From the Midwest to the Middle East: December 2014

The past week (or little more) has been hands-down the toughest. As some of you may know, my Godmother passed away. She has been one of the most supportive people in my life. She has been involved with my life since I was born, and she was always in attendance for big moments in my life. I can't imagine coming home in June and not being able to sit down with her and tell her about my experience. After every trip (student teaching, Malawi, school years in SC), I would visit her and my Godfather and talk about my experiences. I loved sitting down with her (and my uncle) and just getting caught up on what was going on in all of our lives.

I heard in mid-October that she was diagnosed with cancer. That, itself, was difficult to hear, but I tried to think positive of the situation, and that she would get through it. I didn't know her health would take such a drastic downward spiral so quickly. I heard last Monday that she was on life support. This whole past week was just this odd back and forth between reality and surreality (word?). The whole situation seemed so surreal, since I am so separated and removed from it. The reality of it would hit me at the most random times, whether it woke me in the middle of the night, in the middle of my run, or standing in front of the classroom with all 24 students staring at me. I just never knew when it was going to hit. It is still hard to wrap my head around that I am not going to see her one last time and that I will not be at the service. I never imagined when coming here that I would have to face something like this. It is definitely not something one thinks about, but it is reality. You never know what life is going to bring.

I will always remember our conversations, dinners, laughs, hugs, sleepovers, and Christmas Tree decorating nights. I love her and will miss her greatly.

I just want to thank my family and friends back home for their love and support (those who knew). Your kind words through FaceTime or messaging has helped me immensely. I also want to thank everyone here in Kuwait (if any of you read this), for even though you didn't know, you have helped keep me distracted and able to get through the week and be at work each day.

My thoughts are with my family, especially my Uncle Michael, at this time. I love you dearly Uncle Michael and miss you greatly. I am so fortunate to have you as my Godfather.

Aunt Libby and I at my going away party that she planned.

Updates

Two weeks until Christmas break, and I could not be more ready for it. Teacher friends back home know the month of October is rough, well here it is the month of November. I am so ready for a break, and my students are just as ready. I simply could not be more excited to be reunited with Jessie. I cannot believe I have not seen her since July of 2013. That's insane. I feel sorry for anyone around us when we see each other for the first time, because it is going to be quite obnoxious. They will cover their ears. They will wonder about Americans.

The plan is still to fly to Malaysia and spend one week there with Jessie. From Malaysia, I will fly to Turkey and spend a few days there. Hope will meet me in Turkey and then we will head to Dubai for New Years and a couple days. I am super excited to see Hope Chang too, even though I just saw her in August :) Funny, how we see each other MORE when we are far from each other then when we were in college and only like 30 minutes from each other (probably because it was so expensive for all of my parking tickets going to see her).

Thanksgiving, here in Kuwait, existed of a dinner with Taylor and Allison at the Cheesecake Factory (lol). It was actually perfect. 1) I have never been to the Cheesecake Factory. 2) We are so hilarious when we are together. 3) I ate the most wonderful nachos that have ever existed. There was also a Thanksgiving celebration the day after Thanksgiving at one of the returner's apartments. It was a potluck and we all brought something. It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave early since I had to race the next day.

I ran like one of the only races in Kuwait. (I guess there are others, but I cannot find them online). It was called Run Q8 and it was a 10K. This was the first time I ran outside since August. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? That is pretty disgusting. It was a nice course. We ran along the seaside to the Kuwait Towers and then turned around (5K out 5K back). I placed 3rd overall for women which was sweet, but also frustrating because I am super competitive and I could have won if I was in better shape (I have ran a faster time than the winner). It is frustrating having a reality check of your fitness. I know I am not "out of shape" but I am not "in shape" either, based on past fitness. I am glad I did it though! It was fun, there was a good mixture of expats and locals. The shirt was also dri-fit, which is a must. I ran the race with Liz, and we ran in matching outfits. We're cool. We bought a tank top and capris. We heard you can run in anything you want in races like this, but we didn't see anyone wearing a tank top, so we ended up wearing a t-shirt underneath. Even though it might be "okay" we still felt uncomfortable. It was a great experience.

Liz and I after our race. Twinning

I had to apologize to the 2nd place, cause I gave her a nasty look at the 5K turnaround. I told her I was tired. I lied. I was really just frustrated that she was beating me. :/

The winner won a bike. Jacob knows that it is probably a good thing I didn't win.

On Saturday, Mila and I checked out the Qout (not sure if I spelled that right, but it's not like you guys would be able to correct me) market. It was sweet. It was on the top of a parking garage (random) and Jessie it was JUST like the Mount Hood situation. We asked multiple people about it. No one knew where it was or what we were talking about, even though we were literally right there. We found it eventually with our intuitive skills. The market made it feel as if we were not in Kuwait. It was amazing. They hold it once a month, so I am sure we will go back again.