Friday, January 23, 2009

Oh no! I'm snowed in...

For the most part my students have done a really great job of transitioning back into our school routine. I have to admit that I was nervous and wasn’t sure how they would do with being away from “strict” Ms. Rebecca and our classroom expectations. For all their hard work, I decided to reward them with a surprise of hot chocolate. I was able to incorporate it into a lesson by doing the following. I gave each student a paper with the picture below and asked them to write a story as if they were there. After we finished brainstorming some winter words on the board, they got to work and I walked around and handed out hot chocolate.



When the rain is down then the wind had make a snow in earth to Antarctica, Antartc ocean and Antnic ocean and It can catch trees and houses and forests. And beachs and liquids and picnics can make it cold until ten degrees and one hundred thousand ice in a earth and igloos make a house very cold! Next seals and walruses can warm that inside in there body have hot warm that is in until tewent digrees when he's warming hot and cold. Next penguins can make baby penguins when mother penguin must eat food can baby penguins must there body is growing. And me I am a ice fishing and my fishing brothers is H and A and A were going at my igloo house cooking Barbie qu and drink hot chocolate then we go fishing then to ride we go at another igloo house at Antarcica Portland to see K, S T and Z and all of us ride at my snow dogs and we go at the porltand hotel and manager room tell us three room me h and a in room one a z and s in room two k and t put sleeping bags in room one on the floor and we sleep at night next week then we go down stairs eating breakfast then ms. Rebecca and ms Rana see us eating breakfast and they eat breakfast like the same and ms rebecca and ms rana took room three.

Antarctica but I can wait for my friends to come later. and then, A came to Antarctica and he was lost. I came to him then, He smiled. So we played together like snow fighting, later, we saw polar bears and we saw S and A so the four of us ride polar bears and then we saw T alone. We let him ride a polar bear and we played racing. We won together and we found ms. Rebecca and Ms. Rana. And then, we found an igloo and we stayed and drink hot chocolate with marsh mellows together. We found Z and S and K so we drinked together happily ever after.

Snow bird conot (cannot) fly and snow man conot (cannot) walk and reindeer conut (cannot) fly. Hot chocolate is not an ice. Polar bear can swim and bild a house. A mamooth is strong elephant if I go there I will bring some of the snow and the snow is very cold and I will do igloo. The killer whale can swim in the cold water.

I see snow bird, ice, iced and snow, windy, freezing, glacier and I drink hot chocolate. I not happy. I am ok. I not ok. I am sad, I want my mommy I see a taxsy I say stop I get in sid the car I say go go I told him go to my home. I go home I opne the heter and the fiyer and I coll the taxsy and I say than the you.

Antarctica I have to survive and eat fish there is no cars I have to walk it will take a long time I’m going to have to clime without sliping il have to make an igloo I have to serch for food. Stoped and saw a bus that said Antarctic bus I got on it and it went strate home to my mom and dads hotel I get to get of the bus and I cried mom and dad why did you leav me alone my said said I sorry I will never leave you again my dad and mom hugied me and they gave me hot choclate

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Kids say the darndest things - Part 3

I realize that a majority of my posts center around my students. When I started blogging, I wanted to be able to share my experiences of living and working in Kuwait. Most of my time is spent in school and if I am not physically there, chances are I am lesson planning or thinking of my students. That being said, here goes another round of comments I was able to remember and write down to share.

S: I changed my birthday.
R: Really? Why is that?
S: I don't like having my birthday during Ramadan. We didn't get to have a party.
R: You know, we could have a belated birthday party for you so that you don't have to go through the trouble of changing your birthday.
S: Sigh.. I like the party idea but I think I still want to change my birthday.

Does that whale have chicken pox?

Hey those fish are doing the romance dance. - this was said while watching a movie about ocean animals during a scene when two fish were chasing eachother.

I want a new family.

R: If you come to America and visit Connecticut let me know so we can visit.
S: Really? What if you are busy in the summer?
R: I teach summer school but that is only a few hours everyday.
S: Miss, you need to take a break. Teach, teach, teach. (shakes head at me)

Miss, how do sharks... you know. Go to the bathroom?

