Fireworks!

Yesterday Kuwait celebrated the 50th anniversary of signing the constitution! Last night at 8pm they put on a one hour long, world record fireworks show-77,282 fireworks that cost $16 million!

Michael and I figured the only fireworks we have seen are Fuquay-Varina's Fourth of July, Morehead City's Fourth of July, at the state fair, and in Disneyworld. So you can imagine watching a show this big is something we will remember for a long time! 

The firework show took place along the Gulf Road for a 4.4 km stretch (which might be another world record.) We got a cab close enough to walk. There were 10 zones and we sat in zone 8 right on the water. Unfortunately right on the water does not mean sandy beach, it was large rocks, but everyone climbed down and found a somewhat comfy place to sit. It was perfect, because no one was in front of use and we were only 100 yards away from the barges that were setting off the fireworks! 

There was music, lights, airplanes with fireworks, kites, and screens projecting videos. 

We got home around 10:30pm so I was pretty tired when my alarm went off this morning at 5AM! Lucky for me, the Emir announced late last night that school would be cancelled today for the 50th anniversary! Sometimes I don't appreciate how everything is last minute, but this morning I loved the surprise!!

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was amazing! It was never a country we thought about visiting, but we're really glad we went!! From Kuwait it's an inexpensive flight and a great option for a week holiday. We stayed at Rita's hotel. 

Photo of the restaurant side.

One of the rooms

 


As you can see in the photos, it was more of a big guesthouse than hotel. The room we stayed in didn't have AC, but we didn't need it because we were in our bathing suits the whole time!

The beach in Hikkaduwa was beautiful! 

The sun was really intense so we had to be careful how long we stayed out. The water was refreshing and the surf was great for Michael! Most of the day was spent with friends at the hotel restaurant enjoying a cold Lion beer and eating! The food was delicious-vegetable noodles, fresh calamari, curry, chopsuey, avocado and tomato toast, freshly squeezed juice! And everything was so affordable!! The room was $25 a night, food was $4 for entrees and beers were $1. 

There were days when we actually got up from the table other than to lay out and swim! We went shopping around Hikkaduwa where I got a few dresses. It's amazing how clean the streets are. We even saw men cleaning up leaves after rain. 

We visited a sea turtle hatchery/rescue. They're having problems with people digging up sea turtle nests to sell the eggs for people to eat (men eat them for virility.)

We released a baby sea turtle!

Our flight was Tuesday night, so early Monday morning we left for Kandy which is 3 hours north in the mountains. We visited a tea factory, shops, herb and spice garden, pineapple plantation, and saw a Sri Lankan traditional dance performance. 

We also visited the Tooth Relic. This Buddhist temple is one that all Buddhists will visit at least once in their life. After Buddha died, his tooth was found on the pyre, someone tried to destroy it and couldn't (the miracle) and now it is in Sri Lanka in a gold shrine polished so bright that it's white our photos.

Easily my favorite part of the tour was riding an elephant! Puja is a 25 years young Asian elephant. Looks fun but it was really scary! At one point he reached up to get leaves off a branch, but the change in angle felt like he was about to sit! 

We stayed at a nice hotel that night (the same guesthouse feel). The hotel was not near a busy road and the windows had open screens above it, so we could hear all of the animals in the mountains. It was like someone was playing a "sounds of the rain forrest" CD.

The best part of the trip were the people who went! We're all teachers at ACA in Kuwait and all have a travelling heart. Even with our strict "No School Talk" policy, we enjoyed rich conversation,  lots of laughter, and singing and dancing every night! 

This was a quote on a wall in Rita's hotel: 

"A ship in its harbor is safe, but ships aren't meant for harbors."

Two beach bums in the desert...

In twenty-four hours, we will be heading to the airport!!!

This break is for the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice. It falls on the tenth day of Hajj (when Muslims travel to Mecca). They sacrifice a sheep in honor of Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his son, and God had him sacrifice a sheep instead. Muslims who don't go to Mecca still sacrifice a sheep and pass the meat to family, friends and the poor.

This also means that we have a holiday!

