The heat's gettin' to me

Ever have one of those dreams where you know you're still dreaming and frantically you wake up and think, "where the h*^l am I?" It's like a dream within a dream. This is what happens all the time to an expat.

I remember them talking at orientation that the school sort of becomes your second home. I thought, "geeze, I know it's open 24 hours, but how much time could a person REALLY spend there." I totally get this now. I eat, sleep, and dream things about school. This darn profession is always on my mind. I've heard that researchers have done studies that actually show how men can literally be thinking about nothing! They really do have it better than us women. That would be such a relief!

Anyways, I saw some stuff I forgot to mention on my last post. I survived my first parent night. Not too big of a deal, but I'll tell ya right now that being an RA was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. Some parents were really challenging, and it was nice to have some skills ready to deal with them in a calm and professional way. Also, the heat must really be getting to me because I didn't even think to mention how extreme it is here on my section of 'things that are wrong with the country and culture.' LOL

So much happens in such little time. It's crazy to think that next week, it will be October already! I have been in Kuwait for one month exactly on the 24th of Sept. I am amazed by how fast things have gone already. I just feel like there is always something to look forward to. We are thinking about going to Dubai soon, and there are embassy parties all the time. Always something to look ahead at, and not worrying about what's behind us.

I made it through week three and four of teaching with not too many bumps in the road. I have some challenging students, but I almost love them for that. I love all of my students. It just amazes me how creative they can be sometimes. Week four, however was a little different of a story than week three. I got really sick, and had to leave early on Monday. I had some amazing co-workers come by to check on me, brought me food, and took me in to the clinic. Apparently  I am officially and expat not that I have gotten sick here. I learned how to write sub plans real quick. The art of winging it myself is very different than writing in detail the art of someone else winging it. It's so nice to know that there are people here who will always be there for me if I need it.

Last weekend, a group of us went on a  yacht trip to Kubbar Island. It was everything that I needed! There were about 20 to 25 of us on board. Most of us were from our school, but there were people from another school and some Kuwaitis too. It took about two in a half hours for us to get to the island. It was so nice to be outside, eat lots of food, and listen to great music with great people. It is so beautiful there. There is sand everywhere and the water is pretty clear. The currents were REALLY strong that day, though. I really miss my good scuba mask, and I will definitely have my parents bring that for me at Christmas when we go on our family vacation to the Florida Keys.

A group of us enjoying our time even before we left the dock!

They say that owning fish as pets has proven to reduce your stress level. I imagine that this trip had this affect on me.

Beautiful sunset <3

Unfortunately, on our walk home after our amazing day, we had some idiots yell out thier window at us, "B****, I'm gonna put my d*** in your a**." Wow... just wow. Last weekend, Sarah and I also went to the Avenues Mall. It was so darn busy here that it took an hour each way to get there and back. Our taxi driver on the way home almost got us in a wreck. I literally closed my eyes and waited for the car to hit us. Luckily, the lady driving the car decided to slow down in the nick of time. Then, she proceded to yell across an elderly woman dressed in a hijab, to our taxi driver. She then chucked a full bottle of water at him, again, across the woman in the passengers seat. All of this yelling was in Arabic, but we still had a pretty good idea of what it was about.

Today, Sarah and I went to the Avenues Mall again. As we were ready to go, and just about to grab a taxi, some jerk PURPOSELY drives through a big puddle and totally splashed us. It was just like what you see in the movies. And yes, there are puddles in Kuwait. Not often, and probably mostly cat pee, but yes they exist here. Today is also the 'holy' day, so if you're running low on loud speaker sermons, then Kuwait is the place to be! Anyways, it was such a good day (minus the jerk and puddle) and we both got things that we had been wanting to get for a while. I think it's really important to do fun things on the weekends. This way, we can stay sane for the work week.