S: Why aren't you a student?
R: I'm too old. And I've already been in 4th grade.
S: Did you go to university?
R: Yes. Why do you wish I was a student?
S: (long pause) You could be my partner.
*This conversation was with the student who often tells me he hates me and wishes I would go back to America.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Synonyms and Sentences

Yesterday during Speech and Occupational Therapy class, I strategically chose to accompany one of my students who was struggling to have a good day. Let’s just say, my presence was far from welcome. During a planning session earlier in the week, I had shared withe the Speech teacher that we were working on synonyms and had a particular group of students who could benefit from additional practice. Synonyms. It seemed like an innocent enough lesson, or so I thought.

After having students read a set of words and find its synonym pair on the table, they got an opportunity to create sentences. These are the two that stuck out from the lesson.

Word: thrilled

“I’m thrilled when I don’t have (a very dramatic look is thrown in my direction) HER as a teacher.”

Word: glad

“I glad that last year I had good teacher” (followed by the same look)

It is safe to say that this coming Sunday when I have my first formal observation in the classroom by administration, I have chosen to have students simply think of words with prefixes rather than create sentences.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Learning about Letters

Yes, right now my class is learning about letters. Not the ones in the alphabet, but rather the components of a friendly letter and how to write them. For homework, I assigned students to write to a classmate and these were the responses I received.

Dear A
How are my freind? I want to tell you abaut my holiday, I had a lot of fun, I want to the camp and play with my father and my brother in the bicekel and we play a soccer game. I hop that you injoy your holiday two. Your freind, K

Dear K, I like your hand writing and I am your best friend I like to play with you beacuse you are my pal and I like to be your partner I could be your helper I will make you siprise Goodbye

Dear S,
Where have you been? we missed you yesterday. Why were you absent? Are you sick or have a fever? I hope to see you today. Get well soon my friend. From Z

Dear T,
you are cool at the soccer and in math and good dancer and you always try your best and he always tell me bad words but I dont. And I see you feel bad when you take bad grades but I know you are trying yourbest and go to pepeoles houses. And come to my house and we play vidia games and I like the way you prtacte his self and legen to you mother but I don't like the way you hit me. And you everytime listen to his father and be rites his name and you plays with me only a little. - A

A is a good boy. A nose Math. A likes funny thinks. A likes writhing. A likes Art. A is a good lorner.

Dear S,
I am really going to be your best friend in the whole universe, but the others like me too because I am going to my house and even though I am going to invite you to my new house. Your friend, H

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Student Responses to a Creative Writing Prompt

Ms. Rebecca just announced that her students are going to get a class pet.

What animal would you want to choose?
Why do you think that animal would make a good class pet?
What would the students and teacher need to do to take care of this animal?


We started by brainstorming possible class pets and then separated them into two columns: Realistic (ones that make sense) and Peculiar (a word that comes up very often in Roald Dahl books, therefore, a word that I get asked the meaning to every time I start our afternoon reading). Their responses were pretty great, take a look.

Realistic:

hamster: i like the hamster because he is a good pet because we can whatch them run around and he is so safe and they dont bite and beacuse they are so small and they dont take a lot of smace in the classroom and they like exercise.

i will take a hamster as a realistic animal. i love hamsters because they are fuzze, soft and cute. Feed him, play with him, make him sleep, let him wake up by himself and take care of him.

I do not like rabbit. hamesters let pepole laugh. the chiks is fast. the mise is stink becouse it goes in the garbage. the lady bug is very red. turtles can swim and bite and have a litel hose. the fish is very smoll and then we can watch them. the butterfly his wings is very colry.

hamsters do not bite and they can't hit and they eat good and nice and the hamster cages can slide and hamster wheel can take exercise and good training that they can get good running that he get strangths and speeds hold a lot of hierd muscles that he get very stronger!

Peculiar:

I like dragon because it can fly me to my house and birn the lodyes. dogs because is strong and gardy.

a gorilla: i like the gorilla becose they are so strang. the gorilla sits on ms. Rebeccas desk who will take him home.

i will bring a grizzly bear as a really bad peculiar animal. let him play with me and my class mates a game called hide and seek, paper sciss or rock and race.

dogs can get bones or biscit bones for dogs and peoples hold leash ropes. dogs follow for the people that he can take in a banks or restaurants or the bisness works and taking home then dogs cans stay at doghouses so that he can not get very sick.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Walk a day in my shoes

Keep in mind, as we are going through my day that today was the first day I didn’t wear flats. Rather I thought my heavier black pants and up to the knee boots would keep me warm in this cold Kuwaiti winter.

