Title Ideas???

After spending some time deliberating what I want my blog to be and how I hope to achieve sharing my experiences without sounding overly “I have something to say that everyone must hear,”  I’ve decided to use it mainly as a means to update everyone on my travels. I hope it doesn’t seem too dry nor bloggish. So here we go.

I arrived early Sunday morning after a 12 hour flight to Amman, Jordan; a 3 hour layover (which oddly seemed to take the longest of the whole trip), and a 3 hour flight to Abu Dhabi. I had one hiccup during my travel. While going through security in Jordan I was stopped at the scan station as customs decided to take a look at my Rosetta Stone. They said they hadn’t seen/heard of it before, and were nervous with the box. But that’s just what they said. In reality they pulled the box out as an after thought. Their main focus was on my intensely suspicious rubber duck. Security spent a few minutes playing with and laughing at it, making me feel all the more silly that I brought with me as a small memento from home. Totally worth it though. Got some good laughs and awws from the surrounding ladies.

It’s only been about 48 hours since I’ve arrived at the airport. My first thoughts on Abu Dhabi… Everything here has an eerie duality to it. Everyone moves at a much slower pace; but people are extremely welcoming and I find myself calmed when I would be annoyed in the US. Even the climate works differently. It’s like sticking your hand into water so hot that it feels cold: the temperature right now (a few hours after sunset) is 95F, with humidity of 75%, but it feels like walking through a breezy sauna.

Orientation has been anything but an orientation. No one seems to know for sure what is going on. Maybe that’s why every time I find out real information it seems so triumphant. Like when I found out I would for sure be in Abu Dhabi at an apartment complex filled solely by expatriate teachers. Felt great, and I celebrated at the hotel bar with some other teachers. Speaking of the other teachers, demographically, all but maybe 20 other teachers are women. I haven’t found anyone that will be teaching high school besides me.

I grouped together with two 30 year old women on my flight over, and I’ve been doing pretty much everything with them since- Kari and Nancy. Kari is moving to Al Ain (one of the other two cities that teachers are placed) once all the apartments are set up. Nancy will be living on the floor below me at the apartment complex. I know I will be on the 13th floor, but I don’t know what the address is. All I know is it’s a 2 bedroom, which is supposed to be rare for an unmarried teacher with kids, and unfurnished. So I’ll have an extra bedroom for anyone that wants to visit!

I will try to update regularly, including pictures of what I’m seeing. But until then I need some help. I don’t want to sound too generic with my blog title, like I’m sure all the other teachers here will, so I need your ideas. Got an idea for a title? Let me know! Don’t have an idea? Come up with one, and let me know!