Where were you May 24th, 2010? I was in St. Louis interviewing for this job. At this time last year I had "unofficially" accepted the job in Abu Dhabi and was told the official contract would be coming within a week. One year ago today Susan saw me for the first time. She just happened to be in St. Louis for her interview as well, and she was waiting for her interview when I came downstairs for mine. I don't remember seeing her, but she remembers me. Weird how things worked out.
So, I guess it's time to reflect.
Am I glad that I took the job? Well, mostly yes. There are times when I don't like my job and I say that I want to go home and not come back next year, but I haven't gone home and I will be back next year (I think my parents would kill me if they couldn't come and visit:) Just kidding. If I hated it, I wouldn't be back. I do not regret the decision I made a year ago.
Am I a better teacher for being over here? I don't know. Sometimes I think when I go home to teach that I will have forgotten how to teach because I am not using a lot of the strategies and teaching styles that I used back home. But then I have to remind myself that I am learning a whole set of new skills; teaching students whose first, and primary language is not English. And, I am truly learning that teaching is more than just reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and health. It is character builidng, instilling values and morals, helping children value education and want to learn, teaching appropriate behaviors (that's a HUGE one, especially here:), and helping children to understand that they need to respect everyone (even if they're not Emirati and they are just a servant; ok that's pretty specific to here, but the respect part isn't).
What's the biggest obstacle I've overcome? Learning to deal with the fact that there really isn't a schedule here. That was a huge obstacle at the beginning, and yes it still bothers me, but I don't react like I did when I first got here. I am learning to deal with the uncertainty of daily events. In the interview I was told to bring my flexibility and patience, I just never imagined that I would need my flexibility and patience along with 5 other people's flexibilty and patience.
Would I do it again? Yes!
What have I learned about about the world? It is HUGE!!! OK I knew that, but it is. There are so many different cultures and people that I never would have encountered in my tiny worlds of NC and MI. Yes, I have met Arabic people and people of other cultures, but I hadn't really experienced the culture.
What have I learned about the Arabic culture? I am definitely not claiming to be an expert, but this is just what I have experienced. Love for country and Allah (God) are very important. Family is also very important. The more children the better. Boys are more highly regarded than girls (a woman is not addressed as someone's mother until she has a son, same for the father). Children are expected to be/act like adults (especially when it comes to relegion) when they are in 4th grade. It's a very respectful and formal culture. The food is delicious (other than the no pork aspect:). The languge is extemely difficult.
So, after being here a little more than 9 months I am ready to come home. I am ready to experience US culture! I am ready to see my family and friends! I am ready for a break from the heat (109 today; it's a cold front!! We had temps near 120 already!). I am ready for school to end, we all are. I will be home July 26th or 27th depending on flight prices. As of right now the 26th is cheaper than the 27th, but I can't pay for the ticket until the end of June when I get my travel money. So we shall see. 2 more months!! It seems like a long time, but the past 9 1/2 have gone pretty quickly so 2 should fly by.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Joys of Missing Work
لا ذهبت إلى مدرسة اليوم و ذهبت إلى المستشفى و اريد أنام.
I did not go to school today and I went to the hospital and I want to sleep. (la thahabto ila madrasa alyoum, wa thahabto ilala mustashfa wa oureedu anaam).
No worries about me going to the hospital. It was nothing serious. That's just where you have to go here. They don't have doctors offices and if you miss work you have to have a doctors note. I just don't know how to say all of that in Arabic.
I left work yesterday with a headache which somehow evolved into an upset stomach. I woke up this morning feeling like I was going to throw up. Now, I typically would have went to work and worked through this issue but given the water and bathroom situation at my school I figured it was best to stay home. Just in case I did throw up, I would be somewhere that had a decent bathroom and consistent water. So I stayed home.
This is the process for missing work in Abu Dhabi. I had to call Andrea, the faculty head, and email the vice principal. I probably should have emailed the principal as well, but I don't know her email. The worst part is actually going to the hospital. I mean for an upset stomach come on, but that's what's required here. So I arrived at NMC (New Medical Center) at 11:00 and waited for 1 1/2 hours for a 5-10 minute check up. She even asked why I was there. I told her that I missed work and I needed the paper. She smiled, laughed, and said she understood. Now that I have the doctors note I have to get it "stamped", but I'm still not sure where to go for that. Ashley has one that needs to be stamped as well so hopefully we can go together. So, when I would have liked to just lay in bed and do nothing I had to get up, dressed respectfully, and spend 1 1/2 in the hospital. Oh well.
I also think I just needed a day off. Things have been quite frustrating at work with Andrea and I needed a break which is why I convinced myself to go through the entire process. Just a day at home away from Andrea.
So now I have the rest of the afternoon to relax and veg!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
I am Still Here
Yes, I am still here but it's just been pretty much day to day living lately. Nothing too exciting has been happening until this week. But, I have this blog and I must keep my followers informed!
School
After my observation and evaluation things have been pretty normal. Everyone is just ready to be done. The only issue is that we just don't know exactly when "done" is. I am pretty certain my last day will be either July 7th or the 13th. But, with ADEC, anything can change at a moment's notice. The girls' last day is a huge question. I was supposed to the do the morning assembly in June and I was telling 3/2 this, but they were shocked. They told me that they only had one more month, which means they are thinking the end of May. 3 more weeks?! That would be great, but then I would have another whole month to month and a half when I would have to be at school. What am I supposed to do? I can't do much planning because I don't know where I will be or what grade level I will have. Even if I did know those 2 things the school doesn't have Internet so that means planning is pretty restricted. I have heard that even though we are required to be at school we may just have to show up for 1/2 days. All of this is just speculation and rumor. The girls may actually keep attending school until the end of June. Who knows?!
I have totally resorted to bribery in 3/1. I am giving them candy:( Not good at all, but I don't know what else to do. They get candy when the come to the carpet when I ask them, when they do their assignment, and when they do a center activity when they are finished. I must add that all of this has to be done quietly and in a timely manner. This is done on a daily basis and some girls are earning quite a bit of candy. I have slacked off (for about a week I was giving them candy everytime they did one of the above mentioned things), but it is still a lot and quite expensive. Plus I give them a reward on Thursday if they are good the entire week. Even though it is expensive and goes against everything I know to do, it is working! Their behavior is so much better and I can actually teach a small group! I should have implmented this strategy long ago.
I can make it 3 more weeks:)
Arabic
It has its moments. Some days are better than others and I am able to communicate a lot better, and then there are days when we resort to much more English. I still am not using it enough. I try to force myself to use it, but it's so hard. When I want to say something I have to think too much. I said something in class the other day فكرت الشة عاشت مع ابنتك (fakarat alsha a'ashat ma'a ibnatik - I thought the sheep lived with her daughter). Now this was totally a correct sentence, not right based on the context of what I read but I was trying to explain my misunderstanding. The only thing is when I asked her to tell me what I said this is what she said "I thought, full stop. I thought, full stop. I thought the sheep lived with her daughter." It just takes me a long time to put my thoughts into words. I have to think of how to say things using the few words that I know and I have to think of how to change the verbs that I know to match the nouns. And I have to think of how to attach the right pronoun to the end of the noun. I really wanted to say that I thought the sheep lived with their daughter, but I couldn't remember the pronoun to attach for their so I resorted to using your daughter. It just takes a long time. I know it would be easier if I were using it more, which is why we are doing more of the lessons in Arabic because I have to force myself to use it. I was able to tell her this sentence in a rather timely manner; ساذهب إلى عمان في يوم السبت (saathab ila Oman fee youm asabt - I am going to Oman on Saturday) and it was actually correct. I was a little concerned about the verb because I had to make it personal and future, but I did it!!! Then there are the times when I mess up the simple things like when I say ما اسمها (ma ismoha - What is her name?) when I really want to say ما اسمه (ma ismoho - What is his name?) The thing is I know the difference and I know how to correct it, but I couldn't figure out why she kept telling me I was wrong. So in order to help with conversational Arabic I started meeting with Khaled. More about him in the next section. I have graduated from grade 1!!! I think I should be held back! We are now working our way through the grade 2 books.
