Mr.Maila wears an Abaya

As we pulled  into the school parking lot there was a sea of boys in white kandoras wheeling their backpacks behind them and all eyes were on us, the female teachers, as they stared probably wondering what we were doing there. Little did they know we were there to teach them! Let the fun begin.....
Our Head of Faculty had thought of every last detail including the etiquette of shaking hands with the male principal. Many men do not extend a hand to females as a sign of respect, in western culture it would be offensive but here it is respectful NOT to shake hands or touch a female who is not your spouse.   We waited for a signal from the principal and when he folded his hands behind his back we knew he respected us but that we wouldn't be shaking hands with him.
The school is wonderful. The staff are all male and there is one female nurse who is very sweet. On the first day we toured the school and got to attend the morning assembly which has become the highlight of my morning routine. I thoroughly enjoy the chaos just prior to the assembly. I get a kick out of watching the kids run around and toss their sandals in the air and then the student band begins to play and each student finds his place in line to begin the morning presentations, sing the UAE national anthem, exercise and recite from the Koran.
We also had the opportunity to observe a few teachers teach their classes. All are excellent teachers. The next step was to attend the staff meeting and stand up and introduce ourselves to our 50 male coworkers.......intimidating, nahhhhh! well ok maybe a teeny bit :) 
As I write this, I have been teaching 2nd grade for 2 weeks now! Oh and yes I wear an abaya to school each day ( I proudly own 4). The time has flown and I enjoy mostly every minute of it, especially when the kids faces light up when we use the puppets to model language and conversation and of course especially when their hand shoots up in air and my ears start to ring with the sound of " mister mister mister!!!" and " Mr.Mailaaaaaa" I'm not quite sure if they will ever get the Mrs. part right but it sure makes for a good giggle every day! Lord knows we surely all need to laugh a lot more each day so let them continue to call me Mr. if it means I get to smile and laugh a little each day because of it. Did I mention that one student in my class wore gloves today?! Yes gloves, he was cold.