Adventures in the Middle East

January - the month of rain!

2011-01-27T08:32:00.000+03:00

Desert? Rain? Yes, it actually does rain in Jeddah. My first year here, it only rained a couple of times. This month alone, it seems like we have had fairly heavy rain at least once or twice a week! When it first started raining this week, I was thrilled because I love and miss my Florida rain :) I do not own an umbrella in this country, but I am thinking I should maybe invest in one - if I can find one for sale anywhere.

(Photo courtesy of Jicibel)

Unfortunately, what started out as a refreshing rain turned into a natural disaster. Almost every time it rains here, school is canceled. We get "rain days" instead of "snow days". At first, I thought, "Really? Closing school for a little rain? Sure, I'd love the day off, but it's just a little rain." However, that "little rain" in Jeddah soon turned into a flash flood.

(Photo courtesy of Jicibel)

Because Jeddah has no drainage system, and it is a desert, every rain causes some flooding. Usually, it is just a minor inconvenience because nobody here knows how to drive in the rain. Unfortunately, the rain yesterday cause some pretty major flooding!

(Photo courtesy of Jicibel)

It started raining on our way to school. It was light enough that I didn't really need an umbrella. However, it rained every couple of hours for the rest of the day. It was reported that Jeddah got 111mm of rain yesterday. By lunch time, our school had texted all of the parents to come get their kids so we could close the school. They were worried about us getting stuck at the school due to flooding. That was partly the case for some of our teaching assistants. They left later than we did and were stuck in the floods for about 7 hours before safely reaching their home - alhumdulillah!

(Photo courtesy of Jicibel)

Here are some links to articles and pictures of the flood from Arabnews.com: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article243514.ece
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article243502.ece

(Photo courtesy of Jicibel)

Please pray for the people in Jeddah (and elsewhere in the KSA) affected by the flood. Some have lost their houses, some their livelihoods, and some even their lives. More rain is expected.

(Photo courtesy of Jicibel)

Fun Factoid about living in the Middle East

2010-10-06T17:11:00.000+03:00

I was watching a movie on TV the other day on Dubai One (a channel from Dubai) when, right in the middle of a scene, a message came up on the screen saying "It is now time for Maghrib (sp?) prayer." The prayer call started to resound from the TV as the corresponding words in Arabic flashed across the screen in a beautiful slideshow. My movie was interrupted for 15+ minutes! I just gave up on it and changed the channel.

Saudi National Day

2010-09-24T17:30:00.000+03:00

Yesterday was Saudi National Day - their patriotic holiday similar to the 4th of July or Canada Day. Around 7 or 8 p.m. that evening, we noticed some cars painted green (the color of their flag) and bearing flags or the king's face. My thought was, "Interesting...I hope the paint comes off." It was pretty similar to people in the States attaching flags to their cars, so I didn't think much of it. I thought "This day isn't much different from any other day", as we kept driving to our destination.
It wasn't until much later that night when we were driving home that I was shocked and almost afraid for my safety. We were trying to merge into traffic when a caravan of cars and motorcycles zoomed past at top speed with teenage boys hanging out the windows waving flags. Some of the boys were decked out in green body paint, much like you would see at a soccer or football game. Once we merged into the traffic and it slowed down, I noticed a young boy of about 5 or 6 hanging out the driver's side window of the car next to us. Thankfully, the father's arm was around the boy, but I was still nervous that the little guy would get hurt. Almost every car was painted and had people car surfing - some boys were even riding on the windshield. Somehow, the driver was still able to see where he was going even with the boys' legs blocking most of his view.
There were so many people out celebrating that it took us a couple of hours to get home, and it normally would've only taken us 40 minutes at the most. At one point, a mob of teenage boys came in front of our car. Thankfully, we kept driving and they moved to the side. I think our car was the only car not decked out with green and teenage boys. We might as well have had a sign on our car that read "foreigners". The sound of honking horns and yelling boys filled the air as I silently prayed for us to get home safely. Thankfully, I was surrounded by a group of military friends, so I felt as safe as I possibly could in that situation. However, that is the last time I will go out at night on Saudi National Day.

Eid Mubarak

2010-09-10T19:49:00.000+03:00

The moon has spoken...it is now Eid, probably the most important Muslim holiday of the year. The Eid following Ramadan marks the end of fasting and a new year. My roommate and I had the unique opportunity to attend the special Eid prayer and family gathering with a local Saudi family. This holiday is somewhat like a combination of our Christmas and New Year holidays.
We awoke before dawn (about 4am) to get ready for the special prayer. We dressed in nice clothes for the family celebration later on, and then covered our finery with the abaya and hijab. My roommate and I struggled with our hijab (head covering) for a good five or ten minutes before it would stay on our heads tightly. Since we were going to an outside prayer gathering near a mosque where only Muslims are allowed, we had to blend in. Our Saudi friend advised us, "If anyone asks, tell them you are Muslim but that you don't speak Arabic." His daughter jokingly added, "Tell them you converted on the internet." Thankfully, we did not have to do either.
As we arrived at the mosque, there was an excitement in the air much like one might feel on Christmas morning. We followed the women of the family to an outside area near the mosque, while the men (dressed in their finest thobes) gathered inside the mosque. The women lay rugs on the ground wherever they could find an empty spot. The children, dressed in fancy outfits often matching their siblings, were given baskets of candies to take around to the women and other children gathered outside the mosque. It is customary to give gifts of candy, toys, and money to the children on Eid.
The soft murmurings of the women echoed the special Eid call to prayer, praising Allah for being "great" or "almighty" and thanking him for his blessings in the new year. As we waited for the Imam to speak (their equivalent of a pastor), I glanced around at the women fanning themselves on the rugs and wondered why any of us had even bothered to do our hair or makeup that morning. My roommate loosened her hijab to pull her hair back and I felt sweat dripping down my back and legs. Almost all of the older women waved some sort of makeshift fan in an attempt to cool off.
Finally, the Imam began the prayer. Our Saudi friends gestured for us to remain seated on the rug as they stood to begin the prayer. I looked around and noticed some other women doing the same thing, but not because they were not muslim. If a woman is menstruating, she is considered unclean to pray and is therefore not required to. So, my roommate and I just pretended it was our time of the month as we observed the prayer which looked almost identical to the one our students perform after lunch each day.
Once the prayer was finished, some of the families left. Our Saudi friends stayed on our rug to listen to the Imam give a special Eid "sermon". We were told later that it had something to do with not fasting on Eid, since they fasted for Ramadan. Our Saudi friend explained to us that the fasting and abstaining from certain things for Ramadan is a preparation of sorts for the Eid prayer in which they ask Allah to allow them to go to the highest degree of heaven when they die. Apparently, there are 100 degrees of heaven. Each degree of heaven takes 500 years before you can go up to the next one. However, you can skip some of the degrees and go nearer to the top if you do things like fast for Ramadan and give Eid money to the poor. (If you are reading this and you are muslim, please forgive me if I got something wrong. I am relaying what I understood from my Saudi friend, but I may have misunderstood something.)
We left the heat, gladly welcoming the A/C as we drove to our Saudi friends' extended family for breakfast. We socialized with the women in broken English before enjoying a breakfast of pitas, foul (beans and olive oil), spicy mangos, olives, cheese, scrambled eggs, turkey slices, etc.

A new house, a new year!

2010-09-09T15:00:00.000+03:00

I'm baaaack! I could not believe how much I missed Jeddah until I left for two months in the summer. By the end of the first month back in the States, I was ready to come back. I have developed some great friendships over here, which makes Jeddah feel like my home.
After a tough year of managing 1st grade boys, I look forward to teaching a class of 1st grade girls. I will post pictures of my classroom once I get it set up. I get to keep my same classroom, but thought I should probably change the "frog" theme to something more gender neutral or "girly". My plan is to implement the CHAMPs classroom management program in my classroom this year, which will hopefully help me keep my class a little more structured and disciplined. I highly recommend the CHAMPs program to any teachers or schools.
In addition to the excitement of teaching girls this year, I have moved to a more "western" compound. I am sharing a villa with two other teachers at my school.

Our new villa

Living room with our newly recovered brown couches.

Our living room opens into our dining room.

Our dining room

My bedroom - small but cozy :)

The compound itself feels like a resort, from the Mediterranean architecture to the bougainvillea trees adorning the landscape to the 54 pools sprinkled throughout the compound. Conveniences like a restaurant, small grocery store, gym, salon, dry cleaners, bowling alley, library, travel agency, clinic, and taxi service are all located in a central building across the street from our villa. I love it because I can walk to the gym (which means I am more likely to use it!) or pick up a quick item from the grocery store if I forgot something. As a woman, it is such a hassle to do something as simple as grocery shopping because you have to arrange a taxi and shop around prayer times. The store on our compound is open all day. The only thing we don't have on our compound is a bank and a pharmacy.
Living on a resort-like compound and teaching all girls...what could be better than that?

