Moving Time...Again

Within my first week, I was given my housing assignment and location along with my housing allowance.  Now compared to years in the past, this was a lightening speed process.  In the past some groups had been stuck in a hotel for months!  They didn't leave until Oct!  So needless to say, I was happy to be out of my hotel after the first week.  But I didn't just leave the hotel, I left the city of Abu Dhabi and moved to Al Ain.  I'm still in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, but I'm out of the city and into the suburbs which ends up being about an hour and a half from the city.  Let me tell you about my trip to Al Ain...

ADEC (The Abu Dhabi Educational Council) brings all the teachers to Abu Dhabi.  They then place them in three areas:  Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and The West.  Most people want Abu Dhabi, don't mind being in Al Ain, and absolutely don't want to be in the west.  The west is very rural and nothing is going on out there.  So it was time for me to move again.  ADEC had two buses for us.  One was a charter bus.  The other looked more like and old Volkswagon van.  Well there was no room left on the charter bus, so I had to get on the van.  And guess what?  There was no more room on the truck they had for luggage so they needed to put some of it on our bus as well.  If there wasn't a person in the seat, there was a bag.  So off we went on our hour and half trip that turned into two hours and change trip.  To put the icing on the cake, the air in my van stopped working for the last forty minutes!  You want to talk about hot?!  That was an experience.

The highway view

After we arrived in Al Ain, we were given five days at another hotel to get what we needed to move into our apartment.  For the next five days I was back and forth between the mall, my apartment, and the hotel.  Here's what my apartment looked like before I moved in.

Full bathroom in bedroom 1

Half bathroom 

Bedroom 1

Hallway

Living Room

Kitchen

I have a two bedroom, two and a half bathroom apartment.  As you can see it was unfurnished.  Let me make myself clear when I say unfurnished.  That means no appliances - refrigerator, stove, washer/dryer.  That means no storage except for the cabinets in your kitchen - no closet and no shelving/drawers in the bathroom.  That housing allowance was much needed and I quickly made my way to IKEA and a few other places to make my purchases.  I still have some work to do, but I'm off to a good start.  Here's what it looks like currently.

Along with my washer, clothes rack as my dryer, refrigerator that is shorter than me, a tv, and stove.  My line sister Kelly would be proud that I don't have a microwave so I have to heat everything up in the oven...for now.

Living situation...check.  Now the school.