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?