wow. first day of school.

The students came to class today in full blast. Kids here are super chatty (aren't they everywhere though really). It was actually really cute. All day I heard " Ms, Ms Ms, Ms Ms," and their accents make it sound really cute... for the first ten minutes, but after all day long of students calling "ms, ms ms ms" for every single thing and when I am in the middle of trying to teach, it gets less cute and MUCH more annoying.
My day overall was pretty good. Really good if you don't count the last 20 minutes. General teaching of classes (right now it is mostly teaching kids to sit quietly and listen for instruction) went fine. challenging of course but fine. I tried to play an ice breaker bingo game where they have to find a person who has a certain thing or did something and write their name down. That went really badly, as in it totally didn't work. But the kids were for the most part up walking around and asking each other things which was sort of the point. They just couldn't read what they were supposed to be asking each other. But it for some kids it really didn't seem fun and even after I explained it a million times they had no idea what to do. And I don't know if the game was just too hard for grade two in general or if it was too hard for this group or what. But I can always try again in a couple of weeks and see if they are ready then.
The hardest part of the day was all the procedural crap. Sending their lunch bags down to the lunch room before lunch, lining up quietly (hugs and bubbles) walking in a straight line, and the biggest headache: the buses at the end of the day.  I started getting students ready (writing in their agendas) at 230 and they had to be outside and ready to go at 305. not. enough. time.
first of all kids don't do their job then goof off, they goof off then run out of time for whatever they were supposed to be doing (well even I do that sometimes). Then about a quarter of my class are picked up by drivers and the rest by one of 24 buses. that means I have to get each kid to the right place as all the other kids (470+) are doing the same thing. its madness. I basically sent my car kids away and hoped for the best and then took my bus kids downstairs. Well one kid thought for sure he was scheduled to be on the wrong bus and was basically crying before we even left the class. but I calmed him down and said we would figure it out when we got there. Well it felt like I was the last person to bring my kids down, some bus lines had already left! and as soon as I got to the area where all the people were i had no idea where cones (labled with bus numbers) were so most of the kids told me they knew where to go and so i just let them go. It was a zoo outside. I took the student to the bus he was listed to go on and he wasn't on that list and therefore immediately started bawling. I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't have anything to do with me and cried and spoke in arabic. It was really challenging to help him. I finally found the vice principal who helped me after another 15 minutes. Pretty sure I made the buses late. I was extremely drained. And it sounds like it is ALWAYS chaotic. Even some people thought the bus situation went well. That scares me a little.
It turns out we were supposed to have our kids out at the cones at 250. I'm not exactly sure How I am going to get anything done during the day, especially if I have to have them outside 15 minutes early. students have religion, french, arabic, PE, music, library, art and computer. They also have to wash their hands after recess and before lunch as well as make sure they have gone to the bathroom. Well of course if you ask who has to go to the bathroom they all do and they are only allowed to go one at a time. OH and my lunch break is only half an hour and i have to make sure the supervisor is there before I leave.
Anyway. As I said the actual teaching was ok. (focus on what went well and problem solve what didn't).
Last night we went horse back riding. It reminded me a little bit of climbing the mountain. In canada to go riding as we did I'm sure we would have had to take months of lessons. Nopw. Get on the horse the guy shows which way is left and right with the reins and we are off. I really wish I could have taken better pictures but it was totally impossible. We started by walking up a very narrow alley with two way camel, horse, motor bike, donkey, and car traffic. we were all squished between each other. One horse nipped my leg. My horse kept tripping. I;m sort of hoping the in general Arabic horses are a skinnier bread, becasue these horses were skinny. Hips and even some ribs were easily seen. And we saw some horses without saddles whose backs had big sores all over them. If we go again it would be better to find horses that are treated better which would cost much more but be worth it really.
Anyway after walking up this narrow congested alley the girl who organized our trip, Nashwa, said hold on,, because when your horse feels the sand on his feet He'll take off. And he did. we ended up trotting for about twenty minutes. I haven't been so scared in a long time. (and someone should have told me to wear a sports bra) I didn't know I would so tired after horse back riding. After trotting down a path we reached a more open dessert area and the horses started galloping. it was intense. I have a whole new respect for people who ride horses. But they probably learned how to do it properly before hand. So we galloped through the open desert past the pyramids to a look out point. It was really beautiful. And I had lots of sand in my eyes. After galloping, thats all i wanted to do. It is much easier to gallop even if it is a little scarier. So on the way back we galloped for much longer. It turns out that the leaders come up behind and whip the the horse you are riding to make them go super fast. It was an amazing adrenaline rush! and totally worth it!

