Alex's Adventure Is Over

Well, tonight it was back to the airport to collect Alex. He is home from Thailand and very tired but happy. He had an amazing trip and we will be posting his pictures soon. Among the many things he did, he gave an elephant a bath, visited with monks and offered alms, planted rice in a rice paddy, and took a hike up a mountain to a temple. He is healthy and only has a few mosquito bites. He enjoyed hot springs to swim in and had beautiful weather every day. His only complaint - he does not want to have rice for awhile. It seems he had rice with every meal while there - rice, vegetables and chicken. His only request when we picked him up was a hamburger. After dinner at Hard Rock Cafe we came home and he went to bed early. I can't wait to hear about all of his adventures. He also said the snake show was "cool" and he wasn't afraid.
My week in the nurses office is over and I now have to rest up tomorrow for my two nights at the hospital. We all survived the week! It is good to have Alex home.

More Random News

This week has been kind of busy. I am working at the school every day, but it is a slow, steady work and not too stressful. We are just putting bandaids on boo boos and taking temperatures, that kind of thing. I am discovering I like the hours much better then the 12 hour shifts at the hospital and Ed and I are contemplating me finding something more on the lines of 6 hour shifts at a clinic or Drs. office. I spoke with the school doctor yesterday and he is opening a new clinic real close to the school and will probably be looking for help. I told him I don't want to work every day and he asked me to submit my resume. I just don't know how I would tell the hospital I am leaving already. They have been very nice to me, I am just not into the long hours right now and the language barrier is very difficult. I still cannot answer the phone with ease as the people on the other end talk too fast and I end up handing the phone to someone who can understand. Frustrating for me and them. I will go in and talk with them next week. I am hoping to help with teaching and maybe they can make that a day job with shorter hours.
No new news from Alex. He is due to come home tomorrow and his teacher posted that they were very busy and only had intermittent internet access. But she did say all was well. The doctor was telling me that last year the kids from Thailand didn't come home with any illnesses. I hope that is the case this year too. Otherwise, I told him he will be seeing me real soon. It is very nice that the doctor stops into the school twice a week Mon and Wed for about 1/2 an hour and will see kids or adults if there are any problems medically. It does come in handy when you have a child that you just are not sure of. He does a full assessment and will talk with parents etc.
The weather continues to be beautiful. Mid 70s and breezy with no humidity. Nights are cool. I have to keep reminding myself it is February!

Random News

Alex's trip to Thailand must be going well. His teachers set up a website for us to visit and they blog about what they have been doing. They had hoped to post some pictures, but so far nothing. The first day they were there they visited an Elephant Dung Factory (EWWWW!) and found out how they make paper from it. I guess they have a steady supply of the stuff. They also saw a snake show and I can't wait to hear Alex's reaction. He does NOT like snakes.
The weekend is going fast as usual. Since I started working, I don't have much opportunity to travel around anymore. I am thinking about starting to work during the week a few days so I am able to have some fun on weekends. That will probably start the next schedule. Anyway, work was very busy the past two days. We had a lot of sick patients this time and I got to see how the hospital responds to emergent type situations. So far I am pleased. Although, the poor girls from India are like deer in the headlights when doctors show up. They are so afraid of them it is a shame. I reminded them that doctors are just people. But they just shake their heads and still look afraid. Of course, some of the doctors feed off of that fear and intimidate the girls even more. It is sad to watch.
This week I will be working in the school nurse's office Sun - Weds. I have started to think of that work as fun. The day goes by rather quickly and Greg is around, so it is worth the few extra dollars I get from working there. I don't usually see Alex until the day is over. He stays pretty close to his building. Greg has a few free minutes and stops in occasionally. Then it will be back to the hospital for Thurs and Friday night. I think Saturday will be a mandatory relaxation day. And the next week I am doing NOTHING! (except maybe shopping to spend all my money).

