My Improbable Adventures

One of those days!

2012-01-12T12:26:00.000+09:00

Have you ever had a day you thought would have been better if you had stayed in bed? I know that is a common question, but this is definitely one of those days for me! The main cause of this problem was that I thought it was tomorrow! I knew I should have taken a better look at the calendar.

First, I woke up (for the final time!!) around 4am. I left the house around 4:35am and drove to the airport to turn in my rental and pick up a new one. They wouldn't extend the rental and said I had to turn this one in. I turned the car in and went to get another one from a different rental agency, but there was nobody there! I waited for a little while and decided to ride the shuttle to the airport to see if I could contact anyone from one of the phones there. I managed to reach one company, but they didn't have any cars available.

I then decided to return to the rental agency as it would definitely be open by then. They fortunately were willing to give me the rental a day early, though I ultimately paid much more than I was expecting. I am hoping I will find a cheap car to purchase before I have to turn this one in; it will be a better deal. After I managed to get the new rental, I proceeded to drive to work.

I managed to get on the wrong highway and drove to the other side of town, and even exited it. I realized I was doing this and turned around and 'felt' my way to what ended up being a place that would get me to where I needed to go. I thought I was going to have to call in to say that I was lost, but that thankfully did not happen! And I was only 15 minutes late for work!

Sure, finding the correct road may not be the most efficient, but it works for me! I just hope that tomorrow is a much easier day in that realm!

Alamo and lessons...Good or bad?

2011-12-31T14:01:00.000+09:00

Today after work I took my first trip to downtown San Antonio. I visited the river walk and took a boat ride/tour on the river. It was interesting to hear about the building of the riverwalk, the history behind some of the buildings in the area, and to see the Christmas lights that decorate most of the trees in the area. There were an overabundance of people, though, and this was a bit uncomfortable for me.

Before going on the boat we ate at Dicks. The waitress was extremely rude and sarcastic; in other words perfect for her position. The food was not too bad. I had alligator nuggets for an appetizer. I had the chicken fried chicken for the main meal. It wasn't too bad, but I didn't like the sauce.

Before all of this, I went to the Alamo. It was an interesting historical place with lessons hidden in the stories told. Who would have thought that history would support the fears that some people have about large amounts of immigration from Mexico. The Mexicans invited European/American settlers in to have a buffer zone between them and the Comanche, but soon there were so many of them that Mexico was afraid that they would try to separate. Today there are those who think that this is what will happen within the US. Most don't site this little piece of history, but it shows that while many may be paranoid, there may be some history to back them up. Perhaps we really need to listen to people and see why they think what they do, and see if there is more to it than we would like to believe. There is way too much dismissal of others on both sides. :(

And now I must start to decide where I need to turn to next in order to offend people!

DLI has begun!

2011-12-11T06:41:00.000+09:00

I left the conference in California (www.cbiworld.org) on Sunday before it was over, and as a result missed one of the sessions I really wanted to attend :( I arrived in San Antonio around midnight. I was grateful to have my friend and her son meet me at the airport to take me to her house where I am renting a room for my time here.

Working at DLI seems to be an interesting assignment. I am scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan hopefully in May if my security clearance goes through. As I haven't even been able to start the process yet, I am uncertain how long this is going to actually take. I just found out that my training is going to be quite extensive. I have 3 weeks of preservice training followed by 4 weeks of Afghan specific training. This is supposed to include language training as well. Then I will have to do an Air Advisory Course for an unknown amount time. In addition to this I will have to do Combat Readiness Training at Fort Dix in New Jersey which will last another month! With all this training, I wonder how long I will actually have left on my contract when I finally get to teaching!

I have been suffering from information overload, though I am grateful for it. I have also been introduced to many different people who have all been very kind and helpful. I was taken out to lunch by two separate people, invited to dinner at another person's house, and have been accepted by just about everyone. As political as everyone says this place is, I have managed to ignore it thus far. I just hope it stays that way for me.

San Antonio is not a place I would choose to live if it weren't for the job here. There isn't a lot in the way of restaurants (lots of Mexican places, a few others but nothing too great according to those who live here). It has been a little colder here than usual, so that has resulted in some interesting talks.

I am much more interested in the Defense Language Institute and the students that actually represent over 120 countries! I learn so much from them, and it is interesting to hear them speak with each other outside of class. Yesterday during an observation I say next to an Iraqi Lt. Col. He was very nice and wanted to talk with me about my time in Iraq. It was interesting to be able to talk with someone who knew where I was talking about!

What Keeps Me Up at Night?!

2011-11-16T16:32:00.000+09:00

I am not sure if this is really a question or more of a statement. It seems that my body refuses to let me get the rest I need in order to accomplish all of the things I need to accomplish this last week of classes! Normally I wouldn't care (maybe), but I really would like to do well in most of my classes anyway! I have been doing well thus far, why mess it up now (though I must say I have a tendency to do just that!).

Last night I was kept up by a rather profound and confusing memory. About 3 years ago, I went on a trip around Eastern Europe beginning and ending in Krakow, Poland. It was a trip that changed my outlook on what I was doing at the time and actually caused me to "give up" and leave Krakow (a very beautiful city that I miss to this day). One event in particular came to my mind last night: a meeting with a special girl in a sandwich shop at the train station in Lviv, Ukraine.

I was waiting for a bus to take me from the train station to where I was going to be staying. I was told they ran every half hour or so, and as I was hungry I decided to stop at the sandwich shop that was located not more than 100 feet from where the bus supposedly left. I bought a sub and an orange soda and sat down to enjoy my meal in the empty deli. As I was eating, in walked a Roma girl of about 14 years old.

Her face was caked with dirt, her hair scraggly and tangled, but if one could look past that they would see a bright, beautiful young girl. She was shy, yet insistent as she attempted to introduce herself in a language I did not understand. It could have been Russian, Ukrainian, or even a dialect of Romanian; all I could understand was her name which I have now, sadly, forgotten. I told her my name and she proceeded to ask for part of my sandwich. I could tell by the hungry eyes that looked longingly at the bread and fillings that lay on the table as we attempted to communicate in conjunction with the pointing finger she brandished with a bravado that was briefly shattered by the small, almost imperceptible, trembling.

The clerk/manager of the shop stood behind the counter glaring at us. I could tell he wanted the girl to leave immediately. With a little hesitation, I gave her part of my sandwich. I didn't have much money, and I hadn't eaten in a while, but I was sure she hadn't eaten in much longer. The warnings people had given me about the dangers of giving things to beggars weighed on my mind, but my sadness won over. But what they had said was true! After I had given her the food, she asked for more; she wanted my drink to go with it.

I sat there wondering if that was so bad, all the time pretending I didn't know what she wanted. It was easy to do as she already knew I didn't know her language. But then, I decided to purposefully not understand for a different reason: I wanted to see what she would do. Perhaps this was my way of distancing myself from a situation I was uncomfortable with and from someone I had found myself connecting with a little too much. Whatever the reason, I sat and looked at her as if I were an idiot who couldn't understand basic gestures.

As I didn't make a move to stop her, she grabbed my bottle of pop (soda) and ran out the door. To my surprise, the deli woman raced out after her, came back with my bottle, washed it off and returned it to me. I took a small drink from it to show the woman I was not afraid to do so, gathered my stuff, and left. The girl was still outside. I looked at her and gave her the bottle. I would not die of thirst, and I could get some more later if I so chose. I couldn't help but wonder what I would have done if I were in her shoes.

This particular event kept going through my mind last night for reasons that are unclear to me. The tears I wept for her last night brought no relief to me, only confusion and bewilderment. Perhaps it will become clear to me soon; I can only hope.

Continuing On

2011-10-28T17:44:00.000+09:00

Well, it appears that the worst is over and I am, metaphorically speaking, over the threshold of death. While I am not completely cured, the ability to sit at the computer without going into migraine-style symptoms allows me this note of optimism I so desperately need at the moment!

I have been questioning many things lately, which I often do when I am sick (perhaps this is why I get sick, to remind myself I need to do this), and I have decided that it may be best, though not financially the wisest, to return to my nearly empty apartment that is anxiously awaiting me in the cold confines of northern Michigan. At a time such as this, it is definitely good to have people around that can support you, or give you that kick if you so need it. I will attempt to get things worked out to this end as soon as I can. We shall see what happens.

SICK!!

2011-10-27T16:49:00.000+09:00

I have discovered that if I sit propped up like an ancient Roman aristocrat, my nasal passages are clear, and I can actually BREATH!! Now if I could only find someone to feed me, I would be all set. I haven't really left my room in 2 or 3 days. I can't sleep, and I am having a difficult time even typing this as my eyes are burning and my head is pounding!! I think I may have been put under a curse of some ancient Korean who saw the pictures of those ridiculous white men being fed grapes and decided that every so often one should be subject to "needing" to sit that way, just for a change of perspective. Now, how did I become the lucky one?

I am down to one meal a day as I mean to get up for breakfast, but just can't bring myself to move. Dinner is a little easier because I have had all day to try and limber up enough to go eat. The heat from the food cools me down, so it is a comfort that I really don't want to miss!

I may have to come back soon, just for some wonderfully made chicken soup! There is just something about the goodness of homemade soup that makes everything better (funny that it doesn't quite work the same for the soup I am getting here. Delicious, but not as satisfying at the moment). If I can ever bring myself to get out of the room, I may go get some samgaetang: a small chicken sitting in broth with ginseng and other stuff I can't remember.. it tastes good, and it is healthy.

Enough complaining for now. I have taken a lot of time to write this short bit as I have to keep stopping, but I felt I needed to let everyone know that I was still alive, even if not in the best of health.

How do kids stand it?

2011-10-19T19:55:00.000+09:00

It seems like I learn a new way that I am "supposed" to eat every time I eat with someone new. While these are always wonderful forays into the various adventures of culinary delight and education, I can't help but wonder how I could ever take in such complex ideas when I was growing up. Sure, it may not seem too complex when you look at it (hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills aside), but that simple motion of bringing a spoon or fork to one's mouth with food still in place takes much more conceptualizing than one may think!

Of course here, it is spoon and chopsticks! You may think that this would be a problem for me, but it is really quite easy once you get used to it, and I seem to have gotten the hang of it quite quickly. The problem comes when you have to decide when you should use the spoon, when the chopsticks, and when your hands. Is it alright to lift the bowl or not? Sure, please do...if it's soup.. lifting the bowl of rice may lead to a ban on eating rice for you (probably not that serious, but still considered quite rude). This is why Koreans generally eat their rice with spoons!!

When I do have the rare occasion to use a fork, I find that I would rather not. They have become more troublesome than chopsticks for the most part. It is difficult to relearn how to negotiate the fork so that the food doesn't fall all over the place; chopsticks are much more efficient! I may have to start carrying around my own set again when I get back home or wherever I happen to end up next. The metal Korean chopsticks are apparently the most difficult to learn how to use, but still my favorite overall....

I should be back in the US come December: I hope I don't have to learn how to eat all over again!!

Wasting time in a productive way!

2011-10-19T19:40:00.000+09:00

My first question is: Is this still procrastination? I usually call it productive procrastination as it really is beneficial, just not necessarily what "should" be done... though who makes those decisions anyway?

Yesterday, I left off with my coming home to sleep, I think. Somewhere in all of this, I lost a day, so I am getting a little confused. I left the airport, found the people to show me my new "home", took a nap, had dinner, went to bed...that was the first day ;) The following day I woke up sore, tired, and weak... decided breakfast was out of the question, and I went back to sleep planing on not getting up for the whole day. Then what happens? I get a phone call from a person who says she has tried texting me two or three times. I didn't get these texts for some reason. I have to go for the second half of a test she is conducting for her PhD research in Linguistics at Georgetown University on learning honorifics in the past tense in Korean (or something very close to that). I thought it was going to take about a half an hour; it took about two! The test material was all in Korean, and I didn't always know what it meant (which I guess was part of the plan). I thought my head was going to explode, but I did learn the word for "just now", the changing endings on some of the exception verbs, and had a brief reminder into the past tense. I think it would have been safer to just go to class!!

As part of all this, I also learned that right across the street from where I now live (as this is where it ended up being...though I had to walk 10 minutes out of my way to find this out), there is a coffee/tea shop where you can rent rooms on the upper floor. You can order food and study there... it is even better than the place where you can rent miniature classrooms! I am not so sure of the price, but I think it is a place that will be useful in the future.

Tomorrow I have a vocabulary test over chapter 3, and I may know half of the terms. The grammar is really easy at the moment, but vocab is always difficult for me. I hope I can manage to absorb enough to at least pass. If not, who knows what will happen!

There and back again! ;)

2011-10-17T20:22:00.000+09:00

Yet another long journey has been made by this unsuspecting wanderer. I went back to Denver, Colorado last week for the residential portion of my current classes. This is quite the trip from Seoul, but it wasn't too bad. Sure, I was a little tired for the first day or so (that seems to happen when you don't sleep for a couple of days), but getting to see everyone there was well worth it!

After a week of classes, a rather light schedule comparatively speaking, and a trip back to Korea, I found myself in a hotel in Inchon near the airport. I stayed out of the city because I needed the quiet, the sleep, and the place to keep my luggage! I had found a place to move into after returning to Korea, but it would not be available until the following day. Then I find out that it will not be available until the afternoon of the following day (i.e. today)!! This meant that I would have no place to put my luggage while I went to class, so I decided that I would just go to the airport and wait there until I could go move in.

While I was waiting and trying to study my Korean, a person approached me and told me that they needed more foreigners for the shooting they were doing at the airport. So, I agreed to be an extra in this Korean drama! So, most of the morning I spend rolling my luggage to and from the doors leading to the customs area of Seoul International Airport while they shot an airport scene...This is another reason I like to pack light! I didn't this time and rolling that stupid thing around all morning was exhausting! Surprisingly there were 4 or 5 Russians working with them as well. One was a student at my university doing her Masters in Political Science and Korean. As she put it "I am a Russian studying political science at a Korean university in English, which I have to translate." It sounds like her life is quite similar to my own. I never did get her number, but she lives in this same area as me, so maybe I will run into her again sometime. The person who hired me to be an extra took my phone number and said he would call me again if something came up where they could use me! Now that would be AWESOME!

I left a little early ($30 richer) arriving at the designated meeting place at the designated time. I ended up waiting half an hour for the person to show up to take me to my new room. As it coincidentally turns out, a couple days or so before I left, I was sitting behind a restaurant off the main road with a classmate of mine. I had pointed out a sign on a nearby building and mentioned that they were renting rooms, and that it would be an even better location than where I was presently living at the time. Now I find out that I am living in that very building! I guess it is ok that I didn't take the phone number and try to call! Such a wonderful example of happenstance in my life!!

This place is closer to school than where I was staying before, costs less, and provides wonderful meals at breakfast and dinner! There is not much more one can ask for. I do have to ask about laundry, but I believe there is a washing machine here as well. I do have to share the bathroom and shower with about 8 other people, but I guess I can handle that. There is one person here who lives on my floor who speaks English. She is a very friendly Korean student at a local university here. It is good to know that if I have any problems, there is someone who can help, if I actually attempt to ask!

Troubles on the Horizon

2011-10-05T21:33:00.000+09:00

I went out a couple nights ago and have subsequently been sick. I would say that I drank too much had I had anything, but this wasn't the case. I have been sore, and I slept for 16 hours the night after. I was ok enough for school on Tuesday, but today I stayed home and slept even more. In the midst of this, I missed a test that I thought was scheduled for Saturday! And because I missed it, I will have to pay $50!

I ran into some unexpected expenses, so now I have to figure out a way to make some money! I am really unsure of what I have gotten myself into this time. There are many things I want to do, and I am not so sure I can do any of them. I feel like I am falling behind in everything now that I had to take a day or two off. I am not sure if I can catch up, and I am not sure that I really care! I think that is what worries me the most: my lack of caring.

Korean classes!

2011-10-01T09:28:00.000+09:00

My first day of Korean was Thursday. Why they would want to start on a Thursday, I have no idea, though perhaps it is because of the holiday this coming Monday! As I believe I stated previously, most of what we are doing is wonderful review, though the teacher gives some wonderful explanations I would never have known otherwise. It is very enriching in the education department.

The class is a mixture of nationalities: 2 from Singapore, 3 from China, 1 from Vietnam, 1 from Japan, 1 from Sweden, 1 from DR Congo, 2 from Spain, and then me! I have been hanging out with the one from Congo, the one from Sweden, and the two Spanish. We help each other with our Korean and just chit chat about nothing. Yesterday, I with the Spanish girl to the university that is right across the street from my own to meet another Spanish girl. It ended up being 3 Spanish girls and myself; with them all talking in Spanish of course! Then we met up with yet another Spanish woman and a guy from Italy.

We went to Krispi Kreme donut shop! The sell Hello Kitty donuts! I think next time I may just have to get one! My friend took a picture, so when she gets it to me, I will post it. Do they sell Hello Kitty donuts in the US?

I spend a lot of my time studying these days. I think I am actually keeping on pace, but I am really not sure. I seem to be reading everything, and getting my postings done on time. I think I took the right combination of classes to be able to take the amount that I did. I just hope I can keep it up when my Korean course starts getting really difficult.

On a housing note. I am still in the guest house (code name for hostel), and it looks like I will be until the 11th. I am not happy about it because it is a little more expensive than I was expecting or can afford. I think I may have found something that is only $350/month and includes breakfast and dinner. This will be very helpful.

Another Beginning in Korea

2011-09-27T23:18:00.000+09:00

After waking up at 3am yet again, I decided to get some homework done. I ate breakfast, and then more homework (a pattern seems to be forming here). Then, around 2pm, I decided to go to lunch. I was told that there was a Kimbap Changkuk nearby, so of course, I went.

Kimbap Changkuk is basically a fast food restaurant that serves many different types of kimbap (California roles), ramen, and other soups and such. These things are necessarily good for you, but they are relatively quick and quite inexpensive. The first restaurant I went to when I came to Korea the first time was the Kimbap Changkuk, so it was fitting that it was the first restaurant I came to this time as well! And it is interesting that it only went up about 50 cents in 8 years!

It appears that my search for a place to live will continue. I was told that they have a room here for $25/night, but that comes to like $750/month and it should be no more than $500/month. The Language school apparently can help people find a place, so I need to remember to ask them for help tomorrow during orientation. We shall see if it works out.

Seoul (?) Searching!

2011-09-27T05:30:00.000+09:00

I arrived safe and sound, if not overly tired, on Sunday night/Monday morning at my new home for approximately 10 weeks: Seoul, South Korea. Unfortunately, I am scheduled to stay for only 3 days in this establishment and need to find a more permanent location for the remainder of my time here. Fortunately, I also discovered that the owner of this place also does long term rentals for students and business men! I just need to find out the particulars to see if it will include everything I desire and still be affordable as well.

Yesterday I went to the Yonsei University Korean Language Institute for a placement test. This was a rough experience for me as I know enough Korean to not be an absolute beginner, but not nearly enough to be even a beginner! This is going to be a course of both review and new information! Perhaps this is best as it gives me more time to focus on not only learning the language but experiencing the culture as well. Though in addition, I will have to make sure to stay on top of my seminary classes as well! Overwhelming? Yes. Impossible? No.

After my test, I wondered around the Sinchon area in search of signs advertising boarding houses. There were tons of them! It made me wish that I had a phone, and that I could already speak Korean! It appears that there are no real shortages of people running boarding houses, but I do not know how many will be available, or how to contact them without a phone. I will look for a Korean person to help me within the next day or so. Orientation isn't until Thursday, so I have a little bit of time.

This section of the city is a little overwhelming. I did notice that with all the restaurants, there are Korean, Japanese, Italian, Thai, and Indian. I was very surprised at the amount of Mexican restaurants in the area, though. Of course there were also the ubiquitous American chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, among others. There was even an Outback Steakhouse and Caribou Coffee! I went to Starbucks to see about the prices, and if they would take my gift card. There was a picture of it on the door, and something a reference to the gift card, but I couldn't tell what it said. The person at the counter wouldn't take it, so I just paid cash for my grande iced Kenya coffee. Interestingly, I had been walking around with "my" travel mug, and when she saw it, she asked if I wanted my coffee in it. I decided that it was a good idea (even though I may have gotten less coffee; something I need to check on), and I actually saved around 30 cents because of it! To think, I wasn't even planning on getting coffee when I went out, and I saved 30 cents because I had taken coffee with me on the walk!

After the walk it was homework! I read some history of Methodism, and learned that I need to look at syllabuses more closely! I apparently have to write a 6 page sermon on grace by the weekend. I have never written a sermon before and have no idea even how to start! I guess that is what I get for taken seminary classes!!

Arrrgh! A Pirate Outing to Remember.

2011-09-23T07:51:00.000+09:00

The LA area has a lot to offer; most of which I have decided I was not interested in partaking. I was able to meet up with one of my friends here in Long Beach, and we went on a outing to Pirate's Dinner Adventure! I had never heard of this relatively modern version of Medieval Times. It is an adventurous Pirate show in which various audience members get to play a part. This all happens while you are enjoying a nice filling meal. I had one of the best times I have had in quite a while, even though I did find that the credit card charged me 1 cent more than what was on my receipt!

After the wonderful show, my friend and I returned to her place for a couple hours of wonderful conversation. It seems that we all have things to learn and things to do, and to be able to have someone to talk about those things with is very helpful. This time was not only enjoyable, it was also quite productive! I am generally not very productive, but I guess I need to make an exception every now and then ;)

I am hoping to be able to some time again have such an evening; it was good for my stomach, good for my mind, good for my heart, and good for my soul! (Even with fried Mac&Cheese and fried sweet corn!)

The days following!

2011-09-02T22:59:00.001+09:00

It has been a few weeks since I left Denver. Most of it was spent at my brother's apartment where I visited with family, met up with some old friends and interacted with them and their children. A very dangerous activity to be sure, but one I enjoy very much.

Now I have made it back to Houghton, MI: the area which I spent much of my time during my collegiate years. It is good to be back, though I think it will be a very busy time for me. There are people passing through, people who live here, and people who live elsewhere, who want me to stop by to visit. As much free time as it may seem I have, I really have very little. I have responsibilities no one knows about, and some that they do but may not realize how much time they take. For having very little tangible in my life, I am very busy. Perhaps I need to relook at the the cost-return ratio of my life!

I am happy, though, so there is no need to run out and change to much for the moment. That being said, however, I must bid you farewell as I go work on some readings, studyings, musings, and postings.

Iliff Journey begins!

2011-08-17T09:45:00.000+09:00

My seminary days have begun. They started out as rather unassuming online classes that allowed me something to do my final days in Iraq. The random internet troubles tried to prevent me from doing them, but I mostly overcame these problems. Then there was the transition into the residential portion of the classes. Ahh, the joys of hybrid courses!