Khaled
This started out purely for help with Arabic. It has since evolved into more than that. We have gone on 3 dates and little to no Arabic has been involved. He's nice, funny, and I enjoy spending time with him, but things got a little weird (and when I say weird, I think you know what I mean by now) when we went out last night. He took me to this coffee shop near Oman and I had shisha!! It was very interesting. I was no good at it as I kept gagging, but it wasn't terrible. We had strawberry (farawlah in Arabic) shisha since he calls me farawlah. When I first met him we were going over fruits and vegetables and I had a very hard time with farawlah; I think it's the combination of the r and w that made it hard. So he kept repeating and now that's what he calls me. I think it's cute! Totally off subject, so back to the shisha. I have tried it and I am glad that I did, but once is enough.
So, we are in this little room by ourselves and he tells me that he loves me and that I should go home with him. Both to his home in Al Ain and home to Morocco. Well, I was, and am not, for that so I suggested that we take a walk. So we went to the Al Ain Paradise Garden. Very nice. It was nice to walk around and see all the flowers and not be super hot. We went at 9:00 pm and it was probably in the 90s but that was much better than the 111 that it had been earlier in the day. Plus the sun wasn't shining and that helps tremendously! The garden was beautiful and I will definitely be going back in December or January when I can go during the day.
Later that night I tried to explain to him that this just can't go anywhere based on the fact that I'm a Christian and he's a Muslim, but I don't think he understood. Not due to language issues, I just don't think he wanted to understand. So next time I see him I will have to be a bit more firm and make it known that even though I enjoy spending time with him I can't if he is going to be thinking of a relationship. Where are the nice, single, western, Christian men?
Oman
Susan and I planned a trip to Oman for today. We left at 8:00 and we headed to Muscat, about 3 1/2 hours in. It was going to be a nice day trip and something totally different. Evidently road trips just aren't for me. We did enter Oman, but didn't get past passport control. We crossed the border at Hili and told the guy that we wanted to go to Muscat and he gave us directions. He did not stamp our passports though. Now, Susan mentioned this but neither of us thought to do anything about it. So we drove for a while and we're actually not in Oman. The space in between Hili and Oman is technically a no-man's land. It doesn't belong to anyone. I believe they are still arguing over it. We drove about 40km (25 miles) and we came to the actual border. We told the guy that we're going to Muscat and he looks at our passport and tells us to go inside. No problem we figure. We just need to get tourist visas. So we go in and get ready to get our tourist visa. The only problem is we can't get a tourist visa because we can't get an entry stamp because we didn't get an exit stamp from the UAE. Oh great, now we are illegal aliens!!! That's all I need. So we explain this to the guy and he tells us to go to the Khatam Al Shiklah border, about 15 minutes away and get our exit stamp and come back so we can get an entry stamp. No problem. So we drive 15 minutes out of the way so we can re-enter the UAE so we can exit correctly. We re-enter the UAE and try to exit, but we can't because I don't have a paper from the car rental agency saying that I can take the car out of the country. He tells me that I can park the car and call the agency and have them send/fax the paper to them. So I drive a little and figure out that he kept my drivers license. I park the car and walk back to get it. I was smart enough to bring my passport with me, but not my phone. When I get back to his little stand I am escorted into this little room. My first thought was: oh no, I am about to be interrogated because I illegally left the counrty and tried to enter another country. And I left my phone in the car so I couldn't call Susan or Gavin (LT support guy who said we could call him for anything) if necessary. One of the guys in the office is talking on the phone in Arabic, and we all know how good my Arabic is, so of course I couldn't understand anything of what he was saying. My fears were relieved when the other guy started talking to me and offered me some water, Arabic coffee, and tea. I don't think they would treat criminals that nicely. So I had my little cup of Arabic coffee, which I do not like but you have to accept when someone offers it to you, and I shook my cup to indicate I didn't want anymore and they laughed! I think they were surprised that I knew to do that. Turns out the guy on the phone was just calling for the fax number so I could have the paper faxed. I am handed my drivers license and the fax number and I head back to the car. Susan and I decided that we had already had enough adventure so we decided to head back to Al Ain. This was extremely embarrassing because all the men were the same ones that we had seen when we first exited Oman and re-entered the UAE. So we had to re-explain what we were doing. Everyone seemed to get a laugh out of the situation. I must say that everyone was very nice and helpful, which was a huge relief. We will have to try this road trip again with the proper documentation. What a morning!
We headed to Al Ain Mall where Susan got a facial and new clothes because someone at the border said she was my mother! I did not get a facial, but I got some lipstick and blush that I'm going to try wearing. We had lunch at the mall and walked around and then headed home.
Summer
Turns out Kisha is not able to go with me and Cassie on our little Europe trip. That should make it easier to plan for since Cassie and I are in the same city, but we can never seem to get together. I just hope that Cassie is still planning on going. As of right now we're thinking of Italy, but who knows. I will have to talk to her about it sometime this week.
Weather
HOT! HOT! And HOT!!! I don't know exactly how to explain this other than it just slaps you in the face when you walk outside. I feel as though my eyeballs are burning. The average is about 108 with temps reaching 115. It cools down at night to the upper 80 to low 90s which is a relief but it's still hot. June and July are going to be totally unbearable.
OK I think that's about it. Now, aren't you glad that I haven't posted in a while! 3 more weeks, I can make it:) I just hope it's only 3 more weeks!!!
I have finally made enough money to pay off one of my college loans!!!
School
After my observation and evaluation things have been pretty normal. Everyone is just ready to be done. The only issue is that we just don't know exactly when "done" is. I am pretty certain my last day will be either July 7th or the 13th. But, with ADEC, anything can change at a moment's notice. The girls' last day is a huge question. I was supposed to the do the morning assembly in June and I was telling 3/2 this, but they were shocked. They told me that they only had one more month, which means they are thinking the end of May. 3 more weeks?! That would be great, but then I would have another whole month to month and a half when I would have to be at school. What am I supposed to do? I can't do much planning because I don't know where I will be or what grade level I will have. Even if I did know those 2 things the school doesn't have Internet so that means planning is pretty restricted. I have heard that even though we are required to be at school we may just have to show up for 1/2 days. All of this is just speculation and rumor. The girls may actually keep attending school until the end of June. Who knows?!
I have totally resorted to bribery in 3/1. I am giving them candy:( Not good at all, but I don't know what else to do. They get candy when the come to the carpet when I ask them, when they do their assignment, and when they do a center activity when they are finished. I must add that all of this has to be done quietly and in a timely manner. This is done on a daily basis and some girls are earning quite a bit of candy. I have slacked off (for about a week I was giving them candy everytime they did one of the above mentioned things), but it is still a lot and quite expensive. Plus I give them a reward on Thursday if they are good the entire week. Even though it is expensive and goes against everything I know to do, it is working! Their behavior is so much better and I can actually teach a small group! I should have implmented this strategy long ago.
