Hajj and Eid al Adha

The week of October 30 our school had Hajj activities for the students. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and is the fifth pillar of Islam. Every Muslim who can afford it must do the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. During the week of Hajj hundreds of thousands of Muslims perform rituals in Mecca. Some of the  rituals are: dressing in traditional all white clothing, walking around the Kabaa seven times and going to Mount Arafat to throw stones as a symbol of "the stoning of satan." Following Hajj every Muslim celebrates Eid al Adha "Festival of Sacrifice" by sacrificing a sheep, lamb, goat, etc. in honor of Allah and gathering with family... Kinda like Thanksgiving :D.

Like most of the activities that happen in our school we, the LT's, didn't find out about them until last minute and I also had no clue of what was happening. I usually found out that we were going to do something minutes before. No complains I was really excited to be a part of this and learn more about the culture.

Unfortunately I didn't take a camera when our students dressed up and walked around a made-up Kabaa. But here is a link to some really awesome professional pictures of Hajj and Eid al Adha. I did take a camera on the day that a sheep was brought to school for the children to see. The poor animal was scared out of it's mind, was practically dragged into the assembly area by the Arabic teachers, and made a complete mess by pooping all over the floor. The Arabic teachers put on some really loud music and encouraged the kids to make sheep sounds. To end the day every student, LT, and Arabic teacher received a 5 dirham bill by the principal. Not a bad way to begin our first school break! 

Didn't want to go inside the assembly room.

Yup! That's poop on the floor.

Principal handing out dirhams to the kids.

My 5 dirhams

Jordan Here We Come!

Eid Al Adha, a Muslim holiday, is approaching and therefore we are getting a break from school. To celebrate my first break Jose and I are going to meet my mom in Jordan!! I can't wait! Not only will I see my mom for the first time since moving to Abu Dhabi but I will also get to travel to another country in the Middle East. Everything is booked and we are ready to go. In Jordan we will spend some time in Amman, camp in Wadi Rum, see Petra, and swim in the Dead Sea.

Petra

I love FOG... Well, kinda!

     I had heard that the UAE would get very foggy from time to time. Well, last week I got to experience VERY foggy mornings Sunday-Thursday. It was so foggy that on my way to work I could barely see the cars in front of us and therefore my friend had to drive very slowly. Many cars even pulled over to wait for the fog to clear up. Driving here is scary! People drive extremely fast and tailgate others in order to make them move out of the way. Let me say that even with the fog every once in a while a crazy driver would pass us by going way too fast. The fog even "caused" a 35-car pile-up in Dubai. In all honesty I can't believe that it was only a 35-car pile-up with all the crazy drivers here in the UAE.
       Well the reasons why I love foggy mornings are because most students dodn't arrive to school until 8:30-9. This past week, by the time most arrived it was time for breakfast therefore teaching didn't begin until 9:45. Now, don't forget that classes end at 12:30 making my day very very short :). To make things even better we are "allowed" to arrive late 9-9:30. "Allowed" because on the day that I did arrive late, according to my Head of Faculty, the vice principal wasn't so happy about it. I wasn't to surprised to hear that even though all week many Arabic teachers arrived late (just one of the inequalities LT's face).
     So yeah, a foggy day has it's benefits, that I love, but it also includes a nerve wrecking drive to work.

Poor visibility on the road due to the fog. 

        I'll try to post more pictures later. My internet is too slow :(.