The Discovery of Sri Lanka

When I started thinking about blogging about my trip to Sri Lanka, I was overwhelmed with how much I have to talk about! There wasn't a second of the trip that isn't blog worthy, so I've decided to break it up. I'll probably cover about a half of a day or a day for each blog, but for now I'll just give a basic outline.


Sri Lanka is located off the southeast coast of India and about 75% of the population consists of Sinhalese. I hadn't ever heard of them or their language but apparently Sri Lanka is one of the most literate countries in Asia. When we first saw the writing of the language, Andrea coined the term "Curly Cue" so we stuck with that until we gained further knowledge. Although the island is fairly small, it takes forever to travel anywhere. They have no highways - only somewhat two-lane roads that run through village after village. Road signs don't exist and maps are pretty much useless. Even our driver who is a native of Sri Lanka stopped every now and then to make sure we were heading in the right direction. Most of the transportation consists of tuc-tucs and scooters, and when passing someone, it doesn't even matter if there's on-coming traffic. The trip was a never-ending game of chicken. The beaches and mountains are beautiful, and so are the people! 


Here's a little roadmap of our travels:

Colombo --> Hikkaduwa --> Ratnapura --> Polonaruwa --> Sigriya --> Kandy --> Colombo

Day 1:

Arrived in Colombo

Drove to Hikkaduwa

Beach time

Party at Mambo's (hotel down the beach) with the locals

                               

The waves were great for surfing, but the undertow was pretty strong. I didn't get a chance to try to surf. This is the beach right outside Rita's where we stayed in Hikkaduwa

This is the beach at Mambo's where we went the first night we were there. There were a ton of locals, Australians, British and a few Germans there...and then of course about 20 Kuwait teachers!

Day 2:

Shopped for souvenirs around Hikkaduwa

Took a tuc-tuc to a lagoon, temple, and fed sea turtles

Hung out at Mambos with more ACA teachers until 5am

This is at the lagoon the tuc-tuc driver took us to. They had several different plants. This one was cinnamon.

This is the catamaran we rode in around the lagoon. It can fit up to 7 people.

This is the sea turtle we fed on a beach down the street from our hotel. Once I fed him, he kept following me. I thought he was going to bite my toes off!

Day 3:

Andrea, Kristina and I branched off from the group. We decided not to do a guided tour. Our tuc-tuc driver was so awesome so we asked him to be our driver for the week. He ended up getting his brother in law to take us because his van was broken. We had a vague idea of what we wanted to do, but we made up our trip as we went. We jumped in the van at 6am and headed to Ratnapura.

Saw a waterfall

Picked up a local

Dug for gems

Went to a temple

This is where the workers dig for gems. It's definitely different from digging for gems in Arkansas!

This is the waterfall we went to before we dug for gems. It's used as a bathing place for the locals.

After we went to the gem fields, we went to a man's house we met on the fields. He was trying to sell us gems, so we went and checked them out. Let's just say that when you buy gems from the miners, the prices are a lot more reasonable.

He showed us how he cut the gems. It flew off the holder a few times and almost hit me in the face!

This is the man we met at the gem fields. When we got to his house, it started pouring, so we had King Coconut milk (he's cutting the coconut here), and we also had tea.

Day 4:
Drove to Polonura
Saw the ancient city and several statues
Went to a woodshop
Drove to Sigrya

Here is one picture of a temple in the ancient city. 

I'm not sure what he's carving here, but they said it'll take about 2 months to finish.

We weren't allowed to take pictures with the statues, so we tried to be sneaky...

And then we found out that we can take pictures, but we can't stand with our backs toward the statues. There were bats flying all around this one!

Day 5:
Climbed Lion's Rock
Drove to Kandy
Went to Ceylon Tea Plantation
Saw Sri Lankan Dancers
Drove to Colombo

 

Lions Rock! What a climb...

About halfway up about 1000 stairs later, we started taking a ton of goofy pictures to keep our mind off the climbing.

We finally made it! We decided nobody ever actually tried to talk to the king if it took that much effort to do it. 

These are some tea pluckers that were finishing up their day. We took a picture with them and gave them about $10 USD to share. They thought they won the lottery. 

The whole 3 km up the mountain to the tea factory was full of tea bushes. It's definitely not what I expected...way more awesome.

This is the first step in the factory. There's a huge fan that takes the moisture out of the leaves here.

Day 6:
Flew back to Kuwait


Here's a few pictures more from in between each stop!

Along the way we would stop at these little shacks to eat. The food was good, but SO spicy so I didn't eat much. My driver told me to eat sugar. It worked miracles! I'll definitely be using that trick again.

This is the Curly cue language I was talking about. I've never seen it in my life. 

