Sorry I don't have any pictures this time!

I know I'm way more apt to read a blog with fun pictures but unfortunately you only get words today. I thought I'd write again as things are starting to even out a little. At least as much as they can for North Africa! :) My kids are obviously starting to get used to me a little, this is mostly evident by the fact that the noise level in the classroom has dramatically increased! The honeymoon is over I guess. I think that my biggest challenge this year will be the fact that these children are completely freaked out by free thinking. Unless they have massive amounts of structure then they go crazy. Here's an example, we read the Alaska version of "the old woman who swallowed a fly" then we talked about the original and we identified the pattern (the animals keep getting bigger, in case you were wondering). Their project was to pick 6 animals that followed the same pattern and then write two characteristics for each. I modeled it with my own and we talked about it. So after 8 minutes of utter panic and chaos, I was finally like, "Okay, we're done, take out your social studies." Then I gave them the most ridiculous, completely unmeaningful desperation assignment of copying the vocab from the chapter. They ate it up! You could literally hear a pin drop for like the next 30 minutes. But as Paul reminded me, I was incredibly spoiled at Aquarian and I just need to remember that, plus I have to remind myself that these kids are really only getting about 50 % English support and that's from school. Everything else in their lives is in French and Arabic. Needless to say, everyday is an interesting challenge! The kids are really sweet though. It's so fun that they come in and want cheek kisses! :) Anyway, that's all for now, I'm off to make a cake 'cause I'm craving desserts and then go to bed! Yes, I know it will only be like 7 but that's becoming my bedtime. Isn't that sad, I don't even have my own kids to blame it on yet!

And what a first day it was!

As you can probably tell by looking at the picture I really had my hands full.
I have to say that today was probably the most hectic crazy first day that I've ever had! There were so many funny stories about today that I don't know where to start. There are a lot of differences between these kids and kids in the states. I think the biggest difference is that these kids are never really encouraged to think for themselves and so that is such a novel concept. Today I had so many students raise their hands to ask if they could throw something away, or raise their hands to tell me that they were hot. My first response was to just be like, "You know, solve that problem, you are in 4th grade!" I didn't say that exactly but I can tell that that is going to be a struggle for me to either get used too or to get my kids used to the other way of thinking. It was a little, oh alright, a lot crazy because most of us didn't have current class lists and so we were just guessing. I had one boy in my class for like 2 hours before anyone realized he was in the wrong class! So on to some comical things. One of my kids is named Fadi, which is a pretty common name here, but I felt like I was insulting him all day long. I guess that's the most comical actual event, but the whole day just made me laugh, because what else can you do. As my friend Adam said, "you know it's going to be a rough day when you (the teacher) are stuck in a traffic jam, caused by most of your students being ahead of you on the street!" And that is so the truth, from the very beginning I had kids, about half my class was in the classroom before I even got there. Now those of you who taught with me know that that's really nothing unusual but here's the wierd part. I got there at 7:30! I know, pretty amazing huh?!
Anyway, before I close I wanted to include a picture, which pretty much shows that although it might have been a rough day, with a view like this it can't be that bad! :)

It's almost time!

School is almost about to start. We have been spending this week over at the new site of the school, putting together furniture and moving boxes. On Tuesday Kristi and I had a little adventure that pretty much sums life up here. We were driving to the new site and they are working on the main road so we have to take an alternate route. Well when we got to the turn-off there was this large truck that was just sitting there. At first we were getting annoyed that it wasn't moving and then we realized that the axle was broken. Despite the fact that it was a problem for the truck driver it posed the bigger problem that no one could get up or down from the new school site. To make matters worse the King, who we happen to be neighbors with, was coming to town and there were guards all up and down the street making sure no one parked along the street so we couldn't even park long enough to get out and walk! So we drove back to school and waited hoping that the whole thing would get fixed. After like 3 hours of waiting around they finally called and said the truck was moved and we could come up. So we got ready and then someone called and said never mind the road was shut down because the King was coming. So we ended up just coming home. It is so funny to me that the whole city shuts down when the King is around. Anway, I added an album of pictures from the new site so you could see where I work every day. Hope you enjoy!

Our amazing maid!

Here is our wonderful maid Saadia! I guess I should reserve judgement since today was only her first day. She just did such a wonderful job that I have to compliment her! We decided this week that we wanted her to make a dish called Saafa. It is little noodles, like spaghetti noodles but cut into 2 inch pieces. Then there is chicken, roasted almonds, cinnamon, and sugar sprinkled throughout. It was incredible. I have to say it is my favorite dish that I've had in Morocco so far. Especially compared with yesterday's experience. :) Just kidding that food was good, it was just the yucky milk. Anyway, three of us ate about 3/4 ths of this plate of noodles. The only thing that stopped us was knowing that if we didn't stop eating we wouldn't have any leftovers. We all decided that next time we are going to have to just sit in the kitchen and take notes as she makes it.

Our first Moroccan Invite!