So we will be flying out tomorrow night at 10pm. We arrive in Sri Lanka around 6AM and then ride 4 hours to the hotel in Hikkaduwa. That means around 10AM Sri Lankan time, I will be on the beach, in my bikini with a drink in my hand! Sand, salt water, sea breeze, clouds, rain, and stars! So excited!!

Life in the desert is tough for beach bums; especially a beach/dive bum who has been out of the water for 2 months! Michael is already checking surf reports.

I just have to get through one more school day and tutoring session and then I'll be on island time!!

Desert Camping Trip

Friday night was the Desert Camping Trip! It's a trip for ex-pats living in Kuwait and is put together by the Sand Ballers (a paintball group in Kuwait.) Michael went early for the paintball portion, and I came later on the bus. There were teachers there from our school and other schools as well as ex-military who are now contractors and their family and kids. Some people brought their dogs too which was really exciting for us! We never see dogs in the city. I didn't have my camera but Elizabeth got some great photos! 

We were in the middle of the desert-10 km from the Iraq border!

Photo of the campsite from far away. 

Bombed out buildings where the paintball games and dinner took place.
This was the first place Iraq invaded during the Gulf War in 1990.

Setting up the tents was wild!
The wind picked up and sandblasted us right when we were setting up for a good 20 minutes!
It was all we could do to hold on to them without getting sand in our eyes!

All of the delicious food!

 

Nice photo of the sand. Unfortunately a lot of the area was trashy.
Littering is a big problem in Kuwait City. 

Great experience with great people!

Kuwaiti Fashion

Quick update:

Had a great week! Michael and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary! I took the day off so the kids were kind of wacky the rest of the week. I'm learning that if they're schedule changes in anyway, we have break downs in behavior.

Next weekend will be going on a desert paintball and camping trip. I'm not playing paintball of course, but it should be fun! And in 11 days we'll be flying to Sri Lanka! I can't wait to get back on a beach!!

I've decided that's what I miss most about home (besides family and friends of course!) Right now the leaves are changing and the weather is cooling down in NC. I miss fall! I miss fresh air!! I miss the ocean!!! Michael and I counted the stars the other night from the rooftop...there were 9. But I was promised stars this weekend out in the desert!

We went to the mall today, and I forgot my camera-again!! So I decided to show you some Kuwait fashion, but all of the photos are from the internet.

This is group of Kuwaiti women.

The women show that modesty can still be stylish.
High waist pants, blazer, pumps and a coordinating hijab. 

And some women cover everything bu their eyes. 

In the malls, even if they are covering their face, you can still see their eyes and eye make-up. 

No matter what the women wear, they are dressed up! I love the fancy make-up and accessories!

Here are two Kuwaiti men wearing dishdashas and ghutras. 

This is the inside of Avenues Mall-the largest mall in Kuwait.  

Learning about Islam

I've been trying to get a video so you can hear the call of prayer but it's always too quiet, so I'm borrowing one instead-thanks Elizabeth!

The next one is a video taken on a Friday during the sermon. I like it because you can see the men heading into the mosque. 

One of my boys is practicing a reading from the Qur'an for a competition. He stayed in from recess today to practice. I asked him what he was reading.. To explain the Qur'an, he asked, "Do you know Allah?" 

"Yes, I know Allah."

"Well he said all of this." [pointing to paper]

"Well who wrote it? Muhammad?"

"No, Allah told Muhammad and he memorized it and then told all the other Muslims who memorized it. Then they wrote it. It's not in English. It's in Arabic."

"Oh okay."

And then he kept reading/singing his part.

I love how kids make everything so simple! 

I've also learned that Islam has prophets; twenty-five are mentioned in the Qur'an including-Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, John the Baptist, Jesus... Any of these names ring a bell? Yep, same guys in the Bible. Of course there is one very important difference-Jesus! We believe Jesus is the Son and God and died on the cross for our sins. But it's nice to remember Islam and Christianity are more similar than most would admit. : )

This week is reading week! Our theme is Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Arabic

Another crazy/busy week at ACA! If any of my boys were shy and reserved before, they are completely comfortable now and wide-open! Classroom management is key on the boys campus, and is something we reflect on everyday. It is nice having all boys, because I can remind them to be gentlemen-they have to sit like gentlemen, walk in line like gentlemen, etc. Every morning we meet in a circle and greet each other by shaking hands and saying, "Good morning (name)" and the other boy replies back, "Good Morning (name)." It goes around the circle until everyone has been greeted by their neighbor. I like to remind them to shake hands like men, look them in the eye and use a strong voice! I also make them shake hands when they are apologizing to one another. On the girl's campus, I hear they have "Calendar Princess" in the morning, so I guess both have their perks!

