So, funny story...

I go to a church called Grace Fellowship here in Doha. It's a wonderful place run by fantastic people who love the Lord and want nothing more than to serve Him. I'm blessed enough to have a wonderful friend  Kristin who not only goes with me, but drives me too since I have no car :) On this particular Friday, she also presented me with a task that anyone who knows me knows is pretty much the most difficult/impossible thing for me to do: trying not to laugh/stop laughing once I've started...

Round about the time the offering basket gets passed around, once of the men of the church got up to make some announcements. He starts talking and I'm only half paying attention...after a little bit, I here him kind of holler out a bit...sort of a, "whut! whoa hahaha" sound. I should probably let you know that I'm way against the wall and can hardly see more than the guy's head. Right after I hear him, I notice that my chair is shakin a little bit. See, we sit in these plastic garden/picnic chairs. They're really close together and the arm rests touch. I realize that my chair is shaking because Kristin is sitting to the left of me and she's laughing! At this point, I can maintain a little control since I have no idea whatsoever what is so funny...I should have left it that way. But of course, I want to know so I ask. Anybody who knows me can imagine Kristin saying what she's gonna tell me. Just picture me, laughing hysterically but trying to be quiet, all the while trying to get actual words out. That's how she sounded when I heard her choke out, "His pants fell down...his pants fell down!" What? Yup, I heard her right. She then proceeds to tell me through her quiet laughter that he went to leave the podium and his pants just fell down! As in--past his butt--fell down. She then told me that after they fell, he mumbled something like, "wow I guess I've lost a little weight"---at this point, I'm dying. Thank the LORD, the music started again and we could get it out of our system. All should have been fine...but then the Korean dude got up to give the message.

The only reason I mention that the speaker was Korean is because his accent is the reason for this story. The sermon was funny enough to begin with because this guy had his power point goin like none other. He was speaking about Paul's journey as he spread the gospel. He had maps, routes, you name it...and he's speaking a mile a minute. That, in and of itself is incredibly amusing. Not long into the sermon, he starts talking about some passages in Acts and a man named Aristarchus. Aristarchus accompanies Paul on his 3rd missionary journey and was a fellow prisoner of Paul's. The problem arose when Korean dude spoke Aristarchus' name---due to his accent, it came out as "octopus". I kid you not. So after the first few "octopus"s come out, I notice the all too familiar shaking of my chair. Unfortunately, this time I know exactly what Kristin's laughing about. I was doing fine as I hear him say "octopus" over and over again---well not fine, but not laughing. But when Kristin starts laughing, it's all over. I bent my head down and the next 20 minutes were long and torturous. Just when he stopped saying the name long enough to get control of ourselves, he goes back and mentions "octopus" again. Then there's the conclusion right before the end of the sermon. Again---thank the LORD for the closing song! It was over and we were saved. And now, unfortunately, I will never again think of Paul and his incredible life's work without thinking of his pal and prison partner, Octopus.

Qatar Wins FIFA Bid!

Unknown to many of you, my current country of residence has been bidding for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The World Cup takes place every four years, in the summer, and lasts for about 3 weeks. There were many challenges facing Qatar in their fight to win the bid, the most concerning being: the heat, the size, and the whole no-alcohol thing :) Qatar put together a great campaign and their hard work paid off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAi3GLQyOI Last night I had the privalege of being in Qatar when the committe announced that Qatar won the bid! I was watching it on SlingBox, talking to my mom...all over Doha, the horns were blaring! Car horns honked for a good 30 minutes after the announcement that the "Expect Amazing" proposal would in time become a reality. I wish I had been at Aspire sports park or in the Souk watching it with the rest of the nation, but it was still a proud and special moment. Many say the voters were crazy to pick Qatar, a country smaller than Connecticut with temps that reach higher than 120 degrees, a place where many fans won't exactly be excited to travel ... and honestly I'd have to agree. But I also believe Qatar can and will pull off an amazing World Cup and I'm glad the world will get to see a totally different side to this region of the world. My wish is that I won't be here during the preparation & building because I'm not sure my sanity could take it :) Mabrouk, Qatar! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T8fBzZxRHw

International Week

I had the privilege of experiencing International Week at ASD for the first time these last few days. I knew this week was a big deal after hearing so much about it from the kids and teachers, but I had no idea how crazy it was all going to get! International week include many events: opening/closing ceremonies, music presentations, artwork, an international buffet, dress up days and much more! Since ASD didn't think that was quite enough for us to handle, they decided to throw in some more good times such as: report card deadlines, hosting military guests (more on that later), maturation talks for the 5th graders (ohhhh don't get me started), and special guest to present to us on writer's workshop. And did I mention this is all in the week before our November Eid break? Cuz it is!  No joke...I should post a picture of my planner for this week. Let's just say, it's pretty stinkin colorful & not much teaching happened.

The opening ceremony was an awesome experience. The HS gym was packed to the brim with every student attending ASD from pre-K up through 12th grade, and of course all the staff memebers. Once we all got settled in (it took a while, but I was impressed with the effienciency of the system), the speakers began to present and the choir/band performed a song. After that, the Parade of Flag began and this was the high point of the entire program. During the Parade of Flags, two students carry their country's flag down the center aisle of the gym. The two students are the oldest and youngest students representing that particular country at ASD...this ended up making for some fun combinations. Sometimes it was a preschooler with a HS school kid, a middle school student with a 1st grader, or my favorite, a 2nd grader and a kid in kindergarten...my principal's kids since they were the only students at ASD from Paraguay :) They were all in native dress and after their country was announced, a slide for that country was put up on the projector with a fact about it. 72 countries in all! The annoucer would read it to all of us while the students carried the flag and the rest of the student body cheered. It was really fun watching how excited every student got about not just their own country, but of each other's countries as well. The most touch moments came when the last two flags were carried down: first the USA flag and then the flag of Qatar. I can't put into words all the emotion of that moment, but you can get a great sense of it by watching the video! I've posted the link to my facebook too, but I'll try to put it here also. The first student carrying the Argentinian flag is from my class...her little brother was too shy to carry it with her :) http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10696758 It's kind of long, but you can also skip to the end if you'd like.

I will be posting pictures soon. The rest of the week was crazy with hat day and international dress day. I had a naval officer in my room as a guest on Sunday and they so appreciate being able to get off base, come in their civilan clothes, and hang out with our kids. My students loved asking him tons of questions and being able to show him everything they're learning. Later on in the week we had the internatinal buffet. Parents from pre-k to 12 brought in food native to their countries. These foods are presented in one of the largest buffet tables I've ever seen...and I've lived in VEGAS. The tables took up the entire space in the HS gym and were arranged by continents! Crazy fun and crazy good! My plate was slightly loaded. I had some of the best cheesy potatoes and apple crisp I've had in a while...as well as some other food that I'm sorry I just can't pronounce :) 

Closing ceremonies ended the week with a guest speaker from the high school and musical performances from the elementary, middle and high school. Our director ended the day with a fantastic speech and for the last 30 minutes of class, my students and I reflected a lot on the week and they had some great things to say about what they learned. At the end of the discussion I asked them to promise me one thing: that they will never take for granted the privilege of attenting a school like ASD where they can experience weeks like this one. I have 21 students in my class, representing 17 different countries...I told my kids to cherish that and never forget how amazing it all is. I feel so blessed to have this job and teach these incredible children!

Trick or Treat!

Last week, I discovered that we measly people from the States have NOTHIN' on my peeps here at ASD when it comes to celebrating Halloween. Pardon the expression, but the last few days of my work week were something akin to Halloween on crack! These people aren't kiddin' around...

First off, the fabulous room parents came around to talk to us about how we wanted our doors decorated. Door decorating is big around here during Halloween so my kids and I took inspiration from the book I read to them this month, "The Legends of Sleepy Hollow" (the Wishbone version :) ) and I must say, it looked fabulous! It's also great to be able to walk around and see all the dirrerent themes, but I think my favorite was the door across the hall from me. A skeleton...in a coffin...3D....and the "eyes" light up! Too cool. 