Oh and some new pictures... scroll to the end...
Always and Adventure

mouse!

I have mice. Well at least a mouse. The school gave me poison to put down with food. I basically refuse to cook in my kitchen until it is gone. I hate bugs and rodents. Oh well at least going out for or ordering in here is really cheap. Last night I slept at Athena’s who lives above me. But I guess tonight I will sleep at home. There was no air conditioning and I woke up many times in the night so I think sleeping here will be better even if I share my apartment with a mouse for the time being.

School has been really busy the last week and a half. Earlier this week we had “Meet the Parents” where we presented our year plan and beliefs about education and homework etc. It went really well. The parents over here do seem quite different then what I am used to seeing in Winnipeg. But I’ve never worked at a private school either so I think that is part of it.

I only met four of my students and their parents. Three of four parents told me that they had been on holiday all summer and their child did nothing and have completely lost the language (English).  One parent told me her son is very naughty. He was standing right in front of her with a giant smile on his face. I apparently have one student who likes to take off his pants in class.

My classroom is really starting to come together (well it better be we have meetings for a lot of the day tomorrow and students starting the next school day!) but it feels like I have a million things to still do. Oh well, I guess not everything has to be done for the first day, only certain things. I`m trying hard to make sure I am organized, especially when it comes to daily routines. It really helps to have Aislinn as a teaching partner. She has been teaching for two years, not grade 2, but still she knows some of the more basic things that I don’t think of.

A few of us went to watch the boys’ first ball game. It was a lot of fun. The ball diamond is really nice, its clean and sort of quiet and filled with expats. When I was there I talked to a girl about joining her team. Their next game is Friday at 1pm so I’ll have to check into it and see if it works out and I can play. It seems like it will be VERY hot to play mid afternoon, but I guess I can handle it!

It is cooling off which is wonderful. At night the temperature is totally bearable. I can even wear a sweater comfortably if I want to cover my shoulders. It is about 30 degrees at night, but compared to about 40 its great.

I’m really starting to get to know the neighbourhood and like it. We’ve met the man who owns a dry cleaner down the street. He is really friendly. Our work clothes are getting ironed as I type so I shall see how it all works out. There is a man with white hair that sits on a bench a few buildings down. We always say hi and smile. He waves, gets excited, says hi and then continues to ask questions in Arabic. We have no idea what he is saying so we smile and keep walking. I really want to buy a bike so I can explore areas that are further away and get around faster. I’ve thought it through and decided that walking is traffic or riding a bike in traffic is about the same in terms of safety.

My bowab is wonderful. Bowabs are basically doormen, but they do lots of other stuff as well, like take the garbage that I put outside my door. He is really nice and I totally appreciate all his help. He always has a big smile on his face. He seems like a happy man. He is often sitting outside the building so it is welcoming when we come home or leave. If I have a bunch of groceries and he sees me getting out of the cab he will come over and help me bring them in.  He fixed my toilet when it is broken, and I’m told he will remove the dead mouse after I kill it.

Some random things:

• ·         I listen to a radio station called Nile FM. It is great. It plays a random mix of music which is right up my alley.
• ·         They don’t have “ouchless” elastics here - very frustrating to tie back my thick hair without them.
• ·         I still love all the shoe stores out here!
• ·         I think when I go back to Winnipeg I will get bored with the shopping, because here there are a million different shops which offer many different things.
• ·         I found a pharmacy near my house
• ·         Ramadan is over so now we have to get used to stores closing at a decent hour (I think around eleven).

I would love to hear comments and about things going on in your lives so comment or email me!!

kboutang@gmail.com

PS I post pictures to facebook becasue it is a lot easier to put them up there than here. You can view them by going to these links.
Egypt in August
The Dahab Experience
Egypt in September
you can check back randomly becasue I update the album as I take pictures.