers, what I mean is 27 red roses arranged into a spray that was probably two and a half feet long and nearly a foot and a half wide. They were a gift to welcome me to Dubai.

So, my first and second day are over. They were great, they were awful, but they are over. And now I have my work cut out for me. Fortunately, I know what needs to be done and how to do it. I feel like the teacher I was trained to be, and I'm glad for it. The next week is going to be extremely rough, but slowly and surely I'll organize and structure and train, and my zoo will turn back into a classroom.

Maps

As a quick addition to my last post, here are directions to view my school and my apartment (hopefully they will work).

Use google maps to look up Dubai. Zoom in and there are four lagoons to the north. On the edge of the first lagoon is Al Mamzer (not the park). If you keep zooming in, you will see Al Ittihad School--that's where I teach. I suggest trying the sattellite view as well.

Also, if you move up the coast a bit you will see the Khaled Lagoon. Al Majaz Park is right there, as is the Sharjah City Center. My apartment is between them, on 42nd Street.

So, now you know.

Safely Arrived

Hello from DUBAI!

Correction. I actually live in the emirate of Sharjah (SHAR-zha), which borders Dubai on the North (my school was practically built on the border of the two). But! My flight went well and last night/very early this morning I was picked up from the airport and taken to my apartment where we had to wake up my poor new roommate (who thought I was arriving at 12:00 noon, rather than 12:00 midnight...as did my ride...who also got woken up in the middle of the night...)

Wow. There is so much I could say. I haven't seen much of the area yet since I arrived when it was dark and spent a good portion of the day sleeping. But so far so good. My apartment, which is on the 2nd floor of a 20 story building, is interesting--I have my own room, which is quiet large, though rather bland and empty. I also have my own bathroom, which is also very bland, but is large enough. Although I do have to say that by "furnished" what they really meant is that there are enough of the bare necessities to survive on. I quickly realized today that my shower doesn't even have a curtain. That'll be pretty high on the list of items to pick up. Hopefully, before too long, I'll have a video of my apartment to post (though I still haven't been able to get my last video to work). If not, I'll try to at least manage pictures. It seems as an internet cafe will be my source of contact, so we'll see.

In other news, I start teaching tomorrow. Fortunately I'll be over the jet lag soon enough; since I had about three days that were completely out of wack, I think my body will adjust quickly as soon I actually let it get some rest. And, since Friday is the holy day here, I'll get introduced and started tomorrow, and then have two days off, which is both good and bad. I won't really get to know my students, but I'll have time to get more settled and adjusted, which I'm looking forward too. Plus, I have two weeks off coming up at the beginning of December! Gee darn.

A little more about my roommate. Farah (I'll have to check on the spelling) is from Lebanon, and will be 22 in a couple of weeks, so we're just about the same age. She has been such a sweetheart and a huge help to me. And since she's from Lebanon, she speaks Arabic, which makes me so glad. One, she can read everything that I can't. And two, since I want to learn Arabic, I have someone to help teach me and to practice with. Sweet! She's also very gorgeous, in my opinion, but fun-loving and adventurous. We're already talking about going camping, and maybe doing a desert dune-buggy safari.

Those are pretty much the basics, but if you have time to keep reading, here's a little insight about my first in-country wave of culture shock. The view from outside our apartment is a big dirt parking lot with a main street on either side. On the left is a nice park, and on the left is a mid-sized (very small for here) mall. I was looking for an internet cafe earlier, and just wanted to explore a bit, so I took a walk that ended up at the mall. I wandered around for a bit, just to see what there is to see. I found a McDonald's, Hardee's, Pizza Hut (re-opening soon), Subway, Baskin Robbins, Dunkind Donuts, and even a Krispy Kreme, though most of the menus look a little different than they do here. I also found a grocery store, so I decided to pick up some food.

The fortunate thing about living here is that everyone speaks English along with Arabic, so I can pretty much read the labels/signs for everything. That does not mean, however, than anything I can read will be familiar. You know that feeling of standing out like a sore thumb? Yep, that was definitely me. It is a little challenging to find the basics when your version of the basics is different from everyone else around you. Take milk and cereal. The milk just says "Fresh Milk" on it. There is 2% or 1%. I think they have 'full cream' and 'skimmed'. I went for one that said 'low fat' in small letters on the bottom, hoping it'll be ok. It seems that powdered is more common--my roommate said that in Lebanon it's either powdered or straight from the cow. So, that was interesting. And then there's cereal, or probably better to say lack of cereal. I saw variations on corn flakes (frosted flakes, corn flakes with chocolate or fruit), variations on chocolate cereal, some granola-y type stuff, and a few boxes of something similar to sugar smacks or pops. That was pretty much it. I think I grabbed the 'snow flakes'. And when I checked out, I learned that you need to have your fresh fruit pre-weighed and tagged by a person at the weigh station. Oops. Basically, it was an adventure.