When we saw someone bathing an elephant on the side of the road, we stopped. The monks stopped to help as well. Apparently monks never get in the river or bathe elephants, so we were lucky to see them do both!

This is a tuc-tuc. three people can fit in the back and the driver sits up front. You steer with handle bars, not a steering wheel. I heard they are priced at about $3,500 USD. For a lot of Sri Lankans, this is their business in tourist cities.

This is another elephant we saw on in a river. He seemed pretty sad when his owner tried to get him to lay down.

Here's a wild elephant. We also had a night when we were driving when an elephant was stopping traffic by walking in the middle of the road. They apparently are known for hitting cars and breaking windows as they walk by. We didn't experience this, thankfully.

He was a nice elephant. They had him chained up by his ankles to make sure he stayed put. I felt sorry for him! I wish they could all just run free.

 Next time, I'll tell you all about day 1! It was probably the most uneventful of the trip, but we all needed on day of a little R&R.

I've been having entirely too much fun to find time to update!

I don't even know where to start! I've been the worst updater ever. I really wish I had the discipline to post no matter how tired I am before bed. Part of it is the fact that my internet is worthless at home, but I'm sure I would still find an excuse if it was fabulous. Remember that whole expectation I had of being able to sit in my apartment and be productive in the evenings because I have no car and I really wouldn't have a life here? Yeah that didn't happen. We find ways to entertain ourselves every single day. If we aren't doing anything right when we get off work, I desperately take those few hours to recharge my batteries. There's always someone (normally Meghan) who is willing to cook, we tend to find ourselves wandering down Bin Khaldun or some other random street in Hawally. We've really had some great networking opportunities the past few weeks. To sum it up, here are a few of the things that have been going on:

1. Canadian Thanksgiving (yes...it's been that long since I've posted)
2. Rugby Ball
3. Desert camping/paintballing on the Saudi Border
4. Bahrain
5. Up next - Sri Lanka!

I would love to break this post up into a few different posts and go into major detail of all of my different adventures, but I have a feeling I'd never get through all of them if I do that. I'm still really enjoying it here. I miss Dallas like crazy, but its definitely a fair trade-off.

School's still completely amazing. I really wish we started later than 7:30am, but the 2:30pm finish is a good compromise. Andrea, one of my floor mates who has turned out to be one of my closer friends has gotten me to start walking to school, which is about 2 miles. In order to get there before 6:30, we leave around 5:45, so it makes for an early morning! Very rarely do I get to go to sleep before 11pm. By the time the weekend hits, im completely exhausted, but we just have so much planned that I have to push through and keep going! You can sleep when you die, right? My grandpa Wagner used to tell me that. It's become a very common phrase here in Kuwait for us fellow adventurists!

The students are still great! They do everything I ask and are still serious abou their grades. I can't say the same about my one class of seniors. They've already starting checking out. Today was the last day before the holiday not one of them showed up for my class. I was so confused and went and told my principal. She wasn't even phased by it...so I didn't worry. Some of us are really starting to think about staying next year. After we get back from the Eid holiday, we'll be halfway done with November. They offer contracts in January. December is packed with several weekend get-aways, so we pretty much have to really start thinking about it! Kristina and I have pretty much made a pact that we are staying here.  We just have to decide if it's going to be for 1 or 2 years. The traveling is such a major perk. I'm going to really expand my list of countries seen while I'm here. Before the end of February, I'll have Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and possible Lebanon, Petra, and Oman. That's so crazy!! I love it!

Alright...so for the adventure updates...

Canadian Thanksgiving:
This was definitely an experience! There are so many Canadians here so we all had a huge potluck dinner for Thanksgiving. There were about 30 of us so Ali had the brilliant idea of setting up cushions and tablers in the hallway. It was a little bit of a mess for serving food, but once we all got situated, it was such an awesome idea! We sat and ate and really got to enjoy everyones company. These people are my Kuwait family and its times like these that make the greatest memories. Every Thanksgiving, I'm sure we will all think back to that day where we all hardly knew each other and came together for a nice meal...kind of like the Pilgrams and Indians! :)

That's a great looking group of people! :) We are doing an American Thanksgiving on the Friday after Thanksgiving and my Uncle David is going to fry a couple of Turkeys and get us a ham! We're pretty excited about that.

Rugby Ball:

I was a bit hesitant to participate in this one, but you know me. I'm addicted to social interaction so I couldn't say no. It was 25KD (almost $100) for the ticket, and we also kind of went all-out on it. We got pedis, our hair done, bought new accessories and shoes. It was a lot of hard work preparing for it! I am the least girly-girl ever so this was a lot of energy for me. It was fun getting all dressed up. We went with some firefighters from America. They live about 5 minutes from the Hilton where the ball was held, so we all went there and played xbox Kinect before. It was definitely worth all of the planning. It was one of the best nights in Kuwait so far!

