From the Midwest to the Middle East: 2015

Sunday, November 8, 2015

All Too Real.

When I first decided to write a blog, I thought I was writing it so that I could keep my friends and family up to date. I thought the point was so I could tell everyone everything and then I wouldn't have to repeat myself with every conversation I had. Sure, sometimes that is why I write a blog post, but sometimes I write it as a type of therapy, a way to release thoughts and feelings. This is one of those posts.

Living in another country (at least for me) can really cause you to feel as if you are in your own separate world. It is so easy to get caught up in my work and my life here and not communicate back home. I am terrible (100% terrible) at Skyping and Facetiming people back home. I am okay at returning text messages, but definitely not great. It is unfortunate that (usually) it takes tragedy for this to become a realization. It takes something bad, for me to be brought back into the world back home, to snap back to reality.

Late last night (Saturday) I found out that one of my old cross country teammates died in a car accident. I ran with her for a couple of years. She was so fun. She always had a smile on her face. She was so easy to talk to, crack jokes with, and laugh with. She had trouble staying healthy as well, so we would spend some time together cross training. If you believe in prayer and you are reading this, please send some prayers her way and to her family and friends. I don't really know what else to say here. It's unbelievably sad, tragic, and it doesn't make sense, and my thoughts are with her, her friends, and her family.

Kaila and I at one of the cross country meets. This is when I wasn't on the team, just came to run unattached. i came from student teaching where we were reading "Flat Stanley" and I took him with me to various places. Kaila was so funny with Flat Stanley and needed a picture with him.

Sandbox Updates

Work is exhausting. To be honest, I work all the time. I stayed up until 1am on a Thursday (which is the equivalent to an American Friday) working. I am sorry if I haven't stayed in touch. I know it is a lame excuse, but work is a whirlwind right now. This is the busiest time of the school year (or at least one of them) and my online class is on high speed right now. It will calm down (hopefully). I am really looking forward to Christmas break. I am going to Vietnam (solo for like 4/5 days) and then meeting Jessie and Ashley in Thailand! If you are an avid reader of this blog, you know Jessie. Ashley is one of Jessie's friends from high school that I have met quite a bit and whether she likes it or not, is one of my friends now too.

I also began tutoring one of my students from last year. I only wanted to tutor this year if I was tutoring one of them, so wish came true :) I love her so much. If I ever need a self-esteem boost she is the kid to go to. Her quotes include: "I know! Ever since you left, the school got stupid!" "I am in class and all of a sudden I just start thinking about you!" "I had a dream last night about you." "I told my new teacher all of the things you used to do."

Despite the hours upon hours of work, Taylor and I decided to be somewhat social one night. Allison invited us to a halloween party by one of the new teachers at our old school. Taylor was Britney Spears (denim Britney, google it), Allison was a Snapchat filter, and I was a Basic White Girl. I wore leggings, "UGG boots," a scarf, a messy bun, and carried a Starbucks cup that said "Pumpkin spiced latte" - I think we did a good job with our costumes for deciding on going the afternoon of the party.

Also, Kuwait weather has been CRAZY!!! We have had so much rain and thunderstorms. One Wednesday it was storming (pouring), so we were convinced we weren't going to have school (Kuwait doesn't have proper drainage, so it floods easily). So Taylor came over and we were waiting for the school group sms to notify us that it was cancelled (or at least delayed), we were so convinced it would be. Then at 6:45 we finally realized that we should get ready (we have to clock in at 7:00). We clocked in for school at 7:04, and I think that may be one of my biggest accomplishments. At school that day I had 6 students. The ministry ended up canceling school for all of Kuwait (but not our school!). The school sent out a message that the school is open, but parents could pick up their kids. Needless to say, my students trickled out of school throughout the day. Then on Thursday (the next day) school was cancelled because it was still storming. I love Kuwait snow days :)

I gave my students the reward to bring in their iPad. This is every boy in the class. They all dragged their chairs over so they could all sit together. Melted my heart.

The girl I tutor. Absolutely love her and her craziness.

It's the end of the day at dismissal and I am looking around to try and find Nasser and found him eating a snack under the table. Kids are nuts.

This was the rain day where I only had 6 kids. She was the only girl. So when the boys played football (soccer), we took pictures.

We wanted to play too.

Exhausted from our busy day playing.