Alex's Great Adventure

Last night we said good bye to Alex at the airport. He is on his way to Thailand with 23 of his friends and 4 teachers. We drove him to the airport early as traffic in Dubai and at the airport that time of night is terrible. We actually got there in good time, had time to walk around a bit and have something to eat. Greg came along and that was a good reason for us to leave when we did as Greg had some homework to finish. Otherwise, I probably would have wanted to stay longer, at least until the group passed through security. The teachers were busy getting the kids passports together and into groups and getting all the tickets straightened out. They were very organized. Alex likes all of the chaperones. They seem like a fun group. So when we said goodbye, all the boys were standing together talking and it just seemed OK to leave. We are now waiting for confirmation that they got there. An e-mail will be sent to all parents confirming this sometime today. I will be checking my e-mail often.
The school trip that is going to India had to rebook everything one day before they were scheduled to leave due to striking in the area where they were "supposed" to go. It was a massive undertaking and took a teacher all night to get straightened out. Flights needed to be rebooked for 24 kids plus teachers, hotels rebooked, etc. etc. I would have said just stay home, but they got it done. These teachers are super dedicated or crazy????
Today also is another sandstorm day. The temperature has dropped and it is very windy with sand and dirt blowing around. I am happy to stay home today, as I have to go to work tonight. I like days like this to sleep and be lazy.

The Weather in Dubai is Changing

This morning when we got up, there was so much fog you could not see the skyscrapers behind our house. This is usually a sign of change in the weather. It is very humid this morning and the temperature is slowly rising every day. 78 - 80. Not too bad though, still tolerable and not enough to make me want to turn on the a/c. I am starting to open windows however, so that is a sign that things are changing. I have to be careful because pretty soon the winds will blow again and then we will have dust and sand in the house, then I WILL turn on the a/c.
As I post this, David's party is probably wrapping up. Amy rented a limousine for David and a few friends to go out and celebrate. I am hoping all is well. There are no messages for me so I assume they had a good time and everyone survived. Although they may have headaches on Sunday morning. Amy and Dave are getting along fine in the house and they seem to have a good routine down.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX AND DAVID!!!!!!!

I Have to post about this awesome day, well maybe one of the most awesome days. All my kids were born on awesome days. But today is Alex and David's birthdays. Alex is 13 and David is 21. OMG!!!! David a real adult! Look out world.

Medcare Hospital Funny

There are many things about the culture in Dubai that I don't know. I am careful not to offend and I question a lot before I say or do anything. Working in an Arab Hospital is always a learning experience for me. Last night I had an experience that made everyone laugh. I was taking care of a man who had had a penile prosthesis placed two days prior to my coming to work. He was Arab from Dubai. Report was that he was walking, voiding OK and all was well and he would be discharged in the morning. OK, so I am thinking this will be alright, nothing crazy about this patient and all will be well. He was a very nice man, and yes all was well, bandages were in tact (thank God!) and the night started out fine. My supervisor came to me and said that this man's wife wanted to book an appointment for herself with an ENT doctor the next day and he was getting it scheduled and would let me know the time. When the supervisor got it all scheduled he gave the appointment to the patient and told me it was all taken care of. I went into the room to give the patient a medication and there was a woman in bed with him ( I assumed was his wife) and I asked if he got the information from my supervisor and he said yes but that is for my "OTHER WIFE". He has three wives. OMG!!!! No wonder he needed his prosthesis. I hope I didn't offend him by the look on my face. Now are all of you laughing.
If you have picked yourself up off the floor from laughing at me, now I can write about something else. This morning when I did leave work, I finally got the feeling that I belonged. People were asking me when I work again, they actually all talked to me in English all night, and these girls are very huggy and they all gave me good bye hugs. I said good bye in Arabic. I feel like I am their mother, but I am starting to belong. Also the supervisor asked me to get involved in teaching and I am going to meet with him this week about getting a program in progress and hopefully, maybe work some days teaching instead of nights on the floor. Aside from supervisor, he is nurse educator and he is aware the girls need a bit more information then they got when they started. It isn't that they don't want to do their job, they just do not know what is expected of them. They do what they THINK they need to do. The hospital needs to set some standards and that is where I will help. I hope.

