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)!
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)!
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