"Food for Thought Is No Substitute for the Real Thing"

This quote by Walk Kelly was on my plate mat at the complimentary breakfast this morning. Without processing the saying by a person that I assumed was really named Walt, I dove in to the smorgus board of food that was little like an American breakfast. I clumped a spoonful of beef liver, noodles, omelet with mushrooms and onions, turkey hot dogs in tomato sauce, and a good 'ole American hashbrowns. I drank guava juice to wet my palette. A little early for the rest of the crew, I continued reading "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived", a biography of Jesus. This book is really motivating me to be more spiritually focused while so far away from my home church near Atlanta. After a while, more teachers began to file in to breakfast. I was able to meet Chondra, Michelle, Caroline, Heather, Bre, and others. They are all a part of the AD80 (Abu Dhabi-80), the newest group of less than 100 teachers that have flown in with this teaching group. The group formed on Facebook before we departed, and everyone seems interested in bonding and getting to know their colleagues.

We all decided to go to the local mall for groceries and to purchase cell phones. Grocery shopping was interesting to say the least. This market blows Publix out of the water with a wide selection of meats, spices, and others products. For $83 UAE (about $25 American money), I bought enough

to last me the two weeks before we are placed in our permanent residences. The phone plus sim card was about $40 US. Although I will mostly Skype, we need a cell phone to set up our bank account so that we can get paid! I think it will be good to have in general, though. While we are at it, e-mail your Skype profile name to pauldtheripy@gmail.com and I will request you.

I have handled the jetlag pretty well so far but it is a shock to know that I am waking up when people are ending their days. We came back to the hotel/apartment and discovered that our first orientation is at the Millenium hotel. We will be getting picked up at 8am. Then, we will be taken to get our physicals and set up our bank accounts. I took a great, jetlag rejuvenating nap, cooked the equivalent of Ramen noodles (they go extra hard and put onions and oil in as well)! I hope to check back in soon. The quote from breakfast this morning taught me that food for thought is important but that a man has to literally eat well too! Hit me up with any questions or comments.

Arriving in Abu Dhabi- 10/30/11

I was blessed to dodge the big snow/rainstorm that hit the Northeast today. Thankfully, my flight to Chicago nor the one to Abu Dhabi was delayed. The day didn't go without hassles though. The flight was on a humungous Boeing 777 jet that fit over 450 people. It had all of the trimmings and more. You could touch a button and get a view from under the jet as well as from the pilot's perspective. It was hard for me to rest because there wasn't much leg room for a man taller than six feet. I entertained myself with movies and news on Abu Dhabi. I got a little rest in but it wasn't comfortable rest. Plus, there were babies wailing from the unsettling bad spots of wind that we got. It's a scary feeling in general when you get turbulence. It is even worse when you know that you are over the ocean and will be for hours. All in all, the flight spanned over 7700 miles.

We arrived to Abu Dhabi and I got hassled a little because I didn't have my work visa. My hiring company told me that they would have it there but they didn't. A small group of other educators greeted me but they were taken ahead to the hotel as I waited on approval to leave the airport. An hour and a half later, I was highly pissed but thankful that everything ultimately worked out. We made it to the hotel/apartment style room. It is fairly nice although we didn't get placed in the uber nice hotels like I assumed. The other teachers and their families seem to be cool. I think we will spend the next few days settling in and then begin training mid-week.

I feel good about everything for now. Let's see how things develop.