Some more food for thought

So, I still have a few more questions coming, which is always good! I'm glad that everyone is interested in reading! I apologize in advance if I don't post daily, but as you can all understand, it's not always easy! One of the first questions that I got is "what is it like for you in a typical day?" Well, there are some interesting answers to that, as well! The school year started with the days beginning at 7:50AM. The school provides a bus that takes us to work, and being that we live the farthest away from the school of all the rest of the staff, we have the longest ride to work and back home, which is minutes long. However, always being one to try to save time in any circumstance, I started taking a cab. Cost for a 15 minute cab ride to work: 10 dirhams, which in US currency is only $2.70! I would pay that money for some extra sleep in the morning any day! Plus, of my three roomates, 2 have already noticed how much more relaxing it is in the morning to not have to get up at 5:45 to catch the bus and have therefore joined in on the cab ride with me, which obviously makes it cheaper for all of us!
The school day runs until 2:50 on a normal day, HOWEVER, it is now Ramadan, which changes EVERYTHING. Ramadan is the Islamic holy month and is just important to Muslims is to Christians. The concept of Ramadan, from all that I've understood so far, is to get closer with the Muslim faith through sacrifice, which for during Ramadan means not eating or drinking all day until sundown. This is a daunting task, especially during the hot summer months. In order to deal with this, the whole Muslim world restructures its life. Offices open later in the morning and close earlier in the afternoon. Our school day begins at 8:20 and ends at 1:10. The lessons are shorter, planning times are more compacted, and it generally becomes a stress-fest for all teachers involved.
After the sun goes down during Ramadan, Muslims have a party each night and eat together with family and friends. In fact, it is against the law for anyone (including me and all other foreigners) to be seen eating or drinking in public. If you are caught, you get a fine and are seriously shunned upon. Therefore, during this time the staff room door is closed for when we eat lunch, we have no water bottles in the classroom, etc. Our students are tired everyday during Ramadan because they go wake up super early in the morning to eat and drink before the sun comes up and are up late at night at family parties. Life changes in everyway during Ramadan, and in the end, we have one week off to recover!!!
A few weeks ago I went to the Emirates Palace, which is the most expensively built hotel in the world. It's luxury is absolutely mind-blowing, and the luxury of it's service is second-to-none in the world (actually, except for that famous hotel in Dubai). Here are some photos of it:

The outside of the palace. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo, but the camera that I used wasn't exactly the best!

The main lobby (mush more beautiful to see, but you can get some idea of it).

The main lobby, with the former and current president of the UAE.

The back courtyard (which we found out later we weren't supposed to have access to)...

A photo of the UAE flag waving along with some of the architechture of the building.

This place is truly mind-blowing!

Sorry, but I've got to run! Will post next chance I get!

- Paul : )