Dubai on a dime...

Well, maybe a little more than a dime. A bottle of water at the Thai restaurant we ate at cost 80 dimes (8 USD). Though this city is outrageously expensive, we had a great time. It was a short trip to re-new our visas. We had two full days and packed in as much as we could. We were exhausted when we got home.

One whole day was spent in the sun. We got free tickets to the water park from a friend who used to work there. The rides actually went faster than I expected and one was in a pitch black tunnel. Brian said it made him sea sick, but I think he was scared.

The second day we went skiing inside the mall. Yep, the mall. Dubai has an indoor ski slope inside the mall that is open year round. Average summer temperatures are around 110 degrees so it is pretty insane. When we first walked past it I thought it looked cheesy, but it actually was really fun. Brian is writing an article about the ski slopes and the hotel that is attached, so we got to stay at the hotel for free one night. It has 6 chalets that overlook the ski slopes. Once again we had a glimpse into how the rich people live, a two story chalet with marble counters, a kitchen table, a huge bathtub and floor to ceiling windows looking out at the man made mountain. There was even a V.I.P. check-in area.

If you don't know much about Dubai, it is the city of excess. It has the world's tallest building, the world's largest mall and the only 7 star hotel that is on a man made island. It is like Vegas, without the sex and drinking. It is a very clean city and much calmer and more organized than Amman, but I prefer to vacation somewhere where I can hold Brian's hand in the streets and have a meal that doesn't cost a third of my salary.

**All photos compliments of Happy Medium Studios.

A Day in the Life of Ms. Julie

I am now affectionately known as Ms. Julie by 98 fourth grade girls. I have been teaching English for three weeks now but I have to say it seems like I have been there for months. I wake up at 6:30 (ouch) and am out of the house by 7:15. I am very lucky in that my school is a 20 minute walk from home, so I walk the majority of days. My first class starts at 8:10 and the madness doesn't stop until 2. I am responsible for the education of 98 students at drastically different levels. I have everything from students who can hardly speak in full sentences to students who bring in power point presentations about WWII just because they wanted to share what they had learned last night.

The students stay in one classroom and I have to move to teach them. I am teaching reading comprehension, grammar, spelling, handwriting and writing skills. They learn something called joint handwriting which is a combination of print and cursive(It is harder than it sounds). After a day of teaching I usually have a ton of grading to do. This is one of the most time consuming parts of the job because there are so many students. I would say on average I have about 2 hours of grading every night. I do have a co-teacher who helps out tremendously. I could not keep track of all of the students without her. Once I am finished grading papers I walk home and TRY to relax. There is something about teaching that I have noticed, even once I leave school I have a hard time letting it all go. All night I will be thinking about what I have to do the next day, things I could do better, ways to improve the lessons etc. I need to work on separating myself from it because there will always be more I could do.

It is the oldest school in Amman and is known for being one of the most forward thinking schools here. The school is an all girls school and works really hard at teaching the girls that they are smart, independent women who can accomplish anything they want in life(This is not the cultural norm as women are still seen as inferior to men here). It is a small school and I have about 32 students crammed in each classroom. There is no air conditioning and many students have to climb over chairs to get out of their seats. My office is also the teachers lounge so I can forget about having any peace and quiet while working. My students are still at the age that they love to give hugs and want to impress you. I can't walk down the hall without receiving hugs and smiles from my students. That seems to melt away any frustrations I am feeling.

This is the hardest I have ever worked at a job so far. I am not even sure I have ever had a job where I actually worked 40 hours in a week. It feels good being busy and I feel very important. I am mostly looking forward to the pay off at the end of the year when I can see progress in my students learning. Then I feel like it will all be worth it. Inshallah. (God willing).