School has definitely started

This was written and re-written on several occasions, but I thought I might never post it if I didn't just do it. So, enjoy. It accounts for things here up to three weeks ago. Since then a lot has happened, and with more interesting photos, but I'll save that for the next entry... maybe in 6 - 8 weeks.

Aside from work starting, the biggest news is probably that I bought a car. And, I have just about completely settled into my apartment. And, I’ve already saved a decent chunk of change. I’ll have to get some photos of my car and the apartment building I live in in the next blog. I’m at the mercy of friends for photos since my camera was eaten alive by the Arabian Sea. But, the car is a compact blue Peugot and my apartment is nice.

I bought the car for 12,000 Dirhams - a little over $3,000 US. It's paid for! And insured. But, my apartment is a little sparse on account of the purchase. Anyway, I can get to and from school and pick up groceries.

The building owner where I live has rented to an Emirate who is opening a “European Style Health Club” downstairs in the basement and the gym owner has promised me a substantial discount on the membership. “European Style”, he tells me, means more cardiovascular equipment and yoga classes. Next door he’ll open a health food cafeteria (restaurant) in a few months. So, the neighborhood is turning out to be even nicer than I had anticipated.

For the past eight weeks I’ve continued exploring the local nature and history sites on weekends while teaching during the week.

Eight weeks ago we visited a dow – large ship – being built on the coastline of the Arabian Gulf east of Dubai. We had the ship to ourselves as the workers took their midday break. There were several abandoned ships on the shoreline as well. We couldn’t quite figure out how they planned to get the boat to the water, but the man who led this excursion schedules visits regularly, and we’ve all decide we’ll go back for the launch if it doesn’t fall on a school day. Following this we ambitiously drove the Eastern coastline of The UAE between Oman and Oman – yes, Oman borders on the north and south.

Seven weeks ago we went for a hike in the mountains of Oman and saw some old caves and a few homes that had been abandoned and appeared to be about 50 years old. The land is on private property and the owners were there for the month with their goats and herder. After we explored the mountainside, caves, abandoned homes and ravines; and after watching their hired goat herder skillfully bring the herd across the mountainside, we were invited to join the family for dates, watermelon, coffee and dessert. The children set out mattes for the men and separate mattes for the women and we joined our respective groups.

The father told us he was bringing the children out because the boys weren’t getting enough of the outdoors. Schools had been shut down in Oman for an extra month due to H1N1 concerns and the father thought it was best to bring the children outdoors. Now dad was commuting 1 hour to work each day at the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization in his Land Cruiser while the rest of the family stayed on the farm and played. At the girls table the trip to the farm was cause for frustration. They lamented their rural surrounds and wished to be back at the villa with the comforts of air conditioning and television. But, when we prepared to leave they were off playing games – as they had been when we arrived. So, their complaints may have been superficial. The boys seemed to enjoy their time there, despite their father’s concern about the pace that they herded the goats. It was a fun adventure.

Also six weeks ago, I took another excursion to the top of Jebel Hafeet – the mountain near Al Ain – with Collins. Collins is from Kenya and works at the coffee shop where I use the internet. His friend Jeremiah, also from Kenya, came along. They’re a blast to go for hikes with since they run off in any direction and seem to genuinely enjoy being in nature – the same as me. Anyway, we drove to the top of the mountain and climbed some of the smaller summits. It was the eve and morning of my birthday.

Five weeks ago Cathy’s husband arrived from the USA; so, we stayed local and visited an oasis and looked at the Hili Historical Park here in Al Ain. Collins and another of his friends and I drove again to the top of Jebel Hafeet. This time we climbed clear to the top at around 12:00 AM. On the way down, around 3:00 AM, we encountered a family with two youngsters who were feeding fish at the man-made pond. Sleep here is not confined to the same hours as back home. We didn't have a camera for either of these trips, so there are no photos to share.

Four weeks ago we woke at the crack of dawn and visited the sewage settling ponds where we watched some migratory and some local birds. Collins came with Cathy and I and the three of us enjoyed the day – Cathy resting near the edge of one of the ponds and Collins and I hiking around the circumference of the man-made pools. The leader of this excursion has offered to help facilitate a field trip for the students in my classes. I hope this works out somehow. You can see some really great photos of the first trip here on someone1986's blog
Some of my own photos follow:








For the past few weekends I've stayed local. I've revisited the sewage ponds a couple times, been back to Jebel Hafeet a couple times, and found the local library (actually a school library for expat kids that allows others to use it for a small fee). It's Eid and National Day Break as I write this, and my friend Michael is visiting from San Francisco. I'll write a separate blog entry about the break, but I can safely warn that we have covered some ground driving and camping.

Life is pretty well settled in now. Very few things catch me by surprise. I’m used to most of the things that struck me as unfathomable just a couple months ago; all of which makes the stories of these things from others even funnier. For example, one of my colleagues is on a crusade to teach the entire country to cue properly. This is no small undertaking.

His crusade began one evening at the wire transfer shop. When he entered there were four guys hovering about the counter. He set to work on the Indians first – their English is typically better than others – and asked who had arrived when. After a bit of discussion an order including the Pakistanis was determined and he placed each in their position – Shawn is a pretty stocky fellow, but more than that he exudes a confidence that makes most people follow along with what he’s doing rather than question it. The fact that he placed himself last in line was also convincing. As new customers came in and attempted to move to the front of the cue, Shawn would stretch his arms out, move between them and the counter and herd them into the cue. In such a manner, he revolutionized the money transfer process in the UAE…for a moment.

