Moore International Perspectives: August 2019

I originally planned on writing a separate blog detailing our last few days on American soil, but as I sit here in my hotel room on the other side of the the world, I realize that this will have to be a combo.

We continued our farewell tour through the month of July, spending time camping with my nieces and nephews, hanging out in Atlanta with my dad and sisters, another trip to Charleston with the twins (Kyndale and Kirkland), a stay on Lake Murray with some of our besties Becki and Eddie, and landed in Gastonia, NC for a visit with my mom. Each stop was filled with new memories and happy times. My mom was worried that this farewell tour would be like pulling a band-aid off slowly, but in true Scarlet O'Hara form, I had no problem spending this time living in the moment and with no fear of the goodbyes to come. We could just think about that tomorrow.

Girls Team: Regan & Melissa Rose

Boys Team: Landon, Sheppard and Rowan

Waterfalling

Fire Bug Sheppard

Blue Crab - Caught and Cooked at Villa de Mottram

Chris schools the kids on how to eat Blue Crab

Future Home of Hobcaw Brewing Co.

"Brother" Waylon and Kirkland

At the end of this tour, we planned a "Doodbai" farewell party. We rented a lake house on Lake Wateree a few minutes down the road from our family lake house. We spent the long weekend lounging in the water, enjoying great company and housing 12 pounds of BBQ along with all the fixin's. While there were many who were missed in the festivities, the people who were there were some of my hardest goodbyes, each one tearful and tender. At one moment, I looked up and saw the gathering of people sitting around a table sharing stories with each other. In that moment I recognized how truly lucky I am to have such special relationships with the people I love. Some people only ever have one or two true relationships throughout their life. I am lucky enough to have dozens. I hope each and everyone of these people know how much I love them and how much I appreciate the people they are and the person they have helped me become.

Bon Voyage Party

Who is having more fun here? Wyatt, Landon or Melissa Rose?

Dalton brought me Bon Voyage Flowers! He's a keeper Kyndale!

Ashlee, Kyndale, David, Dalton, Sistie, Kirkland and Elizabeth

Wyatt couldn't wait to play his tablet with Uncle Landon

We said our goodbyes and loaded up once more for our last stops stateside before the flight. We organized, unpacked and repacked our two large suit cases, one carry-on each and book bags. We spent the night in a hotel room in Greenville, though I use the term "night" loosely. We decided the best way to help our internal clocks adjust to the new time zone would be to stay awake until we left for the airport at 3AM. Landon was fairly successful with taking only a 30 minute nap sometime around 2:30AM. I, on the other hand, could only make it until 1AM. We arrived at the airport, checked our bags and proceeded to the gate. There would be a two hour flight to New Jersey, a three hour layover and then a 12 hour flight from New Jersey to Dubai. Accounting for the time zone difference, we would arrive in Dubai on Thursday at 8:30AM.

Deek sent us off in style in Greenville

The flight to Dubai was pretty miserable. Landon and I were sandwiched in the middle most seats of a four person row. We are seriously considering paying whatever the prices are for an upgrade on return flights in the future. But outside of our extreme discomfort and being packed like sardines, the flight went smoothly. We arrived in Dubai and met up with other teachers in our group. Unfortunately, the electricity was not set up upon our arrival, so the school put us in a hotel for a few days. This was actually a blessing. While I have been battling an extreme need to nest and prepare our home for this new life, the hotel includes WiFi, breakfast, currency exchange, and a never ending line of taxis ready to whisk you away to a destination of your choosing.

Our first excursion was to the Mall of the Emirates. This mall is huge and boasts an indoor ski slope. While shopping would be a reoccurring theme for the next few days, we had two very specific purposes for this visit. First, acquire sim cards for our phones so that we could connect with friends and family without incurring ridiculous fees via AT&T and second, get some dinner. We opted to go with Virgin Mobile mostly because the teacher we were with had already done the research and found this to be the best deal. We were able to pay for 12 months up front and save 50% on the bill. While we don't have a large amount of international calling minutes, we do have a pretty hefty data package which should come in very handy when using web apps for video chat.

Mall of the Emirates

In the mall, and through our experiences thus far, one of the biggest differences to note is the wide variety of people we have encountered. Dubai is an international hub. In walking through the mall I encountered people from almost every corner of the world. Because of this, Dubai doesn't fall into some of the stereotypes associated with middle eastern culture. For example, I was very worried about what clothes I would be able to wear in public as I am a lover of all things shorts and tank tops. As I walked through the mall, I saw plenty of men, women and children dressed in casual attire and in fact, felt quite comfortable in my longer shorts and short sleeve shirt. This doesn't mean that modest dress isn't appreciated, but instead just means that I will be a tad more comfortable than I originally thought.

Another point of interest is the friendliness of the people in Dubai. I think I expected a more stoic attitude among the Emirati, but what I noticed so far is that the people I have encountered here are not only kind and welcoming, but love to share their stories. A developing theme is the story of how and when a person came to Dubai. Dubai itself is not an old city. Many of the people who call it home are immigrants from other places and therefore have a unique story to share of how they came here and where they come from. Most, so far, have come here to earn a better living and plan to return to their home countries in the future. Sounds familiar. These stories have a way of instantly bonding the people here and I appreciate it. In some regards, I have already gained a sense of normalcy and I think it is due to this common thread.

A friend told me before I came that "Life is very easy in Dubai." I didn't really understand at first, but I think I am coming to learn what that means. Here, you can order almost anything day or night. There are always taxis available. I can have my laundry washed, dried, folded and returned to me in less than 24 hours for around $15. I can have groceries delivered to me day or night for a minimal cost. I have yet to carry my own luggage or shopping bags as there is always a man ready to assist. To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about this yet. While I am more than excited to enjoy the easy life, I am already questioning how these luxuries can be afforded. I wonder how people are able to make a reasonable, fair wage. I wonder about all the boxing and plastic packaging used to deliver meals. I know I will need to reconcile these things soon and wonder how I will find a balance between the luxuries of Dubai and personal responsibility.

The biggest struggle for me in a land of ease and comfort has been the jet lag. I remember from my time in Indonesia that it took me about a week to really adjust to the new time zone. I have no doubt I will experience the same here. On Friday, I got up at 6AM and walked at least half of the mall (approximately 5 miles) during the day. I was still unable to go to sleep until around 4:30AM. I slept on Sunday until 10:30. We went to Ikea on Saturday, and I was luckily able to get to sleep by 11:00pm. Unfortunately I woke up on Sunday at 3:30AM. While I have tried to keep myself busy enough for exhaustion, sleep still seems to elude me.

The jet lag is compounded with the first week of school jitters. Many teachers know exactly what I am talking about. The intensity of your mind racing about the possibilities, the laundry list of things to do and the anxious energy building up to meeting your students. Imagine this syndrome on steroids. When I am awake in the middle of the night I cannot quiet my brain. Not only do I have the teacher jitters, I have the new house, new country, and new everything jitters. Hopefully in the coming days, I will continue to adjust and try to get some rest. I won't hold my breath though.

So I leave you now, on my way momentarily to my first day of school (new teachers only, professional development). Next week, I hope to have some pictures of our apartment and some interesting sights. Welcome to Dubai.