Saudi weddings

2010-04-14T20:00:00.003+03:00

The investors of our school had a relative getting married last week. In order to keep within the same bloodline (and probably family wealth), they marry their cousins. Not all Saudi families do this, but the wealthier ones tend to do so. All of the teachers at our school were invited to this extremely wealthy family's wedding. Our invitations to both the wedding party and the henna party came in silver jewelry boxes. Inside was a swipe card that would get us in to the party. There was also some personalized perfume that was created especially for the bride and groom and named after them. This particular family owns some major perfume companies (think "Dior"), so they created a brand new scent just for the wedding.

The first night was the henna party, which was a more traditional celebration from Yemen. It was a less formal night, but women were still dressed in formal evening gowns. For Saudi weddings, women go all out with their hair, makeup, and dress. Their makeup is so colorful and dramatic, similar to stage makeup, and their hair is equally as dramatic. The entire ensemble of a typical woman attending a Saudi wedding seems to call out "Look at me!", but I still haven't quite figured out who they want to notice them. These parties, like almost everything in Saudi Arabia, are segregated. Women are the only ones that see you all dressed up....which is why I am somewhat confused as to the reason women dress so extravagantly to weddings. I must admit, I enjoyed getting dressed up in a fancy formal dress, as I typically don't get a chance to do so. What girl doesn't like dressing up like a princess when they are young? I think some of that enjoyment must carry over into womanhood.

I sure felt like a princess as I looked at my reflection in the mirror before leaving to go to the henna and wedding parties. My dress was a floor-length dark purple dress that draped in all of the right places. The empire waist was decorated with silver rhinestones, which matched my sparkly ring, bracelet, and earrings. I had twisted my hair back and in a bun under one ear, placing a matching silver barrette over the bun to complete the ensemble. Most Saudi women go to a salon for hours to get their hair and makeup done for weddings. I did my own, but when I was finished, I felt like a movie star!
We had to cover our glamourous dresses temporarily as we climbed into the bus to go to the party. I found out later that muslim women must cover their face, even if they don't normally do so, because the extravagant makeup is "not natural". Once we made it past security, however, the abayas and veils came off and I actually felt underdressed next to the other women's expensive dresses. As we moved from the lobby towards the wedding hall, depositing our abayas at a counter on the way, I heard what can only be described as tribal yells. It is a sound that is made by moving the tongue up and down during a high-pitched yell. We were told that the women do this to celebrate. Throughout the night, I was often startled by one of these random "yells". They often came at the end of a song, but other times, at seemingly random times. Think of a church service where you hear many "Amen"s, and multiply that by ten. That is how often these "yells" would occur.
As we sat at a table munching on dates and chocolate, we listened to the very loud Yemen singer. Occasionally, we got up to dance. Every song has a similar beat, so the women dance the same no matter what song is being sung. The dance is a simple "step-two-three, step-two-three" with some hip action and waving of the arms if you are the adventurous or expressive dancer. The women continue this stepping rhythm in lines across the dance floor until they run out of room. Then, they change direction and parade across the dance floor again.
The children of the family came out to perform a ceremonial dance - one of my students was a part of this. There were also professional dancers that entertained us for awhile. On both nights, the bride made her grand entrance a couple of hours after the guests arrived. She descended a long staircase very slowly. It probably took her a good thirty minutes to reach the stage area. On the first night, she wore the traditional green and gold colors for the henna party. She also had gold beads hanging from her veil that made her look like Cleopatra. On the second night, she wore the traditional white wedding dress. She also performed traditional rituals with her husband in a private room, such as: cutting the wedding cake, feeding it to each other, and drinking a toast (non-alcoholic, of course). This was projected onto a big screen for the guests to see, since no men were allowed at the party - not even the husband. I am continually surprised at how many cultures have the same traditions at receptions (i.e., cutting the cake, feeding each other, etc.). I witnessed this in Thailand as well. When I witness these commonalities, I am reminded of how we are all humans and have the same desires, struggles, etc. We are all made in His image, and the unity (such as common traditions) amidst diversity is a testimony to that.
After much dancing and admiring the bride, we were finally ushered into a separate hall to partake of a vast buffet of food. We arrived at the parties around 11 p.m. and were not fed until around 3 a.m. - which is normal for Saudi weddings - so I didn't have much of an appetite. However, the food I did eat both nights was delicious. The variety ranged from traditional Arabic food, Chinese food, Italian, a fresh Sushi bar, and a myriad of desserts (unfortunately, we weren't able to have some of the wedding cake).
Because of the two late nights, I ended up getting sick. It took me a full week to recover. So, even though this was an amazing cultural experience, I probably won't be attending another Saudi wedding in the near future - or if I do, I won't stay as long.

Am I crazy, ambitious, or just trying to engage my students?

2010-02-04T11:43:00.001+03:00

Within the past two weeks, I have started some pretty involved science and art projects with my students. I'm not sure if I'm crazy or overly ambitious. Perhaps I'm just trying to engage my students, or have a little fun myself. Or maybe I'm finally comfortable with the grade 1 curriculum, and ready to take on new challenges. Whatever the case, here are some pictures of the science and art projects I recently started with my grade 1 boys:

When studying plants, we made models of a flower and labeled the different parts. The flower was made of a red cupcake liner, the leaf was a green cupcake liner folded in half, the stem is a green straw, and the roots were drawn in pencil by the students. They really enjoyed the project, but I am so thankful I had the TA in my classroom at the time so she could help them with the glue. It was only the second time I allowed them to use elmer's white glue instead of glue sticks. Thankfully, I only had one student who took the entire cap off and accidentally dumped half of the bottle onto his construction paper. Fortunately, many of the glue bottles had a protective piece of black plastic seal to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, the seal was on some of the bottles so tight that even the two adults couldn't open it. Kid proof and adult proof.

Our major art/science project is to build a frog (since that is our class theme) out of recycled materials. The students helped choose and tape on the materials. Hopefully this will inspire them to reuse recyclable materials at home, since Saudi Arabia really doesn't recycle things.

Step two of this art project is to papier mache it. We are currently still in the process of that, and a project that I thought would only take a week will probably turn into a month long project. I am taking only half my class at a time to papier mache the frog, which means I have to wait until the other half is occupied with swimming or computers. This means we will probably be working on it only a couple of times a week at most. Once it is finished and dry, I am going to have them paint it. I have a feeling that I might have to speed the process along by doing some of the papier mache myself before or after school.

My final big science/social studies project is our new class pet. We went on our first field trip to the pet store (with 24 boys, and one nanny and driver to help chaperone). The were so excited, before we even left the school. As soon as everyone was seated on the bus, one student pipes up, "Miss, we want to sing the Canada song." So, as we are pulling out of the school parking lot, all my boys start singing, "Nova Scotia, and Manitobia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island...". They were too cute! We had just sung the song in an assembly the day before, and when they get to some of the provinces and territories, they start mumbling because they can't pronounce the words. But they always sing the final "Canada!" with gusto. I got a video of them singing it on the bus. I wish I could put it up here, but I don't think that would be such a good idea due to security reasons. Needless to say, the pet store field trip was a little chaotic, but I was surprisingly laid back about it. I guess I knew they would be a little rambunctious, so I went in expecting it.

We voted on a name for the bunny and they unanimously chose "Shadow". Apparently it is the name of a character from a Sonic the Hedgehog video game, but I think it is fitting since the bunny is dark gray in color. He (at least I think it's a "he") has the cutest little white paws and belly, and is tiny enough to fit in one hand. I'm not sure how old it is or what kind of rabbit it is, but I'm hoping it will stay fairly small. Maybe it's a dwarf rabbit? It's about the size of a large hamster right now.

I'm not letting any of the boys hold Shadow, since it is so small and fragile. Instead, I had them form a circle "criss cross apple sauce" on the carpet, knee-to-knee to create a fence. I told them they had to keep their hands behind their back or they would have to go sit at their desk. I then put Shadow in the middle of the circle so he could explore and meet the students. He loved sniffing their shoes, and even climbed into one boy's lap. Surprisingly, these very physical 1st grade boys who are always getting caught hitting or pushing each other, were afraid of the rabbit. Some of them started to back away as Shadow came close to them, so I had to get behind them to keep them from breaking our "fence" and letting Shadow escape.

I take Shadow home on the weekends, and let him hop around the classroom in the mornings before the kids get there. He is so adorable, and I think it has been a therapeutic experience for me to have a furry pet to take care of. I just home I can teach these boys a little responsibility in the process. My plan is to have one of them take him in the Summer, but I'm not sure yet which one I trust to take good care of him.