Change here comes slowly, and when Shawn turned to leave from the money transfer facility the whole line descended en masse on the counter and nearly suffocated the short Indian man who had stood faithfully behind Shawn for the past 30 minutes. Height goes a long way in determining eligibility for services here. Upon seeing his work destroyed in the flash of an eye, Shawn turned back to the counter, marched toward the men breathing heavy and his face turning red, and moved the small fellow who’d been behind him to the front of the line and told the service representative that the man was next – he turned to the others who paused long enough for the clerk to start helping the man, and then he walked away, knowing his impact would be short lived.

The weekend also involves the maintenance of my car, and with this comes the occasional encounter with a local Emirate. It’s about 7:00 Am on Saturday and I’m at ADNOC (The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company gas and service station). Fill up the tank, have the tire pressure checked, and today, have the oil changed. An Emirate who studied in South Carolina prior to September 11th takes advantage of the opportunity of our waiting together to talk to me about his concerns about America. It is the best country in the world – he assures me – but he is concerned. He tells me about his friends in the US, but says he won’t visit now because the paperwork is too complex. He rants in opposition of the war in Afghanistan – and his perspective is more out of concern for the US than for Afghans. They are an unruly people, he says. The US should have known better. He seems deeply concerned. And, he would like to see his friends in Arizona and is upset that it is too difficult to get the visa.

I can understand. It turns out my friend Michael will be able to join me here in November and December, and although he lives in the USA, his Chinese passport is complicating matters considerably. It will work out though – I think we’ve found a loophole. Borders are really quite a puzzle; and we in the US have no idea how good we have it. (Michael is here now - we found the loophole)

Some of my most dedicated readers may be interested in the school where I teach….

It’s 5:00 AM and my alarm clock has just gone off. The water is in the electric kettle from the night before, coffee measured in the French Press, clothes laid out, lessons planned, and I’m off. On a good day – and most of them are so far – I am fully awake when I walk out the door.

I leave at 6:00 after a breakfast and meditation. My suits are pressed and back in the states you might think I had a job at a bank or insurance company. But, here teachers wear suits.

At 6:25 I pick up Simon, a Brit who is teaching English skills to the Arabic speaking teachers in the schools. He’s a nice fellow who tells an occasional funny story and enjoys hearing about the lessons I have planned each day – a fortunate relationship since it allows me to talk through them once before teaching them. He’s also a highly qualified educator and offers a few helpful suggestions to spiff them up.

After a few minutes, around 6:35, I arrive to pick up Shawn – another Brit – who is in charge of professional development for all English Department teachers at our school. He does my lesson observations and provides my professional development. He also gives me tips for improving my lessons; and, between them, they make my classes much more interesting for the students.

At 7:00 we sign in at our suburban school and drop our things in our office. At 7:10 the first bell rings and it’s time for morning assembly. The students in each class line up around the center of the quad; the National Anthem is played (no lyrics, just the music); a group of high-level 11th and 12th grade students read a passage from the Quran and make a few announcements; and, at 7:25 we start our first class.

There are now 9 periods in the school day – last year it was 7 – and there are two breaks. Each class is 45 minutes, and we get out of school at 2:40 PM. By 3:15 I am at home in bed taking a nap. So far, in most respects, this is just like teaching in Miami.

In fact, the similarities to Miami are sometimes frightening. In Miami I worked in a school that had an extended school day to bring up test schools (same as the extension from 7 to 9 periods here). In Miami the reading levels of my students were far below grade level; here their English reading levels are near 2nd grade, and I’m told Arabic reading levels aren’t much higher. In Miami we were constantly harassed about bringing student achievement scores up on end of year assessments (No Child Left Behind). Here we have the CEPA, the EMSA, the Ministry of Education Exams, and the Abu Dhabi Education Council Exam. Oh, and one test for the consulting firm in our school. And, no test is any good without a baseline – or start-of-year measure – so, there are five major tests at the end of the year and four at the start. Each test lasts approximately two or three days. So, throughout the year, about 20 days of teaching are dedicated to standardized tests. A lot like Miami. More tests than you can keep track of.

Add to that the two weeks of testing by each teacher (final exams) each semester, and now we’re approaching 50+ days of testing and test review. And, the school year is only 165 days. – Nearly 1 of 3 days is spent testing or reviewing for tests! No wonder they had to extend the school day!

Of course, this means a lot of pressure to teach to the test. And, with five tests, there is a lot of debate about which test to teach to – the bureaucratic loyalties and turf wars would be funny if they were not so real and impactful on student learning. And, when you look at things in this context, it’s easy to understand why the students are getting bored of school the same as students back home. And, the tests here determine eligibility for college and even their high school diplomas.

The most difficult similarity is the political alliances in both the school and district administrations. And, being a new teacher, imported from the states, and potentially threatening many people’s jobs here, the political heat is quite high. About the only positive thing I can attribute to these circumstances is that it has forced me to be hyper-vigilant in creating strong lessons with clear and effective learning objectives that meet the needs of all – or nearly all – of my students. With reading levels that differ by as much as 6 grade levels in each class, this can be a real challenge.

Perhaps the second greatest challenge is that the students don’t really have any motivation to learn. Few plan to go to university unless they are invited. Most have family net worth of millions of dollars and they stand to live in the same luxury if they follow the local customs. The financial incentive for finishing college is a guaranteed job in a government bureaucracy. The financial incentive for getting married is a government bonus of several hundred thousand dollars – from the Ministry of Family Values – or some such thing. I don’t totally get the details, but there is a financial incentive system through the government that encourages marriage and family above college and career; and with such effectiveness that college and career become optional pursuits for the motivated and not necessities for the majority as they are at home. ---- All of this means that students don’t really need to do well – except for the small issue of family pride.

