Kids are the Same Everywhere

I am amazed at how similar kids truly are. My students here in Bahrain are no different than the kids I've always worked with in the US. The difference I see is with the parents. Several parents have pretty much come up to me and said to be as hard as I want to be on their kids. They expect me to discipline them & they would support whatever I recommend. That's a nice change from the hand holding that's expected elsewhere. I'm pretty much a pushover with the kids, however I have set high expectations. I have a class of 27 seven & eight-year-olds. Eleven are boys and 16 are girls. All are Bahraini. All speak English and all strive for nothing less than an "A" in all their work. There are several who are not doing so great, but they are trying their best.

I remember going through certain school years where several kids in the same class had the same name, particularly Jack & Jacob. We'd differentiate them by the first letter of their last name... Jack A., Jack L., Jack P., & Jack F. Apparently the name, Ali, was popular eight years ago because I have four boys named Ali in my class. Now, differentiating them by the first initial of their last name isn't so easy here. Three of the four have last names that start with, Al ____. So, I am going by the first initial of their middle name. All the children have two middle names. One name is their father's and the other is their grandfather's. You can imagine how long these names can be.

One of my Ali's in particular is getting on my nerves BIG time. From the moment I met him he bugged me. That happens sometimes. You just know a certain kid isn't going to be one of your favorites. I've been doing my best to not show any partiality & to treat everyone the same. However.......this guy is a piece of work. He just never seems to hear anything I say. His mother appeared at my door Wednesday morning. She asked me to please not send all the textbooks home anymore, because her "prince" Ali fell off the bus due to his backpack being too heavy. I asked him to open up his backpack & sure enough he had every darn book in there. I pointed to the board and showed her that it specifically said only his spelling & math books were to go home. I also told her that I reminded all the students to only take their spelling & math books. He was the only one to take ALL his books home. As far as I was concerned, he learned a lesson. To make a long story short, instead of making her "prince" accountable for his not listening/following directions, she insisted that I check his backpack everyday before he leave. That is not going to happen. He can keep falling off the bus for all I care.


As for the other students, I have the usual mix. The super smart girls - The chatty boys - The space cadet - The clown - The helper - The crier - and everything else you can imagine. I was so worn out the first few days that I could barely walk. My feet were killing me. By day 4, I had things pretty much under control. I'm still exhausted at the end of the day but I can walk now. Most teachers are American. There are a couple Canadians and a couple Lebanese teachers as well. There's the coffee pot in the teacher's lounge with the usual "Only teachers who pay dues can drink this coffee" sign taped above it. There's the usual bitter old teacher who has been teaching forever and thinks she's your boss & wants things done her way all the time. There's another 3rd grade teacher in the room next to mine. She started a week before me & this is her first teaching job. We've become good friends & I'm teaching her how to respond to the horrible witch. Such joy! All in all, I am having fun & don't regret accepting the job at all. Benny is adjusting well to being alone all day. Luckily, Scott can come home everyday for lunch & check on him.

Thursday night Scott & I went to dinner with a friend from Egypt. He was working in Saudi Arabia for a few days but was able to drive into Bahrain to see us and visit some of his other friends. It's been 9-years since I've seen Fadi. He was starting college last time I saw him. Now he's a working man and traveling all over the place. It was great seeing an old friend. I'm hoping to see him and many others while we're here. Scott & I would like to travel as much as we can, but work & the dog will present some challenges for us. We will work it out, though. Our travel list includes: Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Italy & France. Scott will be traveling again next week for work so Benny & I will be on our own. Luckily it's only for a few days.

Every evening I take Benny for a walk on Base. He can release some energy from sleeping all day & we pick Scott up after work. I cannot tell you how many times each evening people ask me if they can pet Benny. Benny loves the attention, so I always say, "Of course." Every person who pets Benny shares how much they miss their dog(s) back home with me. It is so sad. I ask them a few questions about their dog and we chat for a bit. Before we say goodbye they ALL thank me for letting them pet Benny & spend time with him. I always tell them thanks because it means just as much to us. We have a few regulars, who call out to Benny by name & give him a little extra love. It really is so sweet.

Unfortunately, I work on MLK Day. To all of you who have the day off, enjoy!