Partying and working Lebanon/Kurdish style

Yesterday was a very long day! Generally when people say this, it has a negative connotation; however, this is not the case for me. I started out with going to work where I was supposed to get a ride to the Residency Office. This didn't happen, though, so as of tomorrow I will be in the country illegally. I hope that this doesn't cause too many problems for me.

At work I gave the test that I so dreaded giving; it was excruciating! I gave the dictation, which was obviously too difficult. They wanted me to read the individual words instead of the sentences. This probably would have been better, but I didn't do it. After that, I gave them their written portion. Most of them had a huge problem understanding the directions (not a surprise there). I had to explain that and then answer questions about the test as I walked around taking away a couple of cell phones and trying to keep students from sharing information.

This test was supposed to last the full 2 hours and 20 minutes plus the 10 minute break they normally get, but were not supposed to this time. Apparently they don't want the students leaving halfway through the test. Not my idea of fair, but I suppose if that is what they want to do. However, the test was giving me such a headache that I gave them that normal 10 minute break. I made sure that they left the test and their study materials in the class when they left, and then I went outside to see what they were doing. They, of course, were talking about the test. They talked about definitions, how to decide what months have 31 days, and that sort of thing. I found it all quite amusing, and I was happy about it! If they were discussing these things that means that they were learning, if only for a brief period of time, and that is what it is supposed to be after all.

Of course, it didn't make much difference on the test. They all did very bad, but when you make it so far over their level, what can you really expect? But it wasn't all bad. During the lunch period, the staff celebrated the birthday of one of my housemates. One of the teachers brought a small cake and we had pop with it. Small but nice. The real part happened later that evening at home. After classes, I spent about an hour "playing" basketball and then dancing with a couple of the students. They are really proud of their Kurdish heritage.

Around 8pm the fun began. The other teacher from school, the HR person, and 3 or 4 teachers (or something) from the other two SABIS schools in the area came over to do a more comprehensive celebration. There was the required Arabic music, the smoking of Shisa (hookah, gheva (sp), water pipe or whatever you wish to call it), and alcohol... these last two were of course optional and I did not partake (the other college teacher said that I was Mormon and didn't do these things...I am still not sure where she pulled this from).

This party became really loud, and most of the conversation was a mixture of French, Arabic (both Iraqi and Lebanese), and Kurdish. I was mostly totally lost, but it was a good atmosphere. As the night grew later, the music grew louder, and the dancing more intense. They decided that I must participate in this dancing, so we did a simple debke that was actually quite fun. The music was turned off around 12:30am. However, it seems that as the party is winding down, Lebanese tend to sing. So, they all started singing Lebanese songs that made no sense to at all (not that anything had before). Finally people started leaving. I was glad to finally get to bed around 3am.

Today, I decided I did not want to do anything. Therefore, I will pretend to sleep until maybe 5 or 6pm, then I will find out if anyone is doing anything. If not, I will just hang out some more. We shall see what happens.