Live from Al-Ain

I'm sitting at my school right now here in Al-Ain waiting for the bus to arrive to take me back to my flat. I'm so glad the weekend is here. I'm tired. I'm happy though because I had a really productive week with my teachers. I actually think that the English teachers are competent and understand the problems facing the school better than I have been led to believe. I'm not sure though. I shall see once school gears up and I can see them in action. I was led to believe that they would be uncooperative and not willing to embrace new ideas. I have found my English teachers to be exactly the opposite. They are willing to sit and discuss business and are very cooperative thus far.

School opens on Sunday and Ramadan begins on Monday so not a whole lot will happen during the first month...however, I'm looking forward to the challenge of this job.

What else? I don't really have any weekend plans. I opted not to take the trip to Abu Dhabi tomorrow. I just want to relax a bit. Anyway. I'm getting a kick out of watching the DNC on Al-Jazeera International. Then switching to BBC, then to CNN, then to the French station. It's all quite interesting to see their differing slants. I like Al-Jazeera's coverage the best so far.

I've developed some sinus allergies. I'm in the desert for goodness sake. This shouldn't be happening. It started the day after we had a deluge. Oh man, watching Emirati (and ex-pat) drivers trying to cope with rain-soaked roads was akin to watching a Floridian highway during a blizzard. Erratic would be an understatement. I saw two accidents while walking home and I only live about 600 meters from the mall where I was walking home from. Anyway. I digress. I have some allergies so I'm taking it easy. I want to explore Al-Ain some more...maybe check out the camel souq and definitely check out the vegetable souq.

Signing off from Al-Ain,

Richard the Nomad