One might get the sense that I am jaded by the scene here – all of the bureaucracy, prescribed social norms, authority structures; things I normally find repulsive – but, I can honestly say I am not. My students are extremely polite. They chat a little, and I sometimes have to wait 1 or 2 minutes for all of them to be quiet so I can give instructions for a task, but when their behavior is bad they apologize profusely after class and appear ready to learn the next day. Another example of their genuine politeness is their eagerness to help me carry my things. I typically have three or four bags – lesson materials, graded papers, my laptop, my lunch and so on – and when I arrive at school students rush to help carry my things to my office. When I am walking from my office to class after the breaks, the students again rush to help carry my things, and not just one or two bags, but anything I am carrying. Of course they may think it will help me award them a higher mark, but I think it is more a cultural thing. This is evidenced by a real look of disappointment if I decline their offers.


I’m writing this blog in my living room, and I now have about 16 piles of papers on the floor. There are student rosters from the first five weeks of school – all out of order and too confusing to tackle because of a few significant changes to rosters and a major schedule change that now has me teaching half of the students in the school at least two periods a week. There are more assignments that need to be graded, some that I attempted and aborted mid-way because the English level was too high for the students, or the directions confusing – there is a real language barrier in the classroom. These stacks are vocabulary flashcards, lesson plans, drafts and final versions of vocabulary quizzes, seating charts, and portfolio folders of student work. There’s a pile of newspapers on a chair that I can’t throw away because they might be useful for school, but which probably have no real use for school because the English level is too high. And, I have seven shoe boxes from the Shoe Mart that are currently providing some organization to a few school supplies. Trying to make sense of the mess is my task tomorrow – well, that and planning my lessons for the whole semester – a request of our principal – and creating supplemental materials to help students write a paragraph next week; and an essay in my science class. (Since I wrote this, the stacks have been filed, and the floor cleaned. My apartment is starting to feel like home again.)

Ah, the science class. This is my 8 periods a week of pure teaching pleasure. I have 22 students with good to excellent English speaking and comprehension skills, a strong desire to go to college, and a classroom cohesiveness that is virtually unheard of. These are the school’s Pride and Joy and I have the privilege – and somewhat daunting responsibility – of teaching them. Their appetite for knowledge is at times overwhelming. Homework assignments are completed and turned in by every student. They form groups and move around the classroom as if they have rehearsed this many times – but in fact no teacher has ever used group work with them on a regular basis. They can write a lot, but there is no structure to their writing. Still, they want to learn to write and they will try any assignment I put in front of them. Last week in two lessons all but one student mastered the concept of direct and indirect quotes including grammar.

It’s early in the semester still, and it’s too early to know how this will all work out. Six students in one of my classes want to transfer schools because they are not sure they will be passed – yes I said be passed and not pass. There’s a tradition here of students being passed by teachers or administrators. It’s a very complex system of bribery, the turning of a blind eye, courtesy and finally wasta. Teachers in some schools will offer private tutoring to students after school for 50 dirham an hour per student – about $15. With 20 students they are making about $300 an hour. They give the students a few answers to the next test at each session, and those students then pass them along to their classmates. It’s illegal to tutor students in their private home, so they tutor at the schools after-hours. Many teachers fear the repercussions from influential families if they don’t pass their students, so they make a test that is difficult, then read a book while giving the test and let one student figure out all of the answers and then share the answers with the rest of the class. Cheating is an accepted part of the culture here.

I think there are two reasons cheating is so widely accepted. First, and the one I prefer to think about when it starts to happen in my classroom, is the loyalty to community before individuality. This is something I thought I would find totally repulsive when I got here, but which I have come to respect (though I don’t envy or desire it). The basic premise is that your own self-worth is determined by the communal worth, and therefore, you have a responsibility to support the needs of the community above your own. Thus helping others pass a test is more important than the problem of getting caught cheating on a test.

The second reason students cheat on tests is that there are really no consequences. All school Principals are Emirates, and they have a powerful and important position in their communities. The same community over individual spirit that leads to students cheating leads to school principals forgiving the trouble – no one wants any of their students to lose face by being labeled a cheater, so they simply allow it. And, if that wasn’t enough to frustrate a teacher who prefers to assess individual student achievement rather than collective accomplishment, then consider this: at the end of each term, the principal and his administrative staff have the option of changing student’s grades – and they exercise the option with diligence in most schools.

I think 2000 words about the schools is enough for one blog. There’s a lot I still have to learn about the system here, and there’s a lot I have already learned. And, there’s a lot my students are teaching me about local and Muslim culture. Last week I was taught how to pray during the second break. It’s a beautiful thing really. It changed my opinion about prayer in schools 100%. Prayer here is optional, but there is a prayer break. Prayer mattes are placed in the courtyard during 7th period, when class is dismissed, the students wash themselves, then pray together in the center of the courtyard, and then return to the next class. Like many things I think this would be lost in translation if brought back to the US. Optional prayer would probably attract the most zealous students back home. But, here, where prayer five times a day is the norm, the majority of students participate. And, when they return to class, they are noticeably calmer.

