First Day of School in the 2nd year: WOW!
My second first day of school in the UAE is done. It could not have been more different than last year. In fact, the week I have been back has been massively different. What a difference a year makes! First day, looking VERY teacher-y Last year at this time I was in a constant state of hyper vigilance. I was in absolute shock at being in the Middle East; I was overwhelmed by all the work there was to do; constantly afraid, I was on the defensive and irrationally felt like people (like taxi drivers, sales clerks, random people walking along the street) were out to get me. Everything here takes forever and requires a tremendous amount of patience to work through, and I met all of those obstacles with fear masked as anger, irritation and entitlement. I was restless and dis-easy down at the core of my soul. I couldn't sleep and to quote Cher from Clueless , I had an overwhelming sense of ickiness. Few times in my life have I had such an awful feeling that something...