Summer Starts in Belgium

Listening to Shakira's song, "It's Time for Africa" still brings a tear to my eye. The sounds of the drums, the Swahili, and the echos of Africa race through me and make my heart beat a bit quicker. I remember the night I left Kenya--I felt as if the floor had dropped out from under me. Leaving Kuwait was not the same. Rob and I pumped fists and giggled like kids as the wheels lifted from the tarmac-- "It's OVER!" I thought to myself with great satisfaction. Though we made a few great friends... Kuwait was just not the place for us and, great friends or not, it would NEVER be our home.

That chapter of our lives behind us, we move on to our brief but exciting summer. Starting in a chilly Belgium, we have been wearing smiles nonstop. The kids spent the first week bundled up in sweaters and hats while helping their Bomma and Bompa tend to the garden. The fresh lettuce, potatoes, carrots, scallions, and peas have filled our bellies and our brains as the kids have learned SO much about farming. Who woulda thought my "city" kids would be interested in digging for potatoes. And that my baby girl, to be precise, would yank up her skirt and get her hands dirty amongst the worms and the bugs!

While the kids have spent a lot of time with their Bomma and Bompa, Rob and I have spent a lot of quality (read: alone) time walking to downtown Geel, enjoying beers and mojitos at the market square, and window shopping in preparation for the July 1st sales! What a luxury teacher summers can be!

A brief holiday to Disney Paris, dinners with friends, and celebrations of 40th wedding anniversaries behind us... it's time to move on. We leave Belgium for the good 'ole USA in time for an overload of Americana on July 4th.

So far, so good! Summer is the peaceful reprieve we've needed! Our souls are uplifted and we're ready for our next adventure.

Our new digs

Day 2 of my school week has been hot, humid, and without water. I forgot my water bottle 2 days in a row. With another blasted headache I thought today would be ruined for sure. But... during lunch, I closed my door and went online to check out my email account at my new school. And miraculously... my headache disappeared. Yup, like magic. Poof. Gone! 3 emails from our new Superintendent were better than Excedrin Migraine. Pictures of our new house in Surabaya wiped away any issues I was having. It looks as if we'll have more than enough space for visitors. Hope to see you there!

Paying It Forward

Now that the dust has settled (both literally and figuratively), I have time to sit back and reflect on the events of the last month...

The morning of January 14th was a cold, gloomy one in Kuwait. I had woken up about 3 am to the sounds of construction across the street. I made myself a cup of coffee and was mesmerized by coverage of the earthquake in Haiti that occurred just two days before. As I sat and watched the stories, I was shocked at myself. Even though we just finished a unit on the Earth and the rock cycle, I hadn't brought the current event into my classroom. But today, would be different. As I continued to listen to the TV with one ear, I scoured student-friendly websites for a child-centered article about the Haitian earthquake. Thanks to a few student newspapers, I was able to get a few pieces of news for my kids to read.

On this cold, quiet day, my students entered the classroom, a newspaper article on each student's desk and a pointed question on the board... "What can you do to help TODAY?" After reading the articles, my kids opened up their writing journals and reflected on the question. By 8:30 that morning journal entries were written, read, discussed, and my kids had begun a fundraising campaign. Some groups were working on posters, others were creating informational handouts for families, some were reworking our classroom website to share information and include Haiti-donation links, while others made money collection bins.

As the lunch bell rang at 12:30, my first group were grabbing their money collection bins and making their way to the canteen to collect money for the Haitian victims. At their evening play, my kids were on a collection crusade and pressured everyone to open up their wallet and give! By the end of day 1, my students had collected over 125 KD (just over $430). It was surreal.

As the next week arrived, I wondered how the families at our school would take to donating. I had heard that a lot of Kuwaiti corporations would not donate because the beneficiaries were not Muslim. I hoped that this would not be the case. And it certainly was not! The money came pouring in. From parents, coming by our classroom with 20 KD notes ($70), to students offering their lunch money, from envelopes full of $100 bills, to little tikes who offered everything in their "piggy" bank. The generosity was amazing!

By the end of our 2-week collection, my students had motivated the school to action and collected over 3330 KD ($11,500). The Elementary students had collected over 1600 KD, asked the ownership to donate and were greeted with a 1000 KD contribution, and the Middle school and High School students raised the balance. My students were amazed at how much they could raise, but didn't understand the significance until they were given the opportunity to pass the money on to the Red Crescent.

