Can it be true?

I decided it would be beneficial to all if I wrote a post about something more substantial, as opposed to just letting you know if I went dancing or not this weekend (which I did not unfortunately, in case you were dying of curiosity). This is something that has been on my mind the entire time I've been here, and I wanted to share it with you all.

Racism is so unbelievably prevalent here, that it's hard to know what to do when faced with so much of it. But, the strange thing is, it's so subtle, and here it's been weaved into everyday life. Years after civil rights, it's become almost culturally unacceptable to be "racist", therefore, people are now more discreet about it. And they just accept it as a way of life. So do those who are experiencing the short end of the stick! (in my opinion).

For me, personally, I love to hear about American stereotypes (which is really a cultural stereotype and not a racial one but you get my point). I'm that annoying person who asks people in different countries, "So hey, what do you think of us, huh?" I find it fascinating, because I like to see what I and people I know fit into and what we don't. I've heard things like saying thank you and sorry too much, being outwardly kind to people but not actually kind within, smiling always, talking about all of our feelings even when we're sober (shocking for people to believe), being in a sorority (if you're blonde), going to a highschool like in mean girls, and loving football and Obama, etc. I eat it all up because for some skewed reason, I almost trust others' opinions rather than my own, so I like to hear their perspective. But, even still, is it right to be put inside of a box and expected to act within the limits of that box, and for people to assume you will and should act within those limits? I don't know. And I don't know what to do about it.

In this country live white people from everywhere, Arabs, Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Filipinos, Africans, etc.
The Arabs are the ones on top (and then I think racially "acceptable" Muslims), then it's the western ex-pats, then Indians, then lastly are the Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, and Filipinos. Don't quote me on this listing. When I say the Arabs are on top, I mean that they are the ones most accepted by the country. So if you have a car accident, for example, with a native of this country, you're going to lose that battle. Everything is underlying.
At my school the list goes like this: the westerners, the Indians and Arabs, and then the Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, and the Filipinos. (that's probably because our head administration is western). The Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, and Filipinos are the ones who hold the lower-end jobs. They get paid hardly anything, and they live away from their families and have to send money back! We've spoken to many taxi drivers. Taxi drivers here are mostly from Pakistan. They have to work 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week, I believe, and some haven't seen their families in 1 or 2 years! For me, when I want to go get my driver's license, I just go in, pay a small fee, and my license transfers over to here. But if you're from Pakistan, you must pay 5,000 dirhams, and take another driver's test in order to be able to drive! (there are probably more hoops to jump through, but I'm not sure).

Someone once told me that there's always going to be levels in life. And the world cannot function without different levels of people. Some people will do well, some will not. Some will have everything they need, some will not. Some people will be healthy, and some will not. Life is like highschool: There will always be the losers and the popular kids, and the middle section. It cannot stand any other way (or so they would say). But just because some people have been blessed by privilege, does it have anything to do with race? It's just the way things turned out. I have a feeling that the world would be entirely different if we had to crumple it up and start over.

There's this feeling of separation in school. The workers keep their eyes down and hardly anyone speaks to them. They call us Miss, etc. They are very friendly and they do say "good morning" many times. Some teachers who aren't western, don't even acknowledge their presence when they come to clean the classroom or help them in some way. I tense whenever any of them come in because I want them to know that I appreciate their help, and I'm sorry for their situation. So, all I can do is say hello, thank you, and excuse me if I'm in their way.  There is a separation between the western teachers and the Arabs and Indian/Pakistani teachers. It's almost like a cultural disagreement, but it felt racial at least in the beginning. I hated the fact that I felt like I was meant to feel better or higher than them. (So not true-I have no idea what I'm doing in the classroom ;)). I've tried to speak to the other ladies at school, and they're so friendly and helpful! I'm even learning Arabic: Kaifa Ha lak=how are you?. I don't want to seem like that annoying American who just sweeps through and blows through barriers simply because I'm American, and our country thinks it can fix everything. There's something to be said for the originality and individuality of culture without it being tainted by outside influence. But, what do we do??

As soon as we came to this country, it hit us. "Don't hang out with or associate with Arab men, they'll try and control you; the Pakistanis are always your taxi drivers and don't know what they're doing, and they are creepy and will stare at you etc." These are the kinds of things we were told. What do you do with these kinds of things? How do you proceed? Just not speak to them or change their level of value in your own mind?