This is all the girls before we left for the ball!

Desert Camping/Paintballing:

This was so much more fun than I ever imagined! A lot of my close group here didnt go. They aren't really campers. Kristina and I went and we are so happy we did! I was originally not going to paintball because they ran out of guns, but I ended up sharing with two guys we met, Olly and Chris. Chris is a former Marine and now trains Kuwaitis to fly helicopters, and Olly is from England and is a financial advisor here. It was at an old satelite post/communications post on the border of Saudi. It was bombed or something during the war and is now the perfect paintballing site. The buildings are all cement and have wires and metal rods hanging out everywhere. There are holes in the floor so if you're not careful where you're running, you could fall all the way down. The erosion of the sand has built up so much that you can climb up it and get on the roof of one of the buildings. We tried to catch the sunset, but we were literally  seconds too late. After the sun went down, we all cooked and the DJ set up a dance floor with lights. The built a fire and fireworks were set off. It was such a blast. Who would have thought things like this went on in Kuwait! I'm so ignorant to so many things in this world and I'm so blessed to get these opportunities! I tried sheep's heart and tossed a football around in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of Canadians.

This is the group before we left the apartments to head to the border.

This was actually taken during the day before the sun went down. We are all new teachers in this picture!

Chris is suiting me ups for the red team! Super excited.

We got a little anxious and set up the shade cover in the hallway. :)

Bahrain: 

I'm not sure if I'm ranking this one as the best overall because it actually was, or if its just the freshest on my mind, but either way, I've never had such a great time in my life! I have a feeling I'll be saying that a lot. First of all, it was nice to sit down at a table with my new friends and enjoy a real adult beverage. I haven't had one of those since I had a glass of wine with the person sitting next to me on the plane coming into Kuwait for the first time. I got to sit and watch sports and listen to some random Phillipino band that was actually quite nice! We met one of the most fun groups of people I've ever spent time with as well! We went to the "Castaway"...which is really the Causeway, but I liked Castaway better. Its a huge elevated sandbar bridge thing that connects Bahrain and Saudi. It was really just something that we all wanted to say we've seen. Other than that it wasn't too exciting. We went to a mall and then decided we really didn't feel like shopping. The last night we were there we ended up at a Texas bar....seriously, of all places? There were Indians (from India) dressed as cowboys. I couldn't get over it, but it was such a blast.

We can all thank Andrea for such an awesome weekend!

This is the group of girls who traveled to Bahrain for the weekend! What a fun time.

As always, I tried to upload several more pictures, but the internet wasn't having it. I can't wait to get to Sri Lanka tomorrow! We have a few things we really want to do. The rest of the time we are just going to get lost and find whatever we run into! I truly feel like I'm soaking up every second of life right now. I'm so blessed to get these opportunities. Before coming here, I took my time for granted. I never stopped to really embrace life. My routine was the same and I could guide myself anywhere I went with my eyes closed. Life was predictable and every corner was lit. When you're put in a situation where every experience is a new one and around every corner is a new experience, it really makes you stop and appreciate it. I am thankful every day for the newness of my life. It can get addicting. I'm afraid I'll never be satisfied with a repetitive rountine or a consistent life. I love being forced to embrace every minute of life. I'm not sure what made me decide to leave everything I knew to discover the life waiting for me here, but I'm glad I did.

As Master Oogway on Kung Fu Panda would say, "One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it."

The honeymoon's over...

I feel like I am always starting my blogs off about how much I love this place and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Guess what! I just started another blog off with it, because it's still true! I love it here!


You know when you have a bunch of your friends in the same place and you use the expression "My worlds are colliding." Have you ever felt the exact opposite - all of your friends are spread out and no matter how hard you try, you'll never get them all together? I'm totally feeling this right now. I've been here for over a month now. When I was counting down the days until I'd board the plane, I never really got sad about leaving Dallas. I figured I'd have a moment here or there where I'd think of sweet memories with friends back home and have a few seconds where I just think to myself "Aw, I miss Dallas!" but I didn't expect this. No offense friends/family back home. If you know me at all, you know I hardly ever get feelings and I never actually show them. I kept thinking I'd see you guys next summer...no big deal. The truth is, I miss the heck out of you guys! I've never experience homesickness until now. I miss everything about Dallas - the people, the atmosphere, driving a car, stupid weather patters, daylight past 6pm...everything! No matter how much I love my current experience, you guys are irreplaceable. I've made some awesome friends here and I couldn't make it here without them, but there's just something about Dallas. It will always be my home.


