I am going to leave, I am not going to leave, I am going to leave, I am not going to leave...I am not going to leave yet

Here is the blog entry I was planning to post when I thought I was leaving Jordan:

So, things have been a little more than crazy here these past few weeks.  Things at the school have really gone from difficult to impossible.  Due to numerous administrative changes among other things, all the American teachers will be resigning from the school this week.  Actually by the time I actually post this we will be gone. 

However, I would not trade anything for these past few months here in Jordan.  I have learned so much about myself and the mysteries of God’s plans.  I once heard someone compare our life to a tapestry.  We can only see the tangled underside, but God sees the beautiful design being fashioned from the top.  When all I can see is the messy underside, faith enables me to trust that there is a side I cannot see God is fashioning for a greater purpose.

While I am excited about future possibilities, my heart still breaks to leave the children at the school.  I have truly grown to love and care for all the children and the teachers there.  It will not be easy leaving them. 

My last month here in Zarqa, I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Nabil and Nadia’s family as well as the other American teachers.  I actually made an edible pumpkin pie J  I am SO thankful for Nadia and Nabil’s family.  They are the biggest blessing to me.  Whenever I go to their house I feel so at home and at peace.  I lived in their home for my first month in Jordan, and I have spent lots of time with their family for the past four months.  It is going to be really hard being away from them.

I just want to take some space to say how thankful I am for the other American teachers as well.  They have grown to be like my family here in Jordan, and I have received so much love and encouragement from them in our time together here.  We have shared laughter as well as tears, and they have blessed me more than they can know.  Regardless of where life takes us, we will be forever kindred spirits.

Now to everyone at home, please remember all of those here in Zarqa looking for where the next thread in the tapestry of their life will lead.

Now for an update, as some things have changed since I wrote the preceding post:

I just canceled my plane ticket and decided to stay in Zarqa.  I am going to help with an after school program teaching English to many of the children from the American Academy.  I am very thankful for the opportunity to invest a little more time in Zarqa and work with the children I have grown to love so.  I am not sure at how the after school program is going to pan out, but I am ready to give it my best.

Meanwhile, Nadia should be having baby Daniel any moment now.  I am super excited that I will be around to welcome him into the world, and help Nadia with anything I can.

We are getting ready to take Aaron to Amman to fly back home for Christmas.  He says he is returning in January.  I will post this here so that I can hold it against him if he doesn’t return.  Anyways, Nadia is already making a list of things for him to bring when he comes back J 

I’ll post more later--happy Thanksgiving late and merry Christmas early (because who knows when I’ll update this blog again).

Sick...then sicker...now better :)

This week was quite interesting.  I smoked for the very first time in my life J  Don’t freak out anyone, I only smoked hubbly bubbly (also called hooka or argilay…not sure if I spelled any of those words correctly).  I thought it had a very nice taste, but I only took about 6-7 puffs, so I really didn’t get the full effect.  The “full effect,” however, resulted in John turning a very pale shade of green and throwing up, so I think I am satisfied with my few puffs.  I did enjoy trying it though.  I also really enjoyed visiting with the manager of the English center where I am going to start teaching soon. 

Nori has not experienced any dangers this week…that I know of anyways.  Last week, she got in the front seat of a taxi (which is haram here for women) alone (which is also ill advised) with no money (which is not ok anywhere in the world)…oh, Nori…After having her hand kissed and being drove around in circles for a few minutes I think she learned her lesson though.  And if she didn’t learn her lesson from the ride itself, she certainly did after a scolding from Nabil.  We are all trying to get used to the cultural rules.  For example, guys are not allowed to enter our home after dark (which is about 6pm), and we cannot enter a guy’s home after dark either.  Girls are not allowed out after dark alone.  It is also not ok for a girl to be out with just one guy.  Actually, girls should not even look guys into the eyes when speaking to them…which is quite strange for me.  I had a guy in Safeway (yes, there is a Safeway here) talk to me through Brandon last week.  He was speaking to me while looking at Brandon...it was quite strange.  With all these rules, it is no wonder that most of the marriages here are arranged.  Spending time with the opposite sex is not exactly convenient.