My class' Door

Now we move on to the insanity that is "The Pumpkin Patch". Now I'm guessing that when you hear "pumpkin patch", you're thinking of a nice field of vines with big plump pumkins laying around, drinking cider, and hay bales. You're almost right. Here, the "pumpkin patch" is a room-sized corner in one of the common areas in our school. In the far back corner are hay bales stacked up with pumpkins and scarecrows sitting all over. Around the outter edges, there are tables set up and LOADED with every kind of store-bought or home made Halloween goodie one could ever imagine (scratch that...sadly there was no candy corn). So here we have a school full of kids, ages 8-11, and they have at their disposal tables and tables filled with treats and goodies. Holy sugar-coma, Batman. Thankfully, there are rules and set times regarding the Pumpkin Patch, however, this creates MASS hysteria when those set times roll around. I practically had to peel a 3rd grader off me when I went during break to get myself a cupcake...something akin to going into battle. What we will do for a little suga... 

Last, but not least, there's the Halloween Carnival. Kids can buy tickets prior to the carnival and come to ASD to play games and trick-or-treat in the halls. I wasn't here for it, but boy did I get a good preview! The pics say it best, so check out my facebook. However, the halls are lined floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, with autumn and halloween backdrops, props, and other hanging decor. Every corner was made into a "scene", depicting something different with each turn. In wall hallway, you had to go through a stringy black "curtain" to get to the other side and there were hay bales EVERYWHERE. 

In a nut shell, the parents, kids, and staff at ASD rock socks. I could never have fathomed something like this and the kids were lovin' it up...I especially enjoyed seeing everything with the kids who were new to ASD. They were just as pumped as I was. 

The kids and I had a great time. It was no 3rd grade in Las Vegas Halloween shin-ding, something I totally rocked out if I do say so myself, but it came in a very close 2nd. With my kids, we watched the movie that accomonied our "Sleepy Hollow" book, had some popcorn, and played "Who Are These Little Monsters"; a game where they had to guess which students from our class, were in the pictures. I had the kids bring in a picture of themself in a Halloween costume when they were 1 or 2.  I put them on display all week and on Thursday they had to write down their guesses. It was simple, but they loved it! (Usually the way it goes, huh?) 

Happy Halloween all! Enjoy the changing colors and crisp autumn air for me. This is the time of year I always miss the most :)

Skits and Whiskey

Throughout the week, my students were working on presentations. They had been studying explorers over the last couple of weeks and were goin to present them in all their glory. The presentations had gone well and after three days of presentions, we only had one more to go. It was coming up on morning recess and I was ready to be finished. The last group was putting on a skit and to get set up, they had written a "sign" up on the white board. Groups had done this before, so I didn't pay much attention. I wrote down their names, set up the rubric, that kind of thing. The play starts and I notice what has been written on the board: Explorers Convention and Bar. BAR. As in alcohol. Let's set aside for a moment that 3 out of the 5 kids in the group are Muslim and focus on the fact that the setting of their class skit featuring Robert Swan and Henry Hudson is in a bar. Inappropriate, maybe? 

I'm playin' it cool on the outside, even though on the inside I'm a bit peeved at Team 5. I saw their proposal, I watched them rehearse in class, and I can assure you that not once did the little mongrels ever allude to their plans to set this thing in a bar. I wasn't appreciating this particular curve ball, but I decide it's best to ignore it and see what happens. It starts off well and the two girls of the group have a great conversation, sneaking in lots of juicy facts about their explorers. I'm happy and it's on to Scene 2. One of the three boys sits at my kidney table, in my spot. Turns out, he will be playing the role of the bartender and begins to use a rag to wipe off his water bottle prop as well as the table. Eccellent! Fabulous attention to detail. The other two walk and they chat-chat-chatter along until one says, "Hey, let's go talk at the bar." When they sit down, same kid slaps his hand on the table (boy did they research their bar-mannerisms) and says, "Bartender, I'll have a whiskey." A huhm? A WHHAAAT??? The other boy does the same and says, "And I'll have a coke." 

About a minute after that, the recess bell rang and needless to say, I hit the pause button on these little Thespians and we had ourselves a little chit-chat. Nothin like a good teachable moment. (They presented the G-Rated version the next day.) My favorite bit of irony was this, however: the bartender and whiskey boys are both Muslim. Kid who ordered a coke? Well, he hails from Texas. Riddle me that.

Canadians, the Chicken Big Mac, & Brittany

Two weekends ago, I had the privalege of attending the Canadians in Qatar Thanksgiving at The Ritz. As most (I hope ALL) of you know, no, I'm not Canadian. However, in true Canadian fashion, they opened their doors to non-Canadians everywhere! It was a chance to get dressed up, have some thanksgiving food 6 weeks early, and dance the night away...and we did! It was a great time. Basically like a wedding, only no bridal party to wait to eat for and sadly, no cake. The DJ was great and we busted moves all night! I couldn't help but crack up when more than one Canadian that night said we Americans do Thanksgiving the smart way...always on a weekend and right before Christmas :) Ahhhhh that we do.

Before going to the Canadian Thanksgiving, Alli and I decided that we wanted McDonalds for lunch. This was exciting for me because I hadn't tried any fast food since moving here. I've heard it's always interesting to see how the food is different. First off, in Doha, McDonald's will--get this-- deliver. (I know. Don't get me started.) Alli and I think we should take advantage of this little feature because A) it's cool and B) it's movie day and we're still in our pjs. First hurdle? Finding the phone number. We googled it and got started. After dialing 2 for english, McD's then put us on HOLD for 5 minutes. This was just too much, but we really didn't want to leave the house so we waited (and laughed). Finally, someone came on to take our order. We both wanted the crispy chicken sandwhich meal, so we figured it wouldn't be too difficult. Not so much. 2nd hurdle? They have nothing called the "crispy chicken" sandwich. So I ask (Alli did the holding, so I got stuck with the ordering) what chicken they DO have and roughly heard this: "chicken big mac" (huh???), "chicken morey" (I even repeated it that way to the guy and he said "Yes, chicken morey"), a "chicken arabia" and "mcchicken".  McChicken! Yes! Finally! A name I recognize so I order 2 meals and now comes the biggest challenge of all. 3rd hurdle? Giving them directions. This is by far the biggest hoop because there are no addresses in DOHA! It's all P.O. boxes. (Again, don't get me started.) The McD's guy and I haggle back and forth for a minute or two and then Alli and I start busting up laughing. At this point, it's been well over 15 minutes and we could've been there, back, and eating our McD's by now! We hang up and head out the door. After arriving at the drive-thru, we notice a couple things: there really IS a chicken big mac (whoa) and the "chicken morey" was actually "chicken GOURMET" (otherwise known in the U.S. as the Crispy Chicken so I got it after all!). The Chicken Arabia turned out to be a chicken filet, wrapped in pita bread. So much fun! 

But after all this, I still say the best part of our shinanigans that day happened while we were waiting for our food and listening to some VERY old-school Brittany Spears. In the middle of "Oops, I Did It Again" Alli busted out, and I mean BUSTED OUT some classic dance moves from the video. (I had done this earlier while ordering) Her hands are up in the air, waving around like she just didn't care, when the server opens the window to hand us our food. The music was blaring, so Alli didn't hear her so let's just say she yelped and jumped so high I'm surprised her head didn't hit the roof. Her face was BEET red with embarassment, I'm busting a gut laughing, and the server has a big ole smile on her face as well. We just wanted a taste of home...

I know, I know...