Another night at work

I worked last night with an Indian girl named Renu. She is a really cute, well prepared nurse. She knows what to do and where to find anything in the hospital. It turns out she has been with Medcare since before they opened and she had some stories to tell about the very first patient etc. She was very fun to talk with, spoke very good English and when people would drift into their native language, she would translate for me or tell them to speak English. I really appreciated that. She lives in Abu Dhabi which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from here. Her husband was promoted and they moved about a month ago. I asked her why she didn't get a job there and she told me that Medcare helped her get her Visa and if she quits she would be deported for six months. She is only getting paid 4,000 Dirhams which is about $1,000 a month for 48 hour weeks. She did get them to schedule her every other day so her trips are fewer but she also told me if she would try to get another job in the Emirates they would not be able to hire her because she needs a No Contest Certificate from Medcare and they won't give her one. All of this made me feel really bad for her. She is really stuck. Her husband wants her to quit work and stay home with their children, she wants to work and not lose her skills. So she continues where she is....... Another sad fact, she doesn't drive, so she has to take a bus on days when her husband is working, so from Medcare she takes a bus to the middle of Dubai and catches another bus to Abu Dhabi, another expense that she does not get paid for. My life looks so good right now. I will never complain again.
Ed did get home last night a few minutes before I was scheduled to leave so he drove me to work and we had some time to talk. Thursday nights are a nightmare here in Dubai as far as driving. The drive usually takes me 15 minutes, last night took an hour. He also picked me up and that gave us more time as he is leaving this evening and won't be back till Monday. I did get to see my Valentine on Valentines Day!!!!!
Alex continued with his fever and stomach cramps today. I am really hoping he gets better soon. He is leaving for Thailand on Wednesday. Another thing to worry about!!!!! If he is not better tomorrow, I am calling a doctor. His symptoms are so vague I wonder if they aren't a result of the Typhoid shot he needed for his trip. Life goes on.....

Back to Life as Usual????

For us, the week is almost over. It is Thursday and the boys only have a 1/2 day of school. Alex woke up with a fever and stomach ache so he is staying home. I am trying to relax today as I go to work tonight at 7:00. Ed is still in Saudi. He left on Monday and he is trying to get a flight home tonight for a quick visit and then he will have to leave again on Friday night to go to Quatar. I almost haven't had time to miss him, but it will be good to have him around. I like coming home to him in the morning from work - he always has breakfast ready for me and then makes me go to bed. I think after my shift I must look like I need to go to bed.
One incidental event that I haven't posted about - the boys go to school on a bus that is contracted with the school. We pay for the service and they pick the kids up right at our front door. A service that would be very nice in NY. When they are going to be late, they call me. This morning Greg was waiting and the phone rang, sure enough the bus was stuck in traffic and would be five minutes late. I thought it would be interesting to see how accurate they are and 4 1/2 minutes later, they pulled up.
I am starting to look forward to going to work. I really do enjoy the work at Medcare, I just have a problem with the lack of work. By about 1:00 AM when the patients are sleeping, there is nothing to do. We literally sit around with nothing to do for hours. Last week I took a new admission just for something to do. The nurses looked at me like I had three heads. I am just in the habit of being super busy at work and it feels odd to just sit. Some nurses even go find a room and sleep and this is OK with management as long as the other nurses know where you are??????? I had a conversation with the nursing supervisor last week about a preceptorship program which this hospital does not have. I told her I was a preceptor at St. Clares and she asked me if I would be interested in helping get one started. I told her yes, as soon as I felt I knew enough about the hospital myself. I did not have a long orientation, one shift before I took patients. I am still asking a lot of questions when I work but I am feeling a bit better. One of the nurses asked what a preceptor does and when I explained it to her, she didn't like the fact that someone would be watching her do her "work". That made me wonder - is she doing it the right way??????? Scary. She also seemed to think it would take too long???? I found myself wondering why does she care, as we are sitting here doing nothing for hours anyway. But I think they are getting accustomed to this way of doing things. The hospital is new and the nurses are here from other countries and I don't think the hospital has a usual way of doing anything. I watched a nurse chart an assessment on a patient five minutes after he came in, he did not even see the patient. We will see how this works out.
Our weather has been absolutely gorgeous. It is about 75-80, no humidity and sunny. The nights are cool and it is just nice to be outside. I am going to try and get out more because soon, it will be too hot. Ed and I are trying to plan a trip to Egypt with the kids (David and Amy also are coming to visit) in June. I like the idea of visiting the pyramids and a cruise down the Nile. Those two things are on my list of must haves....