My days at Iliff in Denver were ones of great uncomfortableness and growth (these two so often come together). As an extreme introvert, I knew that it would be difficult, but I didn't realize just how much. My classmates are all very interesting and diverse: just what I was hoping for. Be careful what you ask for runs through my mind. I looked at them all with a hope of getting to know them while also harboring a fear of doing so.

There were a couple of people that I looked upon with admiration and awe. They had many attributes I could relate to, and at the same time seemed much more grounded and stronger than I was. Perhaps I was even a bit jealous of this. It made it difficult to connect, but I hope that will be different when I see them again.

Now those days are over for now. I found that saying good-bye was a very difficult thing to do. As guarded as I was, I still allowed myself to be affected enough to become saddened by the need to leave. In addition to that, I feel that a time may come for me to move to Denver. Denver is a diverse city with a great feel to it. It isn't overly expensive, and it appears to have a lot of opportunities. Perhaps that will be a stop for me in three to six years from now.

Once again

2011-08-17T09:28:00.002+09:00

It has been quite some time since I have been able to post. For some reason my blogs would all come up blank when I tried to post them, so I gave up. I am once again trying. I am once again in Michigan and trying to visit people. I am not sure what it next, but when I find out, I will let you know. That is it for now.. I will post another blog for what I really wish to say.

The Present Horrors of Travel (5th attempt)

2011-07-29T07:41:00.001+09:00

Cairo: The Siren of the Middle East

2011-07-21T02:41:00.000+09:00

I am once again in Cairo, Egypt. One may wonder at the intelligence of coming here given the recent happenings (I can hear a demonstration outside as I type), but come I did. Even I can not really figure out the reasoning for such a thing, though perhaps it could have something to do with a friend I have here that I really would like to see once again.

You see, Cairo is a busy city where one doesn't come to relax. Just crossing the street is like taking your life into your hands. Every time I leave the hostel, I have a number of people attempting to offer their "help". They try to convince you that it is just out of the kindness of their hearts, but they are almost always looking for money or some type of favor. Many are selling things at more than what would be the fair market value counting on the fact that the person is ignorant about the worth of such items and locations as to where they could get them more reasonably priced.

I knew when I came that I really did not like Cairo. I came with trepidation in my heart and suspicion in my mind. Of course this tends to make itself into reality in a number of different ways, and this time was no exception. I managed to not have anyone meet me at the airport as agreed, not have my baggage even reach Cairo, and in my moment of extreme anger of it all, I skipped the long line at the customer service counter and started walking toward downtown. Of course I only made it 3.5 hours before I decided that I couldn't do it anymore and I needed to hail a taxi, which I paid what I thought was a fair price, though it seemed like he was expecting more.

I ran into the family of nemeses I encountered on my last visit. The one did not recognize me, and attempted once again to help me. The others saw me and talked about what happened; at least it was amiable. I am soooo sick of having to deal with people, though. I think my next vacation is going to be somewhere I have friends that aren't so busy, or else I will go with someone I know. Maybe I will find someone who would like to go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and stay in a resort down there. If you are interested, let me know :) The more the merrier! (Up to about 8). Sometime from August 14 or 15 - September 10 (one or two weeks) would be ideal.....

Dinner on a boring day

2011-07-13T02:51:00.000+09:00

Today was just another day in tent city where there is less to do than where I was previously. Basically, I walked around for some of the day, then I came into Green Beans and had a coffee and surfed the internet. Not the most entertaining thing in the world, but it did end up being productive. At around 6 or 6:30 I went to the local "Oriental Restaurant". The food was passable, and while a little more expensive than I would have liked, not exorbitantly so. I was a little disappointed that oriental meant Chinese and two or three Korean dishes in a restaurant staffed exclusively by Filipino/a workers.One would think I would be used to it by now, but I don't think that will ever be the case.

Tonight will probably be another early night so that I can get up super early in the morning and take a relatively private shower. Then I have to go to the office to get my LOA (Letter of Authorization) stamped by those pesky LNO people stating that I have obtained the proper visa to take the bus into the airport to catch my flight. I have to be ready with my things by 8:30am because my flight is at 2:20pm. I am not sure it is going to take that long, or even when the bus leaves from here. They only give show times, never departure or arrival times. It all makes sense, but it can be frustrating as well. I wonder what is going to happen when I finally make it into the real/normal world once again.

If you thought that a food article would have been good, then perhaps you would like The Road Forks by a couple of friends of mine. I am sure you will enjoy their writing and marvel at the opportunity they have had to eat their way across much of the world... If only I were as pushy!

What's next?

2011-07-12T18:59:00.000+09:00

I am now at another crossroads in life. I am doing online classes for which I must spend some time in residence, but for the most part I have a huge decision to make. I am soon to be officially unemployed. I have the opportunity to go back to school and live in the wonderful Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan, or I could do a little more traveling first.

I am looking at a number of possibilities. I am looking at Israel, North Korea, and Cairo for a slightly extended stay. They all have pluses and minuses, and it is difficult to decide what is worth it and what is not. As the time makes its way closer, I will let you know how the decisions finally come out. Either way, I am sure it will be an adventure worthy of of blogging. Perhaps someone out there will actually enjoy it.

My vacation has almost begun; you will surely read about it as it unfolds. Good luck to all, and happy reading.

My Exit from Iraq

2011-07-12T18:51:00.000+09:00

While I mentioned how I left Iraq, I didn't tell about the most interesting conversation I had while waiting at the air terminal. While I was passing the time working on my computer, a nice 1st Lieutenant addressed me in one of the most common ways people have addressed me in Iraq, "you must be hot in that!" As I was inside, and the air conditioning is set at a level that would make a penguin feel at home, I could truthfully answer that I was not. Of course I couldn't make it that simple, so I replied, "only outside. I wear the jacket for when I am inside."

I assumed that this satisfied him, as he turned away. Suddenly he turned back, as if he had forgotten something extremely important. "What do you do?" Not a very uncommon question either, so I told him I was an English teacher. "Oh. You should know that the rumor around base, because of you hair and your style, is that you are CIA. But now I know, so it is alright."

Now this could explain why it seemed like so many of the soldiers always seemed to be talking about me, looking in my direction and whispering. I wasn't being paranoid, they actually were! I can't help but wonder what other strange things they may have been saying about me. I also wonder if this has anything to do with the change in the way I was treated by the air force before I left. Perhaps this actually explains a lot!

I actually sort of wish that I did work for the CIA, at least then I would have the satisfaction of doing something good while being treated this way for a reason. I suppose that will have to go down on the list of things I never got the chance to do, however. Very sad.

The Whirlwind of My Mind

2011-07-11T20:22:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was a swarm of activity! I went to breakfast and to the office as any usual day, but after saying good-bye to everyone, I was driven to the pax terminal where I awaited my fixed-wing flight to the wondrous land of Kuwait.

I waited at the air terminal for around 3 hours, and then loaded a cargo plane with as many others as they could pack in. Most of them were getting off at the first stop, but many more were to get on. This trip was the closest I have ever come to knowing what a sardine in the desert feels like. I was packed into a flying tin can while wearing body armor and carrying a heavy backpack. All the others were about the same. The plane was sitting on the airstrip with the sun beating down on it with all of its might with no shade is sight. Finally we were underway, but comfort and sleep were the imaginings of a mad man who one thought his sanity all that was left.

The first stop went off without a hitch, though I had to stay on the heat riddled plane for the half an hour it took to unload and load it. After was seemed an eternity, we finally landed in Kuwait and were taken to the wonderful tent city where I would find my home for the next 2 - 3 days. The bus which had dutifully picked us up at the airplane dropped us off in front of the building in which we could get directions as to where to go next. They sent me to the LNO (no idea what it actually stands for, but they help with logistical type matters). I went in and they gave me a visa application and a sheet with directions. I would have to go in the morning to get processed.

Then I took the arduous journey back to where I had just come from to find out where I could turn in my body armor. The extra weight was not something I wanted in the extreme heat of Kuwait. Fortunately that didn't take long and I could get my tent assignment and then get down to the real business of the day: going to the Green Beans and having a nice cup of coffee while surfing the internet!

I spent a few hours doing that and then went to chapel. It was a small traditional service which I quite enjoyed. It was good to finally be able to go to a service again! When I finally got back to the tent, I lay down and tried to get some sleep. I tossed and turned, but sleep eluded me. I transformed my jacket into blanket mode, but this resulted only in a more comfortable still awake me. Around 2:30am I took a shower and trudged back down to the Green Beans and chatted with those who were online. It was finally time to catch the bus for the visa trip.

They loaded us up and took us into the secure area of the airport. The liaison took our passports, photocopy of the info page of the passport, the visa application, and the money and gave all of it to the agents to process. The whole reason we were required to go this way was due to the implementation of rules in which we need to have fingerprints and retinal scans done. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the biometrical equipment was not functioning today; therefore, we were able to get away with not having to do it. I guess this information is not all that crucial to the Kuwaitis after all!

We managed to make it back in record time! We were only gone for 4 hours instead of the whole day as we were supposed to be. Now I get to relax, enjoy another coffee (and some cliff bars), and write about how relatively boring my life is.

An Eager Attempt to Try Everything!

2011-06-29T22:02:00.000+09:00

As most people may or may not know, I like to try out different things and take advantage of all that is made available. For instance, if I am put in business class, I am not going to pass up the opportunity for that free glass of wine. I think that if I have the chance to do something that I may not be able to normally do, it would be foolish to pass it up!

In this same vein, a couple of days ago I was forced by my coworkers (and supervisor) to go to the clinic. I have been having nausea every time I eat or drink anything, and they were getting quite concerned. I have also been very tired and sore as well. So, off to the CSH, (combat support hospital which we pronounce as cash) I went! I gave them my Letter of Authorization (LOA) so they would be able to treat me, but the receptionist sent me back to the back to have the person authorize me for treatment. The Specialist (E-3) behind the desk told me I was only authorized for life, limb, or eyes according to my LOA. This had been a problem before and a letter was sent to them to explain the circumstances. I mentioned this, but he said I had to wait for his NCO to arrive in about 2.5 hours!

I left. I went back to work very unhappy. I don't like doctors to begin with, and this was just the reason I needed to not go at all. Of course upon telling my supervisor, he found and printed the letter and told me to go back, so, sadly, return I did. I showed the letter to the Specialist and he paged his NCO. When the NCO finally arrived, he said that it was fine, so back to the receptionist I went, and I was able to start waiting for the next half hour or more to actually see the doctor.

When I was finally able to see the doctor, she asked questions, did a couple of exams, and then decided that she needed to draw blood. This was done, and I had to wait around waiting for results. She stated that as a result of the examination, she wanted a CT scan and an ultrasound, so I would have to go to a different hospital because they don't have those capabilities at this one. It was an interesting prospect, but not one I was really looking forward to. Still, she went off to make the arrangements.

While I was waiting for blood test results, they found an ultrasound machine and decided to try it out. As the three doctors fiddled with the machine to try to get it to work, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. They worked on the machine for 15 minutes before they were able to get it to work and attempt to perform the procedure. As they were in the midst of the procedure, they realized that they couldn't really see what they were looking for, so they decided to stop. They told me that they had arranged for me to go to the ER in Baghdad and that I was to get my stuff and come back ASAP. They would then call the medivac people to come.

I went back to my CHU (containerized housing unit), packed in 3 minutes, and returned to wait for the medical helicopter that was going to transport me to Baghdad. The chopper ride was interesting. The medic, wearing his helmet with the dark shield down to shade the sun, sat on the gurneys across from my seat, the only one in this part of the helo. He placed the blood pressure cuff over my arm and took vital signs during the whole flight. We had to land and change helicopters as part of this trip, so I was handed over to another medic.

The seats on this were a little different. This chopper was able to carry 4 people sitting, plus the medic (and of course the gunners on each side and the pilots. There was a flash outside the helicopter as we were flying, but as it only caused irradic flying for a few minutes, I figured it was better to forget about it.) Anyway, I finally made it to the ER where they did the CT scan, urinalysis, more blood tests, and an ultrasound. So many fun things including having to drink some concoction that numbed my insides and some type of lemony crystals that expand in your stomach and give you gas (this was to help in the CT scan). They also injected me with something that would make my veins light up so they could see them. This stuff caused me to become warm all over, almost to the point of being uncomfortable... it was really kind of cool!

Then came the arduous task of getting back to my current residence! I spent the night in temporary billeting in Tent City. My tent had about 30 or 40 cots set up, but fortunately most were empty. In the morning I checked out and went to the helo-terminal and registered for a flight. I had to go to a different base where I would have to register for another flight to my base. I did finally get out of there as well, but not until after 9pm..

This morning I didn't wake up until 11:11am! Even given that, I am still a little tired and VERY sore. Because I have no authorization for sick days, I will have to use vacation days for this, so I will probably have to give up my vacation. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but I am not really happy about it. This is all just part of the process of figuring out what is coming next for me.

The Dangers I Don't Face!

2011-06-21T03:40:00.000+09:00

The days here have been pretty frustrating for the ELTs and the cadets alike. The constant changing of information with little to no explanation seems to get on people's nerves. The cadets were supposed to leave some time ago, but for various unknown reasons, they are still here, and we are still teaching them. We are now planning on giving them a test even though we really don't know if they are still going to be here that day or not (we are suspecting that they will be).

All of this uncertainty has made the cadets grumpy and whiny. They don't want to come to class, and when they do come, they don't want to work. This in turn causes the teachers to speak poorly about them. As these discussions happen, I can't help but wonder how much we don't know. I have heard it said that they "have no honor", "they are lazy," "they agreed to something so they need to do it", and even "if they don't come to class, they should be docked pay". I find myself wanting to agree. Then I stop, take a step back, and reassess the situation. I start doing what I seem to do best: asking questions!

The cadets have taken a job which puts their life at risk. I don't mean in the same way that one puts their life at risk by joining the military back home; that merely carries with it the risk of going to war (not a risk to be taken lightly for sure). When a person in Iraq affiliates themselves with the military, they become a target of their own people. Before the Iraqis leave the base, they must all be in civilian clothes, and they are not allowed to leave, for the most part, by land; they, like us, must fly back to bases close to home and take taxis and such from there.

As part of their uniform, they are required to wear a beret. This beret can leave a black line on their forehead. If they don't take care to clean this line before leaving, it could cost them their life. They also are a little skittish about getting their pictures taken as these could also fall into the wrong hands and possibly get them killed.

So, I have to ask myself, "are these cadets without honor? Are they scared, whiny little brats as some seem to claim?" When I think about all the dangers they face just by being there, the fact they don't get paid for the time they are supposed to be on break but are forced to continue with classes because the plane didn't come, the general respectful actions, I can't help but come to the conclusion that for whatever reason they have become cadets, they are behaving honorably and much better than most people I know would. I can't help but think they are being misjudged and that before we attach labels and judgements on people, we should attempt to put ourselves into their shoes and try to understand where they may be coming from.

Women's "Place"

2011-06-04T04:50:00.000+09:00

I went to another seminar in the series on relationships, marriage, and parenting. This one was about making your marriage last a lifetime. The video that was shown gave a lot of good advice and made associations and used real examples that made it much more understandable and practical. The best part, however, was in the discussion.

One woman talked about when Adam and Eve were created, and how people often use this story to indicate that the woman is subservient to the man because it states that she is to be his helper. As it turns out, the Hebrew word means, basically, someone who helps in all things. She is to be a sounding board, a builder of character, someone to help when he is sick, and a nemesis (I really liked this last one). And, apparently, in Psalms this same word is used to refer to God as out helper! If we talk of God and of woman using the same word, this definitely did not have the connotation of subservience or of being unimportant or menial in nature!

Each day is bringing fresh, new ideas as well as just reopening old ones. I am learning a great deal here and hope that I can continue to do so until it is finally time for me to leave.

Tomorrow is a day off from work, but hopefully not from learning. There are many things happening here that I can feel but have no knowledge of. I did ask about it and learned that my feelings are right about this. Oh the inconvenience of being so affected by others feelings...empathy can be negative sometimes!

The Frustration Continues!

2011-06-02T23:50:00.000+09:00

It seems that working in a location where much of what you do cannot be discussed makes it very difficult to keep a blog with very much consistency. Unfortunately, the lack of consistent frustration is not a problem here. It seems the cadets don't want to always come to class, and the US military is concerned with this. Of course their interference is going to cause the Iraqis to become a little discontent, and the English teachers manage to bear the brunt of it all. I don't really mind for the most part, but it seems a little counter productive to me.
Of course I am out of here in about 5 weeks, so no matter what happens, I don't have to put up with it for very long.

After all of this, many new things are on the horizon. I am not sure what they will settle into, but it will prove to be a very busy next couple of years no matter what I end up doing. I hope I am able to manage it. I need to probably find some sort of job while I am at school, but I don't know what it could possibly be! Perhaps it is just out there waiting for me to take it.

I wish I could write more, but I am neither in the mood nor do I have a lot that I can say at the moment. I guess I will just have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens and what I can report then.

Frustration, Anger, and Learning

2011-05-26T00:14:00.000+09:00

Yesterday and today brought with it much anger, and a few laughs. My cadets this cycle or pretty arrogant. They are Alpha class, they have fairly decent English, and they think they are better than everyone else. The other teachers have no problem with them, but I do. I am not really good at ignoring things of this nature, though I would be much happier if I did.

Yesterday one of my students remarked that Ugandans were lazy, stupid, and only ate, slept, and went to the toilet (most of the guards here are from Uganda). I told him that I knew a couple of them that were intelligent, spoke fluent English, and were interested in Politics and World Affairs. He said it wasn't possible. I was very angry about this and told him that I could say the same thing about Arabs! He face became stern and he glared at me with a look that would have turned Medusa to stone. After a brief pause to let that sink in, I continued on, "I know it isn't true, but there are many people who believe it because they don't know any better." We talked about stereotypes and how bad they can be. At the break he explained to me that many of them treat Iraqis without respect, even if they are generals. I have a feeling there is a cultural difference about what it means to respect someone, but I didn't broach that subject at all.

Today was a day that we used mainly to just talk and waste time. We finished just about everything, and they didn't want to work. I gave them some Penguin Readers (including Crime & Punishment and Anna Karenina). They absolutely loved them. While some were reading, others of us chatted about various things. I gave them some idioms using the word 'chicken'. They decided they didn't like that because they always have chicken for lunch, and it is usually pretty badly prepared. I told them that chickens were stupid, and one of them squinted his eyes and pursed his lips and responded: "I am offended by that!You shouldn't stereotype chickens!" I couldn't actually tell that he was joking, though I was hoping he was. Touche says I, touche! A little levity to show a point well taken and creatively dished back. As obnoxious as these cadets can be, I really like my students!

4th of July?

2011-04-03T23:02:00.000+09:00

I should have typed this as soon as I got back yesterday, but I was absolutely exhausted! We didn't have to meet until noon for lunch and then teach in the afternoon. This is very unusual as we normally teach in the morning; but the cadets had something else going on, so we accommodated them. After this long and arduous two hours, we sat in the office for another hour making sure everyone was caught up on all the information that was going around and that we all knew what we were supposed to be doing later that evening.

Then everyone went home; everyone that is except me and one of my coworkers. We were partners in the tournament that was to happen at 5pm that evening. It was quite obvious that given neither one of us had participated in an event such as this for many years (if ever) we would need to practice just to keep from looking like complete idiots. Unfortunately, the little bit of practice we had, did little to quell this appearance.

We were one of the first teams up. I was pitching first. I could feel the cold weight of the steel in my hand. Would it be good luck for me now as it is said to be if you put it on your wall (ends facing up of course). I aimed toward the metal steak in the ground and threw. The first was a little too far to the left, but still in the sand! I was doing better than I had in practice! The next landed close enough to the steak to give my team a point! This was the only victory I was asking for. The other two seemed to be up on the game and we lost 21-6. At least it was fun... somehow horseshoes is a game that just belongs at a picnic!

While the tournament was going on, we were able to have potato salad, ribs, hamburgers, or hot dogs. There was music playing and eventually a fire to sit by while making smores. Those who weren't playing horseshoes could play foosball, watch the various games, chit-chat, eat (dessert as well: pecan pie or carrot cake), or just relax. In the midst of all this, we said our hellos and goodbyes to those who have come in the past 3 weeks or so and to those who will be leaving us very soon. It was a bitter sweet occasion.

During this one could hear shots from machine guns out in the distance. No one seemed to even take notice. I merely thought of them as fireworks as a freedom celebration three months early. With all the fun that has been happening here, I am almost sorry I didn't join the military when I had the chance; I could be retiring soon had I done that!

Testing

2011-03-21T02:52:00.000+09:00

I finally got the chance to look over the material we are using, and I find it to be quite interesting. It appeared at first that the DLI material was based on archaic research and ideas, but I have found this to not be the case. Not only is the material meant to be taught using the latest methodologies, there is also a lab portion which is absolutely phenomenal. I think I could get used to teaching using this material!

Tomorrow we are testing the students. I will get to invigilate my first test with this material, but it all sounds pretty easy. After this job, I will be an 'expert' with the DLI material, so when they hire me to work for them, they can make me unlearn everything and relearn it the proper way! I just can't wait for that. I am not really sure how I feel about testing the students though. I have only had them for a couple of days, but we reviewed all the material, and they seem ready for the test. There are a couple I am concerned about, but I think they should have no real problems passing.

It will be a long day as we have to mark the exams, but it won't be difficult. So, here is to work that is not difficult and even enjoyable. Even in Iraq these are wondrous things we can cherish!

Teaching again

2011-03-18T20:40:00.000+09:00

Finally! I have been waiting for this day for a while, but yesterday, I finally was in front of my own class teaching once again. Actually I am not sure I like being in front of my own class, and the material is a little different than I am used to. Trying to make things interesting that the students seem to think are too easy is a bit difficult, but I am sure I will manage to think of something. The students have seen fit to ask me all sorts of questions about the set-up of the program and what is going to happen to them next after they take the exam and such... it reminds me of when I was teaching in Kurdistan: same exact questions, and me with the same answer: "I don't know. Let me check on that for you." Being only my second day, they hadn't covered all those things with me; there were other logistical matters that needed to be addressed first. So, once again, I felt like an uninformed idiot in front of my students... military students... there is something about the uniforms that make them a little more intimidating than others I have taught.

Today is my only day off. It is Friday and I get to do with it as I please. I just don't really know what I please to do with it. I am exhausted as I have not been sleeping well, so I may just sleep the day away. It does seem a shame, though, as it is quite beautiful outside. Perhaps I will look for jobs to go to after this one. I don't really know how long I will be here, so I need to be prepared for later in the year. I know, at maximum, I will be here until September 14, 2011. More than likely, I will leave before that. I hope they let me know; I have a couple of things I would love to do, but I can't do them this year because they are at a time that conflicts with my present job. I guess these are just things we have to see about in the future.