I can make it 3 more weeks:)
Arabic
It has its moments. Some days are better than others and I am able to communicate a lot better, and then there are days when we resort to much more English. I still am not using it enough. I try to force myself to use it, but it's so hard. When I want to say something I have to think too much. I said something in class the other day فكرت الشة عاشت مع ابنتك (fakarat alsha a'ashat ma'a ibnatik - I thought the sheep lived with her daughter). Now this was totally a correct sentence, not right based on the context of what I read but I was trying to explain my misunderstanding. The only thing is when I asked her to tell me what I said this is what she said "I thought, full stop. I thought, full stop. I thought the sheep lived with her daughter." It just takes me a long time to put my thoughts into words. I have to think of how to say things using the few words that I know and I have to think of how to change the verbs that I know to match the nouns. And I have to think of how to attach the right pronoun to the end of the noun. I really wanted to say that I thought the sheep lived with their daughter, but I couldn't remember the pronoun to attach for their so I resorted to using your daughter. It just takes a long time. I know it would be easier if I were using it more, which is why we are doing more of the lessons in Arabic because I have to force myself to use it. I was able to tell her this sentence in a rather timely manner; ساذهب إلى عمان في يوم السبت (saathab ila Oman fee youm asabt - I am going to Oman on Saturday) and it was actually correct. I was a little concerned about the verb because I had to make it personal and future, but I did it!!! Then there are the times when I mess up the simple things like when I say ما اسمها (ma ismoha - What is her name?) when I really want to say ما اسمه (ma ismoho - What is his name?) The thing is I know the difference and I know how to correct it, but I couldn't figure out why she kept telling me I was wrong. So in order to help with conversational Arabic I started meeting with Khaled. More about him in the next section. I have graduated from grade 1!!! I think I should be held back! We are now working our way through the grade 2 books.
Khaled
This started out purely for help with Arabic. It has since evolved into more than that. We have gone on 3 dates and little to no Arabic has been involved. He's nice, funny, and I enjoy spending time with him, but things got a little weird (and when I say weird, I think you know what I mean by now) when we went out last night. He took me to this coffee shop near Oman and I had shisha!! It was very interesting. I was no good at it as I kept gagging, but it wasn't terrible. We had strawberry (farawlah in Arabic) shisha since he calls me farawlah. When I first met him we were going over fruits and vegetables and I had a very hard time with farawlah; I think it's the combination of the r and w that made it hard. So he kept repeating and now that's what he calls me. I think it's cute! Totally off subject, so back to the shisha. I have tried it and I am glad that I did, but once is enough.
 |
| smoking Shisha |
 |
| Al Ain Paradise Garden |
Later that night I tried to explain to him that this just can't go anywhere based on the fact that I'm a Christian and he's a Muslim, but I don't think he understood. Not due to language issues, I just don't think he wanted to understand. So next time I see him I will have to be a bit more firm and make it known that even though I enjoy spending time with him I can't if he is going to be thinking of a relationship. Where are the nice, single, western, Christian men?
Oman
Susan and I planned a trip to Oman for today. We left at 8:00 and we headed to Muscat, about 3 1/2 hours in. It was going to be a nice day trip and something totally different. Evidently road trips just aren't for me. We did enter Oman, but didn't get past passport control. We crossed the border at Hili and told the guy that we wanted to go to Muscat and he gave us directions. He did not stamp our passports though. Now, Susan mentioned this but neither of us thought to do anything about it. So we drove for a while and we're actually not in Oman. The space in between Hili and Oman is technically a no-man's land. It doesn't belong to anyone. I believe they are still arguing over it. We drove about 40km (25 miles) and we came to the actual border. We told the guy that we're going to Muscat and he looks at our passport and tells us to go inside. No problem we figure. We just need to get tourist visas. So we go in and get ready to get our tourist visa. The only problem is we can't get a tourist visa because we can't get an entry stamp because we didn't get an exit stamp from the UAE. Oh great, now we are illegal aliens!!! That's all I need. So we explain this to the guy and he tells us to go to the Khatam Al Shiklah border, about 15 minutes away and get our exit stamp and come back so we can get an entry stamp. No problem. So we drive 15 minutes out of the way so we can re-enter the UAE so we can exit correctly. We re-enter the UAE and try to exit, but we can't because I don't have a paper from the car rental agency saying that I can take the car out of the country. He tells me that I can park the car and call the agency and have them send/fax the paper to them. So I drive a little and figure out that he kept my drivers license. I park the car and walk back to get it. I was smart enough to bring my passport with me, but not my phone. When I get back to his little stand I am escorted into this little room. My first thought was: oh no, I am about to be interrogated because I illegally left the counrty and tried to enter another country. And I left my phone in the car so I couldn't call Susan or Gavin (LT support guy who said we could call him for anything) if necessary. One of the guys in the office is talking on the phone in Arabic, and we all know how good my Arabic is, so of course I couldn't understand anything of what he was saying. My fears were relieved when the other guy started talking to me and offered me some water, Arabic coffee, and tea. I don't think they would treat criminals that nicely. So I had my little cup of Arabic coffee, which I do not like but you have to accept when someone offers it to you, and I shook my cup to indicate I didn't want anymore and they laughed! I think they were surprised that I knew to do that. Turns out the guy on the phone was just calling for the fax number so I could have the paper faxed. I am handed my drivers license and the fax number and I head back to the car. Susan and I decided that we had already had enough adventure so we decided to head back to Al Ain. This was extremely embarrassing because all the men were the same ones that we had seen when we first exited Oman and re-entered the UAE. So we had to re-explain what we were doing. Everyone seemed to get a laugh out of the situation. I must say that everyone was very nice and helpful, which was a huge relief. We will have to try this road trip again with the proper documentation. What a morning!
We headed to Al Ain Mall where Susan got a facial and new clothes because someone at the border said she was my mother! I did not get a facial, but I got some lipstick and blush that I'm going to try wearing. We had lunch at the mall and walked around and then headed home.
Summer
Turns out Kisha is not able to go with me and Cassie on our little Europe trip. That should make it easier to plan for since Cassie and I are in the same city, but we can never seem to get together. I just hope that Cassie is still planning on going. As of right now we're thinking of Italy, but who knows. I will have to talk to her about it sometime this week.
Weather
HOT! HOT! And HOT!!! I don't know exactly how to explain this other than it just slaps you in the face when you walk outside. I feel as though my eyeballs are burning. The average is about 108 with temps reaching 115. It cools down at night to the upper 80 to low 90s which is a relief but it's still hot. June and July are going to be totally unbearable.
OK I think that's about it. Now, aren't you glad that I haven't posted in a while! 3 more weeks, I can make it:) I just hope it's only 3 more weeks!!!
I have finally made enough money to pay off one of my college loans!!!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Observation and Evaluation
What a very long, stressful, and exhausting week. I am glad that it is over!
My observation was Tuesday and it went very well. The day started off stressful because there was some change in the schedule. For some reason the homeroom teachers had to have their classes right after assembly, which meant that first period was delayed until second period. They don't just cancel a period here, they take minutes off of each period to make the whole day very confusing. You never know when the bell is going to ring; no problem except when it's time for break. Anyway, I have first period off on Tuesday so I didn't get into the class until second period, which was technically third period. Confused yet?! I was 1/2 way through my English lesson when Andrea, مديرة - modeera (Arabic for manager/principal), and the assistant principal came in. I was working on retelling with my high group. They did a good job! I knew they would. After that it was time for science. Wind erosion. Not that easy of a concept to teach. I took them outside and gave them a tray with sugar (we didn't get sand or soil from ADEC for science so I had them pretend it was sand) and straw and told them to blow. Let me back up a minute. Before we went outside we reviewed erosion and I had them predict what was going to happen in the experiment. Then we went outside and they were the wind. They did a good job talking about what happened. We discussed it for a while then came back in and they drew a picture. I was just getting ready to start answering the questions in the book when the bell rang. Go figure! So that was my lesson. I was very pleased with 3/1. They can behave, they just choose not to on a regular basis.