Some problems with student conduct are familiar - cell phones in class for example. I have collected as many as seven in one class. Since I started giving them to the Assistant Principal the problem has shrunk dramatically. Other issues are unfamiliar: student haircuts for example. At times school administrators will enter the classrooms, have students remove their head-wraps and then write names of students whose hair is too long.

I believe libraries are one of a school's best learning centers, and when I went to our school library to see the book collection I was saddened to find a bulky wooden table in the center of an empty room covered in a heap - a totally disorganized stack - of dusty books. Fortunately I found out these were the books they could not fit into boxes at the end of last year. The library is undergoing a renovation. 8 weeks later, the renovation is still underway - but I'm told we will have a real library when it's finished.

While digging through the library collection, looking for English books I could use in class, I found one particularly humorous book - with the worst taboo of all. It's a good reminder that education reform efforts have been here before and will come again. So many reform efforts have failed in fact that veteran teachers in the country cannot honestly remember them to count them all. And, this serves as a reminder that our program may be temporary. But, the book and pictures are a bit funny given this context: alcohol is prohibited for Muslims.

The key vocabulary in the book are BAR and BEER (the picture didn't upload). The sentences under the drawing say "This is a bar." "This is a bar too." and This is a beer." So, chances are my cultural sensitivity, though lacking at times, is quite on target by comparison.

I am sad to report that of over 500 teachers who signed on and travelled here for the program, over 100 have left. Many others are considering leaving at the semester break, and there is a huge group talking of leaving at the end of the first year. The program has gotten off to a very shaky start, and it's unclear whether the school district has the commitment to stay the course and cause real reform. Many teachers are struck by the lack of response to concerns they raise. Anyway, I'm hanging in for now and enjoying the experience, but it is a far cry from what I thought it would be. Yes, school has definitely started.

It has been a while since my last blog, and in all likelihood, it will be a while before my next. School started yesterday. Not many students showed up – about ten from the whole school. In my next blog, I’ll let you know how things at school work out.

In the meantime, I have had several very fun adventures. And I took my camera along on a few.

A couple weeks ago I went with some other teachers on a desert safari – there was a short four wheel drive trip followed by food, traditional dances, camel rides and sand boarding.











It was about dusk when we arrived (time for breaking fast during Ramadan) and just about everyone descended on the food. Normally I would have too (as you all know I love food), but I decided to walk up on a dune and take in the view. That’s when I found the snow boards that had been left out for our group. After a cautious run down a not-so-steep ridge, one of the teacher’s sons – a rather athletics 13 year old – dropped over the edge of a steep dune and sailed gracefully to the bottom of the dune. I followed – not wanting to lose face – and while my face was spared, I took a major tumble and smacked my head on the sand (sand is hard in dunes) and rolled over a couple times. Despite a little pain, I repeated this three times – without the falls. Aside from having to hike back up the dune each time, it’s a very fun sport.



A couple of days after the desert safari I was able to go with a friend for a drive north and east to a small town above Oman. The town is known for its tourist knick knacks and my friend and I each bought a few things – I bought beautiful silk carpets for my apartment and she bought ceramic pots for her front porch and hallway – and a rug for her living room. But, the highlight was the drive there through the desert. The most common road sign warns of crossing camels. Second is a road sign warning of pedestrians but the man crossing the street is wearing traditional dress. As we pull by the roadside to investigate a group of domesticated camels, we spot a man watching over his flock. He strikes up a conversation in reasonable English and tells me he can organize a camel trek if I am interested for another day – not now because he is fasting. I take down his number and consider it. Would that really be fun, bouncing on a camel’s back in the sun? Maybe on a full moon, I think.










A friend here has introduced me to a shop owner who sells beautiful hand-made rosewood furniture with brass and camel bone inlays. It’s not that much more expensive than what you find at IKEA thanks to the labor being so cheap. The chests have ingenious locking mechanisms and secret compartments. And, a lot is designed to fold up for camel caravans.















I took a few friends by the the furniture shop the other day and while we were looking at furniture it rained – YES RAINED! It’s been over 100 degrees each day since we got here, and no clouds in sight, but that day it was a real desert storm. The rainfall was furious and the winds knocked over fences and trees and even toppled the play structure that had been placed in front of the mall for Ramadan. And the damage was similar across town. The storm even went on to Dubai.






Being in a rain storm here is odd. The sand gets picked up in the rain so when the rain hits you it feels like you are being hit by sand. And, the color of the whole sky turns to brown. Before realizing how strong the storm was we stepped out the back door of the mall to “get a feel of it”. This is a bit like stepping into the path of a tornado and we really are lucky that we survived without even a scratch.

The mall isn’t a bad place to be for a rain storm. In fact, it might be the best place to be. Of course, it was Ramadan, so you couldn’t eat or drink anything, but there was a lot to do. Here’s a picture of one of the local malls in Al Ain:





At another mall, the options are also pretty good:




And, across the street from my house there is a game arcade and entertainment complex I haven’t even looked at because I’ve been busy getting my apartment settled and ready for school. And, they are preparing to add an enormous outdoor / indoor water park on the back of the mall with a multiplex movie theater and much more. But, if you’re forgetting that this is a Muslim country in the Middle East, just look at the food courts at lunch time during Ramadan:




On another note, in the past three weeks I have moved into a new apartment – the beautiful Rotana Hotel days are over. In fact, I’ve moved twice. The first building we moved into had bug problems and was not properly cleaned – or even cleanable. A few people protested the decision and we were given a few alternatives. I chose a 1 bedroom apartment just behind the mall here (which has a big grocery store I can walk to). There were some spacious 2 bedroom apartments coming up in a couple weeks, but I wanted to be settled by the time school starts and I figured I didn’t need another room to furnish anyway. And the finish on my one bedroom is very nice.

