Just Surviving!

I sat my kids outside on benches last Tuesday at about 12:30pm. I told them I wanted to take a few pictures since it was the last week of school. They were very excited. I took a few pictures. Then, Scott and Benny walked through the front gates and screams of excitement could be heard throughout Bahrain. I had arranged this surprise visit with my principal. The kids had been pestering me for weeks to meet Benny. I tried to change the subject or ignore them, but they didn't give up. In the end, they got what they wanted, as usual!

Benny is great with kids, so I was not concerned about his behavior at all. He is a jumper, so I was a little worried that he'd jump on the kids & knock them down. As usual, I worried for nothing. I was surprised to see how subdued he was. I think all the kids screaming and running up to him was a bit overwhelming. Luckily, one of my girls happened to bring him a gift that day....a tennis ball, his most favorite thing ever. They are always bringing gifts for me to take home to him. I usually throw them away, but this time I knew to keep it. She presented it to him, which seemed to relax him a little. We took a few pictures, then Scott & Benny left and the kids were on cloud 9 for the rest of the day. I love that Benny and I love Scott for taking a few hours off work to do this.

The last day of school for the kids was last Wednesday. Twenty of the twenty-five students showed up. Other classes only had between 6-11 kids. Most parents keep their kids home because of the heat. Not mine. Why me? I ended up baking them brownies. Luckily, I baked enough. I wasn't planning on having so many kids that last day! I also ordered them pizza from Pizza Hut. After eating a slice, I remembered why I hadn't eaten it in so long. It was so greasy and cheesy. The kids loved it, of course. They also loved the brownies. This was something new to them. None of them had ever eaten brownies before. They kept complementing me and telling me what a great baker I was. I never let them know that I just added oil & eggs to a package of brownie mix. That will remain my secret. I got some nice gifts. Most were perfume. I gave them all away. I also got a purple wallet, which I'm sure my maid will enjoy. The one thing I kept was a delicious cake from a fancy bakery. Scott & I enjoyed a few slices & the rest went into the trash.

It is really hot & humid here now. I know I keep saying this, but it's really hot & humid here now. It's pretty much unbearable. I did not leave the house once today. Our laundry room is on the roof, so I have to climb three flights of stairs to get to it. I thought I was going to suffocate today. Even Benny who was following me up at one point, turned around and went back downstairs. Just breathing is difficult.

As I stay indoors during this heat, Scott is keeping himself busy, as usual. We went to a nursery & bought some flowering cacti. Really, what else could we plant that would survive this heat? Now I understand why there is no greenery over here. Scott planted them on either side of the front door. It adds a little character to our otherwise boring front yard. I miss spending time outdoors. The weather was not great at all in Memphis...too hot, too cold, rain, tornadoes, snow. Now we're here and again can't enjoy being outside. I really miss Los Angeles so much. I can't wait to start my 12-month countdown in October! Our last year here should fly by, especially with me working. The main reason I work is to help the time go by faster. Unfortunately, other than going to the mega malls, there isn't really anything to do here. I know of several wives who went back to the states. They were not working here & just got too bored. Working was the right decision for me. Plus, I am having a lot of fun & I'm immersing myself in the culture & get to use my Arabic.

In celebration of my final week of work, I have decided to relax all of next weekend. Therefore, I will not be blog writing next week. Talk to you in two weeks!

Four More Days.....Goodbye!

There are only four school days left! I don't know if they'll come fast enough. You know the feeling of having something right at your finger tips but you just can't seem to reach it? That's how I have felt the last two weeks. If I just stretch a little bit more, the last day of school will be mine. I'm stretching. I really am!

As much as I want the last day to get here, I am also a little bit sad to say goodbye to this group of kids. They were my first teaching experience ever. They were absolutely adorable - for the most part. They could also be little terrors when they wanted to be, which was at least twice a week! Yes. It will be sad to say goodbye, but it's time. I keep reminding them that I'll see them next year...which is only 2-months away! The girls are very dramatic about not having me as their teacher next year. I've been averaging about 7 "love" notes a day from them, hearts & all!

I was able to find a DVD showing the launch of the 1st US space shuttle back in 1981. We watched it as a class last week. I had to play it on my laptop. There is one TV & DVD player at the school, but it's reserved by different teachers through the last day of school. So, we all huddled around and watched. Even though they bickered through most of the launch, they were in awe when they saw the shuttle lift off. They loved seeing it go up attached to those big fuel rockets. Of course, they all want to be astronauts now. They asked some really good questions and surprisingly, I was able to answer them. I ran my answers by Scott & unfortunately I did not answer one correctly. I told them that the monkeys that were sent up earlier in the space program were blown up at the end of their mission. Oops! Scott told me, "No they weren't!" Oh well!

Scott & I try to venture out to new places and new parts of the island when we can. I always enjoy reading the different names of stores & restaurants. There are some really funny ones. The advertisements we receive at our front door are pretty funny as well. Anyhow, we were driving around the other day and I came across my all time favorite sign. It's a sign for a beauty salon. It's of a woman who I assume is showing how beautiful she is because of the services she received at this salon. The problem is, she's all covered up! All you see are her eyes, but barely. I would like to know who came up with this advertisement idea? It just cracks me up.

