So, what do you do?

Life here is pretty easy, but in some ways can be really difficult.

My friends live across the hall. She teaches sixth grade science, he is a house hubby, and their two year old son is best friends with my cat. Little Man had been sick over the weekend with some kind of vomity stomach flu. He was taken to the hospital, given fluids and antibiotics, and was taken home within a couple of hours. Not that bad, right?

Yesterday, his parents were BOTH struck ill with the same stomach flu. Unfortunately for them, it hit them HARD and both were severely dehydrated and weak within hours. Dehydration kills here. A friend drove them to the hospital. We waited, and waited...they do a lot of that here, as well. Finally, they were admitted for an overnight stay with IV's of fluids, etc. But what about Little Man?

We have a close knit community at our school. Some of us have become like family. So, without a fuss, Little Man was brought home from the hospital. Sure, it took two of us to get him fed, bathed, changed, and put to bed, but hey, he's a toddler. They're like that. I stayed until midnight, then our other friend took over. She stayed the rest of the night and called out of school to stay with him today.

Why was that necessary?

There are no simple daycares here. Most people employ nannies, or if their child is in a daycare, it's long term. There aren't any daycares where you can just drop your child off every now and then. In addition, we're all a long way from the large family and friend networks we're accustomed to. One can't call Grandma, the BFF, or the in-laws. Most of the time, we're all we've got.

To that end, the principal was quite understanding. She found coverage for my friend who was babysitting, and I took my sick friend's sixth grade classes. With assistance from my good friend and teaching partner, because this sixth grade is a tough lot. Saintly patience is required. And at one point I did inform them that if they didn't behave I was going to bury them up to their necks in the sand and leave them in the desert. I didn't, though ;)

When I got home from work, I ran over to my sick friends' apartment armed with the knowledge that they were being released soon. The babysitting teacher had passed Little Man off to one of the high school teachers, so while the apartment was quiet I did their dishes. My friend came and we did the laundry. The high school teacher brought Little Man down, and I made dinner. When our friends walked in after checking out from the hospital, Little Man was ensconced on the couch eating watermelon and watching Shaun the Sheep.

We handled it. Not a lot of choices in this situation, but we all pulled together and rolled with it. It takes a village to raise a child, and the village stepped up.

Nice work, peeps.

Roaming in Oman

Yesterday was an adventure, if just for the fact that I drove through the UAE all the way to Oman. Granted, it wasn't a long trip, about two hours roughly. I hadn't been that far out in the UAE before. We drove through areas of desert where there were nothing but sand dunes and scrub brush, random herds of wild camels. When we got into the mountains on the UAE/ Oman border, it looked like the moon. The sun beat down on the rocky landscape, and the banyan trees with their odd shapes and scruffy branches stood out on that hot, dry landscape.
Going through the border control was fast and easy. They took a look at our passports and let us through to Dibba port. There were four cars in our caravan, sixteen teachers in all including my principal and her hubby. We got to Dibba and the guy from the dhow met us at the dock and led us to the boat. Now, this wasn't like a marina in Dubai. There were traditional dhows and small fishing boats. Not a high falootin' yacht to be seen, which was refreshing.

We boarded the dhow around 11am. The dhows are really basic, with cushions on the floor for seating. It was about 106 degrees, so we couldn't wait to set sail. They had emailed us the evening before and let us know that the seas would be choppy and advised us to take something for motion sickness. So glad I did! The dhow was pitching and rolling as we plodded down the coastline. The view of the mountains and the sea breeze was absolutely wonderful.

We docked in a small inlet in near Musandam. The water is so blue that you almost don't even need a snorkel to see down. We saw schools of bright blue and yellow fish, as well as a sea turtle and some needlefish. The water in the Gulf of Oman is very salty. It stung my eyes. The water is very warm at this time of year, like a mild bath. I gathered up my courage and jumped off the second floor of the dhow. All part of my motto "Do one thing every day that you're afraid of". I am sorry to report that it was not graceful by any  means; I landed sideways in the water and screamed like a little girl. But I did it!

The water left a fine coat of salt on my skin. I could actually feel it. I was a good girl. I had my fun in the sun, then put my big floppy hat on and my linen long sleeved shirt with my 100 sunblock. I think I am one of the few who did not get burned. Lunch was a simple affair of biryani rice, chicken, and Arabic bread. And cocktail wieners. That's their "international buffet" ;) Glad I brought some cookies and strawberries!

After a few hours, the boat went trundling back out and headed back down the coast. We were REALLY pitching and rolling then. People were starting to turn a bit green. There was a bad accident when a man was thrown over into some deck chairs. He was okay, but a young lady had been lying sick underneath them and got a pretty bad cut (read: stitches) and a concussion. Luckily, we were towing a motorboat and they loaded her onto it and got her back to Dibba. We ran into her friends when we docked again and found that she was alright. Poor girl.

We headed back up through the mountains and home to Dubai. Granted, the trip would have been better in cooler weather and calmer seas, but any change of scenery is much appreciated. And it's always a good time when spent with friends!

Gosh darn mother effers!!!

Now that I got that out of my system...
So, I am returning my current car rental today and getting a new one that is cheaper per month. The people at the car hire company have always been nice and helpful. But they had some bad news to share this morning.
"Yes, madam, you have a AED650 ($176USD) speeding ticket, a AED150 parking ticket ($40USD), and AED75 ($20USD) for Salik tolls. May we put this on your credit card?"
"WHAAAAAAAATTTT?!?!?!"
Now, a word about traffic rules here. It is what the government says it is. That's how they roll. This isn't a democracy. Speed signs are in strange places and sometimes they aren't there at all. The cops don't pull you over here. They in fact are never to be seen unless someone is lying dead on the highway. Does this matter? No.
Soooo...how do they catch you? Simple. Speed cameras and radar. And they don't notify you until you a) go to renew your annual registration or b) return your car hire. You can find these things out online by going to the website and plunking in your license plate number. But you won't get a ticket. You won't get pulled over. Not even a text from the municipality.
Hence, you get slammed.
If I cared to, I could check when and where all of this happened. The thing is...it wouldn't matter. There is a traffic court here, but it is pretty much useless and in the end the expat ends up paying it anyway with the additional court fees. This had already happened to a friend of mine earlier this year, and they tried to argue it. Useless. They had to pay anyway.
Might have I been speeding at some point? Possibly, given that the signage here is horrible and I never know what speed I actually should be going. The parking ticket? Nope, got no idea on that one being that I park at school, at the mall, and at the supermarket. Possible? Yes, again we're back to horrible signage. Do they care? No. It is whatever the government says it is. If they say it's a dog, even though there is the possibility it might be a duck, it's a dog.
Plain and simple.
Was I mad at first?
Yes, gosh darn mother effers!
But I have accepted that the only thing I can do it pay it and move on.
Slightly more appreciative of my rights back home and our police.
Moving on.