It's been a pretty long week already and it's only Monday. Tomorrow is hump day!!! Then semester break for 2 weeks;)) I can survive! Grades were due on Sunday to the principal so I spent all weekend working on them only to find out that I had done them wrong. We were told that the principal only wanted a percentage, so that's what I spent my time doing; recording the percentage. I showed Andrea, the head of faculty, what I had and she told me that the principal wanted to see all the grades and a final percentage. No problem, but why not tell me that before I spent the time making the spreadsheet with just the percentage. So I had to tell the principal (I think her name is Miss Keltham or Miss Keltam I can never quite distinguish what they're saying; that's her first name not last) that I didn't have my grades ready and I would give them to her tomorrow. She was ok with it! She's actually really easy to talk to even though some of the other LTs are afraid of her. So I was up late last night putting together a nice spreadsheet of all the asisgnments we have done and calculating a final percentage. I must admit that I haven't been all that good at keeping track of grades. Mostly it's because I wasn't sure how to and what they were looking for. Plus we do a lot together due to language issues, so I don't think it's right to grade them. They are making progress, but grades don't really show that. Then there's the fact that we have to include behavior, and participation into our final grade. It seemed like I was doing a lot of guessing. Oh well, I have them turned in. I was also supposed to enter them on Esis (a computer grading program), but it's not working. Who knows if I'll be able to do that before Thursday. If not, that is fine with me!!
After waiting 2 weeks and making several phone calls I finally have my stove installed!! I can't wait to make a nice meal. So, what should I have for dinner tomorrow???
I planned and booked a trip to Muscat, Oman with Cassie. We were planning on going to Greece, but due to credit card issues that's not going to happen. Muscat is supposed to be a really nice city, but I was looking forward to getting out of the Middle East and Muslim culture for a while. We are leaving 12/18 and returning 12/22. It's not long, but at least I'll get to get away. Maybe I'll have an opportunity to go to Greece next year.
I need a car:( I am sick of taxis. What got me so frustrated was when he failed to show up on Sat to pick me up from Arabic. I told him to pick me up at 5:45 and he wasn't there. Najwa (my instructor) and I were chatting and I realized it was 6:00 and he still wasn't there. I called him and he was with a customer so he wouldn't be able to get me until 6:30. I was very mad. I couldn't believe that he took a customer when I told him to pick me up at 5:45. Then he tried to blame it on me by saying that I didn't call him. No, I didn't call because I told him to get me at 5:45. Najwa was kind enough to take me home. I felt really bad because Hili is so far from her; it's like 20-30 minutes. I will be getting a car when I get back from Oman. Maybe it's a good thing that I'm not going to Greece; I'll have more money to save to buy a car. I plan on renting one for a month or two and then buying a used one. Renting/leasing is so expensive here.
I have been practicing Arabic at school with the girls and some of the teachers. It's hard. I know what to say, but when I get in the situation I freeze. I get nervous and worried that I'm going to make a mistake and totally forget what I want/need to say. I was talking to the principal (Good morning, how are you?) and she replied with something that I didn't know. I looked at her like I didn't know what to say and she was very helpful and told me my options (al hamdulilallah or bakheir - both mean fine with al hamdulilallah having religious conotations), but the thing is I didn't realize that she asked me "how are you?" I know that phrase, but I couldn't identify it in the conversation. I worked through it though. Then I attempted to have a conversation with one of the other teachers and I totally forgot how to say "where are you from?" Well, not totally because I knew the words, I just forgot the order. She looked at me and I could tell that she had no idea what I had said. So, I had to ask her how to say "where are you from?" in Arabic. I know that phrase. I just get so worried that I'm going to mess up that I can't do it right. So, today when I had to talk to the principal I used English. She looked at me and said "No Arabic today?" I repeated myself in Arabic and did much better. I even caught "kayfa halookey? - how are you?" today. Then there was Arabic class today. I'm not quite sure how I can go from being so confident and experiencing success to feeling so inadequate. Just about everything she asked me today I replied with "ma bareef" (I don't know). OK maybe not just about everything, but it sure seemed like I was saying that a lot. We were going over words and phrases that she introduced on Wed., but I couldn't remember all of them. I did study, even though it didn't seem like it. I was getting rather frustrated and felt like I was going to cry if I had to tell her "ma bareef" one more time. She sensed my frustration and moved on; no spelling today! Thank God! I have a hard time spelling the words because I don't say them right so I don't write the right letters. We began working with "this is, what is this, is this..., whose is this, and who is this. Should be easy enough since they all involve some form of hadha (hatha, "this"), but it was just too much. At one point she asked me to say something, anything, in Arabic (I think she wanted me to be successful) and I replied with "khallas" she just started laughing and said "khallas, what?"
"Khallas 'arabeea"
"Khallas 'arabeea, what?"
"Khallas 'arabeea, min fudluck"
"Khallas 'arabeea, min fudluck, what?"
"Khallas 'arabeea, min fudluck Najwa (I wasn't sure what she was looking for)" - please stop Arabic, Najwa or something to that effect maybe Najwa please stop Arabic.
Even though that was not really what she wanted it helped me to calm down. We finished the lesson and I have to practice. Without practice I will lose it. Words to know, phrases to use, and learning how to spell. Lots of practice. At least I work with Arabic teachers who I can practice with. I just need to stop worrying about making mistakes and speak Arabic.
Since I have my grades done maybe I'll get to bed before midnight tonight!!!
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