We arrived late on the 22nd of August – around midnight or so – and by the time we got through customs and got to our flats, it was after 1am... The first flat that they had us in (yes, that’s correct, we had to move!) was a dormitory style shared apartments – much like you would find in undergraduate programs at university – and was in a shadier area of the city than where we are now. We didn’t mind it so much though because the people that were staying in that building were great and were all around our age, which was a big bonus! It was a 2 bedroom, 2 and a ½ bathroom flat with a large kitchen and living room area. It was nice, but definitely too big for just the two of us – I could have rollerbladed around the place if I had wanted to! But alas, we were only there for a couple of days before they had to move us to the other area...
The apartment that we are in now is a bit smaller, but we’re a lot happier with it because it’s cosier – more home-like! We still have 2 bedrooms and 1 and a ½ bathrooms, as well as a living room/kitchen area that is together in one big space. There is only one balcony, but we look out over the complex pool between the buildings, which is nice! It’s a quieter neighbourhood (if you don’t count the airplanes above us because we’re so close to the airport!) but there’s a shopping mall at the end of our street with a gym, grocery store and quite a few good shops in it! So it’s definitely convenient!
We’ve been at work for a week already (we only had 1 day to find our bearings before they threw us into work!) and so far it seems like it’ll be a much better experience than our last. I will have a lot of work to do this year because we’re creating a new middle school English program from scratch AND I’ve just been given a Year 11 IB Diploma English class which adds HEAPS of work to my schedule! I haven’t obviously had the training yet, but they’re trying to sort that out and I’m thrilled because it’s what I wanted to teach in the first place! They had me teaching Year 7 at first... but I’m not really a Year 7 type of teacher.... I prefer the older kids who are university bound, so needless to say, I’m happy to be given the opportunity to add this to my CV! Also, the people here are great (thus far!) and are on the most part fairly young, so that’s a plus!
We FINALLY got our phone situation figured out – we had some serious trouble getting it all set up and working, but we think we got it right this time! The first SIM card we got for our phone wasn’t even processed, so we went to the phone company and just bought a new one – we didn’t want to have to travel to another mall to get it fixed because it was where our first flat had been.... but then for some reason the NEW SIM card didn’t work either, so we ended up going back to the original store and low and behold, 3 hours later, they were able to fix everything up for us! Thank goodness because that was quite a fiasco!
Okay, onto the things people REALLY want to hear about! Yes I HAVE been to the Festival City Centre and it is AMAZING!! The mall is really big and TOTALLY eccentric! There are indoor waterfalls adorning every escalator in the place and the ceilings are decorated more elegantly than most hotels I’ve stayed in!! It has a lot of international stores – Aldo, Marks and Spencer, and an IKEA (which has been my new best friend for household stuff!). The best part is it’s super close to the school - about a 10 minute walk – I know, you hate me, right??? The only DOWN side is the Taxi queue ... honestly, people told us that it would be long... but we took a number and waited over an HOUR there the other night.... Mind you, it was Thursday night, which is the end of the workweek here, so that was our mistake!
Yesterday the school organized a day touring around Dubai since we hadn’t really had the chance to see much of it yet. We started off the morning having a breakfast cruise along the Dubai river, on one of the most luxurious boats they have in the city for meals – the head of our school said we had to have breakfast because dinner was way too expensive! It was very modern looking, surrounded entirely by large windows, with outer decks where you could enjoy the scenery and take photos. It was stunning and the food was wonderful!
From there we had a private tour of the Burj Al Arab – for those who are unfamiliar with the name, it’s the big 7-star Sailboat Hotel on the coast of Dubai. The owner’s son attends school where we work, so we were privileged enough to be invited into the hotel. And what an unbelievable place it is! First off, no one can even drive up to the hotel without first having made an appointment (even for coffee) or a reservation – security was pretty tight! When we walked into the hotel, they greeted us in the traditional Arabic manner – with rosewater for our hands and dates to eat. But just walking into the hotel was breathtaking – there was a massive water fountain directly in front of the doors where the water was programmed to change flow at various times. It’s very hard to describe, but it was amazing to watch! It was like its own show because the patterns in which the water would spout out was mesmerizing! There were escalators that took us up from the lobby to the upper floor which was framed by giant fish tanks – very pretty! Upstairs was even more luxurious – everything is so unbelievably detailed that it’s actually difficult to focus on one thing at a time! Standing at the top of the escalators, you can look straight up to the very top of the “sailboat” and see all the room’s balconies as they stretch up 27 stories. There is a fountain there that shoots water from the floor above the lobby to the very top of the hotel. Everything is adorned with gold – gold plated actually – and is just stunning. One of my personal favourite rooms was the Oriental restaurant/bar that had Swarovski jewels strewn about the ceiling and studded around the doors and mirrors! I was in heaven!
They took us up to the 21st floor to see one of the 3 bedroom deluxe suites which was pretty incredible. It was two floors and bigger than our flat about 5 or 6 times over for SURE! The KIDS bathroom alone was probably the size of our whole flat! It had everything from mosaic showers, to gold-plated mirrors, to digital projectors displaying a clock on the wall! I could never do it justice in writing, but hopefully the photos help a little! They took us into a meeting room where we had some refreshments and enjoyed a stunning view of the city and the palm and world islands being built around the hotel. Needless to say, the hotel was beyond incredible!
After our visit to the Burj, we went to the Madinat Jumeriah Souk (which was a lot like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, only a lot cleaner and less hectic!) nearby to have lunch and shop around for a while. We weren’t that hungry so we went to Starbucks (you’d think it was random, but they’re totally taking over the world!) and then bought some cool knick knacks for the flat. It was lovely because the outside of the souk looks like the building has just grown up out of the desert itself. The giant sandcastle look to some of the buildings has grown quickly on me and I love the way it gives the city such a distinct sense of heritage – like they are acknowledging their past and trying to integrate it into where they want to be in the future. The architecture here is stunning – from hotels built like ancient Egyptian temples (adorned by the giant pharaoh statues even!), to the wild eccentric designs of hotels such as the Burj, there is so much to see here that has been touched by so many different nationalities and cultures. It’s stunning to say the least.
Tomorrow we head back to work (on a Sunday, which will take some getting used to!) and get to meet the whole staff of the school, as last week was only orientation for us newbies! I’m looking forward to a busy and challenging year.
