Monday, September 29, 2014

Today was a sad day for all of us.  We got some really tragic news.  Of my Summer 2014 Friend's list, Nasir lost his brother due to the ISIS attacks on Sengal.(Kurdish way of saying Sinjar)  He was one of the many young boys that were decapitated.  We will all try to cope with this loss together.

But I don't want everyone to remember Atto, Nasir's brother, in this way.  I want us to all remember Atto as he was.  So, in his grief, I have asked Nasir to compile all the pictures of his brother during the happy times of Nasir and Atto's life.  He is Yazidi and they do believe in Reincarnation.  So, let us remember him as we knew him, not of what happened to him. 

As Nasir has always described to me, Atto, was a lively 16 year old boy who like most went out with his friends, enjoyed playing with Nasir in ball and other types of brotherly things.  Atto was Nasir's copy.  He wanted to do and be everything like his big brother.  Nasir loved him so much! 

Once I get more pictures of Atto, I will share them with you.  I will describe what Nasir says about his brother so that you may all know who Atto was, rather than his outcome on this Earth.

Thank you! (Please keep Nasir and his family in your prayers!)

 

September 28, 2014

Today was supposed to be the first day of school.  However, the school building is not quite finished yet.  So, work is still starting at 9:30 and we work until 6:00.

I had quite a disturbing dream last night.  Most dreams can involve wild plots and usually they are personal and I don't write them down for all the world to read, but if someone could shed some light on this one, I would appreciate it.

In my dream, I travel back in time like 150 years.  I see myself happy with this wealthy gentleman.  Except this gentlemen, is not shallow like most wealthy men.  He has an imagination and a golden heart.  Of course because of his family's fortune, he is known throughout the world. 

He is very kind to me, and he courts me properly.  I fall in love with him, but I do not make him aware of my feelings.  Time goes by and we become closer and closer.  Never doing anything improperly.  He asks me to marry him many times and I tell him, "I need to take care of my family."

Then all of a sudden, he starts aging.  I find that I am holding him in my arms, he asks me to kiss him just one time and says he has always loved me.  I cry to him, "What is happening?  Why are you dying?"  He tells me not to cry.  I say to him, "You cannot die.  I love you!" 

He said, "don't worry, you will cry and when you wake up you will see this is a dream, but I want you to know something.  You will find my soul in another man very soon.  I will come back to take care of you soon.  I love you and I will find you."

With that he vanished in my arms, into nothing.  I was sitting there crying and weeping for my lost love.  When I woke up, sure enough my eyes were filled with tears.  I really felt like I was there with him.  I was very upset this morning.  I just kept remembering him say, "I will find you soon.  Soon, I will find you, soon."

So, the question is, the fact that I am so upset still, after dreaming this seven hours ago, was it de'ja vu?  Did it really happen one day in my life?  Was it a past life experience and now I am just remembering it?  Or was it just a dream which upset me because I am missing the life I could have had if I did not make all the wrong choices?  What is your analysis?

The strangest thing of all, is that I really feel like I lost him.  Like he was really part of my life.  If he does come back into another man's body, how will I know it is him?

July 31, 2014

It is after my one week break and it is time to travel to Zakho.  We started from Dukhan at 10:00 am, and didn't even get to Zakho by the evening, so I ended up staying in Duhok for two days before they moved me to Zakho.

It was a great trip to see the different landscapes of Kurdistan.  In Dukhan, as you can see from my previous post of mountains and the mountain villa, it is more dry with spots of green.  As we traveled to Duhok, the mountains were somewhat rocky then more green.

We stopped at a quaint little mountain town on the way.  Fresh water from the mountain springs poured out of a little pipe into a pool of cold water for travelers to wash their hands and feet in.  There were all these jams and sweets, along with nuts and other food types for travelers to buy. 



Tea is a big issue here.   They drink tea for everything.  All Kurdish people drink tea in certain glasses made for tea.  Even children as young as age five know how to stir tea and drink it.  It is pretty amazing!

Shot of tea???