I sometimes hold back because I don't want to be culturally offensive if I say hello to someone and be all "American" about it, but that's really all I can do isn't it? Hello, thank you, and excuse me. Three phrases that won't change anything, but it could create a blend between people. It's a start. Perhaps one should just worry about how they think, how they react to things, and how they act towards others. It's all that can be done.

You wish you'd get off work for a rain day

I've been back in the UAE for over 2 weeks now, and it feels like I never left to go home for Christmas! Christmas was wonderful. It was great to see everyone, and to remember what cold feels like, and to see trees and woodland things. I loved it, but I was ready to return to my sandy home, where nothing ever gets done by anyone and your floor is permanently dirty because Sharjah is basically a desert. It's pretty cool.

At work, we had to come back to doing dreaded REPORTS. (aka report cards). We had to fill in all of our numbers and blah blah blah; it was actually surprising how difficult it was to get everything sorted (because the online site wasn't up and running totally yet.) But, my grades are in! I need to write my students' comments, but then I'm good to go. Here they give out E's instead of F's: the actual one practical thing people have going out here. E does come after F, after all.
Moving on, my students and I have been getting back into the swing of things. I've been attempting to be more organized and structured during my day, and that's helped a bit. But I still have some students where you just want to leave the room because they drive you absolutely crazy. "All right, guys, what goes at the end of the sentence?" "Full stop or period," everyone says. I move to the next sentence on the board, and a boy raises his hand. He says, "Put a dot at the end of the sentence." I reply, "Ok, what is it actually called?" "I don't know." Oh for the love of all that is dear and holy!!! Or I'll give directions to the entire class and repeat them many times. I count on my fingers how many times I repeat it, and I look everyone in the eye. But there's that little guy raising his hand the whole time you're talking. You call on him when you're finished, and he says, "What are we doing?" Internal flash of anger. So, that was tough to come back to, BUTTT, I have created a motivator. Whenever I see the entire class doing something properly, I give them a scoop of sugar in our class party jar! When the jar is full, we will have a class party one day. The kids are loving it so far!

Surprisingly enough, the weather here has actually been quite chilly. I even wore a jacket the other day! It's in the 50's in the morning, and then it moves up to the 60's and 70's during the day. When I first got back, it was really rainy. Before Christmas break, it rained so hard that we went home early one day. That's because Sharjah has no drainage system, and our school is on a sand road, so flooding is an issue. Rain day=awesome. So, every time rain is in the forecast, we hope against hope that it means no school. Craziest thing ever. Recently, it rained veryyy hard, but they didn't let us go home! Our school is basically open air, so the water just comes in onto the hall floors. Check out the pics below. It's insane. But the people just keep mopping it up, and no one decides to let us escape. Oh well.

The things I forgot about the UAE when I was looking through rose-colored glasses over Christmas break: The traffic: no one cares about you or where you need to go. It's drive or be driven over. The way that things don't get accomplished: Oh, don't worry, Dubai can fool you all and put on the best fireworks show in the world, but the lone copier in a Sharjah school breaks every other day. And a lone teacher has to walk through rain puddles in her hallway. Lastly, the impatience: I feel like over here I've lost almost all of my patience. It's so sad. But, here you just have to tell people how it is. No, lady, you cannot completely cut in front of me in the Baskin Robbin's line. The audacity!

But, it was so fun to come back home (my UAE home) and be reunited with my friends and get back to doing all sorts of Dubai things. Dubai never ceases to amaze me. Really. It is a sight to be seen, especially at night. When I take a taxi to Dubai, I love watching as I crest over the bridge and see the overpowering heights and lights of the city. Here, you can do anything. It feels like a dream. There are so many people to meet, so many activities to do, and so much fun to have. (cheesy, my apologies). Recently, I went to the Dubai Aquarium (pics below) as well as a few museums in Sharjah-the cultural center of the Middle East, no joke!

Well, I am happily re-settled into Middle Eastern life, sand and car horns and all. Enjoy the pictures and the tales. Talk to you soon.
*Side note: Sharjah has much better views than originally thought!
The flashy night pics are of Dubai Marina--the prettiest part of Dubai in my opinion
The rest are of my class-learning time, multiplication, and eating lunch outside!