4:50 AM: First alarm goes off. Sets alarm for 4:54 (again with my timing, 4:55 makes me feel too rushed and 4:52 is just too little)

4:54 AM: Rolls out of bed and stumbles into the kitchen. De-shells a hardboiled egg, drinks some water, decides against making porridge (mind you the brown rice and barley are already cooked but at this early in the morning adding oats to the grains with some water in a pot seemed like too much work). Makes a protein shake instead.

5:10 AM: Goes into the bathroom to do wudu and get ready for tahujjud.

5:20 AM: Athan goes off next door, prays fajr. Plops back into bed.

6:02 AM: Alarm number two (three if you count my 4 minute snooze) goes off. Roll over and shut it off, drag myself out of bed wondering if I dosed off in the thirty minutes after fajr. Turns off alarm number three that will go off in another five minutes.Get dressed (outfit was already picked out), checks bag to make sure I’m not missing anything, puts on black pants which is the first time in about a month of wearing pants to school since my long skirt shopping spree back in late October. Heads out the door.

6:28 AM: First one to board our mini teacher “bus” aka van. Studies note cards on the way to school and chimes in sporadically to the conversation going on between the three other teachers on the bus.

6:45 AM: Arrive at school. Decides against going to the mailroom and instead heads up to my classroom to see if my heater was turned on.

6:47 AM: Smiles because my maid Ms. Chandra is wonderful and turned on the heater. I turn on the computer, open my school email as well as gmail to check both accounts.

6:55 AM: Visit from administration to go over a parent meeting and update me with current student status.

7:00 AM: Fill out math meeting board – problem of the day, pattern and so on. Forget to change January 5, 2009 to January 6, 2009 on the front whiteboard. Write the morning work assignment on the board.

7:10 AM: Sit down at my desk to write a thank you card for one of my co-workers. Chat with Ms. Rana and tidy up my desk.

7:20 AM: Bell rings. Prop door open to greet my students. Ask about their evenings and mornings. Remind them what they need to bring to class.

7:25 AM: Second bell rings. Remind students that they should be in their seats and starting their morning work. Go around passing out stickers for students on task. Am reminded that today is January 6, 2009 and not January 5, 2009.

7:40 AM: Get started with math meeting. Call on students, hand out positive reinforcement left and right like it’s my job… oh wait.

8:00 AM: Pass out individual whiteboards and markers for a math review activity game.

8:20 AM: Bell rings. Students go to Arabic. I sit and enjoy the quiet classroom. Respond to several school emails. Go through my TBD list on my desk. Smile while crossing out each accomplished task.

9:01 AM: Bell rings. Students have PE. I continue on my TBD list and watch the clock so I’m not late picking my students up (unfortunately and I figured out the reason why a few hours later, I’ve been late getting them). I leave my classroom 4 minutes early so I’m not late. Bell rings when I’m half way to the gym. I run through the hall. See one of my students arguing with the PE teacher and give a mini lecture about how we need to be respectful to all adults.

9:41 AM: Break. Grab my coat and walk my students outside to the playground. Go around looking at their lunches, adding to the very interesting conversations that go on between 9-10 year old boys.

10:02 AM: Bell rings. We have Occupational therapy. I sit at the table and supervise a small group. Demonstrate how to write the “tricky” letters in cursive on the board. Watch as a cat walks past the door, going down the hallway inside our school. Leave the class 5 minutes early to go up to the room and tidy up.

10:45 AM: Am supposed to be teaching Science. Instead we celebrate one student’s birthday. While waiting for the food to arrive, I entertain the students with some spelling review. The food arrives, enough to feed the entire elementary school. We sing Happy Birthday. I pass out cake and pastries and set some aside for my iftar.
11:28 AM: Have students continue working on spelling. Get a compliment about how one student really likes the Spelling packet I put together.

12:08 PM aka Lunch: Pray zuhr, walk to the library to get the projector. Forget about a farewell luncheon for one of the FSIS staff members in the staff lounge until Ms. Rana asks where I was.

12:36 PM: Bell rings. I pick up my students from the playground, supervise as they get their Islamic studies books and send them on their way. Spend the next 40 minutes in a parent teacher meeting going over progress and behaviors of concerns.

