Last night we stepped off the plane and the first restaurant we saw was Starbucks. On the drive to our apartment I saw KFC, Chili's, Dunkin' Donuts, and Pizza Hut, and on our block there are McDonald's, Starbucks, and Baskin Robbins. All dangerous places to live near. After Sarah J and I settled into our apartment we met up with the other teachers at a British tavern at the Sheraton, where we drank Coronas and ate pizza.
We went to the Marina Mall today and I was pretty sure I was in the Natick Collection (definitely a few steps up from Sangertown Square). The Gap was on one side of us, Aldo was on the other, and we stopped at Starbucks which was in between the two, though when I went to the pick-up spot I was asked to present my receipt (as if someone might walk by and attempt to steal one's coffee). On the other hand, when we had a shopping cart full of our bags from Ikea and we went to Carrefour, we were asked to leave our cart outside the store where a store employee was somewhat nearby to keep an eye out. Next to our cart was a TV that someone had left to be "watched" as well. Carrefour is basically a Wal-Mart superstore, except I didn't have to feel guilty for shopping there since I am unsure of their employment practices. As promised, they truly had most of the typical brands of toiletries I use in the U.S.
I've heard at least seven or eight languages spoken so far, and I'm trying to pick up the Arabic numbers based on license plates and durhams (the currency, which is of course 10 times more interesting than American dollars). I wish I spoke Arabic, because I hate being presumptuous and assuming that everyone speaks English, but so far everyone I've encountered does speak English. I suppose it's a bit different from when I was living in Spain specifically to learn the language, to the extent that I didn't want to encounter English-speakers.
Tomorrow we'll see the school for the first time and begin preparing our classrooms, but our students don't start until September 15 so we have plenty of time. Our classrooms and the supplies will all be brand new, as will the students! I'm very excited to begin from scratch. I know it'll be tough, but I like creating my own systems.
So far I haven't found a real chat program that works, only the Facebook chat application. I'll keep working on it; I can't afford a ridiculous cell phone bill!
More soon. Bring on the hummus and shisha, I'm ready for a cultural experience!
3 comments:
Juliana, This is really cool! To all the rest of you Juliana and I had a Skype conversation at 3 PM today which was 11 PM her time. She looked tired but happy.
I am so proud of you for doing this - and I thought Rhode Island was a different culture! ;-) Much love is being sent your way!
Hey, Juliana, it's great to hear how you are doing. At least you won't have to be deprived of (horrors) Starbucks!!
Keep the posts coming!
Love you, Aunt Wanda
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