Halloween

This was such a fun experiment!

Pretty sure I am not supposed to let them do flips, but I like watching.

I don't know. It's mismatch day and the kid brought a mask.

Mismatch day. Taylor and i collapsed with laughter when we saw Abdullah walk in the school with that get up. He even had a dance, but wouldn't let me video it :(

Mismatch day!

The video Taylor sent me when I was out one day.

Much Love,

Leah

Friday, October 2, 2015

September Ended, I'm Awake

Shout out to anyone who understands what the title of this post is referring to.

I feel like I just wrote one of these, but it is ALREADY time for an update! For those who creep on Facebook, you saw that I just travelled to Swaziland and Lesotho with one of the best people I know, Hope Chang! I left Kuwait Thursday night (technically Friday morning) at 2:45 am! So late!! My flight was only 4 hours from here to Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and then only 6 hours(ish) from Ethiopia to Jo'burg! It went by really fast. 6 hours on a plane now feels like nothing!

Hope met me at the Jo'burg airport. She was a little later than expected, because the car she reserved to rent in Lesotho wasn't there yet and all they had left were manuals. Since she can't drive a manual and I can't drive a manual, she needed a different plan. She handled the frustrating situation so gracefully. She didn't act like an obnoxious American AT ALL. Luckily she has so many friends, and one of them was headed to Jo'burg for the weekend, so she just caught a ride with him. When she found me, we rented a car and the guy at the AVIS desk loved us. He thought we were so hilarious, which we are. He also only helped us when other workers helped like 3 other people in the same amount of time, so I guess we are high maintenance or something.

We then had a road trip from Jo'burg, South Africa to Swaziland. I want to say the trip was like 5 hours? We rolled into our hostel at midnight, which I guess was rude of us, but we couldn't help it! We woke up at 8:00 and spent the day with Swazi Trails Adventures. We went whitewater rafting, tubing, and abseiling. The guide gave us instructions about the whitewater rafting and he told us what to do if we saw a HIPPO in the WATER. That made me extremely nervous. If anyone knows me at all, I am terrified of hippos. If you want to hear my rant about how dangerous they are, please let me know and please reserve a large block of time. There is a lot to say about the matter. He also said to avoid rocks (he didn't tell us that the boats are magnetized to these rocks) and trees (because there can be spiders and snakes in them). Luckily, nothing too terrifying happened.

Hope and I had a VERY rough start to paddling. It was only us two in a boat, and of course I was the man and had to be in the back to steer (because I have all of the muscle). Well, eventually we became alright. We didn't flip or fall out of the boat at all, so I was really impressed with ourselves. We did get stuck on almost every rock, and we MAY have crashed straight into a tree. Hope has it on video, because we literally said "man, we are so pro, let's get this on video" and then five seconds later we crashed into a tree.

After rafting, we ate lunch. Oh, I forgot to mention, it was 60 degrees (Fahrenheit in case any canadians are reading this) and raining. I was FREEZING. After lunch, we went tubing. This was more dangerous than rafting. I flipped over twice and bruised my knee. Hope only flipped once, because she is the more graceful one out of the two of us.

Then our final activity was abseiling. If you don't know what abseiling is, it's propelling down a cliff. I am not really scared of heights, but it was really scary. You stand on the edge of the cliff and have two ropes clipped into your harness and that's it. They said only the first few steps are scary, then it is fun. I disagree. I was scared the whole time. When you're at the bottom, they unclip you and you have to shimmy across this ledge and that was just as terrifying, but we DID IT!

Our group! They were a great group of people!

After our eventful day, we just wanted to be warm. We went back to the hostel, showered, and then went to dinner. The next morning, we drove around a little bit to see some pretty views then road tripped to Lesotho, and rolled into Hope's place around 9pm.

Hope had to work Monday through Thursday. While she was at work, I read, worked on my online class, and got some planning done. I also went for a hike one afternoon. After work, Hope had a very strict itinerary for us. Monday night: we played soccer (Hope played soccer, I stood there and swung my leg every once in a while). Tuesday night: went for a run and ate dinner at #2 place on Trip Advisor. Wednesday night: Trivia at #1 place on Trip Advisor. Thursday night: Dinner and salsa dance lessons. Friday: we went to Semonkong (sp?). This is where we hiked down a mountain to the base of a waterfall (only fell 3 times combined). It was the hardest hike ever. I spent more time sliding down on my butt then actually walking. At one point, Hope said "I am going to need you to do better, Leah" It was slippery! When we reached the bottom, it was crazy to look up and know that we hiked down that. It doesn't seem possible. It was really beautiful. The hike back up makes you feel like you have never worked out in your life. It was easier (footing wise), but exhausting. Legs were burning. After the hike, we ate lunch and then went back to Maseru (Hope's city).

