I made it! I made it through the first full week of school! It was a very long, stressful, tiring, challenging, exciting, and frustrating week, but I got through it. I will be ready to start a new week on Sunday.
The girls have gotten better, their behavior is not where I want it yet, but at least it's better. Could be better, could be worse so I guess I'm happy. I'm glad it's not worse. They aren't ignoring me anymore and they actually listen and participate when I'm teaching. When they go to their tables, well that's a different story. After talking to many teachers, I have decided to relax on that issue. They just talk. I am happy that they don't talk when I'm teaching anymore and I guess I can live with them talking while they are working so long as they are working and talking relatively quietly. That's what I need to work on; the relatively quietly and the working. There are a few that will just sit/stand/walk around all day instead of doing any work. It's amazing to me that they just get up and walk where they want to. That doesn't happen all that often in the States. I also really need to work on the "Miss, Miss..." issue. They are constantly saying that and it is driving me crazy! I know alot of it has to do with the fact that they don't understand, but seriously there's only 1 of me and 24 of them. That's too many "misses" that I'm hearing each day. Then there's the constant "bathroom". I am only allowed to send 1 girl at a time so it seems like my classroom is a revolving door. We have been told to let the girls use the bathroom, just not when we're teaching. They have gotten better about not asking when I'm teaching, which is when they're sitting on the floor. I did figure that out; they are much quieter when I gather them on the floor in front of me versus when they are sitting at their tables. Duh! Seems quite obvious, but it took me a couple of days to figure that one out.
I had a pretty interesting dinner out tonight. I wasn't planning on eating out, but Susan convinced me "It's Thursday, you have to!!!". So I went and enjoyed myself and I'm glad that I went out. We went to this little authentic Arabic restaurant where they serve you a lot of food for a very small price. The meal for the 4 of us cost 67 dirhams, which is about what I pay when I eat at the hotel. Anyway, the food was amazing! The hummus was to die for! You could definitely tell that it was fresh. So smooth and flavorful (no garlic like they sell in the States, but delicious none the less). The service was so fast. They brought soup first which was followed by salad and hummus and rice. The main course came shortly after that. I had grilled chicken. It was a little dry, but good in the hummus. Everyone else had chicken tika which was delicious so when we go back (oh yes, we'll be going back:) I'll be getting the chicken tika. The interesting part of the night was our seating. They seated us upstairs (the women and family area). Our table had a curtain around it that we could close if we wanted to, but since there was no one else upstairs we decided to leave it open. We were almost finished with our meal when a waiter came upstairs and washed his feet in the sink! Yeah! He really did. Cassie and I just stared at each other with our mouths open. Why in the world would he wash his feet in the sink in a restaurant? Susan figured it out; it was prayer time. Before praying they have to wash their feet, hands, and face it's called abolution. So he washed and then proceeded to pray. We thought we should shut the curtain then to give him some privacy, but by the time we had it shut he was finished. We continued our meal and more men came upstairs to wash their feet and pray. We decided that we should leave. They didn't seem bothered by it, but I think we all were a bit uncomfortable. I know I was.
No word on keys, money, or passport. Maybe this weekend, maybe not.
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