Back in the Kuwait!

It's the beginning of week three here at school, and I definitely feel back into the routine and the swing of things at school. My classroom is all set up and looking lovely, as you can see below.

The first week back was a crazy amount of activity, with trying to get my apartment set up again as well as my classroom in the seven days I had before school started. A lot of construction work was done on the school over the summer, and people were frantically painting, sawing, moving and cleaning up until the very last minute, but everything magically was completed by the time school started. To end the week I hosted my first Kuwait party in honor of my good friend Andrea's birthday, and over 50 people crammed into my tiny apartment to celebrate!

I have 22 students in my class this year, 8 girls and 14 boys. I have 12 Kuwaiti students, five Lebanese, two Americans, one Russian-Lebanese, one Egyptian, and one Palestinian. I'm really enjoying getting to know this new group. They are definitely less social this year, and so far have been really fantastic about following directions and following class rules. The fear of H1N1 led to about 60% attendance the first few weeks of school, but I've met all of my kids and have been lucky that most of them have been there every day. We also started already into the month of Ramadan, so I know there are parents who aren't even thinking of sending their kids until after Eid break at the end of the month.

H1N1 precautions meant that we couldn't let kids bring in candy for the mid-Ramadan celebration of Gurgiyan, so we celebrated this year just by wearing national costumes.

This did not prevent me from enjoying some store purchased Gurgiyan cookies, though. :)

Since the majority of the Kuwaiti population isn't eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset it's been a pretty low key month, complete with a shortened school day schedule. It's also wicked hot here, with highs between 115-120. It's much less humid than it was at this time last year, which makes it bearable, but still not pleasant. However, I knew that I had readjusted to the eat when I went out for iftar (the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast) with my friend Marisol and we sat outside!

So overall it's been a very smooth transition back. I had a slight hiccough with a bad sinus infection last week. I had a tiny temperature, so due to the H1N1 extra precautions our school is taking I had to miss two days of school until I had a negative test come back, which luckily didn't take long. However, my class is fabulous, I love my new grade five teaching co-workers, and it's already so much easier the second time around. It's great to see old friends, and we get next week off for the end of Ramadan Eid, so I'll soon be off to Cyprus! Until then, masalama!

Summer Loving

Hello friends! I am back in Kuwait now! I know it's been a long time since I last blogged, but I wanted to write a little about my summer break before I write about this school year so far. The end of the school went off fairly well. It was definitely a stressful year at work, but I know the first year in any occupation involves lots of extra work. And of course, there's nothing better for a teacher than receiving a "Thank You for Teching Me" plaque at the end of the year. :)

On my way back to America in June I spent two weeks in Germany. I had studied German for six years in college and high school, and have several friends living in Germany, plus we had to fly through Frankfurt on the way from Kuwait to America, so it was the perfect vacation and transition destination on my way back to America. My good friend Mariam travelled with me the first week in Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, and then I went on to Salem and Trier where my friends live.

I was able to visit my aunt and uncle's foreign exchange student Claudia in Trier. She is now married to a wonderful man and they have two of the cutest sons ever, Tilman and Linus.

They were incredibly hospitable and did a wonderful job showing me around, especially considering that both of their boys are under the age of three!

Prior to Trier I spent five days in Salem, off the Bodensee in Southern Germany. My good friend Hillary from St. Olaf lives there working at a boarding school located in a castle! I was able to meet Hill's students and we enjoyed lots of champagne, walks in the German countryside, and even a Renaissance harp performance from one of her girls. I hadn't seen Hillary in four years so needless to say it was a very joyful reunion. :)

My trio of wonderful visits was completed with several days in Munich with my friend Lara. Lara lived on my block growing up and was totally my idol when I was growing up, so to stay with her and her husband, Steve, was amazing. She also did a fabulous job showing us around Munich and making us feel so welcome.

Once I was back in America it was eight weeks of friend and family love. Highlights included California for a long weekend with my best friends from high school, Allie, Allison, and Jenny...

Playing with my SO SMART dog, precious soft baby Lucy...

Family and sister time in Apple Valley and Rice Lake...

College friend reunion in Nebraska...

And baby and wedding preparation and showers galore with my aunts and cousins.

To end the summer my new baby cousin Molly was very cooperative and arrived a couple of weeks before I left. All in all it was a fabulous and refreshing summer, filled with relaxation and time with people I love.