Salim, one of the most precious children in the third grade class, really encouraged me last week.  From the very first week of school, Salim has been such a source of peace for me.  One day I was having a really difficult math class when I noticed Salim’s hands folded and head bowed.  Another precious boy, Amar, was stitting beside Salim.  Amar wanted to tell me that Salim was praying but he could not think of the English word for pray, so instead he just said, “miss kara, salim” and showed me with his hands together praying.  Then, to make sure I got the message, he went and asked the teacher how to say pray in English.  He came back and joyfully told me, “miss kara, salim pray.”  My heart just melted.  Salim reminded me where my true peace should come from in that moment.

Lately I have had some stomach difficulties, which is pretty much to be expected.  However, I had been doing pretty good avoiding sickness up until this point (aside from a little cold)…I decided to get some medicine this evening after spending most of my day in the bathroom, so hopefully I will improve soon. 

I am trying to find ways to make math more hands on and concrete.  I hope that I can find some new ideas for the second and third grade classes.  Nori helped me think of some ideas for teaching addition to my first graders, so I just need some ideas for the older kids now.

I had a really great Thursday night with Rachel.  I am very glad she did not go to Amman this weekend (as she usually does, haha, I am rubbing it in Rachel).  After some deep discussion (which I think I really needed), we ate some junk food (chips, ramen, popcorn, etc…which I probably didn’t need, lol), and watched Leap Year, which was quite relaxing. 

Ok, so now I’m off to bed, since it is getting quite late…

Well, I could not open my blog to post this last night, so you get one more brief update.  This morning the guys came over and John made pancakes (they were quite delicious).  Then in the midst of our chill morning, we got a knock at the door.  Our neighbor’s home was getting soaked every time I took a shower because apparently my bathtub was not sealed all the way.  By the way, my room and bathroom are at the present moment the messiest they have been all year…embarrassing…At least I had removed my underwear from the bathroom moments before they entered, thankfully.  While they were here they cleaned out our pipes, which were full of rocks due to rocks in the previous delivery of water (water here is brought weekly from who knows where and placed in giant containers on the roof, which is why you don’t drink it).  Anyways, we now have normal water pressure, and hopefully I will not drown my neighbor the next time I take a shower, oops.  Now off to a birthday party of one of the teachers.  I just called her to find out what I should wear, and she informed me that there would only be girls so I could dress like a, and I quote, “hoochy mama.”  In case you are wondering, they do not use this phrase in Jordan—Nori taught Maha this American expression.  No worries, I don’t have any clothes that would fall into that category anyways, so I will not be following that directive.  I am excited about the party!  There is supposed to be lots of Arabic dancing J  Until next week.

Well, for another brief update, since I still have not posted this blog…due to sickness this time.  After I wrote about hoping to be getting over my slight sickness, I only got sicker.  I was feeling quite under the weather the last few days, so I had to miss two days of school.  Sadly, my sickness hit the hardest during Maha’s birthday party.  I had felt kinda lousy all weekend, but I thought I just ate something bad.  However, the unhappy stomach symptom I will leave to your imagination did not go away but only invited friends.  After two days of some kind of virus or who knows what, I feel quite recovered today (humdallah—which is like thanks to God).  Thanks to Brandon and Rachel for substitute teaching for me!  I am glad to be back!

Discipline and mascara

Well, I am not sure if I should really be writing this blog at this moment.  I just had a rather difficult day at school, and I am quite tired.  Since it has been over a week since I updated this blog, I suppose I will write away anyways.  

To begin, I will talk about this day.  First you must know what happened yesterday:  in the midst of a chaotic class I informed the students that tomorrow I would begin class by reminding them of the classroom rules and the consequences of ignoring those rules.  So, being faithful to my word, I started both first grade classes this morning by informing the students that whoever broke a classroom rule today would be compelled to write their alphabet five times.  The kids did not like this idea very much, and therefore, they actually noticed my mouth moving when I told them to sit down or stop talking...success.  Second grade was equally successful.  Instead of the alphabet, I told them that rule violators would write “I will respect my teachers” twenty-five times.  I am still not sure what I am going to do in the event that someone refuses to write…I suppose I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.  I am thinking that calling their parents is really my only other option (as I already eliminated the idea of bringing a wooden spoon to class)...Discipline is rather challenging when you are very limited in your allowed methods of discipline and pretty much unable to communicate with words...

On a more positive note (though the previous discourse was actually intended to be positive), I have almost learned all of the kids' names.  I had to ask one second grader to remind today if his name was Mohammed or Ahmed (two of the most common names), but other than that I have been doing pretty good at remembering their names.