After the lesson it was break time so I went to the staff lounge and was greeted by shouts and clapping and الحمدللة Al hamdullilah (Thank God!). Somehow all the teachers knew that I had my observation and they knew it was a big deal. There was a huge celebration. I was quite surprised! So we talked in English/Arabic about the observation (well, I mostly talked in English and they mostly talked in Arabic, but somehow we understood each other). The easy part was over, I told them. Now I just had to wait for the evaluation, which was scheduled for Tues. afternoon, but had to be changed because the translator couldn't be there until Wed.
Armed with my newly created portfolio I walked into the principal's office Wed. afternoon and nervously waited for Andrea to arrive. Let me explain the new teacher evaluation process that they implemented in April (2 weeks ago). The evaluation has 4 standards; school improvement, curriculum, classroom, and community. Each standard has 4-6 (other than community which only has 1) points below it. I was to be ranked on each of the points for each of the standards and I needed to have evidence to support/defend my ranking. Ms. Keltham was very very thourough. When she said it would take 90 minutes, she wasn't kidding. It acutally ended up taking longer than that. She went over each and every point in detail. Asking for evidence, how I meet that goal, what I would give myself, what Andrea would give, how I can improve for next year, and finally her mark. Very intense! After about 40 minutes we had gotten standard 1 finished and modeera was requested in the theater so we could eat lunch. I kindly suggested that she go to the theater and we could finish later. I thought it would be later in the afternoon, but it turned out to be Thursday.
As I was walking back to the LT room, Moza said تعالي سارة (ta'allee Sara - Come on Sara) and dragged me into the staff room. There was singing and dancing and cake. The Arabic teachers said it was a party for me since I was finished! How sweet! We celebrated for a little and I did a little, really only a little, dancing and had some cake. It was fun and also very sweet of them to do that. I explained to them that I wasn't finished and there were gasps of horror. They made me tell them what was happening and what modeera and I were talking about and who was doing the talking. So I spent some time going over with them what the process was. They were shocked! And, I have to admit, so was I! After the impromptu party, I went and got my hair done. I guess I should have prepared since I knew what she wanted, but I figured the only way I could truly be prepared would be to type up my response for every point and read it to her. I didn't think she would like that so I just reread the points and tried to focus on the evidence I had and how I was going to prove that I met each of the goals.
So we finished Thursday. We only disagreed on one point; critical thinking. Her definition and my definition are two different things. She wants the students to initiate critical thinking. OK I agree that they should, they just aren't there yet. They need the foundation and that is me asking them the critical thinking questions. She didn't like that and wanted to give me a 1. I would not let her give me a 1. I am not a 1 teacher. We finally agreed on a 1 3/4; closer to a 2. Once I put aside all the stress, I guess this is a good way to evaluate teachers and get them to self reflect. There are a lot of things that I will change for next year. It wasn't all that bad and I ended up getting mostly 3s and a few 2s (out of 4). Not bad; it's just that the whole process was very stressful and exhausting. I am glad I am finished!
Side note about Thursday. We had a whole day of health today. No teaching. It was very different. The girls made posters and did little skits about being clean and eating healthy. It was only supposed to be periods 1-3, but it lasted until the end of the day. Maybe a little too long, but I didn't have to do any teaching so I shouldn't complain. Other than the fact that I have so much to do!
The stress is over and I am going to Dubai tomorrow! Should be fun and a nice way to relax after such an exhausting week. I am really not looking for anything other than shoes. We'll see what happens!
Happy Easter!
My observation was Tuesday and it went very well. The day started off stressful because there was some change in the schedule. For some reason the homeroom teachers had to have their classes right after assembly, which meant that first period was delayed until second period. They don't just cancel a period here, they take minutes off of each period to make the whole day very confusing. You never know when the bell is going to ring; no problem except when it's time for break. Anyway, I have first period off on Tuesday so I didn't get into the class until second period, which was technically third period. Confused yet?! I was 1/2 way through my English lesson when Andrea, مديرة - modeera (Arabic for manager/principal), and the assistant principal came in. I was working on retelling with my high group. They did a good job! I knew they would. After that it was time for science. Wind erosion. Not that easy of a concept to teach. I took them outside and gave them a tray with sugar (we didn't get sand or soil from ADEC for science so I had them pretend it was sand) and straw and told them to blow. Let me back up a minute. Before we went outside we reviewed erosion and I had them predict what was going to happen in the experiment. Then we went outside and they were the wind. They did a good job talking about what happened. We discussed it for a while then came back in and they drew a picture. I was just getting ready to start answering the questions in the book when the bell rang. Go figure! So that was my lesson. I was very pleased with 3/1. They can behave, they just choose not to on a regular basis.
After the lesson it was break time so I went to the staff lounge and was greeted by shouts and clapping and الحمدللة Al hamdullilah (Thank God!). Somehow all the teachers knew that I had my observation and they knew it was a big deal. There was a huge celebration. I was quite surprised! So we talked in English/Arabic about the observation (well, I mostly talked in English and they mostly talked in Arabic, but somehow we understood each other). The easy part was over, I told them. Now I just had to wait for the evaluation, which was scheduled for Tues. afternoon, but had to be changed because the translator couldn't be there until Wed.
Armed with my newly created portfolio I walked into the principal's office Wed. afternoon and nervously waited for Andrea to arrive. Let me explain the new teacher evaluation process that they implemented in April (2 weeks ago). The evaluation has 4 standards; school improvement, curriculum, classroom, and community. Each standard has 4-6 (other than community which only has 1) points below it. I was to be ranked on each of the points for each of the standards and I needed to have evidence to support/defend my ranking. Ms. Keltham was very very thourough. When she said it would take 90 minutes, she wasn't kidding. It acutally ended up taking longer than that. She went over each and every point in detail. Asking for evidence, how I meet that goal, what I would give myself, what Andrea would give, how I can improve for next year, and finally her mark. Very intense! After about 40 minutes we had gotten standard 1 finished and modeera was requested in the theater so we could eat lunch. I kindly suggested that she go to the theater and we could finish later. I thought it would be later in the afternoon, but it turned out to be Thursday.
As I was walking back to the LT room, Moza said تعالي سارة (ta'allee Sara - Come on Sara) and dragged me into the staff room. There was singing and dancing and cake. The Arabic teachers said it was a party for me since I was finished! How sweet! We celebrated for a little and I did a little, really only a little, dancing and had some cake. It was fun and also very sweet of them to do that. I explained to them that I wasn't finished and there were gasps of horror. They made me tell them what was happening and what modeera and I were talking about and who was doing the talking. So I spent some time going over with them what the process was. They were shocked! And, I have to admit, so was I! After the impromptu party, I went and got my hair done. I guess I should have prepared since I knew what she wanted, but I figured the only way I could truly be prepared would be to type up my response for every point and read it to her. I didn't think she would like that so I just reread the points and tried to focus on the evidence I had and how I was going to prove that I met each of the goals.
So we finished Thursday. We only disagreed on one point; critical thinking. Her definition and my definition are two different things. She wants the students to initiate critical thinking. OK I agree that they should, they just aren't there yet. They need the foundation and that is me asking them the critical thinking questions. She didn't like that and wanted to give me a 1. I would not let her give me a 1. I am not a 1 teacher. We finally agreed on a 1 3/4; closer to a 2. Once I put aside all the stress, I guess this is a good way to evaluate teachers and get them to self reflect. There are a lot of things that I will change for next year. It wasn't all that bad and I ended up getting mostly 3s and a few 2s (out of 4). Not bad; it's just that the whole process was very stressful and exhausting. I am glad I am finished!