"Permanency" Again!

2011-03-16T01:57:00.000+09:00

Well, I have finally made it to my permanent duty location. I will hopefully be here until my contract ends, but things like this are never really certain. I have decided that I need to get a new wardrobe to accommodate the weather and dust here in Iraq. I think that I may be wearing a lot of tanish colors from now on. I need new pants/trousers, socks, shirts, and shoes... I just have to get to the Exchange to see if they have all these things.

I haven't eaten here yet, so I am not sure about the food. I guess we shall see in a few minutes. All in all this trip has been exhausting. The helicopter rides, the cancellations, the newness of the process, these were all contributing factors to my wanting to curl up in a little ball and sleep for the next ten years! Things are better now that I am here though.

The place I am staying is alright. It is somewhat small and I have to share, and I have to walk 200 - 300 meters to get to the showers and the toilet, but I can handle that :P The biggest problem is that there is no self-service laundry; one has to take the clothes in to be washed by someone else and then come back and get them 2 days later. I am VERY not fond of others doing my laundry!

Of course there is the issue of the roommate as well. I really don't like sharing a room at all usually, but I can handle it alright; it isn't the first time by far. Unfortunately, he seems to like it cold, so he has the air conditioner on full blast. For me, that is too cold, and the air conditioner itself makes me a little nauseous. It will be an interesting bone of contention.

All in all, I am happy for now. I will go observe some classes tomorrow so as to become familiar with the program and such. We shall see what happens. I hope to also pick up either a watch or a new cell tomorrow as well. It is important to have a way to wake up and to know what time it is; there aren't a lot of clocks hanging around to let me know.... wish me luck.

In Baghdad

2011-03-05T08:03:00.000+09:00

It is hard to believe almost two weeks has past since I have arrived. I had expected to start teaching right away, but things did not work out quite that way. The military had put the project on hold to review the safety and security issues involved. I am glad they are doing this as it means they are concerned for our safety. I suppose someone should be!

There isn't a lot to do here, though. I spend most of my time online or eating! I am sure I will gain 100 pounds before leaving here. The food is good and probably full of calories. Not being able to really leave the base makes things a little boring as well.

I am living right across from the US Embassy, so that is an interesting thing to see. I wish I were actually able to go visit, but no one is allowed without a special badge or specific permission. I can understand the security issues though.

People here have been wonderful! We have been getting along and playing scrabble and have also put on a couple of English classes for the people on this compound. I am scheduled to finally be moved to my new location soon! I think I will be teaching pilots... hopefully things at the new place will be as good or better than here.

That is all I can say for now. I will attempt to keep you informed. Let me know how things are going with the rest of the world; I live in a bubble!

On My Way!

2011-02-17T21:50:00.000+09:00

Last night I got the word that I would be leaving this morning for Kuwait! I have been waiting for this to happen for what seems like centuries. Of course this is just because I get anxious when there is an impending situation, be good or bad. I do hope this ends up being the former and not the latter!

After getting the news, I promptly decided that I needed to do my laundry. I managed to get that done and then packed... not at all very exciting, but it seems so much different when you getting ready to head over for a new job. I had a difficult time sleeping last night and today is going to be quite a long one. I only partially know what to expect, but at least there are two others who will be traveling with me.

I already ate breakfast, packed the remainder of my things, and now I am sitting and thinking,. I really don't have to go to roll call today, I don't think, but I will go anyway because it will give me something to do and another chance to say hello and goodbye to the people I have met here. This whole situation has been quite interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, most of the people I met will be going to Afghanistan, so the chances of ever seeing them again are remote. The two that are going to Iraq with me may not be stationed anywhere near me. I just found out there are 7 teaching locations, and they really don't know which one I will be placed at. So much for knowing that I am going to Baghdad! At least I will spend the first week or so there in order to process all the paperwork and such that needs to be processed.

More prep

2011-02-16T23:33:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was an extremely full day! After the morning role call and announcements we went straight into first aid training. This training started out the same as previous trainings I have had so long ago, but it didn't stay that way. This was training to the standards of the Department of Defense (DoD) not the American Red Cross, and there are a few differences which I don't think I will get into here.

We started of learning things like rescue breathing, treating for shock, the Heimlich maneuver, etc. Then we took a much needed break. Then we went into some combat field first aid. We went over tourniquets and marking the victims to inform others of tourniquet use; treating sucking chest wounds, open abdomen wounds, and severed limbs (this is where the tourniquets came in). Finally we had a two minute drill in which a disaster was simulated and we had to provide first aid for around 8 victims. My group lost two: one we didn't find, the other we couldn't get to as there was a suicide bomber blocking our path. The darkness made it a little difficult to work; I should definitely remember to get a flashlight and always carry it with me!

After the 4.5 hours of first aid training, we went over other information we would need. This included recognizing improvised explosive devices (IEDs), gaining a basic understanding of the Universal Code of Military Justice and how it will apply to us as contractors, a brief overview of the Laws of War, a briefing on sexual assault, and information on what to do if you get separated from your group for any reason. Becoming isolated in an area that isn't exactly the most friendly is not an easy thing to handle.

After this training we went to dinner, had a short break and then it was back to another daily briefing. I got to watch 3 or 4 people that arrived the same day I did get their paperwork to be deployed. I must say I was kind of jealous! I am anxious to get out of here as soon as possible now as most, if not all, of the training I was to receive here is done. I will have a day or two of processing when I arrive in Iraq, but at least I will finally be in country.

Most of the people are going to Afghanistan, so they are getting antimalaria pills; I am off to Iraq and won't need them; for this I am overjoyed! The rest of the day is pretty much mine to do with as I please. I will probably spend it answering questions from a reporter from Aljazeera - English about my previous job. I will also take a "short" tutorial from someone. Maybe I will sleep a little as well. If I am lucky, this evening I will be able to get going to the laundromat so I will have only clean clothes to take with me to Iraq (as long as I leave on Thursday as was the previous plan but has yet to be confirmed). Here's to hoping!!

Preparing for Baghdad

2011-02-15T00:31:00.000+09:00

I arrived at the airport yesterday around 10:50am. Right after landing I received a call from the hotel confirming that I had arrived and that I had received the information as to where to meet the van to be taken to the hotel. I managed to make it to the spot in a very short time and was told by the person meeting us there that the van would arrive in about 10 minutes. Within this time frame, the van arrived. Unfortunately we had to wait for more people, so we didn't actually leave until almost 1pm!

The hotel is quite nice. I have a large room on the 7th floor with a king size bed and large flat screen tv to myself. While the view overlooks the parking lot, it isn't really all that bad. We had to meet as a group around 3pm. We had a briefing and was told what to expect for the following 3 to 4 days (hopefully it won't be any longer). They explained how we were to use the restaurant and would be able to order anything and it would be covered up to :Breakfast: $10; Lunch: $12; Dinner $22. The food was good, and I didn't have to pay for it (thankfully!!).

After all of the briefings and dinner, we had to finish the online training that we didn't accomplish before arrival. This lasted until around 10pm.; I went to bed shortly after this as I had to wake up around 4:30 the following morning.

Waking up was easy. Went downstairs to have blood drawn, urinalysis, and 2 more vaccinations. This is spread out over 3 hours. Then we have to wait until 11am to eat. Afterward, there will be another briefing or two, and then physicals (though I haven't quite figured out what this will consist of). I had a vision test, a hearing test, and all of that already this morning; what is next?

This may not be all that exciting, but I thought I would let you know what was happening thus far. Hopefully things will get more interesting for you as time goes on.

Busy Days!

2011-02-12T23:47:00.002+09:00

These past few days have been very busy, hence the non-updates that have been happening. (Can something that doesn't exist happen?) I have spent the last week trying to figure out how to accomplish all the paperwork, medical type visits, and other such stuff to make sure that my week long trip to Texas would come about. Generally I don't worry about such things, but in this case no Texas, no job!

Now that I have completed all the medical and dental visits, filled out/in all the paperwork, and done all the online trainings, it has been confirmed that I have a space in Texas. I leave on Sunday. Hopefully it will be no more than a week, and then I will be off on my new assignment: teaching English in Baghdad!

I am quite excited about this possibility, though I suppose a little nervous as well. Hopefully I will be able to post from Baghdad, but my new employer and local may make that difficult. I may have to be a little more secretive than I like, but I guess I can do that: it fits my personality much more than I would like to admit sometimes.

Here's to hoping for the best! I will attempt to update you on all the things that I have to go through to get there and what happens when I arrive. Hopefully it won't prove to be too boring for you.

London to Newark!

2011-02-05T20:04:00.004+09:00

This post is going to be a little out of chronological order from those which will hopefully be completed later, but the urge to write about this now has grabbed me, and I am trying to never deny that urge. If I do, I just set myself up to fall back into the trap of not writing at all! The horrors that could come from that are unspeakable!!! (and yes, I believe all the '!s' are necessary.)

I landed at Gatwick airport ready to go check into a hotel that I was told was prepared for my arrival. I found the tickets for the Gatwick Express, bought an open-ended return ticket for 30.80 GBP. A rather expensive purchase, but London is that way. I really need to go check out something talking about London on the cheap! Anyway, I got on the train and made my way downtown to Victoria Station and then switched to a bus that took forever to find! It couldn't be one that left from the main location of nearly all the other buses; no, it had to be located around the corner in what would seem to be a ploy to confuse those of us who can't seem to read the maps they provide. I, for some reason, am overly directionally challenged when it comes to finding places in a reasonable amount of time, but I do eventually get to most places.

I say most because while I did manage to get on the bus and down to the stop I was told to get off at, I never did make it to the hotel! I called the hotel, and they told me they would send a shuttle to pick me up. I waited for about half an hour, and the shuttle never showed! Then I called again, and they told me they had no listing for me, and had no idea I was coming. When I gave them the phone number my phone told me I had, they asked if I had a mobile phone. They wouldn't accept that the number I gave them could possibly be the one! So, the shuttle never arrived, I never heard back from them, and my evening in Gatwick appeared to be ruined. I returned to the airport (effectively wasting money as one can get a one day return ticket for cheaper than an anytime return ticket, though I needn't have bought a ticket at all!)

At the airport I was cold, hungry, and tired. I have not been feeling the best lately, and I was ANGRY at the hotel. I wanted to just yell and scream at them. However, I decided to try to get online and spend my time in a relaxed fashion. I found a counter with stools and outlets; the dream of a person spending a large amount of time there! The internet I had found previously was not available, so I paid the 10 GBP for 24 hours of access. I figured it was 7pm and I couldn't check in until 8am, so it was worth it!

I made it through the night with a brief period of attempting to sleep. I bought some digestive biscuits (cookies if you will) and a bottle of chocolate milk for breakfast, finished them, and went through security. Then it was a Gingerbread Latte and more internet (Costa Coffee isn't all that bad). I was flying Iceland Express and check in was at 7:50am which turned out to be 8:10am, but these things happen, even in England!

When I checked in, they were having problems inputting my information into the computer. They needed an address for me from the US, or they wouldn't let me travel (I thought I provided this on the website, but apparently not). I gave it to them, but something just wouldn't work. They finally called their supervisor who did it for me, but they only the boarding pass to Reijkiavek would print; the onward boarding pass would not, so I would have to pick it up in Iceland!

The flight was decent. They do not provide meals and such, but you can buy food online if you so choose. I chose not to. We landed in Iceland 2 and a half hours later. Those of us who were not given onward boarding passes were told to go to the customer service desk at gate 11. This happened to be on the other side of passport control, so I got another stamp from Iceland.

"How long you going to be in Iceland?" the border guard queried. My response, with as much of the incredulousness removed from it as possible, came quickly. "Maybe 10 minutes!" He looked at me somewhat dumbfounded and then replied, "Well, I hope you enjoy your stay." I thanked him and walked on my way.

I found the service desk where a nice woman, whom I later learned was from Denmark, was attempting to get her boarding pass to Newark as well. The worker was having a difficult time with the computer. She said that it wasn't printing, and we would have to go to the service desk at gate 27; it would open at 3pm (approximately 1o minutes). This is on the other side of passport control, so we went and stood to wait for passport control to open. The guy was standing there and said he couldn't open until security was there. Half an hour later we were on our way through passport control (and no security)! I was asked for my boarding pass as I was about to head down the stairs, but I informed them I was told I needed to go to the service desk at gate 27 to get it, and they let me through (I still can't figure out why they didn't just have us go there in the first place).

I got my boarding pass without a problem and went to explore the airport a little and sit down. I talked a little with Seena (need to look up the spelling), the unemployed international human rights lawyer from Denmark on her way to the US for vacation, before going and getting back on my computer. Then we boarded the nearly empty plane and headed off for the comforts of America!

I had decided that in my condition of not quite complete healthiness that I would not stay at the airport. I booked a room at the Howard Johnson instead. This was rather exciting for me, and I was pondering how to find the shuttle pick up place while waiting for my luggage to arrive. Finally all the bags seemed to have been off loaded with one conspicuously missing: MINE!

As I stood there looking at the last 6 or 7 bags going around the carousel, a man approached and asked if I had flown Iceland Express. I told him I had and gave him my name when he asked for it. "Ahh, I don't think your bag made it. I was just going to page you." I am not sure how they knew or what may have happened to delay it, but I found it a little odd for him to say that. I was also reminded of this little issue when I exited customs:

"Do you have all your bags with you?"
"No, I don't."
"I am sorry about your bags not arriving."
"Thanks. It happens."

If it seems that I was playing this minor inconvenience a little too cool, perhaps I was. Things like this don't always bother me, and I had packed a change of clothes in my carry-on, and they said they were going to ship me my bag on Monday, so it really is only a minor inconvenience. Then I started to think about it a bit more: I fly out of Newark for Saginaw, MI (via Chicago) on Saturday the 5th (the following day). I had previously thought how I didn't want to pay the $25 checked luggage fee, and now I wasn't going to have to! It seems to me that the minor inconvenience of having my luggage delayed resulted in my saving $25 on luggage fees! How is that for fortunate. I should be thanking Iceland Air for their timely decision on making it my luggage to delay.

I found the hotel shuttle pick up with little difficulty (P4), but had to wait almost an hour for the shuttle to arrive. I checked in with no difficulty and ate at the restaurant that is downstairs. It was reasonably priced, which seems unusual for a hotel restaurant, and the food was good. I then went, watched Monk, and went to bed! I was very tired from my long journey, and now this long posting!!

Bday Party

2011-01-31T01:27:00.002+09:00

Today was the birthday of the newly 4 year old niece of the people I live with. We went to the parents/grandparents house to celebrate this momentous occasion. As usual, the table looked as if they had severely overestimated its capacity, and there was plenty of wine. My lack of desire to join in the wine has gotten me in trouble on more than one occasion previously, and it was to be no different this time. It seems that if I do not drink, I must not be happy. What could possibly be wrong with me? This causing of problems for this family is just one minor reason I am glad to be leaving; I am not so sure I really want to even try to fit into this culture anymore!

Anyway, they toasted the 4 year old, all night, and we enjoyed the various foodstuff that graced the table. Unfortunately, I was unable to partake in the conversation, and the people I actually know were elsewhere in the house, so I was actually quite bored most of the time. I did get to see some of the news about Egypt though! (It was in Georgian, so I couldn't understand it, but the pics were interesting!)

I don't know why I even agreed to go to this little get together. I really don't like crowds, and I knew I wouldn't be able to understand anyone. It was just one more way that I show myself that I don't belong here (whether it be by choice or not). It was still an alright time as the food was good and the cake added a sweetness that has been missing. And of course what meal would be complete without the nice hot coffee to finish it off? I am just glad to be back and able to relax... I am sooo tired!

School Happiness

2011-01-30T17:57:00.002+09:00

Friday was the day for amazing happenings at school. It wasn't such an unusual day; it started much the same old way. The two students I live with were not going to school (one was getting sick, the other is still a mystery), and I was feeling like someone took me out the previous night and poured 20 glasses of Ch'ach'a (Georgian grape vodka, as in made from not flavored) down my throat! Not having had any alcohol the previous night made me think that perhaps I am not as well as I thought I was.

My first class or two went as normal as usual: the students weren't really interested, the teacher insisted on translating, and I felt kind of useless. My fourth grade class, however, was fabulous! I arrived early for some unknown reason and watched as they ran around chasing and hitting each other. The boys pulling the girls' hair reminded me of something out of "Little House on the Prairie". I was thinking about attempting to stop them, but then I figured if the Georgian teachers aren't saying anything, who am I to interfere? Besides, it is much better to have them like this now than in class!

After the bell rang, they semi settled down. We took out our books and started to go over the body parts they had learned the previous lesson. They were still confusing 'hand' and 'head' but they got the general idea. Then we moved on to the next lesson of body parts. The Georgian teacher didn't want to because they didn't fully have the other ones down, but I convinced her it was good if only for a preview of what was to come.

So, we went over the new vocab and just when the Georgian teacher wanted to not do anything more, I decided that we should sing. She thought it was a good idea, but didn't have the CD (not sure why she thought we needed the CD for this one!). And what did we sing? Of course: "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". The students loved it! They became all wild again, but within the confines of the song. They didn't quite get when to change to the face parts or get all the words right, but we went through it 5 or 6 times as a group.

Then, as one of the children who never even smiled in class before, had been participating all day, I asked her if she could do it by herself. This turned into everyone wanting to take a turn (something they are used to doing is standing up and reciting). Quite an adventure in 4th grade land.

After my classes were finished, I still had to stay for the remainder of the day. I went and watched my 6th graders attempt to play Mafia. It is interesting to hear the directions in Georgian, and then to watch them play as if they knew what they were doing. Of course they were playing wrong! I didn't attempt to correct them, though as that would have been too much work, and one of their mothers was there to do that for them anyway.

Then I went home and did nothing for the rest of the night, which was just what I needed to do!

Fire watching

2011-01-29T02:23:00.007+09:00

Sitting by the fire place watching as the flames dance and crunch away at the wood reminds me of my youth. The only thing I seem to be missing is either hot chocolate or a nice cup of hot apple cider! There isn't much that compare to the cinnamon and apple flavors mixing so nicely in their own little spicy hot tub releasing their vapors for all to savor.

I have decided that I also hate the fire! It seems that I am a little more obsessive than I have previously expected. I put wood on the fire as it was getting low. However, the wood didn't burn evenly; it was burning only in the front and on the right hand side. I couldn't believe how frustrated it was making me. I am usually so laid back about this sort of thing... Could this possibly mean that I am just stressed?

Healthy?

2011-01-28T01:05:00.002+09:00

I went to school today after two days off. My coteacher asked how I was feeling, to which I replied "fine." Then she asked if I had a fever. I wonder if everyone is supposed to have a thermometer and take their own temperature whenever they feel a little ill. Of course I don't have one, so I had to tell her I didn't know. Then she asked about my pressure! How am I supposed to know? Of course the previous night my host was telling me what her pressure was, so perhaps it is just something that people are supposed to know, like their blood type. They sure know how to make one feel stupid for having to say "I don't know" to such a strange question!

They day itself went fairly slow. I taught 3rd grade early because one of the teachers wasn't there, so we did English as a way to have something for them to do. This meant, of course, that I would have nothing to do for 5th - 7th periods and leaving is not really allowed. I tried not to sleep during this time, but I am not sure I was totally successful.

Another Lazy Day

2011-01-26T19:57:00.002+09:00

Ok, I got up this morning at the right time, took my shower (such as it is), and prepared my things for school (why do I still insist on calling work 'school' as if I were a student and not a teacher?). All of this done, I decided that I would catch a few more winks. This was a rather stupid idea for me if I actually want to get anything done! I fell back asleep and didn't wake back up until about 12:30pm!

True, it is not the end of the world, but I still feel bad for missing two days in a row. I think it was good for my body though: yesterday's break told my body it was ok to be sick, and today's gives it a chance to get better! I am still a little sore, and my head feels congested, but I am not nearly as tired; perhaps this is the end of the nasty bugs.

Of course, due to my late awakening, I have not been very productive today. I have sent a couple of emails that needed to be sent, and I am updating my blog. I will feel much better getting back to school tomorrow where I will hopefully feel like I am doing some good (though it too often seems like I am wasting my time. Sometimes I wonder what I am even doing here!).

Sick Day!

2011-01-26T03:02:00.002+09:00

Today I stayed home from school. I got up later than I normally would have, but I was still exhausted! My host told me that she thought I was staying home today, and that if I wanted to, the school wouldn't die if I missed just one day. I decided that was the best of ideas.

I slept until about noon. I got up and ate some mashed potatoes and "kasha". I am not quite sure what it is, but it is a type of grain. I only know that the Russian is 'kasha', and I had a lot of it when I was living in Ukraine. I followed this up with a cup of coffee and went back to sleep.

It may have not been a very productive day, but I think I got some much needed sleep! Perhaps tomorrow I will be ready to face the students once again. Is this what I really want?

It Definitely is Who You Know!

2011-01-26T02:47:00.003+09:00

Yesterday after classes (though before school was officially over), my co-teacher went with me to the clinic. I have been feeling overly exhausted all the time recently as well as quite sore. My host told me that I should go to the doctor and that her mother worked there, so to text or call her when I arrived. I don't like doctors, but I did as I was asked.

The teacher and I waited for a while before she stuck her head into the office of two of the doctors. She knew them, so it took a couple of minutes to say hello and all that. Then we were told I needed to go down the hall where a doctor would take my blood to be analyzed. I was then to bring back the report for her to see. However, when we got to the room, the doctor was not there; we would have to wait until the following day!

My co-teacher went and talked with the first doctor who sent us to another building where they also analyze blood. I waited for them to finish with someone else, and then they stuck my finger and took a few small vials of blood. This was supposed to cost 7 lari, but they told me I didn't have to pay! They also said that instead of having to wait around for an hour, they would send the results to my host's mother and if there were anything wrong she could tell my host who could then tell me! I guess patient-doctor confidentiality has no meaning here, at least not for those of us who don't speak Georgian!

But I did get to see another doctor who told me that my blood pressure was low. There didn't seem to be anything else wrong with me, so I should take vitamin C unless something came back in the blood tests. It was interesting that during all of this they never once took my temperature. I wonder if that is something I should have already have done at home. The world may never know.

But, as it seems, my being a foreigner with the mother of my host working in the hospital, I was able to circumvent lines, waiting periods, and minor obstacles such as missing doctors to get what done what I needed. Sometimes it does work for you!

Return to Georgia... for the moment

2011-01-24T00:28:00.002+09:00

I don't know how I keep falling behind in my blogging, but I guess it is normal for one such as I. I was away on vacation and having a grand time during the holidays, but now I am back! I arrived back in Georgia a day or so later than I was supposed to. My first flight from home was canceled, and while the one the next day was on time, the one from Chicago to Warsaw was delayed as was the one from Warsaw to Tbilisi. I was not feeling the best when I finally arrived.