It has definitely been a while! I'm sorry for the dealy but honestl, it mostly has to do with the fact that nothing too exciting has been happening. I'd like to shy away from boring posts as much as possible so what can I say? It's about quality, not quantity people :)

I went to Bahrain for our Eid break. Just a couple of days to visit a friend there and we had a great time! I was a little (make that a LOT) jealous of her fabulous housing. Puts mine to shame, but I was also able see a place that was so similar to Doha and yet was different enough to allow me to appreciate Doha more than I did before. I guess it mostly has to do with the fact that Doha is starting to become my home and it was good to come back. :)

One of my favorite things that I did over Eid break (other than sleeping in, of course) was going to the Four Seasons for High Tea. This was really an amazing experience and if you haven't seen the pictures on facebook yet, you should! A few of my friends and I got all dressed up and went to the Four Seasons where they sat us in this lovely windowed corner where you could look out onto the beach and the gulf. There was a couch, with a couple of chairs and an amazing tea selction-from what I could tell. I don't drink tea. :) We ordered our tea (coffee for me-it was SO YUMMY) and it all comes as a full service so we ordered two services which meant that we got two trays of the delicious treats they brought out: some of the best scones that i've ever had, smoked salmon sanwiches, chicken salad, biscuts, cheesecake squares, and my favorite, this lemon cupcake with lemon sorbet on top, covered in meringue! Can't even explain... Not to mention all the fabulous toppings: english butter, lemon curd, jam, clotted cream. We all felt so special :) It really was a fabulous time and just another treat that I get to enjoy by living out here. I'm so grateful for experiences like this one and I can't wait to share it with people when/if they come visit!

Eid ended all too quickly, but it was good to be back with my kiddos. They really are a joy to teach and just talk to. They have all come to love and root for my beloved Hawkeys (the brainwashing was an enormous success and I think the length of time it took should go down in the record books)...well almost all. I still have a girl who likes to sport her Ohio State t-shirt now and then...we've had some serious discussions about it. She's so stinkin' cute though. Just imagine how cute a little girl would have to be so that I wouldn't care that she's wearing an OSU t-shirt...that's pretty cute. But you know it's catching on when this happens: I'm walking around, checking on the kids as they do their math problem of the day and see that one of my students is sketching the Hawkeye symbol in his math notebook instead of working on the problem. Now how mad can I really get? He was sitting right in front of the flag...I understand the pull. My response went something like this, "Faisal, not that I don't appreciate what you're doing, cuz I really do, but it doesn't exactly count as math. (insert cute, Faisal-like, grin here) Get to work please." I then walk back to my desk, trying not to laugh.

We've been getting back into the swing of things at school and one thing I love is that there's always something going on. People have been throwing fun parties and get-togethers, Alli and I decided to start a book club, it's all good! Alli, more than me. But we decided that there'd be no assigned reading. We'd just get together, make some great food, and talk about the latest book that we've read and why we liked it. First meeting is this Thursday! Alli and I have also started a little tradition known as "French Toast Friday". It's a lazy day we have where we watch movies, I make french toast, we order chinese and just enjoy the day. It's a fabulous wa to enjoy the day since it's too hot to go out. We just had a "Facuty Follies" show to raise money for Pakistan. The people of ASD put on a fabulous show. So much so that I didn't even mind being at school on a Thursday night :) Some other things going on just in this month: book club, the "Babes of the Bin" party (us girls getting together here), the 3rd and 5th party, the ASD progressive dinner, Miss Saigon featuring many of the teachers at ASD, the pumkin patch and Halloween Carnival, and---get this---the Canadian Thanksgiving dinner! Yup, I'm goin Canadian for the night and enjoying some much-missed traditional goodies. They may celebrate early but most of the food is the same. Lauren said that the only difference is that many of the dessert will be maple desserts (Ross' maple candy, Krisin & Missy? Yup, I can't not think of that Friends episode either)...so much fun!
 

One MAJOR change since Eid is the driving. People weren't kidding when they said the driving would get worse after Ramadan, but I honestly didn't know how that could be or what it would look like. That is no longer the case. It takes Katie and I (yup she drives cuz that's right, I've now not been able to drive for over a month now...thanks, Sheik-dude) on average, at least ten minutes to go down one block and through a round-about. And that's with someone directing traffic. I long for and miss the days when I could get to work in 7 min, not to mention the fact that I have to wake up and 5:45 to ride with Katie. I'm not sure if it's sad or just freaky that it doesn't faze me anymore...but I'm so gratedul to Kaite and love our morning rides together. I'm also not gonna lie- I've been more productive now too :)



All around, things have been great here. I've even been able to decorate my dining room and living room a little bit. It's slowly becoming home, but I'm still counting down the days, all. I'm so grateful for the wonder freinds and support I have here, but I still miss home terribly. You know it's bad when you see a Target article on yahoo.com and just the arial photo of the inside of a Target store brings tears to your eyes...yup, that happened. You all have no idea how many times I wish I could just go into Target and shop the dollar section! Thankfully, the time is FLYING by. I have so many things to look forward to like my trip to Rome in November which has now become quite the excursion. Word spread quickly and now Alli and Katie are coming too...I finally have people to travel with! I've also planned a stop-over with in Paris on our way home for Christmas. (It feels weird just saying that!) Clicking "purchase" and getting my ticket home was such a fabulous moment. It hasn't all sunk in yet, but everytime I don't want to get up for work, I think of Paris and Rome and remember that work is the reason I get to do all these amazing things! So it's not so bad :)

I hope I've done well catching everyone up...I know it's strange that nothing too funny has happened to me in the last few months, but I promise I'm not leaving anything out. I'll leave you with this little tid-bit: It's still riduculously hot and humid. Cooler, but still hot. I miss my Vegas dry heat, I miss the autumn like I always do this time of year and darn it! It's October...I'm tired of sweating!

Later y'all!

Presentations and Bath Tubs

Our Back To School Night at ASD was this last Monday. It was a great chance to meet with some of the parents and tell them about the school, my class, and the programs we offer. For this, my teaching partner, Chad, and I decided to give our individual presentations in our classrooms, then switch to each other's to talk about our specific subject areas. (He teaches reading for both our classes and I teach math.) When it came time to give my presentation to my homeroom class of parents, I made the lovely discovery that my projector wasn't cooperating and there would be no way to show the lovely Power Point presentation I'd made all cute and informative over the last few days. Bonus: because of this, I had no "notes" to refer to and had to basically wing it and hope that I mentioned all the important pieces of information. Then came questions. My favorite came from a dad who asked, "Little Johnny seems to have a lot of time after school for video games and watching tv. What can we do about that?" This was his way of saying I'm not giving out enough homework.

After questions, I told the parents (as well as wrote it on the schedule on my door, all pretty) to go to Chad's room for the Reading portion. The plan was simple enough, but by the time we'd decided on how to do the whole switching classrooms thing, we had thrown around many scenarios and tonight, I'd executed the wrong plan. I notice that after a few minutes, they're still waiting outside his door and no one has come to mine. As Chad comes out to the hallway, I realize that I'm supposed to be in his room. Oops! I then take off in a frenzy and proceed to sound like what I'm pretty sure was a bumbling idiot in front of the other class. Again, with no Power Point. Oh well, life goes on!

I've come to find that it is never a awesome life moment when I'm thinking to myself, "This has to go into the blog." These moments are never few-and-far-between in my life, so I thought I'd share the most recent one with you.

I thought I'd take a nice, long, hot bath after a day of not feeling well. This can be tricky since there's no way to actually plug the tub, so I got inventive and used a balled up wash cloth. Sweet. I'm laying there enjoying the hot water (for once), when I have to sit up to adjust the wash cloth. I should now interject a little tid bit about the size and shape of the tubs here in Doha. It's longer than most American tuba as well as much more narrow. Not so narrow that my sufficiantly sized rear-end can't fit into it, but narrow enough. I think the laws of physics and displacement came together in this moment to ruin my night because as I leaned to sit back, I didn't really think about the narrow tub and massive amounts of water. Combine those and the velocity with which I sat back and I've now created a virtual tidal wave in my bathroom. One really large whhooooooosh later, and my bathroom floor, all 65 sq feet of it, has been covered with water. Wait, it gets better...

At this point, I'm definitely not happy for many reasons, but mainly because the only two towels I had in the bathroom were either completely soaked or halfway soaked. I now have to figure out how to get to some dry towels, clean up the water, and in order to do both, get out of the bathroom without killing myself. I throw the halfway soaked towel down into the water so that I have at least something semi-stable to walk on. Upon looking around my room and thinking about what I have in the apt, I realize that I have NOTHING other than another towel to help me clean up the water. The only bright side is the fact that there is a drain on the floor of the bathroon. As I realize this, I also notice a pair of regular ole rubber flip-flops (Old Navy) and have an idea. A few seconds later, I'm on my hands and knees on the floor and have turned my two flip flops into a make-shift squeegee. It seems to be working fairly well and I'm pretty darn proud of myself until my knees decided to go surfing and gave out on me. Before I know it they've split and are sliding in opposite directions and I now have to brace myself so as not to fall on my face. This continues to happen randomly/everytime I move until I've "squeegeed" most of the water down into the drain. By now, I'm feeling like quite the winner, let me tell ya..

