40 Days in the Desert

This is the first time that I have taken a day for myself in many weeks. Life has been very busy. School is busy, Church is busy, friends are busy... busy busy busy. This is not an excuse to neglect my wonderful friends and family at home who have been waiting for news from me. I hope nobody was holding their breath.

Many things have happened in the past few months since I blogged last.

1 - My friends, Diana and Kaia came to visit in February. We spent a whirlwind week seeing all of the sights of the UAE. It felt so rushed but it was very exciting to have somebody to share my new home with. I was very happy to show them a good time here (although I was pretty exhausted when they left).

2 - I went to Lebanon for the long weekend as a birthday present to myself. (see my post fo rmore info)

3 - My class and I worked together to encourage the school to raise money for Charity:Water to build a well in a needy cmmunity. We were greatly successful, nearly doubling our goal of $5000. We raised almost 37000 dhs in 2 weeks. God is good! The kids were so excited because they were educated about the topic and they really ran with it. We even had parents coming into the school asking about us and saying that there were kids in their community going door to door asking for money and informing them about the water crisis in our world. awesome.

I may not be able to teach in a Christian school right now, but if I can motivate students to make a difference in the world, and to stop and ask why I want to do the same... then I feel that GOd can stll work through me in a big way.

 Now I just have to convince the admin to cough up the extra 1200 dhs (about $300) so that we can donate enough money to complete 2 water wells. Time is running out and prayer would be appreciated so that this money can be put to good use.

4 - Spring Break was a dream come true for me as I was blessed to visit the beautifl country of Tanzania. See my blog postings on Zanzibar and the safari to learn more about the amazing trip of a lifetims.

5 - Crossroads. In January, I convinced Krista to attend a weekly bible study group called Crossroads with me. We go every Thursday evening. The group has 40ish people and we meet for a home-cooked meal followed by breaking off itno smaller groups for bible study. The group has been a huge blessing in that it is helping to meet the need for Christian fellowship here in Abu Dhabi. It also provides me with a friend group outside of school which is a very healthy separation to have when you work and live with the same people.

We have been very busy with Crossroads, meeting every Thursday, hanging out after church on Friday, making some awesome new friends, and even being asked to join the leadership team. i was asked to be a smallgroup leader a couple of months ago. I dragged my heels at first because I do not want to commit to something that I cannot carry through on. Being a first year teacher is draining. I knew that GOd had placed me in my classroom and that this is my purpose in life right now. I want to be able to put everything that I have into those kids. I may be the only example they see of a Christian life, and I want to make it count.

It was hard, and awjward to say no to leading smalgroups. I got the impression that they don't often hear no. The group is so much different than what I am used to, though, and I just do no think it is the right time or place for me to lead. I am much more comfortable in a small group of females, where we can get to know each other week after week and have more of an open and honest relationship. That level of comfort is the purpose of a smallgroup, for me, where people feel comfortable to share real life, and to walk though it together. While Crossroads is an awesome ministry, it is not one where I feel lead to lead. haha, lead to lead.

Making wonderful friends through Crossroads has already led to a very sad goodbye. Josephine is one of the most amazing people I have ever met and it was difficult to have to say goodbye when we had really just started to bond. This opened my eyes to one of the major difficulties in living abroad. People come and go so quickly and it is hard when you get atached. Thankfully, though, we live in the year 2012 where it is not too difficult to send an email and keep in touch.

6 - Student teacher. What? Didn't you just say that you were a first year teacher? That's right. I have a student teacher. She needs to be in a Grade 2 classroom and since I am the only Grade 2 teacher who has been trained in Elementary Education, I guess I was chosen. After telling my principal that I was not comfortable or ready for this typr of responsibility, he signed my name on the dotted line. yay.
My ST has been in my class for 2 weeks now, with 2 more to go. It really has been a blessing to have her in my room. She is from Australia so she has a real educaiton, not like some of the student teachers from the UAE. She has also been  a TA in the school and has 4 children. She has a lot of experience with children and is going to be an awesome teacher.

I, though, in my first year teacher confusion, am always spasticaly rushing around to finish things at the last second. This is not exactly en environment condusive to great learning for a new teacher. I can barely keep my thoughts straight to figure out what I am doing in the current moment, nevermind planning what will come next. I find it very hard to try and be organized enough to make my plans and to teach her what I am doing at the same time. What a rush! It also does not help that we are nearing the end of the school year and I am feeling a lot of pressure to complete my curriculum objectives.

There are only 2 weeks left, though, and there are many good things about having her in my classroom. While it is a lot of work for me to think about how to help and evaluate her, it does help me to reflect on my own teaching practices. Seeing as I have nobody else supervising me this helps to hold me accountable. Also, she is skilled and helps a lot with students, especially suring station work where we can focus on small groups. Finally, she helps me to see my strengths as a teacher and to build some confidence in what I am doing. This is definately a great learning experience for us both!

7 - Changes. We found out last week that some of us will be moving to Al Reef by the end of the year. Al Reef is considered nicer than where we are living now (the middle of nowhere), but it is equal distance, if not further, from the city, and it does have its drawbacks (students everywhere).

I was informed that I was 1/3 people who had asked to move but would have to stay. yay. This does not make a huge difference, as it is not like I am living in the slums, however it did bother me for a few reasons:
 a - the admin thinks it is advantagous to move and does not find me worthy. I always seem to get the raw end of every deal from them. The like to give me responsibilities of somebody who has been teaching for 10 years, then do nothing to remind me that I am appreciated for me extra efforts. thanks.
b - Krista and I plan on sharing a car next year, seeing as we both need to go to Crossroads events all the time. They wnated to move Krista, but not me.
c - I feel that decisions are not made fairly and are not explained. There is no accountability.

This whole situation caused a lot of drama, but it ended up working out. Krista decided to stay in our current villas with me, so we will get to share transportation next year. Thankfully it is all over now, but it did consume a lot of our thoughts and energy over the past week. We will see how it al unfolds as the moves begin soon. wooppeee


That pretty much sums up the craziness that is my life lately. I am super excited to head home to Canada in 31 days where I will soak up the cool weather, time with family and friends, and will start to prepare for teaching Grade 3 next year. There are more fun changes to come!

Until then I am counting down the days, and praying to find ways that I can make a difference in the last month that I have with my students. I  am near the finish line... soon I will no longer be a first year teacher. woohoo!