"Shadow"

Birthdays in Jeddah

2010-01-14T17:52:00.001+03:00

Three of the teachers at our school have birthdays within a week of each other, including myself. We had a joint celebration at a local tea cafe, went to the beach for one birthday, and finished the "birthday week" with a boat trip on the Red Sea. I was able to use my new underwater housing for my camera, so here are the pictures from the beach and boat trip:

Digging for clams in the Red Sea.

Dinner...fresh out of the slimy ocean bottom.

One of our family traditions used to be to go to a japanese hibachi restaurant for our birthdays. I found a Benihana's in Jeddah, so a few of us went out for dinner just for fun! It was delicious and reminded me of home...although I must say that the chefs at Saito's put on a better show.

Me pretending to be the chef while we were waiting for our real chef to come. Since it is Saudi Arabia, there are separate rooms for each table. So, we had a private room for just the three of us...nice and relaxing.

Snorkeling in the Red Sea on my birthday! What could be better than that?

Our first stop was a shipwreck, not a reef. This was my first "wreck dive"...although, I only snorkeled. It was beautiful and eerie all at the same time!

Some pretty striped fish swimming by the wreck.

A bunch of my friends scuba diving through a school of fish.

Our second stop on the boat trip was a beautiful reef.

There was this weird transparent cylindrical creature floating near the surface of the reef. It looked sort of like a jelly fish without the tentacles.

Angelfish or bannerfish.

Beautiful coral and zebra fish (I'm not sure if that is the scientific name, but that is what I call them).

An underwater garden...the colors are even more vibrant in real life.

This is my favorite picture of the coral because it captures the vibrant purples.

A pretty big fish...not sure what it is called but it has rainbow stripes.

Here is a close up of some of the purple coral.

Unfortunately, this picture does not capture the rainbow of colors on this fish. This type of fish is my favorite because it is so brightly colored. I think it is called a parrotfish because its mouth looks like a parrot's beak and it is brightly colored.

The water is so clear in this picture. The reflection of the sun on the water almost creates rainbows on the coral and sand below.

Holidays in Jeddah

2010-01-06T20:12:00.000+03:00

I have not posted on my blog for awhile because a lot of the things I would love to tell about are things I should not post due to security reasons. Just know that my Father has blessed me with a fellowship of like-minded individuals that have become my family. Another teacher and I found this group of people on Thanksgiving, which was perfect timing! We were able to have a nice turkey lunch with them and have been meeting with them regularly. The group is made up of individuals from all over the world: South Africa, Australia, the U.K., Kenya, India, Canada, U.S.A., etc. It is a blessing to gather with these people who are so diverse in their ethnicities, but unified in their love for our Father!

Another exciting thing that happened this past month was that my mom came to visit for a week after Christmas (after a month-long hassle to get her visa!). A bunch of the teachers got together for the actual holiday to have a nice dinner and exchange gifts. Then, my mom came late the next day and was able to meet my friends and students. She now has a first hand experience of what I deal with every day with my rambunctious six-year-olds, as she came and helped me in my classroom for two days. They were actually on their best behavior for her, and they were still crazy! I also took her shopping at the largest souq (an outdoor market) to get a real cultural experience. We bargained for gifts and souvenirs that she took back to the States with her. Finally, we relaxed by the pool and went snorkeling in the Red Sea. I'm supposed to be going snorkeling again on my birthday, so I will finally be able to try out the underwater housing that I recently got for my camera.

Report cards are due in 3 days, so I will be busy with that. I will try to post again within the next couple of weeks to show you how my underwater pictures turned out...if they turn out. Meanwhile, here are a few pics of how I spent my holidays in Jeddah:

All dressed up for our holiday dinner!

Celebrating with my new "family" in Jeddah.

Enjoying time with my mom during her short stay here in Jeddah!

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head!

2009-11-25T12:19:00.004+03:00

I awoke this morning to a strange sound. I wasn't sure at first what it was. It sounded like thunder, but it seemed out place in Saudi Arabia. I heard it again and jumped out of bed, pulling back the blinds covering my window. It was raining!
What a rare way to wake up in Saudi Arabia. It only rains once or twice a year, at the most. Sometimes it doesn't rain at all! I remember seeing dark clouds the day before and thinking, "Those look like rain clouds. I wonder if it's going to rain soon?"
I jumped out of bed, made sure I had on some decent clothes, and grabbed my camera. I ran barefoot into the street in front of our apartment building at 7:30am, letting the rain soak through my hair and clothes. I felt like a kid as a stood in the street with my tongue sticking out, trying to catch the raindrops. Some of the other teachers came out with their cameras to enjoy this rare experience. We called out excitedly to each other, "It's raining! It's raining!", laughing like little children.
I'm usually not one to stand out in the rain back home...unless it's during the eye of a hurricane...but I gained a new appreciation for a rainstorm today. I never thought I'd be that excited to see rain! I ran up to our roof to try to get a better view of the streets outside our compound. No one else on the compound seemed to be out. We had been told that when it rained here, it usually only rained for about 10 or 15 minutes, but it has been raining off and on all morning. The streets are even a little flooded. After I decided that I was wet enough from the rain, I went back inside my apartment to see what time it was in Florida. Was it too early or too late to call home? It was about 11:30pm, but I checked Skype just to see if anyone was on. I just had to tell someone back home that it was raining in Saudi Arabia. Luckily, Taylor was still on after having a late night shift as an RA. I Skyped him and told him the exciting news of the rainstorm. He didn't seem quite as excited as I was, but you never can appreciate rain as much as when you're in the desert. Here are some pics and a video of the first rainstorm since I've been in Jeddah:
Enjoying the rain in my pajamas and bare feet.
My flash was on, so the raindrops almost look like snowflakes.

Enjoying Hajj :)

2009-11-25T12:18:00.001+03:00

We get two weeks off for Hajj, and I have been enjoying it tremendously. We have been able to see many different parts of Jeddah, including the not so pretty parts. Here are some pictures of what we have done so far:

Jungle Land...a small amusement park we went to with one of the Arabic teachers. We rode this ride that spun us around and upside down with our abayas flapping in the wind and our bare feet dangling in the air.

Me and the Canadian teachers outside Jungle Land. I love these girls :)

One of the private Western beaches where we can wear normal bathing suits.

Another view of the beach. When I'm at one of these beaches, I feel like I'm no longer in Saudi Arabia.

We took a driving tour of Jeddah one day. There are so many sculptures throughout the city, at every roundabout.

Another roundabout sculpture...not one of the more exciting ones.

This is one of the larger and more unique roundabout sculptures.

Here is a better view of it...very Muslim looking design.

Two Saudi men in the traditional Saudi attire. Almost all of the fathers of my students dress like this.

"Chop Chop Square" - the slab of marble in the middle of a parking lot where they execute people who break certain laws. They shoot women and chop the heads of men...hence the nickname "Chop Chop Square".

The mosque right next to "Chop Chop Square".

A an old gate to "Old Jeddah" - the oldest part of town that used to be surrounded by a wall. The gates are the only parts remaining of that wall. They remind me of small castles.

An old building in "Old Jeddah".

I'm surprised some of these buildings are still standing...they look like they will collapse at any minute, but people still live in them.

Such interesting and old architecture.

Most of the streets in Old Jeddah are extremely narrow. Our bus was an inch away from scraping the sides of one of these old buildings as we turned a corner. We have an amazing driver!

This building was literally falling apart...it makes me thankful for the apartment the school has provided me. There is quite an economic difference between Old Jeddah and the rest of Jeddah - extreme poverty and dilapidated buildings versus rich villas with elevators inside people's homes. It seems like there's not much of a middle class.

This is the public school within Old Jeddah.

A man fell asleep on the sacks of grain or rice that he was selling.

Another gate in Old Jeddah. There is now a roundabout surrounding the gate, so you can't actually drive through it.

Foreigners who cannot get an iqama are stuck in the country without a job - because you can't work or travel without an iqama - often sleep under the overpasses. I thought the buildings in Old Jeddah were bad, until I saw people without even a dilapidated building to live in and not much hope for income.

Some bedouins run a camel farm just outside of Jeddah.

We stopped to see the camels.

And some people were brave enough to try the fresh camel milk (not me!). This is our driver offering us the camel milk.

Some moms, whose sons go to our school, invited us

to a nice restaurant with traditional Middle Eastern food. It was delicious, but there was so much food I couldn't even try everything! They let us take the leftovers home. We also found out that there are charities that will come get leftover food from parties and distribute it to those in need.

We were seated outside on these couches, with a nice sea breeze keeping us from sweating too much. There is always so much great food and great conversation at these dinners with the parents. They seem to live such extravagant lives - such a contrast between Old Jeddah. Thankfully, the moms we have talked with seem very generous to us and to those less fortunate.

Red Sea boat trip

2009-11-19T20:00:00.000+03:00

Here are pictures from our boat trip on the Red Sea. It was so beautiful and relaxing! What a great way to kick off our vacation :)

Walking through "Diver's Village" down to the boat.

