March 6, 2019: Ettakelem Arabee Schwaya

I’ve started Arabic lessons!  My coworker, Sara, and I are getting tutored by our other coworker, Ahmed.  In today’s lesson we learned how to shop. I now know how to order myself chicken shawarma with cheese (no spices) and I can get strawberries and bell peppers from the market.  Next session, Ahmed is taking us shopping and we have to get our own produce.

Sara had to leave today a few minutes early, so those last few minutes I told Ahmed everything I had learned in Arabic before coming to Egypt.  Once I accepted my job here, I spent 5 months listening to “Arabic for Dummies” on cd while driving to and from school, only to arrive in Egypt and discover that most of what I learned was classical Arabic and not used here.  I’ve heard that the Arabic I learned is kind of like Shakespearean English to a native English speaker. Very formal and funny sounding. This afternoon, I had Ahmed literally in tears as I spoke to him in the Classical Arabic I learned.  I imagine it probably is very funny to hear these old, fancy Arabic words coming out of the mouth of a super ignorant white girl! Especially since I was unaware that I was saying everything in the same tone that the cd lady used, which makes it sound like I’m a Shakespearean GPS system.  I love that I can provide such entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment, a few Arabic mishap stories:

1. Apparently “yellow” and “clever”  sound very similar. I have asked for a clever pepper  rather than a yellow pepper on occasion before finally being corrected.  I of course asked for clever peppers on purpose. Doesn’t everyone know those are the best kinds? I’m happy that this was a mishap that wasn’t offensive at all.  I’ve since learned that the word for “late” sounds very similar to vulgar word for “poop.” I’m committed to never commenting on anyone’s lack of punctuality while I live here.

2.  Earlier this year, I was working on CVC words with my students.  We came across the word, “hum” and one of my kids blurts out, “Yeah, like hum me a mum me a gammel.”  I asked him what it meant, and he replied with, “mmm it means, ‘this food is good.’” Excellent. I filed that away for future use.  Fast forward a few weeks and I was at a restaurant. The food was, indeed, good, so I busted out the hum me a mum me a gammel phrase.  The server just stared at me, obviously confused. The next day, I asked my student if I had said it correctly, and he verified that I had.  After school I asked my Arabic speaking coworker about the phrase, and he told me that the phrase is what moms say to their little babies when they are feeding them.  It’s the Egyptian Arabic version of “here comes the airplane.” So to my student, it would translate into the food being good, but highly inappropriate for me to say to a server!  My coworker does stand up comedy, and he laughed so hard at this story that he asked if he could incorporate it into his routine. I of course said I was happy to provide any sort of material possible.  He sent me the video of his routine when he performed it live. I of course couldn’t understand anything he said other than the “hum me a mum me a gammel,” and once he said it, the crowd burst out laughing.  I’m here all week, Egypt.

March 5, 2019: Learner Profile

We spent the morning today in an IB training.  Schutz will be an IB candidate school next year (!!), so the teachers are being trained in what that will look like.  During the training, we split into groups and were tasked with listing traits that our ideal, successful Schutz graduate would have.  Then we had to come up with a visual that explained those traits. This is what my group came up with. Can you see the McDonalds inspiration?   This came from an icebreaker conversation we had to have about one of our guilty pleasures. Obviously mine is McDonalds, though I’ve only eaten it four times since moving here.  Shawarma seems to be my new thing.

March 4, 2019: Here Comes Mother's Day!

I hear that Mother’s Day in Egypt is a pretty big deal.  Here we celebrate in March, and the moms are invited to the classroom for muffins and to hang out with their child.  I love having parents come into the class. It’s a great way to have the kids show their parents what they are learning, and for the parents to get a good idea of what we are doing on a day to day basis.  We had donuts with the dads a couple of months ago and the kids loved it. There’s always a little bit of (often unnecessary) anxiety when preparing for something for the first time, especially when you’re not quite sure of everyone’s expectations, and you have a personality like mine that wants everyone to be happy.  We decided to have the kids make a gift for their moms. We cut each mom’s first initial of her name from a piece of cardboard, and the students are going to wrap the letters in yarn to make a decorative keepsake. I think they’ll be cute!