1:16 PM - Last period: Struggle with the projector. Finally get it to work. Go through the questions and answers to a reading guide I created for the story Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion. Am asked “where do you want to die?” Don’t know how to respond. Lose track of time and have to rush through showing my pictures of my break in Connecticut. Get my students packed up and ready for home and send them out the door.

2:05 PM: Clean up my classroom. Wipe down the whiteboard and math meeting board, change the order of our line for tomorrow and the class schedule, condense the leftover food from the celebration into two boxes and walk around to the elementary teachers to share. Condense again, wheel the projector to the library and leave the leftovers. Realize the wall clock in my classroom is 5 minutes slow. Check my email once more, turn off computer, turn off heater. Call my taxi to remind him to pick me up at 3:45 at my apartment. Turn off the lights. Lock the door.

2:45 PM: Pray asr in the school prayer room.

2:57 PM: Am the second one to board our mini teacher “bus” aka van. Studies note cards on the way to school and chimes in sporadically to the conversation going on between the three other teachers on the bus.

3:15 PM: Get to my apartment. Set my bag down, take out the things I won’t need for the afternoon. Make a snack to bring to tutoring – humus and a cucumber. Put away the extra food I brought home in the freezer and the fridge. Brush my teeth. Sit down for five minutes to check my sister’s blog. Get a missed call on my cell phone, taxi is waiting outside.

3:45 PM: Get in the taxi and stare out the window. Watch a car try to bypass a traffic jam by taking his SUV over a curb and driving down the sidewalk area. See a sign that says “Speeding: the short way to death or prison”. See another one that says, “Speeding can lead to death”. Peak over at the speedometer of the taxi.

4:02 PM: Let myself in through the front gate, notice the family I tutor has a swimming pool on a lower level of their front lawn area. Let myself in through the front door, find a maid and ask her to get the boys.

4:10 PM: Get settled and start helping the older boy write a fictional story about soccer players in Spain. Explain why Spain should be written with a capital S and how a capital S is the same thing as a big S and that a lowercase s is the same as a small s.

4:20 PM: Am brought a plate with three juice boxes and two grilled cheese sandwiches (again, on white bread). I thank the maid and put it to the side for when I break my fast.

4:55 PM: The oldest boy brings me some dessert his mom just made and asks me to try it. I explain that I’m fasting and will eat it in 10 minutes when I break my fast. He runs to tell his mom I’m fasting. She comes in and asks if I would like some dates and lebnen (yogurt drink) to break my fast with. I thank her and say yes.

4:59 PM: Maid brings in the dates, water and lebnen.

5:05 PM: Athan goes off down the street, I chow down on the dates. Try the dessert and eat the grilled cheese sandwich. Am brought a prayer rug and prayer clothes (one big piece of material with space to cover my head, except my face) and am pointed in the correct direction. I give the youngest boy directions to complete his math homework and pray maghrib.

5:25 PM: Call my taxi and ask to be picked up 15 minutes later than our original time. Work on science homework with the youngest and praise the oldest one for being so creative on his Arabic project.

5:50 PM: Read with the oldest child from a Scooby Doo book. Gather my belongings, make plans to see them the following day.

6:15 PM: Missed call, taxi is waiting. Head outside. Get in the taxi and give the address for the AWARE center.

6:30 PM: Arrive at the AWARE center, sit down in the lobby and open to a random page in the middle of Twilight, the book I finished while traveling to Kuwait. Catch myself smiling and getting giddy while reading. Feel silly. Text Marisol to see where she is.

6:55 PM: Marisol arrives, we make our way downstairs to the lecture area and catch up on school stuff.

7:15 PM: Lecture about Kuwaiti Marriages. Learn about how marriages have changed in Kuwaiti culture from the past to the present. Found out that if a Kuwaiti marries another Kuwaiti the government gives them a 4,000 KD (16,00 USD) wedding gift and will help them with rent if they need assistance.

8:35 PM: Lecture and discussion is over. Marisol calls her taxi company, we stand and chit chat with a woman from South Africa until she gets a missed call. Taxi is waiting.

8:38 PM: Get in the taxi. Taxi driver remembers the name of my street while I struggle to get it off the tip of my tongue.

8:50 PM: Get to my apartment. Finally, take off my boots! (No no, this post doesn’t stop here.. but we’re almost done) Change out of my work clothes. Repack my bag for tomorrow. Grab some water, eat my humus and cucumber. Sit on my bed, going through various websites and articles while I snack.

