a little R & R

written August 26, 2008

This week has been incredibly hectic. As an elementary teacher, I have moved from inservice to inservice without so much as a minute to get into my room to get cracking. Don't get me wrong, I now know my curriculum and I know about my "units of inquiry" or our PYP program (an amazing curriculum that is part of the International Baccalaureate program known around the world for high school), and I know about Kuwaiti ministry censorship laws, rules, and how copyright is a loose term in this country. I know all of this stuff now. But I don't know what I'm going to do with the kids next week. We hired a trial nanny and the kids would run from her. I don't know how I'm going to run my classroom because I haven't had a minute to work on it. And I don't know why the heck I'm taking time away from being in my classroom to go on this stupid "go-see" at Al Cornich Club and Spa because there's no way we can afford it!

A few teachers belong to this club because it's close to the school apartments, is lovely, and has all the amenities one could want in a desert country. One such staff member worked out a deal that we could take a spinning class, go on a tour of the facility, and then have free run of the place for 4 hours as we considered joining the club. Well... Rob, the kids, and I got there and we were hooked--the pool is amazing, the facilities are top notch, and the club owns 300 meters of pristine (and private) Kuwaiti beach line (which means... you have 300 meters to wear western bathing suits on the beach--woo hoo! ladies). The kids took to the water like only little fish can and I knew that the terrible time was coming that we had to decline to enroll and hide our heads as we left the Corniche in sadness because lovely is just so out of our price range right now. And so came money time...

The club manager sat down with the visiting teachers and began on the deal. And how Xavier, though only a week before his 5th birthday would fall under the loophole that would make him a free member for a year. After much him-hawing back and forth, Rob gave us the all clear.

So now, we are the newest members of Al Corniche--an exclusive haven where you are not allowed to talk shop. Where, instead, you must only spend time working out at the gym, basking in the sun, floating in the water, or looking over the Gulf.

We have found an oasis here in Kuwait and it's called: "Al Corniche!"