A few nights ago I went with my local AA group and several friends of ours on a kayaking trip through the mangroves near Abu Dhabi. We took a short break from kayaking on an island with a nice sand bar. Unfortunately the mangroves here are on the decline just as they are in most parts of the world. But, we got to explore them a little. And then we kayaked back to the cars under the moonlight.







Yesterday I went with a few teachers I am getting close with on an excursion to search for Flamingoes. We didn’t find the flamingoes, but, we did find some herons I’d never seen before and tons of sea shells. So, I now have a shelf of shells behind my bathtub. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of this as my so-called waterproof camera was apparently not waterproof enough to survive the Arabian Sea. I lost everything from that day and won’t be able to take more pictures until I replace the camera – maybe in a month or two when I have gotten more settled into my apartment.

On Friday I will be going camping with the folks from AA. There is a get together planned to celebrate someone being sober for 5 or 10 or 15 years or something like that. So far, most of the people I’ve met in AA here have been a lot of fun to hang out with. This camping trip will involve people from Dubai, who I have only met once. I have my own tent, sleeping back and air mattress so I should be ready for the night. Camping here is one of those things where you get there 1 hour before sunset, and wake up at sunrise to get on the road before the sun gets to strong. So, it should be a short but fun trip. In November and December the weather starts to change so that camping can be a weekend-long affair.

The cultural differences here are becoming second nature – well, some are. The phrase Inshallah - which means essentially (in English) God Willing, or in God’s Time - is common here. Will school start on Wednesday? Inshallah was a common reply. As a result, only ten students showed up; because even things like the first day of school are not really set in stone. This takes a little getting used to, but I am almost there.

For the past few nights I have spent several hours at a café in the mall that has free internet. It’s called COSI and is owned by the same company that owns the GAP and Banana Republic and Old Navy. Anyway, they have free internet with the purchase of one cup of coffee. Because of Ramadan they were closing at 1:30 AM, but they would allow me to stay on late inside the restaurant when they left until 2:30 or later if I wanted. The people cleaning the mall didn’t mind my being there either. There is just a level of trust here that doesn’t exist back home. There is an assumption here that people are doing good things, and so there is no effort to restrict people. In fact, everything seems geared toward assisting people. To hammer home the point of trust, a friend’s wallet was returned to the mall security with $3,000 in it. Mall security used his driver’s license to track down his mobile and called him and returned the wallet. People have had laptops returned the same way.

I got my driver’s license the other night and I picked it up at the same time as an Emirate man about my age. (By the way, you get the final license the same day you apply; about ½ an hour later – there’s no mailing). The Emirate man asked me if I’d taken a taxi or if I had a car. I told him I’d arrived by taxi and he insisted on driving me to my apartment. On the way to my place he told me about living in Denver and Massachusetts during college. And, he lamented about Osama Bin Laden making it difficult for him and others to get travel visas – but then bragged that he had gotten a tourist visa to go back once for two weeks. He spoke very fondly of his professors in school, and of the people in The United States in general.

I have found a regular taxi driver, and he is a fun guy. He’s driven a taxi here for 25 years and can get you from one side of town to the other faster than anyone; this despite the fact that he is probably over 65. He also drives the oldest taxi in town, but the car has amazing handling ability. The other night when I went to activate my debit card, I forgot my Residence Visa at my apartment. He zipped me back and forth across town through traffic at a truly frightening pace, and we made it back to the bank with two minutes to spare. The customer service man couldn’t believe I’d made it. When I got back outside, my taxi driver took me home and we laughed the whole way as we fumbled for the words in our respective languages that expressed how fun the whole race against time had been.

But, there are still some cultural things that take a bit of getting used to – and I guess it is things like this that have me worried about going into the classroom for the first time tomorrow. When I went to the grocery store the other day to pick up a few things, the man in front of me was accompanied by three ladies – quite possibly all wives. There had been an article in the paper that morning about matchmakers who specialize in finding good husbands for widowed women. And, the article had all of the justifications for multiple wives that we hear all of the time. The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) had multiple wives, women need a family unit to protect them, Better that a few women share a wealthy husband who can provide for their children than having their own husbands who cannot provide for them, and so on. It also pointed out that polygamy is on the decline, and that younger men are not practicing it at even close to the rate of their grandfathers. But, the whole idea is so foreign that it seems comical to read about it in the paper – until a man with three wives buys them each cosmetics products at the counter – and the… struggles to pay the cashier.

Things have changed here so rapidly that this man with three wives – I’m just going to assume they are for now – cannot pay the woman at the register because she does not speak his language. She is Filipino and speaks English. She knows her numbers in Arabic, but she does not know the local language. The old man’s Arabic is rusty and he speaks no English, so he fumbles through his money handing her one bill at a time until she tells him it is enough. His nervousness disappears and he turns to his wives with a smile – he has paid for their things – and then turns back to collect his change. You can almost imagine him walking out the front door of the mall into the sand, getting his wives on their camels and then walking home. But chances are he’s driving a Range Rover.



In response to my last blog, a friend in Canada wrote about a contingent in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender Pride parade called LGBT Jews against Israeli Apartheid. I wonder if they might join forces with expat Arabs in Western countries to advocate for the right to practice Polygamy AND Gay Marriage. The chances for coalition politics are humorous.

