Peace Corps dejavu

I am living the Peace Corps training from fifteen years ago all over again. Our entire day is super structured: the bus leaves the housing complex at 8:15 for the thirty minute drive to the school. I go down early to get a seat next to someone who I know is a nice person; Russ and I try to mix up the seating, so we are not always together. We are in sessions from 9:00 to 2:00 with a short lunch break and then we come home for a couple of hours before another outing. Last night, it was a progressive dinner of sorts at the building where the superintendent and principals live - it is on the Gulf Road right across from the water, and these apartments are gorgeous. There is a high standard of living here. Our housing complex is further inland, literally in the middle of new construction and sand dunes.

In terms of jet lag, most other people seem to be coping fine. A lot of them are in their twenties, again reminding me of Peace Corps, and can not only stay up late, but imbibe quite a lot. Yes, there was homebrew at the party last night. People are very creative in making their own spirits - date rum seems to be the drink of choice. Me, I am not even drinking enough water so am staying clear of the science experiments.

There are quite a few single people, and they have their own building, which feels strange to be segregated like that. Russ and I are in the "family" building which is why our apartment is so ginormous. It looks like a place for a family of eight or nine. Most of the teachers are from the US, followed closely by Canadians, who generally as a group, are some of the nicest people we've met. Many of them have taught in China and southeast Asia previously. It will be interesting to see how relationships develop once school starts.

Later today we are going to the largest mall in the country, The Avenues. Shopping is a huge activity and with Ramadan, the stores open up late, say from 5 pm to 2 am. There are supposedly lots of sales, similar to what we might find around Christmas. Ikea is there, as well as another well-stocked grocery store, two or three large electronics stores, dozens of boutique shops, and who knows what else.

Russ has been a big help in getting everything unpacked. We are moving things around, seeing what works, and are toying with the idea of painting the cream-colored walls that seems to be the color of everything in the country.

We are "working" through Monday and then have five days off for the Eid holiday. We will probably come in to school one of those days to get things set up. I can't possibly think of downloading and uploading photos until then. It's just been a whirlwind of activity.