Side note about Thursday. We had a whole day of health today. No teaching. It was very different. The girls made posters and did little skits about being clean and eating healthy. It was only supposed to be periods 1-3, but it lasted until the end of the day. Maybe a little too long, but I didn't have to do any teaching so I shouldn't complain. Other than the fact that I have so much to do!
The stress is over and I am going to Dubai tomorrow! Should be fun and a nice way to relax after such an exhausting week. I am really not looking for anything other than shoes. We'll see what happens!
Happy Easter!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Update
OK I know it's been a while but things are pretty normal here. Well, as normal as they can be! Nothing too terribly exciting going on, but I'll try to fill you in on the day to day business stuff.
School
Two weeks after the break and into the 3rd trimester things aren't settling down. Not the kids, well, they're just as wild as ever, it's the work load. More and more and more stuff to do.
First of all the Arabic teachers are now telling us (LTs) how to do our jobs!!! Yeah you read that right, the Arabic teachers are telling us how to teach English. Extremely frustrating. I am dying for an opportunity to tell them how to do their job. Acutally that's one of the reasons I was hired. Well, not really tell them, to show them. But they're not learning. Anyway the Arabic teachers want us to have a contest between grade levels. They want the 1st graders to color certain words, the 2nd graders to make words from letters, and the 3rd graders to translate words from English to Arabic. Then we have to do a school wide spelling test. Nothing is going to be done with these results, so it's not really a contest. It's just taking valuable teaching time. I made the translating and focused on certain objectives that we had been teaching in 3rd grade so it's somewhat correlated to the "curriculum" but basically just a waste of time. Now we're going to have a health camp. It's taking all morning on Thursday. Normally this would be a good thing, but I just don't have time. They are all about putting on a show. This is coming about because of the new evaulation that is being put into place. The Arabic teachers are afraid they are going to lose their jobs if they don't meet certain requirements, and one of them is to participate in the school improvement plan, which brings me to number 2.
The new evaluation. This is intense. Now I've had evaluations before and I'm really not stressed about this one, it's just the timing. They sprung this on us last week and my observation is Tuesday. OK granted I did ask for it to be over with, but the evaluations have to be completed before the end of May. In addition to the observation, which has 5 pages of criteria, I have to create a portfolio with evidence that I am meeting all these criteria (or maybe criterion??). That's the stressful part. After my observation I have to sit down and discuss my portfolio with Ms. Keltham (who by the way doesn't speak much English) for 90 minutes! I guess I should probably start putting something together!!
Thirdly (?) I finally finished all my running records and discovered that about 3/4 of 3-1 and 1/2 of 3-2 aren't reading. They aren't even reading the simple level 1 books (repetitive text). So I had to plan how I was going to change my literacy block (40 minutes). I now have 2 groups; one group that is working on sight words, basic reading, and alphabet knowledge, and the other group that needs to be working on comprehension and word attack strategies. I really should have more groups because within each group are different levels, but I don't have time. So, I spent all weekend on that. I must say that today went very well. The girls adjusted to the change in schedule and worked very good. They didn't bother me when I was working with the other group and they worked very quietly. Before I get too excited I must remind myself that it is Sunday and they are usually very good on Sunday.
I think that about wraps up what's been going on at school.
Arabic
Frustrating as usual. I am waiting for the day when this language just clicks. Right now, every word is a new word. I am having a very difficult time learning/memorizing/remembering the words. I get so tired of hearing "you know this, we took it last time" from Dania. OK so we took it and I guess I should know it but I don't. Verbs are still confusing me and they probably shouldn't. Once I figure out the pattern, which she has explained to me many times, I'm sure things will be much easier. Yesterday in class she gave me a bunch of letters and told me to make words. That was probably the hardest task I had done. I had to think of words that I know that had those letters and then how to spell them correctly. I succeeded in making 2 words! I guess that's good. She says I am making progress, so I should be happy about that. I was able to understand a little bit about what I read for Saturday's class and answer the questions without much help, so that's an improvement because at the beginning I really needed her to translate everything. One day last week I was trying to honey (عسل- a'asil), not sure why I needed this word at school, but anyway it has the ع which always gives me trouble. Reem, one of my students, was working with me on this word and I actually said it right! She was so happy! She clapped and jumped up and down and said "Miss, you got it!" So, that was a pretty good feeling. I got it once, I guess that means I can get it again. Now I just need to work on the following letters; ص ض ح ط ظ. Those silly letters with no English equivalent.
Other stuff
I eamiled Najwa and she replied. I kept the message very light just saying hi and wondering how she's doing. She's happy that I'm continuing Arabic (I wish it were with her). We had a nice little conversation via email so I think things may be ok?
I went on a date last week. I met this guy at DHL and we talked for a while. I had to give him my phone number for the whole mailing process and he ended up calling me. We talked for a while and he asked me out. I agreed. We met at the Rotana, a hotel, for dinner, and that's where things got quite strange. Men here just seem to have marriage on their mind. That's part of the Arabic culture. No dating, just jumping right into marriage. Well, he made it clear that was what he wanted. He kept telling me "I love you", "I want to spend my life with you", and "I need you" throughout the conversation. I told him that he was moving way too fast and that he just met me and he shouldn't be saying those things. What happened to getting to know someone? We finished dinner and then left. He texted me a few days later with some more inappropriate comments and I did not reply. I haven't heard from him since!
It's hot here! I mean hot! It's already been in the 100s and it's only going to get worse. I can see why the girls stop coming to school at the end of May because it's too hot. It really is. I don't think it would be that bad if the school were inside, but it's not. The assembly area is outside, the girls eat outside, our classrooms open up to the outside, and they have to walk outside to go to the bathroom and get water. Something needs to be done. I suggest that the Sheikh shorten the school year (you know to a regualr school year Sept-June) and lengthen the school day. But they never take suggestions from those on the front lines!
We celebrated Susan's birthday on Thursday with a very nice meal at a fabulous French restaurant. The food was delicious (or as Lexi says delish:) It was real food, so not Arabic! I had stuffed chicken with potato gnocchi. Cassie had lasagne and Susan had some chicken with mashed potatoes! Yes, mashed potatoes. I would be more excited about that, but I only like KFCs mashed potatoes, which by the way they don't have at the KFCs here.
My observation is Tuesday and my post observation evaluation is????? I'll write on Tuesday about the observation and whenever I have the evaluation. Now it's time to get the portfolio ready!
School
Two weeks after the break and into the 3rd trimester things aren't settling down. Not the kids, well, they're just as wild as ever, it's the work load. More and more and more stuff to do.
First of all the Arabic teachers are now telling us (LTs) how to do our jobs!!! Yeah you read that right, the Arabic teachers are telling us how to teach English. Extremely frustrating. I am dying for an opportunity to tell them how to do their job. Acutally that's one of the reasons I was hired. Well, not really tell them, to show them. But they're not learning. Anyway the Arabic teachers want us to have a contest between grade levels. They want the 1st graders to color certain words, the 2nd graders to make words from letters, and the 3rd graders to translate words from English to Arabic. Then we have to do a school wide spelling test. Nothing is going to be done with these results, so it's not really a contest. It's just taking valuable teaching time. I made the translating and focused on certain objectives that we had been teaching in 3rd grade so it's somewhat correlated to the "curriculum" but basically just a waste of time. Now we're going to have a health camp. It's taking all morning on Thursday. Normally this would be a good thing, but I just don't have time. They are all about putting on a show. This is coming about because of the new evaulation that is being put into place. The Arabic teachers are afraid they are going to lose their jobs if they don't meet certain requirements, and one of them is to participate in the school improvement plan, which brings me to number 2.