9:15 PM: Brush my teeth, do wudu, get ready for bed.

9:20 PM: Remember I brought cake home that is sitting on my counter. Wonder if it’s worth brushing my teeth again just for a little taste.

9:23 PM: Brush my teeth again. Get ready to pray isha and witr.

10 PM: Climb into bed. Wonder if I have anything interesting enough to write a post about. Wonder what I should wear tomorrow. Ask myself, do I really want to spend another 12 hours in those shoes? Think of the quote, “You don’t know unless you’ve walked a mile in someone’s shoes”. Wonder how many miles I walked today. Come up with this (not so) brilliant idea for this post. Spend the next 43 minutes writing, all the while wondering how many people I lost throughout the way. (By the way, I’m interested if anyone managed to make it to the end, leave me a comment and let me know).

10:44 PM: Decide to stop typing. Wonder why I didn’t just go to bed at 10.

11:09 PM: Finish editing this post. Know that my sister, the English and creative writing major will immediately pick up on all my mistakes.

Decide to stop typing.

Wonder why I didn’t just go to bed at 10.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Frugality at its finest

I gave in and finally bought a cell phone today. While that may be shocking to some of you, (this is directed to my parents and their comments about how I have a phone growing out of my ear) I put off this purchase for the past four and a half months because I found it hard to justify owning a cell phone when I have very few people here to call. Although my contacts list is very limited, it is nice to know that if I am out shopping or need to call to get a taxi I will be able to do so with ease.

It took me two tries today to buy my phone. That is not implying that cell phone stores are few and far between, because that is quite the opposite. I simply forget that most businesses close from 1:30 – 4:30 during the day. After my short ten-minute walk to Tunis Street, the street that runs parallel to mine, Muhalab, I found the doors closed and gates locked. Luckily, I was able to get some information from a man next door and decided to return a few hours later.

My second trip was a success. I walked in, explained that I had already purchased a SIM card (this was back in October when some co-workers convinced me a mobile is a must) and was just in need of a phone. The man behind the desk showed me a phone and when I asked regarding the price he said in a very nonchalant voice, “75 KD”.

While my math skills are not superb by any means, I was quickly able to go through the Kuwaiti Dinars to US Dollars conversion in my head… 75 times 4. Well, 75 times 2 is 150, plus another 150 = 300 dollars. 300 dollars? No way!

“75 KD!?! (as I quickly put the phone on the counter) Can I please see your least expensive phone?” Although my question was returned with a puzzled look, (some essential background information: cell phones in Kuwait are like fancy purses, shoes or sunglasses. Everyone here has expensive phones and takes pride in that) he walked over to a shelf along the wall, pulled down a box and said, “This one is only 7.5 KD.”

“I’ll take it!”

And there you have it, a very exciting play by play of my cell phone purchase in Kuwait.

Fish Market Field Trip - Photos


I just received a CD of pictures from my first class field trip to the Fish Market. One of my parent chaperons not only helped supervise on that very hectic day but was also able to capture some really great photos with her fabulous camera. If you’d like to revisit or read more click here. Looking back, I have to admit that it was a very successful first field trip. Despite my lack of sleep and losing my voice, both the boys and I enjoyed being out of the classroom and getting a chance to learn about, buy and then eat our purchases (I didn't let them buy any fish, just produce). Enjoy the pictures :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/rebecca.minor/FishMarketFieldTrip#

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Back to School

I spent most of last night tossing and turning. It could be due to the 14 hours of sleep Friday night or perhaps some nerves about going back at school. Regardless of the reason, I kept waking up to check my cell phone, not wanting to relive another frantic morning due to my not-so-reliable alarm clock. Although I had five alarms set, three on my phone and two on the computer program I downloaded (paranoid – I know), I barely needed the first one and quickly rolled over to shut it (and the other four) off.

I planned enough time for a nice breakfast, had ironed my clothes the night before, as well as packed my lunch and bag. I was out the door five minutes early and was really happy to see and hear about the other teachers and their adventures over winter break.

You may not believe me but Kuwait gets cold. Today the high was 13 degree Celsius (54 F). My students spent the better part of the day wearing their hats and mittens and Ms. Rana and I crowded around our portable heater during our break.

