Of Grass Roots and Grass Routes

New Hampshire is in the midst of another political season...which is the season that occurs right after Pot Hole season. Yes, that really is a season, here. It is marked by cars falling into house-sized craters and amazing road crew members, like Bill Goss, Bill Dumais, and Ernie Butler filling those holes back in with something called "Hot Mix" which is different from what you play on your I-Pod. Yet, I digress. New Hampshire's political season is marked with what are known as "Grass Roots" campaigns; the attempt by several aspiring intelligent (or not) people coming into our state to throw their hat into the ring.

I am launching my own "Grass Roots" campaign...that of going overseas to Abu Dhabi, to teach Emirati students to speak and write English well enough to get into a good college and compete for amazing jobs. I would like to call my journey a Grass Skirt campaign, because I've never been to Hawaii and always wanted to wear a grass skirt and dance the Hula at a luau...yet I digress...It's true, I can't refer to this as my Grass Skirt campaign because doing so would violate the morality laws of the Arabic culture I plan to join. Abu Dhabi is an amazing place, which you would know if it were as popular a destination as Hawaii. Most people ask two questions of me when I tell them where I am going..."Is it safe?" and "Where will you live?"   Thank goodness I have good answers ready for them: Yes, it's very safe, and I have no idea where I will live, that is part of the mystery and adventure. But I do get a generous housing allowance as part of my salary and I will be able to find an amazing apartment or villa in the city. 

The culture is lenient toward Westerners (Me) because Abu Dhabi relies on a large influx of ex-pats to work in the country--doing everything from building construction, teaching, healing, cleaning to working at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Race track and at Ferrari World (Who says this can't be a "destination retreat?) However, there are some rules about what Westerners and other ex-pats can and can't do. Walking around in a bathing suit or other scanty clothing is forbidden; they actually prefer that your collarbone and your elbows are covered. Skirts should go below the knee. Although I don't have to wear a burqa, as I am not a Muslim, or a Hijab (head covering) there are certain articles of clothing I will purchase or bring with me to wear. As a fairly modest woman, I don't think I will have problems with this particular rule. I am also packing my bathing suits and shorts, as I know there will be opportunities to wear those around my own home. Due to the strict rulings about clothing, I will not have to look at any more sagging, bagging pants on young men, in fact most young men will wear a long, white garment known as a dishdasha or kurta over cotton pants and shirt. Because this is a country that prides itself on modesty, the smart ex-pat will be respectful of these rules. The other important rule to remember is that of separate spaces for men and women. Women do not visit men in their apartments or homes, and vice versa. All visiting is done in public places with other folks present. Since I will be part of a teaching community of other ex-pats, I am sure they already participate in group activities and events and am looking forward to joining them.

Westerners do go out, and there are wonderful restaurants, theater, concerts and other events to attend. That's another thing I am looking forward to. Living in NH, one is isolated from the large city performances. Although I go frequently to the theater in Concord, NH and the New London Players, it has been a long time since I have seen a big-name concert. 

Those are just some of the random thoughts I have this morning as I pack up my house, and think about the new life ahead. I began by thinking about how this journey is a bit of a Grass Roots experience for me...I'm leaving my own grass roots and moving to a location that will bring new experiences, new knowledge and new friends. I will not be forgetting my own roots, though, we will keep in touch. We will just be going down a different Grass Route.

FAREWELL TOUR~TAKE 2

The process of saying "Goodbye" began, for me, last November. I knew I wanted to go overseas, so I was sort of trying on the idea of how it felt to be my last Thanksgiving, my last Christmas season (as I will probably be home for the actual holiday) my last Easter, my last visit with friends. Pretty soon, I will be getting down to my last trip to the store, my last sleep in my own bed, with my own pillow, my last morning looking at my face in the mirror. But with about 5-7 weeks left, I am still in the process of saying goodbye to people. Today I had an amazing visit with some of my oldest friends from New Britain, Ct. I attended New Britain High School with these folks and some of them go all the way back to Slade Jr. High School and at least two (Bill F and Kim D) go all the way to third grade at Vance Elementary school. 
There is something very comforting about having people in my life who go back so far; we share the common memories of square dancing, Mrs. Olson, and Religion classes. We share learning about the assassination of JFK in 3rd grade, we share common understanding of who the neighborhood toughs were, and what the neighborhood secrets were. 
By the time we made it through elementary school, we got up to the confusing experience of Junior High, now known as Middle School. By Junior High school, the stories about the teachers were legend...the teachers who could pick a student up by the front of a shirt, who used a cattle prod to shock students, Mr. Hogan, and the scary science teacher who was also a part time police officer. I'm pretty sure he thought each one of us was a criminal in the making. Such is the stuff of middle school memories. 
By high school, I was finding my friends and making inroads into who I wanted to be. Most of that ended on Dec 31, 1972 when I moved with my family from New Britain to Jackson NH. There was a gap left where my friends were. A gap that I have tried to fill since then. The goodbye process helped me out today as I met with some of those wonderful friends from high school that I had known way back then. Most of them I hadn't seen since 1972. The reunion was a wonderful picnic with about 35 folks from the good old days. Granted, some didn't remember me, and some I didn't know at that time, and they didn't know me. But that's the good thing about reunions. We are all adults, now, the cliques are gone and we all can meet each other on an equal footing. The stories went around. The memories were poignant and the day was truly a day in which friendships were rekindled. 
I thank my life-long friends Deb P and Carole N for going with me.