Sohar and Rachel Ray

There have been a few exciting developments since I last posted. First off, I'm going to Bahrain on Eid break! Our Eid break is a vacation set by a a lot of things, including the moon and Ramadan. Our Eid break will start after today (woo-hoo for a 3-day week!) and will go till the 14th (another woo-hoo for coming back to a 2-day week!). Now this will be the first time I'll be in Doha without either having to go through orientation or needing to work...so needless to say, I'm excited! I didn't want to travel too much over this break; it's on the shorter side and I just wanted to relax. I short trip to Bahrain however? Totally different! I'll leave Friday morning and come back Sunday. I'll be visiting a friend there; more of a friend-of-a-friend that I met just once, 5 years ago. :) But it was just one of those things- Kristina and I just got a long really well that weekend and had a great time. We've kept in touch off and on and she really helped me a lot through the international process...I'm ready for a couple days of R & R!

At the end of the the last post, I mentioned that I was going to a Sahar feast last Thursday. This was indeed a 7-star resort! I couldn't stop taking pictures!  (my friends were making fun of me) Especially the actual buffet...this thing was increadible! But in just the lobby of the hotel were a couple high end stores---I don't even know the name of the designers--- and in the windows of said stores were 2 dressed that, and we were only guessing, had to be at least $20,000 a piece. Check my facebook for pics because these dresses were insane! There were a lot of banquet rooms surrounding the enourmous Sahar buffet and a desk before you even got to that area. I won't even try to describe the banquet rooms, I wouldn't even know where to begin. David Tuterra would be in heaven though :)

Alli and I found out real quick that we were the unfortunates who showed up first to the party. Sure there were other people milling around and going to their banquet halls (we gave some serious thought to crashing), but none of our people had shown up. So we then decided to explore the place and....WOW! Again, you just have to check out the pictures. When our people finally did show up, we went in the hall and noticed that the "band" showed up too! I'm not going to even attempt to tell you what they were playing but there were four of them and one of them had a drum. That's all I've got. And I don't want to sterotypical, but they played the music that you imagine I'd hear while living in a Muslim country, celebrating a Muslim holiday :) It was pretty cool at times, though, cuz the head singer/chanter guy would many times stand up, keep singing and start clapping, trying to get the crowd into it :) It was fun! And the food..

Well, again you're just going to have to look at the pics. And please spend some time looking at them cuz I really did take a lot of crap while simultaneously looking like a total idiot-tourist-American-white-chick in order to take them. It was a MASSIVE buffet but I think my favortie part had to be the, get this, ICE CREAM CHURNER. They were literally making icecream and serving it out of what looked like a 3 foot tall by 3 foot wide butter churner from (get ready Friends fans) the "days of yore". They'd bring up the stick-churner-thing (yes, my mom grew up on a farm, but no she did not churn butter so that's the best I've got without googling), scrape off however much you'd want, then put it back it. It was yummy and creamy and made up for the fact that there were no delectable-looking mini chocolate tarts leftover by the time we executed Alli's brilliant plan to let our food settle and then get dessert (yes, Alli, I'm blaming you!). The Sahar goes late into the night (1am), but we left at midnight. It was a great time!

Another exciting event in my life this week was the arrival of my boxes from home including many items that I've missed (and won't ever take for grated again: ie- dish wand), AND my new Rachel Ray cookware! It's the adonized set with the orange, rubber grip handles? :) Sooooo excited. I've been scouting out cookeware like my dad scouts deer for the last 18 months and I've finally got it! Unfortunately, I was developing a cold so the maiden voyage for my gorgeous new cookeware was cooking up a mean grilled cheese and some chicken noodle soup from a can. Oh well. There will be lots of time to make up for that!

Love and miss you all...have a good one and before I forget--- Today, one of my all-time, favorite, FABULOUS kids turns 11. Happy birthday, Nicholas Dohrn!

Has it really been a MONTH???

When we sat down last week to plan, I couldn't believe that this week would end on the 2nd. I left Iowa and then the U.S. and about 20 hours later, landed in Doha exactly one month ago! I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it. Many things have happened since then: I've met some absolutely incredible people, finally found out who all my little new "friends" would be, wrestled with the insanity of Doha driving (although apparently real craziness hasn't even begun yet), managed to actually find my way around ASD and the city without a) getting lost (except that one time) or b) turned around too many times, and finally have started to feel at home. Life is great!

Thankfully, I haven't had too much excitement or drama, but it sure makes for a more interesting blog! In a frustrating way, it's reassuring that these kids are just like any other kids you would deal with at a school. There are still the smart ones that always finish first, think they know it all, or---my personal favorite---try to correct me (let's face it, sometimes it's necesary). And there will always be the shy ones that fly under the radar but the second you notice them, their sweet eyes and faces light up and you finally discover what makes them who they are. There are the ones that, no matter what, will always move slower than mollases. But let us never forget that there will ALWAYS be the flighty-ditzy-airhead-love 'em but wanna kill 'em butterfly chasers that are distracted by everything and catch NOTHING you say. (My naive self somehow thought this would go away once I got to 5th grade).

A lesson in the manipulated and responding variable: 

As some of you may know, I've had some issues with my car this last week. Apparently, it's decided that it doesn't like me anymore and wants to start having fun by way of not allowing me to remove my keys from it once I've turned it off (and yes- I've tried turning the steering wheel). I've also been teaching a unit in science inquiry focusing on many vocab words, but in particular, these two: manipulated variable (a variable you change to see how it affects the outcome of an experiment) and responding variable (basically the results of manipulating a variable). I found myself thinking about these lesson as the car key drama went on. 

The conditions were always the same. Car turns off, car doesn't give me the keys. The first few times the keys stuck, I didn't mind so much cuz I could tweek it a litle, turn the steering wheel back and forth and even sometimes, stop then restart the car (manipulated variable) and the keys would them come out (responding variable) However, these methods all lost their effectiveness by Sunday evening when I found myself at the grocery store and my keys absolutely would NOT come out. It was at this time, that I realized I broke a cardinal scientific rule: only manipulate one variable at a time. I really did myself in because I tried all my little tricks, but still didn't know which variable allowed my keys to come free! Maybe it wasn't one, but instead maybe a combination of tweeking the keys whilst turning the wheel...I guess I'll never know cuz it's too stinkin hot to stay outside and do the proper scientific experiment. 

My solution? Leaving the keys in the car. And because this is Doha and not Vegas, the car was still there when I came back out. In fact, as I "speak", my keys are sitting in my car outside ASD on a pretty busy main road. Side note: I burned my self on the keys when, after the first day of them being left in the ignition, I finally freed them...turns out they can still get REALLY hot, even while in the ignition. The teacher in me hopes you've all learned a valuable lesson here. 

