I am a gift person. I love shopping for gifts, thinking about giving gifts, wrapping them and giving them. And, of course, receiving them (= This year for my birthday I decided to gift myself a fun little electronic device! I am not at all tech savvy, but several friends of IPhones, ITouches, Kindles etc etc. When we are with our local ladies at the weekly parties all the devices come out (theirs included) and we all look at photos, passages in the Koran/Bible, funky websites blah blah blah. And I just ooo and aaahhh (= Well after combining all my birthday moolah, i am SO happy to say that I finally made a purchase and it will, eventually, make it here from the US. I'm sure I should have done more research on what to get, but frankly, I only have so much research in me and when it runs out, I just hit the "confirm purchase" button and figure that it will all work out in the end. (=
So this is what I've purchased
With this "skin" cover to protect for scratches
and this snappy cover in magenta
I am SUPER excited (=
Tom left for a short trip and will be back and 3-4 days. I plan to have read the start up guide by the time he gets back and choose some apps that I will download. I feel very nerdy and very techy.
Tom and I have always enjoyed a few days a part here and there. As an introvert I LOVE putting the kids to bed and then not having to speak the rest of the evening (= Now that the kids are in bed by 815pm as opposed to 10pm during Ramadan....it is REALLY a treat.
It is getting cooler out - the day starts in the mid-80s!! It is still 110 by noon, but evenings are reasonable. We have started eating outside again even though it is 100. It still feels cooler! The problem is that we are all still sweaty when we come in so I am bathing the kids every night (they are SO DIRTY because I just let them roam free in the yard come what may!) and then I put Ryan in the crib with a few books, set layla up with her bedtime books and take a quick rinse-off shower myself before finishing their bedtime routine. It is just too icky sticky to relax!
We have no plans for tomorrow which is nice. We crossed the border today without border cards and I think it took 2 hours. Thankfully we have good ac, comfortable seats and entertaining music! We got a handful of chocolate for the kids at one border office which was a nice pick-me-up! Have I said lately how much this culture loves and values kids?? Love it here.
Waiting for Water - Our life in the desert
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Ryan's 1st haircut!
Neither of our red-headed kids had much hair their first year. Ryan has a bit more than Layla did at 16 months and since it is curly, it needs more taming! Ryan's hair is essentially straight on the top but totally ringlets in the back. I combed his hair a bit with a comb but otherwise I just snipped off the ringlets to what seemed like the right length (= He was watching TV which helped the process...barely!
So sad....
We have been discussing the idea of giving layla a pet rabbit for almost a year now. She keeps asking for a dog but we've been through that one out here already....not a great story. So a couple of days after her birthday we went to all of the four pet stores in town and purchased 2 rabbits. PETA would have a field day if it saw the conditions of those pet stores. At least they stayed alive.
We are very sad to say that one of the rabbits was killed tonight by a horrid, disease-ridden cat that cruises through our yard on the way to the neighborhood trash can which is just about 20 feet from our house on the other side of our privacy wall. Ugh.
We didn't even get pictures taken! I can't believe it. We'd been letting them out in the yard in the late afternoon while we sit and play with the kids but tonight they just didn't come back and didn't come back and then kids had to be put down for bed and this and that happened and now we only have Salalah the light brown rabbit in the cage. Thankfully this is the one Layla chose....she didn't really give much attention to Bob, the one who died.
Anyway. Salalah was truly frightened and we are hoping she'll make it through the night. Apparently rabbits are very fragile emotionally (!) and can literally die of fright. It is too late to write more.
We are very sad to say that one of the rabbits was killed tonight by a horrid, disease-ridden cat that cruises through our yard on the way to the neighborhood trash can which is just about 20 feet from our house on the other side of our privacy wall. Ugh.
We didn't even get pictures taken! I can't believe it. We'd been letting them out in the yard in the late afternoon while we sit and play with the kids but tonight they just didn't come back and didn't come back and then kids had to be put down for bed and this and that happened and now we only have Salalah the light brown rabbit in the cage. Thankfully this is the one Layla chose....she didn't really give much attention to Bob, the one who died.
Anyway. Salalah was truly frightened and we are hoping she'll make it through the night. Apparently rabbits are very fragile emotionally (!) and can literally die of fright. It is too late to write more.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Birthday party at School
The school encourages birthday parties in class so we had a fun time taking some cupcakes down for Layla's class. There are 11 kids in her class all turning 4 and some point during the year. It was a cute time. Ryan was all over the place, of course. The boy that is the very front of the table looking at the camera is her "boyfriend". Yes, she used this word. I was shocked but acted like it was normal (= I don't know what she thinks it means!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Starting school.....arab style
There is so much to say about this that I hardly know where to start. The easiest thing seems to be bullet points (=
We wanted to put Lj in a local school for pre-school and kindergarten to help her to learn Arabic. I have always assumed that we'd do this and I went into the process with my eyes wide open, and aware of some of the challenges.
My neighbor, who is a local lady and a supervisor over all the English teachers in town, told me flat out to not put Lj in a local school. She said their teachers are not good, and that she doesn't want to admit that, but it is true. A Western friend I have who teaches at the school where I was planning to put Lj even said to not put her in school there.
So after much discussion and readjustment of expectations, we have placed her in a South African run International school that uses the British curriculum. The student body is almost entirely Arab and there is an Arabic teacher in each room to translate for the students especially at the beginning of the year. So it is a big disappointment in some ways but in other ways it is a great situation and we don't have MANY of the worries of putting her in the other situation.