July 27, 2014- Holiday of Eid (Islamic Holiday)

I did not stay in the UAE.  I flew by Fly Dubai to Sulaymaniah to start work in Kurdistan.  Was I crazy?  Yeah!! Pretty crazy!  But you all know that already.  Why did I come here?  Well, I decided to first see if it was going to be a good fit for me.

 

 

 

 

What will I be doing?  I was told I was going to come here and help to open a brand new British International School.  I will be the new Head of KG.  No, I did not come here for the money, I came for the experience.


First we went to my Founder's home in Dukhan, in Eastern Kurdistan.  Beautiful mountains and valleys, with vineyards.  I stayed in Freshta's mountain villa for the Eid holiday.  We took life easy, and we had fun.  I met some of her friends from the area.  It was a nice experience.

Friends of Summer 2014

Since my friends are a reason I put together all of my stories, I will include their pictures here.  Of course some of them are bashful, and don't like their pictures taken, but I love all of my friends.  I hope they are Friends for Life and I wish them all the happiness in this life! I have many other friends, but I wanted to dedicate a page to the ones who still kept in contact with me over the summer and now.

The more I tell my friends about this page, I keep getting new photos.  Love it!! Thank you so much for being great friends!



Saoud enjoying his Hot Wings in Muscat



Asim at the Gym in Muscat




Nasir enjoying a yummy drink.






Qusay out with his colleagues



Gabriella selling Petra Products

Avin and Me here in Zakho BIS

Hani doing his workout!  What a sweetheart!

Cute Saad!  I wish we parted on better terms

Hamdan gets to travel for a living with ADEC. 
Lucky Ducky!!

Tamer from Egypt

Haytham-I miss how he smokes Shisha.

Freshta with one of her BIS students

Mohamed, where is your Tahoe?

Carmen and her girls

Cora, my great friend and masseuse - 2nd one from left.

Affan, when he was happy in the UAE

Never see Khalifa, but he is driving in Malaysia.

So Cute Hassan-Police Academy Trainer

Ali Baloushi had a cute smile.

Syeda looking beautiful as always.

 Khalifa and Abdul Raheem, my crazy friends.

 

Abdulla, Gentleman who let me get seasick on his boat.













 

March 15--June 7 2014

Well, you know I decided after having to move out of my accommodation, that it would be best to look for other work.  I knew I could not stay at the school anymore as they were inconsistent with their promises. 

Actually, let me back up here.  After I went to the Ministry of Labor in February 2014, the school asked me if I would come back to teach next year or not.  I did not want to decide that four months before the end of the school year, but since they forced my hand, not letting me back into my classroom until I did, I ticked the box "No, I will not plan on returning."  I also gave them a letter of resignation explaining the reasons why I am within my legal rights to be able to give a two-month's written notice to inform them of my resignation, and that based upon my contract, there should not be any monetary penalties based on my resignation.

They said, okay.  Because of this, I decided to look for other work.  I was able to get a great offer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  They paid well-enough.  They had an expat compound, apartments, everything that Dubai would have but only inside this compound.  At first, I thought this would be fine.  I could buy a little golf cart drive around for groceries, etc.  I even had a friend I made there, who had connections with the school.  His name was Waleed. 

However, as the time went by, and the school who put me out of my accommodation started seeing that I was an asset and they regretted how they treated me, were begging me to come back; to reconsider withdrawing my resignation.  In April, I told them I would think about it. 

So, I thought about it and pondered, and prayed.  I went to visit my friend, Haytham in Al Ain, to ask him his opinion, but instead I met two lovely girls who were also teachers in Al Ain and they told me they were experiencing similar issues at their school.  So, I thought, "If it is there in Al Ain, here in Dubai, it may be in Jeddah as well." 

The very next school day, I gave a letter of resignation withdrawal and told them I would await notice that it was accepted.  Months went by, no sign of acceptance.  So I thought I won't go to Jeddah, maybe I will try to get a job in Abu Dhabi instead.  Abu Dhabi is a lovely city.  It is my favorite place in the UAE.  I had a phone interview for a very well-known school called the Glenelg School.  Not really thinking that I would get an offer, they did indeed offer me a position in May 2014. 