Final Day of Hatta Trip

This will finish my "tales of Hatta". Thursday morning before breakfast, the kids packed up most of their belongings. There was a race to see who was the neatest - boys or girls. I think it was a tie. Both sides did an awesome job. The teachers decided to delete one of the mornings activities so that we could linger over breakfast and take our time getting to our next event - Gastropod gulch. I had to ask a teacher what a gastropod was????? Now I know I am not smarter then a 5th grader. This was an area in the mountains set aside for hikers to enjoy the mountains and find fossils of gastropods. There are literally millions of them in this one area. I sat by the car and watched as the kids climbed around, wrote in their journals, toured a cave, and enjoyed their last day of their trip. After lunch, the teachers taught the kids about orienteering with compasses and called it Oreoteering because when they got to their destinations, the teachers had hidden Oreo cookies for them. After a short walk to the busses it was time to head home. Oh and did I mention there were no bathroom facilities - all day - AGAIN!!!!
I got home Thursday evening around 4:30. I had a few hours to make dinner, clean up and pass out on the sofa. Friday and Saturday I had to work at Medcare 7-7 . Sunday, we had a mini celebration for Alex's 13th birthday. Ed took Alex to Boy Scouts and Mona helped me shop. We had Cade and Alex J. over for snacks, cake and a sleep over. The kids had Monday off from school. It was not a huge celebration but Alex seemed happy. I did all this on about 4 hours of sleep on Sunday. Monday, I wanted to die!!! I was so tired, but we had to take Alex into school for his "student led conference". This is a parent/teacher conference but it is lead by the student. They present themselves and some of their work from the year so far and talk about their strengths and areas that need improvement. Alex made us proud. He did a very good job. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I worked all day in the school nurses office. I can't remember why I ever said anything to anyone about wanting to work????? I feel like that is all I have been doing. But it has been fun. I am going to bed early tonight..........

Continuation of trip to Hatta

The second day of our trip was really exciting and annoying for me. It started out with all of us piling into 4 x 4s, each adult had 5 children in their car. The ride was very mild until we hit the mountains and the roads ended. The ride got very bumpy and exciting as the driver would go very fast at times and kick up a lot of dust. That was the fun part. Our ride took us to the Hatta Falaj and Date Farm. I didn't know what a falaj was, but the 5th graders were talking about it and asking where it was. The show, Are you smarter then a 5th grader came to mind. For those of you who care, it is a system of irrigation from ground water in the middle of a mountain in the desert. The area was very green, lush and beautiful. There were orange and lemon trees and usually dates, but the dates had already been harvested for this season. We did eat some of the oranges. The teachers noted that the kids who don't usually eat oranges were enjoying them it seemed because they came right from the tree. My problem during this part of the trip was the hiking into the falaj. It was very rocky, full of stones, pebbles, and hills. I could not walk without feeling like I was going to fall so the owner of the 4 x 4s assigned one of the drivers to "escort" me..... He didn't leave my side, even pealing my orange for me. He held my arm so tight at times that the next day I had a bruise. But he did a wonderful job, I only fell once and I don't think even he could have prevented it. I was going down a steep hill and just slid. I will take this time to tell you that I will never wear sneakers to hike again. From the farm the trip took us to explore a wadi which is an area of water virtually hidden in the mountain. I DID NOT hike down to the wadi instead waiting by the cars. I was not taking any more chances. Unfortunately, one of the girls turned her ankle and they had to drive her back to us. I took care of her and when the rest of the class caught up, we left to go back to the hotel. This whole day I might add was accomplished without any facilities.
That evening, the hotel put on an Arabic dinner for us complete with music and torches, tent and low tables with pillows to sit on. Many of the kids dressed in Arab garb for the occasion. The food was really good and it was not soon after that the kids were ready to settle down for sleep. They were all really tired. The tent was very quiet that night as we all were tired.