To be fair and honest though, many people here are quite happy with the system: men and women. Many women do not understand why westerners want to defend them and stand up for their rights. To be sure, not all women are happy with how things are. But, of the female teachers I’ve met here who worked in the schools last year, many have told me about conversations where the local women are very specific about what they want in their marriages, and the status quo is good. In fact, with the school system about to adopt an extended school day, these Emirate teachers are threatening to walk off the job because it is very important to them that they have the afternoon time with their families.

In the National’s weekly magazine a couple weeks ago there was an article on the Hajib – or head covering – worn by some Muslim women (and Catholic nuns and Hasidic Jews). In the article a Muslim woman tells about a western woman who thought the Hajib, or head covering, was desired by husbands because it hid signs of domestic violence. The Muslim woman responded that domestic violence is not common here – though she admitted it exists – and pointed to the Hajib as a reason it is not prevalent. She then quoted statistics about domestic violence in the US and said that is exactly what they didn’t want to become, and precisely why she and her daughters would wear the Hajib.

With just a couple days left before school REALLy starts,I'm glad to get one more post up to my blog. The next one may not be for a month or longer, but I'll try to store some savory memories to pass along. In the meantime, here's a photo of two of my teaching colleagues - both Brits - working away as we prepare for the students' return...

Weeks 2 and 3 in Al Ain

Driving through the desert on the way to Dubai...

Adventures
First, a significant news item in the paper last week: Egypt’s highest priced dates auctioned under the name Barack Obama, after the US President. Every year the auctioneers name the dates after politicians and celebrities. The cheapest dates were named after Israel’s Defense Secretary Lieberman.

My training continued this week. We met at a girl’s primary school in Abu Dhabi (2 hours away) for an orientation session that covered a background on the school system, an introduction to UAE culture, and an overview of the ambitious education reform project taking place in the UAE (more about this later). The bus ride was a chance to see the countryside and some of the development taking place throughout the UAE. But it was also extremely uncomfortable.



Compare that to a photo taken in the lobby of our hotel in Abu Dhabi a week earlier.



The pace of development here is staggering. One must remember that the country is only a little over 30 years old – though the culture dates back thousands of years (near our town there is a ruin that is over 5,000 years old). The freeway we drove on was six and sometimes eight lanes wide. The picture below shows a freeway ramp under construction – a surreal site as you approach it from around a bend in the road. I was not very diligent about taking pictures this week, but when I tell you this is a small project, I assure you I am not exaggerating.




For the most part my week was rather uneventful. Last Friday night, after drafting the first edition of this blog, I went to Dubai and stood at the base of the World’s Tallest Building (it deserves capitalizing in my opinion) and then visited the Dubai Mall. From there I walked two blocks to an AA Meeting. Yes, there’s an AA meeting in Dubai two blocks from the World’s Tallest Building. The world’s tallest building is in fact 175 stories – and they have stored cranes in the top in case they need to raise it to beat someone who tries to outdo them.









The new metro line connecting Abu Dhabi to Dubai is scheduled to open in a few months. In about ten days they will open the first ten stations. The trains are operator free, and will relieve the terrible traffic that plagues both cities. The stations are space-age and made with top of the line materials.

Basically, if something isn’t the biggest, the best and the most expensive, it’s hard to imagine The UAE being interested. I am hoping I can take a trip soon to Sheikh Zayed Mosque which is said to be the grandest mosque in the world. They say everything thing that is the color of gold is real gold.

In the mall in Dubai, there is a full-size ice hockey rink, possibly the largest indoor fish tank in the world, and a 4-story tall waterfall covering a large wall at one entrance. The skateboard shop even has its own mini skate park in the upstairs area.













But, during Ramadan you’ll notice one thing unusual about the mall: empty food courts. Because of the daily fast, the food courts are closed until about 6:45 PM.



My furniture allowance was in the bank when I went yesterday. I also signed up for online banking which has all of the features we are used to in the US, plus a cool gadget. It issues a new digital code every 60 seconds that you must enter along with your username and password when you login to your banking session. I guess one has to remember that people here are dealing with very large sums of money, and security) is crucial.





The United Arab Emirates is one of the few countries in the world with a larger Carbon footprint per resident than the United States. It also has a higher water consumption rate than the US – a rare feat. Water politics has been the subject of a week-long feature in The National newspaper and it’s quite fascinating. Today’s topic was water in Iraq.

I was struck by one similarity to living in the US when I saw the newspaper article below taped to the wall of the grocery store next to the weekly special circular. It explains the environmental impact of using plastic bags and encourages alternatives.





As part of our teacher training, we had a presentation about Masdar City – as a way of showing us the types of industries that are growing here where our students may one day have the opportunity to work. Prepare to be impressed! Masdar City will be the first Carbon Neautral – in fact carbon off-setting – city in the world. It is a massive undertaking, and yet when one has seen the other achievements in this region to date, it is hard to doubt that it will happen. Construction on Masdar City has already begun and was uninterrupted by the financial crash. In fact, Abu Dhabi – unlike Dubai – still has 60 years of oil to tap, and is weathering the financial crisis well. (Abu Dhabi is currently providing guaranteed loans to Dubai to keep Dubai’s economy afloat).

Included in the Masdar City Plan is an underground system of self-steering, fully electric vehicles that will request a destination from their passenger and then take the passengers there with no stops in between. Now that’s good public transit. If you saw Total Recall or any number of modern science fiction movies, this is pretty much what is being proposed. The system is being modeled after a baggage transport system that is in place today in one of the US airports.