Tonight, I get to experience a Sohor feast at a 7 star hotel here in Doha known as the Sharq. These feast are held during Ramadan when, after basically scarfing their faces as soon as the sun goes down, Muslim people set up a proper feast/buffet and eat/party all night. Should be a good time :)

Turkey Central and Deep Fried Goodies

Last weekend began with dinner at a fabulous little place called Turkey Central. It started off as a perfect example of why it's fun to live in a place like "The Bin". My friend Alli and I decided that since it was Thursday and getting to Thursday this week was particularly difficult, we needed to go out to dinner. In typical--although usually not for me--girl fashion, we can't decide where to go, what we're "in the mood for" etc., but eventually, we land on Bejing Chinese (where I've already been). As I wait for her in the lobby, another Bin-mate of ours, Kaitlyn is waiting and tells us she and a couple friends are headed to Turkey Central (where I've never been). Then my friend Kari comes down and it's "Oh hey! Are you coming with us too???", in an excited manner. Finally Alli gets to the lobby, we fill her in and it's "Oh my gosh, I LOVE Turkey Central and I haven't been there since I got back!" I obviously wanted to go to this place that I'd heard nothing but great things about but had yet to try so....guess that's that! :)

This place is great. It's kinda like eating at a food court in the mall, but there's only one choice of restaurant. You sit at these big, well...folding tables, basically and the waiter gives you a paper menu that looks akin to any take-out menu you've ever seen. There was shwarma (see earlier posts or google for full definition) of all kinds, "salads" that I'll describe later, and get this, PIES! Not the fruit kind, but lamb, beef, chicken, egg/cheese. Sadly though, I go to order and they were out of pies :( In a nut shell, the food was AMAZING. I got something called the mixed grill: grilled chunks of chiken, lamb, beef, and then what can only be described as meatloaf of chicken and lamb, rolled into long tubes and grilled. Comes with more bread and OH...SO...YUMMY. The salads consist of what we would call a spread. On one plate, you'd get hummus, cucumber spread, and a purple one that caught my eye till I tasted it and realized it was actually red cabbage spread. It still amazes me that you can go to a place like this and get an incredible amound of delicious juices. To just say, "Hey, I'd like a glass of strawberry." is just a little crazy to me. But I did do that, added some lemonade, and it was fabulous. Side note: another popular one is called "lemon mint".

This weekend, I was introduced to two great things: the "twobie-newbies" party and Jimmy's wicked fry-daddy skills. The "twobie-newbie" party is a party thrown for the newbies by the twobies. Newbies being me and some other great people and twobies being those teachers who are starting, that's right their 2nd year at ASD. Hence: Twobies. Unfortunately, system kinda broke down and the parties were planned for the same night. Oh well! For this party, we went to a compoud where a lot of the couples live. The houses are just incredible, they served shwarma and homemade treats...good times. Jimmy's party is apparntly the kick-off of the year that everyone looks forward to and bonus: he lives in The Bin (love that short trip home). Jimmy is from Missouri and loves his southern food. He fried up some tater tots, which doesn't sound all that exciting at first, but hot out of the fryer? Gooooood eats! He also made some calamari (which I heard was terriffic also, but I don't do squid), and had music and dancing. It was so much fun just to hang out with my friends, let loose, and enjoy the weekend. 

I'll leave you with a wall post I received on facebook recently. This one comes from my 3 yr old nephew via my wonderful sister-in-law, Missy:  "Drew saw a pic of you on here and I asked 'Do you love Abbie?' and he said 'Yeah... why is she in DOHA??' He knows you are not in Vegas anymore!" He sure got that right! I melted...

Garangao, Eed, and Slingbox!

Yesterday, I got to experience one of the best parts about the Ramadan season...The Garangao Celebration! This is a local children's celebration that happens around the time of Ramadan where kids and adults participate in a parade where they sing, play instruments (mainly drums), and instead of throwing candy at the parade watchers, we gave them candy as they passed by (side note: they love their sweets out here). The kids also dressed up in traditional muslim garb and they looked so adorable! My little gentlemen walked around in their "mini-sheik" outfits--holy cow! I couldn't believe how wonderful they looked. The singing and instrument playing filled the halls and the excitement on the kids' faces just can't be described. Good thing I have pictures! One thing I loved in particular was that there were a lot of non-muslim students in the parade as well. It was so nice to see the kids celebrate and come together. Check out the pics and videos on my facebook!

I also found out today that all the processing is finished and I'm officially a resident of Qatar! This allows me to have my passport back, thereby allowing me to leave the country (score!), and most importantly, buy a car! I've been renting this entire time and it gets pricey, so I'm excited to finally be able to get a car. One more step to feeling settled. 

The end of this week will mark the halfway point on my journey to our September break; otherwise known as Eed. The break will be a week long and much-needed! This will also be the first time that I'm in Doha, not working, and not doing anything school related. I'll finally have a chance to see the city and really relax. I feel like I've been going non-stop since I got here cuz oh wait...I HAVE! :) 

My last bit of exciting news came with the discovery of a marvelous little contraption known as the Slingbox. The slingbox, ladies and gentlemen, is a device that my parents will connect to their tv. It'll send a signal back to my computer and the software I've downloaded. I'll then be able to do the following: watch any channel live that my parents get through their cable, DVR any show that my parents get through their cable and therefore, most importantly, SEE MY HAWKEYES GAMES! The best part about that last one is that I can DVR them so that I don't have to be up till midnight or 1am on Saturday night (a school night) to see the games live. Don't get me wrong, I'd be totally willing but this is way better! I'll simply hook up my computer to my tv, open up the software and BAM! Go hawks, baby! Another funny thing about it is that if my parents are watching tv at the same time, I can only watch what they're watching at the time! So unless it's the middle of the night or I'm watching DVR, my parents and might still be fighting over the TV...or calling them to change the channel :) My friend Kristin (not Keeling) told me she calls her swingbox her "America Box". She used it in Hungary as well as here and she told me that whenever she misses the States, she turns on her America Box. I have a feeling I'll be doing the same, but I think I'll be caling it my "Iowa Box".

Celebrations & My Doha Kristin

The first (and usually the toughest) week of school is finished! In some ways I could say it flew by, but at the end of it, I gotta say that it seemed like a reeeeeeally long one. Long, but great :) 

As you faithful readers know, my week started out with some irate parents and vomit but as the week progressed, things really started to look up. Actually, by the end of the day things were even better...largely in part to the sweet letters and notes I found in my super-cool Hawkeye mailbox by my desk. My personal favorite went something like this: "I was really nervous about starting 5th grade, but all that went away when I found out you were my teacher and how funny you were." I got the lump. 

On top of all that, my incredible fellow teachers were a huge support to me this week, as always. They were constantly checking in to see how I was doing and willing to help me out in any way they could. And we had many chances to see each other in the seemingly never-ending string of meetings this week! By Thursday, I'd forgotten what it was like to send my students off to specials and actually have that time to be in my room and work! It's par for the course, but thank goodness it'll soon shake out and we'll be back to normal. This will especially be true when Ramadan is over. We have a special schedule during Ramadan that shortens classes and screws up an already confusing schedule. This week alone, my kids got ten minutes of extra recess, almost missed their foreign language class, and at one point we started math even though we had a tour with the principal! Ohhhhh good times! I'd also had the fun experience of looking down at the floor one day and seeing drops of blood. I followed said drops of blood to find one of my students, sitting on his chair with blood all over his shirt and a kleenex stuffed up his nose. Poor thing just didn't want to inconvenience me by telling me about his nose.

By the time Thursday rolled around, we were all exhausted but it had been a great week. I had learned the names of all my kids AND the names in the other class I teach. A solid victory in any school let alone at this one where some of the kids' names are Fahad, Ayah, and Shaskia. Gorgeous names, but not always easy to commit to memory :) After school let out, we got to party a little and relax at our principal's house as we celebrated surviving the first week of school. It was great seeing all the teachers that you never run into. We had a great time, especially when Katie and I went out to her car after the party to find a cat sitting on the roof of it...just chillin. Not an uncommon thing here. 

One of the third grade teachers that also lives in my building (affectionately known as "The Bin"), invited us up to her place for a while. I had met her a few times in passing but had never gotten to know her. Turns out, she's MAJORLY into sports, has all ten seasons of "The West Wing" & "Friends" and gets REALLY uppity (and a little loud :) ) when someone tries to argue against her love of the ACC, Twilight, football---the list is extensive. Anyone who knows me well should know what's coming. That's right ladies and gentleman, not only did I find a Vegas version of my best friend, but apparently God thought it fitting to provide me with a Doha version as well! So my Doha Kristin (who's name is Allison) loaned me the first season of "The West Wing" and invited me to come watch college football (via her Armed Forces Network connection) anytime! We're officially bonded for life.