March 3, 2019: Running Blues

The weather is warming, and runs outside have the potential to be more enjoyable than treadmill runs.  If I’m on campus, I’ve gotten used to treadmill running, simply because our campus is so small that my runs take FOREVER because you can’t run more than a few yards without turning.  It makes for a very slow pace. Today I sucked it up and ran around campus because it was too beautiful to be inside the gym. All in all, I passed this point about 18 times on my 3 mile run.  I know earlier in the year I went to Greece and was inspired to sign up for the Greece Marathon next year. That isn’t happening. At least not anytime soon!

March 2, 2019: Run through Montazah

Went on another beautiful run through Montazah.  I loved the way these palm trees looked against the white clouds.  You always see palms set against a bright blue sky or teal water, but rarely clouds like these, so it struck me as especially beautiful.  While on our run today my friends and I ran along a bridge near the water, and the waves were pretty strong. At one point they broke along the rocks near the bridge, and the ocean spray completely drenched us.  It may have been my favorite moment all week, though it was a bit chillier than I would have hoped for.

February 28, 2019: Mystery Reader

The second grade class at Peterson Elementary (in Kodiak) is celebrating Dr. Seuss Week, and they needed a mystery reader to read one of his books to the class.  Their teacher, Erica, asked me if I minded skyping the class and being today’s mystery reader. She wouldn’t tell the kids who was reading ahead of time. I would have done it either way, but I was extra excited because these are the kids I had last year in my class.   I was pumped to see them, so I donned my disguise and called them up. I didn’t say a word, but as soon as they saw me on the screen, they knew right away it was me. I was initially offended. The only thing you can see is my nose! I knew it was a little distinguished looking (thanks, Dad), but I didn’t think it was THAT much of a give away!  I’m choosing to believe the kids immediately recognized my black winter hat. Being Kodiak, I did wear it 85% of the school year. Either way, It was an absolute joy to see my kids again. They had lots of questions for me, mostly about whether I had been in a pyramid or seen a mummy (yes and yes, though not at the same time). It was so good to see those smiling faces!

February 27, 2019: Boo Boo Butt

Noor and I needed a little time away from campus, so we headed to the Greek Club for some fantastic food with a view.  This is easily one of my favorite spots in Alexandria. I love the boats. I love that the restaurant serves wine. And the calamari is pretty good too.  Tonight the company was just what I needed. When I was first hired, my principal told me I’d be working with a girl named Noor, and that she was “my sister from another lifetime.”  Apparently after my principal hired me, she ran to get Noor from her classroom so that she could tell her the same thing about me. No pressure for us to like one another. :) After spending time with Noor, it’s clear our principal was right. We became fast friends.  She is the same kind of dorky that I am. I love her.

The other day, I read a book to my class called “The Book with no Pictures,” by BJ Novak.  It’s hilarious. If you haven’t read it, and you have school aged children, check it out from the library.  Your kids will love it. The whole idea of the book is that the adult reading the book HAS to say everything that is written on the page.  No matter what. And the kids think this idea is hilarious. There are pages that say things like “I am a big monkey with a big monkey mouth” and then the kids die laughing.  One page says, “My only friend in the whole wide world is a hippo named Boo Boo Butt.” (more laughing). After I read the book to my class, the kids were joking that they were going to call me Boo Boo Butt from now on.  I told them they couldn’t, because the book clearly didn’t say that my name was Boo Boo Butt, but that my only friend in the whole world was Boo Boo Butt. (You like the textual evidence conversations I have with my first graders??)  One kid thought about that for a while then finally bursted out, “OHHHH! So Ms. NOOR is Boo Boo Butt.”  To which I replied, “yes, yes she is.”

Very happy to have found a fantastic Boo Boo Butt here.

February 26, 2019: Street Carts

These carts are one of my favorite things in Alex.  Many of them have brightly decorated wooden planks on the back.  Some of them have megaphones and speakers attached to them, so the guy selling things can yell into the megaphone and it’s amplified throughout the neighborhood.  There’s one guy who we hear often, and I’ve heard he’s not selling things, but collecting unwanted electronics from people’s houses. The other day we walked around a cart like this that happened to have a speaker on the side.  At the exact moment we passed the speaker, the guy yelled something into the megaphone. I’m choosing to believe this was a coincidence and that the man didn’t intentionally try to deafen us.

