Budapest to Kuwait

New Years in Budapest

It was frigid, there were no outside concerts(which I remember from a past year) and no organized fireworks, but there was mulled wine, noise makers and plenty of crazy people setting off their own explosives.

Things I forgot about Budapest

-You have to put a coin in to get a shopping cart. It is nice that people don't leave carts laying around.

-You have to pay for your shopping bags at most grocery store.  It's a great idea because most people bring there own bags to save the money. 

-How much of a hike it is to Gellert hill.

But you are rewarded with beautiful views.

-How much you get/have to speak Hungarian because many people don't speak English.

-PDA. Compared to Kuwait anyway. Public displays of affection are pretty common.

Things are old and some are still in bad shape but it is all mixed to create such beauty.

Things that have changed in Budapest

A few notable advancements:

- There are now English friendly announcements in public transportation. And electronic signs post the minutes until the next bus and tram will arrive.

- More Cafes and more shopping than ever. Even many Mexican restaurants now. And there are now 9 Starbucks.

- There is a new, fourth, metro line.

- There are now 200 Forint coins(it's almost equivalent to a dollar).

- Turkish gyros, pizza and Chinese food are every. where. And Donuts seem to have exploded in the country.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Grandma Kato's Fresh Chimney Cakes

St. Stephen's Basilica 

The Chain Bridge

City Park

Fine Art Museum

Hero Square

The Parliament Building

Back to Kuwait

Turkish Air is really nice. Lots of leg room, a full meal for even short flights. They gave teddy bears to kids and served Turkish delight on one leg of the journey. Think Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.

Today is a day to celebrate the prophet Mohammed's birthday in Kuwait. Because it falls on a weekend, we have Sunday(the first day of our week) off. I'm still going in for a few hours but just to get prepared for the week. Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone.

I hope your 2015 is off to a good start, too. Happy New Years.

Speechless

The time has come. I don't have anything to say. I could tell you about the operatic Verdi Requiem I went to where I almost dozed off in the second row, since it started at my usual bedtime. And how I sat right behind the Danish ambassador. But as much as I know it was good quality, I still don't care for opera, so I can't gush about it. It was pretty cool to see the symphony up close like that though.

I could go on about how I'm really into this Iranian chicken at the moment. How that and my falafel pita sandwiches are just amazing. 

How I spent a lazy Saturday on the beach, reading in the sun. 

How as I write this, I am here and this is happening (I'm actually too lazy today to post the video but the fountain is synchronized to music.)

How I did find a beautiful place to walk that is 40 minutes one way. Now that is actually noteworthy. 

But none of it feels too exciting and all I really do is work, talk about work, think about work and dream about work.

Until next week. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

Just Another Week in Kuwait

Walking.

This week's, on foot, exploration led me to this camel. We found him just 15 minutes from the apartments.

We discovered a fairly clean, decent length of walkable beach.  No taxi fare needed, but it did require the crossing of some highly trafficked roads. Another find was a cheap Lebanese restaurant on the route.

Coffee Confusion. 

On a typical 3 am morning, I opened up a new package of coffee and was greeted by a wretched aroma.  I had mistakenly bought coffee infused with cardamon. "No!" I've seen this option at the store and thought sometime I'd like to try it, but I was repelled by the surprising stink.  The odor was so offensive I had to toss it in the large garbage bin outside of my apartment. "No cardamom in my coffee, thank you."

After school, I went to demonstrate my coffee competence at the local super bakala (convenience store). After a much closer examination of labels, I gave my dinar to the shopkeeper. 

The following morning, I opened up to this strange sight. 

Who would have ever guessed you could purchase coffee mixed with partially hydrogenated coffee creamer. "Gross!" But I drank it. Better bad coffee than no coffee, unless it has cardamom in it.

Arab Fund Building.

We took a bus to the Arab Fund building today.

Typical bus in Kuwait. Just like the one I ride to and from school in.

This is where some of the important financial decisions for the region are made. I had coffee with our guide Osama. 

By I had coffee with, I mean he happened to sit down at our table. :)

He was fundamental in the building of this immaculate, beautiful structure. He showed me a photo of himself with President Carter. President Bush(senior) has had dinner at the center, too.

Love how they do that to the trunks.

Arabic Course.

There is only 1 more class left in the Primer Arabic course. It has went by very quickly. I am using some Language apps to practice. Memrize is a favorite.

The visuals they use help my remember the letter names. 

I've been taught how to write, identify, and pronounce all the Arabic letters. I've also been taught several common phrases and the numbers from 1-10. Now to learn it all. Our taxi driver is letting us practice with him. I'm planning to spend some time with the Primer course stuff before I continue on to the Beginners level. 

B-day in Kuwait.

I had a very full B-day in Kuwait. Emails, wall posts, gifts, videos and phone calls galore.

I'm Now an Official Kuwait Resident

Self Control

Sometimes I just can't stop from laughing at some of the antics of my students. For example, when one decides to dive into a rolling somersault to get a ruler or when one throws up an arm and let's out some strange noise. In the middle of a lesson. They have so little self control. But, sometimes I display lack of self control, too. Like when I laugh out loud in response or let them see the steam rolling out of my ears. 

