Cruising the Gulf

Ramadan Kareem to everyone! The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on September 1st of this year, our second day of school. Ramadan is the month in which Muslims believe the Holy Qur'an was revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad, so it is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. It is also the month in which Muslims are expected to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and other worldly activities from sunrise until sunset. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, and it is taken very seriously by Muslims. At sunset Muslims break the fast with their families, and at the end of the month the festival of Eid al Fitr celebrates the end of the month. There are already decorations everywhere, and workdays shorten for the month so as not to overtax and dehydrate those fasting. It should also be noted that the Islamic calendar is determined by the moon unlike our solar calendar, so Ramadan moves forward 11 days each year. Right now Ramadan is beginning at one of the hottest times in the Middle East, but 15 years from now it will be in the winter. About 20 of my 24 students are fasting (it is up to families to decide when their children begin to fast, but it's usually not until age 13 or 14 that children are expected to fast, although many begin practicing at an earlier age), so it's been a challenge to make sure we're not overworking any of the students during the day.

The first week of school went fairly well for me. I really enjoy my class, and it's been fun to get to know them and get an idea as to where they are academically. Most of my students come from extremely privileged backgrounds, and because of this are used to having many people they can go to when they need something, so we are focusing on working independently and critical thinking skills. :) It's definitely a great group, and I think it will be a fun year with them.

Friday is the holy day for Muslims, so our work week goes from Sunday-Thursday and we have Friday and Saturday off. On Thursday night I went to the Advocates for Arab-Western Relation center with a bunch of other staff members to break the fast and learn about all of the classes and activities the AWARE center offers. I lazed the day around Friday, and this morning a group of us went on a cruise around the Arabian (known to the rest of the world as Persian) Gulf. It's still very hot and windy, but it was a nice way to see the Gulf and the Kuwaiti coastline. You can see the Kuwait Towers, the biggest Kuwaiti landmark, in the picture below. Just like at home the weekend has gone by way to quickly, but it was nice to get away from the school a little and hopefully be refreshed for a great week!



Until next time,
Jessie