Our bus trip from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile included this gem of a highway!

On an even more interesting note, this highway through Argentina is ladled with toll booths and security stops. Around midnight, our bus came upon one of these booths and was greeted with loud shouts and the crack of gun fire. Immediately, "Get down" was commanded by several in our bus.
I, however, was pinned to my seat, so I folded over my knees as low as I could and watched the fire emitting from the barrel of the rifle that was about 5 feet outside the window. Our bus driver continued merrily on his way as people lifted themselves up off the floor and thrummed with the excitement of retelling the incident.
About five minutes later, two police cars with lights twirling sped by our bus in pursuit of their target. We never did learn why.....Someone didn't pay the toll?

            Teaching English (ESL) to a class of 10th grade Emirati boys was always filled with its own set of challenges. However, most boys were filled with kindness and an eager sense of learning. Sometimes, they tried so hard that you just wanted to give them an “A” for effort (As one boy pointed out to me; “effort” doesn’t start with an “a”. How do you not pass that kid?)
            Sometimes, even though they tried hard, it was difficult to not have a bit of a laugh at their “effort.” Saif, in particular, had a very difficult time with antonyms—which I just called opposites. (Why did English have to make this so hard and create the words synonyms and antonyms? When same and opposite do just fine?) But anyways, Saif and the rest of the class had been working on opposites.
            On test day, I prepared a section devoted to this. I would provide clues and then the first letter of the word and the number of letters required to complete the answer. The students had to fill in the blanks. For example: The opposite of mean? N __  __  __.
Most students did fairly well. But Saif’s attempt provided my entertainment.
            Now, Saif was a very studious student who agonized over lessons and did his best to learn and excel. He tried to work through problems the best he could and his face would contort as he focused to recall past words. I noticed he was stumped on Question #8.
            The particular question read: The opposite of ugly? And I provided the first letter as B; with 8 letters following. As time wound down, I watched Saif furiously scribble his answer and turn in his test.
            I am so glad I waited until after the class had left to review the tests, because I did not contain my laughter when I read Saif’s answer. He had filled in the blanks to read: B o p p o s i t e.  Starts with a B; followed by 8 letters. Bopposite!
            Did I mention we had worked on rhymes earlier in the week? Again, how do I not give him credit for that answer? :)

        Simply put, Mohammed is a very common name in the UAE. At one point, I had eight of them in my classroom. It made it very convenient for classroom management because most of the time I would just have to say, “Mohammed, stop talking” and the whole class would go silent.
        I would learn the Mohammeds by their first and second names: Mohammed Jamal, Mohammed Ahmed, Mohammed Abraham, Mohammed Mohammed. Yes, sometimes they were named Mohammed twice.
I was asking my class their fathers’ names one day because we had Open House that evening and it’s the fathers that come to that. (Very few mothers—I had two or three in two years—attend school events). After about the 6th or 7th student, one Mohammed enlightened me, “Teacher, just look at our second names.”
       In doing so, I realized that the fathers’ names that had been given me all matched up to the students’ second names. And that is when I learned how they are named: second name is father’s, third name is grandfather’s, fourth name is great-grandfather’s, etc, etc, etc, and last name is their “tribe”. I suppose it’s not all that unique since my middle name, Mayme, is my grandma’s. But in their culture, every family follows this custom.
        Still the first time I did roll it was daunting to read the names on the list. Student #1: Abraham Mohammed Faisal Jamal Abdulrahman. Student #2: Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Jamal Abdulrahman Sulaiman. Needless to say, there weren’t any David Smiths or Jeff Jones.

My two classes full of Mohammeds!
Great kids.

           An added benefit of living abroad is having a maid that doesn’t charge more per hour than you make as a teacher. Although a huge assistance, paying a maid more than you make is atrocious. And before the backlash, I know they work hard and I have respect for them. I took a gig as a maid one Christmas break and it’s the hardest work I’ve ever done. But it’s still a position that needs no years of education and should not be on the same pay scale as a college graduate.
           
            So hiring Upali in the UAE was a no brainer. He would come once every two weeks to deep clean my apartment and miraculously leave my balcony without a trace of the ever-constant sand that blew across the desert. Upali would charge me 20 dirham an hour (which at the time was approximately $5.44) and it would take him 2 hours to complete the work.
            Of course, I would “tip” him and that earned me a “You spoil him,” from the Princess (more on her later). My argument was, “He spoils me.” She didn’t tip and apparently she was none too kind to Upali either. He stopped cleaning her apartment.
            But Upali was more than a maid to me. He was the kindest and sweetest man. And so hard working. He and his wife were from Sri Lanka and he lived close to my home. Many days I would see them riding their moped around the community and they were always smiling and friendly.

                       

                           This is Upali: my maid and friend!