Speaking of my students, I was greeted with a “Ms. Rubeeeka!!” and a nice big hug. Almost all of my students seemed excited and happy to be back. They enjoyed sharing stories from their break, creating a New Years Goal and seeing pictures from my break in Connecticut.

I have to admit I was surprised, in a good way, by their behavior. My most challenging student earned most of his smiley faces and remembered to use the words “please” and “thank you” with minimal prompting. The boys were able to recall most of our calendar routine and liked my power point math review game.

About 30 minutes before my day was over, the second grade teacher came into my classroom and asked if I was willing to start tutoring today. Needless to say, my plans of a nice nap and workout went out the window. I stuck around school until 3:45 and then got a taxi to the Kuwaiti family’s very large and very beautiful house. The boys, second and fourth graders, were both very sweet and had really great attitudes towards doing their homework. The hour and a half flew by. We set up a weekly schedule of tutoring two hours on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays which leaves Mondays and Saturdays open for my other family that I work with. While I am ecstatic about this opportunity to earn a little extra money (one of my goals for my next five months in Kuwait) I can see how it may pose a challenge for my other goal, of getting into a routine of working out regularly. I didn’t get in my work out tonight and I’m positive that the grilled cheese sandwich (on white bread *gasp*) and fresh mango juice that was presented to me on a beautiful gold tray are having the opposite effect of what I’m going for. We’ll see how I make out tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot! I sat down with the director of my school today to discuss my plans for next year. When she asked how my break went I shared that it was really wonderful to be home with my friends and family. I also told her that it helped me realize that I am not ready for another year of living alone and six thousand miles away from the people I love the most. She seemed disappointed to lose me but was happy that I was able to come to a decision that made me happy.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Home Clean Home

You know you’re turning into your mother when…

You walk around the kitchen with a dish towel draped over your shoulder.

You go out to dinner and spend half of the time eating the food and the other half talking about how great it tastes.

You clean your apartment/house/living space top to bottom before leaving for a trip so that you have something nice to come back to.

While I could continue this fun game about how my sister and I are slowly taking on many of our mothers idiosyncrasies (perhaps another post), the third one rang true about four weeks ago as I was preparing for my winter break back in Connecticut. Although at the time it was a lot of work I cannot describe how wonderful it was to be able to walk into a clean apartment after a long 12 hour flight. No clutter on the counters, no laundry in the hamper, also *sigh* no food in the refrigerator.

Current refrigerator contents: one jar of raspberry jelly, tub of butter/olive oil spread, half a bottle of water, olive oil, lemon juice and shake cheese. Needless to say, the first thing on my list of things to do tomorrow is grocery shopping.

My trip back to Kuwait went very smoothly, Alhamdulillah. My original flight on Wednesday was delayed which meant that I would not have been able to make my connection to Kuwait. Rather than spend the night and day in the Washington Dulles airport, my parents picked me up from the airport and brought me back again the following day.

My friend Marisol, who lives in DC and works here in Kuwait, was also on today’s flight. Not only was I greeted with a familiar face in Dulles and had someone to talk to while waiting for my luggage, I was also able to get a ride home from her friend rather than take a taxi.

The 12 hour flight passed by quickly. I dosed after taking off until dinner which was served around 11 PM. After that I read the book Twilight, my Eid present from Heather and her family, for a little while. I’d say about two hours into the flight I fell asleep. While I didn’t sleep straight through, I managed some naps in between my tossing from side to side in my seat. When I realized my neck was no longer going to allow me to stay propped against the window any longer, I turned on my personal tv screen to see that the plane was just crossing into Turkey. I had somehow managed to sleep off and on for a good 8 hours! The rest of the two hour flight passed by quickly, finishing Twilight and being served another questionable meal of airplane food.

It’s incredible how much less scary Kuwait is second time around. I still find the signs in Arabic intriguing and do my best to sound them out, not knowing their meanings. I felt comfortable navigating through the airport, this time without tears or thoughts of “WHAT WAS I THINKING?” running through my head. Sure, I almost got taken out by a taxi while momentarily forgetting that pedestrians do NOT have the right of way here but in some strange way, I felt like I was coming back to someplace familiar. While I am already starting to miss my family and friends, I am excited to see those that I have made here, as well as my students. Oh.. students. School starts back on Sunday which means I have tomorrow to do my lesson planning… I better get on that.