When I finally had the motivation to do some laundry this weekend, I wasn't sure how it would go. I had to be especially careful about sorting because in Doha right now, cold water simply does not exist. There's hot and even hotter; a fact that unfortunately reared it's ugly had as I hissed and whimpered my way through my shower today. (It was a quick one.) So I go to check on my laundry about half way through the washing and realize the bottom of my new Hawkeye lounge pants are soaking wet. I look down and the drain is covered and piled up with suds! (I took a picture and put it on facebook but the suds died down by then) So I made a mental note to do laundry in capris from now on and the rest of the process went off without a hitch. Another hurdle conquered!

Unfortunately, the weekend went by all too quickly and the second week of school starts tomorrow. However, the brightest spot in my whole day was Skyping with Jerms and Missy and getting to see my babies. Drew and I ate red grapes together :) God bless you all! Time for bed.

Three Years Ago Today

As I wrote the date on my white board today, I realized that I recognized it (mostly, due to my weird/random memory). Three years ago today, August 18th, I was moving into my apartment in another desert city...Las Vegas. At first it didn't seem like a big deal, but then I started remembering what it was like to first move there, work there, live there. As crazy as it may seem, there are a lot of similarities between my move to Vegas and my move to Doha, and my life in Vegas prepared me for the move to Doha more than I realized.

First of all, the weather. It's ridiculously hot here :) I knew I was in for the heat and after living in Vegas, I knew I wouldn't be too shocked by it. What I didn't account for, however, was the humidity. I should have, considering Qatar is a small penninsula in the gulf...but I didn't. It's CRAZY-humid. Many days, I can literally leave the building and within 15 seconds have a thin coat of moisture on my skin. To my mid-western peeps, this is worse than any humid day in Iowa. On the plus side, the dry days are beautiful here and today I felt a fabulous little dip in the thermometer. Here's hoping it is just a lovely vision of things to come. 

In Vegas, I was also moving to a place that in many ways, may as well have been a forgein country to me. I had never really been anywhere (just like before moving to Doha), I'd never even visited Vegas (hadn't been to Doha either), and was starting a new job in a school where I knew no one. Thankfully, that last one wasn't the case in Doha. I'd never physically met Lauren & Jen, but I felt like I knew them. In Vegas, I was blessed enough to have my cousin Melissa to live with and to be my everything. She was a true angel, just as Lauren and Jen and my other friends are here. 

In Vegas, I dealt with a huge district, the quirkiness of an outdoor school, a massive new-teacher orientation program held in the convention center, making new friends, crazy drivers, noise, insane people, and many more things that have also been an adjustment here. My new school is on a new level, yes, but at the end of the day, kids are kids and teaching is still teaching. My friends and co-workers in Vegas taught me how to be a great teacher, but still have a life. That it's easier to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. How to not sweat the small stuff and enjoy the little victories in the classroom, even if it's only the fact that Johnny remembered to FINALLY write in his planner without being reminded. It's because of my teaching experiences, life experiences, DRIVING experiences (seriously, I can't believe I haven't been in an accident here yet) and co-workers/friends/angels in Vegas that I was prepared to make this move to Doha. It was in Vegas that I learned I can make a life and a home in a completely new place and not just survive it, but actually enjoy it.

Most importantly, making the move to Vegas taught me two extremely important lessons: 1) relocating will always come with a crappy adjustment period where you have to ask directions to go everywhere, get used to a new bed and bedroom, you'll get lost many times, and where you seem insanely out-of-place no matter where you are and 2) the crappy adjustment period always comes to an end. That second one is a really big deal because knowing that I'll eventually feel at home where I am makes the whole move actually seem possible. Knowing I'll live through it and won't end up on the floor crying is a nice comfort as well.

I thank and praise the Lord for reminding me of all these things. I also want to thank all of my angels, past and present, you know who you are. It wouldn't be the same without you.

First Day Hiccups

Today was the big day! My first official day at my new international school. I couldn't wait to finally meet all my kids and put faces to the names that I'd been looking at for almost a week. But as all of us teachers know, this glorious day can never come without it's hiccups and that was absolutely the case for me today. Luckily, all great teachers can laugh and roll with the punches and at the end of the day, those little hiccups always make for funny stories. (Insert Friends quote here, Krisitn. "Funny 'ha-ha' or....") So here we go...

Hiccup #1: Remember all of those lovely names I'd been looking at and wanting for? Well about 30 hours before the first day of school, I was informed about a struggling student I'd have in my class. As I was talking with the guidence counselor about her, I kept thinking, "Hmmm, that name doesn't sound familiar." But I figured I just wasn't remembering correctly. I figured wrong. Upon checking, I realized she wasn't on my class list and that when I was moved 3 weeks ago from a 3-person team to a 2-person team, the class lists didn't move along with me. So my list and another teacher's were swapped by mistake. These kids were placed in my class for specific reasons so it had to be corrected. (After, I might add, MANY people told me how sweet and great all the kids in the original class were!) Thank goodness I don't have to label a bunch of stuff like I did when I taught 3rd grade or I may have cried! I threw the old list away, printed out new names for the bulletin board, and formed new "team" signs for my classroom. Of course, the kids today were amazing and I already feel like they're my "kids" for the year. Ahhhh the joys of teaching!

Hiccup #2: So it's about 7:45 and I'm outside my door, greeting the kids, greeting the parents,---it's all going really well. One particular set of parents came in with their son, talked with me for a while, looked around, and went on their way. All would have been fine, but then they came back. Apparently, their son had some issues with other boy in his class last year and his parents had requested that they be separated. They weren't. And to top it all off, in my completely random way of putting kids into teams, these two boys ended up at the same table as well! A fact (among others) that his mother and father felt the need to point out to me as they got more and more worked up. At the point of being livid (as well as along the way to becoming livid), they informed me many times that they didn't blame me at all. I appreciated that cuz why would I think it's my fault when the dad kept pointing out that the boys are at the same table, not just the same class, while Dad's literally red-faced, slightly shaking, and a whole three inches from my face? Gee, I have no idea. (Personal bubble, people!) Mind you, at this point my day hasn't even technically started yet. Ahhhh the joys of teaching!

Aaaannd finally Hiccup #3: We've made it through the first ten minutes of class, through all the craziness of "Where do I put my folders?" and "I need to sharpen my pencil." (Pencil sharpening: the freakin bain of my teaching exhistence. Side note: found out at that precise moment that my $60 pencil sharpener isn't working.), I get around to showing the powerpoint I put together for my students. To my parents, siblings (& spouses), best friends, niece and nephew, you all made the cut! The kids are loving it, Drew and Paige are a huge hit, and I'm about halfway through when I hear a sound resembling coughing/clearing of the throat. I look over and one of my students who's new to ASD has his head down. It pops right back up, he looks at me, and we're good. Back to the powerpoint. About two slides later, I hear the same sound...only this time it's a tad bit jucier. About two seconds after that, the kid next to him shoots his chair away from the table and stands up cuz THAT'S RIGHT: new kid just blew chunks. He did a great job of pretty much keeping the mess in his lap, the kids were really nice about it, and he actually seemed a little "hey man, whatever" about the whole situation so I gotta give him props. I do find it ironic, however, that I made it through over four years of teaching both preschool and third grade before I had a puker in my room...and even then, it only happened once. But the FIRST FREAKIN DAY of 5th grade? BAM! Chunks. Ahhhh the joys of teaching! 

Despite all the hiccups, it really was a great first day. There will definitely be some challenges with a few of the struggling kids, but it a way, I'm glad to have them. It was a bit intimidating going to a school with such high academic standards and after my last job, I have really grown a heart for the kids who ones it doesn't all come easy to. This way, I get the best of both worlds. 

Thanks, Jen for literally kicking me out of work today and ordering me to go home cuz I was exhausted! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings :) G'night all!

Hooray for MegaMart & Pedicures!