It's like a resort where you can rent these little villas out for a couple thousand riyals a day.

The inside of our boat.

Leaving Jeddah in our wake :)

We had to wear our abayas until we got past the border patrol.

The coastline of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi flag flying from our boat. I thought it looked cool against the Red Sea.

The Red Sea. We were so far out to sea that we couldn't see any coastline or other boats on the horizon. We only knew which direction Jeddah was located in by the brown haze on the horizon coming from the city.

To prove to you that I was actually on this boat trip on the Red Sea. We were moving pretty fast still at this point, so my face kind of looks funny from the wind.

We stopped at three different coral reefs. In this picture, you can sort of see the greenish color to the water where the reef was shallow. There were parts that were 30 ft. deep (or more), and parts that were too shallow to even swim over without cutting yourself on the coral.

The captain of the ship fed the fish our left over lettuce from lunch. This was the closest I could get with my camera since I still haven't found underwater housing for it.

The giant parrotfish in the center of this photo was very curious. He hung around our boat the entire couple of hours we were at that stop. He was probably about 2 feet long and it looked like he had teeth or a beak-like mouth. He was a rainbow of colors, but in this picture he looks gray.
I also saw some "Nemo"s (clownfish) near some sea anemone. The coral was so colorful and varied. There was some that was such a vibrant indigo color. It was like a beautiful flower garden underwater. I saw a giant sea cucumber, a vibrant blue clam, some long eel or barracuda looking fish, a variety of angelfish, and this flat fish with both eyes on the top of his head. It was the color of the sand and is the kind of fish that likes to bury itself in the sand. However, this one was swimming around above the coral for awhile looking for a flat sandy area. It was the only fish of its kind, and the rest of the fish were following it around, staring at it like they had never seen a fish like that before. It finally settled on a flat rock, and the other fish just gathered around, probably wondering where it went since it blended in so well with the rock.
I'm hoping next time I go out on a boat I can see dolphins. One of the teachers had gone out on a boat last weekend and a pod of dolphins swam around their boat for awhile. She has pictures and they are so amazing!

Curious cultural pics

2009-11-19T18:40:00.003+03:00

Every mall has a mini amusement park inside for the kids.

This ride was under construction, but looks like a water rafting ride.

This is the front of the Mall of Arabia, one of the biggest malls in Jeddah.

This is one of the souks, closed for prayer.

It's so deserted on the weekend during prayer.

Boom Boom Pow

2009-11-18T21:14:00.000+03:00

My 1st grade boys continually surprise me by their behavior (good and bad), academic progress (they are picking up more and more English), and funny things like singing lyrics to English songs I didn't expect them to know. Today, three of my boys suddenly started singing the Black-Eyed Peas song "Boom Boom Pow". They knew more of the lyrics than I did! I'm not sure if they liked it because it had the words "boom" and "pow" in it (typical boys), but I was shocked that 1st grade Saudi boys would know that song! They were so cute and so serious. Then, later that morning, we were creating a mural of the four seasons. The boys who were drawing pictures to represent Spring (some of the same ones who were singing "Boom Boom Pow") decided to add Michael Jackson to their picture. They even gave him an umbrella since it rains in the Spring...and of course a microphone so he could sing. I'm not sure if they know he's dead, but one of my boys idolizes him. He wants to be like Michael Jackson when he grows up, and can even do the moon walk. I have a feeling I'm gonna miss my boys after two weeks of being away from them. But tomorrow I plan to enjoy the sunshine, the Red Sea, and being away from kids for a change.

Hospitals in Jeddah

2009-11-14T09:15:00.000+03:00

I have been well the whole time I have been here. I'm used to being sick with a cold this time of year. However, two days ago I came down with a sudden, severe cough. My asthma was affected by it, so I was unable to breathe very well. My inhaler was expired, so I contemplated going to the pharmacy the next day. However, I wasn't sure if they would be open on a Friday - or what times they would be open. I tossed and turned all night with a cough, fever, and headache keeping me up. As soon as it was light out, I made up my mind to go to the hospital.
Now, you might be thinking, "Hospital? Was it that serious?". Well, the hospitals work a little differently here than in the U.S. The doctor's offices are within the hospital, so you could go to the hospital for a wellness visit or something serious. I was a little nervous going, since I had not been to a hospital here before. I was also by myself, since it was early in the morning on our weekend, and I was hoping that someone there would speak English.
I called a cab, and when I arrived I was directed to the Emergency Room. This was the only section of the hospital that looked open at this time of day on a Friday (their Sabbath). I was asked for my insurance card, my temperature and blood pressure were taken, and a female doctor came to ask me my symptoms. I was then escorted to a women's only room where I was put on a nebulizer. After my breathing treatment, they gave me a prescription for meds for my cough, fever, and headache, as well as a new inhaler. I paid 25 riyals (less than $7 USD) to open a file at the hospital and was directed to the pharmacy within the hospital to pick up my meds. Because I used the hospital's pharmacy, I did not have to pay a single riyal for my medication. So, my trip to the ER in Jeddah cost me $7 USD and I was in and out within an hour! I think I like this healthcare system...or maybe I just came at a good time of day?
I am feeling quite a bit better today, but I still have a cough and headache. I took the day off work - my first sick day this year. The hard thing about taking days off is that the school does not have a list of substitute teachers to call in. My principal is actually going to be teaching my students for part of the day, and then other teachers will be asked to cover my class at certain times of the day when they have a break. I feel guilty about taking a sick day and putting more work on the other teachers, but there's no way I would have been able to teach today when my breathing is still not back to normal.
Ask our Father:
* For my health to improve
* That the break we have starting next week will be rejuvenating
* That I will have boldness to speak the Good News to those around me
* That those around me will see J***s in my actions and speech

Internet troubles

2009-11-11T14:10:00.000+03:00

Our internet at our apartments has not been working for the past week and a half. The internet at school is off and on. I am typing this at school during my break, so it will be short and sweet.
I just wanted to thank all of my readers for their encouraging words and prayers. My students are settling in to a routine, and I am falling in love with them more and more each day. They are now able to come in to class, put their folders and agendas in the bucket, and get started on their morning handwriting practice. They are even picking up some of the phrases and songs I use in class, and remind each other of the rules/routines. They have improved so much since the beginning of school.
We had parent input meetings last week, and all of the parents that showed up were very supportive and encouraging. A couple of days ago, we were invited to the home of one of the students in another teacher's class. It was just ladies, and we chatted about all sorts of things for three hours, while enjoying good Arabic food. The house was huge! The sitting room had about 7 or 8 couches in it, and four or five coffee tables. They also had an elevator inside the house. The decor was beautiful and the hostess was very hospitable. I wish I had pictures, but it would have been rude to take pictures in their house.
We have one more week until Hajj break. We will be off of school for two weeks, and I have already had many students absent. I'm not sure if they decided to take an early vacation, or they are just sick. I'm not complaining too much, because it makes my class of 25 down to about 20. During Hajj, the teachers are planning on sightseeing, going snorkeling, and shopping in Old Jeddah. All of the teachers are ready for a break, but we're a little worried about the students forgetting routines after a two week break.
I have to go now, but I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers!

Videos, finally!

2009-10-22T12:43:00.003+03:00

The tallest fountain in the world!

Listening to the evening call to prayer from our roof. There's not much to see, I just was recording the sound.

Pics of my classroom :)

2009-10-22T12:30:00.000+03:00

Here are some pictures of my frog themed classroom. I won't be including any pictures of my students, for safety and privacy reasons, but they are adorable!

My job chart - which I haven't taught to the students yet. I plan on introducing it next week.

My word wall with their lockers underneath.

A view of the classroom from the doorway. After the second day, I changed the desk arrangement to a big "U" because they couldn't handle groups/tables - they talked too much. Now everyone is in the front row and facing the front of the classroom.

A view of my desk and guided reading area (from the doorway). You can also see the two sinks and cabinets in the background.

My centers chart, which keeps falling down. I finally took it down and put it in a cabinet until we're ready to do centers. I think I'm going to have to figure out another way to hang it up, though...maybe a pocket chart?

Our "circle time" area (even though the rug is a rectangle), and StarBoard. The students loved creating and extending patterns on the StarBoard.

The classroom library/reading corner. The Islamic teacher's bulletin board is the colorful one on the left.

"Working with words" station beneath the window. The giant heart and bulletin board on the left are courtesy of the Arabic and Islamic teachers.

A view of the classroom from the corner opposite the door.

My bulletin board in the hallway.

My acronym for the year. Hopefully, my students will begin to emulate this motto.

A cultural side note...There was a wedding or some sort of celebration going on outside my balcony for three nights. All of the men would gather and have coffee and eat on these rugs and chairs set up in the street. I saw women walking inside one of the houses, so I'm assuming the women were celebrating inside. And yes, this was on the compound. There are muslims living on the compound. There is even a mosque on the compound.