I really love writing these blog posts about my experiences here. When times get tough, it's really nice to be able to look back at the really good times, and it's nice to look back at the challenging times too. Oh, I tried Sarah's wine last week. It was delicious. Also, I am going to start brewing my own wine soon! I will keep you posted. Well, I miss you all back home and I hope everything is going really well! I am so, so sorry that this post took FOREVER!

Check Facebook for more pics! :D

Survival Mode 101

So far, my time teaching here can be completely summed up with two words. Survival mode. Just like anything in life, when you throw a bunch of new things at it, some things take a while to fully understand. All that talk about spending long hours after school and on the weekends, and how hard the first year is... well, all that talk is certainly true. Oh yeah, and that HUGE learning curve.. also true.

I've been able to barely keep my head afloat in this new gig. Things will get better, though. If I think it, then I tend to have more hope that it will come true. My students are so stinkin cute, it's so hard to ever get mad at them. I don't remember which staff member said it, but this really is a good looking culture.

My Classroom On The First Day

Anyways, aside from school stuff, I have heard that there is a point in culture shock that a person starts to notice all the stuff that is wrong with it. I've definitely reached this. To begin, ALL THE DUST! The wind was really strong this weekend, and I could feel the dust hitting me. It was hard to breathe, and I felt like there was a semi- permanent layer of dust all over my skin. This wasn't even a sand storm!

It is really dirty here. The trashes are always over flowing, and you can smell them from a couple of meters away. To add to that, you will see cats lurking in almost every trash dumpster, or pile of trash that you come across. These cats are feral, meaning they are wild. It doesn't matter that they are wild or hanging out in trash, a person's heart just can't help but break when seeing them.

En shallah. I've come to the decision that 'en shallah' or 'okay, sure' means never or don't hold your breath. Hence, why I am still in a temporary living situation.

It is very obvious that my students rarely receive discipline at home. They always say 'miss,' and sometimes snap their fingers at you, just as they would do to their maids. I always say the same things, "sit down, raise your hand, and wait quietly please." In addition to that, I've got a couple of parents who are challenging and one of the teacher's that comes into my room has been challenging to work with as well.

I don't know how to work the laundry machines or stoves here. I put my clothes in, pushed a button and they came out smelling good. I have tried multiple things for the stove but no luck. I am also a little afraid of lighting it myself, doing it wrong, and singeing off my eyebrows. I'll let ya know if I ever figure out this tricky thing!

I am surprised I haven't been in, or seen a car crash. I have gotten used to doing a full 360 before attempting to cross any street when I am walking. Also, people honk and stare like they've never seen a westerner before. I mean, thanks for all the attention, but enough's enough.

I've been here for over three weeks, almost a month and I can not for the life of me figure out the whole call to prayer thing. My friend Chantel and I were walking to school one day and we were talking about how we thought we would see people dropping everything and praying when that thing goes off. Hasn't happened yet. Actually, thinking about it more, I can't really figure out Kuwait in general. It's so intriguing, and I want to learn more all the time. I am just fascinated by the clear division of social and economic class. Kuwaiti's are the richest and in turn have the highest 'wasta' or power. Then, you have maids and workers who attain the lowest 'wasta' and it's really sad to see that part of it.

Some updates on some fun outings with friends:

Life just got sweeter? YOU BET!

We enjoy eating out and ordering in a lot. Last week, we ordered in from 6alabot or (talabot). THIS SITE IS AWESOME! It is reasonably cheap to order and pretty much any place in Kuwait delivers. You can even have juice or ice cream delivered! On Saturday (our Sunday), we had a late lunch at The Chocolate Bar. Yes, this is a restaurant.. they must have known I was coming here! Later, we ate at one of our favorite Indian restaurants. There is no doubt that I am beginning to take food as seriously as they do here. Also, we went shopping and after a long week of teaching, it just seems to soothe the soul :).

proof :)

