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Published: December 6th 2010
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This month has been a very busy one for us. We were determined to get the children into school, Eid Ul Adha was this month, as well as National Day, which is the day UAE celebrates the formation of the Emirates.
EID UL ADHA
The Eid was very disappointing. We thought the celebrations would be amazing here, but it was really low key. the prayers were at 6:30 am and we missed it. We went anyway and people were just leaving as we arrived. There were not many woman at all at the prayer grounds so I made my prayer in the car. There were no festivities really, no excitement, you didnt see anyone slaughtering a ram. We did go to the Livestock souk but it was much too crowded. So we came home and later that day went to the mall. The following day it seemed everybody headed to the park with their families for a picnic. Our plans were to go to Jabal Hafeet (the mountain) But it was too too crowded so we came home. I really missed my peeps back home! I posted a vid of the parade that took place in Al Jimi
mall for the EId celebration. also another performance that day (statue or man)
SCHOOL
Daily I went around to check out the schools. The system is basically set up like this: There are Model schools, government schools, and private schools, the majority of schools are separated by gender, though grades PreK-3 may be mixed. Model schools are top-notch government schools, only Nationals (Emirates) are allowed to attend them. My husband works in a model school. Government schools are like basic public schools, though some expats have to pay for their children to attend, it depends on what is specified in your contract. Then there’s the private schools and there are tons of them! Most of these schools have a British Curriculum. There are schools that have American curriculum, there are Indian Schools, Palestinian schools, Asian schools, there are private schools that cost a lot of money that are top-notch schools, and there are private schools that are much less, but tend to be below standard.
After going to about 20 schools and finding that we could not afford any that we really liked. We chose Global English School for our children. So far I really like the school.
First thing I liked is that it is CLEAN and believe me there were a lot of them that were not, it has a mixture of cultures and nationalities, I like both of the kids teachers, One is from India and one is from the Philippines. Abdullah & Asiyah have to take the standard classes such as English, Reading, Math, and Science. The only subject which seems to have a very low curriculumn for my kids is the English, which is understandable because for the majority of the students, English is not their first language. They do have Arabic & religion, and French. They seem to really like the school also. They did have their first day of school and all went well. I was a little apprehensive because rumor has it that many Americans took their children out of Global due to bullying by their peers. It seems so far so good. Though I was very disappointed that during their entrance exam they were given some of the answers! (common practice, because they want to make sure your child attends). So whats the point I dont know besides teaching my child that it is alright to cheat! That would
have actually made me keep on looking under normal circumstances, but we werealready at the bottom of the barrell. Anyway, I was very pleased with the amount of books we got for the price, Also we got 2 uniforms, gym clothes, and a jacket for their uniforms, I thought they were pretty good quality and I was happy with what they gave us it was well worth the money.
NATIONAL DAY
National Day was everything I though the Eid would be. It was fantastic! The whole city was lit up and decorated in some form of red, white, green and black. All of the roundabouts where decorated and lit up. The trees were so pretty!
There were fireworks, performances, and big sales. This is evidently the time to shop in UAE! lol. I have uploaded some videos from National Day. One is of a group of men doing a traditional dance. This type of performance that they are doing is shown on many tv stations here all day long so it must be a very important pastime. It was so cool also to see a portable mosque (pictured). I loved that! There is also a vid of us
riding down the street showing some decorations for National Day!
Enjoy!
I have been feeling really good this month other than Eid Day. Because I have been so busy and we are actually participating in society instead of observing from the sidelines, It feels great. I am getting to know the stores and the districts, I only have one more step for my visa.
I have been trying to shop for things I think I may be able to sell at home one of the problems that I am having is the really nice stuff is expensive and I dont want to get stuck with it. So if you have any specific preference email me and let me know 😊 right now I have bought some scarfs, some candles with islamic phrases, some small wall hangings.
sidenote: for some reason Part I of the traditional dance video would not upload on my travel blog. It is however on my Facebook.
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naima
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My babies :)