Yesterday I visited an English language center to consider teaching there twice a week.  I really enjoyed visiting the center; I especially enjoyed watching a couple of classes in action.  The students’ mastery of the English language really surprised me.  One class was discussing the problem of littering in this area and possible solutions to the problem.  The students were communicating in English with relative ease.  I imagine that teaching such a group of adult students will be vastly different from teaching young children who know very little English.  It will be a different kind of challenge.  I also found out today that I have the opportunity to tutor one of the Arabic teacher’s daughters.  I have already met the girls, and I really enjoyed spending time with them.  I just hope that I can juggle all of these responsibilities effectively.  On the plus side, if anything happens with the school, I have jobs elsewhere.

In addition to all the work, the past two weekends were quite fun.  Saturday I spent time just doing things around the house, which was much needed!  I started the morning with a great breakfast: omelets (thanks to Aaron) and blueberry muffins (thanks to Nori).  Nori made the best muffins I’ve ever tasted, well, at least some of the best.  Last weekend I went to the Amman where we climbed atop a Roman amphitheater.  After the climb, we went to eat Iraqi kebab at one of Caitlin’s favorite places.  I have to say, I am not sure if I would eat it again…but it was not bad.  I slept on the couch at Nadia’s mom’s house while the teachers went to buy movies at Hamouda (this place sells DVDs for 1 JD…due to the lack of copyright laws here).  I also went to the market in Amman last weekend.  I love that place--I bought so much for so little (of course, I am referring to clothes now not movies).  Anyone who knows me would have guessed that anyways.  Yes, Leah, I will share my clothes with you when I come home J

Funny story, and then I’ll close.  Some of the kids here have thought all this time that my name is “mascara”…because I introduced myself as Miss Kara, lol.  Now that I am aware of this, I am reminded of how some of the kids pointed to their eyelashes and smiled at me when I first met them, haha.  I guess they just think that I have a funny name.  Well, they’re used to it now.  I think I might have used Miss Deal if I knew.  Oh well.  At least my name is not Aaron (we have two American teachers named Aaron here).  Apparently Aaron has a negative meaning here.  It refers either to a man who sleeps with many women or a man who does not care if his wife is promiscuous.  I have heard both translations--either way, not the most valiant of meanings. 

I meant to do this earlier.  Here are links to two of the other teachers’ blogs.  They both have really great blogs that are updated more often than mine.  Enjoy!

http://121jordaniannights.blogspot.com/

http://apregnancyinjordan.blogspot.com/

A frog in my throat and bugs in my soup

Well, this week has absolutely flown by!  I mean, every week goes by fast, but this week feels like a blur.  It’s funny that I should begin my review of the week with a review of the past weekend, but since I’m updating this blog at the beginning of each new weekend that is just the way it has to be. 

So, first, last weekend was amazing.  We spent Friday in Amman just touring downtown with Nadia and her sister, Wedad.  Of course, food was included in the excursion.  We ate some delicious falafel and a chicken wrap that reminded me of a mega-sized McDonald’s snack wrap (infinitely more tasty as well, of course).  After gallivanting about the city, we all (Rachel, Wedad, Aaron, Aaron, John, Brandon, and I) piled into Wedad’s small car to go to a church that Rachel attends in Amman.  That was an interesting ride, to say the least.  With little Aaron (sorry for calling you that Aaron, but I’ve yet to come up with a better way of distinguishing between the two) on top of the other three guy teachers in the back seat, me on Rachel’s lap in the front seat, and Wedad speeding in and out of the traffic, we were quite a sight to behold…I have grown accustomed to being something akin to an American exhibit when we are out in public, but this was quite the display, especially when we all spilled out of the car in the parking garage at Cosmo (the mall we drove to in the same fashion after church).

On Saturday, we went from visiting some beautiful old churches in  the city of Madaba to exploring Mt. Nebo where Moses died before the children of Israel crossed over into the promised land to driving down the steepest, windiest decent to reach the Dead Sea.  The latter excursion left me feeling quite nauseated and frightened but I made it to the Dead Sea in one piece, and we took a different route home to my great delight.  To my dismay, girls are not encouraged to swim in the Dead Sea at the public beaches (unless they swim in their clothes, which I was not too anxious to do), so I resigned to the beach where I took pictures of the guys’ dead sea experience and watched George and Mark play with some trash amidst the abundant collection of trash littered along the shore.  On a side note, the amount of trash just thrown about here is quite disturbing.  I suppose it’s one of those things where it seems too big of a problem to tackle.  However, considering how incredibly clean the Jordanians keep their homes, I cannot understand why they permit such littering in public places.  The churches in Madaba were lovely, and while we were in Madaba, I bought a really pretty cross necklace made from olive wood.  The view from Mt. Nebo was amazingly beautiful.  We could even see the Dead Sea and a very distant Israel from the top of the mountain.  I thought it was especially neat that we had just heard a sermon on the life of Moses at a church we visited in Amman with Rachel.  The day was full but not to be finished until we ate some delicious shawarma from Rachel’s favorite place in Amman.  It was a spectacular day. 

