Orientation Part Two

I have been super slow with the updates on this blog, way slower than I want to be or anticipated. It hasn't been because of laziness (okay, not completely), I have been busy! Teaching full time is a lot of work, especially for a new teacher.

We just started week 3 of classes and things are almost feeling comfortable with my group. Hopefully it continues. Anyways, on to business...

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I spent my birthday here barely telling anyone about it and those I did I made sure it wasn't a big deal. A big deal wasn't made of it, so success! On my birthday we did some mall in the morning and then went to an old Kuwait market in the evening. We had dinner there, hummus and chicken kebab for me. The market was probably cool, I was just grumpy and sick of shopping so I ddn't look around much. I also wasn't in the mood for bartering.

Other than the malls, the only place we went to other than the Mosque was the TIES centre, which is an international centre I believe dedicated to the teaching of Kuwait culture. We were fed there--buffet style--which was nice. I ate a ton of chicken which seems to be my food of choice here.

It was an interesting experience. I was super hungry but they decided to have a long presentation that seemed to drag on and on at first, where all I could think about was the food I saw waiting for us on the buffet tables. I had to fight to stay awake. It eventually caught my interest though. Once they finished telling us all that the centre does, they told us some cool things about Kuwait and gave us some prayer beads. They explained the colours of the beads, which were the same as the Kuwait flag. They also taught us a trick to do with the beads, wrapping them around their fingers using only their fingers from one hand. It takes a bit of concentration.

They also dressed people up in the traditional Kuwait dress. First three males--all from my building in Salmiya--were dressed up in completely white robes with a white towel like thing on their heads. The robes were called 'dishdasha' and the head towel thing was called a 'gutra.' Next up were the girls in their 'abayas' and 'hijabs.'

Other than that, a lot of the time by the end of it was spent in my classroom, preparing it for the first day of school. That has come and gone by now, but took a lot to get to the point it is now. Last year there were 4 grade 3 classrooms, this year there were 5. Who didn't get the supplies from the year before? Me. I had to make due with books and posters other teachers didn't want. I managed alright and am happy with the way it looks now. I wish my book selection was a little better however.

That's it for now, hopefully there isn't as much time in between now and my next post!