Caroline and me enjoying our pretend alcoholic drinks

Chantel and Sarah

On Thursday, our TGIT (thank god it's thursday) day, the school took a couple of buses to the Friday Market and plank souk. A souk is basically like a specialized shop. So, there are plant souks, furniture souks, pretty much anything souks. I think I will thoroughly enjoy going back to the Friday Market, of course when I have an apartment to fill up. It's a great place to practice on those bartering skills. :)

A very small glimpse of the Friday Market

Me at the Friday Market

After we got to explore the Friday Market, some of us went to the plant souk near by. They have anything and everything. Different people offer different deals, another great place to do some bartering. Also, seeing green and a lot of it really lifted the spirits. It felt like when you see the sun in Aberdeen finally on a winter's day. A person doesn't know what they've got until it's gone.

plants from the souk

friends enjoying a night out

A little update on the apartment situation:

Well.. en shallah. I feel like I will wake up one day and they will say, "okay you're moving tonight."

a little view on my walk to the school from my second temporary apartment

blue building= second temporary apartment

Some friends and I are going to start planning trips soon. I can't wait to see where we decide to go! Something to look forward to, that's for sure. 

For my friends and family, I miss you a lot and hope everything is going great! 

xoxo 

Tiffany

molding young minds

I figured I would get a post on here about my very first, first day and week of my teaching career. Our school week here goes from Sunday- Thursday. This takes a little bit to get used to. On Thursday, we kept saying, "I'm so glad it's Friday.. I mean.. Thursday!" We also have a schedule that goes on a 6 day rotation. So, we really need to pay attention what day we are on. We had our first day on September 4th which was a Tuesday. I was so nervous and excited all at the same time to start and meet the kids.

There's a lot of factors that go in to play with all these "firsts."

• This is my first time living in a new country
• This is my first time teaching my own class
• This is definitely my first time learning how to say so many Arabic names
• This is my first time having a TA
• This is my first time teaching under an IB program 

Let's see, living in a new country is pretty exciting, most of the time. There are still a lot of things I haven't seen or done here yet so I still feel like I'm traveling and being a tourist. At the same time, I know it's not just a "trip." Also, I am living in another "temporary" building. It's a building that is owned by the Hyatt and is just down the street from it, and it has a fridge, microwave, tv, internet, etc. I get to live with my friend Chantel too, which is pretty awesome. I am still yearning for that settling in feeling, though. 

My first day of school was... well it's over haha. I will be honest with you, I came to school not fully knowing every thing that I was going to teach that day. I spent many nights before school started waking up in the middle of the night still trying to dream up how I was going to set up my expectations and what to do with the kids. It's very stressful. It doesn't help that everything is goes by the meaning of en shallah here. For example, they switched our email, so for a while there we were getting important emails on both the new email and the old email. It also takes time getting to know where things are at and how to use them. All goes with the nature of being a newbee .

Just a little side note about my class... I got here and I had no idea what resources, what materials, etc. were in my classroom. So, in order for me to function here.. I had to get organized and get a slight feel for what I have available to me. I have very little experience with IB teaching, but I understand the general outline of it. It's inquiry... just always think inquiry and you've got it! It doesn't mean that you can't direct teach, but we have the freedom to decide what we teach and how we will teach it. This way we can figure out what the students are interested in, and decide what lessons we want to teach during what times and how we will teach them. It was overwhelming realizing this. There is a plethora of resources and lesson ideas, but it's all us. We also decide when to teach the subjects during the day. It sure feels like a lot right now, but I know it will get better. 

Luckily, my TA has been here in Kuwait and at AIS for a long time. She helped me practice some of the names before they got here. Like Jana I thought would sound just like it looks.. Jana, but it's actually said like Jenna. Lot's of little things to remember. 

All in all, my first day and first week went pretty well. I was surprised how much better the second day was than the first. Of course, the first day there were a few kids who were so nervous (even more than I was) and they cried for a bit. Things like that, you just got to deal with as it comes. So, I am hoping that it continues to get better and better each day. Next week, we have a full week... ahhh. Five days of teaching in a row!

Wish me luck! 

mas salamma