The new evaluation. This is intense. Now I've had evaluations before and I'm really not stressed about this one, it's just the timing. They sprung this on us last week and my observation is Tuesday. OK granted I did ask for it to be over with, but the evaluations have to be completed before the end of May. In addition to the observation, which has 5 pages of criteria, I have to create a portfolio with evidence that I am meeting all these criteria (or maybe criterion??). That's the stressful part. After my observation I have to sit down and discuss my portfolio with Ms. Keltham (who by the way doesn't speak much English) for 90 minutes! I guess I should probably start putting something together!!
Thirdly (?) I finally finished all my running records and discovered that about 3/4 of 3-1 and 1/2 of 3-2 aren't reading. They aren't even reading the simple level 1 books (repetitive text). So I had to plan how I was going to change my literacy block (40 minutes). I now have 2 groups; one group that is working on sight words, basic reading, and alphabet knowledge, and the other group that needs to be working on comprehension and word attack strategies. I really should have more groups because within each group are different levels, but I don't have time. So, I spent all weekend on that. I must say that today went very well. The girls adjusted to the change in schedule and worked very good. They didn't bother me when I was working with the other group and they worked very quietly. Before I get too excited I must remind myself that it is Sunday and they are usually very good on Sunday.
I think that about wraps up what's been going on at school.
Arabic
Frustrating as usual. I am waiting for the day when this language just clicks. Right now, every word is a new word. I am having a very difficult time learning/memorizing/remembering the words. I get so tired of hearing "you know this, we took it last time" from Dania. OK so we took it and I guess I should know it but I don't. Verbs are still confusing me and they probably shouldn't. Once I figure out the pattern, which she has explained to me many times, I'm sure things will be much easier. Yesterday in class she gave me a bunch of letters and told me to make words. That was probably the hardest task I had done. I had to think of words that I know that had those letters and then how to spell them correctly. I succeeded in making 2 words! I guess that's good. She says I am making progress, so I should be happy about that. I was able to understand a little bit about what I read for Saturday's class and answer the questions without much help, so that's an improvement because at the beginning I really needed her to translate everything. One day last week I was trying to honey (عسل- a'asil), not sure why I needed this word at school, but anyway it has the ع which always gives me trouble. Reem, one of my students, was working with me on this word and I actually said it right! She was so happy! She clapped and jumped up and down and said "Miss, you got it!" So, that was a pretty good feeling. I got it once, I guess that means I can get it again. Now I just need to work on the following letters; ص ض ح ط ظ. Those silly letters with no English equivalent.
Other stuff
I eamiled Najwa and she replied. I kept the message very light just saying hi and wondering how she's doing. She's happy that I'm continuing Arabic (I wish it were with her). We had a nice little conversation via email so I think things may be ok?
I went on a date last week. I met this guy at DHL and we talked for a while. I had to give him my phone number for the whole mailing process and he ended up calling me. We talked for a while and he asked me out. I agreed. We met at the Rotana, a hotel, for dinner, and that's where things got quite strange. Men here just seem to have marriage on their mind. That's part of the Arabic culture. No dating, just jumping right into marriage. Well, he made it clear that was what he wanted. He kept telling me "I love you", "I want to spend my life with you", and "I need you" throughout the conversation. I told him that he was moving way too fast and that he just met me and he shouldn't be saying those things. What happened to getting to know someone? We finished dinner and then left. He texted me a few days later with some more inappropriate comments and I did not reply. I haven't heard from him since!
It's hot here! I mean hot! It's already been in the 100s and it's only going to get worse. I can see why the girls stop coming to school at the end of May because it's too hot. It really is. I don't think it would be that bad if the school were inside, but it's not. The assembly area is outside, the girls eat outside, our classrooms open up to the outside, and they have to walk outside to go to the bathroom and get water. Something needs to be done. I suggest that the Sheikh shorten the school year (you know to a regualr school year Sept-June) and lengthen the school day. But they never take suggestions from those on the front lines!
We celebrated Susan's birthday on Thursday with a very nice meal at a fabulous French restaurant. The food was delicious (or as Lexi says delish:) It was real food, so not Arabic! I had stuffed chicken with potato gnocchi. Cassie had lasagne and Susan had some chicken with mashed potatoes! Yes, mashed potatoes. I would be more excited about that, but I only like KFCs mashed potatoes, which by the way they don't have at the KFCs here.
My observation is Tuesday and my post observation evaluation is????? I'll write on Tuesday about the observation and whenever I have the evaluation. Now it's time to get the portfolio ready!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Bangkok Part 3
Ban Battra Community and Jim Thompson House 3/29
Tuesday was a very relaxing day. I slept in, had a late and relaxing breakfast with sausage (although the sausage wasn't good at all), and hired a taxi to take me to the Ban Batrra Community.
Ban Battra is the last remaining community that makes the alms bowls that the monks used to carry to get their food and donations. It is a dying art, and it is beautiful. The bowls are handmade from steel. They pound together 8 pieces of steel to make the bowl. While there I met this amazing woman who is one of the last people to make the bowls. She was so sweet and greeted me on the street with a smile and a bow. She couldn't speak much English, but that didn't prevent her from talking to me and mentioning my height and her height! She is very tiny, as most Thai are. She showed me around her little community and allowed me to sit and pound at the bowl that was being made. She sat with me and showed me how to do it! While I was looking at the different bowls she showed me her guest book and proudly pointed out all the visitors that she had from USA. I just couldn't tell her that I was from Abu Dhabi, she was so pleased to have another American visit. I guess in reality I'm from America via Abu Dhabi. So I signed her guest book as an American and then bought a bowl (happy birthday Mom!!!:) As I was leaving this wonderful lady we took another picture near the entrance to the community (the difference is height is very pronounced when we both are standing) and she instructed me to send her a copy of the picture. I will definitely do that!
After leaving the community my taxi driver took me to the Jim Thompson House. Jim Thompson was an American who settled in Thailand and helped to make the industry of Thai silk what it is today. His house was made from 6 separate houses and moved from different parts of the country to Bangkok. Pretty neat how they put it all together; you really can't tell that it's 6 different houses. Each room was a different house. The most spectacular part of the house were the gardens. Absolutely beautiful. Lots of vibrantly colored flowers, hanging vines, ponds with fish, and greenery everywhere. An interesting note about Thai houses; they build very high entrances into the house (what is that called?) so that the evil spirits that can only travel in straight lines can't get into the house. Interesting, but made for painful entering of each room/house. I took a quick tour of the house and went to the gift shop. The Thai silk is beautiful. Very colorful and soft. It really didn't feel like silk at all. The silk was very expensive, even in Bats, so I did not buy anything I just looked.
I left the Jim Thompson House and headed back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon and evening. I would have loved to sit by the pool, but the weather was not cooperating at all; cold and windy all day.
Temples and City Tour 3/30
Another early morning. I had to be ready to leave the hotel at 7:30, so I got up early and had a quick breakfast so I would be ready for the tour. The driver showed up at 7:30 and then we went to 2 different hotels to pick up other tourists. There were only 5 of us on this tour so we didn't have a big bus, just a van. It was still pleasant and there was enough room for all of us to be comfortable.
The tour started with the Golden Buddha. This Buddha is made of nearly 5 tons of solid gold! The interesting story is that it was covered in plaster during a war and it wasn't until 1955 when it was discovered that it was made of solid gold.