Everyone back home keeps posting pictures, check-ins and statuses (stati??) on facebook that make me wish I were right there beside them during all the excitement. Keep them coming guys, and know that I'm there in spirit! Drop me a line or two when you get a chance. It's good to hear from y'all every once in a while. I have toyed with the idea of coming home in January, but I don't want to be tempted to stay! Well, also that I have the whole world to discover over here. :)


My routine is getting pretty normal here. I have the typical school day with my awesome kids, bus it home with all the teachers, meet up with my group for who knows what. We typically venture down Bin Khaldun, Beirut, or Qutaiba street to see what shawarma/juice shack we can mosey into. We live in one of the least westernized areas of Kuwait, so its fun to see how excited they get when we come in and test out their dishes. Last night, we went to an arabic place for shawarma. Kristina and I have been three times, but this time they gave us this dish to try and placed it on a little table outside (the only table in the restaurant), and told us to try it. It was amazing! I think it was called fathah snouber, but I could be way off. After that, we went into the Western Union to wire money home. We got some tickets from the clerk for an Indian concert on Saturday! It should be interesting. He laughed when we got excited.


My teacher friends can appreciate this part... Our progress reports are due next week. Our gradebook just started working about 2 days ago. I'm actually one of the luckier ones. Some people wont have a gradebook before the reports are due. It's software on the computer, and I have to keep a hard copy just in case anything goes wrong (which happens all the time). I can't mass assign scores, and I must enter all assignment in each class separately. My computer has a short in it, so it likes to turn off on its own a lot. Our contact with parents is completely based on what the kids decide to give us on day one. You guys know how reliable that can be!


I actually have nothing but great things to say about my students. I just gave my first test, and I made it rather difficult for them. They tried so hard and studied so much, and they did well! They weren't all A's, but considering they have to translate it in their head first and then figure it out, they did awesome! I'm learning what it means to teach all ESL kids. After seeing the brains on these students, I think all kids should start learning a second language at 4 years old! It's awesome how much they think and problem solve without me coaching them along. It's amazing how they can switch from Arabic to English so easily. They actually take two classes a day in Arabic - Arabic and Islam. The rest are all taught in english.


Last weekend was really exciting. We went to The Palms Resort for the day and just relaxed. Google it. It's legit. Some of us have decided to start scuba diving classes there. I'm super excited about that! I swam in the saltiest water ever! It's crazy how much I float in salt water! I want to take my students there to swim in the pool then jump in the gulf. We also finally booked our flight to Sri Lanka. We definitely learned our lesson on waiting to book. The prices jumped about 50KD (180USD) in a couple weeks since we are traveling on a holiday. It was pretty stressful. We tried everything we could to book it on our own, then we gave up and marched down to one of the several travel agencies on one of our main streets (Bin Khaldun). They were the first one we saw open, and about the 6th one we passed. We went on Friday - their holy day and nothing is open if it's owned by Muslims. We are just happy it's booked and we are on our way to Sri Lanka on the 4th! Nine of us booked it that night and another 5 or so booked a few days later. I'll tell you what all we have planned in another post. It could be pretty long. :)


Next weekend, we are all going to the rugby ball at the Hilton. I wasn't too excited about it, but apparently its "the thing" to go to here. We are all going dress shopping tomorrow! It'll be fun! We met a man at Lulu's (the local target basically) who is here opening restaurants. He heard me say "holy canoli" and knew right away we had to be from the western world. He told us his story, but to sum it up, he's lived everywhere opening restaurants and studying different cuisines. He invited us to sit at the "Chef's Table" when his next restaurant opens in November. It's called "Z Brgr" and it'll be a high-end burger/vegetarian restaurant that's attached to the palms. He hired a nutritionist who is our age and she just moved here. He asked us to network with her since she's stuck around a bunch of old guys all the time. We contacted her and she's shopping with us tomorrow!


I love how easy it is to network here. We've met so many awesome people - some that are from the western world, and some who know no english. Every experience is a new adventure, and memories are being made on the daily. All of them are reaffirmations that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.


I stole these pictures from Alexis. I've been bad about bringing my camera everywhere with me!

 This is the crew at Dominick's birthday. We're pretty good at all getting together to celebrate an occasion - speaking of which, Canadian Thanksgiving is Friday night!



This is just after we finally booked/paid for our trip to Sri Lanka! Abdullah spoke very little english (I helped him spell thousand on the receipt) but was extremely patient with us. He hounded me for a copy of this picture!

Oh...and GO RANGERS! I might not be home to celebrate, and it might be the middle of the night when they play, but its the first thing I check when I wake up!

They say if you do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit...