Fortunately, I was met at the airport by a taxi driver (actually he searched me out for business, but that is pretty much the same thing). He took me to a boarding house where I slept the day away. I spent the next day at the boarding house as well, and returned to my host family on Saturday while they were away.

As a way to pass time, I visited my old host family who once again asked me to return. I have to go through my company in order to do this, so I did send them a message (albeit 3 or 4 days later). I am not sure, but that may have been a bad idea. Thursday was my first day of school, and things with the teachers were fine. Friday was a different story. I have no idea what was up, but the timing was interesting.

This weekend was horrible. I slept/hid in my room for most of it. I didn't come out from when I arrived home around 4pm on Friday until around 3pm on Sunday! I have been overly exhausted and sore. I am not sure what is up, but I think I may have a touch of something. I am sure my host family thinks I am either mad at them or just crazy.

We shall see what the days will bring.

On the "Up-swing"!

2010-12-20T20:21:00.002+09:00

So after that encounter with the family two weeks ago or so, I came to my present residence and stayed in my room for the following 24 hours! I cried a lot and did some thinking. I am not sure I came to any real conclusions, but I felt a little better afterward. I talked with my present hosts about it, and they said that I shouldn't worry about what the girls think as they are merely children. It would be so much easier to heed their advice if I didn't care so much about them.

Those at school are getting more and more complicated. Most still aren't talking to me, but it is all good. I am getting closer to my wonderful 4th and 6th graders. The teachers threw me a going away party, which was great fun! They seemed very concerned about whether I thought they were friendly or not. They have been, but this is just yet another clue in the puzzle of what I have done. It is an absolutely fascinating puzzle I have to solve .... I hope that I can keep the emotional part out of it from now on though.

My flight home was changed from Sunday to Tuesday. They finally gave me the itinerary this morning; talk about last minute! At least they are going to take me to the airport at 3am so I can get my flight. I hope it is early enough; everyone seems to think that it will be, so here's hoping! I can't wait to get back to the US; it will be good to see the family and then friends when I head to Atlanta. Hopefully all will go well and the cost of flying home isn't too expensive. I have two bags, and I am only allowed one. Extra baggage fees can be outrageous, but I should be able to just bring one back (though one has a broken zipper, so I may just need to get a new one, again!!)

I have decided to return to Georgia for the next semester. The pay is basically nothing (what does one expect from a volunteer position), but the students need me. The circumstance are crazy, many of them can't afford books, and trying to make the teachers and students aware of different ways of teaching is difficult, but it is so worth it. I just wish I knew how to make a little money to supplement my income to help pay bills. I am sure something will come up; it always seems to.

I also wish I knew Georgian! How much easier my life would be if I could understand and express myself to the people here. I have finally bought some material that will hopefully help. I can't wait to try it out. I hope I will make enough progress to be able to chat a little with people when I get back in January.

More Drama

2010-12-04T13:08:00.002+09:00

How do I always get myself into these messes, and what makes me think it will ever be any different? The funeral was on Tuesday, and the family was even more obviously cold to me than before. I stayed back as much as possible out of respect for them as I was unsure as to what was wrong. I attempted to ignore the hostile stares of the other people as much as possible. It seems that many of them could not understand why I was there, and why I would be upset at the death of my host brother. It was as if I was not supposed to care (and this seems to be the thought of my organization and the school principal as well).

At school things have actually gotten worse as well. The students who had stopped talking to me before are even more blatantly angry with me, and many of the others who were previously unaffected by whatever strange anger virus is permeating the school have fallen victim to it. Still no conclusive evidence as to what it could be as of yet; more tests need to be run.

I had a meeting with the principal two days ago in which she, instead of listening to what I had to say, attempted to apply salve and a band-aid by telling me there was no problem and that everything was perfect. This of course is one of the most frustrating things imaginable! Telling me that I am imagining it, and that I am just jealous (I think paranoid is the word we would actually use in English) is not any way to make me feel better. I asked about my being moved from my host family, and they said that it was the principal's and resource center's (something like superintendent, I think) decision. They said that the family knew that it wasn't my decision, so this was not a reason there would be a problem.

On what I thought would be a good note, Thursday I ran into one of the nephews of the host family, and he told me to come to the house the following day and see the family. I was hoping that either something was said, or that things would get cleared up; some of them did. The family asked me how I found out about the accident, why I left, and if I wanted to come back to live with them. When I told them that I found out from my program, they seemed very surprised. I told them about my phone call telling me about the accident and that I was told I had to leave. I also told them I had to call my program if I were to move back. I was very ready to move back in as I do miss them very much.

Then the girls came in. One had been there to greet me at the beginning, but had left. The other one arrived home, and both of them came in. The that was just arrived home greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a hug, as the other one had. This has never been done before, but I hadn't thought anything of it when they did it due to circumstances. Now it feels like the kiss of Judas!

They all talked about wanting me to come back to live with them, but the girls couldn't look at me, one rolled her eyes at me a couple of times, and they fought over not having to sit near me. They attempted to be as far away from me as possible. I decided when I noticed this behavior that it was time for me to leave. I didn't say good-bye, and I will not call my company. I will not put myself in a situation where I am obviously not wanted and would make people uncomfortable. It isn't good for me, and it isn't good for them. I have done what I can do; I am giving up on the people here. If they wish to come and tell me what their problem is, I will listen, but I will not worry about it anymore: to me they are no longer worth my energy.

The fragility of Life

2010-11-29T04:01:00.002+09:00

Have you ever had days where you felt sad but didn't really know why? Unfortunately that is not the day I am having. I know exactly why I feel sad, though sad doesn't really begin to cover it.

This past weekend I went to Tbilisi to have a physical. It turned out there was a trip with the organization I work for, so I skipped the doctors and went with them instead. The dancing, the views, the people; it was all so much fun. I didn't make it back to Tbilisi in time to catch the mini-bus back to Bolnisi, so I staid the night. I got a call early in the evening from my host mom asking if I was alright. I thought it was a little strange, but she hung up and I figured she would call back if there were any problems. I was wrong.

It turns out that there was an accident at home and the 8 year old boy was killed. I heard about it the next afternoon as I was arriving back in Bolnisi. I received a phone call from a representative of the organization I work for stating that there had been an accident and one of the children in my host family had been killed. I was to pack my things and call him back as soon as this was done because the host family couldn't take care of me anymore. I am not sure what is proper in this case, but I don't like that I was whisked away so fast as if his death didn't affect me. I may not know what is proper, but I really didn't get the chance to say good-bye or any of that stuff. Perhaps all the other people there were family, and it was inappropriate for me to be there because I wasn't, but no one has yet to explain the situation. Perhaps they really did hate me and don't want me to be there for such an emotional and personal event. Hopefully I can find someone to explain the culture of it all to me. It doesn't help that the family and I were apparently having problems, though everyone else would know more about what they are than I do.

My life here has been a mess! I am not sure it is going to get any easier, but I am learning a lot and hopefully doing some good. I will try to keep you updated a little more now, but it hasn't really been easy.

Home Again!

2010-08-30T11:17:00.002+09:00

Well, almost. I leave tomorrow morning. It has only been two weeks, when it was supposed to be four, but I am ready to finally to get back to Michigan. I will spend a couple of weeks there, and then I don't know what will happen. I am scheduled to fly back to Iraq on the 22nd, which means there is a lot of time in between.

I am in the process of attempting to get people who would like to be tutored online. If I could get enough clients, I would be able to do it full time and not have to worry too much about what I need to do and where I will be. I guess it is just another thing that will come in time.

It feels good to be getting back to someplace that I will semi-understand and be understood. It isn't bad here; it is actually quite beautiful. I would definitely come back. Perhaps next time it will not be alone!

2010-08-28T10:42:00.003+09:00

Tlaquepaque is a suburb of Guadalajara. I rented an apartment here and have settled in as if it were my new home. It is not really as quiet as I was hoping, but it does have a lot of the traditional Mexican way of life. The corner stores (on just about every block) have the basics one needs, and the restaurants are mostly fairly inexpensive as well.

I haven't done a lot of what I wanted while here, but that is fine. I have managed to relax a little, but not enough. I have had two interviews, and the third I have written off. I have been offered a job in China that I am uncertain if I will take. I guess we shall have to wait and see what happens.

Other than that, there is very little happening. Hopefully things will begin to perk up soon. I will be sure to let you know.

Puerto Vallarta

2010-08-19T12:07:00.002+09:00

My time in Puerto Vallarta was definitely not what I had anticipated. I made it to the hotel I had booked prior to arriving. Overlooking the city with a view of the bay, it gave one the feeling of being in a kingdom. The lack of hot water was hardly noticeable at all. This was all overshadowed, however, by the promise I made upon my arrival at the airport.

When I was exiting the airport, I was shown to the visitors desk to the right, where a nice lady who spoke very good English informed me of many of the things one can do in the city. She also set me up with a visit to a "local hotel" in an attempt to entice me to return. She provided me with transportation and such in exchange for my going and sitting in on a sales pitch.

I went to the sales pitch. The salesman was from Saskatchewan and was very nice. He didn't think too much of me to begin with, but as we talked, he became more interested. He even comped me two free nights at the "hotel" which turned out to be an all-inclusive resort. The grounds and room were very nice. The room was more like an apartment and with the free room service, I was completely spoiled! The internet was an extra $10/24 hours, but I was happy to pay for 24 hours as I didn't have to buy food or anything. The only thing that was missing was a place to do laundry.

The pool would have been wonderful if I were one who liked pools. There were two peacocks (actually one peacock and one peahen) that were roaming around the grounds. They also had the required cats for such a place as well. I was a little surprised by an iguana falling out of a palm tree, but other than that, it was quite peaceful.

LA/Santa Monica/San Diego, OH MY!

2010-08-10T03:30:00.002+09:00

How does one prepare for a trip that is going to be multipurpose and multi-locational? Perhaps I should have done a little more research or even just made some sort of plan before hopping the plane from Peru to LA. Of course when the trip actually started, I am slightly unclear, but I suppose it was back in Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq as that is where I presently call home.

I arrived in LA on August 1st after a LONG trip from Peru. The flights themselves were relatively short, but I spent a grand total of 26 hours waiting in airports, plus the searching they always seem to decide is necessary for me. Perhaps I will look into getting the Global Entry Card to limit the amount I need to stand in line at immigration so I have more time for them to "randomly" search me further.

The first night was at a hotel near LAX. We got up early, rented a car, and drove to San Diego. The purpose of this trip was to go to the Animal Park, but this did not happen. When we arrived, our plans changed, and we ended up going to Tijuana instead. Of course for the other two days or so neither me nor my travel companion felt very well after.

Coming back to LA after 3 days was not a joy. Not only was the traffic heavy, but there were issues with the gas station as well! We stopped at the gas station two buildings down from where we needed to drop off the rental car. Apparently here in California, one must prepay for gas. You can do this either by going in and paying the attendant (either in cash or giving them your credit/debit card) or by using the machine outside to do the same. I ignored the 45 cent convenience fee they charged and chose to use my friend's debit card. Unfortunately I was either a little more tired than I thought, or merely not observant enough, and I put the card into the slot for the cash. Normally this is not a problem, but the slot accepted the card and wouldn't give it back. My friend had to go in to get the manager to come out to retrieve her card while I pulled around to a different pump to try again.

The second attempt fared much better. This time I went in, gave my credit card, returned to the car and pumped the gas. My friend got her card back, and we used it when we actually charged the card itself. All seemed to be going well until we reached the car. Somehow the doors had locked, and the keys were in the ignition!

I didn't panic too much as the rental place was just a couple of doors down. We walked past the McDonald's and tried to enter our destination. For some reason, contrary to the "Open! Please Come In..." sign, there was no one about. We went to the hotel to use a pay phone (our cells were in the car) to see if we could get someone there to help. They said they would be 20 minutes. We figured we could handle that and went to get something to eat and help pass the time.

We ended up waiting for over 2 hours for someone to come! They did give us the key we needed (they weren't sure if they even had an extra one at first), and all turned out alright. Fortunately, this was the only real adventure this trip brought for the two of us. My friend returned home, and I stayed in LA visiting friends and such after the Travel Writer's workshop I attended in Santa Monica....So much happening, so little time to write~

A day at the airport

2010-08-02T06:43:00.002+09:00

One has to wonder why they would willingly stay at the airport all day to catch a flight at night, but this is just what I did. I started in Cusco, Peru around 10:30am. I made my flight landing in Lima around 1:30ish in the afternoon. I waited in the airport for a flight that would leave around 10:55pm. This was the best option as I only had 12 soles left and it would take around 45 soles to go downtown (and Lima is not exactly a place I really wanted to hang out anyway).

I spent most of the day alone at the airport, but met an interesting woman from New York about 4 hours before the flight. She had been in a small town on an archeological dig for the past month. She studies bones! I told her I thought it sounded sort of dry, but I don't think she really believed me. A little while after meeting, we met two girls from Tennessee. They had been on a mission trip tod the jungle. More fascinating stories were exchanged! I couldn't believe how fortunate we were.

We hung out for the remainder of our time in Lima, and said our goodbyes while we waited in line to go through immigration in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 5:45am. While they went on their way, I made my way to one of the restaurants and ate breakfast. I had a long day ahead of me, and I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach it.

I decided that I would spend all 14 hours of my layover at the airport. I was thinking I may go crazy, but it gave me a chance to relax and make use of the free wi-fi that the airport here offers. I think all airports should offer free wi-fi; it can be a life saver for travelers who have forgotten information, need to contact with someone, or just to have something to do. It certainly made my day a lot less boring and a whole lot more productive!

So now you pretty much know what my day has consisted of: I ate breakfast, got online, chatted, looked up information, watched people, ate lunch/dinner, went online some more, and then I am going to go through security to wait some more. It may sound really boring, but it was just the relaxation I needed after having traveled so far. I am not sure what 11:00pm in LA will bring, but I will deal with that when I arrive.

Overdue update! Do I get a fine?

2010-07-24T08:38:00.002+09:00

I have been going to write this ever since I got to Peru, but I have been both too busy and lazy to write it. As you know, I have finished my work for the summer in Kurdistan, Iraq, and I am now in Peru doing Spanish lessons. I am not sure what brought me to Peru perse, but I am glad I ended up here. I am specifically in the city of Cusco, which is where one first stops if they wish to travel to see Macchu Picchu. It is a nice city with lots to do, but it is also at such an altitude as to be troublesome to those not used to it. I think that my altitude problems have actually gotten worse since I have been here. I walk about an hour to school every morning, and the first week, I really had no problem. Lately I am really out of breath when I arrive. I am not sure why this is happening, but I was told that it is not really all that unusual.

Last weekend I went to Macchu Piccu and climbed up Hwina Picchu as well. I got an amazing overlook of the city itself. Getting up at 3am to hike there was well worth it (only 400 people a day are allowed to hike Hwiana Picchu)! Of course it was a long weekend for me as well. We hiked on Sunday, but left Cusco on Friday. Saturday, which was rainy, the two Russian girls I traveled with and I stayed in town and watched the festivities that were happening that particular weekend. They were celebrating the Virgen of Carmen. I am not really sure what it was all about, but they had bands (brass intruments and drums) playing outside the window of the hostel all night after having been playing all day!

The whole week to follow was not so good for my sleep. Having met 2 Ecuadorians, 2 Canadians, 2 Austrians, and 1 other American on the trip, I felt as if I were approaching the ark 2 X 2 (especially combined with myself and the 2 Russians). We spent the weekend together, ended up meeting each other again back in Cusco, and saying goodbye to each other when most left. This made for a lot of late nights combined with early mornings. The Ecuadorians left first, then the Austrians left. This made for a night that lasted until around 4:30am. Then the Russians were supposed to leave, and that made for a night that lasted until around 5:30am. They ended up getting stranded at the airport, however, and so we went out the following night to meet up with Couch Surfers from the community and commiserate the loss of thier trip to Brazil: 3:30am.
Tonight I will be on my way to Puno, a city on Lake Titticaca. It is about 500 meters higher that here, so I am not sure how that is going to effect me. I went ahead and paid to go on a tour (which I tend not to do) because the people from my Spanish class were going and asked me to go along. Hopefully I will finally take some pictures. There is so much more to write but so little time, and so little interest. Hopefully my next post will be more prompt....I am getting so bad at this!

Final Exam and last day of work

2010-06-25T04:10:00.003+09:00

The long school year is over! Normally I would be doing summer school, but I elected to leave early when I first signed my contract. The management became quite perturbed about it as the time grew closer, but I stuck to my guns and managed to get them to pay me all the money they owed me. Perhaps I shouldn't have signed that renewal contract in April, but I did and there is nothing one can do about that now.

This week has been one of the most boring of my days here. I didn't have class, so I was stuck in the office for most of the time just reading or playing on the internet. It was definitely not as productive as it could have been! I did invigilate an exam or two during that time and help some students study for another one, so at least I was able to find something productive to do! That and I finished my portfolio I was required to do for the semester. I am still not quite sure what it is or why we are doing it, but I did it because it was supposedly required.

Today was the final exam for both my Intro and Advanced classes. The tests had some tricky questions on it, but a couple of students we were really worried about seem to have done well, though we need to wait for the final results to be sure. One of the requirements for the Intro students was to write an email. One student left without doing this portion. As it is a significant part of the test, one of the instructors went to ask why she didn't do it. "I don't like emails" came her reply. "We need to know you can do this," I told her. She didn't care; she was still insistent that she didn't like to write emails. "Then write a letter." My suggestion brought first a look of confusion and then a bright smile. "Ok. I will do that." She took the paper and went and finished the test. I hope she did well!

Today was also my last day of work. Saying goodbye to the students was hard for me, but I did it mostly quickly and quietly. I am excited to leave, but saddened as well. I have known some of these students since I came here in March 2009, and even the ones who came this past October have found their way under my skin. If I don't come back, I will miss them all very much; I wish them well!

I fly out of here on the night of the June 27th! Erbil -Beirut-Paris-Chicago-Saginaw! What a trip! I hope that the airlines can check my bag all the way through; it would save a lot of hassle in Beirut. I kind of wish I had a little extra time in Lebanon; it would be nice to visit some people and to see a little bit of the country. Ahh well, maybe next time. The days are getting closer and I am getting more and more nervous. Let us hope these moths die away and there are butterflies to replace them...though I could do without them as well.

Calmness before the storm!

2010-06-07T18:41:00.001+09:00

Once again I have been very busy and my daily posts are actually more like monthly. I can't help but get a little distracted with all the stuff I am dealing with here. Summer school was originally supposed to start the first week in July or so, but someone made the decision to make the ending dates for most of the classes at the end of May and the beginning of June. They are stagared throughout, so no one really knows when summer school starts anymore, and the students are confused about when they actually need to come to school.

My Advanced English class will go unitl the final on the 24th of June, unless we move it sooner. Then I will be able to leave as I am not teaching summer school this year. Of course this has just caused a huge problem with pay that should not have happened as they knew that I would be leaving early ever since I resigned the contract for this year at the beginning of this school year. What is one supposed do with these people?

I am officially supposed to return next year, but with this new problem, in addition to the old ones and the not having an air ticket home yet, I am not sure that I want to come back. I have been looking at other jobs just in case. It is a very difficult step for me because I really like these students as well as the area and don't really want to leave. The administration/management are just making a decision to stay very difficult. Perhaps this is some sort of test that is preparing me for something else later in life, though I hate to imagine what that could possibly be.

All in all though, I am really pleased to say that I am feeling quite peaceful and relaxed about the whole situation at the moment. I have been very stressed over it, but for some reason, this morning I awoke and was able to say "no matter what happens, it will be good. I am ok!" It feels good to be able to do that once again.

Headaches and ethics!

2010-05-15T02:41:00.002+09:00

Over one month has already gone by since Easter. I can't believe so much time has gone by and so much has happened to test me. Ever since the day that the person from the main office came from Lebanon and didn't answer the students' questions, I have been targeted for anything and everything possible. They seem to be looking for a reason to fire me, or at least to let me know that they have the power to do so whenever they see fit, so I need to make sure to keep my mouth shut. No more standing up for the students, and no more "feeding ideas to the students" as if they weren't able to come up with these ideas on their own. I can't believe that the person who is representing this educational organization here in Kurdistan seems to not only welcome the use of deliberate use of lies and deceit in business deals, but also thinks that the Kurds are stupid hick who don't have enough brains to know when they are being treated unfairly! It is so disheartening.

You probably know that I tend to be fairly laid back in the sense that I don't really care how people treat me for the most part. However, when you start picking on people I have been placed in a position of authority over, as limited as it may be, I take it more personally than anyone could have believed possible. I advocate for my students not because they are stupid, but because their English rhetorical skills are not quite to the level needed to do it themselves. Add this to the culture of being respectful of people in positions of power (respectful seems to equal not asking questions), you have a recipe for people who are able to be taken advantage of.

I don't know if I will be allowed to come back next year, or if I even want to. I have been thinking about it all day (and many days previously). As problematic as this place is, these students need someone to speak for them when possible and to help them make it through this unfamiliar environment. If I can bring myself to just educate the students and help them fight from behind the scenes, perhaps I can make a difference here even with them tying my hands. Or perhaps I can find a way to leave the company and still stay in the area to help. I think there are possibilities if I think a little outside of the box and take some risks. I am not sure what is going to happen, but I will be sure to let you know.

2010-04-05T21:39:00.000+09:00

Now that I have taken my shower and decided that there is nothing open today either, my mind turns to the events of yesterday. It was a very long day filled with students, coworkers, and food. It was Easter and a beautiful day for the picnic we went on.

Of course the Easter festivities started on Friday. The science instructor, a Palestinian Muslim, decided to throw an Easter party for the faculty at her house. While an Easter ham was absolutely out of the question, we did have some wonderful food. I am not sure what it all was, but it did include bread, hummus, a yougurt/cucumber dip, some baked bread with thyme on top, watermelon, and applesauce that I made and brought. (The applesauce was actually a big hit!!) After the food was eaten we talked and the others dyed eggs!

It was fun watching them dye the eggs and compete for the best egg decorated. A couple of them colored the eggs like the Kurdish flag, one did a mountain scene. The prize for the ugliest egg went to the one that was supposed to be an Al-Quida member. Very nicely done, but a little overly political for me.

The next day was one of relaxation and reclusiveness. I went nowhere and did pretty much nothing other than relax and realize just how unmotivated I have been lately! I really need to find a way to solve that problem.

Then Easter Sunday. I woke up at 5:30am because I was excited about the coming excursion. We were being picked up at 8:15am to be taken to the university in order to meet the students and travel to our destination. The students were supposed to all be there by 9am, but some didn't show up until 20 after! I guess this is something I should have expected, but it wasn't any easier.