Ok, there is more still that I could recount, but this post is getting long enough, and with everyone online that I'm currently trying to talk to, it has consequently taken long enough to write.

I hope you all are well and that I'll get my phone situation figured out soon enough (there isn't one in my apartment as I'd been anticipating. Bummer.) Until then, thanks so much for your prayers, emails, and messages. They are hugely appreciated.

~Nikki

PS. If you're new to blogs, below each entry is a button that says "comments", in case you're interested in leaving me one.

D-Day

Departure day has nearly arrived. My bags sit waiting by the front door, with only a few carry-on items to sort out. My boxes are safely stowed downstairs, and I'm about to get ready for the last night I'll be spending at home for a while. For the most part I've been doing pretty well, though there was a moment today when the reality of it all really hit me, and I shed a few tears for the first time.

Several people have asked, and besides that, it would be a great comfort to me if you would pray for the following things. First is of course safe travel, including making my flights and connections. Also, I am sincerly hoping that nothing is confiscated when I reach Dubai--I have my Bible and several other personal books that are Christian in nature. Along a similar line, I don't know if there will be any reprecussions, or if I will be able to continue to post on this blog if I write about my faith. A friend of mine from college grew up in the UAE and she told me it was best to avoid any discussions involving Christianity when I contact her parents via email. I guess I'll have to see how that goes. I know that culture shock is inevitable, so please pray that I will deal with it well.

Lastly, I ask for your prayers for my family. I have been assured that, even though communication/contact will be very similar to being at school in Pennsylvania, having a child half way around the world is not even remotely the same feeling as them being far away but still in the country. This will be quite the transition for all of us.

I guess that's all for tonight. Lord willing, my next post will be from the other side of the globe.

PS. If you're family, and you didn't find out that I was moving until after I'm gone, I sincerely apologize. I tried...

Moving To Dubai

Since I've finally started to give this blog address out to people, I decided it might be a good idea to put up a little more info about my move across the ocean.

This coming Sunday, November 9th, I will be moving to Dubai, which is one of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is a Muslim country, located in the Middle East, though it is also extremely modern and very Western as well. From my understanding, many of the Muslim women still cover their heads and wear the traditional black robe, and many of the men still wear the traditional dress as well. I will not be expected to do so, though modesty is very important.

I will be teaching second grade in a private school called Al Ittihad, which is located in Mamzer. Interestingly, I haven't been able to find Mamzer on a map, though there is a huge park called Al Mamzer (sometimes spelled Al Mamzar). I guess I'll have to update more on that after I get there. As for the school itself--it is a school for Arab children whose parents want them to have an American curriculum. I get to teach entirely in English, using an American curriculum and set of text books. Teaching them to speak English will not be the main focus of my day. I'm pretty happy about that.

I'm also happy about the fact that the school provides my housing and health care free of cost. Several people have asked me if this is a paid job, and the answer is yes. Hopefully, Lord willing, I will have a good chunk of my loans paid off by the time my contract ends in 2010. (Wow it's weird to write that. 2010...)

I have so many thoughts right now about moving to a Muslim country. When I accepted the position, I didn't think that Islam was very widely practiced. Only about 18% of the population are actually citizens--the rest are ex-patriots. Then I learned that most of the expats are from Iran, and that the country is still very Islamic. It made me really nervous at first, especially since part of my contract talks about not discussing my religion, etc. But when I stopped to think about it, I started to get really excited. I may not agree with Islam, but I am moving to a country where people take their faith so seriously that five times a day they stop whatever they are doing to get down on their knees to pray. Could you imagine what the US could be like if Christians across the nation knelt in prayer together even once a day? What a difference! I cannot even imagine how much God is going to challenge and stretch me by this experience. What radical changes does He have in store for me? I'm sure that there is as much 'going through the motions' as their is true committment, but I'm still intrigued by a country where church and state aren't separated.