Benny's doing well. He received a ton of attention (which he lives for) last week. The USS Eisenhower came into port for a few days. Whenever a ship comes into port, the sailors get time off the ship. The Base provides entertainment and food for them as well. So, when I took Benny on his afternoon walks, there were a lot more people than usual. So many people came up to pet Benny & share their stories of their dogs back home & how much they missed them. Benny loves the attention and I swear, it looks like he's smiling when they are petting him and talking to him.

It's still really hot and getting hotter. The humidity is also high. When I walk outside into the heat after being in an air-conditioned place, my sunglasses fog up & I can't see. I have to take them off and wait until I get into my air-conditioned car to put them back on.

I guess I should also mention Scott. He's doing well also. He's recovering from a cold. He claims he's not a Lakers hater, but I see him silently rooting for Boston. How dare he? I still love him anyhow. Not everyone is a Lakers fan, including most referees......but that's just my opinion.

Talk to you next week, unless my computer or my fingertips melt from this heat!

Back on Track!

I did not realize that my taking a week off of writing this blog would cause such commotion. The number of e-mails I received was pretty shocking. I apologize for last week. I just felt like taking a week off. Now, here I am again. Today is Benny's 3rd birthday. We spoiled him rotten with special treats that Scott brought back from Virginia a couple of weeks ago. For Benny, it was just a regular day. He's spoiled rotten every day! On our morning walk this morning, I found a young black lab laying on the sand of an abandoned lot. I ran home & returned with water and a bowl of food & a few doggy treats. He was so sweet. He wagged his tail and didn't even get up to eat or drink until I put the bowls really close to him. He rolled over and wanted me to pet his belly. I couldn't. He was covered with fleas and ticks. He was also filthy. I called Scott right away and told him we had to rescue this guy. He was adorable. Scott came over & took a look. It was 6am at this point. We decided to take it to the vet which opened at 8am. At 7am Scott went back with a leash to get him & he was gone. I'm devastated! I loved that guy. He was so sweet natured and just adorable. I hope he's OK wherever he is.

Last week Scott visited my class. He came to reveal where the supposed "camera" was hidden. That morning I put a wireless mouse router device thing up on the cabinet behind my desk. We kept our fingers crossed that none of those kids would figure out it wasn't a camera. When Scott came it was like a movie star had arrived. They love him. They shared really random, irrelevant thoughts with him. They kept asking him my age. I've only told them that I am 30-something. He was a good boy & never told them my age. They asked a lot of questions about Benny.

I've only lost one of the kids to the heat. All the others have been coming to school regularly. I'm always amazed at how much I've taken for granted. In Science I was teaching the different layers of the Earth's atmosphere (which I had completely forgotten). Sometimes I laugh that I'm teaching stuff that I had completely forgotten about. Anyhow, the Science book had a picture of the layers & what's found in each layer. One layer had the Space Shuttle. My kids had absolutely no idea what that was. I had to explain everything about the Space Shuttle to them. It hit me, that I........and all US kids have been exposed to some of the most amazing accomplishments of humankind. I always had a "whatever" attitude when I heard another Space Shuttle was being launched. It was just a part of life. But, for these kids here and kids all over the world, it isn't a part of their life & they have no idea it exists. They asked so many great questions about it & showed such an interest. I was able to find a DVD about the space program and it shows the launching of the first Shuttle. I'm surprising them with that tomorrow.

Last night Scott & I went to a rug flop. A rug flop is a party hosted by one of the military people. A reputable rug dealer brings a lot of food & a lot of rugs. He explains the type of rug & where it was made. Most are made in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. They are either hand woven or hand knotted. They are either made of silk or wool. There were also some made with imitation silk, whatever that is. The nice part of attending a rug flop is that the dealer offers them at a nice discount. We didn't buy any this time. We plan to before we leave. We have nowhere to keep a rug or two for the next year-and-a-half. The silk ones are outrageously expensive. They are beautiful, though. We'll make some decisions by the end of next summer, hopefully. There were about 25 people there and I'd say most of them bought rugs.

Things are the same here. The weather has gotten much worse. It's so hot, you honestly feel like you can't breathe. It's as if you're sitting in an oven. I'm keeping busy with work and home stuff. I've been having fun with my aqua-aerobics. Benny brings a tennis ball to the pool now and rolls it into the pool and stretches as far as he can until he either gets the ball or I push it closer to him to help him out a bit. He came in on his own up to the second step. He fell in once and grabbed on to the side of the pool like a maniac. I had to grab him by the collar and lead him to the steps to get out. As weird as this sounds, he's getting more comfortable with the pool. I've also been easing my feet in to these new workout shoes that Scott & I have. They are called 5-finger shoes. They are supposed to be the closest thing to running barefoot that you can find. They are also supposed to be really good for your feet. Scott's doing great in his. Each time I wear mine, a different toe hurts. I'm hoping that stops soon!

As of today, we have been in Bahrain for 8-months! With this heat, we really would like to get out of here sooner than later. But, we know we have 16 more months to go! Oh God, help us!