It's a Small World, After All

It is so exciting to open my blog each day and check out how many people are reading my blog. Today, someone from Letterkenny, Donegal took a look at what I'm writing. Donegal? Really? Wow. It seems I'm getting a lot of views...Fowlerville, Michigan, Lady Lake, Florida, Nashville Tennessee, and Cincinnatti, Ohio. That's just today. I would love it if each person would leave a little "Here I am" comment and tell me where they are from, or who they are, or why they came to my page. It's fascinating to write this blog and have it read by so many people. I live in a small town in New Hampshire, where we have no Walmart, no Target, only one grocery store, and 4 gas stations. (When you live that far from a major city, you have to buy a lot of gas to get there.) Right now, I work in an even smaller town that is an hour from home.
So, stop and visit for a bit, leave a note or comment, and hopefully you will click on one of my sponsors. Tell me what you like or don't like about my blog. Right now it's a bit blase, as I haven't actually set foot in Abu Dhabi, yet. Once I get there, I hope to have lots to say;-)

A Post about Posters

I have an extensive classroom poster collection. Some of my favorite books and authors are documented in my posters. I have laminated most of them for long-term use. I have enjoyed hanging them in my classrooms, over the last 12 years of teaching in New Hampshire. Now, I am going through them to bring a good selection to Abu Dhabi. I'm aware I can't take them all. Physically, they would take up too much space to ship. But I have acquired two heavy duty shipping tubes, and I am going to roll and ship as many as I can...but that comes with a heavy responsibility. We know that teaching in the Middle East is not the same as teaching in the US. As I lovingly peruse my posters, I reject some outright...the wonderful Star Wars poster from 2005 Father's Day, proclaiming "Who's Your Daddy?" The poster proclaiming "Go and Read" with a beautiful library in the background, I reject due to the young girl dressed in her finest dress, complete with a straw boater...but her arms are poking out from the short sleeves, and you can see her elbows. I love Charlotte's Web and have used it extensively in the high school classroom when we discuss farm life, rural ways, etc. But, it has a pig, both in the picture and in the story; a strictly forbidden concept in Abu Dhabi.

I will take my posters of Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Marion Anderson, When Marion Sang, and Zora Neale Hurston, as I think those will translate into the Arabic classroom. I reject the beautiful photo/poster of the book, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands as too Christian.

I take with me the first poster I purchased for $10 from a former student and amazing artist, Wes Sweetser. It is a pastel chalk of Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It is a wonderful recreation and always leaves my students a bit breathless as they peer through the clear blue sky to discover the fallen city hidden in the background. Another poster I will bring, a water color created by another former student, Michelle Yount, for a classroom project of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. I take this because I expect I will be teaching The Raven as I introduce my high school readers to Western literature.

I will take along several reminders of my American heritage that will remain in my apartment, the Jackson Covered Bridge,

a water color, painted by my dear colleague and friend, Denis Chasse, (the photo linked here is a reasonable facsimile of Denis's painting but is an internet photo) and a Josten's yearbook poster commemorating 9/11. I will also take a water color, "For Freedom" by my dear friend, Gabriel Krekk, a Hungarian-Canadian artist. And last, but not least, I will carry across the seas my reproductions of our nation's historical documents, The Star Spangled Banner, the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Patrick Henry's speech. I hope as I take this little bit of my academic history and our US history to Abu Dhabi I am able to convey to my students what a wide historical and literary richness can be found in these posters and paintings.

Packing,

Each day I am confronted by a variety of things to pack, not to pack, or put aside to think about. I have a cardboard box for all things "schoolish" so that they are not randomly spread about the house. (Ok, most people call this organizing, but since I don't do that, this is the closest I come to being organized, yes, a box on the floor)

In today's e-mail I find this helpful little tidbit of information...it includes things like duct tape...duct tape? you ask. Yes, Everyone needs some. See other suggestions here

Where I'd Like to Live

Ok, if you are following this blog, you may be getting updates and nothing is here...that's because I am trying to link to the Grand Millennium and giving myself a little HTML lesson at the same time. Be patient, maybe this time it will work.

This is where I hope to live.

I'VE GOT A DATE!

Things in the Middle East do not move at exactly the same continuum that they do in the US. Since beginning this process, I have been told that I would be starting my job in Abu Dhabi in August and all teachers would go over in August. Well, August is a long month, and there are lots of opportunities to either do or not do something fun during that time.

However, feeling somewhat bold during the last e-mail communication I had with my recruiter, I asked when the new teachers would be expected to go over. The response: According to the calendar for the 2011-2012 school year, new teachers would start on August 14.

Wow, August 14. Now the reality sets in. Now I really do need to finish up all the little things I need to do. Folks keep asking me where I will live. Well, since I don't know the area at all, I'm merely going with a suggestion on the Teach Away board. If I can afford it, I would like to stay at the Grand Millennium in one of their hotel/apartment suites. I will post a link for you.