Well, I'm off to bed. With a large amount of luck, I'll just about finish my packing tomorrow. But as a parting note, I suppose it would be a good thing to put my email address out for those who want it and don't have it. If you are someone I know more "professionally", I would probably give you n.neitzke@gmail.com, but the one I use for personal emails is sweetpickle05@gmail.com (That is zero five at the end, not the letter o). Feel free to email me, but I do try to warn everyone up front that keeping in touch is unfortunately not one of my strengths. Speaking of which, I think right now is probably a good time for me to answer an email from 6 months ago... Sorry Mr. O. :o)

Boxes and Bags

Yesterday was the last night I worked at the Coho Cafe, and I'm glad for that. I realized that I definitely got a college education for a reason--working in a restaurant isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life, or even much longer for that matter. So, now I'm into the bulk of my packing. Fortunately I've been able to get a good amount done over the past week, but there is still much to do. The "big" stuff was the easy part--going through college stuff, apartment appliances etc, and even my clothing wasn't awful. It's all of the random odds and ends that are hard. It seems like you're finally getting close to the end, and then rollerblades pop up, or a bag that you forgot about, and what do you do with all of those dolls you collected when you were younger, or that bike you don't ride anymore but your parents don't want? Those are the kinds of things that are making this process seem arduous. But, hopefully over the next two days or so everything will find it's way to where it belongs, and I will have a plane ticket in my hand and some kind of plan in my head (and on paper) for what I need to wrap up state-side and for what I need to get done as soon as I get to Dubai.

Catching Up

Wow. So much has happened since my last post. There were so many things I wanted to write about that I just never got around to, and a couple of posts I tried to put up where pictures didn't want to cooperate and then the internet crashed. So! Here is a whirlwind update.

I just spent two weeks in Hawaii with my dad on a double-graduation trip. It was fantastic. We spent a couple of days in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, then we went to Hilo on the Big Island, and ended our tip in Kihei on Maui. We climbed a few old volcanoes--watched the sun rise over one of them, visited Pearl Harbor, toured the Dole pineapple plantation, climbed in massive Indian Banyan trees, went snorkeling and scuba diving, and I even took a surf lesson. Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted before too long.

The other MASSIVE update is that while we were in Hawaii, I got a job off for a teaching position in the United Arab Emirates. I will be moving to the emirate of Dubai in about a week and half where I will be working at an elementary school for Arab children whose parents want them to have an American education. There is so much to say about this that I don't even know where to start. Unfortunately, as the case has been for the last couple of months, my internet time is limited and hard to find. So, for now I sign off. If you're reading this, you probably already know the details anyway. Hopefully I will keep up with posting a little more frequently and with some pictures after I move overseas.

Thanks for reading,
~Nikki

Moving On

This month brought many unexpected turns, two of them begin particularly large. The first is that I now have a job at the Coho Cafe in Tofte, MN, where I work the counter, waitress, and act as a prep cook and pizza cook. The second abrupt and unexpected change in my life is that I no longer live at home. I moved out and into a three bedroom apartment that is leased by the cook at Coho--Patty. I share the spacious arrangements with Patty and her two cats--Gizmo and Tala--and until Sunday, with a Bulgarian student named Atanas (or Nas, for short).

I love my apartment. It has a big kitchen and a deck on the back that overlooks woods and Lake Superior, not to mention it gets wonderful morning sun. My bedroom is a good size, has a queen size bed, and two windows. One window has a lake view through the trees while I am sitting in bed, and it just so happens that at this time of year that is the precise spot where the sun rises. It is amazingly beautiful. So, that window gets the morning sun, while my other window gets the afternoon sun. My plants are thrilled. Speaking of which, I have many pictures I've been wanting to post. My avacado tree has taken off--it's huge!

So, for now I sit tight, at least until the end of October. At that point, I will hit the job search with full-force again. I am determined to be out of Tofte before the end of the year, though I don't yet know where I'll go or what I'll do. Just somewhere else and something else. The job is ok and the apartment is great, but I know I will soon be lonely, and I believe there are greater things waiting for me.

Hopefully my next post will be full of pictures (I tried once before and it went terribly...) I have been up to some fun and interesting things, and I'm curious to know how a collage-blog post will look.

A New Map of the World

Life post-college hasn't exactly turned out the way I thought it would. Not even a little bit. Every job opportunity that I have pursued has either fallen through, or not worked out. Call me over-confident (or other names), but I thought I wanted to teach in an area where schools were desperate for teachers--where I would have no need for a 'portfolio' and no problem securing a job. I was wrong.

Mission Status:
Japan - failed
South Korea - failed
Texas - failed
Alaska - aborted
Minnesota - failed

Now it is September, and I am beginning a job as a waitress. Which is fine. Just not what I had planned. However, an unexpected twist suddenly appeared in my path. His name was Moody. He is a car salesman.

Due to a story involving that car salesman that is too laborious to recount, I am now looking at jobs in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I told this to my grandmother today, to which she promptly replied, "I thought you wanted to go to Africa." I do, but I have student loans to pay off first. I can make a ton of money in Dubai.