As of yesterday, I've been living in Kuwait for exactly three weeks. I think I am finally settling in and catching on to things here. I can tell cab drivers how to get me to my apartment, I know how to say "God Willing" "Peace be upon you" "I swear" and "shut up"... That's all I need, right? My students, cab driver and heiress have been teaching me words here and there, but it's definitely a hard language to pick up. They don't even say the same sounds as we do. I really respect my students for knowing two completely different languages. I have my daily routine down pretty smoothly, and we now all have cell phones to contact each other! This is huge. Going to several different floors to knock on doors to try to make plans with 10 different people isn't super convenient.


Now that I've had a chance to settle in and embrace where I'm going to call home for the next 9 months, I have also had a chance to slow down and remember where I'm from. I am starting to miss home a bit. I miss my friends, family, Scooby, the convenience of driving, sports, the sun rising later than 4:30am, and the sun setting later than 6:30pm, grass...etc. I really do love it here. I've met so many awesome people, and my students are out of this world! I gave them vocabulary yesterday, and since there are 24 words for the first chapter, I gave them until Sunday to turn it in. I'd say about 90% showed up with it done in class today.


I am starting to get a little antsy on the weekends. For fun, everyone shops and eats here. I typically just spend time with my new friends and spend all day saturday planning for the next week. I'm still waiting on my Civil ID and my resident's visa. Until then, I'm not allowed to leave the country. If I do, it will mess up the entire process. The school has my passport anyway. Back home, I normally go out of town or have something major planned about once a month. I think I'm getting a little impatient to travel. I'm really excited to see this side of the world. We have started planning our first trip, and I can't wait! Meghan's birthday is during our first break, so we let her decide where we will go. She chose Sri Lanka. A lot of the teachers went last year and loved it! It's going to be a great time! We've been looking at this website for a couple of weeks. www.srilankatourism.org  We are going to go to an elephant sanctuary and feed them with big bottles!! I'm excited, and you know I'll take a TON of pictures! Lets just hope I can upload them. :)


My week's almost over. Tomorrow's my Friday and I have absolutely nothing planned for the weekend. We did just get an announcement that our ATM cards came in, so maybe that means I actually have a bank account now! I also got the official offer to coach track, and I was also asked to assist with JV basketball, so that's exciting! I told my counselor today that I'd like to start tutoring as well. They are big on that here. It pays well and the kids are awesome, so it's a good experience! I think once everything starts up, I won't be sitting at home twiddling my thumbs as much. Those of you who know me, know that sitting on my couch in the evenings isn't on my list of favorites, so it's killing me!


Not much has gone on this week. I lost my phone, I taught, I slept, I cooked a few good meals, and I hung out with the Salmiya crew and walked to the mall. My Uncle David has a birthday this week, so we went to dinner and walked along the gulf. I found a seashell! It was fun, and it was good to see a different part of Kuwait. I've learned that I live in the slums of the state. I'm alright with it...but I can't wait to see what else there is here!


I tried to upload pics, and it's super slow. I'll try again later! Good morning, my American friends (and good afternoon to my new friends in Kuwait)!

A Different Time Zone, A Different Routine

Tomorrow I finish my first week of school in Kuwait. I really love it here. A lot of it is exactly what I expected, but a lot of it is totally different. I'm still trying to figure everything out, but that will take a while. I haven't had much direction with anything. I actually got in trouble today for not getting my classes books yet. I'm use to getting books the second week of school due to schedule changes and such. I say I got on trouble, they just came in and told me I had to get them today no matter what. A lot of the school is ran like this. I was never told that books needed to be checked out by Wednesday. A lot of the procedures are assumed to be understood.

I love the girls. They are so eager to learn and they are so interested in knowing all about me. I think it would be really interesting to grow up in a school where each teacher is from somewhere new. They want to know our stories and they really hold us in high regards since we are from America and Canada. They have all been to America. One girl today said, "I love America, you have everything there! Every type of pen, pencil, sock, cheese, everything is there!" It was weird that those are the things that she used for examples, but I think she was trying to make the point that even trivial things have varieties. They listen to everything I say. I never have to repeat myself, and when I assign in class work, 100% are on task. There aren't any lazy workers or anyone trying to hide their cell phones under their desks while they text. They really are engaged, and its great! It's amazing how much more motivated I am to explain things until they all understand when they are all so eager. I had a girl do a test run on her email the second day to make sure she could contact me when she needed to.