The trip to the picnic site was deafening. We took two small buses, each with loud radios that blared Kurdish music all the way there. The music was blaring, people were clapping, and some were standing up and dancing. While this is not generally done in the US, this is a very common event here in Kurdistan. They even managed to get me to indulge in a little bit of lack of normal common sense and do a little dancing as well (and I really hate dancing!).

The food was some of the best I have ever eaten. We had kabob, fruit, and briani (both Arabic and Kurdish style). The rice was quite filling, as was the required bread that comes with almost every meal. After the loads of food they forced me to eat, the science instructor hid the eggs we died on Friday for her daughter and her two friends. It was quite fun watching them looking for the eggs, especially after they had decided to go swimming in the stream and almost lost their shoes. They weren't too good in the finding of the eggs, and they needed lots of help. Even when we all decided to help, we still came up one egg short! We should have seen this one coming, I suppose; it was the Al-Quida member! Even when we knew where the eggs were hidden, we could not find this one. Perhaps it is understandable that there are so many real ones still unaccounted for!

Then we went to a different location. The two buses got split up, causing a bit of tift among a couple of the faculty. We did manage to finally get them back together and then stop off at another location for more food and dancing! When I finally got home, it was 9:15pm! I was so tired, but definitely not hungry. Today is a day off, but I have to go back to work tomorrow. There is much on the list of things to do; hopefully it will result in some final decisions. I will keep you posted.

The first day

2010-03-27T23:07:00.002+09:00

Vacation started off fairly smoothly. I passed the morning by packing and then visiting a friend. I figured this meant everything would go smoothly, and then I got to the airport. I went through the first two security points, checked in, went through passport control, and waited for them to announce the flight. Then, as I was going through the final security scan into the gate, the workers stopped me. They took my shaving gel, toothpaste, and small container of hand sanitizer.

I am not sure why they were so adamant about taking these things as they were, according to the website, allowable on the plane. It looks like that from now on, I will be unable to travel with only one bag, at least if I want to take anything on the plane with me.

The flight itself was uneventful. We went up, we landed. Of course we were an hour late, but that is nothing new from this airline. Normally I wouldn't have cared that I was an hour late, but I was planning on meeting someone at the airport in Istanbul and catch a train to Thessaloniki, Greece. Upon arrival to the airport, things went smoothly. I found Meredith very easily, and we boarded the metro.

We exited the metro to transfer to the tram. Unfortunately, we needed to buy another token in order to achieve this transfer. We didn't have enough money for the two of us, so Meredeth pulled money out of the ATM so we could purchase a couple of tokens. We hurried and boarded the first tram we saw. After the first couple of stops, I realized we were going in the wrong direction, so we got out and waited for one going in the other direction. We road back to where we started and waited to move on to the next station. Finally the tram started moving...in the wrong direction!

We got off at the very next stop, caught the next tram back, and got out. I was very grateful that as long as we didn't leave the gate, we wouldn't have to pay for anymore tokens. I just couldn't figure out why this tram didn't go where the sign said it would. We walked up to the turnstiles and looked around. Off to the right was another tram! We rushed onto that one and made it to the train station.

We ran into the train station only to find our train had left 5 minutes earlier! I looked at Meredith and asked her where she wanted to go. We decided that we would go to Belgrade. They were unable to sell us a ticket to Belgrade, so we went to Sophia, Bulgaria. We then got something to eat and waited for the train.

The train ride was long and uneventful. When we stopped at the border, passport control took Meredith's and my passports. He told me to go into the office and wait for him. I waited for what seemed an eternity. Finally he came from the train with only our two passports. The passport control guy stamped them and we were on our way. 9:30am Sophia!

Ahh...the Pain!

2010-03-27T18:40:00.002+09:00

Now that I am back from vacation, I have to get back into work mode. I am not so sure I was ready for work on Wednesday and Thursday, but it went alright. I have been exhausted, and I did nothing all day yesterday. But I feel much better about things here since I left.

Of course, I have to write a little about my vacation, but I am having a bit of a problem concentrating. I am having severe tooth pain. It seems that my wisdom tooth is pushing on my others; perhaps it wasn't so wise to keep it in. It has been causing headaches as well.

My roommate's brother is a dentist, so perhaps the beginning of next month, I can go to him and get this taken care of. I hope that it isn't too expensive; there is just no way that I can take this pain for too much longer.

What to do?!

2010-03-07T03:45:00.002+09:00

I finished marking exams and found that only one of my students actually answered the essay question correctly. It seems that all the others misunderstood, or didn't understand at all, the word "deserve". Due to this, the highest grade they are supposedly able to earn is a 4 out of 20. This just seems a bit unfair to me. As the exam was a reading and writing exam, I feel that they should get a bit more if they were able to construct the essay in a coherent manner. I can't help but think that they shouldn't be held accountable for a word that was not taught to them.

I guess I need to talk with the dean (or someone) about this. They may all just get failing grades because of this. I guess we shall just have to wait and see.

The class is going great besides that though. We are now lessening the number of books we have to get through, so I have more time to work and practice the material. The class is only 9 students so we can do more group work. Things are definitely looking up.

Teaching pluses

2010-03-07T03:15:00.003+09:00

The days have been filled with weirdness and such. We have started to implement changes in how we are doing things. We are now able to give back the tests and go over them with the students so they can learn from them (we are all happy about that), and we have learned that the books we are using are not meant to be used until the next class. Quite the interesting bit of information.

In addition to all of this, I was told by one of my students that she was accepted into the Iraqi Youth Leadership Program! If all goes well at her interview at the embassy in Baghdad, she will be going to Washington, DC for six weeks this summer to interact with other Iraqis and Americans in a program that emphasizes cultural exchange. I am so excited for her. It was very exciting to be a part of her getting into this program.

My part of the process was quite small, but the sense of accomplishment or helpfulness (or whatever it is) is intense. For the first time in my life, I wrote a recommendation letter. She is a great student and very deserving of this opportunity, so it was easy to write a glowing report, but to know that I had a part in it, no matter how small, makes me feel good. I just hope she is able to take advantage of it.

Still alive and well!!

2010-03-02T20:31:00.001+09:00

Another Tuesday. This is the day of my split shift. Unfortunately, the time that I have off is useless for anything. I can't really go home and accomplish anything, so once again, I basically sit at the office and try to finish work that I normally wouldn't be able to do. I really don't know if my brain has something against concentrating when it is supposed to, but it seems to be the case.

I am having loads of fun with my classes now. The Advanced students are doing things that "real" university students are supposed to be doing, and my Intermediate students are nontraditional students and therefore more focused and serious. I have sat in on the math class, a couple science classes. These have been both fun and informative. I have reaffirmed some of my ideas that I have, but of course, this doesn't allow for the fact that I have no power to do anything except suggest.

I am learning so much here, and I may actually decided to spend another year here in hopes that things improve. (I was supposed to have made that decision by yesterday, but they don't have the new contracts for us to look at yet. I was informed that they are reevaluating the pay, which will be a HUGE plus.) I still look at other positions locally and in other places as I like to keep my options open and to dream, but I will not make a final decision until they finally present a contract.

We were told that all of the complaints we have been having about not being listened to, and that they were trying to run things from Lebanon while not really knowing what is going on here have all been heard. It seems that they have actually been looking to us to help them in the planning and implementation of everything. They realize that they need our help because we are the ones here and, therefore, the ones who know what is going on. I am not sure where, but somewhere along the line, this message has not been getting through.

My sleeping and eating habits have not really gotten much better. I know they are bad and need to be improved; I just hope that I am able to do that. I drink too much coffee, but it puts me to sleep, so it doesn't cause quite the problem one would expect. This probably has to do with the needing of various vitamins and minerals that I am not currently getting, but I am working on it. Fruits and vegetables are my friends!

All in all, I am doing well. Vacation is coming and I can't wait! I get to meet up with a friend, go to a teacher conference in Athens, hopefully go to Sophia, Bulgaria, and then tour around Istanbul, Turkey again. There will hopefully be other stops on the way, but we shall see that when the time comes. Here's to hoping~

My First CS Meeting in Kurdistan

2010-02-13T18:52:00.002+09:00

I have been a member of Couch Surfing for almost three (3) years. During that time I have attempted to stay active by at least meeting up with people if not actually surfing their couch. The couch surfing experience has allowed me to meet some interesting people, some of whom I still stay in contact with, and to experience things I never would have otherwise.

Even with such a positive view toward CS, last night was the first time I managed to get together with the group here in Erbil. They have met previously, but for one reason or another, I have been unable to get myself to go. Last night I had nothing else to do, and I had already told one of the visitors that I would attempt to go. At the last minute, I almost decided to just go to bed instead, but I knew that I would regret this later on... As much as I deal with people constantly, I am still very uncomfortable when it comes to meeting new people or dealing with groups. They say it gets easier with time and exposure, but all that seems to get easier is my ability to cover up my feelings while I am there. This is still a good thing as it allows me to have a great time instead of just wishing that I were there, but it is tiring and scary as well.

The meeting itself was actually a BBQ. We went to the hosts apartment, and he grilled chicken and beef kebabs on a little grill and we ate those and two or three kinds of salad (pasta and fatush) and, of course, hummus! Apparently fatush and hummus are required at all Lebanese eating gatherings. There were a wide range of people there. There was the Lebanese host, two Kurdish doctors (a psychiatrist and a generalist), a Polish woman who is teaching French, a social worker and NGO volunteer from Czech Republic, an English teacher from Ireland, and 3 of us English teachers from the US (Michigan, Cincinnati,Ohio, and San Diego, CA). There was also a former economist turned traveler from New Mexico. She has been traveling for two years now.

The eating and conversation from all was wonderful. We finished up the main dinner with desert. It was two people's birthdays, so we had a small cake and a lot of ice cream. As there were no candles, the two birthday people had to simultaneously blow out a lighter. Not nearly the same, but fun nonetheless. We also got to smell the flowers that they brought...they look like a type of daffodil with smaller leaves; don't know what they really are called :(

I rode home with the psychiatrist, and he told me about his place and how he wants to have another gathering in the mountains sometime in the spring. The mountains are beautiful, and it would be such a relaxing time. I hope it happens! We also got to talking about his research in PTSD. As we talked, I mentioned my interest in both the fact that the Iraqi Minister of Health, being a psychiatrist, is interested in implementing talk therapy in addition to just medication, and that I wanted to find out more about how psychology impacts education especially in post conflict areas. To this he responded that his friend and colleague is the head of the Iraqi Psychiatric Association and lives and teaches here in Erbil. Not only that, but he teaches in an Education college. He said he may be able to help me get a meeting with him in order to get more information or be pointed in the right direction.

I find this to be a wonderful opportunity that I may have. We shall see if it happens or not, but I will keep it in mind as something to continue to look forward to. This and the visit to the Social Work program that the university here has implemented. I need to take a look at this as well. So many things to do, and so little time to do them in!

2010-02-11T17:47:00.001+09:00

It seems I finally have time to write once again. It seems that my energy is normally sapped by teaching and just basic living, and I have little left for things like writing and such. This week, however, has been a little different.

All this week I haven't had to actually teach any courses. The students have taken their finals and are on break until this Sunday. We are still waiting their results to see if they will need to repeat of if they can move on, but this is normal. During this time of no studentness, I have been sitting in my office trying to accomplish things that need to be done. Some of them personal, some professional, and one or two actually for this particular job. I would like to plan for my first lesson, but the books have yet to arrive, so doing this is not yet possible. Ahhh if only I could just be a little more proactive.

One may think that I am really enjoying this week without the students here, but truthfully, I feel extrememly weird being at an educational institution when there are no students. I have never liked the feeling as a student, a visitor, and now as a worker. It just seems wrong to have to take in such a site. I am looking forward to seeing the students once again on Sunday and trying to teach them things which may or may not be over their head (tough to tell when you don't know what it is).

I am looking forward to the weekend though. I am planing to go on a trip to another city here in Kurdistan. I haven't really been anywhere in all the time that I have been here, and I feel it is about time that I go out and explore the area a bit more. All I need to do is locate the taxis or buses that go. I was told an approximate cost, so I need to change some US dollars into Iraqi money so I can pay without too much difficulty.

Other than that, there is absolutely nothing happening here. It seems as if I really have no life here, and that is probably the case. I am busy applying for jobs and looking for programs to help me further my education. Hopefully I will settle upon something soon as I have to in order to do it. Who knows, I may end up spending another year here at this institution wathcing the students who started progress yet another year closer to graduation. Will I end up staying the four years that it will take for this to happen? Perhaps that is what is in the cards. I guess we shall see what happens with the applications I have already sent.

Strangely difficult day!

2010-01-22T04:46:00.002+09:00

It seems I really don't know how to keep posting. I guess it has to do with the lack of excitement in my life, though I really should be used to that by now. Basically I go to work, teach, come home, surf the internet and try to reconnect with friends from around the world, and go to bed. There is little variation in it all.

The past couple of days, however, have brought me a bit of frustration. The Western Union was finally open again after almost a month of being closed, so I went to attempt to send money home so it would be available to pay my bills. I handed the person my money, my Western Union card, and the slip that said where the money was to go. He imputed all this information and hit send. Unfortunately, the amount he had typed in was $1000 more than what I had indicated that I wanted to send. He told me that since the bank was closed, he was unable to change it, and that I should come back the next day between 8:00am and 1:00pm. He said that 3pm would be alright as well. I expressed my dismay at this and inquired about the possibility of sending it in a different transfer and then voiding the other one the following day. He said this was not possible. He told me he was very sorry, and that I would have to return the next day.

While I was not happy about it, I realized that there was nothing that I could do. I went home a little upset, but ready to return the next day to get it sorted out. So, around 11am I again went to the Western Union. I walked in and a different man was working. I started to tell him that I had come in yesterday, but he stopped me and told me enough of the information to let me know that he knew who I was and why I was there. He then told me to come back at 3 o'clock! Saying that I was upset at this would be like saying the ocean in moist or that the sun is slightly warm. I was absolutely livid! I managed to break the chain that the pen they have is connected to, and I slammed my fist on the counter. This is, of course, no way to behave, but I didn't think about that at the time. He said he was calling the cops and went to the phone to do just that. I left, slamming the door behind me.

At around 2:30pm, I received a call from the Western Union worker. He asked if I could come then. Of course, I had to teach from 3 - 5, so I couldn't. He said that the bank closed at 5, but that it would be ok. Then at 3:45 he calls again to ask if I could come at 4. I told him I had to work until 5. "The banks close at 5." "Yes," I replied, "I know that." "So, you can come at 4?" "No, I have to work until 5." "Oh. That is a problem." Silence for a couple of seconds. "Tomorrow is holiday. Saturday is holiday. We open Sunday." "Fine. I will come on Sunday." I hung up the phone with a huge sigh.

I went back to my class and finished teaching. At 5pm it was time to go home so I went to the van and waited. While I was waiting for the driver, I get a phone call: the Western Union guy again. "When are you coming?" Perplexed, I respond, "Today? You want me to come today?" "Yes. What time can you come?" "I can come in about 15 minutes." "What time?" "5:30." "Can you come at 5?" "Yes!" Even though it was after 5 already, I had to say yes. By this time I was quite exasperated. "Good. I will wait for you then."

I was so excited to hear this. I wasn't sure what he was going to be able to do for me, but I assumed it must be something as he called me and asked me to come. I arrived there around 5:20 or so. He saw me, waved hello, took the two print outs he had waiting, stamped them, and handed them to m. "Is this correct?" I looked at them and assured him that they were. I signed one and gave it back to him. He told me to look at the screen while he attempted to pull up the information. And we waited, and waited....the internet had once again gone down! I fell on my knees and groaned. "Don't worry. The money is already in America." He gave me my receipt and told me to have a nice day. I looked at the slip, and sure enough, the money had been sent at 2:57! He had sent the money trusting that I would come back that day to be able to cover it. I was very grateful that he did this.

The evening was made even better by an outing with the other two English teachers and the Science teacher and her daughter. We went to the Chinese restaurant which serves what turned out to be very good Chinese food. So, what was a rather rough day, turned into a good one. It is good to have things end on such a good note.

Back from Jordan and Ukraine!

2010-01-05T02:56:00.001+09:00

The past couple of weeks I have been out of range of the internet. There were a couple of days that I was able to get online, but that was it. I had left Erbil and headed to parts mostly unknown, though also a little bit a familiarity. First I went to Jordan, a very nice, though expensive, country. I visited Petra (where they filmed some of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), the Dead Sea, Mt. Nebo, the Jordan River, and the place of Jesus's Baptism. There are many places in Jordan that are religious sites, and I visited a number of them.

Amman, the capital, is where I stayed. The hostel at which I staid cost about $8; so at least that wasn't very expensive. It wasn't too difficult to find cheap places to eat either, so I managed to manage my money very well there. Then I moved from the warmth of Jordan to the chill of Ukraine. Odessa,located on the Black Sea, was my next stop.

It is normally not overly expensive in Ukraine, but I took this opportunity to make sure I spent as much as I could without ever actually acquiring anything. I felt like I was in that one movie or something. I ate out almost every night, I rented an apartment for $50/night, and I went bowling and ice skating, both somewhat expensive things in Ukraine. I also paid more in transportation costs than I actually had to as I took a taxi wherever I went. This wouldn't have been nearly as bad except I was paying for my friend as well. It can get really costly when you are paying for two or three people.

I found Odessa to be extremely relaxing, so much so that I would actually consider living there long term. I was able to do a lot of typing that I had never been able to do before, and I was able to just do nothing and be alright with it as well. I am contemplating going there this summer to do a little studying and writing and then going to wherever I am to go next. I just have to wait and see what will happen with that one.

Leaving Odessa was very difficult. The city was crying as I rode to the airport in the taxi. The plane didn't seem to want to let me leave either: we were delayed five hours due to technical problems. Of course this meant that I missed my connecting flight in Istanbul by about two hours. Turkish Airlines normally has another flight at 11:35pm from Istanbul to Amman, but they canceled that one. They offered to fly me to Baghdad, "Erbil, Baghdad, they are the same thing!" I was not very happy with this extreme lack of knowledge of geography and happenings so close to where they fly. I told them that I was not so sure I was allowed to fly into Baghdad, So they put me on the flight to Damascus that left at approximately the same time as the canceled Amman flight. As this was only three hours or so away, I was quite pleased.

So, three hours later I was on my way to Damascus. We were slightly delayed, so we caught a fireworks show as we were taking off. It was a wonderful way to bring in the new year! When I made it to Damascus, I was told I had to wait until 5:00am to check in. I went and lay down on the seats and tried to get some sleep. This was not working too well, and at about 3:00am an airline worker came and got my information. He said that there wasn't any room at the transit hotel, but he could allow me access to the Executive Lounge! I could eat and drink anything they had there, and I was able to use a semi private bathroom, and the couches and chairs were so much more comfortable than those in the general area. I was almost convinced to buy a membership to these types of places! I wouldn't have to worry about a hotel room for long layovers, I could have a great place to stay if I am delayed. It may just pay for itself in comfort and food and beverages. It is definitely something I just may attempt to figure out soon.

The eight hours I spent in Damascus didn't seem like quite as much then. But when I arrived in Amman, the waiting was tremendously tedious! I arrived at about 9:30ish in the morning. I got my ticket changed and was directed to stay in the international terminal until my flight, at 1:30am! I started going crazy at about 4pm. I got up from where I was sitting and went to see if they had any idea of where they were going to tell us our plane was to leave from first. As I was walking, I ran into the science teacher and her daughter! Finally someone to talk with. Not too much longer after that, the person whom I met on my way to Amman the first time showed up. So, we all ended up sitting in Starbucks for much of the rest of the night playing cars, drinking coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, and just talking. It helped pass the time, especially when this flight was delayed until 3:00am and then 6:00am. We were told we would start loading at 6:00am, and we went through the final screening before one is allowed to get on the plane, and we sat. We didn't finally board until 8:00am! I was not a happy camper, but I think i was at least a camper! Thank goodness for chocolate, Starbucks, and friends. I don't think I could have asked for a better situation to be stranded in.

When I got home, my new friend came to my place to wait and find out how she was going to get back to the city she lives in here. She slept on the couch while I watched television; I was much too tired to sleep, and even too tired to tell I was tired. I finally went to bed around 11:00pm. The next day I woke up and figured that it was around 9am. I looked at my clock and it said 3:40pm! I had to check my computer and my cell phone before I believed that it was true. I had slept longer than I had though possible, and I felt great! I didn't have to work until today, so there was nothing to worry about. I was going to go to the bank to get the rest of my pay, but by that time the bank was closed. Of course it was good that I didn't go because I learned today that they are going to bring the money to us tomorrow in cash. A very interesting development I must say.

Not much else is happening that I know of, though I am sure there is a lot happening that I am not sure about. I will try to keep you updated.

Thanksgiving!

2009-12-04T16:13:00.003+09:00

Well, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my coworkers on Wednesday; it was an awesome time! I went over to the science teacher's house where I and her daughter made biscuits from a mix that was sent to me from a friend back in Michigan (thanks Meredith). The eight year old had never seen biscuits before, and when I asked if she knew what they were, she quickly explained that they were thin and crispy ... ahh the British influence on her language is telling. I guess one can expect nothing else from someone raised in Egypt. I took this opportunity to show her the picture on the package and explain that an American biscuit is not the same as a British biscuit.

She read the instructions and proceeded to help me stir water into the powder that was just poured into the bowl. Unfortunately, we had to guess as to the amount because we had no measuring cup. As I have made biscuits in the past, I had some idea as to the proper consistency, and I think we made them a little watery. No matter, we mixed away and dropped the mix onto the waiting cookie sheet as the oven heated. Of course there was no way to tell if the oven was at the proper temperature as it is a gas oven with no thermometer inside. So, as every amateur cook knows how to do, we guessed yet again.

Now, I wanted to make the biscuits small as they generally rise better that way, but Selma, the girl, thought better of this and made them bigger. Of course this caused them to break a little when they were taken off the pan, but the eating of them was wonderful! They were just the right texture, the flavor was almost like home, and with honey or blackberry jam, there was no doubt this was a necessary contribution to the gastronomy of the day.

The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy were all expertly prepared by the two English teachers who live above the science teacher. It may have been late, but the food was definitely about as traditional as one could get. And to be there spending time with friends was the thing I was most thankful for.

Following this, we watched the new Star Trek movie, and then I went home, sans hat! The little one had stolen my hat and told me that I could have it back when I next cam for a visit! The nerve of some people...how dare she steal my hat? It was one of the nicest things she has done to/for me. Knowing that I am welcome is a great feeling. I did go back and get it just yesterday (Thursday).

Of course it wasn't just for this reason that I went back. They actually came to see me. I had messaged them that I had just moved into the downstairs apartment, and they came to see it. It is a wonderful 3 bedroom apartment very similar to the one upstairs. This one, however, has bigger beds, a bathroom connected to the bedroom as well as the main shared one which has a BATHTUB!!! This apartment also comes with a new roommate. He is from Baghdad originally, but has been living in UAE for the past nine years. He seems very nice.