And yet, as I sit here just now, an interesting realizaiton is coming to me. The UAE is actually part of Africa, and not the Middle East. So I wonder if God is about to completely rearrange my conceptual map of the world, and my life.

A Little Less

Sometimes I wish I could just be one of 'those girls.' That I could just date a guy for the fun of it; get the phone number of that cute border patrol guy who was checking me out earlier today; not care about the long-term consequences. Sometimes I wish my standards were a little less.

But then I remember that I really don't.

Dragon Boat '08

Another Dragon Boat Festival has come and gone--my mother's work as director is done. This festival was more enjoyable than ones past, in some ways. My older sister Leslie and my two nephews were here for the week prior. It was nice.

It is a great and wonderful thing for me to be able to enjoy my sister's company so much. Our growing up years were not exactly what I would be described as joyful. But I very much appreciate the woman that she has become, the wonderful mother that she is to her boys, and the fact that she is now my friend.

Here are some pictures from the weekend, and even my first video.

This is Leslie and her boys flying one of our kites down by the lake.

This is Gabriel (Gabe).

And this is Jonathon (JJ).

Can you guess what color the gum balls were that I bought for them?

Grandpa and Gabriel.

Lake Superior beach stones.

And finally, my video. I hope the quality is ok, and that you find this as entertaining as I do (not that I'm biased).

Lack of Waiting Room

I had my first interview for a teaching position yesterday. It went pretty well and I was called back for a second interview at 9:00 this morning. They said the board would vote today and I would hear back this afternoon. They just called a few minutes ago... They need another day to decide.

Unfortunately my life doesn't have a lot of room for waiting right now. I know that God has a plan and his timing is what matters, but I'm just really tired of so many things balancing on the unknown. I can't make a move today until I know about tomorrow, which is really hard. Japan fell through, and I haven't heard anything from South Korea--I should have heard from them over a week ago. My two main alternatives right now are Texas and Alaska, and for all of the schools I'm looking at I'd need to be there August 18th or earlier, which is only two days after Rachel's wedding. So, I don't know if I can drive or if I need to fly to/from Pennsylvania. With plans to leave on Thursday, it would be really good to know. Right now, it would just be really nice to know something.

$5 Surgery

The other day I gave my little sister $5 with absolutely no intention of reminding her that she said she'd pay me back. It was really great. Unfortunately in the ever tight-budget college years when every dollar and quarter was precious, life was nearly all dollar for dollar. Money was one of those issues that could easily turn sour. Someone forgetting about that tank of gas they owed you easily became a sore spot by the end of the semester. And now, when my job prospects have fallen though and I once again hang in limbo as the time to begin repaying my mountain of debt grows ever closer, for some reason money is both more and less important than it used to be. It feels good to give some money away and not worry about getting it back.

10 Mg

It is a wonder to me what 10 milligrams can do for a person, for a family. In an age where we are more and more encouraged to return to nature and to shun the evils of modern medicine, I find myself being reminded of all the good that scientific research has done. Now, I will be among the first to say let's take the responsibility of changing our diets and our life-styles before popping a pill. However, I think that we, I, sometimes come very close to rejecting the good because of idealistic dreams and pursuits of the better. When I am able to get through the day without making 20 mad-dashes to the bathroom, hoping I'll get to the tissue before an impending sneeze explodes all over me, is that such a bad thing? What a wonderful difference in my life from just a daily allergy medicine, from 10 mg of Loratadine. Take the weight of a paperclip, divide that into a thousand pieces, and then take just ten of those. Only 10 mg. And, because someone I love is now taking 10 mg of Prozac, I am suddenly able to have a relationship I wasn't sure was possible. It's wonderful.

I am reminded of the high horse I too often ride upon. What else could be so much better with just a little more than there is now?

A New-found Appreciation

I am working on my Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) class right now and for one excercise I have to come up with definitions/examples of words. Right now I'm working on the word 'library', thinking of different ways to describe it in simple terms. One such way was to say that most towns have a library. Then I started to think about where I live. Thankfully there is a small library here in my town, however, I have been coming to the realization that, aside from the school, it is the only library in my county. Granted, there are only about 5000 people living year-round in this county, but it makes me grateful that I live less than ten minutes away, while others have to travel more than an hour.

Short Again

I guess I should also add that I but my hair off last Thursday. I've been debating back and forth for a long time, changing my resolve every month or so. Finally, the decision felt made for me. The room I'm staying in right now is above the garage, and gets amazingly warm. It was too hot to sleep the other night, even with the fans on me, so I jumped in the shower really quickly just to get wet. I put my hair up in a bun right afterwards, which resulted in an instant headache from the weight (we're talking a couple of pounds here). I decided then and there that the hair was going. I took off over 12 inches, but I'm happy. It's off my back, and now I'll be able to just throw on my motorcycle helmet and go--no more worrying about braiding or suffering the consequences.