You can learn more about Masdar City on their website (www.masdarcity.ae). I think this provides a good transition to a description – albeit somewhat superficial – of what I’ve learned about the seemingly conflicted goals of modernization, religious tradition, and tribal tradition of the UAE Nationals.

Modernization, Religion and Culture (Tribal Past) of The United Arab Emirates:
Much of what I describe below comes from the instruction we received during our week of training. However, I do include some anecdotes from personal experience, and conversations with people I’ve met since arriving.

On our first day of training we received a presentation from a man named Ali – whose insights about Emirate culture can be found on www.ask-ali.com – explained that when someone here – another Emirate – asks him his name, they are really asking what kind of connections he has – his “Wasta”. When he gives his name, he will name his father and grandfather etc. and the tribe, and the person asking will know if he is from a powerful family or not. Family connections are at the heart of the culture here; and, marriages and lineage play a large role in shaping one’s future. This is why there are such strict codes of conduct for family members – anyone who brings shame brings it onto the whole family.

In the case of our presenter’s name, his tribe was involved in trade and traveled camel routes throughout Arabia. Because of this, when he travels with his family, they often have passports from several countries, even though they have the same tribal name. And, speaking of passports, a UAE citizen travelling through Arabia – and indeed many Muslim countries – will receive a tremendous amount of respect at customs. The reason for this is that they are citizens of the country founded by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nayhan (1918-2004).

Sheikh Zayed united the emirates that today make up The United Arab Emirates (UAE). He did it with a vision of modernizing the region while maintaining the culture and religion of the people. He is highly revered today, and all Arab people hold him in very high esteem. It is said that wherever he walked greenery sprouted in his path – and when one looks at the freeways the reason for this is clear. When the UAE was young, he would walk along the land that is now Abu Dhabi and put stones where he wanted buildings to be – placing a stone on the ground he would say “this is where my people will have a hospital” – and the hospital would be built. And UAE citizens supported him universally.

Islam is the national religion of the UAE, but freedom of religion is allowed and encouraged. In practice, from what I have been able to find, this means that there are a handful of Catholic Churches. But, in several instances we have been reminded about the Muslim belief in respecting other religions. Ali explained it best when he reminded our team of teachers that Islam is a religion based in both Judaism and Christianity – insofar as Muslims follow their spiritual lineage from Abraham and Moses and Jesus Christ and Mohammed PBUH. (PBUH is the proper text message acronym for Peace Be Upon Him – which all Muslims say after using the name of the prophet Muhammed). I haven’t heard anything mentioned about Buddhists or Hindus, but it has been presented to us so far – and I have no reason to doubt it – that citizens of the UAE take great pride in following Baba Zayed’s lead of religious tolerance, and even respect.

So what about Jews? Aside from concerns about my safety, this is the most common question I’ve been asked by people back home. I think I’m able to answer now – though a bit circuitously.

Of course, all of this cultural awareness training is intended to prepare us for the classroom. We must learn and know the countries leaders, their religious and cultural customs, and the overall world-view. But, there are other sensitive issues we must be aware of. For example, the Persian Gulf – as I learned to call it when I was young – is referred to here as the Arabian Gulf. The Gulf was known as The Arabian Gulf for centuries, and we only know of it as the Persian Gulf because by the time the West started making maps of this part of the world (a few centuries after everyone else), Persia had more power. But, for centuries before that, all traders in the region referred to it as the Arabian Gulf. Therefore it would be inappropriate to use the map below in class – and even offensive.




It would also be inaccurate, because the borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman (and this week, Iran) are both still disputed – just two weeks ago UAE citizens and residents were not allowed to cross the border into Saudi Arabia with their National ID cards but instead had to have their passport. The cause of this overnight change in policy: The UAE map on their new National ID cards did not agree with the map that Saudi Arabia desired.

And, the map would be offensive for one more reason. The UAE does not recognize the State of Israel right now. This is not an anti-Jewish stance – it is an anti-Israel stance. Several presenters, and people I’ve met on the streets and behind the wheels of taxis – agree that they love and respect Jewish people. One speaker said that she would scold her child if he spoke poorly of Jews.

But there is consensus here that the actions of the state of Israel toward Palestinians are horrendous, and that Israel should not be recognized as a result. A few of these people were children before the creation of the State of Israel and they remember when Jewish and Arab Palestinians lived side-by-side in peace. Furthermore, many Palestinian’s here – my cab driver the other day, the man at the bank who opened my checking account, and a man I met at the gym the other day who later took me to tea at a hotel nearby – are refugees from their homeland and cannot return even to visit family because of travel restrictions in place by Israel.

When I asked the man at the bank where he was from and he told me Palestine, I responded that I had read in that day’s paper that their Prime Minister had reasserted a proposal for a state of Palestine with the 1967 border agreements. He smiled, pleased that I had noticed this, and hopeful that it might happen. When I left, his handshake was affectionate.

My first day in Al Ain I met a fellow in the hotel gym who was half Syrian and half Palestinian. He moved to the UAE with his family from Syria when he was three after his parents had lived a short time in Syria after the formation of Israel in 1949. He has never seen his father’s homeland. He had studied in Connecticut and earned a degree in business administration. He told me that when he was in Connecticut – studying with two other Muslims – a handful of people there had helped the three of them get settled in. They had taken them to get furniture, showed them the town where they lived, and made them feel welcome in the foreign land. Because of that he offered to take me to the top of the mountain in Al Ain so I could see the city and enjoy a cup of tea. A week ago we went and he extended the hospitality that I have begun to feel guilty about receiving. If I get anything from this trip, I hope it will be to offer hospitality to travelers.