This weekend (for me, Friday and Saturday), I had the pleasure of discovering a lovely gem known as MegaMart. This is one of many grocery stores in Doha, but what makes it special is the fact that they carry many US brands. It's a little bit like TJ Max...the good stuff is there, but you just have to find it :) At MegaMart, I found some fabulous treasures like: Yoplait yogurt (thick & creamy light even!), Velveeta Shells & Cheese, Frosted Shredded Wheat (my favorite!), REAL Diet Coke (w/the normal tab & everything!), 1 pound box of Aunt Jemima, & Kozy Shack Rice Pudding. These are small victories, yes, but significant ones as well...not to mention EXPENSIVE. If I could, I'd put up a little multiple choice quiz for all of you, but I have enough of those to conjur up in the next few months, so instead of making you guess, I'll tell you how much these treasures were. Yogurt- $1.90, Diet Coke (per can)-$1.02, Rice Pudding (4 pack)- $5.27, Shells & Cheese-$3.75, pancake mix- $2.67, and Mini-Wheats- $3.97 (on sale). So it's hit and miss with the products and the prices. Good thing I don't pay rent! There is also an amazing selection of produce from all over the world. It's fun looking at a pack of plums and knowing they're from Lebenon. I'm going to have fun trying out some new foods, but on this day, I wasn't feeling too brave :) By far the best thing I found when I was there was Scottish ice cream. It's called Mackie's of Scottland and it's made with what they call "double cream", which I think basically means it has double the fat content of regular cream. It's fabulous, that's all I can say. 

As many good intentions as I had for going into school Friday so I could enjoy my Saturday, it didn't happen. Today I got there at 10:30 having only eaten a slice of PB on toast and some of my new yogurt :), and I figured my hunder would be good motivation not to let myself stay too long at work. That didn't happen either. Because it's the weekend, I couldn't eat at school and because it's Ramadan, I couldn't go get anything else to eat soooooo by the time I left at 5:00 today, I was a tad on the hungry side! I don't know how the Muslim community does it; no wonder they're flying frantically down the road almost running me over (more so than usual) after sunset...they want to go home and eat. I would too!

After about an hour of work today, my friend/fellow 5th grade team member Lauren and I went to go get a MUCH needed pedicure. It's the desert, it's had on your feet, and most of the time, I'm wearing sandles so to school so it's completely justified! :) We had a great time and my feet are no longer embarassing, ready to go for the first day of school. (P.S.- the color is called Sweet Temptation. I like that)

First day of school. I can NOT believe it's the first day of school tomorrow and that I've almost been here for two weeks. Seems like much longer in so many ways. It's great to have experienced teachers around me who pop in every now and then just to see how I'm doing and it's also great to have friends who are in the same boat I am. I can't say enough what a fantastic place this is. I still miss home and my family and babies terribly, but knowing I'd be away from them anyway if I'd have gone back to Vegas somehow makes it easier. Don't get me wrong people, as much as I love it here, please know that I'm still counting down the days 'till I come home for Christmas! Love you :)

Just for You, Jeromie :)

Today I went to a grocery store that I'd never been to before. 
The End.

Presents, Deliveries, and Olympic Swimming

Get ready folks, it's a long one...

The last couple days have been full of meetings, lesson planning, organizing, lots of special deliveries, and surprises. I've been busy getting my classroom set up and grouping all of my students into "teams". This year, there will be 5: Bears, Cubs, Cardinals, Packers, and Hawkeyes. I have tables, not desks, in my room this year and so far, about 20 students. Pictures to follow, of course.

On Wednesday, we had a grade-level meeting to discuss some things for the year and then it was like Christmas in August! Apparently, the 5th grade had done a fabulous job ordering supplies the previous year and there was a virtual cornucopia awaiting us. I swear the presents were coming into my classroom as quickly as I could get it put away in my cabinets! Just to give you an idea of how much we had, I met the high school photography teacher today while I waited to flag down the delivery guys (stay tuned) and she mentioned that her budget this year was a measly $200,000K... man that's rough. 

Today I learned more about the ins and outs of living in a foreign country with foreign outlets. Power strips are sold everywhere here and before I continue with this, I just felt like you readers should know that. Near my bed, one of the said power strips houses my ipod dock, lamp, hair dryer, and curling iron...that leaves 2 outlets to spare I might add and it's been set up like this for over a week. After I literally peeled myself out of bed this morning (I think I'm finally over my jet-lag), I shower and start getting ready only to have some malfunction occur in the middle of blow drying my hair. As of now, the outlet is useless. The good news is that the rest of the room is still alive and kickin'.  I've since taken a look at the fuse box but things are shoddily labeled and at one point I saw 3D (my apt) AND 3B (Katie's apt) listed so I thought it best to wait for the super. Go me. 

At work today, we started in the big theatre for a "Moodle" training/refresher course. Us newbies had the training and the old staff used a similar program, but I went anyway since I didn't get to use my account during the first training. (Issues too boring to discuss.) In this previous training, we were shown a "choice" feature. Moodle is basically a teacher website and the "choice" function allows the teacher to pose a question to the students and take a survey. The results are then displayed on a bar graph. Why do I tell you this, you might ask? Well in the middle of the first training, after showing us the "choice" feature, Dave Beatty the tech guy had US answer a question on his Moodle site. The question was "How are you feeling about your Moodle training?" Our choices varied from "sinking" to "treading water" to "Olympic Swimmer". Now, I was by no means feeling like a know-it-all in this training, but I felt I was picking up a lot and wanted to stay positive so I picked "Olympic Swimmer" just to be goofy more than anything. So fast-forward a week later and we're back in the theatre this morning for the refresher course. Behind Dave Beatty is a MASSIVE screen...basically movie theater size. He again starts showing people the "Choice" feature of Moodle and within about 30 seconds, a massive bar graph pops up showing the results and there I am...Abbie Taylor...with only ONE other person listed for everyone to see under the "Olympic Swimmer" category. So in front of the 200+ employees at ASD, Dave Beatty mentions that the other guy and myself (while waving in my direction therefore causing many people to turn) will take over the all-staff Moodle trainings in the future. Needless to say, my face was beet red and I was slouching quite low in my seat...and quite a few people stopped me later to mention it. I'm just glad that I changed my Moodle profile picture or my face would have also been up on the big screen.

So today was kinda like Christmas again (maybe I should switch the name to Hanukkah in August) since today was the day my tv AND mattress were both scheduled to arrive. I knew living in a foreign country that when the businesses say they'll deliver on a certain day at a certain time, that its not always an exact science...so I was prepared. I didn't go to the trouble of moving my mattress either cuz a) I didn't know if they'd actually come today and b) I didn't want to. So both the tv and the mattress guy call to say they're on their way (woo-hoo!) and ask for directions. I knew what I needed to tell them and through my crappy low-volume phone and language barriers, I was still able to tell them where to go and they seemed to know where my apt was at...well one of them did. The tv guy was good. The matress guy, however, was a different story and he called again for directions...it ended with me saying I'd wait down in the parking garage. Just so you know, it's really hot down there. So I'm sweating buckets and he calls AGAIN, still not knowing where to go. After a lot of "I'm sorry"s and "Can you say that again"s, he mumbled something indecipherable and hung up. This was after he asked me to wait downstairs. As I'm sweating down in the parking garage, some friends showed up. One offered to call the guy and thank goodness, cuz that was about the time the tv guy showed up! The next 15 minutes were a blur of directing "traffic", answering more questions I barely understood, and lots of rides up and down the elevator. In the end, it was all worth it since I have my tv now (that happens to fit perfectly in my entertainment center and my mattress is...well, heavenly. The only downfall is that some of my DVDs won’t play. The error on the screen says “wrong region” so down went both “The Sandlot” and “Pride & Prejudice”. *tear*

It's been a crazy but fun last couple of days, especially with the onset of Ramadan. During daylight hours, out of respect, we don't eat or drink in public. This will last for about a month and overall, it doesn't change things too much. When I'm outside on campus, I put away or cover anything I have in my hands. A big change for me is waking up early enough to eat my breakfast before I leave the apt since I usuallyeat it on the way to work :) Today in order to save time and keep things indoors, I took advantage of the--get ready for this--delivery service at the coffee shop! Yup! That's right. I just called a number and 5 minutes later, my   iced mocha was at my door. (Sorry, had to throw that in.) 

