Enough Play lets get to work

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We go down to breakfast today and People are greeting us and mentioning that those of us who are moving to Al Ain are leaving at 11:00 this morning. My husband never received the email. (I find out later after our bags are packed and I am waiting for my husband to return with the trolley thing to transport our entire luggage, I start playing with the TV. And notice that he has a mail box on the TV and low and behold there are messages in it. One saying we will be traveling to Al Ain and our instructions!)
So after breakfast we run upstairs and speed pack our 12 bags of luggage! All teachers & families meet in the main foyer. 3 families are told to point out there luggage and come to the front. I see a group of Afghani men huddled up waiting and an old bus, the kind with fringe going around the windshield, there is also one of those pickup truck with metal railings for luggage. I say to my husband playfully, I think we are going somewhere with Taliban. Doesn’t this look like a scene from that movie “The road to Guantanamo “? He laughs and hushes me. (must see movie by- the- way! I watched it on computer). Our driver is Pakistani; the Afghani group gets in the truck to transport our luggage. So we do indeed get on the bus and I think to myself this is indeed the exact same bus from the movie. Party over. One of the other teachers laughs and says “well guys we can only go up from here”. We ride about 2/12 hours. We see sand dunes and the dessert which is beautiful. We also see all kinds of mosques. It is hot and I am feeling a little asthmatic. I am grateful when we arrive in Al Ain, but it doesn’t not look like I thought it would, yet anyway. It looks more like Brooklyn and I thought it was more open and green, more country. Anyway the driver is lost and leaves us on the bus while he asks tons of taxis directions to our place. I am thinking what kind of place is it that the taxis don’t know. Finally he gets back in the bus and we drive to our destination. He is getting directions from someone on the phone we pull down a street and everybody sighs a bit it looks like a pretty descent area. When we pull into the resort we're like okay okay this isn’t too bad. The resort is actually nice. The only down side is there isn’t much around it as far as food shopping and it doesn’t look like taxis come this way so that is a problem we must solve. When we pull in I immediately notice what looks like a little clay mosque. I make a mental note that I must find out the history of the mosque. But we all get out and go to check in. The woman at the front desk asks my husband for his passport so she can check him in. He says I don’t have my passport the company has it. They are the ones who sent us here they should have known that. She says okay but I need a passport to check you in. He says do you understand English I DO NOT HAVE A PASSPORT. She says yes yes I understand, but you have to give me your passport. Finally another teacher who was with us says “Look we don’t have passports, we don’t have phone numbers, we don’t have anything. Then she says okay okay we get our room keys. Go check out our rooms. And it’s more like an apartment. Very workable I hope our permanent spots are at least as decent as this one. Then they tell us our luggage is here. We all go out and get it. Taliban is helping us (JOKE!!!!) but actually they were very nice and more relaxed they got a kick out of the American kid named Abdullah. All was good. We ordered dinner from the only restaurant. I of course was scarried (as asiyah used to say) because the restaurant looked deserted and had dark windows. But they delivered it right to our room and it was delicious, better than the food at that fancy shmancy hotel, hmmmph! 1 point shakiraaaah!! Lol. Okay its after fajr and I must be getting tired cause I am getting silly. So let me wrap this up. We are here. Where’s here? I don’t know. In Al Ain somewhere. Game plan is: My husband will go to his school tomorrow and see what his plan of action is. I will go scout out a market and get us some grub! I only wish to know though how long are we staying in this spot? Will our permanent accommodations be nearby? I am a planner, aka control freak, and I absolutely do not like surprises and “winging it”. So here we go…
OHH yeah they tell us the fee for the internet is $240 a week, so you may not be seeing me for awhile.

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Comments

[Na'ima]

I don't know what to say...I'll wait until I here about your permanant dwelling and school for the kids. I just want you all to be comfy, sfae and at peace.... <3 BIG HUGS