The Black Folks of Abu Dhabi

[Update (January 9, 2014)-  Though several blog posts are still here,  I have moved the blog to:

                              www.abudhabiexperience.com

 Here you will find my most recent posts.  Hope to see you there!]

There are a few companies that recruit teachers to come out to Abu Dhabi.  One of the big players is Teach Away, a pretty well respected recruiter (and also the first recruitment company hired by ADEC, as they will be proud to let you know).  The best thing about Teach Away is that they have a discussion board on Facebook dedicated to all issues concerning Abu Dhabi.  There are tons of people on this board, mostly consisting of teachers that are already over and want to share some words of wisdom, and those interested in coming.  Anyone that has ever come out here has at some point learned what they needed to know from that discussion board.  Things such as what to wear, how much you get paid, where to get good daycare for you kids, what are good groups for the spouses to join, where to eat, etc.  During my courting period with the notion of teaching here I absolutely consumed any and all information I could get from this discussion board.  It was helpful to say the least.

Something else that it let me do is gauge the black teacher population.  Natova and I were surprised to see that there was a fairly large number posting on the board.  In fact, there were discussion threads concerning all black issues, like where the ladies could get there hair done and things like that.  So when I got here, I knew I would see Black folks but not to the extent it ended up being.   My first few days going to the apartment after we were assigned by ADEC, I was convinced half of my entire building was Black.  I would run into a different Black person in the elevator every single time I went there.  And to this day, Natova and I average seeing at least a couple of new African American faces every week.

It surprised us a little because we saw ourselves as the exception when it came to what most Black people would do when presented with the possibility of coming to Abu Dhabi.  Black people, as I have come to know them, aren’t really big on exploring the unfamiliar or delving into the unknown.  The process of coming out here had unknowns around every corner.  The recruiters were constantly reminding us we will need to stay flexible.  It is the same thing I used to hear in the Marines (we used to say “Semper Gumby” which translates to “always flexible”).  When you hear people use the word flexible, that lets you know there is going to be changes, and changes can equal uncertainty. Black folks and uncertainty do not like each other and tend to go their separate ways.  When you pile on top of the uncertainty the fact that you are in an Arabic country half way around the world in a region full of countries with names that do not have the most cheerful word associations attached to them (i.e. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, etc) you have a recipe for a good old helping of “You must be out of your damn mind…”

But apparently Black people are a lot more open minded than Natova and I gave them credit for.  Like us, most did their research on Abu Dhabi and Dubai, made sure it was safe, read about other teachers’ experiences, became impressed with the quality of living here, did more research on it, discussed it, debated it, saw a once in a lifetime opportunity, took a chance, and ended up out here.  But to be fair I do think the economy played its role in everyone’s decision.  It has come up in several conversations I have had with other teachers and spouses, both black and white, that the poor economy was a large factor in their departure.  I talked to one guy that said he plans on staying for a while because there is nothing for them back in America.  That seemed to be the consensus for everyone.  One lady asked why go back to have to grind so hard just to survive.  But don’t get me wrong, not everything about being here is Shangri La.  We do earn our paychecks.  This is actually the hardest I have ever had to work in the classroom (I am finding there is nothing more frustrating than trying to teach a semi-complex idea to a group of people that have no idea what you are saying, and then trying to manage behavior on top of that).  But like Natova and I, most people here figure if they have to work a tough 9 to 5 somewhere, it might as well be somewhere exotic where you can live comfortably and where at least one spouse gets a break from working.

The other thing I will say about the black people here is that everyone has been pretty nice.  It’s early but everyone Natova and I have met so far have been people that we wouldn’t mind hanging out with every now and again.  We recently went to a small get-together at someone’s house.  Including us, there were three couples and two singles, each a male and a female.  The owner was a Zoologist, with a specialty in reptiles.  And yes he is a Black guy.  He worked at the Al Ain Zoo for a bit before he came over to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi City and I forget who he works for now.  His house was pretty nice, 3 levels, a couple of rooms on each level.  The coolest thing, or most disgusting thing depending on who you are, is that he converted his second bedroom into a…well… a showroom for reptiles, complete with maybe 10 or more tanks, each with its own type of animal in it.  Most held lizards, there were a couple of spider tanks, and plenty of snake tanks, some of which held real live poisonous snakes (and if you haven’t guessed it already, yes he is the one single male at the party, and according to the all the ladies, he will not be getting a woman anytime soon until he clears that room out of all his little creatures).  He explained that they are all indigenous to the region (i.e. he would be driving down the road, see a snake, and literally get himself out of his car, grab his snake stick- you have probably seen those long metal rods with a hook at the end that people use to handle snakes- catch the snake and bring it home.  Just like that, poisonous or whatever).

The rest of the night was great.  Our host grilled chicken and lamb ribs.  The lamb was unbelievable.  Prior to this day, I had decided that I didn’t like taste of lamb, but after this I was hooked (he later shared with us guys when we went outside on the back patio to talk and drink, is that the secret to cooking lamb was marinate it in vinegar and Worcestershire sauce).  Then we played some games.  We started out playing Jenga, but that was quickly thrown aside after one game when I discovered the UNO cards laying nearby.  Once everyone saw that it was on and everyone was talking smack about how bad they are going to beat everyone else.  We pretty much played that for a couple of hours (and please allow me just a moment to vent:  Apparently in certain regions of the country, there is this thing called “doubles” in UNO, where you can throw down two or more of the same card on top of each other.  For example if you have 3 “draw two” cards you can put them all down on top of one another no matter what color they are and the person going next will actually have to draw six cards.  The UNO purist in the room got into a debate with some of the other guests about the validity of these ‘hood rules. In the end we played it out with doubles and it turned out to be pretty fun).

I am happy to say that all Black related conversations, incidents, or outings have been pretty positive, and I feel that everyone is representing themselves and our race and culture well.  I have no doubt it will stay that way. 

Update (January 9, 2014):  Though several blog posts are still here,  I have moved the blog to www.abudhabiexperience.com.  Here you will find my most recent posts.  Hope to see you there!