The main drawback to local schools would be what you could describe as the "emotional climate" that is created by the administration and the teachers. Rote learning, public shaming, various degrees of swatting kids etc.
Here are some other impressions of school after one week:
***Cracks me up to see parents driving so FAST on the dirt path up to the school and into this bottle-neck that none of them can back out of. Driving in reverse is not a skill that is valued out here (= They all want to turn around. You should see this happening at 730am and 1230pm.
***Kids carry the hugest, gaudiest, most decorated backpacks/rolling bags. Wow.
***I got my parent notebook today in layla's bag. It is our way of communicating with the teacher since having parents on the grounds is not encouraged. Too bad I say....they will have to get used to seeing me!
***All the kids are given school hats so they can walk to and from the bathroom outside with a little shade on their heads. Very Bright. Very Hot these days.
***There are three thugs who run the "bus room" or whatever you call that holding station for kids who have been dismissed from class and are waiting to get on the buses. I think they are all actually teachers in the school but in order to control the boys, they need sheer physical intimidation. Yikes. I just keeping saying hello and smiling so they'll be nice to Layla if she ever has to sit in there for long (=
***Lj's room is really fun - not overly decorated which I personally appreciate. The days of the week starts with Saturday.....I tried changing the way we sing our little days of the week song but she was having none of it.
We wanted to put Lj in a local school for pre-school and kindergarten to help her to learn Arabic. I have always assumed that we'd do this and I went into the process with my eyes wide open, and aware of some of the challenges.
My neighbor, who is a local lady and a supervisor over all the English teachers in town, told me flat out to not put Lj in a local school. She said their teachers are not good, and that she doesn't want to admit that, but it is true. A Western friend I have who teaches at the school where I was planning to put Lj even said to not put her in school there.
So after much discussion and readjustment of expectations, we have placed her in a South African run International school that uses the British curriculum. The student body is almost entirely Arab and there is an Arabic teacher in each room to translate for the students especially at the beginning of the year. So it is a big disappointment in some ways but in other ways it is a great situation and we don't have MANY of the worries of putting her in the other situation.
The main drawback to local schools would be what you could describe as the "emotional climate" that is created by the administration and the teachers. Rote learning, public shaming, various degrees of swatting kids etc.
Here are some other impressions of school after one week:
***Cracks me up to see parents driving so FAST on the dirt path up to the school and into this bottle-neck that none of them can back out of. Driving in reverse is not a skill that is valued out here (= They all want to turn around. You should see this happening at 730am and 1230pm.
***Kids carry the hugest, gaudiest, most decorated backpacks/rolling bags. Wow.
***I got my parent notebook today in layla's bag. It is our way of communicating with the teacher since having parents on the grounds is not encouraged. Too bad I say....they will have to get used to seeing me!
***All the kids are given school hats so they can walk to and from the bathroom outside with a little shade on their heads. Very Bright. Very Hot these days.
***There are three thugs who run the "bus room" or whatever you call that holding station for kids who have been dismissed from class and are waiting to get on the buses. I think they are all actually teachers in the school but in order to control the boys, they need sheer physical intimidation. Yikes. I just keeping saying hello and smiling so they'll be nice to Layla if she ever has to sit in there for long (=
***Lj's room is really fun - not overly decorated which I personally appreciate. The days of the week starts with Saturday.....I tried changing the way we sing our little days of the week song but she was having none of it.
Layla's School!!!
Thought you might enjoy seeing some pics of where she is spending her mornings these days! She picked out her very own gaudy school bag. The dress on the Barbie is actually attached separately! Ooo la la.
Classic first day of school posing (=
Note that Ryan is still in his pajamas....we are out of the house EARLY these days! Yikes.
This is the bottle neck where parents race up to pick up their kids. The gap between the two walls is where they try to squeeze as close as possible and then - due to a complete of reverse driving skills - they all try to turn around and drive out. Really Fun. Not. I just park waaaay off to the right and walk through the sand.
This is Rita - a South African friend of Layla's from her nursery school last year. She is a year ahead of Layla but they see each other on the playground.
Classic first day of school posing (=
Note that Ryan is still in his pajamas....we are out of the house EARLY these days! Yikes.
This is the bottle neck where parents race up to pick up their kids. The gap between the two walls is where they try to squeeze as close as possible and then - due to a complete of reverse driving skills - they all try to turn around and drive out. Really Fun. Not. I just park waaaay off to the right and walk through the sand.
This is Rita - a South African friend of Layla's from her nursery school last year. She is a year ahead of Layla but they see each other on the playground.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Castle in Germany - playing catch up on photos!
I am trying to get our photos from the summer uploaded so they do not wallow in the digital world never to be seen again. This was a really fun day where we drove in a BIG circle around our region of Germany and got to see a castle, the Bodensee (famous lake) and some other fun sights. Tom did a great job planning all of this and we were able to borrow a GPS which was indispensable!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Happy Family
Just couldn't resist posting this sweet family photo...Layla is channeling her inner princess and Ryan is wondering WHAT ON EARTH is wrong with his sister (= We were on a car ferry in Switzerland which was super fun for us all. We are well-outfitted with Richard Scarry books (thanks Nelsons, Ridderhoffs and Palmers!) and have a keen interest in all things transportation (=
We are still adjusting to the fact that our visas are just around the corner (= We'll let you know when it is all settled!
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