My solo hike while Hope was making a difference in the world.

Yes, we hiked down to the base of that waterfall. Be impressed.

That night, we went out for drinks and hung out with some of her friends. They got to listen to our reminiscing of wonderful stories and inside jokes. Fantastic.

I left Saturday morning and got back late Saturday night (same flight pattern on the way back). Luckily, they extended the holiday so I didn't have to work on Sunday. Thank goodness, I needed the sleep and a day to get my brain ready!

Now, it's time to plan Christmas break with Jess :)

Oh, and working in the meantime. I also visited my old school (I had to pick up something from the office) and I got to see my old kids! It was so cute how excited they were to see me! I was so excited to see them, too! I miss them lots! The best part of teaching is when you see kids that you are no longer in charge of :)

Much Love,

Leah

Friday, September 11, 2015

Back at it.

I was so unbelievably fortunate to have had the summer I did. I was able to spend ample time with my family and friends. I spent a lot of time in Minnesota, living at home with my parents so they could remember how happy they are that all of their children moved out. Coffee dates with Maria, seeing her new house and spending time with her beautiful family (love my Theo!). Going on walks with Christine and spending time with her beautiful family (love my Will and Charlotte!). Being in Minnesota with Jessie for the first time in two years. Matching and making up the dumbest games and ideas with Hope Chang. Getting lunch with my best friend since Kindergarten, Anna. Receiving the amazing news of my best guy friend Jake getting engaged! Not to mention seeing ALL of my nieces and nephews and partying with my brothers and sisters at Sky Zone. I also travelled to Houston for one of my best friend's bachelorette party. I travelled to Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina to reunite with my cousin, TFA besties, St. John's co-workers, and the most lovable teenagers I know (HHS XC). And so many more memories and reunions. It is unreal. I do admit though at the end of summer, I was ready to come back to Kuwait. When you don't have routine, you need it. Although I was ready to come back, it was hard to leave and say goodbye.

My travels to Kuwait were smooth sailing (I mean flying, I took a plane not a boat). I took a lot of little naps. I actually think I am becoming able to sleep on a plane, even though it is for like 30 minutes at a time. When I arrived to Kuwait, someone from my school met me at the airport to bring me to my new apartment. I live relatively close to my old place, but the location isn't as good. Although that doesn't really matter because my new apartment is so much nicer! It feels so much more like a home than my apartment last year.

Once I dropped off my stuff, I stopped at Starbucks for energy and then I headed to my old apartment to get the stuff I left in my friend's apartment. I had a cab meet me there and I packed all my stuff into his cab. It all fit in one trip! Once I brought all of that into my apartment, I felt I accomplished enough for one day.

I thought I would be exhausted and sleep like, well, me, but no go. I had the worst case of jet lag in my life. It lasted at least ten days. I was never tired. I would wake up at 3 in the morning and be ready to go. I was like a robot or my mother.

My friend Taylor from last year is also at this new school. Having her is a real saving grace. It's nice to be new but also have some familiarity. Also, I had someone to go school shopping with and run all of these errands that we needed to in order to get settled. She teaches 2nd grade boys and I teach 4th grade. It's a small school. I am the only grade 4 class. The school only goes up to 4th grade at this point. I teach a mixed class of 15 students, but I only have 3 girls. I also have an assistant. I don't really know what to do with one. She is fantastic and helps me a lot, but I also don't like telling her what to do so it's a bit odd at this point.

The staff is really supportive and it is a much better fit for me than my last school. I am really enjoying it and, of course, I am loving my students. I met some parents at the Open House and they have all been really great so far.

We already have a break coming up (after only 12 teaching days). I leave Thursday for Swaziland to meet up with Hope. We are spending the weekend there and then going back to Lesotho for the week. I couldn't be more excited.

This is the reason it took so long for me to write a post. My classroom was just white walls and desks and chairs until the Open House. I didn't want to write a post until my classroom was worth looking at.