From the Golden Buddha we went to the Reclining Buddha. This Buddha is huge! More than huge, massive. It is not made of solid gold, but the gold leaves. The feet of the Buddha are made of mother of pearl and are gorgeous. The Buddha measures 46m long (~150 ft) and 15m high (~ 49ft). It was very difficult to get a full length picture of the entire statue. The head itself is huge.
The last Buddha we saw was at the Marble Temple. This temple is made from Italian marble and is very different from the other temples in the area. The Buddha that is featured in this temple is pretty much like the other Buddhas. There is one area that has 52 Buddha statues, including one of Buddha fasting.
After the temples we were taken to the largest gem factory in the country. Thailand is known for its gems and jewelery. At the entrance to the factory/store there was an armed guard. Kind of impressive and scary at the same time. We toured the factory and got to see the gems being cut, polished, and placed in jewelry. Pretty neat. After watching the process of making the jewels we got to tour the store. Lots of jewelry and gems. Very sparkly! Very expensive even though I know the prices were cheaper than they would be at home, it's still too much to pay like 20,000 Bat for jewelry. I just enjoyed looking at the different cuts and stones.
That was the last stop on the tour so it was back to the hotel. Once at the hotel I had lunch and now it's time to get ready to leave. It's been a great vacation, but I am ready to go home. Not necessarily ready to go back to work, but ready to go home. I have seen some wonderful sights and had a great vacation, but it's time to return to normal.
Notes about Bangkok
Tuesday was a very relaxing day. I slept in, had a late and relaxing breakfast with sausage (although the sausage wasn't good at all), and hired a taxi to take me to the Ban Batrra Community.
Ban Battra is the last remaining community that makes the alms bowls that the monks used to carry to get their food and donations. It is a dying art, and it is beautiful. The bowls are handmade from steel. They pound together 8 pieces of steel to make the bowl. While there I met this amazing woman who is one of the last people to make the bowls. She was so sweet and greeted me on the street with a smile and a bow. She couldn't speak much English, but that didn't prevent her from talking to me and mentioning my height and her height! She is very tiny, as most Thai are. She showed me around her little community and allowed me to sit and pound at the bowl that was being made. She sat with me and showed me how to do it! While I was looking at the different bowls she showed me her guest book and proudly pointed out all the visitors that she had from USA. I just couldn't tell her that I was from Abu Dhabi, she was so pleased to have another American visit. I guess in reality I'm from America via Abu Dhabi. So I signed her guest book as an American and then bought a bowl (happy birthday Mom!!!:) As I was leaving this wonderful lady we took another picture near the entrance to the community (the difference is height is very pronounced when we both are standing) and she instructed me to send her a copy of the picture. I will definitely do that!
After leaving the community my taxi driver took me to the Jim Thompson House. Jim Thompson was an American who settled in Thailand and helped to make the industry of Thai silk what it is today. His house was made from 6 separate houses and moved from different parts of the country to Bangkok. Pretty neat how they put it all together; you really can't tell that it's 6 different houses. Each room was a different house. The most spectacular part of the house were the gardens. Absolutely beautiful. Lots of vibrantly colored flowers, hanging vines, ponds with fish, and greenery everywhere. An interesting note about Thai houses; they build very high entrances into the house (what is that called?) so that the evil spirits that can only travel in straight lines can't get into the house. Interesting, but made for painful entering of each room/house. I took a quick tour of the house and went to the gift shop. The Thai silk is beautiful. Very colorful and soft. It really didn't feel like silk at all. The silk was very expensive, even in Bats, so I did not buy anything I just looked.
I left the Jim Thompson House and headed back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon and evening. I would have loved to sit by the pool, but the weather was not cooperating at all; cold and windy all day.
Temples and City Tour 3/30
Another early morning. I had to be ready to leave the hotel at 7:30, so I got up early and had a quick breakfast so I would be ready for the tour. The driver showed up at 7:30 and then we went to 2 different hotels to pick up other tourists. There were only 5 of us on this tour so we didn't have a big bus, just a van. It was still pleasant and there was enough room for all of us to be comfortable.
The tour started with the Golden Buddha. This Buddha is made of nearly 5 tons of solid gold! The interesting story is that it was covered in plaster during a war and it wasn't until 1955 when it was discovered that it was made of solid gold.
From the Golden Buddha we went to the Reclining Buddha. This Buddha is huge! More than huge, massive. It is not made of solid gold, but the gold leaves. The feet of the Buddha are made of mother of pearl and are gorgeous. The Buddha measures 46m long (~150 ft) and 15m high (~ 49ft). It was very difficult to get a full length picture of the entire statue. The head itself is huge.
The last Buddha we saw was at the Marble Temple. This temple is made from Italian marble and is very different from the other temples in the area. The Buddha that is featured in this temple is pretty much like the other Buddhas. There is one area that has 52 Buddha statues, including one of Buddha fasting.
After the temples we were taken to the largest gem factory in the country. Thailand is known for its gems and jewelery. At the entrance to the factory/store there was an armed guard. Kind of impressive and scary at the same time. We toured the factory and got to see the gems being cut, polished, and placed in jewelry. Pretty neat. After watching the process of making the jewels we got to tour the store. Lots of jewelry and gems. Very sparkly! Very expensive even though I know the prices were cheaper than they would be at home, it's still too much to pay like 20,000 Bat for jewelry. I just enjoyed looking at the different cuts and stones.
That was the last stop on the tour so it was back to the hotel. Once at the hotel I had lunch and now it's time to get ready to leave. It's been a great vacation, but I am ready to go home. Not necessarily ready to go back to work, but ready to go home. I have seen some wonderful sights and had a great vacation, but it's time to return to normal.
Notes about Bangkok
- Very crowded
- Traffic is atrocious
- A lot of poverty, begging, and pickpocketing
- Good train system for traveling within the city
- A lot of pollution, both noise and air because it is so crowded
- 9,100,000 people in Bangkok
- Green in color and recycling
- Very nice people (everyone greets you with a bow and welcome to Thailand or their greeting)
Monday, March 28, 2011
Bangkok Part 2
Night Market 3/27
After resting yesterday afternoon, Susan and I headed out to Chinatown for dinner and then to the night market. On our way to Chinatown we we were planning on seeing a Wat with a Buddha lit by candles. As we were walking to the Wat we saw the Giant Swing. When Susan pointed it out to me I was quite surprised because there is no swing. It's just the very tall metal poles to hold the swing. Evidently they attach the swing during ceremonies. I just found it quite weird that they would call it the Giant Swing when there isn't actually a swing. We stopped long enough for me to take a picture and then continued on our way to the Wat. The Wat was beautiful; as they all are. It's amazing how many they have here; like mosques in the UAE they are everywhere. Anyway when we arrived there was a service going on and many Buddhists were praying and reciting something. Very interesting to witness, but I felt like I was intruding on something very spiritual as I was walking around taking pictures. Just like a mosque, when you enter a Wat you have to take your shoes off. A sign of respect. We walked around the grounds for a while, then collected our shoes and searched for a taxi to take us to Chinatown for dinner.
Chinatown was packed and quite intense! Food and people everywhere. The concierge said that any restaurant we chose would be good, but it was difficult to choose. There were so many, and most of them just served seafood. We eventually found one off the beaten path that served more than just seafood. Now, when I say restaurant it's not what you think. We ate in the street and the food was cooked right there. Just like the lunch at the weekend market. I ordered fried rice with crab meat, and it was delicious. I am pretty sure my crab was alive 5 minutes before I ate it. OK maybe not literally 5 minutes, but I'm sure it was fresh and they most likely killed it right there before cooking it. It was delicious!