I've learned a few Arabic words since I've been here.
Shukran means thank you and al'afw is you're welcome
hello: as-salām 'alaykum
and response: wa 'alaykum as-salām
yes: n'am
no: la, with our boys it's usually la la la la! (no no no no!)
yella: let's go (I hear that a lot with the boys too!)
Insh'Allah: God willing "Michael will be working soon insh'Allah."
Humdullah: Praise be to God. "How are you?-Fine, humdullah, humdullah"

And unfortunately I learned what "haram" means: sinful or something that displeases God.

Before we started math Tuesday morning, I noticed lots of trash on the floor. We eat snack and lunch in the room, so you can imagine what the floor looks like. Also, most of the boys don't really have to pick up after themselves at home, so I'm constantly reminding them. This Tuesday morning, I found an Arabic worksheet on the floor. It had a picture of a boy dressed as a policeman with questions on the back.

"Boys, who's paper is this?" ..nothing.. "Who's Arabic work is this?"....nothing..."When did you do this worksheet?" "Sunday"...."Why is it on the floor?".....nothing..."Fine, I'm throwing it away!" and just as I start on a rant about keeping our classroom nice and neat, four boys shout "Miss, Miss, Haram! Haram!" Thank goodness my teacher assistant was there! She came over and explained that the story included "Allah" or God, and I threw it away....I threw away God. Whoops! I explained to the boys that I had no idea, that I did not do it on purpose, and I put it in the recycling basket. From now on, I will put all Islam and Arabic work in the recycling basket! I learned it's also "haram" to waste food, so we usually give left over, uneaten food to the maids. Another sensitive subject is music-no music special, no music clubs and we're really not supposed to have music in the classroom. I sometimes sing songs for instruction-last week we sang a doubles addition song. Yesterday I played classical while they worked but I asked my TA first. Of course yesterday was an exception-it was last period on a Thursday...no matter what age or gender, our kids go bonkers last period on Thursday!


As you know, Arabic has different characters for writing so everything is spelled phonetically. There are a few different spellings for the Arabic words I wrote. It's also the reason English words are spelled so funny here such as "Hair Saloon."

Money talk and other random stories!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! I slept in two hours yesterday! Yep woke up at 7AM. 

We went to church Friday-The Lighthouse Church. The service was a welcome service for all of the new teachers in Kuwait. The preacher, who's from Danville, VA, talked about how it was started for ex-pats, therefore everyone has a different denominational background and that we should be flexible with our worship. We might hear things we're not used to, but it's just part of attending an international church. 

On a side note...We also discussed the violence and protests that have been occurring at US Embassies in the Middle East. For starters, don't be worried! We are safe! If there are any security threats to Americans, they will put us on the first flight out of here! Secondly, keep in mind that those few extremists do not represent all Muslims and the culture we are living in. And lastly, what we discussed in church-we all just need to love one another-Arabs, Americans, Christians and Muslims : ) Less ignorance and more education would go a long way!

Anyway, Friday night was movie night/lesson planning party!

Two first year teachers' exciting Friday night! 

Once I get used to my schedule at school, I'll be able to do all of my planning during my breaks and not bring my work home! 

 Ready for a money lesson?? Here are two photos of Kuwaiti Dinar or KD. The notes are 20, 10, 5, 1, 1/2, and 1/4. For change, 1 KD is equal to 1,000 fills (cents). The coins are for 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 fills. So the 1/2 note is 500 fills and the 1/4 note is 250 fills.

English side

Arabic side

One KD is equal to 3.5671 US Dollars. I try not to convert prices to US Dollars, because some things are so expensive. I bought as maxi skirt  cardigan for 20KD...I wish there was a Target here! Groceries are about the same as in the US. We usually spend 15KD a week. Some take-out places are really cheap like the local shwarma place (Lebanese take-out) and Indian take-out. Both are under 2 KD for a two people and a lot of food! Also everything delivers here! Check out this website: http://www.6alabat.com/kw/en/home It's where everyone orders food from. 