My blurt chart is a success. Yes they still blurt, (either shenanigan from the previous paragraph would be considered a blurt because it distracts the class), but they are more clear than ever what blurting is and I can deal with the issue in a speechless way. Every day they start with 3 warnings. After the third, if they blurt again they owe me some recess. Each student who is struggling with blurting also has a personalized goal sheet for the week and if they meet their goal they get a small reward.

Not my actual chart, but basically, the same.

The desk and cubbie fairy has been making appearances lately.

I love this.  We are studying urban, rural and suburban communities.
It's labeled "Urben New York", but it is so reminiscent of Kuwait's sky line.

Plugs and Extension Cords

I have installed 4 power strips in my teeny-tiny home to make it functional. One in my bedroom and kitchen and two in the living room. One for the living room and another is wrapped around the corner going into the bathroom so I can actually use a hairdryer in there. The bathroom was built without an electrical outlet. It's not super attractive, but serviceable and practical.

Unfortunately, this week, something happened to the only outlet in the laundry room. So I had to unplug everything in 2 of the power strips and string them together to plug in my machine and wash my clothes. I'm trying to decide if I'm actually going to buy another power strip. 

Dust Storm 

We had a sand storm. I thought it would be this dangerous thing that if I got caught in it, flying sand would de-skin me. But instead a cloud of dust just descended on the city.  People wore masks to try to keep it out of their lungs. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Recess was canceled, but then we had to stand out in it for 20 minutes to release the kids at the end of the day. I don't have anything to compare it to, so maybe that was a mild one.

A picture from the local newspaper.

Twisters, Earthquakes and All Things Me.

At the beginning of the year, we read Twisters on Tuesday from the Magic Tree House series because of the Nebraska connection, tornados, and I knew that would be a good series for many students to read on their own. It's pretty rewarding that anything I read automatically becomes a class favorite. 

One of the good behavior rewards students can pick is Read Aloud. If they present me with this card, I will read the read aloud of their choice to the class for the day. One girl picked Earthquakes in the Early Morning, also by Mary Pope Osborne. It takes place in California so I also have a connection - birth place- there. Natural disasters are pretty interesting anyways, but they listen utterly captivated when I talk about any parts of my life in America. 

I made (err... edited a template I bought on Teachers Pay Teachers) a book called All About Your Teacher and it's fun to see them read it during Read to Self or Read to Someone.

Beautiful and Painful

The day of the dust storm was extremely hot because the dust trapped all the heat in, but after that is has cooled down quite a bit. Tuesday, I think the the high was only 87. It is literally painful for me to stay inside when the weather is so beautiful. "Come outside," it beckons. My neighborhood is not walker friendly for various reasons. So, I queried the local Fb group for decent places to walk. And now I'm exploring the list I gleaned. I'm delighted that I have friends willing to investigate with me. The first place I went was Fintas park.  It's right on the gulf and pretty, but quite short (I'd guess, about a 1/4 mile one way).  It only cost 1KD to get there, which is a plus. If I'm desperate to get outside, even alone, it's a good option. But I'm hopeful I'll find something better.

It was around 115 degrees everyday when I first arrived, 2 months ago.

It rains here?! I didn't know.

Internet

I have a hot spot/ mini router/ biscuit now.

This means I have Internet all the time.  Before, I had a normal sized router with a sim card in it.  I was taking it to and from school everyday so I could have wireless in my classroom. The hotspot is much easier to transport (and it doesn't get as many laughs) and I don't ever accidentally leave it at school (which is a big disappointment) since I never have to take it out of my bag. 

Resident

I am a resident of kuwait, officially, now. I have my civil ID. So now I can get internet, check, and a drivers license.  I am not planning on getting one at this point.  They are a lot of crazy drivers here and I wouldn't be saving any more money getting one versus taking taxis. 

Stomp.

Stomp is a joyful, witty and wordless show that has been seen all over the world. An eight-member cast with energy to burn creates beautiful music and sly humor with found objects: Zippo lighters, push brooms, wooden poles, hammer handles, garbage cans, inner tubes, matchboxes—and yes, even the kitchen sink.

I went to this last night. It was in the ice skating rink downtown.  It wasn't a fancy or large venue but it had a nice concession stand located in a locker room. Evidently, most things that come this way go to Dubai so I'm glad I jumped at my chance to go. Me and a friend thought we coordinated the buying of our online tickets.  But it turns out that was not the case. So she sat a few rows ahead of me, by herself (and I sat alone, too). It wasn't a big deal though. The 5 o'clock show had a family atmosphere. I enjoyed myself. 

How old are you?
My students have been asking my age since school started. I said I'd tell them on my birthday. Every few days they ask me or tell me my birthday is getting closer, so there was this anticipation to find out my age. So on Thursday, I had each of them make a guess and submit it. Half way through the day I made a graph with all their guesses and then revealed my age, which none of them guessed correctly. They guessed I was between 22 and 38.