Saturday, May 1, 2010

Swim Lessons

Last weekend was report card day! I met with all but 2 of my students' parents. As expected, they came and went as they pleased. No concept of following a schedule. This time, I was prepared for this. I did not pull out any files until I knew who I was meeting with. Overall it was very positive. I felt great afterwards. My first attempt at being a classroom teacher has been a huge success. Who'd have ever thunk it? I found out that I'll be teaching 3rd grade again next year. I'll be getting a whole new batch of wild creatures to tame & whip into shape! I'm up for the challenge.

The school administration was working on overdrive last week because the US team from Philadelphia was coming to observe and see if the school still meets the US standards & would continue to receive US accreditation. All of a sudden we were given name badges to be worn at all times. A school mission statement was suddenly posted in each classroom & we all received first aid boxes. Most importantly, my classroom air conditioning system was finally fixed. It's amazing how things get done when you know you're going to be evaluated. Apparently all went well & the school should find out in October whether or not it will still be accredited. I hope so, otherwise I'll be out of a job.

Just an observation.....The majority of women here wear an abaya, which is the black "robe" style covering that covers their body as well as their head. I'd say about 60% of the women here wear it along with the head covering, but their face is shown. Another 20% wear it with their body, head & face covered (with the exception of their eyes). The rest wear regular clothes. My understanding is that the purpose of the abaya is to ward off unwanted attention. So, I'm curious why the abaya's now come decorated? Some are covered in rhinestones along the sleeves & hem as well as the head covering. Some have bright colored designs stitched on. Some are very, very elaborate. To be honest, these draw attention. Isn't that NOT supposed to happen? Seems a bit hypocritical to me. But, what do I know?

On the home front, things have been quiet. Our new maid, Alita, is not as good as Mary, but she's working out. The nice thing is that she comes while I'm at work, so I come home to a clean house & she's not around to talk my ear off! Who knows what she and Benny talk about?

I left a candle burning upstairs the other night and it burned a huge spot on our dresser....I should say our landlord's dresser. I was so freaked out when I realized what happened. To think I could have started a fire! I was really scared. The good news is that Scott has a new project. He has to repair the dresser before we leave. It's been a tough task so far. We haven't been able to find any wood stain yet. We looked in a couple of places, but no luck. At least it gives Scotty something to do during his free time.

Benny's good. He had his first official swim lesson last week. He's probably the only Labrador out there that's afraid of water. We adopted him at 4-months. We think whoever had him initially used to spray him with a hose. Until now, he freaks out when he sees a hose. He also freaks out with fly swatters, so we think something happened to him with a fly swatter as well. Anyhow, the swim lesson was OK. As you can see in the video (bottom of this posting) all he wanted to do was get out. Poor guy! Scott was very patient with him. Scott took him in again yesterday (by force) and he did much better. He wasn't as freaked out this time. Little by little we'll keep taking him in. He loves to splash around at the beach, but is terrified of the pool. Kind of like me :)

On a personal note, I go in for my ct scan this coming week. Most of you know that I had Hodgkin's Lymphoma 9-years-ago. I have to have annual scans just to make sure things are still good & clear. I'm always nervous and anxious when I have to have this done. Any prayers & good thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

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