            Whenever I needed anything; car maintenance, wiring connections, shelving fixed, furniture moved, Upali would be there to help me. He even drove my parents to the airport when I had to work. He showed up in his pressed khakis and white shirt and looked every bit the professional chauffeur. Being alone in a foreign country, I was grateful for all the help that Upali gave me. He is a good man!

            Our maid in Paraguay was Miriam. She would work half a day, laundry and all, for 80 guarani (approximately $14.00). We would give her 100 since we had a German Shepherd that shed a lot. We paid her on the high end of the scale.
            She spoke no English; we barely spoke Spanish. So most of the exchanges were si, si, muy bien, gracias, all delivered with a smile and a lot of pointing. It wasn’t until after a year that Mark’s roommate realized Mark was calling her Mierda. She would just smile and respond with “Hola, Senior Mark.” Poor Miriam.

            It took awhile to get comfortable paying the low wages. Especially coming from America where it’s now an outrageous $25+ per hour to hire a maid! But the locals assured us that it would look poorly on us if we DIDN’T hire a maid. We were giving them jobs when they had none. And, boy oh boy, do I ever miss them!

One of my favorite ports of call on my Mediterranean Cruise was Montenegro. Montenegro is located along the Adriatic Sea and surrounded by Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Albania. Well, here's a map:

More specifically, our ship entered the Bay of Kotor and anchored at the base of the Orjen and Lovcen Mountains. Here we explored the city of Kotor.

Arriving at the shores of Kotor, looking back to the ship and the Bay.

The city of Kotor is listed as a UNESCO Historical Heritage Site. Winding through the narrow stone streets, there are surprises all around. Quaint squares are lined with open patios for dining or refreshments. Cute boutique shops with friendly owners welcome you into their shops. Beautiful green mountains backdrop the old stone buildings.
It was my favorite city and not only for the obvious beauty shown by photographs but for the wonderful people inviting us in and talking with us for hours.

When Michelangelo was commissioned in 1501 to create a sculpture that would become one of his most famous works, David, I'm sure he never envisioned this guy posing live in the streets of Florence for tourists to donate coins for the opportunity to photograph him.

Joining the controversy of Rhianna (escorted out in 2013) and Selena Gomez (is that ankle I see?)

The Dubai Mall with on-site hotel and Burj Kahlifa in background.

M—Malls
 
       I’ve never been much of a shopper. Ok, I’ve never been a shopper, period. The mere thought of entering a mall would immediately render me the most tired human on the planet. And along about 23 minutes into the shopping excursion, I would break out in hives. Literally (and I hate that word) break out in hives.
       However, living in Dubai was a whole different experience in shopping. Between the Dubai Mall and the Mall of the Emirates, my whole idea of shopping changed. My friends back in the States could not believe that I would spend 8, 9, 10 hours at the “mall”.
      It helped that I made enough money there that I didn’t have to constantly check my budget before buying something. But beyond that, the malls were more like amusement parks. The Dubai Mall is connected to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It also boasts the water fountain show that is bigger and more brilliant than the one at the Bellagio in Vegas. You can book a room and stay overnight at the resident hotel. There is also an ice skating rink, aquarium and underwater zoo with the world’s largest viewing panel, and SEGA World with amusement-park rides and games. And during EID you can visit the mall any time as shops are open 24 hours a day; it’s an Emirate pajama party!
      The Mall of the Emirates is slightly smaller, but still houses the amazing: a community theater, Magic Planet entertainment center, and my personal favorite—the indoor snow skiing pavilion! It is pretty crazy that in one day I went out to the cable park and water skied in the morning and went to the mall and snow skied in the afternoon!

      There is also shopping at both malls. And it doesn’t matter if your budget is Hermes or Forever 21. They have stores for every level of shopping. There are also constant entertainers roaming around displaying a cultural costume or performing a cultural dance. Or you can just go to the Spa for some pampering.
      All of these things were beyond my imagination. But there was one thing that really intrigued me: the social aspect of the mall. On any given Friday night, these places are packed. Sometimes, it would take 30+ minutes to find a parking spot. And they are not short of parking garages; they are just packed. A sea of white kunderas and black abayas saunter in and out of stores and congregate together. Women are decked out in their finest; you can see their dresses and designer jeans poking out from their abayas. And the shoes are to die for. I heard that is how the girls tell the boys they like how to recognize them amidst all the other abayas; the shoes!
Teenagers hang out laughing and carrying on and families stroll hand in hand. It is a beautiful thing to see the Arabic man and his little girl spending time together. The way he lifts her to look into her big, brown eyes as she tells him something and the way he really listens to her and freezes the moment between the two of them. It is rare to not see a father holding his little girl’s hand.  
And it all makes sense; this is their social life. They don’t go to bars. They don’t go to clubs. They don’t hang out at concerts or shows. They don’t drink or smoke marijuana. They go the malls and hang out with their families in a good, wholesome, clean environment.
And I thought malls were just for shopping!

Mall of the Emirates