Home From Hatta

I just got home from Hatta this afternoon. It was a very interesting trip. I have so much to post. Our first day, we boarded the tour buses at 8:15 in the morning. We drove about 40 minutes to the Sharja Archeological Museum. It was a small but interesting museum. The 5th grade teachers had prepared a "Naturalists Guide" for the kids to use during their trip. They could follow along with their guide, answer questions and draw pictures which got them really involved in the museum. They will also be getting a grade on this at the end of the trip. There were 72 kids on the trip and they were so well behaved that they even caught the attention of a group that was behind us. The teacher of this group approached me and asked what kind of book they were using. She really liked it and the teachers were laughing about getting a patent for it. After we left the museum, we drove on to a "Women Only Park" in Sharja. The men had to wait outside. It is a park for Arab women who bring their children and they can take off their abayas without men seeing them. It was a beautiful park, all run and cared for by women. From there we went to the Hatta Heritage Village - by now I am ready for a nap. This is a village - with A Fort, houses, shops - all designed to show how life was back in the early days of Dubai. I found I was comparing many things to America and my field trip with Alex in 4th grade.
This is also where I found I had brought the wrong shoes for my trip. I could not walk up any hills as most of Hatta is stones, pebbles and rocks and my sneakers were not very good walking shoes. I was slipping on the stones and it was a bit scary thinking the nurse may need a doctor, so I decided not to take any chances. Alex commented that Hatta is like being on the moon and he is right, there is almost no grass and not much sand. When we left the village we went to our destination of camping for the night - The Hatta Fort Hotel. This is were I really enjoyed myself. The Hotel had set up a large tent on the grounds. It had an area for boys, an area for girls and a dining area and doors. The areas were divided with huge drapes. This was not an ordinary tent. It had lights, rugs and draperies almost nicer then in my house. We set up our areas and had some free time before dinner. The hotel invited us up to the main dining room for dinner that night as a "treat". The teachers lectured the kids about being considerate around the hotel guests and they were excellent. We did have a room to ourselves and the buffet seemed designed for American kids, fried chicken, french fries, onion rings etc etc. They also had the usual Arabic salads and sides. It was a really nice dinner and afterwards the teachers took the kids outside to stargaze and freeze as the weather was really cold that night - not cool but cold. We turned in around 10 and after lights out the girls all said in unison "Good Night Boys" and then the boys responded "Good Night Girls". It was very cute. I will post more tomorrow as this is getting a bit long.

You may find this interesting

I saw these two articles today and thought of you guys.

I think the CIA just attacked your internet.

Khaleej Times - Ships did not cause Internet cable damage

GlobalResearch.ca - Pentagon regards the Internet as an "enemy weapons system"

In conclusion, our government is profoundly lacking in intelligence (both kinds).