Today I guess I was still half asleep when I was making my lunch, or maybe it was because I was preoccupied skyping. I accidentally stuck my cheese container in my backpack instead of my lunch. I told my kids that I was certain that their brains have reached capacity this week, because mine has. I couldn't even pack my lunch correctly! One of my sweet 9th graders came in my room right when lunch started and offered me a pear, cookies and juice. I told her I wouldn't take her food, but I really appreciate the gesture. She left it on the table and said she wouldn't leave the room with it, so she was leaving it there. It's a very generous culture here, and they take a lot of offense if you don't accept the gifts they give, so I took it. That really touched my heart. It's only been 4 days of school and these girls are already teaching me lessons.

We started writing mock lab reports yesterday. They were all about them. When I gave them an in-class assignment with 5 minutes left of class, they all worked straight through the bell - every single class. When I told them on day one that I dismiss them, not the bell, they listened. I had to actually tell them to stop working and that we would finish them next class. It might just be that its the first week of school and they're all trying to really stay engaged, but I really hope I can keep their attention this much through the entire year. They were telling us in orientation that its extremely competitive at the school because they're all competing for scholarships to go to America for college. Only a certain amount can go, and they can only go to certain schools, mainly Ivy League. Their school is paid for and they also get a ridiculous monthly allowance while they're in America. Grade 9 is when GPA starts counting, so they're jumping in full force. I really hope they are all successful.

My routine has drastically changed here. In the states, my day started no earlier than 7:30am. I would get to school around 9am and I'd have my planning period until almost 10. I'd teach 3 classes, have an hour lunch, and teach three more classes. I'd go through the starbucks drive-thru in the morning and maybe get a bite to eat. I never even thought about lunch in the mornings because I could go drive somewhere and pick something up. Dinner was always with friends somewhere in Dallas, and I was normally playing kickball or working the league. I NEVER cooked at home. My weekends consisted of extreme social time. Brunches, nights out, dinners, pool time, concerts and whatever else we could find to entertain us. It's completely different here. The sun is up at 4:30am, and I'm up by 5:30am to catch the 6:30am bus with 25 other teachers. I get to school around 6:45 with my backpack full of everything I need for the day that was packed the night before, my french pressed coffee in hand, and wide awake ready for the day. I drop off anything that I need copied (someone else does all the copying...that's an entire other blog entry in itself), and I head to my classroom. My daily schedule is different everyday. I have all of my classes on Sunday and Monday (5 each day), but not at the same times. Tuesday and Wednesday, I teach 4 classes, and Thursday I only teach 3. I have a ton of planning time, which is great. I only have a 30 minute lunch, which is more than enough time since I have to pack my lunch. I think I'm allowed to walk across the street to the Bakala if I need to, but I still have to sign out with security at the front. I'm done at 2:30, on the bus at 3:15, and back home by 3:30. I've been taking about an hour nap when I get home, then visit with people here for a bit. I normally just leave my door open and my new friends come and grade papers (or as my Canadian friends call it, mark papers) and talk about our days here. Sometimes we'll order food, which is always entertaining. Our building is really hard to find considering there aren't street names here. Trying to tell someone how to get here who doesn't speak English is sometimes a huge failure. I've had to carry my phone down to my heiress or security guard to help get the delivery guy to the right place. I shower at night, which I never did in the past, and I'm in bed by 9:30-10ish. I'm still getting use to having my weekends on Friday and Saturday, but I like it! Who wants to work on Friday anyway?

All in all, it was a great week, considering the circumstances. I walked in my classroom on Sunday morning and my dry erase board was back off the wall, I had a smartboard with no power supplies or anything else, I had a computer with no cables, and a projector that worked, but no computer to hook it to. Luckily I brought my lap top and was able to connect the projector to it and throw together a power point presentation as a back-up plan. I haven't been able to make copies at all, so we've been creative with nothing but a projector. We've made it work, so its all good. I talked to my principal today about some of the things that need to get worked out. Hopefully it gets all put together soon.

The rumor on the street is that when they offer new contracts in January, you have to sign for 2 more years. I really like it here, but I'm not sure if I can do 3 years. I needed to get out of Dallas, and I'm so glad this is where I ended up. I love the culture, the people, my colleagues, the travel opportunities, the sunrises, my sweet girls and definitely the food, but Dallas is my home and its irreplaceable. I wanted to travel, and I wanted to experience living on this side of the world, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I am 100% overly satisfied with my decision. Nothing can replace the friendships I made in Dallas and the people in the states who were a huge influence on how I became who I am today. They're my family and I miss all of them. I have a lot of thinking and praying to do the next few months to figure out which paper I'll sign in January. I wouldn't mind a few prayers sent my way. :) The group of friends I've made here have already decided that we are all going to sit down and make a group decision. If we stay, we want as many of us to stay together as possible. I think it's a good idea.
I have so many pictures to share, but my internet is still very slow here at the apartment. My wireless card works extremely well at school, so maybe I'll be able to upload some tomorrow while I'm planning.

