Middle-Eastern adventure

The past several weeks of Rebecca Dahl's life can be summed up in a single word: hectic.

She has shipped supplies to the Middle Eastern country that will be her home for at least the next year. She has posed for the 16 passport photos she'll need for identification and permits. She has packed, unpacked and repacked a pair of suitcases - the only luggage she is allowed to take with her.

Dahl, who has been the Edgerton School principal for the last four years, is used to traveling and moving. She has visited a number of countries, including all of Europe and the former Soviet Union. Her career in education has taken her to several Western states. She has spent much of her life constantly on the move, always welcoming the next adventure.

"I'm sort of a wandering gypsy," she said, laughing. "I have that luxury."

But Dahl's latest challenge is different from any she has faced so far. On Sunday she leaves for the United Arab Emirates, where she'll spend at least a year helping the Ministry of Education improve the country's school system.

Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the federation, has assembled about 30 education professionals from at least eight countries to help develop a top-notch education system. Dahl is one of about eight Americans - and one of two Montanans - chosen to participate. A Red Lodge administrator also is making the trip.

"We don't have the best system," Dahl said. "Nobody does. He [the sheik] thinks he can create it."

Dahl first learned about the program in late January in an e-mail from the National Association of Elementary School Principals. She responded to the message, requesting more information, and, over the next several weeks, exchanged more e-mails with Fred Brown, a retired officer with the association.

In late March, Dahl met Hanif Hassan, the United Arab Emirates' minister of education, at the principals' association's annual conference in Seattle. Two weeks later, Hassan invited her to participate in the Emirati program.

"That's the way most of my jobs happen: Doors just start opening," she said. "If I had said I want to go to the Middle East, I wouldn't have known where to start."

Dahl and the rest of the international team will be working primarily with administrators to help develop their education system. The system is geared toward teaching the native people, the Emiratis, rather than the country's large expatriate population.

The president hopes to take the best each team member's country has to offer, Dahl said, to create the ultimate system in the United Arab Emirates.

"I just think he's a visionary," she said. "He just wants to have a world-class education system."

Although Arabic is the country's official language, Dahl expects the administrators to work primarily in English. The sheik believes English is the global language, she explained, so there is a strong emphasis on learning the language.

There is a lot of Western influence in the country, she added, so she'll be able to wear familiar clothes - with some restrictions. She is allowed to wear professional shirts with sleeves no shorter than three-quarter length and may wear long pants or skirts. If she enters a state building, she has to cover her head with a scarf.

Differences in dress and language don't concern Dahl much.

"The training I feel like I need is about the culture, so I don't make some errors out of ignorance," she said.

During her first two weeks in the United Arab Emirates, Dahl will receive some cultural training. The team will spend a week in Dubai, then move to the capital, Abu Dhabi. After that, they'll receive their assignments and begin working with school administrators.

Dahl said she isn't worried about where she'll end up. She does, however, want Ministry of Education leaders to talk about the purpose of their system so she'll be better prepared to help them reach their goals.

"With a country as wealthy as it is, the monetary motivation isn't necessarily there," she said. "That will be one of my first discussions with them."

Dahl could stay in the Middle East for as long as three years but at this point only has committed to one, preferring to see how the first year goes. And three years is a big commitment for a woman who has spent her life on the go.

"I stayed here [at Edgerton] four years," she said. "That's the longest I've stayed anywhere."

However long she stays, Dahl expects the experience to be worthwhile. And with a career that has allowed her to work with students from kindergarten through college, she believes she does have a wide experience to share with the Ministry of Education.

More than anything, Dahl is looking forward to the new challenge.

"It's about still giving yourself the freedom to have an adventure," she said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com