The first day of school is this Sunday, the 15th so I will be spending some quality time at school this weekend. Ironically, I feel more prepared and relaxed than I ever have going into this year. I don't know if it's the amazing staff or the higher grade level, but I'm feeling great. Here's prayin' that it lasts! Thanks again, my wonderful readers! I'm having a great time sharing these crazy happenings in my life and I hope I'll be able to keep it up as the year continues. Till next time...

Breakfast at "The Ritz"...kinda

Today we had an amazing all-staff breakfast provided by the school, via the Ritz Hotel. (Pics are on Facebook.) It was absolutely incredible to see a huge room filled with all ASD employees. Even more so was the fact that there were over 200 of them. This past week, it was easy to think that there were a lot of us new employees but compared to all the rest, we were a small group. We later learned that there was only a turnover of about 10% last year among teh employess of ASD. As far as international schools go, that's a pretty great stat.

By far the best part about the entire breakfast was meeting Lauren and Jen. They were great and as usual, concerned with how the rest of the newbies and I were doing and this told me yet again, that I made the right decision. It was quite an inspiration being around that huge group of educators who were all so passionate not only about teaching, but about ASD as well. Some are going into their 14th year here.

From there, I was able to work a while in my classroom and later we went out to lunch at Chili's! Many things were the same, but many things were different. The decor looked just like it does in the States, but they also had an upstairs playroom for the kids! The menu offered many of the same items but the iconic "baby back ribs" were, you guessed it, made of beef (beef bacon was on the menu too...good thing I never order ribs anyway :)

I finally have a good idea of what my school schedules will be like each day. I will teach two math sections each day: my homeroom class, and the homeroom class of the teacher next door to me. When my kids aren't with me for math, they'll be in the other teacher's room for reading. Alternating units of science or social studies, and writing will also be part of the job. It'll be a great mix of having my own students and switching classes.

It's hard to believe I will meet my students in just a few days! Tomorrow will be more of the same things: preparing my classroom and a few meetings. I will also find out exactly what sort of lessons I'll be teaching the first few weeks of school so all good things!

Small Victories and Shawarma

Today was an extremely productive one. While walking to get some coffee at school (from an acutally coffee SHOP, I might add...that's right, we have one at school and as of tomorrow, a Subway as well :)), it hit me all of the sudden that I'm actually starting to feel like I know my way around a little bit. That only took a week. Being at ASD reminds me a lot of my first time at UNI. I worried so much about getting lost or knowing my way around, but then all of the sudden I was learning short cuts and the best places to park. It's finally starting to happen here and thank goodness cuz this place is HUGE!

Even the driving and finding my way around my neighborhood is improving. I was able to leave school today, drive to the matress store (where I'd never been), on the first try no less, back to the mall to buy some groceries and get my tv (yes, it was a big purchasing day for me), then back-track it all the way back to my apt without turning around or getting lost ONCE. Those of you who've ever manuevered a new city know how huge this is...those of you living in Doha can appreciate it even more. You learn VERY quickly here that you don't find your way around by navigating streets...you use landmarks :) Thursday's a big day, since both my new matress (ooooo it's so comfy) and my new tv are both being delivered. Here's hopin that it actually happens! (My friend Kristen's tv is now 3 days late)

At school, I was able to finish unpacking my school stuff and start making some much needed to-do lists. I also received training in what will be our gradebook and therefore, FINALLY got to see my homeroom class list. 20 students so far...one of them is the son of a Sheik. Awesome. :) They are a pretty even mix of North Americans, Europeans, and Qatari natives. I can't wait to meet them.

We ended the day with a Shawarma lunch...complete with hummus/olive oil spread in a perfect wavy design on the tray. Basically, Shawarma (google or wiki it) is a wrap of grilled meet. The chefs had the meet on a huge skewer outside our cafeteria--that alone is a feat, considering it was about 112 degrees and 300% humidity---and they just shaved it off and rolled it up. It was fabulous! My good friend, May always gets recipes and sure enough, she came back with not only her 2nd shawarma wrap, but also a notebook with the marinade recipe of tumeric, lemon juice, garlic, cumin and salt/pepper (I think that's all of it). My brother will appreciate this: they put dill pickles in the shawarma :) Such a pleasant suprise...I'm seeing pickles more and more as I eat out here. I'll have to look into that, but I'm certainly not complaining.

As we ate, are wonderful new Director talked to us about it being our last day of orientation. It was absolutely unreal to listen to her read about all of the things we've done and gone through over the last 7 days including: getting picked up at the airport, caravaning to school, going to see our classroom for the first time, meeting our friends...I honestly began to get a little choked up. This week has been so special and memorable not only due to the incredible people I've met & relationships that I've already built, but because each day was a constant reminder that this truly was what God had planned for me. His hand has been on me throughout this entire process; in the little things like protecting me amongst all these crazy drivers, providing Nutella :) and big things such as giving me amazing friends and understanding people who have been there for me at every moment. ASD truly is a special place to be...and I haven't even started teaching yet! I'm grateful to our director, who I swear could double as my mother, for pointing out to us just how far we come in only a week.

Tomorrow I'm officially not "new staff", but just "staff".  The entire faculty will get together for a "Ritz" breakfast; the dining hall looked like it was being set up for a wedding. Pictures to follow! What I'm most excited for is that I finally get to meet Jen and Lauren, who are two ASD teachers that I feel I already know. They've been there for me for every question or worry I've had in the last 6 months...they added me to their facebooks within two weeks of me getting hired, for cryin out loud! Yeah it should definitely be a good one :) G'night!

Boxes, Boxes and Bazinga!

I'll warn you right now, this post may not be all that exciting to you lovely readers but it is to me because today I finally got my BOXES!!! (In case you didn't gather that from the title.) They were actually here when I arrived, but were sent to another teacher at the school...gotta love that! What was great was that the school delivered the boxes to my classroom and my apartment so no heavy lifting for me :) As I opened them all up, two things occured to me: seeing all of your things from home actually can make you homesick and customs doesn't care AT ALL about your stuff. Everytime I took something out I was reminded of who gave it to me, where I got it, or where it was in my home. Good, but kinda sad. From sad, I moved on to frustrated at the state of which everything was in. Most of the boxes looked like they had been crushed and/or opened, searched through, and literally thrown back together. One of my boxes of teacher things was entirely SPLIT down one side. Biggest casualty of the entire trip? My Cranium game. Kristin, I'm relieved that you weren't here to see the destruction. It was in pristine condition when I sent it here (largely due to the fact that I never had an opportunity to play it) and now, well...the prognosis doesn't look good. A lot of duct tape and baggies will be involved. (Now that I mention it, I haven't seen duct tape here at all.) I haven't worked up the courage yet to look at the boxes with all of my framed pictures in them. Hold your breath and say a prayer please.

Today, I was also motivated enough to finally clear out some of my extra boxes and clutter in my apt-- things that accumulate from buying a toaster, hairdryer, drinking glasses, etc. (I now have quite the collection in the spare room.) It took a lot longer than I thought, but it was awesome to finally put some personal touches into this place. This much tile isn't exactly homey. My kitchen looks so fun now with utensils ready to use and really pretty, filled canisters sitting on the counter. My entertainment center now has pictures and books on top and the glass cabinet actually holds some movies and DVDs! It's slowly but surely becoming home.

Today at school, a fellow teacher gave me a wonderful gift...well wonderful for someone who has no tv. She gave me a website that allows me to watch a TON of various tv shows for free online. What's the big deal you ask? A lot of the tv sites that let you watch episodes you've missed don't work out here and it's been tough not to at least have some background noise. And I've really been missing my Big Bang Theory. This site was great, especially since I had a lot of down time today at work (too boring to explain). I watched a couple episodes, laughed as always at my pal Sheldon (who's catch phrase is "Bazinga"), and sorted through my boxes. These little touches from home are what I'm finding to be the key to not getting too homesick. Speaking of, I've left the best "little touch of home" for the end. I opened up the last box without having any clue as to what could be left to find when my eyes spotted something I'd been missing terribly since I left the States: two MEGA ROLLS of Charmin Ultra! I'd forgotten that I packed them...I'm so glad I decided to throw them in when I realized I had extra leftover in Vegas. This should easily last me 'till I get the big package from Mom in a couple weeks :)

Till next time...love you all!