First week of school :)

2009-10-22T12:09:00.000+03:00

I survived! My first week of school was crazy, but I still want to teach next week, so that's saying something. All of the teachers were totally surprised by the behavior of the students the first day of school. By lunch time, I was thinking to myself "I am the worst teacher ever. Why can't I get these kids to listen to me?". Thankfully, after talking with the other teachers, it seemed as if everyone was feeling that frustration. These kids have been out of school for about 4 months and many are up late every night, so it was understandable that they would be a little tired, rambunctious, and/or not used to school procedures. However, we were all shocked by their inexperience with standing in lines, raising their hands to speak, and other typical expected school behaviors. By the end of the first day, I was seriously considering going back to the States. I got punched twice in the face by one of my students, had to chase after multiple students throughout the day who ran off down the hall, attempted to teach over four or five crying students, and re-injured my knee while dragging a student to the principal the first day (we both somehow tripped and ended up on the floor).

I am happy to say that after that nightmarish day, it has only improved :) I am falling in love with my boys. They are adorable, and most are not defiant, they're just not used to walking in lines and raising their hands and sitting at desks. After all, the culture as a whole doesn't really do lines; they just push ahead of each other. I have spent the last five days practicing standing in line, walking in line, sitting quietly at desks for an extended period of time, drilling rules, etc. The only academics I've done is review some phonics sounds, create patterns, and read some stories. I accomplished maybe a fourth of what I had planned for this past week.
We ended this hectic week with an open house for parents. We were all exhausted and annoyed that we had to spend our "Friday" night at school, but I must say it went better than I expected. It was a great ending to a stressful week. The parents came to see the classroom, officially meet the teacher, and sign up for a time for conferences. I didn't feel nervous at all, and even received some really nice compliments from parents saying their child was very happy in the class. One parent said he measured the success of a teacher with how much his son enjoyed school. The first day his son was crying. When he picked him up after school, the boy asked his dad when he could go back. The dad felt that I was a successful teacher because his son couldn't wait to come back to school after the first day. I think that was the nicest compliment I've ever received from a parent :)
I still can't imagine getting to the point of doing centers in my classroom, but my students are much better at walking in line. They can even stay quiet for 10 minutes at a time (most of them anyway)! The most difficult thing now is going to be differentiating instruction. I have some non-English speakers and some fluent English speakers. I have students who don't know their alphabet, and students who can read and write. I've got my work cut out for me.
Last night, after the open house, some of us teachers went over to our friends' apartment (they're teachers from the American school) to sing karaoke. We had a blast and were so into it that we stayed until 2am! What a great way to de-stress.
As I'm typing this, I'm waiting for maintenance to come fix my fridge. I woke up yesterday morning to puddles in my kitchen and spoiled food in my fridge. For some reason, it's not cooling even though it's plugged in and the light inside the fridge is on. After it gets fixed, I desperately need to go to the supermarket to get food - I was too exhausted to go during the week.

Please ask our Father for:
*Continued wisdom and patience while teaching rambunctious 1st grade boys
*Rest and rejuvenation before I start my 2nd week of school
*Praise him for great friendships that I've developed with the other teachers
*Daily surrender to His will and that I would turn to His Word for encouragement and guidance in all things

The Red Sea

2009-10-16T16:35:00.000+03:00

We celebrated our last day before school starts with a day at the beach! I was so excited because I finally got to swim in the Red Sea. The water is so salty that you barely have to do anything to stay afloat. Out of habit, I started treading water until one of the other teachers said, "Try being still for a minute. You'll still float." And sure enough, I did! Every once in awhile, I found myself doggie paddling, and had to force myself to stop and just relax, trusting the water to hold me up. It was a foreign concept for me, especially since there weren't waves to hold me up - just salt. By the time I got home, there was dried salt all over me. I'm not used to that much salt drying on me. It was even in my eyebrows!

Despite the salt, the water was so refreshing. The pools on the compound are so warm because of the sun, so it was nice to swim in water that was actually cool. It felt about the same temperature as the ocean in Florida, or even a bit cooler - but without the waves. The beach we went to cost 80 SAR to get in (a little over $20 USD), and we had a huge umbrella to put our stuff under. We were allowed to wear our bathing suits (without our abayas) since it was a private beach. However, there were a couple of women who had on a wetsuit abaya (it was basically a loose wetsuit or Under Armor type material).
The beach also had a restaurant where we ate lunch. It reminded of the Keys, where you can eat right on the beach. I rented a snorkel and mask from the dive shop for 10 SAR (about $3) and spent most of my time looking at the amazing fish and coral reef. There was a little inlet for people to swim, and beyond that was the reef. It was a shallow shelf like on Finding Nemo, and then it dropped off further out. I didn't see any "Nemo"s, but I saw some colorful Angel fish, a lionfish (which was kind of scary when it started swimming right towards me because it's all spikey!), parrot fish (so beautiful!), some pipefish (they looked like a straightened seahorse), a sandperch, brain coral, and lots of other fish and coral that I don't know the names of. I'm going to try to find housing for my camera so I can take it underwater next time I go. The view was breathtaking. I felt like I was in another world. Some of the fish came so close I could touch them (but I didn't, just to be safe). I can't wait to snorkel at other beaches to see the variety of fish and coral that live in the Red Sea!

The view of the Red Sea from our umbrella.

The inlet where people swam. I swam out to the end to snorkel.

Ladies night out

2009-10-08T15:58:00.000+03:00

So I was looking through my pictures on my camera and realized I forgot to upload pictures from the amusement park we went to. This is as close as you'll get to Disney World in Jeddah. They even had someone dressed as Minnie Mouse and a Teletubbie. The park has one main rollercoaster, and quite a few smaller rides. It also has an indoor ice rink, shopping for the adults to enjoy (purses, music, makeup, etc.), a food court, and arcade.

The one roller coaster in the amusement park. I didn't ride any of the rides because they cost extra.

A view of the "lake" inside the amusement park, where you can ride paddle boats. And no, this is not me in the picture. It is one of the other teachers.

Here I am, with the "lake" behind me. It was pretty late at night, but the lights were so bright that it seemed almost like the daytime.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this bumper car ride called "New York". A small reminder of home :)

Now to more recent news. This whole week we have been hard at work getting our classrooms somewhat presentable for the investors to see. Last night and the night before, the investors of the new building came to see the finished building and meet us. The first night, all of the men came. We were basically wallflowers that night since we were women. We observed them tour the building and eat, and were able to eat in the back of the room with our heads covered.

The next night was much different. The wives and sisters of the investors came this night with their children and nannies. The children were super excited to see the building, and I was even able to meet one of my students. He was very active, constantly running around. I've got my work cut out for me.

We were thrilled to finally meet some of the students and give the ladies a personal tour of the building. Afterwards, at about 10:30pm, we joined the wives and sisters (the children went home with their nannies) for a nice dinner at the Hilton hotel. This family is a very wealthy family, so I expected it to be a posh dinner where we had to be super polite. It ended up being a delicious buffet, and all of the ladies seemed very nice and down to earth. Most of them were mothers with kids at the school, and they seemed like any other mother. The whole experience was a lot less intimidating than I expected. I think it has something to do with the Saudi hospitality that is ingrained in every Saudi citizen. This is probably the most welcoming city I've ever been to. The ladies wanted to take us out to dinner so that we would "feel supported and welcomed" by their family.

After dinner, they let us ride back to the compound in their personal limo. Maybe that will give you a small sense of their wealth. We were thrilled and couldn't resist taking pictures.

The limo we rode in back to the compound.

The teachers crammed in for the experience. Notice the champagne glasses. Not sure what they use them for since alcohol is forbidden.

A view from the other end of the limo. I'm in the back of the picture.

This week has been a whirlwind of activity. My classroom is somewhat set up. When I finish, I will take pictures and post them.

A random tidbit: While I was typing this blog entry, a man selling DVD's came to my door. I bought: G-Force (to remind me of Annie), The International, Star Trek (an amazing movie worth owning), Knowing (which I desperately wanted to see before I left the States but never did), and Imagine That (which looked like a cute movie).

What to lift up to our Father:

* All of the teachers and administration as we have one more week to prepare for our students. Ask for strength to get everything ready in time, and rejuvenation before our students come so we aren't totally exhausted.

* Ask that our Father will help me connect with other believers.

Saudi time

2009-10-03T22:47:00.000+03:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I have begun to notice what I call "Saudi time". Tasks that seem like they would only take an hour, end up taking three or four hours to complete. The other day, we all had to go to a clinic to get a blood test and chest x-ray. This is standard procedure for new workers in the country, and was required for our medical insurance (I finally have my insurance card!). We were told last minute that we were going to this clinic for a blood test. We thought we would need to give them our medical reports we had filled out prior to arriving in Saudi Arabia. Turns out, they only needed copies of our passports - which we luckily had - and 3 passport sized photos - which we didn't have.