This is at the dock at the Marina Mall. That's the Kuwait City skyline in the far background. It was beautiful, but the water's pretty gross. Look how big the sun is! Sunsets and sunrises are beautiful here. I am on the 9th floor, so I can see the sun hitting the endless amount of white buildings in the morning all across the flat land. It makes me smile knowing I get to wake up to this view.

Two Weeks to Prepare for Tomorrow

I got here two weeks ago today, and it's been exponentially more than I ever imagined! A lot of us keep catching ourselves forgetting that this is home for the next year. We keep trying to cram as much in as possible every day thinking that we are just here on vacation. I haven't been able to post much because of the internet connection. My entire 11 story building is all on the same server, so it tends to get a bit slow. I bought a wireless card from one of the local cell phone providers, but it's actually worse than the apartment's connection. I'll catch you up on the remainder of orientation when I can figure out how to get a better connection.

The returning staff got here a week ago and we all started back to school getting our rooms ready and such. It's been complete chaos. I came from a school district that had their stuff together pretty well. I didn't realize it until I came here. Everyone except the Arabic and Islam teachers and a few assistants are from overseas, which means not much gets done in the summer. They have tried to get everything done in the last three weeks. They keep telling me that everything will magically come together on Sunday. I walked into a classroom with no projector, computer, or the promised smartboard and an unhung whiteboard. After my principal popped her head in to tell me I might be gaining another class, and she noticed that I had nothing, a few people started paying attention. The "wasta" at the school came in and started getting things put together. They all started speaking in another language, but it's good to know that it might actually get done now that the right people know. Turns out filling out a maintenance/IT request form really doesn't mean anything.

I took so much for granted in the states. Small things like making copies or logging on to see class rosters, or even having a computer are conveniences that I never even thought twice about...not to mention having toilet paper instead of a bidet. I still don't have class rosters, but I am hoping the people that show up in my class are where they are supposed to be. I'll make rosters from those who are present.

I'm typically not a complainer, and I'm really not that frustrated about the whole situation. All of it is completely out of my control, and worrying/stressing over it really doesn't bring anything positive to the situation. I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to go experience teaching in another country, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I am thoroughly absorbing all of it...the good and the not so good. My job is still the same: educate the next generation. Tomorrow morning at 7:30am (I just called Waheed to pick me up at 5:45 so I can get there earlier than everyone else to take advantage of copying), the girls will come in to start another year of school. I'll be starting my fourth year as a teacher, and in so many ways, it feels like my first. I don't know what to expect this year. I'm not sure if I'll absolutely love it, or if I'll be counting down the days until I can restart life in Dallas.  Either way, I'll make the most of this school year. I'm going to completely take advantage of this opportunity. It's not very often that we can just up and leave a life that's so familiar to us just to go experience a different culture.

On a more positive note, we had orientation on Thursday. I have never had more than a hand-full show up for orientation when I was working in Texas. I made about 20 copies of all of my documents for orientation, and I had to go make more. I had about 65 of my 125 students show up. The parents are really supportive of their daughter's education. Several of them asked if I needed anything to make the school year better, and they all gave me an extremely warm welcome to Kuwait. The girls were anxious to get their syllabus and had several questions about the course. I'm really looking forward to working with all of them!

I tried uploading a few pictures, and this is as far as I got with my connection. I really have to figure out how to get this internet better!

This is a view of my room from my desk. We have a separate room for a lab, but I haven't seen it yet. We also have a lab tech who sets up/puts away labs for us! I'm also pretty excited about my window. I've never had one in my classroom. :)

Orientation Day One

If it weren't for living in an entire complex filled with a bunch of people with the same daily agenda, I guarantee I would have missed my first day of orientation. One of the downfalls of this time change is that I have no idea what day it is. Especially since I've been keeping in touch with people at home who are 9 hours ahead of me.

Yesterday we started the day off by meeting downstairs in the lobby while we all got cleared for dress code. After we were all ready, we loaded up on our buses, we headed to the girls campus, the one I will be teaching at. I was actually pretty impressed with the school. When I looked it up a few months ago, it looked a bit shady, but it's not so bad! It's not a rich American school you'd find in the states, but it isn't bad. Sand and the heat really wears on the buildings here, so you have to take that into account.

When we arrived at the school we all went into the auditorium to meet the principals of each school and a few other administrators. I was actually a bit nervous because just the night before Gillian was telling us how there are cultural differences between us and Muslims when it comes to shaking hands. I didn't want to offend anyone by offering my hand, but its just habit. They are use to us doing that so it didn't offend them, but they later explained how to approach parents and such. They told us to always keep something in our hands to keep us preoccupied so we aren't so tempted to stick our hand out there to greet them with an American gesture.