Hassan the Carpet Man

Every few months a carpet salesman knocks on our door. He has a small car with 60 or so hand made carpets in it, rolled or folded. I usually tell him no thank you and he leaves. This month Ed answered the door and told him to come back tomorrow night. Now we are obligated to at least look at his carpets. When he walked into our house he commented that he has been doing this job for 30 years and this is the first time he has walked into an American's house and they have "machine made" carpets on the floors. Now I am feeling really guilty!! When we moved here we wanted a quick "fix" to the echos so we went to Carrfour and bought cheap rugs. He did have beautiful carpets. The thing I like most about these carpets is that when you look at them from different angles, they change colors. They also appreciate in value over time. So now Ed and I are hooked. We ended up buying 3 carpets. One will look really nice in our new addition when we go back home to NY. The other two carpets we bought for Greg and Alex as they did not have any rugs in their rooms yet and they claim their floors are "cold". Imagine - being in Dubai and having cold floors!!!!! I am now addicted to the rugs and want to buy more but I will wait until I get my new furniture and decide on colors. Hassan left me with his phone number. The boys were impressed at how he got so many carpets into such a small car.
I posted last week about winter being over, but I guess it isn't. Today it is cool, cloudy and rainy. Kinda like November in NY. I plan on shopping today and getting ready for my trip. I hope the weather clears before tomorrow. I can't imagine hiking and sleeping in a tent in the rain or wait maybe that will be like Cub Scout or Boy Scout camp. Yes I can do this!!!!

Sand Storm and cultural experiences at work

Yes, we did have a major sandstorm yesterday. When Ed picked me up at work in the morning, the wind was blowing and sand was flying across the road, kind of like the way snow flies early in a snowstorm. Gradually throughout the day, it got cloudier and foggier, darker and just plain dreary. It was a great day for me to sleep. But I guess the wind and sand were the major issues making roads a bit slippy and then the temperature dropped as well. The wind also blew any stray paper or construction debris around roads and into yards. Driving was difficult because of visibility and wind gusts that could push a car around. I understand in Abu Dhabi that there was also torrential rain with the blowing sand. UGH!! Mud everywhere, at least we didn't have that. In the middle of all this, they were trying to have the second day of the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament right behind our house. If you watch it, you can see the villas that make up part of our neighborhood. It was kinda cool to see something so popular and know it was practically in our backyard. Now, I know how John feels when the golf tournament comes to Hilton Head. Maybe Jonathan will be in one of those tournaments some day.
I had a very good two days at work this week. They gave me more difficult patients to take care of and I enjoyed having something to really do. I am starting to understand that here in Dubai because of the culture, the people are very private and only want family to take care of them. This is why the doors to the rooms are closed all the time. As a nurse, it gave me an uncomfortable feeling to not be able to see my patients all the time, but now I understand why. Most patients have family staying with them. We do our assigned duty ie: dressing changes, respiratory treatments, or medications, and after the vital signs are taken and the patient is assessed, we sit back and wait until they actually need us for something. This is a lot different then in the States where the patient is totally dependent on us for even fluffing their pillows. We do a lot more sitting around then I am used to. Which gives us time to talk and get to know each other. This week I worked with a good group of nurses. Young, about the ages of Amy and Ali. By this morning they were calling me Mamma Jean. We had the chance to talk about planned marriages versus not planned marriages. Essa - the Jordanian nurse who was raised in Pakistan married an Arab girl from Dubai and he shared that her parents wanted nothing to do with him at first because he was considered Pakistani. There was a doctor sitting there with us and she told us her marriage was planned but she knew her husband for a year before the marriage. Essa also told us that if you want to divorce, it costs a lot of money for the man. Which is probably why there are not many divorces. It was a very lively conversation and I really enjoyed it, they asked me about American customs and I shared Ali's stories with them and some of her pictures. The Filipino nurses told us about their customs and showed some of their pictures. This hospital allows us to use the internet at work and not be threatened with losing our jobs. I also had a bit a struggle on Thursday night with the medications. Most of them have different names then I am used to so I have to look everything up, sort of like when I was a new nurse. The doctors transcribe the drugs onto the medication cards and they don't write very clearly and that scares me, as it would be very easy to make a mistake. We have to have faith in the pharmacy that they can read the drug and give us the right medication. Gradually, I am feeling more and more at home in this hospital.