Now for the hot water story...It's not our proudest moment! 

So we have had cold and hot water since we've been here. The hot water wasn't what we were used to, but we still took showers and did the dishes. My 5AM showers were not quite as hot as I would have liked, but nothing to really complain about. Then we discovered this: 

The one that's lit up is our hot water heater switch!! We had it off the whole time! It's amazing how hot the water was without the heater! The other switches are light switches and the last one is for the washing machine. 

Since it's difficult to comment on my posts, feel free to write on Facebook! Again, I love all of the feedback! 

Boys will be boys

Tomorrow you might here a girl yelling TGIT across the Atlantic! Thank goodness it's Thursday!! This week was tough-mainly trial and error and lot's of pre-assessing. Sunday I had a few great lessons planned, tried them and realized it was way too much for the kids. I didn't take enough time to teach writing the date, writing their name, how to read directions etc. I'm also learning that I have to talk very slow and use visuals. So I have slowed down the pace and am taking time with each step of an activity. Modeling and guided practice x100!

And of course boys will be boys. Twenty-four in a room makes for a lot of noise. Today we worked on keeping our bottom in the chair! Of course lots of noise usually means lots of talking and I love how social they are! 

This is how I feel by the end of the day!

I'm hoping we will get used to our routines and procedures. My favorite is giving the American sign language letter for "B" to ask to use the bathroom and "W" for water. They are doing a great job at looking to see if the hall pass is available and asking silently! 

We have three rules: The Golden Rule ("Treat others the way you want to be treated"), "Only talk when you have been called on" and "Only get up when you have permission." It's very common to speak to the teacher by getting out of your seat and yelling Miss Miss! Unfortunately, when it's happening all day long with 24 boys. the teacher can get irritated hence the 2nd and 3rd rule : )

So I mentioned all of the planning time I have each week, which is wonderful! Here is what the boys are doing:
Every week they have five Arabic classes, two Islam classes and two Lifeskills classes. The Arabic of course is just like English Language Arts. Lifeskills is a great course-today they talked about why they are special which fits right in with my social curriculum! The teacher for Islam has a beautiful voice-I love to hear him teach the prayers and of course listening to my class sing in their sweet 7 year old voices is lovely! He is also an amazing storyteller....I find myself just sitting and listening for 10 minutes at a time, even though I don't know what he's saying!

Prayer request: Michael's looking for a job! 

We went on the yacht last weekend and swam in the Gulf! It was extremely salty and the current was so strong we resorted to hanging on a rope while the others jet-skied. 

I had great pictures of Michael and I swimming at sunset and I accidentally hit "Delete all"!! boo

Well I'm going to go enjoy a cup of green tea and look over my lesson plans for next week! If I haven't mentioned before it's common to drink tea and coffee after every meal. 

Next post you'll learn all about fills and KD and the few Arabic words!

What Not to Wear

I survived my first week of school! It has definitely been challenging! Most of my boys' English is rusty, so it took a lot of patience. I also had to be very stern, because the boys are rowdy! Lots of talking, pushing, yelling out. Walking in a line was difficult because they constantly put their arms around each other, hold hands and run! Looks like we'll be working on procedures for the next few weeks! 

We did a fun activity the second day! I made a puzzle that spelled out TEAM. Each student colored a puzzle piece and then we put the puzzle together! When we were putting it together, they had T, E and A. As they were guessing, one boy yelled, "Teet! It spells teet!" Of course, everyone joined in...25 boys shouting out teet hahah But it was a great team building activity! 

The dress code here is very different than what we're used to in the states. At home, teachers are more focused on dressing professionally (no jeans, no tennis shoes). In Kuwait we need to dress very modest. 

Our arms need to be covered at least halfway between our shoulder and elbow.
That's why we wear cardigans in 120 degree weather!

I also wear log sleeve and 3/4 shirts underneath.

Shirts need to be loose fitting.
No belts to make it more fitted and no tucking in! 

We need to cover our chest-no low cut shirts!
Scarves are great for covering-I got this one at the Souk for 1 KD.