License to Ride

I successfully completed a 14 motorcycle course this weekend. It was wonderful. We spent four hours in a classroom on Friday night, followed by five hours on bikes both Saturday and Sunday. The instructors were wonderful, and I can honestly say that I will feel so much better on my own bike after this. If anyone ever considers getting a motorcycle--take the safety course. They provide the bikes, and can teach you even if you've never sat on a motorcycle before in your life. The class was only ten people, and they started with the absolute basics, then worked up to more difficult skills. Aside from a ridiculous sunglasses-shaped sunburn that I now have, it was a great weekend.

As a sidenote, the helmets that my dad and I bought online ended up being back-ordered, so we had to borrow helmets. I'll have to include a picture of my "gremlin" helmet.

Committment

Today I donned my new biking shoes for the second time, locked them in to my new clips, and rode down to meet my dad at the end of his work day. As soon as the weather gets nice, my father puts away his truck keys and gets out his bike. So, when gumption strikes me, I pedal down there to meet him and we ride home together.

The trip down is rather exhilarating on the whole. It starts off ordinarily enough; I leave the driveway and roll down the dirt road to the main thoroughfare--the Gunflint Trail, which is a 50 mile road that dead-ends at a Canadian Lake. Then I take a right and head down a short stretch to the big curve that veers left. From there, it's a short upward pedal to the top of a small rise. Once I crest that rise, the pedaling is done for about the next 5 minutes. As soon as I edge over that small summit, it is two miles of winding and curving down the side of a very old mountain ridge.

The ride down is amazingly beautiful. On the right, the ridge climbs higher as I speed downward, its slope covered in green aspen leaves that quake in the wind. On the left I can see the lake, and the endless sky stretching above it. I love Lake Superior. It is so vast that you can't see the other side, and some days, the water and the sky are the same color so that you really cannot tell where one ends and the other begins. The lake is beautiful and terrible, enchanting and haunting all at the same time. It reminds me of God. The water is peaceful and comforting, and so necessary to life. But it is also untamable, and not to be taken for granted. No matter how man tries, he will ultimately find that he is at the mercy of the lake, and not the other way around. When I look out over that lake, I am reminded of how truly small I am.

As the ridge seams with town, I take a sharp right and head away from the lake a bit. Another ten minutes and I've reached the US Forest Service building. I chit chat with the ladies at the front desk--they're eager to catch up on my life--and finally stroll back to my dad's office. He's not expecting me, and that makes the ride home all the nicer. He finishes up his work, and in another 15 or 20 minutes, we head back out the door.

The first few minutes of the ride are flat enough, but as we begin our ascent, I am thankful for the quick puffs I took from my dad's inhaler before we left the office. We zig-zag our way through town, riding one block up, then two blocks right, another two blocks up, then another right... until finally we intersect the Gunflint Trail again. It is now that the real battle begins. It is now, as we tackle the first and steepest part of the climb, that I am made painfully aware of how out-of-shape I really am. My lungs start to burn as they begin their rhythmic heaving; my legs commence their protesting as I rise up into the standing position to get more power. Only a little further... Only a little further...

Finally, we are over the first big hurdle, and I sit back down, thankful for the bit of rest. We take a sharp left into the big bend that ultimately curves back around to the right, and I settle in for the long journey home. It is a slow and arduous trip, but as I pedal on with my head down, I remind myself that tomorrow it will be just a little bit easier. And in another 45 or so minutes I will stand, jelly-legged but triumphant, in my driveway. And I will have conquered the mountain once again.

Volunteer Violas

These grow between the paver blocks in the sidewalk out front. They used to be just purple, but last year I introduced some different colors and cross-bred them. Now we have orange, yellow, light purple, and white as well. I like them a lot.

Starting Somewhere

I haven't yet decided exactly how much I will write here. I'm not sure I trust myself to keep from creating another freshman year xanga--posts with hidden messages, just hoping the right person will read it and pick up on what I'm trying to say. But I would like to share my pictures, and when I get to Japan, I think this will be my primary means of communication with the people I'd like to update but who I just don't have time to send personal emails to.

The weather here has finally cleared up, which means several things. One, we have internet again (we have to have a clear sky). Two, I can finally go take some pictures I've been wanting to capture. And three, I can finally try out my new bike shoes and clips. I'll be spending quite a lot of time with my dog, so I think he and I will have to go on an adventure today.

So, here's post number one.