Over this cup of tea, my friend Wasim – and I think we may well become good friends – told me about his days as a child, growing up in the public schools of the UAE; the days when schools here were good. And, he told me about the challenges of trying to get a good education for his children in the private schools for non-UAE citizens, and his wife’s work as a teacher in one of these private schools. Several years ago, the UAE public schools began a policy of limiting enrollment in public schools to UAE Citizens. And, after this pleasant conversation, on our drive down the mountain, Wasim lamented that the leaders of Israel and many Muslim countries were ratcheting up the rhetoric to such a degree that normal people’s voices were being drowned out, and that peace was becoming impossible. Interestingly, I’ve had similar conversations with Jewish friends in San Francisco. The problem seems to be the leadership of the political class.

So, what happens when modernization, culture and the tribal past cross paths? When it was decided that the UAE Air Force wanted new fighter planes they chose the F-16. The planes stopped in Israel to have the desert upgrade package installed. In pursuit of the best, the UAE will go to any length. (You may have seen in the news the other day that the UAE Armed Forces stopped a shipment of illegal weapons to Iran the other day).

One more note – my weekly film suggestion – Elia Suleiman released “The Time That Remaines” this year at Cannes. It traces Palestinian history from 1949 through a series of blackly comic vignettes. It is as critical of Palestinian political class as it is of the Israeli political class. I think these voices, these films, are important; and, I think many here would agree. See it if you get a chance at a film festival, I’m hoping it will play at the International Film Festival here in October.

All of this is just the beginning of why we are asked to use a map in classrooms that identifies the Arabian Gulf, Palestine, and the disputed borders of the United Arab Emirates.

Education
If you’re an educator, or interested in the work I’ll be doing, the rest may interest you. If you’re interested in UAE culture, this may still be interesting as so many of the practices in place are a reflection of culture – such as separate schools for boys and girls. But mostly, the rest of this just talks about my work and education.

Unfortunately, most of what I have run into in the school curriculum plans is not different than the west. The other day I sat down in a training session and was handed the same handout here that I received four years ago in Miami. The UAE has hired 8 companies of consultants (about 400 employees) that specialize in curriculum development and our group of 400 new teachers. Next year they will double the number of employees in all of these growth areas – education is a boom industry here.

It began – this reform – when Sheikh Muhammed visited South Korea three years ago and learned just how far behind the UAE schools really were. He was impressed by South Korea’s schools, and realized that the schools needed to be fixed. The overhaul is a mammoth project – like building the world’s tallest building, largest mall, or whatever. And there’s no doubt they’ll keep at it now until it’s done. The difference is that the “product” is the student, and you can’t grow children into adults overnight. Nevertheless, the leaders do seem committed to the long-term, and willing to go to any length, as they often are when they set a goal. But, the task is daunting…

Last year 3% of graduating seniors were able to enter university directly based on their exit exams. Another 70% qualified for foundation learning – or schooling to improve basic skills so they can perform in a university setting. These students consume 30% of the higher education budget, and it is the hope of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) that by bringing in Native English Speaking Teachers with teaching licenses, more students will proceed directly into university, and will be well-trained for the workforce.

Our teaching group has been brought in because our teaching training is based on encouraging critical thinking, collaborative learning and other western pedagogy. Traditionally, schools here have focused on rote learning – memorizing the text book for the final exam. In fact, it has been common that students would stay home the week before final exams in order to try and memorize the text.

Strangely, the changes to the curriculum are being measured against a battery of standardized tests. Students are being asked to replace memorizing their text book with memorizing and training for a standardized multiple choice exam. And, as teachers caught in the middle of the old school curriculum and the new schools curriculum, we are being asked to teach the new tests using collaborative learning techniques? Well, I’m as confused as you are, but that’s what happens to education when it becomes bureaucratic.

Of course, we are good teachers, and we’ll figure out a way to make everyone happy – bring up test scores, teach students real skills, and introduce some of the critical thinking skills that were lacking in the memorization of the text book. And, we’ll help students learn to work in teams, feel more confident speaking in English, and be better prepared for university. And, lastly, we’ll work to address the needs of parents. This last concern was probably the most interesting of all that we discussed.

Two parents spoke to us and shared a lot of insight. One was a father of a few children in the public schools. He said a lot of brilliant things, but one that stood out in my mind. “We want to modernize – not westernize or easternize”. Dressed in his Emirate clothes, he spoke eloquently about his own experience as a child in the schools, and what worked and what did not. He was invited by an ADEC staffer who had met him at Toastmasters. He is a businessman. But, he was mostly concerned that the changes in the education system not encroach upon the structure of his family or his culture.

I mentioned earlier that a policy was put in place that limited the public schools to enrollment by UAE nationals only. This was done for many reasons, but one was that when men came into girls schools, the non Emirate girls would not cover with their Abayas. The Emirate girls then felt different, perhaps rebellious? Anyway, in order to preserve Emirate culture, people thought it would be better to not expose their children to people whose children had different customs.

Last night I got my apartment. I now have two weeks to get it furnished before school starts, and some of the construction workers are still camped out in it while they finish work on the building. I also have only five days to leave the hotel where I am staying. It seems nothing happens here for a while, and then everything happens all at once. It may be a few weeks before I post again, but I do love getting e-mails from people, so please do write.

If you read this far, you’re brave and I love you. Thanks for enjoying my journal.