The school week went by so quickly.  I played bingo with the kids on Tuesday to help them practice recognizing their numbers, and they made paper number chains on Monday.  Wednesday and Thursday I graded all four classes’ math books, which was quite a daunting task, but I finished by the end of the day on Thursday thanks to some assistance from the other teachers.  I decided to grade one class per day after school in the future.  I was both encouraged and disheartened by the math books.  Some of the kids are really getting it, but I still have a few that are really struggling.  I think the most difficult task is finding a way to reach those who are really struggling without boring to death the ones who have already mastered the concepts.  I need lots of wisdom.  All in all, it was a terrific week.  The only down side to the week is that by Wednesday, I had almost completely lost my voice.  It is still slowly returning to me.  I am not sure if this is really such a bad thing though.  Anyone who knows me, knows that being forced to be quite for a few days could be very good for me, lol.

I ended my Thursday night eating Nori’s delicious lentil soup with the other American teachers, that unbeknownst to us was filled with little black lentil bugs…oh my.  Yes, we ate the soup before this realization occurred.  However, I am quite sure that after boiling for over an hour, the bugs only gave us a little extra protein and no life threatening disease J  I am still in awe that I ate two bowels of soup full of bugs though…not sure I will ever get over that.  Black dots in my food will never be treated in the same manner again.  I will forever be skeptical of unknown objects in my food.

I will wrap up this post by saying that each day in Jordan is a blessing, and I am very thankful for the time I have been given here.  However long that time may be is yet to be seen, but I will keep cherishing the moments I have here and keep you posted.

Another week gone by in Jordan

Hello again.  I thought it was about time I added another blog post.  This past week I visited the historical city of Jerash, ate freshly caught fish at an outdoor restaurant, ate another wonderful Jordanian dish at Abla's home (one of the KG teachers), thoroughly enjoyed eating more of Rachel's famous cinnamon rolls, and spent time in Amman with Wedad (the sister of Naibil’s wife Nadia) and the other American teachers (except for Nori who was invited to an engagement party).  However, I am not going to give you all the details of those excursions in this blog post.  I want to share stories about the kids.

First, there is Safaa's first grade class...bouncy and beautiful might suit them for a title.  Safaa has the kids with the greatest energy and enthusiasm as well as the kids who speak the least English.  Her class is quite a challenge for me to teach.  I usually end up surrounded either before, after, or during class with hugs from the kids.  There is one little boy, Anas, in Safaa's class who cut his hair the first week of school only to claim when caught by Nabil that he was just cutting his paper and the scissors miraculously ended up catching some of his hair along the way, lol.  Manaalshah, whose name took me forever to learn to pronounce correctly, told me this week that I was her English mama.  Manaalshah, Zain, and Jood usually ask me before class is over if I can just stay in their class all day (which actually, it would be nice if I could stay with one group all day).

Next, there is Reem's first grade class (by the way, Safaa and Reem are the Arabic teachers).  Reem's class reflects her teaching style so perfectly when she is in the classroom (which is quite calm and focused) but if she leaves the room some of the more rambunctious personalities begin to display their true colors.  However, on numerous occasions I have somehow managed to keep the peace while she is away. 

In Nadia’s second grade class there are the most students, somewhere around twenty-eight, so you can just imagine the diversity.  There are a few students in her class who are little math geniuses and some who are still trying to get their numbers down.  My favorite part of math in her class is sitting individually with the students and helping them with their assignments.  Although it is quite a challenge when nearly thirty students are vying for your attention, it is worth it when I sit with one child and he finally gets the concept.  I sat for the longest time with Ali one day last week until he understood what I was trying to explain to him and now he runs and hugs me every day with a big smile.  I think that it really makes a difference when I can just sit and give them even a little individual attention.  The kids in Nadia’s class seem the most determined to learn.  Even when I tell them they can put their books away at the end class, there are always a few students who ask for more time because they really want to finish their task.  It makes me a happy teacher when I witness such excitement and determination to learn.      

