Monday,
November 12th:
5B still
loves shaking my hand in the morning. They line up outside the door when they
hear me coming. I’ve noticed that it helps set the mood for the class.
After the
lesson today, I gave each class a little background on Thanksgiving. Few of
them knew it was a holiday, let alone why we celebrate it. I explained that
there was a time when Americans couldn't worship God freely. They sailed across
the ocean to America. Even though there weren't any houses there yet, and it
was so cold that many of them died, they were thankful for a place where they
could worship God. And they decided to have a special day where they thanked
God for bringing them to America and giving them so many things. I told them
that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I couldn't celebrate it with my
family, so I decided to celebrate with them instead. Every year, my family
decorates the house with nuts, leaves, and pumpkins. In the spirit of beginning
new traditions here, I distributed fall clip art among the students. They wrote
things that they were thankful for on an assortment of leaves, acorns and
pumpkins. We will paste them around the classroom for our fall decoration.
After my
classes, I worked on some grading, then helped monitor John's 7th grade class.
They were really quiet and attentive... I hope it starts to become part of
their habit when there isn't an extra set of eyes. From school, I took a taxi
to Lisa's. We visited and caught up on life before our team meeting at 4pm.
Andy led our study on submission to authority. One of the passages I was given
to reflect on was from Matthew 8, which is part of the section I've been
reading each morning. It was the account of the centurion's faith in Christ's
authority. The other was also in Matthew where Christ declares to those who
doubt Him that all power has been given to Him in heaven and in earth. A few
take-aways: humility and recognition of unworthiness must come before
submission * authority is given * submission to authority is evidence of faith
* those in authority must also submit * Christ is our example both of submission
and authority. Though He had all authority over heaven and earth, He humbled
Himself, and submitted to death on a cross that those under His authority might
be saved. In this sense, the centurion is a representation of Christ – humbling
himself before the Healer that his servant’s life might be spared.
At 5:30pm
I left Andy and Lisa's and caught a taxi home so I could get ready for a birthday
party. My 6th grade student, “Alice,” called to invite me to her
party last night; when I walked into class today, all the girls were buzzing around,
wanting to know if I would come. Of course, I would come! After wrapping the
present to take to Alice's birthday, I hurried down the alley and around the
corner to Jwan Sweet Shop. Three of the girls were there to meet me. We waited
30 to 45 minutes for the others to arrive, shouting “Happy Birthday” as Alice
walked in.
The Sweet Shop is already very fancy, but the room was heavily decorated with balloons and streamers for the occasion.
My sixth graders and me (Alice is in the middle):
The girls played games, sang songs and gave imitations through a microphone. They made sort-of Congo line and persuaded me to follow with them. We were all laughing and having a good time.
It's not a party without party hats!
And of course, it's not a Kurdish party without fireworks! (Yes, they really lit these inside. All the while, balloons are popping like crazy!)
After the cake was cut, gifts were presented. I gave Alice a journal and a leather bracelet. She was really appreciative when she learned that my grandpa had made the bracelet. Most of the other gifts were fairly expensive - perfume, clothing, CDs, and jewelry.
After gifts, we sat down to a variety of desserts:
The party would have looked like the average American birthday party, except for the bodyguards standing outside the sweet shop the entire time. Most of the girls come from prominent families and usually have drivers/bodyguards who accompany them.
The sweet
shop is owned by one of the 6th grade girls’ father. My student
introduced me to him and I was able to tell him that his daughter is a good
student. (She is not the best in math, but she tries hard and has a fun time
trying. Her mischievous grin and affectionate heart outweighs any of the grief
she has caused by turning in late homework.)
After
the party had died down, we ordered ice cream, finishing off the evening with more
sugar. I didn’t get home until after 8:30pm and realized that I hadn’t had any
dinner. By then I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything, but desperately wanted to
brush my teeth and jump in the shower. Finished preparing the next day’s lesson
and crashed into bed.
Tuesday,
November 13th:
A
blustery morning as Pooh would’ve called it. As I walked through the
schoolyard, the girls from the party greeted me warmly. Classes were a little
talkative, especially since school has been called off for Thursday. The students
are excited for a shorter week and an extra holiday. We are covering new
material in 6th grade and yesterday’s lesson was difficult. I was
able to review it today, and breathed a sigh of relief as several eyes lit up with
understanding.
I was not
feeling well after school (probably from all the sweets last night) and napped
for a couple hours. Read for a little while, then in a burst of energy, got all
of my schoolwork done before heading off to Andy and Lisa's. On the way there,
I picked up shwarma for dinner.
When I
arrived, Lisa had just put Zephie to sleep. Zander was happy to see me. I
watched him for a couple hours so Andy and Lisa could go on a date night. We played
with duplos, ate dessert together, and played Handy Manny on my iPad. I tucked
him as I would’ve tucked in Eithen at home. I even sang him one of my brothers’
favorite songs, “Trust and Obey.” Andy and Lisa got home a little before 9:30pm
and Lisa gave me a ride home.