After dinner we headed to the night market. This was not like I had imagined at all. I was thinking something along the lines of the weekend market, but I was way off. It was packed and there were a lot of "nighttime" activities being offered all around us. Not something I needed to witness. Not that I saw anything other than ladies dancing and people advertising the services they offered, but it was still more than I needed to see. Needless to say, we didn't stay all that long. There really wasn't anything worth buying there anyway. So we headed back to the hotel so I could get up early for my tour in the morning.
Auttayah Tour 3/28
I had a 7am pickup from the hotel scheduled so I got up quite early at 5:30 so I could have breakfast before I left. There was no time for any made to order breakfast this morning so sausage will have to wait until tomorrow morning. The tour driver picked me up promptly at 7:00 and we headed to get some more tourists before going to the bus parking lot.
There were about 25 of us on the tour and as soon as we all boarded we headed out of Bangkok. The drive out of Bangkok is very nice. Very green, with rice paddies lining the roads when you get out of the city. The drive to Auttayah was about an hour. Once there I saw the Summer Palace. The Palace is amazing. There are a lot of western style buildings there, as the king who designed it really liked the western architecture. Of course there was a temple there along with many other statues. I think my favorite building was the gathering house. It is made in the Chinese style and it's beautiful. I loved the Chinese calligraphy on the walls and the murals. I also liked the gardens; they were so green and had statues of animals cut from bushes. Amazing how people can do that. After touring the Summer Palace for about an hour we headed to the Wat ruins at Auttayah.
The ruins are beautiful. Striking how they can still be somewhat standing after all this time and the way they were built. Kind of reminded me of Petra, although Petra was in much better shape. At the Wat ruins you could still see the place where the Buddha would have been placed. The most impressive part of this part of the tour was the Buddha head that was on the ground surrounded by tree routes. They say that it fell off the Buddha during a storm, or was cut off during the war, and a tree grew around it and that Buddha protected it so the roots wouldn't cover the face. There was also a statue of Buddha surrounded by headless Buddhas. During a war (can't remember which one) non Buddhists came and beheaded all the Buddhas. It was kind of odd walking around looking at Buddhas without heads.
From the Wat ruins of Auttayah we headed to 2 other Wats. Pretty much the same as the others I have seen other than the huge reclining Buddha. Massive. Very long and tall. This one is made of stone unlike the one in Bangkok which is made of gold and slightly bigger than the one at Auttayah.
After our tour of the Wats we headed to the river for the river cruise and lunch. The river cruise was neat because I got to see traditional Thai houses and the way of life along the river. Something not so touristy. The houses are built on stilts so during the rainy season their living quarters aren't flooded and also so the children have somewhere shaded to play (that is if the house isn't actually in the river; some were and some weren't). The tour ended at the River Plaza and we were taken back to our respective hotels. Maybe I'll just relax tonight!
Oh by the way it's freezing here! Well at least for me it is! It's been gray and overcast the entire time and it even rained today. Not much more than a light drizzle, but still rain. It was very windy as well, which meant that I stayed inside for most of the boat trip. I just didn't bring my winter clothes; they're all in the States anyway!
After resting yesterday afternoon, Susan and I headed out to Chinatown for dinner and then to the night market. On our way to Chinatown we we were planning on seeing a Wat with a Buddha lit by candles. As we were walking to the Wat we saw the Giant Swing. When Susan pointed it out to me I was quite surprised because there is no swing. It's just the very tall metal poles to hold the swing. Evidently they attach the swing during ceremonies. I just found it quite weird that they would call it the Giant Swing when there isn't actually a swing. We stopped long enough for me to take a picture and then continued on our way to the Wat. The Wat was beautiful; as they all are. It's amazing how many they have here; like mosques in the UAE they are everywhere. Anyway when we arrived there was a service going on and many Buddhists were praying and reciting something. Very interesting to witness, but I felt like I was intruding on something very spiritual as I was walking around taking pictures. Just like a mosque, when you enter a Wat you have to take your shoes off. A sign of respect. We walked around the grounds for a while, then collected our shoes and searched for a taxi to take us to Chinatown for dinner.
Chinatown was packed and quite intense! Food and people everywhere. The concierge said that any restaurant we chose would be good, but it was difficult to choose. There were so many, and most of them just served seafood. We eventually found one off the beaten path that served more than just seafood. Now, when I say restaurant it's not what you think. We ate in the street and the food was cooked right there. Just like the lunch at the weekend market. I ordered fried rice with crab meat, and it was delicious. I am pretty sure my crab was alive 5 minutes before I ate it. OK maybe not literally 5 minutes, but I'm sure it was fresh and they most likely killed it right there before cooking it. It was delicious!
After dinner we headed to the night market. This was not like I had imagined at all. I was thinking something along the lines of the weekend market, but I was way off. It was packed and there were a lot of "nighttime" activities being offered all around us. Not something I needed to witness. Not that I saw anything other than ladies dancing and people advertising the services they offered, but it was still more than I needed to see. Needless to say, we didn't stay all that long. There really wasn't anything worth buying there anyway. So we headed back to the hotel so I could get up early for my tour in the morning.
Auttayah Tour 3/28
I had a 7am pickup from the hotel scheduled so I got up quite early at 5:30 so I could have breakfast before I left. There was no time for any made to order breakfast this morning so sausage will have to wait until tomorrow morning. The tour driver picked me up promptly at 7:00 and we headed to get some more tourists before going to the bus parking lot.
There were about 25 of us on the tour and as soon as we all boarded we headed out of Bangkok. The drive out of Bangkok is very nice. Very green, with rice paddies lining the roads when you get out of the city. The drive to Auttayah was about an hour. Once there I saw the Summer Palace. The Palace is amazing. There are a lot of western style buildings there, as the king who designed it really liked the western architecture. Of course there was a temple there along with many other statues. I think my favorite building was the gathering house. It is made in the Chinese style and it's beautiful. I loved the Chinese calligraphy on the walls and the murals. I also liked the gardens; they were so green and had statues of animals cut from bushes. Amazing how people can do that. After touring the Summer Palace for about an hour we headed to the Wat ruins at Auttayah.
The ruins are beautiful. Striking how they can still be somewhat standing after all this time and the way they were built. Kind of reminded me of Petra, although Petra was in much better shape. At the Wat ruins you could still see the place where the Buddha would have been placed. The most impressive part of this part of the tour was the Buddha head that was on the ground surrounded by tree routes. They say that it fell off the Buddha during a storm, or was cut off during the war, and a tree grew around it and that Buddha protected it so the roots wouldn't cover the face. There was also a statue of Buddha surrounded by headless Buddhas. During a war (can't remember which one) non Buddhists came and beheaded all the Buddhas. It was kind of odd walking around looking at Buddhas without heads.
From the Wat ruins of Auttayah we headed to 2 other Wats. Pretty much the same as the others I have seen other than the huge reclining Buddha. Massive. Very long and tall. This one is made of stone unlike the one in Bangkok which is made of gold and slightly bigger than the one at Auttayah.
After our tour of the Wats we headed to the river for the river cruise and lunch. The river cruise was neat because I got to see traditional Thai houses and the way of life along the river. Something not so touristy. The houses are built on stilts so during the rainy season their living quarters aren't flooded and also so the children have somewhere shaded to play (that is if the house isn't actually in the river; some were and some weren't). The tour ended at the River Plaza and we were taken back to our respective hotels. Maybe I'll just relax tonight!
Oh by the way it's freezing here! Well at least for me it is! It's been gray and overcast the entire time and it even rained today. Not much more than a light drizzle, but still rain. It was very windy as well, which meant that I stayed inside for most of the boat trip. I just didn't bring my winter clothes; they're all in the States anyway!
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