My adventures in life brought me from Iowa in a pick-up truck with my dog Afton to Albuquerque, NM. I met my husband five years ago and my son Gavin came into our lives just over two years ago. We bought a home and I began my teaching career and I thought that was the story for now. As I began teaching in the Albuquerque Public School system I realized that I did not want to raise my son in this city. Michael, my husband, and I began discussing where we would move after I finished my Masters program. We fantasized about Colorado, Idaho, Wisconsin, and Georgia. We had our minds set on Colorado. I began working on my license in Colorado and became distressed at the current job market for teachers, so I said to Michael, "lets broaden our horizons, and apply where there are jobs and then move based on where I get a job." "Sure, sounds good."
So I am browsing and I see this posting for teaching positions in Abu Dhabi. My husband and I joked at first and the idea seemed so far fetched but as I read on and did my research this sounded like a fantastic opportunity with a benefit package that was almost insane to pass up! Not to mention the traveling we could do and the culture we could submerge into and what an opportunity for our son to grow up a little more open minded then most American children?
So I applied. That day I must of spent around 8 to 10 hours just reading up on the area. The next couple weeks were a blur as a phone interview turned into me flying to Dallas for the in person interview and then wow, or "ta da," as my son would say, I was turning in my teaching contract. Now I am counting down the days until we leave at the beginning of August...
Family and friends have had mixed emotions on the idea, there have been some tears, some fear, and some legitimate joy at our choice. Overall I think that everyone sees that this is a great opportunity for us and that we will come out of this with positive experiences.
So we sold our house, we sold most of our junk that we accumulated and we plan to fit everything we own into six suitcases under 50 pounds and make this move in less than two months. Before we head off there is a trip to Arizona, a trip to Iowa, a trip to Idaho, and a trip to Yellowstone National Forrest for us...I have a feeling that this is going to be an amazing summer!
