The End

Yesterday marked the end of the school year for all students at AIS. Our classroom got a makeover in the form of a 'competition.' I handed out tasks to groups of students like 'Take down the bulletin board, return pictures to Ms. Root, recycle the paper' and 'Take all books of the shelf and place them in the bottom drawer of each filing cabinet.' The group with the most successfully completed tasks at the end won. It was a competitive 40 minutes at the end of which the classroom was hardly recognizable. It certainly will save me a lot of time prepping for the summer!

Our last day was spent watching a video of our plays that we performed last week, showing off our athleticism (during the movie of course), eating some food, playing a few games, and having an impromptu lesson/discussion on wildlife conservation and the importance of balancing wildlife populations in order to prevent starvation. I really had no intention of having this lesson (our current unit was on drama, not habitat or eco-systems), but we watched the movie Hoot, and the discussion just happened. It was exciting to see how into it they got, and through that discussion we moved on to the importance of plants, oxygen, the sun, and how the Earth is the only known planet capable of supporting life. One student even asked that all important question: How is it possible that Earth is in the exact position capable of supporting life? How could it of possibly just got there? I, of course, am forbidden to give my opinion to such questions, but that restriction is not on students who were more then happy to offer their various viewpoints. I was impressed by the critical thinking of the 10 year old who voiced the question. I answered as diplomatically as I could (those of you who know me well can just imagine how that probably went).

Overall it was a bitter sweet day. Every one of my students hugged me and told me they would miss me (they know how to suck up well) and most came back for seconds, thirds, and fourths on the hugs. Kuwiat is an affectionate country (as far as children are concerned anyway). It was a lovely day of goodbyes, celebrations, and smiles.

While I will miss them a lot... each end is just a new beginning.

Hannah and Abenet Visit Kuwait

This weekend a few amazing people stopped by Kuwait to visit. Hannah, a roommate from college and a good friend, and her husband Abenet are in Ethiopia visiting his family for several weeks and took a side trip to visit me in the hot hot climate of Kuwait. They deserve a medal of bravery...or insanity... for having their first (and possibly only) visit to Kuwait during the summer...voluntarily.
Heidi was a rock-star and stayed up with me to go pick them up at the airport at the wee hours of the morning. We all made it bed finally around 3:00AM. The visit got off to a rocky start with a bit of stomach sickness that was not helped by the heat. Fortunately Hannah did recover, and while we were waiting for that to happen we had fun catching up, watching far too many corny cartoon movies, and playing card games. It was an enjoyable day in.
Saturday I took Hannah out for some girl time with the ladies and showed her true Kuwait leisure time with mani-pedis and lunch out. After running to the mall for some souvenirs we eventually went and rescued Abenet from his 3rd consecutive movie of the day. That evening Sarah accompanied us out to the Kuwait Towers! It was a pretty awesome view from the observation deck. According to the elevator we were on the 120th floor. I do not know if I believe that, but we were pretty high up. Looking though the dirt streaked windows (sandstorms this weekend didn't help...) we were able to bet a bit of geographical perspective on the places we had visited so far.

Kuwait Towers Observation Deck

That evening we went to the Old Souk in Mubarakia for a traditional Kuwaiti dinner and some market experience. Hannah and Abenet made friends with a date seller who wanted them to try every date in his shop including some ginger date substance that he claimed (much much winking at Abenet) would give Hannah nice butt and thighs. The new miracle drug?

Dinner At the Old Market

The experience was rounded out with lots of order in food, some fast food that Hannah and Abenet can't get in Ethiopia, and a church service at the compound. Aside from the heat they seemed to enjoy themselves.
It was fun to get to share the place that I live and work with someone from home. Who's next? I have a guest room with your name on it! :)

Cannot Wait

As is probably apparent, May was a blur of activity, both at work and at play. May saw full scale drama performances in my classroom, a field trip to the Science Discover Center, Writing of biographies and autobiographies, Math study of angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, 3-D shapes, and volume. It saw me to the Failaka Islands, to numerous grading 'parties' at Starbucks and Caribou, to concerts and assemblies. But most of May is a blur. Someone, somewhere pressed the fast forward button. And now it is June. And June will fly past just as fast. I have reports and conferences behind me. Class lists are ready for next year. All assessments and summatives are complete. I have 2 days left with my students, 1 week left in this city, and then the summer adventures begin.
I am VERY eagerly awaiting the 11th when we fly out to Frankfurt. It will be my first time sightseeing around Europe, and I have a great group of people to travel with. We will see Frankfurt, Berlin, Bavaria, Munich, Heidleberg, and the Eagle's Nest in Germany and travel on to Poland for Krakow and Auschwitz. It will be a wonderful trip full of contrasts. We will see the beauty and tranquility of nature in spring, the lively bustle of modern cities, the awe inspiring historic grandeur of cathedrals and castles, and the somber reminder of the dark history that once gripped this region. It will be a trip that inspires and gives pause for reflection. And it is a trip that begins in one week.
And just to make sure that things keep getting better, I leave Germany to go home! I get to see my family members and almost immediately jump into a cross country trip to see extended family and friends. The whirlwind will continue taking the rest of June and even into the begining of July where, hopefully, the world will slow down enough to catch my breath before spinning me back into another year of adventure this August.
Summer is almost here.
Bring it on.