February 25, 2019: Nap in the warm-ish sunshine

It was too beautiful not to enjoy the sunshine on the roof after school today.  I think we hit 73 degrees! I laid in a lawn chair, took a tiny nap, and sunburned my forehead, all the while having goosebumps on my arms.  I know I’ve said it before, but my Kodiak self is so ashamed at how soft I have gotten here.

February 24, 2019: Sociopathic travel buddy

We have a LONG summer break this year.  I think it's 10 weeks.  I'll be back in the states for about 3 weeks of the break, and the rest of the summer I will be traveling.  I'm spending a week and a half walking the Camino in Portugal with some teacher friends.  After we finish the Camino, my sister, Meagan, is meeting me in Lisbon, and we will spend almost two weeks exploring Portugal and Spain.  As of now, our list includes Lisbon, Sintra, beaches in the Algarve, Seville, Granada, and Barcelona.  As I type it out, I am realizing that's quite a lot, and we might need to trim it down a bit!  We started a google doc and have color coded our notes so we can keep track of the logistics and who adds which details.  I was looking through Meg's recent additions when I noticed this alarming side note.

Funny, Meg.   REEEEEAL funny.

February 23, 2019: this is the life

Nothing says relaxation like beachside coffee sipping. 

February 22, 2019: standard yoga by the sea picture

There was a zumba instructors conference happening at the hotel this weekend.  This meant we got to witness LOTS of enthusiastic zumba classes on the beach.  Even better, we got to see these instructors take countless selfies and inspirational workout posed- pictures with the sea in the background.   The beach is has little cabanas scattered around, but they aren't in use right now, so they look more like little stages.  Lots of photoshoots here.  This morning, I pulled a muscle in my back while I was trying to move my beach chair back into the sun.  (Rough life, I know).  I moved on to one of these platforms to stretch, and was immediately inspired to take my own inspirational, insta-worthy stretching pose.

Nailed it.

*I hope I don't offend anyone who loves taking inspirational pictures of themselves in front of beautiful things.  I get it.  I'm just too awkward to be that person.  :)

February 21, 2019: Photo bomb!

We're back at the North Coast, enjoying the sun and the sand.  I've loved vacationing with this little dude.  He's one of the coolest kids I've been around (and his parents are pretty ok too).  He makes legit sandcastles, and gave us reason to occasionally get out of our lounge chairs.  Without him, I may have melted right into the chair.   

Feb 20, 2019: Preparing for Suess week

Dr. Seuss week quickly approaches.  The books have been selected. each day's theme set, the reading challenges prepared, the Oobleck ingredients gathered, make your own-seuss inspired story books assembled, and, as you can see, a giant measurement hat created.   I think we are set.  My second favorite time of the year is about to begin!

February 19, 2109: Goof balls

When you go to the bathroom during dinner, and you just happen to leave your unlocked phone on the table...

February 18, 2019: tricked out cab

Cab rides in Egypt are usually pretty interesting. Tonight we got the privilege of riding in a cab that had lights on the ceiling and floor that pulsed to the bass of the music.  Bobbleheads on the dashboard and special lights on the front windshield.  I may never be happy in a standard cab again. 

February 17, 2019: wingspans and tails

The measurement project begins!  This group researched the wingspans of various animals. (My other group researched the length of animals' tails).  Then they made life size versions of these animals' wings and compared them to themselves and to the other animals' wings.  They worked collectively on google slides presentations.  I was extremely impressed with their hard work and enthusiasm!

*The kid pictured is working on a life size model of a bald eagle's wing.

February 16, 2019: Reading List

Between book club, family and friend Bible studies, and planning for summer travels, I've got a few books on the docket. 

I wasn't the hugest fan of James Patterson.  He was entertaining, but not life changing.  His antagonist was a bit unbelievable.  I highly suggest the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  READ IT!!!!