As of now, it is not comfortable living here. I did sleep very, very well, the best since I have been here, but I have yet to get the washer, drying rack, refrigerator, stove, blankets, microwave, etc. I don't think it would actually be considered legally inhabitable in the US. Ahh, but it feels good to not have to feel like I am at work all the time. I also don't have to worry about constant visitors anymore! I am very happy about it. Hopefully I will be able to start focusing a little more now as well. I guess only time will tell with that though.

Eid holiday has come!!

2009-12-01T16:33:00.002+09:00

Eid has come. I think the actually day itself was this past Saturday, but I cannot be certain. My break lasts from last Thursday at about 3pm (mostly because none of the students showed up) until when I go to work on Sunday morning. It is a long break in which I feel nothing of any consequence will happen. But this is good for me, I do not want anything overly exciting to happen. I want to just take a day or two to relax without having to worry about people and being around them.

This of course is a disadvantage to living with two very social (and socially controlled) Lebanese. Does it matter that they are Lebanese? Normally I would want to say 'no', but the truth of it is 'YES!" Of course it matters! Much of what they do, they do because of their culture. They are constantly inviting the other Lebanese employees over for shisha, dinner, or just to hang out. They had a Lebanese BBQ two days ago which I helped with (and was the only nonLebanese there). I didn't really have much of a choice, but at least they told me the night before that they were planning to do it. That is an improvement over all the other times. They expect me to be alright with all of the visitors and have no problem with them coming over. I, however, get very tired from being around other people and need a break once in a while. This does not mean that I don't want them to come over; it just means that I need to be able to be prepared for it and to have a day or two to myself as well. This is apparently a foreign concept in this part of the world.

I didn't have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving last Thursday, so a few of my coworkers and I are going to do so this Wednesday. I think it will be a nice chance to sit and relax and eat. And I will have enough time afterward to be able to recover from the experience. I am really looking forward to it because it means that I will get a chance to spend time with my coworkers 8 year old daughter. It is a great boost to my mental health to be able to interact with a child again. I miss being around children, and I don't have much of an opportunity to do that here.

I am still attempting to learn Turkish, though it is coming very slowly. I need to become more focused with just about everything I do, but especially this! I have been too long out of studying that I am no longer used to it. I need to change that as I would like to eventually go back and do some more studying. I want that PhD!

With so many changes, I am glad that this break has come though. The dean left and the new dean has come in. I am not sure what types of changes this will bring with it, but we shall see. I have also had to pick up more teaching hours as they appointed one of the new English Instructors as the Academic Coordinator (or something like that). She will take on a lot of administrative type duties and, therefore, had to lessen her teaching load. Now I will teach 28 hours a week. My Mondays will be the toughest because I will be working from 7:45am - 6:00pm and then have Turkish class until 8:30pm! Hopefully this will not be too much for me. This will continue until we leave for break on the 18th of December. This is not an overly long time, so I should be alright.

Next semester is anticipated to be worse. They are saying anything specific, but it is the whole "we have to go down before we come up" routine. We shall see what happens, I suppose. Wish me luck in everything; I am sure I will make it!!

So many changes!I

2009-11-18T18:06:00.002+09:00

It seems that things almost never change. I still wait longer than I want to do everything from shopping to writing my blog, I still haven't been able to sleep well, and I still don't eat as well as I should regardless of the fact that I know I should, and I want to.

This being said, it seems that lately everything has been changing! There are things here within the university admistration that are changing. This means everything from the set up to the way we are supposed to teach to the position people are in; all of this is going to change. I am not completely sure what to think about these changes just yet, but I do anticipate some problems on the horizon.

On another note, things have been a little tough for me for the past few weeks (2 or 3 actually). I had been sick, and then I had to take a Turkish test even though I had missed 2 weeks of class. I did score a 59%, so I was very happy! I never thought I would say that, but having not put the effort in required to get a good score, this was better than I was actually expecting. I have been seriously thinking about leaving the company, but I know that if I decide to do that, I will be out a lot of money, I won't have a job, and I won't be given a letter of release allowing me to work in the Kurdistan Region. This may not seem like a bid deal, but I like it here for some strange reason, and I would really like to stay. My only problems come from my job, and if I were able to either get a different one or even work freelance, I would be alright.

My students are actually causing me a bit of frustration at the moment, however. I just passed out a book for them (21 pages, maybe 3rd grade level), and they are struggling with it. I decided to make the homework to prepare for class. I don't think they are used to having to do that and making it homework may remind them to do so. I know that if they look at it at home, they will have time to translate everything and be ready to read it in class. I wish that they wouldn't rely on translation, but I don't know if they are ready to not. I can't fight it anymore; I will merely keep mentioning it and hope that some of them will take it in.

I keep telling myself that I don't care about the way my students perform, but I really do. I think I am too easily attached, and I feel almost personally responsible for their English ability. I know this isn't true, but I can't help but feel it, nonetheless. I guess this is why it is so frustrating to me when they don't seem to care, when they talk while I am talking, or when they come back from break 5 minutes late. I guess I should expect it, but I still do not find it acceptable.

I am thinking about hiring someone to do my cooking for me. As much as I don't like to have someone do my work, I am not eating correctly, and I don't forsee that changing anytime soon. So, if I hired a cook, then I wouldn't have to worry about what to eat or having to prepare it; I could just come home and have it either waiting or being prepared (or even just ready to heat up in the microwave). The only other solution I can think of is to get married, and the possibility of that seems quite low at the moment.

I guess that is all for now. I seem to have been rambling much more than usual, and there are many topics covered here; however, I think they are all relevant to what is happening and what I may need to do in the future. And barring being fired or some unforseen circumstances, I should be here until the end of June or mid-July. Hopefully by then I will have lined up another job....hopefully in the area!

Finally another update!!

2009-11-06T17:30:00.001+09:00

If one waits until they know the ending, the story never gets written. It seems that this is what I have been doing for the past few weeks: waiting to know the end of the story. To think it is still not complete; the drama and sub-stories that play underneath, come to a head, and sink back again are of such a quality that TV would never take them (we can't have good quality television, people may start to think or something).

I wish I knew what it was all about or at least what facet of life it was dealing with. Unfortunately, it is like a cancer that has permeated the not so distinct lines between the work, home, and social aspects. Of course living in a place where you live with your coworkers/supervisors and they are the only people you know enough to socialize with, this is not really a surprise. But this is starting to change! Just two days ago I met one of the students from my Turkish class. He was visiting my university in order to sign up his sister for classes (she has the flu at the moment). Then yesterday while waiting for my housemate to get his hair cut, the two others from Turkish class that I usually had tea with walked in. Such a small world these days.

They asked where I have been and said that everyone at class was asking about me. I haven't been going for the past week or so because I have been really exhausted. I even started sleeping 11 hour nights! Now I am back down to 5 hours, which is alright as I feel more rested than I did when I was sleeping longer.

During all of this mess of illness and such, I managed to get into a real tift with my housemates and my former coworker who will be leaving for another university. I grew tired of her disrespect. I also learned that I was not able to trust her any longer. I told her this and she hasn't spoken to me since. She did, however, take a picture she took of my and our handyman where I was helping him with his reading of English and send it to management. They decided to construe it as teaching. I was told that if I ever did this again, I would be immediately dismissed!

So, I have been having a ball as they say. She tried to get me fired, my housemates weren't talking to me for about a week, I was paid late, and I haven't been able to send money home due to power outages and generator problems at the Western Union! Sometimes I wonder what the draw of all these adventures really is. Perhaps one of these days soon, I will find someone with whom to settle down. I guess we will have to wait and see.

The surrealistic life of work and play!

2009-10-20T18:52:00.002+09:00

Lately has been interestng times with work. It seems that I have been working without a contract, and now they are asking me to sign one. I was under the impression that the letter of intent would work as my contract for this year, or at least that the contract they would give me to sign would be basically the same as the previous one; however this is not the case. The whole process has made me somewhat dubious about things around here, as does the situation with other workers here.

I am in the process of looking for another job. I received a reply to send copies of transcripts and my passport to a place in Kuait. I have heard that it is a good place to work, and the money is better than here, that is for sure. I am not so sure I want to leave, but if too much more happens here, I am not going to be able to in good faith/concience sign the contract. I guess we just have to wait and see what happens.

On another note, I started Turkish lessons last night and found it to be quite an interesting experience. If I do decide to stay, I will have people that I can talk to outside of work and something else to do as well. I just have to learn not to immediately dot my 'i's as those with dots are different letters than those without. I learned the word for many yesterday, and much to my surprise, it is the same word used in the Hawaiian English: /choke/. I am not sure how it came about to be the same word, but I am sure not to forget it!

I received a text message today. It was in kurdish and it is inviting "me" to a dinner for someone who has a familiar name. I do not know who it is from, and it is probably a wrong number, but it is interesting to recieve nonetheless. Who knows, perhaps it is from someone at Ishek University who for got the fact that I don't speak Kurdish~ I have to make something up to make it interesting AND make sense....

I will attempt to keep you updated on all the happenings as they unfold.

I have finally done it!!

2009-10-09T16:01:00.002+09:00

Yes, you have read that correctly; I have finally done it! Now, you may be asking, what could cause such a stir that I have to write home about it? It is very simple: I bought a phone refill card! This was the first time I have attempted to refill my minutes since I have come to Kurdistan back in March. If that doesn't say exciting, I don't know what does!

I went out last night with the group from work. I haven't been out of the house except to go to work in so long, I had forgotten what it was like. The crowded restaurants were not exactly my cup of tea, but I did mostly enjoy hanging out with them again. Unfortunately, there was more than a fare share of drama, but I managed to stay out of it myself. I was, however, fortunate enough to meet some very interesting new people from out of town. Who knows, maybe I will go to their city and visit them someday soon. They are Kurdish and also live in the Kurdistan Region. I would love to do more traveling around this place; there are so many beautiful places that I haven't been to.

I finally made it home around 3ish in the morning. I decided as I don't have to work today, that I would sleep late. Apparently my body had other ideas: I was up at 6:20am! I have to work tomorrow until 1pm, but then I am free until 6pm when I have to go to the local Turkish university to see about taking a Turkish course. I need to finally finish my language requirement; it is costing me a severe amount of money every month by not having it complete. So, the sooner I get it done, the better!

Nothing else is new around this place...talk about boring. Though I must say, if I really wanted to look around and such, I could find more to do here than I could back home in Standish...

my first day of teaching and all other things that have come

2009-10-07T03:13:00.002+09:00

Well, it has been a few days since I began teaching (ok, so it has only been two), and I must say it has been interesting. The second year students are back, and they are in rare form. I was so glad to have them in class again, but I had forgotten how frustrating class with them can be. They have to take science, math, and IT Literacy along with English, and they are having a difficult time with it. I found out that their logic skills are a bit lacking, so this is what is making is so tough. For example, they need to know what "scientific process" is, so I asked them "What is a process?" They tell me. Then I ask what "scientific process." They tell me that they don't know. So I explain: "If a process is how we do something, scientific process is how we do science." "Ahhhh!" They seemed to be expressing understanding, so I go a step further: "If scientific process is the way we do science, what is educational process?" This through them.

Seeing their inability to answer I say "educational process is the way we do education. What is educational process?" They still were unable to answer. Not only could they not make the logical jump from one to the other, they even have trouble listening to when I actually give them the answer! This really frustrates me sometimes.

Of course the administration frustrates me as well. I had a new class today, and I didn't find out that I had it until 2 hours before. That is I learned that I had a class, not anything about it such as the level, the number of students, the time! How can one prepare if they do not know these things? The class eventually came, and it went well. The students are very low level, but they really want to learn and are eager to do whatever I ask.

I will end with telling about my first day. It should have been first, but I have such fond memories, that I wanted to save it for last. That day I was being so accident prone. First I kept dropping my marker, then I dropped the cap and it rolled into the whole that is being covered by the teacher's table. After this, I was writing on the board and gesturing, and the marker flew out of my hand. It was so embarrassing, but the students seemed to have fun with it. Finally, as I was erasing the board, the eraser fell apart in my hand! What a day.... the excitement never ends :)

My new haircut and contract

2009-09-29T21:57:00.003+09:00

Well, as everyone has been asking about my haircut, I have decided to attempt to post a picture to allow you to see just how short and ridiculous it is.

Lately things have been going alright, though I am so sick of training and orientation. We are going over some of the stuff that I helped to create and put into place, so it is a little boring for me. I know it is important, but I can't help that my mind keeps floating off into other realms when he is explaining it all.

Last night was the dean's 60th birthday party, and that was quite the blast! We sat and joked, caught up on old times, and related our feelings about present situations. I heard horror stories of the 1st graders at the primary schools and felt a bit nostalgic. I remember when I taught the young ones in Korea; I honestly do miss it, though I do like teaching at the university level as well. I am thinking that perhaps I have to stay at the older level because if I start teaching the younger ones, I may end up stealing one for my very own. I think it would just be safer (and more advantages) if I got married and had one the old fashioned way :)

Today the university teachers are going to get together to discuss the issues of life in general. The science teacher is Palestinian and used to teach in the Gaza Strip. I asked her if she could tell me about her experience there, and it ended up being an invitation to her house. She is going to fix a couple of traditional Palestinian snacks, so it will be very exciting I think.

While I haven't seen the other teachers in a while, I can't help but keep thinking about how comfortable I was with them. Generally, I have a very difficult time going through people's cupboards in their kitchen, even when I am told to do so. At their house, I do not have this issue. I helped one of them cook, I helped another one clean, I was able to just sit with them and talk and relax, all of this without awkwardness. There is one woman from Lebanon named Daisy. She has a 5 year old brother named Jason, and told me that I am her younger brother now; she could take care of me. Well, I think that everyone needs this every now and again, so I decided to agree. Now, people say things like this all the time, but nothing really ever comes from it, but she is different; she actually treats me like her younger brother. I actually feel like I have an older sister in her. The fact that she is of a different ethnic background doesn't seem to matter, nor does the small detail of my being older than her! It feels good to have someone that I know will be willing to listen should I so need it, and someone who will help with making soup or something when I am sick... it is an interesting feeling.

I have been back since the 20th, I believe. Before I left I signed a paper that stated that I was agreeing to come back to work for my present employer with the only change in the contract being a change in the pay. I naively thought that this was the contract, as did the dean per our discussions about it. It turns out that it was not. Today I was emailed my new contract they wish me to sign. Unfortunately, they have changed things in it that I didn't agree to, and I will not agree to. I must now renegotiate my contract and see if I can get what I want. Perhaps this is one of the best things that could have happened to me. Perhaps I can get suggestions from others about what I should be putting in it to protect myself from the overwork and exploitation that I know the company is capable of (and almost is required to do). Hmmm...what to do, what to do?

A day of hiding away

2009-09-26T00:25:00.002+09:00

I just decided to write again as I haven't done anything all day. I woke up at 4pm and decided that I wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything. Even this typing is a little on the annoying side for me. Perhaps I just need communication much more than I am willing to admit.

Let me get you up to date, so that you can understand why I slept so late and what has been happening here. First of all, the doctor never called back, so I did not get to go to dinner with him, and my engagement was all for not, and so unceremoniously ended! So for that evening, I did what I seem to do so much of here: nothing. I should be used to it by now, but it is still very difficult to get used to. This is especially true when the housemates go out and have Lebanese night with teachers in Khanzad (suburb where the main primary/middle school is), and the girls have girls night. So, everyone is having fun doing what they do, and I am sitting at home unable to figure out what to do as I know no one else to hang out with and don't really feel like going out by myself. The girls call and ask me to bring something over to them, which I readily do. I am rewarded with a piece of apple crumble they have made with ice cream on the side. I stay long enough to eat it, walk one of the girls back to her house as she needed to do something, and continue with my night alone. The girl I walked home was pretty adamant about my "not wanting to come back." I do so hate people making decisions for me. If you don't want me there, tell me you are having a girls night, or you just don't want me around at that time and let it go at that. Don't make it seem like I have so much to do and am choosing to not hang out with you, especially when everyone knows that I am home alone!

The following day was much better though: it was Mexican night! There was so much food! Lindy, one of the new teachers, made quesidillas, homemade tortillas, enchiladas, and some other stuff I was not sure of. There was watermelon, fruit kabobs with a honey-something dipping sauce, and cake. It was wonderful. There were a lot of people, which wasn't so good for me, but I handled it well. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen helping Lindy prepare drinks and more food for the guests, and then I delivered it to them. A very good job for me as it kept me away from people, but also gave me the opportunity to interact as much as I could..

Somehow this party continued on forever. A couple of Kurdish teachers were talking with me, and they said that when they first saw me, they thought that I had no knowledge about teaching, but as I was talking they were impressed with how much I knew. They want me to help them with getting materials together to teach English to two boys who are complete beginners. They said they would pay me for this. Perhaps this could be the start of my own consulting business! Hopefully it works out because I do not have their contact information, and I didn't give them mine, I don't think. They do know how to get in touch with me though, so hopefully this works out.

Late in the evening/early in the morning, the residents of the house and I started a fairly deep discussion about things. It was one of the best discussions I have had, and I think we are going to be able to be very good friends. Unfortunately, this discussion persisted for such a time that I didn't get home until 5:30am! I woke up at 8:30am, though, so I was still good with being up at a reasonable hour. The only problem was that because of this, I was feeling a little too tired to go camping when it came time to go. Of course, I decided to not go for different reasons. Everyone who was supposed to go, other than me, is Lebanese. This is not a problem per say, but they were all over at my house about 45 minutes before it was time to go. They were all speaking Arabic and the only time my presence was even acknowledged was when they first arrived. They are mostly good people as far as I can tell, and I like them, but I didn't want to spend a minimum of a day and a half with people I could not understand or being ignored. This is why I opted to not go. Instead, I settled for the much more common past time of sitting home and doing nothing. I have been so unmotivated lately, and this is a problem.

I am hoping that when I finally have to go into work Saturday (tomorrow), I will be able to get into that work mode and figure things out and become just slightly more motivated. I didn't even sleep until after midnight, even though I was just watching tv and on the computer all day. Then I awoke at 5:30am! This getting up early was annoying, so I decided to go back to sleep. This is the time that I woke up at 4pm.

I haven't cut my hair yet, though I had planned on doing it when I got back. I know it needs it, but the only person to say anything was the teacher who used to work at the university but now works at one of the primary schools. The dean told her that I need to cut my hair and he isn't sure if he is supposed to tell me, or if it is the job of the academic coordinator, who also happens to be my housemate. The fact that he is uncomfortable with telling me to cut my hair annoys me. It seems that everyone is treating me with kid gloves, like something has happened that everyone knows about that has affected the way they feel they should treat me. Some of it is actually good, but others a little odd. I think I need to talk to people to find out if there is something going on that needs to be discussed.

Back in Iraq!

2009-09-22T16:20:00.002+09:00

The "vacation" is finally over and now I can start to recover. I don't have to work until the 24th, and I don't start teaching until the beginning of October. This means that I have a little bit of time to get used to being back in this time again before anything important comes up for me to do. It seems that I manage to come here during times off, so I am quite fortunate in that way.

My time back has been quite interesting thus far. There are many new teachers that have come, and I have been getting to know them. The odd part is they all know about me. It seems that I have apparently been the topic of conversation among them on at least a few occasions as whenever I was introduced to someone I heard "Oh, I have heard so much about you!" I am sure it couldn't have been too bad as they were smiling and still talking to me. I just don't like the feeling of being at such a disadvantage. Perhaps I should attempt to look at people's files and research them a bit more before finally meeting them :)

My first night back was Eid (the ending of Ramadan), so they had a BBQ (they grilled chicken kabobs basically) and we spent all night at the new teachers' house listening to music (they danced) and just hanging out. I finally got home around 3ish in the AM, but didn't get to bed until 8:30am! Luckily I had a "long" sleep and was up before noon.

I figured I would just go to bed early last night because of not having slept so much after the BBQ. Unfortunately, the girls decided to have game night. So, at 8pm, like a good little boy, I walked over to their house to prepare to play Cranium. I am not much of a game player, so while I was looking forward to hanging out with the people, I was not looking forward to playing the game. The feeling of uneasiness became worse when I found out how to play! There is so much artistic and creative things one must do in order to win; these are things I am not too good at. But play I did, and I had an awesome time doing it! Of course I didn't win, but that was nothing to feel blue about (even though my team's piece was blue...we decided we were smurfs!).

Of course all of this game nonsense came after a rather odd situation one of my coworkers got herself into. She took a cab on the previous day (Eid) to go to a friend's house for dinner. She managed to leave her wallet in the taxi. After searching all over for it at her friend's house, she returned home and checked the internet. She looked on her facebook and have around 5 messages telling her to contact this person if she wanted to get her wallet back! (And you thought facebook was only good for staying in touch with people you already had some contact with!)

She called the guy, and he said that his sister had found the wallet and that he would return it the following day. He was in a city that is a couple of hours away, but he would be coming here anyway and would call her then to set up a meeting time and place. When he called, he invited her to dinner. This seemed a bit strange to her, so she asked me to go with her as her "fiance". So, for one brief meeting of no more than 15 minutes, I was going to be engaged! One of the other teachers lent me her ring (I must have small fingers as it fit perfectly) and off we went. We met the man, a medical doctor in the other city. He once again invited us out to dinner. I said we were unable to go that night. We brought another of the teachers along as well to work as a translator as she speaks Kurdish. She told him that we had guests from London who were waiting for us. He wouldn't take no for an answer, so we agreed to meet with him the following night for dinner. She tried to give him money as a reward, but he refused to take it.

So, I am going to once again be engaged. This time it will be at dinner with a random doctor guy whose English isn't very good. It should be a very interesting experience, though I seem to be the only one looking forward to it. The more people one meets, the more interesting experiences one can have, and the more one can learn. These are things I love, so I am really excited about this.

I also learned that one of the teachers is seeing a guy whose sister works in the HR department at the American University in Sulimania, Kurdistan. (this is the same city the doctor is from). They pay A LOT better than where i am working now, so I am thinking that I will talk with the boyfriend, see if I can meet the sister, send them my resume, and try to get a job there next fall. It would be a wonderful way to stay in the area, make good money, meet new people, and learn a little more about the language and culture. It is a good deal all the way around, I think. Just a thought.

Back in the UP

2009-09-08T21:25:00.002+09:00

After a long, long day (about 48 hours long!), I finally made it to Houghton County airport. I have been here for a couple of days now, and I leave on the evening of the 9th. All these flights are ridiculous, but it sure makes it a lot easier to travel.

