After three days in Bulgaria, Jordan and I took a small bus to Skopje, Macedonia. The bus from there left at 7 AM, so we got up bright and early to go to the station, buy our tickets, and have some banitsa and coffee. On the bus as our driver Read more
Jordan and I booked a day trip to the Rila Monastery in the mountains of Bulgaria. The monastery was founded in the 10th century by Saint Ivan, who lived in a nearby cave as a hermit. The monastery was important to preserving Bulgarian heritage and religion while under Ottoman rule. Read more
As teachers, Jordan and I have nearly a month off for the holidays, so we made sure to spend that time wisely by traveling all we could. Our first stop was Sofia, Bulgaria. We left the airport in Dubai on a Friday evening and arrived at about 1am to Bulgaria. Read more
Today is the last day of the semester. I am sitting in Jordan’s classroom and I am supposed to be grading, but I’m too burnt out and antsy for our winter break. This semester was interesting as halfway through I was promoted to Social Studies teacher, which has been an Read more
I’ve been really bad about blogging lately because I’ve been pretty busy. A few weeks ago I got promoted to Social Studies teacher, so I’ve had a lot more on my plate (and in my paycheck)! I’ve had a few exciting weekends this month and I’ve written a few drafts Read more
As the weather cools down, outdoor activities become more and more enticing. Given how much Jordan and I love camping and hiking back home, we were eager to figure out how to make that happen here in the UAE. We first tried searching about camping on Google. We found many Read more
Jordan and I got up Friday morning and were pleased to see that the temperature had made it down to a high of about 89F. Heat that I would have complained about a few months ago now seemed like a welcome cool down! We decided to take advantage of this Read more
When Jordan and I arrived in the UAE, we spent 5 long weeks in a hotel. No personal space and no kitchen (not even a microwave). We were elated when we were told that we could finally check out of the hotel and move into our home. Our apartment is Read more
One of the best discoveries we made about living in Al Ain is the cafeteria. This does not refer to the place children eat at school (our school doesn’t even have one of those). These are tiny places to eat, often without any space for seating where food is dirt Read more
A great thing about the UAE is that they treat teachers well. Not only are teachers well-respected here, but they also get some great perks. The first teacher night I attended here was at the Ayla Hotel were I am still staying. In their ballroom they had tons of vendors Read more