After getting blood drawn, which was only the second time I've had this done and the first time in a foreign country, they took chest x-rays of us. This we were not expecting, but it was no big deal. However, that just added to the time it took for all 11 of us to get blood work and chest x-rays done.
After this was completed, we needed to get passport photos. Thankfully, there was a photoshop a couple doors down. We crammed into this tiny shop while the owner took our pictures with a digital camera. He was then going to print each of us at least three copies to give to the clinic. Shouldn't take long to print 33 pictures from a digital camera, right?

Wrong! We waited in the air-conditioned bus while he printed them, eyeing the bakery across the street. Would we have enough time to sneak over there while we waited, and buy some bread? A few of us decided to do so, and boy am I glad we did! Each pastry or roll cost only 1 riyal, and they were hot out of the oven. We even got free samples. My favorite was a cinnamon and raisin filled roll that was still warm. Yum!

Crossing the busy street (no crosswalk, mind you), we arrived back at the bus to discover that the photoshop guy had run out of photo paper for his printer. How do you run out of photo paper when you run a photoshop? He ended up leaving his store to go to another store to buy more paper before he could finish our print job. Meanwhile, we enjoyed our warm pastries, wishing we were home to enjoy our "Friday" night (our Wednesdays are the start of our weekend). Finally, he came back with the paper and printed the rest of our photos. During that time, a couple of girls bought fruit from a street vendor wheeling his cart down the busy street. By that time, we were going stir crazy, and began to laugh about everything and nothing in particular. At long last, we dropped our photos off at the medical clinic just before it closed for prayer, and headed home. This quick stop to the clinic turned into a 4 hour ordeal consisting of lots and lots of waiting. Sometimes, I feel like all we do here is hurry up and wait.

I have come to realize that I must expect things to take at least twice as long as they should, and if people say something will happen at 3pm, expect it to happen at 4 or 4:30pm. This is what I have deemed "Saudi time". I am not completely adjusted to it yet, being the prompt person that I am, but am definitely learning patience. There is a famous saying in Arabic that sums this up nicely: "Inshallah" which literally means "God willing", but more often means "Whenever I get around to it".

Things to lift up to our Father:
* The two Arabic teachers I will be working with this year: F~ and H~ (I'm using initials for security reasons). H~ was asking me what her name meant in English and what mine meant in English. This sort of lead to a discussion of this B~lical characters. I guess she had heard of them from the Assistant Principal. She asked me who they were married to in the Book, and explained to me what the names meant in Arabic. An interesting and totally unexpected conversation. Lift up my relationship with the two teachers, especially H~ who seems to have a rudimentary knowledge of stories from the Book.
* Personal relationships with all of the Canadian teachers. Everyone is a little stressed and experiencing stages of culture shock. Ask that there will be peace and we will get along well, despite differences in personalities.
* For my spiritual growth. I already see Him chipping away at my selfish tendencies. Ask for humility and patience in all areas of my life.

P.S. For you teachers reading this, I have decided on a frog theme this year. Partly because I have boys and there are lots of great ideas for frog themes in the classroom, but also that I will be reminded throughout the year what the acronym F.R.O.G. stands for: Fully Rely On G~.

Traditional Saudi Dinner

2009-09-20T11:55:00.001+03:00

Finally! Last night, we enjoyed an amazing Saudi dinner at a nice restaurant. Before we were able to eat, a man had to sing a prayer signifying to the Muslims that is was now time to break their fast. Then, everyone crowded around the buffet, filling multiple plates with all sorts of spreads, meat, rice, and sweet desserts. Here are some pictures:

The restaurant had dividers separating families so they had privacy, but then we all went up to the same buffet to get food. It felt almost like being in a home having a big holiday dinner with family.

Three of the Canadian teachers posing in their abayas. The one on the far right just arrived two days ago.

My first course: various hummus spreads that I dipped my pita in, a delicious salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and pita bits, a meat filled samosa (the triangle shaped pastry), and some yummy meat and peppers in some kind of sauce. This was my favorite course because the spreads were so flavorful!

The main course: rice (white, yellow, orange, brown), potatoes and peas, pasta and beef, fried fish (which I didn't actually taste because I'm not a fish person), a long cylinder-shaped meatball, and either lamb or beef in rice. This course wasn't as flavorful as the first course. Maybe next time I will try mixing some of the spreads in with the rice and meats. Oh, and for anyone wondering, we did use silverware for this dinner, unless we were dipping our pita in something.

Dessert: a yogurt custard, some cakey pastries, a doughnut like ball, a cream-filled doughnut thing (the one shaped like a semi-circle), and my favorite is...

Homily (or at least that is what it sounded like it was called)...it tasted like phyllo dough and warm sweet cream/milk - almost like a baklava drenched in milk (but without all of the nuts). I am definitely getting this again if we go back to this restaurant!

Last night was the final night of Ramadan. Now, it is Eid, which is like their celebration time where they visit family and eat a lot! After dinner last night, we went by the water to see the world's tallest fountain. Some people were lighting of fireworks on the sidewalk in celebration of the end of Ramadan.

It was hard to capture the true beauty and grandeur of this fountain, so I am posting a few pictures hoping that you will get the idea.

I also got a video of it, so once I figure out how to post videos, I will put it on here.
Since it is Eid, we have a few days off and will be working from home while everyone celebrates. Some people take the whole week off to travel, so many stores are closed.
"Eid Mubarak" - which means, "Happy Eid" (sort of like saying "Happy New Year" in the states).

From sea to shining sea

2009-09-17T18:58:00.002+03:00

After work yesterday, we were able to pull of the road and walk in the sand and look at the Red Sea. The sand is not as white as Florida - at least the section where we were - but I can't wait to go swimming in the Red Sea. I have uploaded pictures of the Red Sea:

This is actually the inlet, not the open sea, so the sand and water was kind of dirty.

Elena, me, and Tracy - all Grade 1 teachers!

The only mosque in the country that is right on the Red Sea (this is the open sea, not the inlet).

And for you teachers reading....an empty classroom at the new school building. All of the classrooms are the same size and layout, so this will give you and idea of what mine looks like. They are still moving in furniture and supplies, so I won't have it decorated or anything until next week or the week after. Today, we marked on the walls where we wanted our 9 (yes, 9) bulletin boards. You can't even see the entire classroom in this photo. I will definitely post pictures of mine once it is done.
On that note, the government has pushed the school's start date to October 17th due to the swine flu, so we get almost another month to prepare. Hopefully, I won't get too bored. I'm kind of glad we have this extra time so I can learn the BC curriculum. A lot of the teachers are at least somewhat familiar with it since they are Canadian, so I need to brush up on all of the learning outcomes (what we in Florida would call "Sunshine State Standards").
Ramadan is almost over, so we will finally be able to get into a "normal" schedule next week - after Eid. Apparently, there are many sales during Eid - sort of like Black Friday - so we may check those out in the next couple of days.

Things to ask our Father for:
* One of the believing teachers I had been in contact is not able to come, and I am still waiting on the other one to arrive. Ask for fellowship of other believers, because right now I just have Eric's sermons to listen to by myself.
*Ask that I will be well-prepared (especially with this month of planning time) to teach a class of 24 Grade 1 boys (yes, all boys).
*Ask for the Spirit to work in all those I come into contact with, whatever their nationality. Ask Him especially for sweet relationships with the Arabic teachers at the school...that we will learn from each other and that the Good News will be evident through my words and actions.
*Ask Him for rejuvenation, as we are still trying to get used to Saudi time. Ask also for rich fellowship between all of the teachers - that we won't get tired of each other, or get on each other's nerves.
*Praise Him for providing an amazing principal, assistant principal, and friendly teachers to fellowship with and learn from.
*Praise Him for providing the "little things" like familiar foods and comforts of home.

P.S. Something interesting that happened today was when some of the teachers got locked in a supermarket during prayers. Stores close for prayers 5 times a day, even if you are still in them! One teacher was in the middle of checking out when they got locked in. The rest of us waited 30 minutes (or maybe a little less) for the doors to be opened. We will have to get better about timing our shopping trips.

School buildings and sights

2009-09-15T20:45:00.002+03:00

The last couple of days have been spent going through curriculum and learning how to use the SmartBoards. The school has amazing technology and resources, and anything we want for our classroom we can get. The pre-K and Kindergarten students will be in the "old" school building (which is only a year old), and the 1st and 2nd grade students will be in the "new" building which they are still finishing up. I can't start setting up my classroom yet, but I took some photos of both buildings because you will not believe how grand they are! Tomorrow, we get to make a list of all the furniture and supplies we want in our classroom and they will order it for us. We will also be making a list of gym equipment so the teachers can have their own gym to use at the school after we are done teaching each day (and then we can cool off in the pool at the school). I went through the Math curriculum today and am so excited about it! It is very simple to use, utilizes manipulatives and big books. The workbooks are great because they have students journal about what they learned after each unit, and I can pick and choose which worksheets to use based on how quickly they are mastering the concept.