Lastly, there is the third grade class.  From the beginning, this class has always held a special place in my heart.  I spent my first week of school with this class exclusively and really got to know and love each of the students.  From Moalwia’s soft heart to Jaber’s lively personality and from Omar’s never-fading smile to Seham’s quite disposition, each one of these kids has truly captured my heart. There has been much difficulty securing a permanent teacher for this class.  Shereen, the first Arabic teacher to lead this class, left after the first few weeks of school.  After Shereen, Walaa and Mary came along.  Mary was wonderful with the kids, and they loved and respected her, but the ministry of education would not approve her paperwork as her degree is not in education.  Walaa is the teacher currently in the third grade, and she is wonderful with the kids.  However, she has already faced many difficulties in securing her place in this class.  I greatly hope that she will be able to remain in the third grade class for the rest of the year, as the kids have experienced enough insecurity in regards to their teacher already. 

I will save stories about the KG kids for another day.

As you can probably tell from this post, I am growing to love these kids so much.  I hope that I will treasure each moment I have been given with them and make the most of our time together.  I know that I can learn so much from them as I already have, and I hope that when our time together is over I will have left something with them as well.  

My First Blog Post!

Well hello everyone--once I figure out how to share this blog with you :)

Here is my first blog post about my adventures in Jordan.  I hope that this blog gives you a glimpse of the beautiful place that is Zarqa, Jordan while keeping you up to date on the happenings in my life.

First, I am here in Zarqa teaching in the American Academy of Jordan.  This year is school's first year in business.  Because the school is brand new, there is lots of work to be done.  However, already the school is blossoming through the diligent efforts of Nabil who started the school and the many teachers who give their best efforts each day to work together for the 150 plus kids currently attending the school.  I consider it a great privilege to be working alongside  such determined, passionate, dedicated people.

My first few weeks of teaching were rather daunting as I was teaching both math and science to four different classes.  However, now that we have more teachers, I will just be teaching math.  Every day of school I am blessed by the children, from their kisses and hugs in the morning to the laughter they bring throughout the day.  I only wish I could understand all the things they try to tell me.  I do have a few students who speak English, but the majority of children in the school speak Arabic exclusively at home so their English is very limited.  I am learning precious few Arabic phrases though which helps with communication.  Here is your Arabic word for the day :)  (Yes, I will attempt to teach you Arabic though I am highly under-qualified.)  The word is "Marhaba" (which means "hello" in Arabic).  I think it actually means "welcome" literally.  I will check on that...

Moving on, life in Jordan is ....hummm...I am trying to think of one word to capture it....unpredictable.  Yes, unpredictable definitely applies to almost every aspect of my life here.  The culture here is so very different from my usual reliance upon plans and schedules.  I am learning to adapt and go with the flow though.  But don't worry, we do finally have a concrete schedule for school thanks to Aaron.  Aaron is our English teacher at the school, who is absolutely harlarious p.s.  Getting off on a rabbit trail, I am so thankful for the teachers here!  Rachel is the sports, art, music, fun teacher!  She has traveled a lot and lived in Jordan before as well, so I rely on her so much when it comes to figuring out my way around this culture.  Nori is teaching KG.  Nori is always full of love and encouragement, and she makes me laugh all the time.  Aaron and Brandon are the newest additions to our American teaching staff.  I already mentioned Aaron; what else can I say--halarious!  Also, he is constantly pointing out my need to clarify and re-clarify what I say...would you like me to clarify that :)  Brandon is the science teacher--hallelujah I will not be teaching both math and science anymore!  In case you cannot tell, I was a bit worried about continuing to teach both subjects all year.  The lesson planning was a bit overwhelming to me.  Reading Brandon's blog is what pushed me to start this one.  Although he insulted me in his blog by saying I was a baby (well his words were, "almost born in the 90s"), I will refrain from making any insulting comments at this time.  Those are the four American teachers.  In addition to them, two teenage guys came this week to help with the sports, art, and KG classes, as well as the after school program that is going to begin in a few weeks.

Well, since this blog is getting long and incredibly unorganized, I will postpone writing until another time.  Off to plan math lessons for this week and make coffee :)  Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my life in Jordan.  Until we meet again.