So, I accepted and gave another letter to the school.  In this letter, I said that my resignation is firm.  That since they never gave me written approval that my withdrawal of resignation was approved, then I was still resigned as of February 2014.  So, on June 8, 2014, I received a confirmation from my school in Dubai that they accepted my resignation and wished me good will in my career.

Well, life was relaxed, I was going to have a great job in Abu Dhabi.  I was working hard at my own school to make sure that the students were going to have a good year for next year, despite my absence.  and I was so excited to finish this year and start a new and exciting adventure in Abu Dhabi.

Dream Palace Hotel--My home from April 15 until July 26, 2014

Dream Palace Hotel wasn't like the penthouse, but still it was in the Cornish District of Ajman.  There were stores and a lot of people.  It was about 2-3 blocks from the Sea.  I got to live with free utilities, free internet, fully furnished one bedroom with a hall (sitting room) with a small kitchen and one bathroom, free parking, and free maid service for about $1,362 a month.  Not bad, when you think of all the amenities.  I think it would be similar to Twin Cities or New York without the utilities, but not positive on that.

This was my living room.

Spring Break 2014----April 1-April 15

Who was Matar?  He was an angel.  He pretty much kept me from sleeping in my car after one week.  He felt terrible that in his country a woman had to sleep in her car because of the school's injustice.  I told him, it was okay, and that I can "rough it" until school starts again.

He wouldn't hear of it.  He said to me, "We are great friends, and I want to help you." 

I told him, "I can never pay you back, unless you just give me like 1,000 dirhams."  He told me to go to Al Ansari Exchange, much like Western Union, and pick up the money he gave me.  I found out that through his act of kindness, when I was much in need, he gave me like 5,000 dirhams.  I cried and cried. 

I told him, "This is not fair!  I can never pay you back.  This is 1/2 of my monthly salary."  He told me that he did it for God.  We stayed good friends and he even offered to marry me, even though he already had a wife, but because I couldn't take him away from his family life, I declined his offer.  I am and always will be a monogamous person. 

With that money he insisted that I spend a week in a 5-Star hotel, but I told him, no, I will find a place where I can stay for a month.  So, I booked a hotel apartment for a month at the Dream Palace Hotel in Ajman, UAE.

Here the story continues.

Spring Break 2014

Well, Spring Break 2014 wasn't so bad as you may think.  Yes, I did not actually have a place to stay, and I did spend most of my days in a car, but still it was like "roughing it" in the UAE.  How many can actually say they got to experience that?

Okay, so my first day of Spring Break I wanted to stay at the Beach.  You know bask in the sunlight on a warm sunny beach.  So I scoped the www.booking.com for cheaper "on the coast" prices.  I found the Ramada Beach Hotel in Ajman had a double room, ocean view for only 350 dirhams.  That is a little under $100 plus tax.  Wow!! It couldn't get any better.

So, I go to check in to my hotel the first night.  I walk into reception.  Such a beautiful hotel right on the beach!  I get to the desk and they say, "Sorry, Miss.  Your booking was cancelled." 

I said, "Why?"  They responded that there was an issue with my card.  You see on booking.com, you don't actually have to have balance on a card to book a room, just you have to have a credit card, because they are not supposed to charge you until you stay at your hotel or check in. 

So, I said, "What am I supposed to do now?" 

They said, "Well we can take you as a 'walk-in' customer and give you a better room.  We really think you will like it."  I inquired about the cost of this new room and was told it would be about 500 dirhams.  So, I agreed, and they brought me into the elevator to another elevator and with a key and magnetic card we went all the way upstairs.  That is right!  I got to stay in one of the penthouse rooms for only a little over $100.  Wow!!!   I put the pictures here. 

So, I invited my friends up for a party.  It was not a huge party just we ate dinner and one of my friends, Khalifa pretended that he was a prince of the Penthouse!  He was hilarious!  That night was the best of the week to come.  Until I met Matar.