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.

Sleep, Eat, Teach, Study. Repeat.

Taking Pictures and Having my Picture Taken. 

Went to Al Kout mall to do some grocery shopping and relax a bit. I took these pictures.

A ship at harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are for.

As I was snapping some of these I noticed a family taking pictures.  The husband was taking a picture of his wife with the kids and vice versa so I asked if I could take their whole family's picture.  The husband understood and said yes.  So the wife arranged her abaya, hijab and face covering and I snapped their picture.  I find it amusing that she would care if her picture was taken since you can't see her, but I could tell from her eyes that she was sweet.

Then they asked if they could take my picture. With their camera.  A little awkward, but I said sure. We wished each other a good night and I said goodbye to the loving family. And that is how I missed my opportunity to take a picture of an Arab family with their permission. I wonder if they were from somewhere besides Kuwait, because I had the impression they hadn't interacted with a westerner before.

Flax Seed Insomnia. 

Did you know Flax seed can cause insomnia? After reading about the benefit of this superfood, I ate two tablespoons of them, ground up. Then, I laid wide awake for over 5 hours.  In the morning, less than 2 1/2 hours later, I did a little research and found that Omega 3 oils, like those found in flax seeds, can cause, in some people, insomnia. I think I'm in that minority. 

If this was a health food blog I might go on about how I am also incorporating coconut oil, Apple cider vinegar and ghee into my diet. #myattempttobehealthywithoutexercising

Resolv-ing.

Not doing so well at last weeks resolve.  I spent a little less time doing school work at school but a lot more time at school. But, I think I may be moving in the right direction.

In other school news, I am using the cookie sheet that was too big for my oven (I did buy a smaller one) to create a 'Stop the Blurt' system. Each day students will get 3 blurt warnings, before they face some serious consequences like the loss of recess. I have to find some way to crack down. We are going to try this.

Foodie.

I found out they sell Lassi (the Indian yogurt drink) everywhere here. It's inexpensive, called Laban and so good. I also got a large jar of roasted eggplant today. Very good in small doses. Couscous, which has been a staple in my kitchen for some time, is really common here.  I bought a kilo today for 3 dollars. I do really like the food here.

Sleep, Eat, Teach, Study. Repeat.
Not a really noteworthy week because I was so, so busy with school, then busy with my grad classes on Friday and then with my Arabic class today, Saturday. 

On the way to the Avenues.

But I did spend the rest of today at the Avenues.  Where we saw these 24 carat gold iPhone 6 cases.

I have completed my third Arabic class. It's fun. We learn a few phrases and a few letters every week. Here is some of my homework. And my first name in Arabic.

New Experiences

The Heat, Observations and New Experiences
It's really too hot to do much exploration, but I'm experiencing new things daily. As I'm typing it's 97 degrees Fahrenheit(9 pm). I checked at 4, one morning, and it was 99.  The high today, at 11 am, was 115 degrees. Some days are unbearably humid and some are dry. I guess the hot weather of my recent Haitian summer was foreshadowing in my story.  I don't sweat here though because I just run from one air-conditioned place to another.

What I have seen:
- Sand colored high rise apartments covering the desert landscape.
- Most things seems to be in a state of construction with lots of scaffolding, surrounded by piles of sand. 
- It's hazy, but I'm not sure if it's sand or pollution.
- Bits of green here and there, increasing as you go towards the city center. 
- Some areas are quite well done and maintained, but overall there is very little landscaping. Sidewalks, in general, are scarce.

Shopping

I checked off a few things from my To Do list. I took my first taxi ride with friends. We called a suggested driver who is trusted by our fellow teachers. He took us to a fancy mall right on the gulf, in Al Kout. It has a music and light fountain show that is especially pretty at night. It is only about a 15 minutes drive from our apartments. 

It was a good thing I had that taxi experience and the driver's number saved in my phone because I needed it again very soon. On our third day of meetings, I missed the bus the school provides to school. For the record I was, at the most, 1 minute late. I wasn't stranded though, because I called my taxi driver friend and he knew where to take me. 

I also went  to The Avenues, an even more extravagant shopping center, twice this week,

got a few household items at Ikea,
 

ate a doughnut at Tim Horton's

and checked out my favorite clothing store from Hungary, H&M (I know it's actually Swedish)(as is Ikea). Not surprisingly, they have lots of high end stores at the affluent mall, but also Payless shoes, Claire's and Texas Road House.

Marked off things on my To Buy list, too. I now have a local cell and internet in my apartment because of the generous help of a veteran teacher. 

Food

My new favorite food may be Lebanese. We tried out one such restaurant at an all-new-staff dinner out: falafel, hummus and baba ganoush(a spread made of mainly eggplant) are among my favorites. There was a really good arugula salad, too.

I tried the Indian restaurant across the street, too. It's cheap and also good.

I still haven't ordered my food from the food ordering app yet, but I want to try it soon.

I did however call Caribou from work and they delivered. My small hot chocolate with skim milk and no whip tasted exactly like it does in Nebraska. A school security guard calls me when it arrives.  Pretty sweet.

Most things are expensive here. For example, the small hot chocolate cost 1.5 KD, which sounds cheap, right? But 1 Kuwaiti Dinar is equal to 3.50 dollars. So the small drink cost me 5.25 USD. My taxi ride to school on that lesson learning day, cost 3 KD, or 10.50 USD.

School Stuff
The school did a really great job of creating opportunities for us to get to know the other new teachers. And now that the returning teachers have arrived we are getting to know our teaching teams.  My third grade team consists of 6 Americans.

Meetings are going well.  I'm working on my classroom. 

Students come next Tuesday.  I wish there was a little more technology (though I do have an interactive whiteboard in my class), but they make up for it in other ways. I'm overall impressed. The administration seems very professional, organized and approachable. 

For my teacher friends: 

   -The school is on a 7 day rotation, which is new to me. In that rotation, the students go to the following specials: Art, PE, Music, Reader's Theater(it's a special!), Arabic(45 minutes everyday), Spanish or religion and technology. 

   -We use the Reader's(including Daily 5) and Writer's workshops. 

   -We have NO standardized testing. We do, do MAPS to monitor progress.

   -We use Common Core standards for Math and Language Arts, Arrow standards for Social Studies and Next Generation for Science.  

We were told, "They have never had a new group of teachers laugh as much as us."

Random Things
I love how most things are written in English on one side and Arabic on the other.

The mosque next door is under construction, so that is why I don't hear the call to prayer.

My apartment is the short one to the right.

The water that comes out of the tap is hot. (BTW it is not brownish anymore and I have a filtered tap in the kitchen) I don't have my hot water heater on. The water is stored on the roof so it is just hot from the sun. Even the water in the toilets is steaming hot. You can not get cold water, in fact. So, you can't wash your clothes on cold and the filtered drinking water is hot.  It will cool down here in a few months and then I'll turn on the hot water heater.  I hear I will use my central heating, too.