This sign is on all of the escalators at the malls. I had to secretly take this picture since you aren't supposed to take pictures of things in public. I thought it was hilarious - "Be careful with long abaya". How tragic would that be to get your abaya stuck in the escalator!

A blurry view of the Red Sea on our way to the school...my daily ride to work :)

A mosque near the Red Sea.

Apparently they use yellow school buses in Saudi Arabia, too.

A distant view of the back of our school (the blue, yellow, and white building).

Cool house. Dad, I thought you might appreciate the architecture.

The entrance to the "old" school building (with two of the Canadian teachers).

The playground in the "old" school building...real grass, colorful play equipment, and covered by a tent-like roof.

The actual door to the "old" school building - the other one was more like a gate to the property.

Large courtyard that is used for assemblies, prayer, and indoor P.E. Tom and Jerry are on the ceiling, but it is hard to see from this picture.

A Kindergarten classroom with colorful walls and furniture, and a SmartBoard!

The other end of the playground.

The Arabic alphabet is engraved on the stairs of the "old" school building.

One of many sculptures around the city...this one is of horses and a banner or something.

Me in my beautiful abaya! It has gold trim and sequins, and a matching scarf. I paid 70 riyals (SAR) which is about $19 (USD).

Me and Tracy (another 1st grade teacher from Canada) standing on the "new" school's astroturf all decked out in our abayas.

The gate to the property of the "new" school building. It is so ornate, but my camera lens fogged up due to the drastic temperature change from the air-conditioned bus to outside air, so it is a bit blurry.

The outside of the pool building within the school property.

Wading pool with dolphin tiled on the bottom.

The school food store that students will be able to run in order to develop math and business skills. The shelves are not stocked yet.

Our wonderful principal, Leslie Ramsay. This picture captures her usual cheerfulness. She is showing off her new office to us...although it only has a desk and chairs so far.

A view of the courtyard in the "new" school building...like the other one, this is used for assemblies, indoor P.E., and prayer. There are desks lining the walls because all of the classrooms are not finished yet.

Another view of the courtyard so you can see the grandeur of it.

The teaching kitchen, which is equipped with 12 sinks, stovetops, and counter space...just in case we want to take our class in here to teach them how to make a recipe (but first I have to figure out how to use a gas stove!)

State of the art, full-equipped science lab (which also has a SmartBoard, but it is behind me so it is not in the picture). Students can come in here to do experiments.

Tomorrow night we are supposed to be going to a local Saudi restaurant so I can finally try Saudi food! Last night, all the teachers made a dish and had a potluck in one of our apartments. The assistant principal from South Africa also arrived last night, and she is the sweetest lady. We have been asking her all sorts of school related questions since she was here last year. We are still waiting on three more teachers to arrive this weekend, and they just hired a nurse and swim instructor today (they were Asian girls living locally in Jeddah). The school still needs to hire one more teacher for preschool.
Everyone here is so nice, and the city reminds me so much of Florida, that I am not feeling homesick. I can get almost any food item I would get back home, including many restaurants: Chili's, Fuddruckers, T.G.I.Friday's, Applebee's, McDonald's, Starbucks, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, On the Border (which just came in on Southern Blvd and I never tried it...so I may end up trying it here first!), Baskin Robbins, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts, etc. The only thing I'll miss, besides my family and friends, is the access to movies - there are no movie theaters or Blockbusters. But, I have found some websites where I can watch movies and tv shows, so even that is not a big deal. I am really enjoying having a driver take me everywhere, too. And wearing an abaya is great when you are in the cold A/C...there was one classroom I was in today that was freezing, so I kept my abaya on the whole time. I'm curled up in a quilt right now because I have to keep my apartment cool enough due to the humidity. I had turned the A/C on very low in one room that I wasn't really using, and I came home today to find water all over the floor from condensation or humidity or something.
I miss everyone, but life is good. I am truly blessed to have this job!
P.S. I heard Mr. Glenn's voice on the podcast of this week's message and it made my day :)

Long nights and warm days

2009-09-13T19:27:00.002+03:00

So, I am so exhausted from the Ramadan schedule. Everything is closed until about 9pm, so we had to wait until then to go buy our abayas. Meanwhile, we had spent all day touring the schools. We ended up shopping for our abayas and food from about 9:30pm until 3:30am, then ate "dinner" around 4am from Burger King...we were too tired to prepare any food, but hopefully I will be able to try some Arabic food soon. Needless to say, I am tired, so will make this post brief and try to post some pics. Shopping for the abayas was fun because there was quite a variety and we got to bargain to get the lowest price. I got an abaya with gold trim all the way down the front, on the hem, and on the sleeves (it even came with a head scarf with matching gold trim). I paid 70 riyals, which is about $18 (USD). We are going to eventually get a picture of all of us teachers in our abayas. And as to wearing them, it's not that bad. I chose a material that is very thin and breathable. The climate is so similar to Florida weather, anyways, that I haven't been terribly hot. The only time I got really hot was when I went exploring the compound at 2pm - I think I walked a couple of miles (don't worry, I brought water with me). So, without further ado, here are some more pics:

A view of a distant soccer field and tennis court from my rooftop.

Foot bridge to get to another part of the compound and to the tennis courts and swimming pool in the distance.

Same view of footbridge, during the day.

"Family section" of pool includes 1 small but deep pool and 1 wading pool...I waded in the wading pool because I didn't have my bathing suit on. The deepest point was up to my knees.
Tonight we are supposed to be going to the beach, so I may have pictures of that up tomorrow or the next day.
Oh, and for those of you wondering, I can access WPC's website so I subscribed to the podcasts of Eric's sermons and will be listening to those weekly.

First impressions

2009-09-12T19:03:00.001+03:00

So I met all of the other teachers that have arrived so far....we are still expecting three or four more. Most of them are from Canada (the Americans haven't arrived yet). There is one teacher who taught in the United Arab Emirates last year, so she knows a bit about the Arab culture. There are three or four teachers who have recently graduated college and have never taught full-time before. Everyone seems very friendly and open, willing to help and get to know each other. The cool thing is we are all in the same building, so we will build great community and see each other almost all the time.
The school is beyond words amazing! Next time I go, I will try to take pictures. There are two different campuses. Currently, one holds pre-K and Kindergarten, while the newer campus holds grades 1 and 2. The new building is so new it is not even finished yet. They are still setting up our classrooms, but the walls are all painted. The floor is a nice rubbery linoleum looking substance that is quiet when you walk on it, and not slippery. Both campuses have a large "courtyard" which is basically a giant curved room with windows and a tent-like roof. Students gather here in the mornings for assembly and during the middle of the day for prayers.

The walls of every classroom are tastefully colored, and the classrooms in the new building are at least the size of 3 WCS classrooms (maybe 4). About the size of 2 Elbridge Gale classrooms. I am loving the classroom size, color, technology, etc. In addition, each building has a giant library (they are waiting on about 6,500 books to stock it) and huge storage rooms full of teacher resources: games, manipulatives, puppets, dress-up clothes, bookshelves, craft supplies, educational toys, curriculum, etc. All of it is brand new, and some things are still in brown boxes waiting to be unloaded. The new building also has a full-equipped science lab (everything a highschool or college lab would have, but for elementary students), an educational kitchen with at least a dozen stoves (we can take kids in here to learn to cook, and we will also be learning from local Arabs how to cook Middle Eastern food), a "canteen" where students can operate and buy food from an on campus grocery store, an olympic sized swimming pool (and no, I will not be teaching them to swim, there will be a swim instructor), amazing playgrounds and basketball and tennis courts, copy and laminating rooms, teacher lounges, etc. If there was a place to sleep, I would want to live at the school, it is so nice! I can't wait to show you pictures, because words can't describe how amazing these school facilities are!
The principal is so kind, too. She is from Canada and is so welcoming and has much experience in the classroom. In fact, she loves being in the classroom so much, that she offered to cover for us if we ever wanted to observe another teacher's classroom. She is going with us tonight to buy our abayas. I am going to love working with her because she is so friendly, knowledgeable, and excited about education...you can tell she is a teacher at heart by how excited she was to show us the storage room with all of the educational resources!
After today's tour, I'm going to be so spoiled teaching at this school that I will never want to teach anywhere else. I hope once I meet my students and start teaching that I will still feel this way. I am anxious to get into my classroom to start arranging it, but we will have to wait at least another week for them to finish the building.
Mr. Ghailan is the project manager and my sponsor. He basically got the school started and is the one who hired me. He functions like a headmaster, I suppose. From anecdotes he told us today, it seems like he stands up for the standards of the school and the teachers, and doesn't take any silly complaints from the parents...that is to say, he listens to them, respectfully explains why the school does things the way they do, and if the parents can't deal with it, he kindly suggests they go somewhere else and even gives them their money back. He does not seem too concerned with money or enrollment, so he doesn't let the parents run the school with their money. He and the principal seem like the ideal team to work for/with, and I look forward to it. I think I will really be able to flourish as a teacher in this environment.
I haven't been able to explore the compound, yet, but it is definitely nothing compared to the extravagance of the school. They have so much money alloted for books and teacher resources, that they told us to let them know if we need/want anything for our classroom and they will get it for us. Mr. Ghailan also said they might put in exercise equipment for just the teachers to use at the school...like a private gym on school property! I'm just astounded at all I have seen today, and can't wait to get in my classroom. Oh, and I also found out that 1st and 2nd grade students are segregated by class, but are still on the same floor, in the same building. So, I may have all boys or all girls...they haven't told us yet. I guess their idea of "segregated" is having the girls in a separate building or separate hallway once they reach 4th grade. So, for pre-K and Kindergarten boys and girls are in the same classroom. For 1st-3rd, boys and girls are in different classrooms but still taught by female teachers in the same hallway. For 4th grade and up they will be in separate buildings. There are even plans to build a teacher's college on the same campus as the school. All I can say is "Wow! Just, wow!"
Ask that I will trust in my Father, even amidst all of this richness and provision. Thank Him for His provision and timing and blessing after last year's struggle. Ask for wisdom once I meet my students...how to interact and teach effectively. Ask Him to work in the hearts of the Arabic teachers, and other teachers, since we will be interacting with them daily. My two believing friends have not arrived yet, so ask for His provision of other believing friends in this teaching community. Ask my Father that He would provide needed rest and rejuvenation for all of us teachers, and that we would all stay healthy (there is a possibility that the school start date of October third might be moved til late that month or even November, due to a possible outbreak of the swine flu...Jeddah sees a little of foreigners passing in and out for Hajj, so sicknesses like the swine flu are more common here than in other Saudi cities).

