No school today, so I used most of the day to get schoolwork done and enjoy some time reading. In the evening we had a team dinner at Vin House, then went back to John and Mary's for dessert. Mary made apple pie for John's birthday! It was super yummy and we enjoyed giving him his birthday presents. When we got back to our apartment, I Skyped with my family. Jaden wanted to tell me the story of Goldilocks, which I recorded on my camera to share with him someday. After Jaden's turn, Eithen got on and told me two stories he had made up. "Once upon a time, there was a Sissy..." :) I made sure to record his stories too.
While we were at the Nelson's, the c.c. called to tell us that school will be canceled tomorrow. We had talked about "no school" being an April Fool's joke all day, so when we found out it was for real, we had a good laugh.
Tuesday, April 2nd:
Since school was canceled, all of us girls went to the market today. We went to the money exchange, then walked past all the little shops carrying spices, hardware, and ... Google flip flops? Businesses really get around! We ended at the secondhand market and left a little after 2pm. I got dropped off at home while Hannah went to the Bishop's. Around 4, I walked to the orphanage. The weather is great right now ... not too hot, though it won't be long now before I start using the AC. The girls were there (I was worried that I might miss them again with all of the holidays we've been having). We talked about school and they taught me new words while I helped them with their English. Just before I left, we went out to their courtyard and played a game of tag. I left a little after 6pm, wanting to walk home before it got dark. I ate some dinner, then went back out to pick up Hannah around 8pm.
Wednesday, April 3rd:
Back to school! I was glad to be back with my kids today. The students turned on the split (AC wall unit) because it was "so hot" (maybe high 70s). The split was dusty from disuse and I sneezed my way through the day. Our verse for today was "love one another as I have loved you." The kids took a quiz today; they weren't happy about it after the long break, but I went through each question with them and gave them extra "marks." I wanted to make sure they took it today since the test on Sunday will have identical questions.
I had a pretty bad headache by the time I finished with 6A. I asked Hannah if she wouldn't mind going home alone. She knew the route, so I walked home after my classes, then took a long nap. When Hannah got home, we made Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder for our team dinner / John's birthday meal. I got a little bit of grading done before we taxied to the Bishop's. Dinner was outside ... Lisa made a salad with cilantro lime dressing and homemade chips to go with our chowder. For dessert, Mary made cheesecake brownies that we savored over decaf coffee. After cleanup, I was able to get some more grading done before our Skype call with the home office. We stayed out late talking with Lisa (Andy had to go to basketball practice). Because I needed to give back the quizzes on Thursday, I stayed up past 11 to finish grading.
Thursday, April 4th:
It was hard to get up this morning, but I was excited to teach my classes. Because of all the holidays, I keep combining lessons so we can stay on track with the yearly plan. The kids are taking it well and are able to keep up. I try to break up the lessons with random questions - lately discussions have focused on the verse of the day. Today's verse was "if a man loves Me, he will keep My words." We talked about how we keep God's Word through memorization and obedience. I was encouraged to see how interested the students are to talk about God's word.
Right after school, I taxied to Lisa's house and from there we took a taxi to Erbil to watch Andy's basketball game. One of the guys on Andy's team had arranged the driver, which made us feel a little more comfortable, knowing that the driver was responsible to this friend for our safety. Lisa and I combined efforts to answer the driver's questions in Kurdish. At one point, he asked Lisa if I wanted to marry a Kurdish man. After Lisa tried in different ways to explain that I wanted to marry an American, I finally told him that my father said I couldn't marry a Kurdish man. That was enough to satisfy his curiosity. (It amazes me how readily the people here receive that answer - fathers are revered and their word is final. So, needless to say, he didn't ask any more questions about spouses.) :) Zephie fell asleep in my arms for the last 30 minutes ... I think I miss that most about my time with Eithen.
The game wasn't as good as we'd hoped. At one point, it looked like our team could make a comeback, but everyone seemed sleepy (it didn't help that the gym was pretty warm.) In the end we lost by 12 points. Lisa, the kids and I rode back on the bus with the team. The guys were ashamed that they lost to an inferior team, but their reaction was different than we'd expect in America. As soon as they got on the bus, they were laughing and shouting, covering over the shame they felt with noise and distraction. Lisa and I commented that in America, the bus would be silent the entire way home. It is interesting to see how differently cultures respond to shame.
On the bus ride we discovered the one of the players is a really talented sculptor; another is a tailor; another likes to sing ... one of the players became Zander's best friend and when he asked Zander if he wanted to spend the night, Zander said "yes" without any hesitation! It is neat to see team welcoming Andy's family into their "family."
The guys love Zander and made sure he had plenty of snacks!
Bus Ride
Going to Erbil with Lisa and coming back with the team made for a memorable day. Watching the guys on the bus helped me see that the behavior I witness in the classroom is a reflection of the entire culture. Every so often, I think I'm starting to understand how it works. It was also fun to be part of a team ... or at least the fan club!
