It is has been a while since I have blogged and I am sorry for that. I guess in a way the daily grind has begun and I just haven't had the time to write. I wish I could say we are enjoying living in our beautiful new home but unfortunately we are still awaiting the furniture allowance and salary. My salary is said to for sure be in my account today and then we can buy at least some beds, a few appliances, until we get our furniture allowance. I have also had my medical check which is fantastic, because I now I can get my visa and begin sponsoring my family, so things are falling into place and I really can't complain too much because I am in a five star hotel with free breakfast every morning. Although in a moment of insanity I did put some furniture in the hallway the other night to give Gavin some more room to run around as he is bruised up from running into things...he is much happier with a little more space.
I want you to know that I have watched a lot of teachers leave this country fed up and angry and upset and I completely understand why they have done so. I have been blessed in many ways. I am teaching third grade girls whom had an English instructor all year last year and they did a fantastic job paving the road for me. I am at a school with 6 other English teachers and my faculty head is a Muslim American woman that speaks enough Arabic to be a wonderful liason for us between the Arabic faculty and English faculty. My girls bring me presents and hug me and I have fallen in love with all of them. I will not pretend I have not faced some challenges in the classroom and that things have not been difficult, but when I know how things could have been I feel like in some way this was my path and I will not give up and I will not come home and I am blessed because in a way the cards I was dealt are a hand that I can hold and I know many had to fold and walk away from the table. I could have been given a much worse hand and realizing and knowing that has made me much stronger.
When teachers from last year told me just wait until December you will feel much better by then, I know what they mean. In December I will have had steady income, lived and settled in my home and routines with my family, making home cooked meals, and I will have established routines with my girls....this will be when things feel better and the challenges will not feel heavy on my shoulders.... so I do this for December...
So putting all of that out there let me share a fantastic moment in my journey thus so far! Last evening I was invited into the home of one of our Arabic teachers that has just had a beautiful baby girl. All the teachers from my school were there and the home was beautiful marble, with color splashing the walls and very much what you may think of seeing in a traditional Arabic home. First I was welcomed by all the ladies with the kiss kiss (so it's 2-4 kisses depending on how close you are, I only got two kisses). The we sat around a room and had fresh juice, and chocolate and tea. Talking, us in our short phrases we know in Arabic and them using the little English they know. They were so comfortable with hair peeking out, their Abayas open to show their gorgous and colorful evening gowns! Gavin was running around with my friends son whom is also two and they said, Khalas (stop), let him be to me...so I let him thinking in the back of my mind when will a beautiful vase be shattered?
Then we moved into the dining area for a full on feast! They had the full slaughtered lamb on a rolled out table cloth and we sat around on the floor in traditional Arabic form and were each dished out massive amounts of food, I was given an entire leg of lamb! It was all very new and different for me and the ladies were so great to show me how it was done. Gavin was struggling with this new concept of a table and of course strolled right through the meal to get grapes (gapes lol). The ladies handed him a whole bunch of grapes and he ran around eating them, they all loved him as I imagined they would! Then there were many cakes that came out, and then new fruits that I have never had. One was like a small red ball that looked almost like a flower covered in fur and you broke it open to eat this very sweet nectary like fruit and another was like a nut with a fruit inside, I will find them at the store and discover there names, very good.
Then after our meal they passed Arabic perfumes around spraying each other and smelling. One lady came to me and sprayed them all on me and kept asking, "Ms. Leah...and she would name the perfume...you like? It is Arabic." So I came up with all the reasons that I loved each one...and I really do, they seem less chemically then what I have found in the states and I don't think will give me a headache...although I am afraid to find out what some of these perfumes may cost. Next they passed around this incense canister that was smoking, the sent is some kind of wood from a tree (this was the answer I got as I love this smell and want to buy it and she says wood from tree lol). But with this everyone puts there clothing over the smell to fragrant their clothing. She came to me and put my shirt, scarf and skirt over the smoke. When we left they all shook Gavin's hand (unfortunately just before the last lady Gavin picks his nose and eats it, lovely right?). But all in all it was so great and I left feeling closer to my new colleagues and finding the lines that separate us dissipate just a bit more....