My airport time was spent meeting random Ukrainians who spoke little English. The girl spoke almost no English, and it was her first time traveling outside of Ukraine. She asked me if she was in the right spot and about the time the plane came and all of that. It is a good thing that I spent that time in Ukraine and picked up really basic Russian. So between my almost no Russian, her almost no knowledge of English we managed to have a very interesting and long conversational session (about 4 hours!).

I spent 24 hours in the airport in Istanbul. I tried to get some sleep, but there was an early morning flight on which there was a rather loud family from Morocco. The children were running around and not listening to the mother, and they were all chattering in a strange mixture of French and Arabic. It was very interesting, but would have been more so if it weren't so early. There was also a tour group that I think was from Sarajevo. I am not really certain, but it was where they were going. I tried to figure it out from the language they were speaking, which was an interesting mix of a Germanic language and a Slavic language I was unfamiliar with. It wasn't quite Russian, though it contained similar words. I should have asked, but it was much more fun to just listen and pretend to be invisible.

I got in late for my flight to Hancock, so I had to fly standby to Minneapolis and then to Hancock. I spent 4 hours in the airport waiting for the first one, and then another 4 hours in Minneapolis. Walking around the airport after spending so many hours in other ones is not as fun as it could be...I was tired, and needed a shower. I finally got to the hotel around 12:30am. I slept well for the first time in at least two days. It is amazing how much you can miss things like sleep and not know it until you finally get it again (sort of like post offices).

Camels, Pyramids, and Ramadan

2009-08-30T03:19:00.002+09:00

Yesterday and today have been interesting days. Actually I guess it has been the past 3 days already. 3 days ago, I was standing on street corner waiting to cross. Out of nowhere I hear "hey!" and there stands my friend whom I lived above in Poland. I knew she was coming, but I didn't expect her to be standing with 2 other people waiting for a cab on a random street corner in downtown. In a city as big as Cairo, one does not really expect to just randomly meet someone who has just arrived from the US five hours before!

Later that night, we went out with an Egyptian guy to a sisha place to have tea and so they could talk and smoke. It wasn't all that great of a place, but this boy who was selling tissue stopped at our table. He seemed to like the hat and spent almost 10 minutes playing with my head and trying to talk with me. It was really kind of cool to make such a connection.

Yesterday, I went to the Cairo Tower and saw the view of Cairo from above. It was a great sight. It was interesting that they tried to tell me that I couldn't go with just a regular Egyptian friend; I was required to go with a tour guide. I found this to be quite strange...but they let me and my friend through anyway.

Today was a long day. I went on a tour, with a tour guide I had said I didn't want. I visited a perfume shop, a papyrus factory, a carpet school, and the pyramids where I went on a camel ride. The camel ride was bumpy and the desert was sandy and the pyramids actually were pyramids in shape...all in all not a very enlightening experience...but fun nonetheless.

Then I came back home and got a message that I was invited to an evening meal with some Egyptians. We are to meet for this meal at around 11:30pm..it is definitely going to be a late one. Ramadan really messes with people's schedules I guess.

I really have more to write, but I don't have time.. My allotment of time on this computer is about to run out, so I am typing fast, and trying to think even quicker...not working to well.

Is everyone in this city related?

2009-08-27T21:59:00.002+09:00

Today I decided not to go to class. I am having a hard time retaining the information they have given me, so I am going to take the day today and this weekend to attempt to process all of that. I went to the American University - Cairo to see about a program I am interested in, but they moved their campus and the guards at the old campus were anything but helpful.

On my way to the university, I was met by a man who said he worked for a travel agency and did adventure travels here in Egypt. He took me back to his shop which was a family owned papyrus shop. They apparently also do actually do adventure tours, but they offered me that only after they showed me all of their papyrus and gave me a brief history of how it is made and where it came from. It was quite educational and interesting actually. I did end up buying some a couple of postcards and some odds and ends...it ended up coming up to 115 pounds (about $23), which I thought was kind of expensive, but I paid it grudginly and started on my way. The guy who sold me the stuff took me to their perfume shop on the next street, and I managed to get out of there without too much trouble after listening to him for only 5 or 10 minutes.

On the way back from the university, I happend by the store at which I returned some things. The person who helped my get my money back was sitting outside. He came up, walked with me, and wanted me to give him money for helping me. He also wanted to take me to his perfume shop. I went with him to his shop, and what would you know: it was the same shop as the one I was taken to that morning! When I told him I didn't want perfume, he offered to take me to his papyrus shop, to which I didn't go. It would have been the same one I had went to that morning.

Then he tried once again to really guilt me into giving him money for helping me. What is it with people using Ramadan as a way of insuing guilt? And when someone helps someone, if they are doing it for the money, then it is not something they are doing to help; it is something they are doing for payment. I do not like to be made to feel guilty about not giving money, so I am less likely to give it if that is the case. I felt bad about it, but I refused to give him money.

Now I find out that my evening plans are not going to happen either. I hate when days go like this. Perhaps my friend will contact me, and we will be able to get together. I know she will be tired after traveling, so this is probably not going to happen...but who knows, perhaps I could get lucky.

More fabulous adventures on the microbus!

2009-08-24T18:01:00.002+09:00

It seems that the adventures for me never seem to stop. Yesterday on my way home from class, I got into a microbus that was going to my destination. Unfortunately this person was also very happy for Ramadan and it being the night time. As the driver of the bus, one would expect him to be somewhat level headed, but this just was not the case. He was deliberately swerving in the road and blowing his horn in celebration! He also turned the music up loud so that everyone in the bus could hear and clap to it. I must admit that it was a lot of fun, but it was certainly scary as well.

All the while this was happening, he was trying to talk to me. He didn't know any English, so the converstaion was not what we would call extremely enlightening, but he did offer me some figs and he wore my hat for most of the trip home. All in all it was an experience I would definitely repeat again, though I am not sure how safe it was :)

This morning was another experience. It seems that the first time I was on a microbus and the tire blew out, this could be considered a fluke. I was told that these things never happen, so I was just lucky. Well, I must be doubly lucky because it happened once again! At least this time the driver had a spare and we only had to wait for him to change it and not for another crowded bus to come by. I guess that is what I get for taking a bus that I knew went that direction, but was not my usual bus to take! See, change is dangerous!

Another change in time!

2009-08-12T17:38:00.002+09:00

I must say that as adaptable as I may be, I am not really happy about all the changes that have been going on since I have been here. My class started with minimal difficulties, but as the group class consisted of me and one other person who has a background in Arabic, this was a little tough. Yes, he can speak it; he is just attempting to lessen the Sudanese accent he has. Also they were already 25 - 30 hours ahead of me, so a lot of what was being done in the book was with vocabulary I hadn't gotten too yet.

They decided to put me in a class by myself. This is often what people think of me, but this is the first time they have actually physically done it. This makes hiding way more difficult than even with one other person. Have you ever tried to let your mind wonder in class when you were the only one there? It is not an easy task. In fact, I would say it is a lot less work just to pay attention! This change in class also caused a change in time. Unfortunately they didn't tell me this until two hours after I showed up for class the next day. I was sitting in the school waiting for the teacher, and finally someone came up and told me that my class wouldn't start until 2pm and it would go until 7pm. 5 hours is probably better than 6, but it is still a lot of work and very intensive. I am not sure if I am going to be able to handle this for a month or not. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I am in the process of meeting many people here, however. I met up with one person two nights ago after class, and I was supposed to meet up with her again last night, but for some reason I didn't hear from her. Perhaps she was scared away by my rather odd demeanor ;) . On Saturday I will meet up with a British woman who is living here in Cairo. She wants to hear all about my life in Kurdistan, Iraq. I am sure she will be terribly disappointed to learn that it is just like anywhere else, but the company will be good nonetheless. And after hearing her voice on the phone when she called, the accent will be an interesting thing to work through as well.

Yesterday I took a random microbus home from class. I know what number I take to get there, but that bus apparently doesn't come by very often. The driver hollered out the destination near where I wanted to go, so I got in, paid, and hoped for the best. When we pulled into the bus station (beyond where I was told to take the bus to), he attempted to ask where I wanted to go. There was a passenger who spoke English, so the translation worked. I showed the address of my hostel, and they said "you should have gotten off back there at Ramses. You are now lost. You can take anyone of these busses and tell them you want to go to Ramses." Well, I would have none of this. I just started to walk and follow the signs toward Ramses. All of the sudden I realized where I was: I was at the same bus station that I take the bus from in the morning! To think, I went from being lost to being exactly where I wanted to be. Now how often does that happen?

Hopefully today will be a good day as well. I am not sure how long it is going to take to get to the school because I don't know the schedule for the bus or how traffic is at this time. It has been fairly bad, so getting on here at the beginning saves me from hanging out of the bus (think van) door. Coming back can be just as scary, so I am not sure what to think..and as always, I really hate doing things like this. There are too many people, I can't speak the language, and I have no idea where I am going!

Soon I have to go shopping and do laundry. I am not sure where to go for the shopping thing, but I am sure I will figure it out. As for the laundry, the hostel charges by the piece, which I thought was quite strange. 1 pound per shirt or trousers and 1 pound per 2 pieces of underwear. I would rather just pay 20 pounds and pay for the whole water and time of the washer. Perhaps I will ask if this is a possibility. Perhaps I could just wash them by hand, but that is such a time waster, and I have been finding it to difficult to study as it is...I really need to work on getting my vocabulary memorized.

In Cairo waiting for class

2009-08-09T16:08:00.002+09:00

I rushed to the school this morning because I was supposed to come yesterday, but I was unable to get into contact with them. I was glad of this because I had just come in from Istanbul, and I was quite tired. I got here and took my placement test (almost unnecessary as my Arabic is almost nill). As most of their classes start at 8am, I came about that time, but it turns out that the class they are gong to put me in starts at 1pm! Though I have to do an hour by myself at noon. So now I have to fill this time span with something, but what could it be?

I could study the map that I have in my pocket. Of course it would be slightly difficult as it is in Italian, but I am sure it is close enough that I could figure everything out without too many problems. The only thing is that it would be quite useless. The map is of Istanbul, and Cairo is not enough like it to have any correlation whatsoever. I guess that is not what I am going to do. At least I have the Internet to keep me busy for a little while at least.

Getting to Cairo was an experience. I guess it started when I got to Istanbul. I met a man there who was selling carpets in Cairo recently. His uncle said hello to me in Polish as I was passing him in the street. This was the first time I was ever mistaken for a Pole before! It was quite different and exciting. I also met many people at a meeting and then had tea and coffee with someone overlooking the Bosporus River. It comes highly recommended. (This all deserves its own posting, so I am just touching on it here.)

At the airport while waiting for my flight, I decided I wanted to spend some money, so I went to Starbucks to buy a venti TAZO Chia Tea Latte (extremely good!). While I was standing in line, this blond haired woman walks in front of me and starts looking at the cakes and such on display. I wasn't too happy about it, but I wasn't pressed for time so I just let it go. Then the line seemed to straighten itself out, and she motioned me ahead saying that I was there before her. I insisted that she go first, and I asked her where she was from. When she told me she was from Rome, I was aghast! "You are from Italy and drinking coffee at Starbucks! You should be ashamed of yourself." She smiled and whispered, "the coffee here is horrible! but it is the only place available at the airport." I figured one could not argue with such logic and we took our respective drinks, shook hands, and graciously said good-bye.

The plane ride was fairly uneventful. The person next to me was friendly, but only spoke Turkish and German, so we didn't really speak. He was flying with his wife for a holiday. The food on the flight was alright, especially for airline food. The Cairo International Airport is quite easy to navigate and getting the visa is quite easy as well. I like the little do-it-yourself visa stickers! Only $15! $5 cheaper than the visa into Turkey! What a deal.

Now I am here. $420 poorer for this class (1 hr/day private lessons, 5 hours a day in a class 5 days a week until September 3, with books, registration and certificate. Not a bad deal actually...as long as I can figure out the bus system as opposed to paying 30 EGP to get here and then 30 to get back everyday. I really can't afford that.

So long, what have I been doing!?

2009-08-03T19:59:00.002+09:00

It seems that I have once again been neglecting my readership. I can be such a bad writer on occasion! I do, however, have an excuse: I am not able to connect to the internet at home, and here at work I am generally busy. As you can probably tell now, I am not busy. I am sitting in my office wondering if the internet is truly so important that I come and sit for 9 hours just so I am able to have use of it. Of course if I were back home I would be going crazy.

Since I last wrote, there was an election here in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Apparently the appropriate person won because there was gunfire in celebration all over the city. This resulted in 11 injuries and one death. Not exactly the way I would want to celebrate a victory, but that seems to be the common way here in the Middle East.

I have been suffering through classes here. Luckily they ended last Thursday, and I am now free! I will definitely not teach summer school again! My actual vacation starts on the 5th; though I suppose I can consider it started now as I don't have to be at work. On the 5th I will fly to Istanbul for three days. After my stay there, I will fly to Cairo where I will stay for almost one month. The plan is to study Arabic so that I will be able to communicate with some of the people here. After that month I will head back to the US. I will go to Hancock for a wedding and then to visit my family in Standish. Oh the days are going to busy for me!

Yesterday my coworker and her housemate left for their respective vacations. As much as we fight, I really miss my coworker. What makes it worse is that we aren't going to be working together next semester. Actually, maybe this will be better. She will be living in the same location (practically next door), so I will be able to visit, and I won't have to be with her constantly at work so there will be less time for us to get mad at each other. I do so hate arguing with people, especially if it really doesn't matter...and this place is so full of stress already; the fighting has just added to it tremendously.

I wish there were more exciting things to report, but there isn't. I haven't done anything other than work and hang out with coworkers at the coffee shop and at restaurants. None of the students have done anything out of the ordinary either. The ones that cause problems are still causing problems, and the ones that are good are still good. There is a new teacher for an impromptu summer session for staff members at a new school that the company is going to help manage. She has never taught English before. I guess she is educated in counseling or social work or something like that. She has her PhD, but I am not sure what in. It sounds as if she is going to be moving to the primary schools in September.

There is a new English teacher coming in the fall for here. She has taught with this company before, but there were problems and she had to leave. Now she has decided to come back; it seems there is still some rough spots between them though. There is also a science teacher coming from Egypt (she has a little girl that is coming with her, so I am not sure how that is going to play out), and a teacher from Lebanon I believe. I think they will teach math. We should be getting an IT teacher as well and these teachers generally come from Lebanon as the company is Lebanese. It will be interesting to see what they are going to do for housing. All of those working at their main school live there; those working for the university or the two government schools that they are managing (if they are not Iraqi) are provided housing somewhere. They said they have finally found enough houses, so that is a good thing.

I was told that I would be moved, but I don't think that is going to happen now. It seems that all of the teachers that they have hired are female, so there is no other place to house me than where I presently am. This was a problem in the past as both my roommates are Lebanese and one is kind of a supervisor. This does not lend itself to a very relaxing home-life. I guess I will have to deal with it though. Not unbearable, especially if I am able to get a basis in Arabic before I come back.

I think I will cease boring you now. Hopefully all is well.

Elections and boredom!

2009-07-25T12:42:00.002+09:00

Well, I have a three day weekend. I can't believe that this could happen where I am working, but they managed to do it. Friday went alright, except I was alone for most of it and I really don't like most of the movies on television. We have a DVD player, but it doesn't read the DVDs, so it doesn't really do much good. So, I sat outside on the balcony for most of the night (actually the whole night until 3:30am!), then I went to bed and woke up at 4:30am. These short nights are going to drive me crazy!!

One would think that sitting outside in a conservative area would be rather boring, but I think I can see why many of the Kurds here do it. The people are very active here doing things almost secretively that they would never do during the light of day. People will drink under the cover of darkness, there are children of all ages running around, riding bikes, and all sorts of other things, and there are people on the roofs hanging out together kissing and such. Watching people walk back and forth preparing for a day where they can't go shopping, can't go picnicing, just can't go anywhere is such an interesting thing...even when you are feeling betrayed and down...It is almost a pick-me-up and a depressent all at the same time!

Today I am not sure what I am going to do. I can't go anywhere, and I am not so sure that there are going to be any people to watch outside. My roommate is home, but we have no real plans, so he will probaly take back his computer that I am currently typing on, and play games or something....I would read, but I don't have any English books, I would study but I don't have a computer to use the programs. I will find something, but I am sure that I will go crazy first and end up trying not pull my brains out of my nose...

It will be good to finally get out of here on the 4th of August. I still haven't confirmend anything, but that should happen soon. Hopefully the rest will do me good so that I am ultraprepared when I come back in the fall. That is all for now.

Hiding in the future...and the past!!

2009-07-20T19:32:00.002+09:00

I have not been meaning to not involve my wonderful readers in everything that has been happening lately, but it has been difficult to get online. We had no power here at work for those wonderful days when I was not the one busy with all of the classes, though now that I am the internet and power is working fine.

I do not have a computer at home, though we have been having generator problems there as well. It is amazing how much we rely on electricity these days. It is difficult to live in a place that is very hot and not have the air conditioner, even though I hate it and it makes me nauseous. I like to sit outside, but it is too hot for that until late evening.

All in all, I have had a tough week. My coworker stopped talking with me again. I am not sure why I care so much, but it is like she and I are meant to constantly fight; it is almost fun. This time I feel completely justified in my anger, so I have just decided to wait until she starts talking with me again. I think that will probably be soon....she chatted with me online, so that is a good sign. Of course I haven't gotten my ticket home yet, so I don't know if they are thinking about not asking me back or not. I guess that will be up in the air until the end as well.

At the moment I am thinking about going to Guatemala for four weeks before going home in September. I need a language and it is too expensive to learn Arabic. Spanish is easier and also a very important language. Guatemala is a cheap place to go and it is cheaper to fly there than to Mexico, so it works out better that way. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens.

Other than that I have no idea what is going on in the world. Apparently there was an earthquake here in Iraq. I didn't really feel it, but it was at 11:30pm, so maybe I was actually asleep at the time. I guess that is what I do..not pay attention. I am feeling alright though, so I guess I can be thankful for that. I am safe and I am surviving the heat; I really can't wait to get home though...things are so different here.

Mishka: the bear of problems!

2009-07-12T17:07:00.002+09:00

It seems that the people here are very conservative in everything they do (big surprise, eh?). I do not mean just the Kurdish people, however. The Regional director/coordinator here is from Lebanon and is also apparently quite conservative.

I am in trouble once again. It seems that this Regional head person received a picture of Mishka, my bear, wearing sunglasses in the classroom. This picture was taken during break time last week and was the cause of no disruptions. Apparently, however, this is enough of some sort of infraction to cause him to yet again reconsider my contract for next year. Apparently the statement in the policies of the organization that say that they will not interfere in the classroom teaching and do not care what methods you use as long as they don't go contrary to their ways is not really the case. There is nothing about having my bear in class that would go against the system they have set up. It makes a good prop and can give the students something to talk about if they have a difficult time coming up with something on their own (which I have a problem with myself quite frequently).

I am just so angry right now with everyone and everything. I am trying to work through issues that I never knew I had along with the whole three month mark.... I am not sure what it is about that time period, but it seems that after about three months I really start feeling all the pressures and stresses that I didn't even necessarily recognize before. It will all work out, but I am not sure how much more I am going to put myself through first. I guess I will have to let you know when I find out.

Does it get any better?

2009-07-05T20:07:00.002+09:00

Right now things are starting to settle down a little. I am starting to relax a bit more, and I actually was able to sleep yesterday. Unfortunately, the sleep provided little rest. So now I am going around wondering why I am so tired even though I slept for the better part of a day.

I guess I am into a period of depression. I cry easily, I am easily angered and confused, and I can't seem to relieve any of my stress. It has reached the point where the students are starting to ask about it, so I really need to do something to take a break and just get away from everything for a few moments. I need a hobby or something. Nothing here seems to work lately, so who knows what I can do.

The wifi at the house is now working, so I should theoretically be able to use my phone to connect to the internet, but it seems that the password has been changed, and no one I ask seems to know what it is. I need to find out who to ask so I am able to finally reach the outside world when I am not at work. Perhaps that is all I need to release some of the frustration I am feeling.

Not all that cheerful these days, but I am sure it will take an upswing here shortly; it always does eventually.

New Phone and continuous headaches

2009-07-04T16:35:00.003+09:00

It is official: I finally spent $165 for a new cellphone. I really needed to have one in order to stay in contact (even though no one actually ever contacts me), and since the laptop incident, I decided that I needed one that I could check emails with and such. When I was looking at the prices, the one that I first wanted was a flip phone, and it fit nicely in my hand. It didn't have any fancy bells and whistles, but it was still $140! I was going to pay it, but I chose to wait a week before going back to look again. I really didn't like the idea of paying the much for a cell phone.

I went back to the store a couple of days ago, and I saw this cell phone. It has wifi capabilities, bluetooth, camera; all the bells and whistles one could ask for and more. I was definitely not looking for all of these things, but this Nokia E63 was only $25 more than the one without all of the stuff. I figured I would get my money's worth out of it even if I only used it to chat and check email on occasion. So, I bought it. It came with a free soft case, which is nice but not quite what I would have liked. I guess I really can't complain as it was free.

Other than that, I have been driving myself crazy! Our satellite is fixed so I can watch television now, but I tend to just sit out on the balcony and watch the world go by. Yesterday we had a good-bye barbecue for one the people here. It was great other than I once again managed to make people mad at me. Which I seemed to have exacerbated to a great extent this morning, though I am not sure how or why. I am really starting to wonder about what I am doing and what I should be doing and all of these things.

I haven't been able to sleep, and this is starting to effect my thinking and my work. I am not sure how I am going to make it through the rest of the summer if I don't find a way for my brain to switch off. It is unfortunate that it sounds like I am complaining, but my mind has very little room for any actual thought. And the dust (sand actually) in the air is really getting to me.....GRRRRRRR...

Another instalment of reassurance

2009-06-29T16:34:00.002+09:00

It seems as if I am disappointing my readers. It is taking me longer to post now due to no longer having access to the internet from home. You see, my laptop has met with the most unfortunate accident...I never realized just how hard the floors here really are.

Lately it has been tough for me. There aren't a lot of opportunities to go out and do things, so most of my free time is spent at home. This isn't totally bad except lately I have had no access to the internet, no television, and mostly no people. There have been times when my roommates were home, but for some reason they have been gone most of the time. I was sure that I was going to go crazy, and perhaps I actually did.

I have been doing training for some of the teachers at the primary school here. And starting next week it will be admin staff. They are looking for pronunciation training. I am not sure how many of them actually need it, or what level they are going to be at, but I have to have the material ready for when they get here. Talk about having to do things tentatively and have a backup plan ready just in case something doesn't go well.

I don't get to see the university students anymore, except in passing. They wonder when I am going to teach them again. Luckily I know that I will be teaching them starting this Thursday. I hate that it will be such a weird day to start, but that is just the way things worked out in the scheduling. It will be nice to work with them again; I really do miss them.

