The Last Couple of Weeks

A lot has been happening here in Egypt over the past couple weeks for us.  School started, Princess had her first day of JK (KG1 – or Junior Kindergarten), Dimples returned to the nursery and Hubby and I had the pleasure of meeting our classes again.  

The weeks of preparation for classes to start came and went very quickly.  Last year, there was not enough time in the world for me to prepare for the first day of teaching.  This year, I was ready days in advance and could not wait to meet the kids.  The first days of parent meetings and the first day with the kids were everything I had pictured that they would be.  

But, nothing could prepare me for the first day of class for Princess.  We were concerned that our little girl who has refused to wear pants since she was 18 months old would put up a huge fight about having to wear the uniform pants and polo shirt.  That proved to not be very difficult at all.  Taking her to her class on the first day, I got all weepy eyed and emotional as I delivered her to the JK class.  Even though we teach in the same building, it was still very emotional to drop her off with her teacher.  I never had this difficulty at the nursery...there is just something about taking your kid to Kindergarten.  It made me think of how quickly the time has flown by since she was born.  Thankfully for me, she walked right into her class, sat at a table that was set up with a picture and markers to color with and that was that.  

Since the first day of classes, we have discovered that she LOVES her music class and that she is always the first to start the songs and dances.  We have found out that she DOES NOT CARE for Phys-Ed.  This is particularly disturbing for me, who has a Kinesiology degree and spent my life on a court or field of some kind.  I have since discovered that it is because her PE teacher speaks Arabic and she does not understand.  Now that we have that dealt with, PE has been more enjoyable for her.  She proudly shows us her work for the day and she is picking up on rhyming schemes and is able to read very simple stories.

Dimples carries on with his day as usual.  Nothing has changed for him since last year.  He still has the same teacher, but there are new kids in his class.  We hear reports that he is very reliable and compliant and works well with others.  The staff is excited when he opts to speak words in Arabic, even though the classes are taught in English.  I guess they like that he is picking up on their language.  We are thrilled to hear that he is starting to pick up on Arabic.  He probably knows more than we do. 

When we took Dimples to nursery this year, there was confusion as to which class he would be in.  They wanted him to be in a Nursery class which would mean that he would graduate from the Nursery this year and begin JK next year.  We were shocked that this would even be a suggestion!  He is far too young to be preparing to go to JK.  Princess is 4, JK seems reasonable.  Dimples would have been set to start JK at 3 and Kindergarten at barely 4 years old.  That is much too early.  So, we convinced them to keep him in the Toddler program and he is thriving there.  We did not see a need to rush him along into formal schooling.  Nursery is still primarily based on play.

I am sure by now that you have heard much about the dismay of the Arab world over the past week or so.  I have opted not to publish my personal comments or opinions, but, please know that our daily life has been uninterrupted by these events.  If we did not have television to watch the news, we may have never known about these events.  

Anyway, that is a little update from our part of the world.  I hope to keep the blog updated more frequently in the coming weeks as the excitement from the first couple weeks is now winding down.  I will add pictures on the next post, the one of Princess on her first day of school is priceless.

 

Swim Like A Fish

I wrote this post a couple days ago, but, am delayed in actually publishing it.

To celebrate the Labor Day weekend here in Cairo, we opted to spend the weekend at a hotel near the pyramids.  For those of you that have followed our blog, this is a semi-frequent occurrence for us.  We enjoy the change of scenery and the time away from our "responsibilities" around the house.

We decided to stay at a different hotel this time around and were farther away from the pyramids than we would have liked.  The last hotel we stayed at was right across the street from them.  There is something about those massive ancient structures that amaze me every single time I see them.  We have driven past and admired them frequently during our time here and they never cease to amaze me.  They are truly a perplexing part of history.

With all that aside, living in Egypt with a very warm, arid climate has its perks at this time of year.  When the temperature would be starting to drop at home in Canada, the temperature becomes bearable here.  Swimming outside in September is not an unusual thing to do.  In fact, it was pretty glorious.  The kiddos spent endless hours paddling away in the pool.  Princess mastered how to use a snorkel this weekend, which absolutely astounded me because I still struggle with a snorkel.  She stuck that snorkel in her mouth, planted her face in the water and paddled her way around the massive pool, end to end, repeatedly.  I was impressed.

Dimples also improved his swimming skills by finally venturing out in the water on his own...with his water wings on.  He realized that they do indeed keep him afloat and he mastered the concept of keeping his chin up.  He had a blast being lifted out of the water and being thrown in the air, a safe distance away into mommy`s arms.  He did not mind going under water and always surfaced with the most adorable, dimpled smile.

It was a magnificent way to spend 2 days.  It was also a spectacular way to distract my mind that has been racing a million miles a minute with new teaching ideas and lesson plans.  I did not have my computer or teaching materials with me on the weekend so it was truly an excellent way to unwind from the rigors of preparing for the beginning of the school year.  I feel completely prepared and am excited to have students in my room again on Wednesday.

What really got me excited was when I saw two students that I taught EAL to last year sitting on the floor outside one of the offices.  They were waiting to rewrite some exams.  I sat down with them, chatted about their summers and helped them study for their exam.  Sitting and helping them study really got me in the mood to teach.  I am ready...even though I have the nervous/anxious/excited butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

I just cannot wait!  But, wait I will...I have no choice.  First up, parent orientation days.  Tomorrow, we get to be a parent at the orientation as Princess will begin JK this year.  Then, on Tuesday, it is meet the parents day for the high school...this is where Hubby and I will shine as we meet the parents of our students and let them know what they can expect.  It is one of the most important days of the school year and I cannot wait!

On another note, my super amazingly awesome grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this past weekend.  The whole family got together to celebrate and we really wished we could have been there.   It is truly an amazing testament to the power of love and commitment when you see a couple together for 60 years!  Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!

That's all for now... Tomorrow I will write about the first two days of school...all I will say now is that they were pretty fantastic!