I think this photo booth was for the kids....

Not really my puppy (co-worker's). But this puppy is my newest love affair

Their "Figure Me Out" poster where they have to write equations to find the answer to questions about themselves like "How many people in your family?"

Place Value Practice

So Much Love,

Leah

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Year One, In the Books

On June 20, I will be leaving to head home to the states (for summer)! The students' last day was May 28 (officially); however, I only had a few students that final week (May 24-28). On Sunday I had 4, Monday I had 3 and the rest of the week I had only 2. We played A LOT of UNO. I am on an official UNO hiatus. That week, I also attended two students birthday parties (one on Wednesday and the other on Saturday). It is so incredibly fun to see students outside of the classroom (I think it's because I am not officially in charge).

Now that the students are gone, I am doing nothing. Literally nothing. We have a checklist we need to get done, and mine is done. It wasn't that big of a checklist. I could have done it in a half day. So this past week with no kids and nothing to do I have been watching Netflix, working on my online class for TESOL, reading (two books already finished), playing solitaire, watching "Band of Brothers", and I think that is it. If I made it sound great, I didn't mean to. I am all for doing nothing once in awhile, but I still have until June 17. I still have to wake up at 5:30am. I am going to work to do nothing, when I could be at home (in the grand ole' state of Minnesota) a few weeks earlier. So, to be honest, it is annoying; BUT home is on the horizon, so I can (and will) deal.

I have decided to take all this extra time, to write this post about a few realizations I have had while overseas for a year (well 10 months).

Things I have Learned and/or Realized:

1) It is not easy to be in a country where the culture is so much different than home. I feel like a lot of people could realize this without moving to a new country; however, it's the little things that add up to make it hard.

2) I am improving on my control issues. Some of you may not know that I have control issues, but I do. Serious control issues. I drive the car. I have a hard time letting students take control in a lesson. If I feel like I don't have control in a situation, I get stressed. In Kuwait, I don't drive. I only have control of my students (I know that sounds horrible) for 4 maybe 5 lessons. I don't have control the rest of the time. I don't have control over getting to or from school. I don't have control in a lot of different situations while traveling. I had to deal. I think it was an improvement for the better.

3) Meeting people from other countries is, hands down, the coolest.

4) I have learned a very limited amount of Arabic.

5) I hate generalizations and stereotypes. I know I make them subconsciously, but I try very, very hard to be aware of this, because I hate it. I have seen a lot of stories about hate towards Muslims (just one example, there are plenty of others), but I am surrounded by this religion. I did not experience one bit of hate from anyone here. I did not experience one instance in which I felt unsafe or threatened. Also, I don't like the generalizations and stereotypes made about Americans. Yes, I fulfill these stereotypes sometimes, but that doesn't mean I am a stereotype.

6) I will probably always plan out my life one year at a time. Yes you can ask me what I am doing next year. After that? No clue where I will end up (Hope and I are working on it).

7) It is really, really easy to lose yourself when you are in a place very different from home, and when all of your friends and family (people that are a part of who you are) are thousands of miles away. There were lots of times when I didn't feel like myself anymore, but overcoming that truly helps you develop into a stronger person.

8) I am becoming a stronger person each year. I am becoming more comfortable and confident in my body, personality, and profession.

9) Even though I am becoming a stronger person, I will probably never be very good at being an adult. Young at heart, always.

10) I love living alone, but I really miss living with a best friend. (enter: Hope)

Things I Miss from Home:

1) Obviously family and friends. I can't even begin to list the amount of people I miss.

2) Running outside at sunset.

3) Tank tops, shorts, spandex,

4) Mexican food

5) Melody (my car, I mean driving itself, but especially driving my baby)

6) Simplicity. Let me explain, living at home and in the states is extremely simple. If I need something, I can easily run to the store and get it. I know exactly where to go to get it. Here? No idea. So much more effort.

7) Efficiency. America is efficient. It may not seem that way, but trust me. It is.

8) Alcohol. (Sorry kids under 21, but you will understand some day - BUT NOT UNTIL YOU ARE 21)

9) Being outside. Kuwait isn't really set up to go outside for a nice walk, run, or even just sit and read. It's also 115 degrees here. so there's that.

10) The color green. I would be totally 100% fine for not experiencing sand this summer.