After meeting everyone, we all sat down and were introduced to Ludna. This lady is so awesome. She is Muslim and grew up in Kuwait. She's the director of staff orientation or whatever, so she is the one behind all that's going on this week, and getting us here to Kuwait and setting us up in our apartments. She has the best sense of humor and really lightened the mood. I've been told that she has a lot of pull in Kuwait and can pretty much get anything done. On the plane ride over, the man sitting next to me told me the first word I'll learn is "wasta". This is a person you go to if you need anything...big or small. Ludna is said to be the wasta of the school. She really takes care of us. The principals said a few words to greet us. It was really refreshing actually. I absolutely loved working in Wylie, but I didn't realize until now how negative orientation felt there. Obviously everyone was happy to see everyone after the summer, but everyone dreaded the meetings and introductions, including myself. Here at ACA, the atmosphere is so welcoming and upbeat. I love it!

Next we had to all wait around to talk to a few people to get our move-in allowances and reimbursements for excess baggage on the flight and any visa costs we had. We were also given our contracts to look over and return in a few days. Most of it is translated, but it kind of makes me nervous signing something that I can't read. I might need to get someone to translate. This was kind of a lengthy process. There are about 30 new teachers this year, so it took a while. It wasn't too bad though because we all got to sit around and meet everyone. It's really awesome hearing everyones stories. All of the teachers are from America and Canada. It's fun to hear the differences between the two. I definitely look forward to getting to know everyone better!

It was about 1:30 when we finally wrapped everything up and headed to a lebanese restaurant on the gulf. I can't remember the name of it, but it was delicious! My friend Alaa from college is Lebanese, so I'm pretty familiar with the food. I ate way too much and just wanted to go back and sleep afterwards. We were introduced to the travel agent and the assistant superintendent at lunch. It's really been interesting putting faces with names. I've been emailing back and forth with a lot of them for a few months, so its nice to finally meet them. After fresh-squeezed mango, strawberry and kiwi juices, hummus, baba ganoush, shawarma and the best coffee ever, we all got up, took and picture and loaded back up on the buses.

The next stop was the Sultan Center which is a chain of grocery stores here in Kuwait. I wasn't really looking forward to this since I had already been out shopping this week with my Uncle David. There were a few things I could've gotten, but I could've done it in 15 minutes and would've had to wait for everyone else to finish in about 2 hours. Luckily, Ludna announced that a bus would be taking people back to the apartment for those of us who don't need to shop.

I came home with every intention to go down and work out, work on some planning for the first quarter, cooking some food and going to sleep. That didn't happen. I ended up sitting around for a bit, taking a cat nap that turned into almost three hours and then went down and ran and shot some hoops. I made dinner and was able to get back to sleep around 11:30. I woke up close to 6am which was awesome! I actually slept the greater part of a full nights sleep! I think I might finally be on the downhill slide of this jet lag! This is seriously a huge landmark, and it deserves a grand celebration...seriously.

Today we are going to the Avenues Mall to do some shopping, touring the Grand Mosque and eating at Souq Shark. I have no idea what to expect, but I'm definitely excited!

Sidenote: I've never been much of a blogger. I've tried several times, but being here in this new experience and having so much to take in, I love blogging! I am constantly experiencing things and thinking in the back of my mind how I can't wait to blog about it. I definitely understand how moms always blog now. These are little moments of life that will be easily forgotten. I might have vague memories in a few years, but I am going to love coming back and reading the little details of it all.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

 

This is Gillian sitting on top of the engine in the bus. :) She is one of the welcome committee and picked me up from the airport. It's her 6th year here and she's been super helpful!

This is a random building on our way to the restaurant. I just want to make sure all my American friends know I'm not living completely third world. :)

I love seeing Arabic everywhere! It's a pretty language.

I loved that they had valet at the restaurant. I thought this was an American luxury.

Alexis and I at the Lebanese restaurant before they brought out ridiculous amounts of food!

Obviously I was so excited about these fresh squeezed juices that I put the focus on them instead of Kim. :) She likes to be an Asian tourist on occasion.

The walls were made out of hay and some sort of clay or something. It was a super nice restaurant, but I thought the walls were pretty interesting.

For starters we had hummus, baba ganoush, really yummy salad and some empanada looking things.

This was the best little cup of coffee ever. I dont know what kind it was, but I'm pretty sure it was french pressed. Delicious!

We had to take a picture with our spot of tea and tiny cup of coffee. Perfect end to an amazing meal!

I dont know why I like this building, but I do.

This is one of the buses we take everywhere. I've never seen one before but they totally beat a school bus.