Finally arrived in Jeddah!

2009-09-12T18:21:00.003+03:00

I just finished unpacking all of my luggage after a long journey and good night's sleep. My bed is pretty firm, but I was so tired it didn't matter. I am attaching some pictures of my apartment. I need to get some frames for some pictures/artwork I brought so it looks a little more homey. The walls are pretty bare right now. I am on the second floor of an apartment building reserved solely for teachers at the school. I got to choose which floor I wanted. I've met one other teacher and the principal, so far. Some other teachers arrived last night after I did, so I haven't met them yet. We are expecting a few more to arrive today, and then the rest to arrive next week. We are touring the school today, so I will let you know how that is later today or tomorrow. But for now, here are some pics I took of my apartment:

This is a pic of my desk where I am writing this blog.

My bedroom turned office...where I can iron my clothes while surfing the net ;)

Guest bathroom (you can't see the shower from this angle)

Master bathroom.

Shower in master bathroom (identical to other bathroom).

My bedroom (from doorway)

My bed...they provided the comforter and sheets and pillows. I brought the quilt on the end, the pink pillow, and the teddy bear :) I'm thinking of taking him to school with me to be our classroom mascot or something.

Huge cabinets/closets are in every "bedroom". I have more storage space than I know what to do with!

My dresser/vanity. The mirror slides to provide storage behind it.

My bedroom turned dining room.

Kitchen/laundry room...no dishwasher so I wash dishes by hand.

Another view of the kitchen...my fridge wasn't working this morning, but it is now. I haven't tried out the stove yet...I'm a little nervous since it is gas. They gave us plenty of dishes, pots, silverware, a toaster, a microwave, a blender, etc.

The view of my living room from the front door.

Other view of living room...TV gets about 70 channels, some of which are repeats, some of which are FOX movie channels, and a channel that gets the Ellen Degeneres show (it was on this morning).

The view from my balcony...unfortunately the building across the way looks abandoned and run down since it has broken windows.

From the living room looking down the hall to my bedroom...the kitchen is the first door on the left, followed by a bathroom...the dining room is the first door on the right, followed by my "office".

Looking from my bedroom doorway down the hall to the living room...just so you can get the idea of the layout of the place.

In the news!

2009-09-05T01:57:00.000+03:00

A family friend interviewed me for our local newspaper. I have posted a link to the article below:
"Wellington Teacher Takes Job in Saudi Arabia"

The adventure begins

2009-08-25T18:52:00.004+03:00

A little over two weeks from today I leave for Saudi Arabia. I am going to teach 1st grade at a Canadian International school in Jeddah. The school is made up of mostly American and Canadian teachers, and mostly Saudi students. It is a private school, so students must pay tuition to attend. I will be teaching all subjects in English, but have been trying to learn Arabic using Rosetta Stone software. There are five 1st grade teachers, and we each have about 24 students. I am nervous about the number of students in my classroom, since I've never had more than 20. First grade is also a new experience, since I am used to teaching 3rd graders. Despite those concerns, I am so excited to be teaching 1st grade and can't wait to get to Jeddah to start learning the curriculum and planning for my class. The students don't start school until October 3rd, due to Ramadan, so I will have a few weeks to get acclimated before starting to teach.

I will be living on a compound made up of 40 different nationalities. Never having lived on a compound before, I am curious as to what that will be like. I get my own furnished apartment, satellite TV, internet, transportation provided for, etc. Essentially, all my financial needs are paid for except for food.

I am truly blessed to be in this financial situation with the economy the way it is. In fact, that is one reason I decided to teach overseas. I had a difficult year at my previous school, for a number of reasons, and began looking into public schools or other private schools in Palm Beach County. Unfortunately, due to the economy, there was a hiring freeze in the public schools, and many private schools were letting teachers go. Seeing that there was a slim chance I would be hired by a school locally, I began to research international schools. I found a website called Educators Overseas that puts teachers in touch with international schools that have job openings. I had always wanted to teach overseas, so I uploaded my resume and other required documents, and indicated my interest in teaching in the Middle East.

If you asked me last year where I would want to teach overseas, I would probably have said Southeast Asia. I had been to Thailand, and loved the people, the climate, and the food. However, I told my Father that I was willing to teach pretty much anywhere, as long as it was a warm climate! I am a Floridian at heart and can't stand the cold, so I knew if He had long term plans for me to be overseas, it would have to be warm. Well, I began to ponder which region of the world I might like to teach in. I've always wanted to travel to Europe, but thought it would be too cold to actually live there. I'd never really felt a draw to South America or Africa, no offense to those parts of the world, so on my application to Educators Overseas I indicated my interest in teaching in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, or the Caribbean.

My Father was working on my heart, slowly narrowing my focus to one people group - the Muslims of the Middle East. My heart ached for them when I read on MTW's website that most of the MIddle East has never even heard the Good News. As I researched a job in Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), I was excited to learn of the diversity of that city and the impact the Good News could have on the world as people from various nationalities went back to their countries with that Message. I applied for a job in Abu Dhabi and waited...and waited...and waited to hear about an interview.

After about a month of not hearing from the schools in Abu Dhabi, I began to give up hope and started looking for any education related job that might be available in Palm Beach County - even if it had to be part-time. Imagine my shock when I received an email from Educators Overseas about a job, not in Abu Dhabi as I originally applied for, but in Saudi Arabia. When I first read the email, my breath quickened and my heart began to race. I knew this was where He wanted me to go, and I was scared! I had heard about Saudi Arabia...about the way they treat women...it was not as free and open as Abu Dhabi. After I read over the email several times, my heart slowed down and I began to pray. I prayed for wisdom, discernment, and trust.

It is funny how His timing works. The same day of my interview via skype with the school in Saudi Arabia, I received information about an interview with the school in Abu Dhabi that I had originally applied for. My Father was not making this easy. I now had two options - a job at a private school with awesome benefits in a country where any religion other than Islam is illegal, or a job with very little benefits in the public schools in a city with religious freedom. Desiring a good teaching situation, and wanting to be stretched, I chose the first job after much prayer - and counsel from almost the entire WPC family, it seemed like!

My biggest fear going into this was not knowing if I would have other believers to fellowship with. So, this became my daily prayer. My Father assuaged that fear and answered my request sooner that I even expected. During our family vacation in the mountains of North Carolina, I just happened to check my email after almost a week of not checking it (which is a very long time for me!). In my inbox was an email from another woman considering a job at the same school I had been hired at. In her introductory email, she revealed that she was a single believing woman from Florida! Not only did He answer my prayer for another believer (yes, she did end up signing a contract), but he showed me His grace with the fact that she was single and a fellow Floridian. Turns out, she is going to be teaching 2nd grade at the same school and we have been keeping in touch through email and phone calls for the past month-and-a-half.

With His blessings and promises in mind, I venture forth into this new adventure - resting on His grace, sovereignty, and omnipresence (Yes, He is even in Saudi Arabia!). "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."