What an experience! To fully tell the story I need to go back a few days to last Sunday when Heather and I were coming back from someplace, probably the Hanut. As we were walking into the building one of our neighbors was walking out with a baby. We were saying hello to the baby and he decided that we should come for tea. (the man not the baby) so he hurried us up to his apartment and introduced us to his wife. So there Heather and I were completely stunned that we were having tea with some Moroccan and his wife. We had no clue how to communicate after the little bit of arabic we knew was exhausted, about 2 minutes! :P Somehow we made it through the tea and then he asked us when we worked and when we had time off. We told him that we worked all week (luckily, we had learned the days of the week in orientation) but had weekends off. So he invited us to have couscous with his family on Sunday. What could we do, we tried saying no, but that apparently wasn't an option. So we said okay. What a funny story.
Today was the day. So we all went downstairs at noon and were shown into the main room. It's funny because they just kind of set us in the room, turned on the tv to a British station and then left the room. I think they were finishing up dinner, but it was still kind of funny. Then they brought us some tea. It was Jasmine flavored, and I have to say it is quickly becoming my favorite. I love the smell. We had tea and then were introduced to the daughter who is attending university. She only spoke French however, thank goodness we had Rebecca who speaks fluent french to translate. Anyway, dinner was finally served and it was so good. I was going to attempt eating with my fingers but I figured I was making a big enough mess using my spoon I didn't need anymore help. After dinner we just sat around, sometimes it was very silent and other times there was a lot of discussion in French. I was happy to practice picking out french and arabic phrases or words that I know. I'm happy to report that I can pick out so much more than when I first got here. Our time there ended when the family gave us a figurine that I'm betting they've had for quite a while. It's chipped in spots but I guess it's the thought that counts. All in all our first Moroccan home visit went well I think. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you about this milk that they served that was really not good. Apparently they let it sit out and ferment, until it's almost curdled. I took one drink and the guy was like "coca?" I was trying to put on a good face but he saw right through it and said "coca!" and went out to get some soda. I have to say that I was incredibly relieved to not have to drink it.

What do you do on a Saturday night...

Well, if you're in Morocco and you can't really be out after 10 or so, you give haircuts. Kristi was very brave and let Heather and I talk her into letting us cut about 8 inches off of her hair. We were going for the layered look but we didn't quite know that much about hair so we just stuck with the straight cut. Kristi looks awesome though and she's ready for our first day of school, which coincidentally has been moved back 2 more days so now we will start on the 21st of September.

Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs!

Well, apparantly here in Morocco that's a little harder than at home. Today we found out that what we previously thought was a severe mosquito infestation was actually a severe bedbug infestation. DISGUSTING!!!! It was terrible! We had to have our rooms fumigated and then wash all our sheets in really hot water. Even that will probably not kill them all and we will just have to get new beds. What a mess! However we are thankful that now we know what it is that's biting us and how we can try and stop it. We all look like we've had a severe case of chicken pox so hopefully those itchy little bites will go away soon. That was my exciting day, what about you?

How could I forget Belly Dancing

That was the most fun. On Friday night a bunch of girls got together and we had a private lesson on Belly Dancing. It was so much fun but we were a little worried about who could see in. We laughed so hard and it was just a good break. No worries, there will NOT be any of those pictures on the blog! :P

I always feel bad when...

I put pictures on the site, but don't update the blog. It's been a crazy couple of days around here. It started off Saturday morning when I went to the beach to learn how to surf! Unfortunately what I didn't realize was that I was going to be parading around in skin tight black spandex. Before the mental images get out of control, let me clarify. It was actually a wetsuit, so those of you thinking about those fun spandex catsuits can adjust your image right now! It started off being a really fun thing, and despite the fact that I was a little slow getting up on land, I totally got up on my first wave. Granted, it wasn't a major half-pipe or anything, but I was standing on a surfboard going through the water, so it was pretty awesome. Well, then the instructor felt like I was doing okay so he left me alone. The problem with this being that my surfboard and I were going the opposite direction than the waves wanted us to and we had several arguments that I hate to say but the waves won. They are a little more powerful than my upper body strength can handle. So I know have various bruises from the board, but I know enough about surfing to realize that I'm much better at boogie boarding! :) Just to prove I was actually out there, here's a little image for you.
After surfing we raced home, and got ready to go to Rabat. My teammate Kristi was turning 23 and no birthday is complete without a little bowling. At least that's my motto. So we went to the Capital city to take advantage of the "MEGAMALL" it's the largest mall in North Africa and they have ice-skating and bowling, so it was quite a trip. We also toured the Medina where we got Henna. It was a lot of fun and Rabat is beautiful. I could have stayed for a lot longer, but we had cheesecake waiting for us back in Casa so we took the train back. I have pictures of the trip on my link, if you are interested. Anyway, things are going good here. We are anxiously awaiting the day that we can go to the new school and start putting together our classrooms. We realize that we are pretty fortunate to have all this planning time and will probably miss it in the future, but as of right now we are ready to get to work. Or at least I am! Anyway, I love you all, and especially one person who probably forgot to check this at his sisters and is checking it at school!Am I right? :)