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!