One of the university students said that his dream vacation was to go to "tomato." Of course he got a very quizzical look from my coworker from this, and she questioned him about it. "Tomato," he replied, "you know, the capital of Canada." He was obviously surprised that a Canadian would not know the capital of her own country. "Oh! You mean Toronto...but that is not the capital of Canada, Ottawa is." At least I am not the only one who has problems with geography :)

My housemate is from Mosul. He is Iraqi, but as he is not from the Kurdistan Region, he does not speak Kurdish. One day he went to take a cab. This particular cab driver did not speak Arabic (which is actually a little strange here), but my housemate managed to tell him where he was going and was quoted the price of 15,000 IQD. He felt this was too expensive so he replied "11. I will give you 11." The driver did not seem to understand, so my housemate "wrote" it on his hand and said "eleven. one-one." The driver replied "no, 10!" So my friend agreed. He shut the door to let his wife get past first, and the driver shouted out "nine!!" If only I could negotiate with people like that.

All is mostly alright. The frustration level is raising as I have no way of relieving it. Hopefully I will find someway.

Finally another blog post---I guess....

2009-06-17T00:57:00.002+09:00

Well, I guess it has been way too long since I have posted anything, but I have been really busy here lately. The university students have been preparing for their final exams, and as part of that, the teachers had to give them "oral exams." This actually consisted of having them, in groups of two and three, read a passage, answer some questions about their own passage and also about what the other people read. Then they had to choose a topic on their own to talk about and then answer questions about that.

Unfortunately it wasn't set up as well as I would have liked, and even with the sections (reading and speaking) being broken into sections and having a rubric, it wasn't quite clear enough for my liking; it was still too subjective. The other teacher and I mostly agreed on the scores, so it wasn't too much of an issue outside of my own head. We have to do a report on this for the dean and probably for the head office as well. The passages were too long, the students tended to memorize their topics, and they really were unsure of what to expect as they have never done this type of thing before. All in all it was alright, but we do have a bit of refining to do.

In other news, I have been trying not to go crazy, though this is not as easy as it sounds. I have managed to get myself into trouble with some of the people in the office. I basically let the dean's assistant have it today when we talked about the upcoming test. The other teacher and I made the writing and comprehension portion, but the company wants to set the main portion of the test at the head office so they can have it standardized in order to be able to compare them across all the schools they have across the world, or some nonsense like that. As of then, we had not received the test, and we have to have the test for Thursday morning. As this test is over 4 books, I told him that we need to know if we are getting the test or not as we would need to set the test starting now if we are to finish in time. I also told him that there needs to be better communication between us and the main office as well. I let him know that I was not going to set the test and then not be able to use it; if it were just a weekly test, I would have no problem with it, but I am not putting as much work that is required for this in to see it wasted. And what would happen would be that the head office would be able to use our tests to put into their databases, so they would send one later that we would have to regive to the students. Obviously, I was a little perturbed.

He then called the head office and found out that the dean did in fact have the test with him, so all would be well. It was good that he came and told us. Communication breakdowns are too common, and I guess I have become just a little frustrated because of it. I guess this is all part of the game.

My air conditioner had been broke the past couple of days, so I was sleeping in a sauna. Luckily they came to fix it last night, and it is cool again. I guess they had to refill it. The 40 degree Celsius temperatures are a bit much, so I have to have it at least a little bit. Hmmmm...All is well now.

I am still waiting to hear about my vacation, so I am not sure what I am going to do. Hopefully I will hear soon. Summer school will start in a week or so, and then June and July will be over. Ahh the days are starting to go by so fast. Hopefully things are not so fast that I miss the good things that come with them.

I have also been quite the coward lately, but that is the way I am. I hate being shy, and I do what I can to overcome it, but I will always be shy and selfconscious. I have learned to deal with it and do things that are outside of my comfort zone, so I do not miss out on things, but I find that I am missing out on things that I really want to not be missing out on now. And even now that I know the other side, it still doesn't seem any easier.

Bangladeshi and English...what's the difference!

2009-06-12T19:24:00.002+09:00

Yesterday was another long day. Not at first of course; days are never long at the beginning. It did, however, seem to drag on into the night with an indeterminate length and strength. One would think this was a bad thing, but it actually turned out all right.

The morning was test time for the university students, so I had free time after reading the listening portion until that part was finished 10 minutes later. Then I was correcting those sections as they began their other parts. This lasted until my class with the engineers/vets. This class was about clothes and comparisons and opposites. They had minimal problems with this except for the inordinate amount of differences between British and American English. Then came the question. While I explained to group 2 some of the opposites and how confusing they can be on my own accord, group 3 actually asked about them. "What is the difference between light and dark and bright and dull?" AHHHHHHH!!!

If I have to keep explaining opposites to people, I think I am going to quit! Who invented this rather odd language of English anyway? Actually it is quite amusing to see people struggling with the difficulties created by all of this. Even for native speakers some of these things are not easy. Oh the fun of teaching things that make little sense.

The class ended, and it was time to get back to marking. The marking lasted the rest of the day. Then I came home. As I was walking from the van to my apartment, the other teacher asked if I really wanted to go out to dinner at the Persian restaurant, which I immediately agreed to do. Of course, she had to wash her hair, so it would be a little while. I didn't think much of this until it turned out to be just over an hour and a half later that she came over! Apparently it usually takes her 2 hours, so she must have rushed a little so we could have dinner at a semi-decent time.

The restaurant was fabulous! It has one large fountain at the front door, and a fountain that looks like a river (complete with fake ducks) running down the center near the back portion of the restaurant. This ends not to far from another "fountain" that looks like a large waterfall. The front part of the restaurant is made up of regular tables one would expect to find at a fine dining establishment; in the back are raised "beds" on which you sit after having taken your shoes off. It is like sitting and eating off the floor, except you have to climb onto it. There are cushions, so it is quite comfortable.

The food was also quite excellent, and well priced. At first it seemed a little expensive ($13 for a kabab), but then I realized that the pop (soda), water, and all you can eat salad and desert bar were included in the price. And the kabab came with a large plate of different types of rice (purple, yellow, white...the colors were wonderful), vegetables, and bread. It was very filling, and the atmosphere made the wait well worth it.

After spending about 2 - 3 hours in the restaurant, we walked to Maximall (a clothing store). I walked around with her for about half an hour and she tried on various tops and looked at the jewelry and other such girlish nonesense. Then we crossed the street to Bakery and More for some ice cream...and they were out!! They said they would have some tomorrow...but it was quite dissappointing for that night.

The cab ride home was interesting as well. The person made me sit in front while the other teacher had to ride in back alone. The driver attempted to talk to me all the way home. He asked me where I was from, if I like Iraq or America better, if it would cost a lot of money to go back the US with me, and various things like that. I only caught half of it, though as it was all in Kurdish. I am not sure what possess these people to constantly talk to me when they know I can not understand. I generally don't mind, but sometimes I just want peace and quiet, and I would probalby pretend to not understand even if I did.

I got home around 11ish, and I was tired. I said good-bye to the other teacher, but then got caught by the Bangladeshi who works on maintenance and such. It is here that I learned that there are some twisted similarities to English in their lanauge when it comes to family. Apparently "mommy" is Bangladeshi for mother's sister, while "daddy" is grandmother and "dadda" is grandfather. He tried to teach me more, but I have sense forgotten them. I am already going crazy with all these words floating around in my head. I really need to find a way to organize them. Even when looking to say thank you, the first words to enter my mind are the Arabic, the Polish, and the Finnish...eventually the Kurdish gets there, but it is still a little slow. Perhaps as time goes by, I will be able to get it faster.

Can I speak Kurdish?

2009-06-11T12:50:00.002+09:00

So, the quiz night was wonderful! My team tied for 1st (we were on fire, the questions were right up my alley), but it was decided that we needed to do a tie breaking question. My team got this question almost immediately. The other team too what seemed like forever to answer, but they also got it right (time should have been called :P ). Then the next, and final tie breaking question: The PGA decided on the maximum weight a golf ball could be. What is that weight? Come on! Who knows this stuff? Golfers might, but I do not golf, and I do not know anyone who is really serious about golfing. Neither team had a clue, so we just put down numbers. There guess was closer than ours, so they got the money. Oh well, I was still very happy with the night.

Yesterday morning went well, at least I think it did; I really don't recall much about it. It is amazing how much all the days seem to come together and turn into mush! I do remember, however, trying to teach phrasal verbs and plurals. It was supposed to be review, but it seems they forget everything, even the parts they add to the class. So, I in review for "to talk someone into" I brought up the idea of being hesitant. In Kurdish, hesitant is "doodle" (pronunciation not spelling). They were surprised that I knew this, even though it was them who taught me! In the other class, the students didn't know the plural of "cloud". This is regular, so fairly easy. "Clouds. The plural is clouds. ds, ds, ds." I felt emphasizing the last /ds/ sound would keep them from adding a vowel between them. As it turned out /ds/ is actually the word "theif" is Kurdish. I suppose I can now figure out if the adjectives come before or after the nouns and say hesitant theif in Kurdish...and perhaps something about a watermelon as well (shifty). The shifty doodle expelled air "ds". Ok, so going from one language to another using false cognates is not a good idea, but it is fun!

Yet another observation!

2009-06-10T00:54:00.002+09:00

Today was another nerve wracking day. I knew I would be observed, but I didn't know when. My first two classes, and there was no sign of the observer. I had to take the mothers' class for the dean today, and just before, I was told that this would be the class that she would observe! Not my idea of a good time as I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them or anything.

Of course, it turned out that I did not have to worry about it anyway; the mothers decided not to come today; instead they went to the dean's house and visited him :) I think they are just too loyal to accept another teacher when theirs is sick! So, instead, the Academic Quality Control person for the region came and observed me teaching my 1:30pm class. This is my lower level class, and today was a review day as well as a day for presentations. Many of the students did not do their summaries that they were supposed to do, and they would constantly try to talk while I was trying to explain things. I felt odd telling them to be quiet and such while I was being observed, but this had to be done. It turned out that I was complimented on doing this, but it really didn't make it any easier.

The other teacher and I had a rather interesting talk today as well. Her situation is precarious at the moment. The one student who is trying to get her fired is making things difficult for her as well as the rest of the class, and just may win! We tried to make sense of the situation, and I listened to her complain about it and how this is the first time she has ever not been a model employee for the organization. Then she listened to me complain about some of the things that I am not comfortable here with. It was good to get it out. I really hope she stays for summer school and comes back next year. Unfortunately, I am not so sure next year is going to happen :(

Tonight is quiz night, and it appears that I am the only one who is going to go. The other teacher doesn't have a team, and my housemates must have other plans. I just hope that my team shows up. If they do not, then I will be very upset as the only reason the other teacher is not going is because her housemate is not going, so she won't have a team. It is actually quite silly, but that is the way things are. I am not sure I can do this last one by myself; I had such a time on the previous one! These flags are definitely not my strong point.

More trouble

2009-06-08T21:06:00.003+09:00

I tried to post earlier, but my computer froze and didn't save anything I had written, so now I have to attempt to once again write what was there. Hopefully it will be easier the second time around, except now there is more to write!

Yesterday was a hectic day that caused a lot of problems for everyone. It didn't seem any different than any other at the beginning, but then something happened to turn the rest of the day into an seeming disaster! I was teaching the vets/engineers. Just as the class was ending, I see this face looking in through the window: it is the other teacher. I let the class go, and the other teacher comes in with puffy eyes, a box of Kleenex, and a solemn look upon her face. I ask if everything is alright, and she replies simply, "no" and begins to cry. Then she explained that the dean had had a heart attack. "He was teaching, he turned yellow, he spit up blood, and then he fell down. They took him to the hospital. The mothers said it was a heart attack." I was both skeptical and worried. To me, this did not sound like a heart attack, but I really can't judge as I am not a doctor, nor was a I there to see it happen. No matter what it was quite inconvenient of it to happen during class!

During our break time, we heard back from the hospital that he was ok, and that it was not a heart attack. He had low blood pressure, and there was something that had been bleeding inside, though they weren't sure what. They suspected a bleeding ulcer, but they would have to check. Many students used this as a reason to leave. Some wanted to go visit him at the hospital, but this was not allowed this soon. Many of the girls were crying. It seems they are quite emotional here, and they took this incident very hard. I, on the other hand, being the hard-hearted individual I am, knew that we still needed to have class and proceeded to teach the lesson at the appointed time.

After class, I came to my office and discovered one of my friends who I had not heard from in a while was online. I decided to start a chat with her in order to take my mind off from the happenings. As it turned out, this was not the best of ideas. It seemed that she was having huge issues of her own to deal with and really needed to talk to someone. I was glad to listen, but it meant that I had to not think about mine for a little while and focus on trying to help her. It also meant that another one of my friends was hurting. I tried to help her as best as I could just by listening and telling her it would be alright, but there is only so much one can do when they are so far away.

Finally it was time to go home. I went home and tried to prepare myself to go out with some students and the other teacher as we had previously arranged to do. Then it turned out that we would be able to visit the dean, and the other teacher said that she would like to do so. I told her she would have to call the student and tell him that she wouldn't be able to make it. She said that I could still meet with him. "You don't think I want to go see the dean, too?" With a surprised look on her face, she replied, "you want to come? You can call the student then." "It is your phone, you call him." "You can still meet him you know, and then I can meet up with you later." "You should just call him and let him know what is happening," I said. "You are such a child!" "Yes," I said, "you are." "Here," she said as she handed me her cell phone, "I guess I am too much of a child to make the call." I took the cell phone, tossed it on the couch, and stormed out of the house. I was none too pleased with the way things were going.

I started walking, and continued to do so for about an hour. During this time I managed to fall against a large generator and hit my forearm. I would swear I broke it if I weren't able to move it. I do have a nice bump there as a reminder though. I would probably have kept walking around the city and toward a different one if it weren't already dark out. I started to feel as if where I was going wasn't safe, so I turned back and went home.

While I was in my room trying to sleep, my housemate gets a call from my student saying that he is outside waiting for me. He had called the other teacher and she let him know where we live. So, we were going to go out after all. The two students and I went to the restaurant and waited for about an hour for the other teacher to arrive. It wasn't too much of a surprise as she is always late. What was surprising, however, was that it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. There was an off-handed joke told by one of the students, and she whispered to me "never throw my phone again." I knew that this would upset her which is exactly why I did it. She had just bought the phone two days ago and had been treating it like her baby. Of course for $345 I would think it should be well taken care of! Anyway, she said it in an understanding voice, and I apologized for my behavior. She also apologized for hers and all was forgiven. The rest of the night was filled with talking and laughter.

This morning we were both tired. We didn't get home until 12:50am, so we didn't get to bed until late. School was the same as always. We received more information on the dean. We learned that he is doing well, and they will release him either today or early tomorrow. I will probably have to teach his mothers class, so that will be fun (I hope). Other than that, today has been one rough day of teaching! I had to try and teach the difference between when we use "going to" and "will". There are basic rules, but they are so similar that they are hard to tell apart. And the students still do not want to study; they want to go home early, copy off from each other, and have me give them the answers. I guess that is just the way things go everywhere. Then I also found out that tomorrow is another observation. Hopefully this one goes well, though I am not sure if it will or not. We shall see.

Sports day!

2009-06-07T01:14:00.002+09:00

The day started like any other Saturday: I get up, go to work, try to teach the vets/engineers class.... Then it was off to the main attraction that all the university students and all the staff from the other two schools and the university (minus the dean, the other teacher, and I) were already at. Sports day seems to be a very big, exciting thing!

We get there and meet up with the students who have just finished playing soccer. After chatting and getting pictures taken with them, we go up to the gym where the basketball games are about to begin. We watch those until around 1:30pm when we go to eat lunch. Lunch left a lot to be desired as it only consisted of a small sandwich (think 4 inch hot dog bun) and a drink box of fake orange juice. Combine this with my having to tell the students to pick up their trash as if they were five years old, and I was feeling a bit cranky.

Then it was more basketball, and I was ready to leave. Of course I was stuck there for a lot longer. So, I made the most of it and went with a group of them to the store where I helped to remind them that cookies and biscuits were the same thing and that throwing things away is a good thing (as opposed to leaving it on the ground). Then it was back to watch the volleyball games.

The volleyball games were somewhat exciting, but I spent much of this time being retaught the numbers in Kurdish along with a British teacher. Then I was asked to be in more pictures than one can even imagine! If I had implemented my 5000 dinar a photo idea, I would probably have at least 3 - 4 hundred thousand dinar right now...and then some of the people who wanted my picture started talking to me about their school, and my school, and such. It was an enjoyable conversation. They asked me to come to the PPP school for a long visit, not just for half an hour or so. If I get the opportunity, I would really like to do that. I don't think it will be easy though.

On the way home (around 6:30pm), we were stopped at the checkpoint. The guard asked the driver where I was from. He was very happy to hear that I was from America, and he told the driver that I was very beautiful...I hate hearing that! I am sure that if he had had a camera, he would have asked for my picture too! One of these days, I think I may have to put up the sign (in multiple languages of course).

I am not sure of the final results of the games, but I will find out tomorrow. There was the finals in soccer still to go when I left. They were going to stay until 11pm, and I didn't feel like I could do that, so I came home. Now I am going to see if I can find someone to talk to, and then probably go to bed.

an interesting ending to a LONG day

2009-06-06T00:40:00.002+09:00

Yesterday was very long! After getting to the university at around 7:45am, I had to spend the following hour and a half or so writing the test. I managed to get that accomplished just in time. Then there was the test for the vets/engineer students. I fortunately was able to get the coordinator to invigilate the exam by taking over his post in the reading room. I did this because it would give me the opportunity to mark tests that needed to be graded yet. Unfortunately, this did not work out as planned.

It seems that most of the students were under the impression that they were able to go home after the exam; this was not the case. So, many of the students kept asking me to leave, none of them had brought the worksheet they had been handed yesterday that they were supposed to do today because they were allowed to study for the exam. The dean came in and took them to show them some slides, though I don't know where they actually went or what he was doing with them. I decided to just go and mark tests in my office and hope the chaos would work itself out.

As it turned out, for the afternoon class, the other teacher and I combined classes and had a total of around 16 students (a little less I think) (this is out of a total of 36). We watched a Tom and Jerry episode and had the students answer some questions about it. It was alright, but even that was like pulling teeth. Finally it was over, and it was back to marking more tests! We marked until 5pm at which time we left for home. Then the other teacher and I went to Coffee Shop and More to sit, have a milkshake and continue to mark exams. This lasted for almost 3.5 hours!

As we were leaving the coffeeshop, the owner stopped us and asked where we were from and informed us that a Texas BBQ place was going to be opening up behind the coffeshop in a few days! We talked a little bit about home because he lived in Michigan for a long time before returning here. He even used to hang around the place I grew up and the surrounding areas.

Then we took a ride home in a cab. The driver had spent 6.5 years in England. He kept going on about how if I wanted anything I could just call him, and such things like that. He gave me his phone number and told me not to pay for the ride (he was going to charge us 5,000 then agreed to 3,000 at first). I became a little worried with one of the exchanges however. "Have you two had anything to drink tonight?" We replied, "no." The response he gave made me cringe a little and shake my head. "I have."

He seemed to be driving alright, though, so I relaxed a little. Of course he didn't know his right from his left, but we managed to get him to where we live without too much difficulty.

Today was a boring day. I woke up, went back to sleep, woke up, tried to do some stuff on the computer, took a nap, woke up, tried to visit my coworker, she didn't answer so I came home and tried to not be bored out of my mind. I wish I was informed of when the people went on the trip today, I would have liked to have gone. One of the people who decided not to go said that there will be other opportunities to go to this destination, but to me, it isn't about the destination, it is about the journey there and spending time with other people than those that I see everyday six days a week. It is a chance to relax and just enjoy myself. But, yet again, I was uninformed and missed it. Ahh well...perhaps it was for the best.

performances, effects of teaching, and tests!!

2009-06-04T02:09:00.003+09:00

My brain is full!! I think I need to find a new way to relax and take it all in, and then try to figure it all out. Tomorrow is supposed to be a test for the university students. The other teacher and I misunderstood what the test was supposed to cover, so we told the students that Unit 4 Lesson 1-4 was all that was going to be on it. As it turns out, the dean has put all of Units 1-3 on as well! There is no way we can give that test to them, so we are going to postpone that test until next week. This means that we need to make (set) a test tomorrow morning when we arrive at the college. I just hope it is enough time. This also means that I have to come up with something to teach them in the afternoon. I was not supposed to have to teach as the test was supposed to last all day and then they go home; but now it will be a shorter test and they will stay!

The vets/engineers had their test today (except for group 3 which will take it tomorrow as well). I have to read through and make sure the answer key is correct, and I have already found 3 errors and I am not even halfway through it yet. After finishing the answer key, I have to do the correcting of the multiple choice, and then I have to read the "100 -150" word essays on their favorite vacation. They went a little overboard and wrote whole pages, some front and back. I was expecting only 10 - 20 sentences (depending on the length). One of them asked if the prepositions counted as words! I had to laugh to myself about that one.

With so much marking to do, I, along with the rest of the staff, left early to go to the other school the company runs. This is a primary school up to grade 8. I believe they will be moving into secondary as well next year. They lower grades were having their annual Spring Concert. They performed music and dances from different cultures and even had a miniture fashion show as well. This fashion show was done to Christmas music, so I was a little confused by that, but all in all, it was a fun time.

On a slightly different note, it seems that I have two or three phrases that I say a lot. Today I was writing on the board and put in ellipses. When I did this, one of my students said "blah, blah, blah". Apparently I often use this phrase when I write ellipses. Another student was telling me how she now uses "oh my gosh!" at home. Her mother (an English teacher) asked her what it meant, and the student replied "I don't know, but my teacher always says it." And now her brother is using it as well. It is amazing how much impact we have on the students' thoughts and the words they use. But it is not only the students; the dean has also picked up on one of my overuses: 'whatever!' I use this after listening to the way things are being done, and what they say because I know that it will probably change within the next day or so anyway; I have learned one must go with the flow here..

The president of the company stopped by to observe my class today. This unannounced visit was not a good one for me. I was so nervous! AND after I told my students to not use the dictionaries for the exercise, the one he was standing directly behind opens hers! I was walking around seeing how people were doing and when I came to the desk next to hers, the president said "you said not to use dictionaries." All I could do was look at the student and let her know she had done something wrong. I felt like and idiot. I guess these things happen though.

9pm Kurdistan News!!

2009-06-02T22:47:00.001+09:00

I have just found out that I was on the news two nights ago after the visit to my class by the Minister of Education. I did not see it, but a couple of my students did. I am not sure how I feel about this, but it is interesting to note that I am now becoming a celebrity ;)

Perhaps this means that I can start charging people who stop and try to take my picture. The paparazzi are everywhere!!