Pants have to be paired with a long shirt to cover our hips.
This is about as low cut as shirts can get! 

Again, this is for our school dresscode! In public we can wear jeans and t-shirts. The shirts still need to be loose, but I brought two pairs of skinny jeans and have worn them with a modest shirt. No one would ever say anything about what you're wearing, but it's definitely more stylish to be modest! And I would never go out wearing shorts, a sundress or tank tops!!

Also to be respectful, when Michael and I are together in public, we do not show affection. No one told us not to, but we noticed when we were walking around the malls that men and women don't walk with their arms around each other or holding hands. When we went to take a picture together at the souk, we weren't sure how to stand!

To everyone who has been reading my blog THANK YOU!!! I really appreciate the feedback, and I LOVE seeing the number of pageviews! We hit 1,100 yesterday! Just one more way technology make us feel closer to the ones we love back home : )

Ending the first work week!

This past week has been very busy! My workday is 6:45AM to 2:45AM. The bus picks us up from Hawally 5 (our apt. building) at 6:15AM and drops us off at 3:30pm. It's nice to have the transportation provided. Tomorrow is orientation for the parents! Just a few last minute things to do today and then I'll put up classroom pictures! Michael has been a huge help! 

He even sorted through all of the unifix cubes! He's having fun, can't you tell? 

My first weekend after working at school all week was amazing! Thursday we had a pool party and bbq, and Friday we cleaned the apartment, worked out, went to the pool and had a movie night with friends!

Our pool at the apartment.

Here's a few random photos!

Almost everything has an Arabic and English label, either on the front and back or both on the front.
It makes grocery shopping a lot easier! 

This one did not have any English descriptions, just "fabric care."
It's for abayas, so it should take care of black cardigans right?
And yes, I have to wear cardigans in 120 degree heat.

I put up some photos of our apt. when we first arrived, but here is our bedroom now, 

and our rearranged living room.

Again, I should have classroom photos up by Monday. I'm also taking outfit photos this week so you can see how we work with the strict dress code!

Last bit of Orientation

As I mentioned last post, we went to the Grand Mosque! Here are the photos I promised! Michael and I took one together, but learned after that it's inappropriate for one male and one female to take a photo standing close together in the mosque....whoops!

While visiting a mosque, all women need to cover their hair.
They give you abayas to cover your clothes and hijabs to cover your hair.
In Kuwait, both are traditionally black.  

Friday is the holy day. In fact, the US embassy has church services on Friday for Christian Americans in the area, since the work week is Sunday to Thursday. Basically nothing is open on Friday until later in the day, so we took advantage of the free time by cleaning and organizing our apartment!

That night we went to the souk. It’s an old Kuwaiti market that sells pretty much everything and is very inexpensive. I bought a scarf and we ate hummus and hot, fresh pita.

Later Friday night we went on a boat ride for our friend Laura’s birthday. And by boat, I mean three million dollar yacht. It was very eye opening. We’ve seen the expensive houses, heard how the students have drivers, nannies and maids, but going on a coworker’s friend’s 85 foot yacht is a different story. Of course, he is getting a new yacht soon, because he just bought a helicopter and wants his new one to have a landing pad. 

You might have noticed my scandalous shorts.
Since we were hanging out with friends we didn't need to cover up.
Kind of like how we can wear what we want in the apartment building. 

Dancing!

Cooking dinner

Saturday we went to The Palms. It’s a western health club on the beach with swimming pools, workout areas, and a spa. I got to wear a bikini! The water was very very salty and hot, and in no way was it refreshing. It was nice though to lounge under the umbrella with a little sea breeze!

Sunday was my first day of work!! It was wonderful! We finished up paperwork, took tours of the campus and met with our staff. While we were all in the auditorium for our very first meeting, servers came around with wine glasses of juice, followed by Arabic coffee. I tried to imagine being in a public school in the US listening to the principle in a staff meeting with servers weaving through the teachers with silver trays of juice and coffee...maybe plastic cups of in the back for you to grab yourselves! After that we had breakfast/brunch. There was an unbelievable amount of food! Hummus, falafel, omelets, wraps, fruit and desserts! ACA definitely makes a great first impression. Looking forward to a  productive week preparing the classroom!