On Tuesday, February 19th, Mr. Mohammed, the International Relations Officer for the Kuwait Red Crescent came to our classroom to collect our generous donation. With my Principal, the school owner, other teachers, and media representatives in toe, my students listened as Mr. Mohammed educated them about the Red Crescent. The students were true inquirers as they asked questions about when and how the money would make it to Haiti, what other good things the Red Crescent has done, and how else they could help. At the end of the presentation, the kids and I had an open-discussion about the days events. My students were shocked that the event was attended by the owner of the school AND the media. But what they were most impressed about was how proud the adults were. One of my students said, "Ms. Angela, all we did was raise some money. Why are all of you [grown-ups] so impressed?" I didn't have a chance to answer. One of my boys, Philo, chimed in. He said that it wasn't just the grown-ups that were proud of us. But he was proud of us. He said that earlier in the year we learned about Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King, Jr.--people who saw injustice and who spoke up to defend others. He said to everyone--we are like those people. "We were one small voice, but when we got together, we made change happen."

I truly have an amazing class this year!

to read the full article as it appeared in the newspaper... click here!

And the winner is...

Surabaya, Indonesia.

Surabaya is the capital city of East Java and the 2nd largest city in Indonesia. It is known as the "City of Heroes" because of it's importance during the Indonesian National Revolution from the Netherlands in 1945.

We are really excited about this opportunity for a variety of reasons... here are some of the perks to life in Indonesia:

• Rob will get to work in a 1-1 laptop integration program. (All students in grades 6-12 get a school laptop to use in their wireless school.)
• Angela will get to teach grade 2 or 3.
• Xavier and Anouk will spend 1/2 of their PE classes in the school's Olympic-size swimming pool.
• The school facility is new, modern, and spacious.
• We'll get a house with a garden, grass, and trees (maybe even a house with a pool!).
• The kids can get a dog.
• We'll be a 50 minute flight from Bali.

Surabaya will be a great place for our family. There's a nice work hard, play hard attitude at the school and this is a welcome change for all of us. We will be in a culturally stimulating environment living on one of Indonesia's 17,500 islands. Yes, we'll remain in a Muslim country, but we'll be living in a place that's also been inspired by Indian culture as well as the Buddhist and Hindu religions. We'll have the opportunity to see fabulous new art, culture, landscapes, and animal life: volcanoes, rain forests, orangutans, tigers, and Komodo dragons, just to name a few.

We're considering a Spring Break trip out there to scope, begin our orientation, and help the kids begin our transition. We shall see what the purse strings can swing!

We're very excited and hope you'll come to visit!

What I did at school today

Dear Family,
Today at school was the best day because I got to watch 2 videos called "Moppie and Annie." They are characters to teach kids about the computer. They taught the whole class adding and subtracting. They even teach us about spelling and details. They are computer geniuses. Today at Arabic class, I had a new kid from my class come in and join us. Her name is Jenna. She wasn't in AFL last week. She even was so good at Arabic but she had a very hard time getting stickers like Harry, Renee, Maguire, Pavlo, and me! She is the fastest learner in our class. Every time I come back from Arabic we are always late for recess. At Religion class, me and Maguire got two and three happy faces because we were doing so good that we can earn a GOTCHA pencil. At Religion class we were learning about Japan and we made the information into a very genius book. But now we are learning about Mexico. I had the best lunch ever because I had a turkey sandwich. Today in math we learned about 1/2 and then we matched the 1/2. Ms. Mariam told us to make 1/2 homework for our parents and I did. For inquiry class we studied the community helpers. But we studied about two communities: Africa and Kuwait. After we did inquiry, it was time for closing circle and I always copy Harry, but today, I forgot what he said so I didn't copy him today. When we came outside to go home, Maria was already there to pick us up. Maria brought me 2 chocolate cookies, bananas, and nectarines but don't tell my mama and papa. Anouk had the banana and Harry had the nectarine. I just ate my cookie. We like to share our snack.
Love,

Xavier

I went to school today and I played. I played with puppets in Ms. Maha's classroom when I was done with my work. I traced only a helicopter picture during art. And trees. Then, I said, "Good Morning Moo" and then we did calendar. Moo is a stuffed animal doneky that lives in our classroom. Moo is fun because he has eyes and special ears that bend. After we did the calendar, we did groups. I am in the green group and I started with my tire. Ms. Eva (my teacher) told me to draw a tire because she told us to. Then we had lunch and a cucumber sandwich. It was the best sandwich ever. After I ate my sandwich and the cupcake that Maria made me. It was full of bananas and apples. It was yummy. Then our class did "I Wonder." That means we ask questions about things that move. I asked the question about a buggy. My teacher said that a buggy goes from place to place. And then we did center time. I played in the music center. I put on headphones and I listened to music. I heard the song, "It Must be Santa." Then there was Arabic class with Ms. Nina. I am on the letter that makes the "h" sound like "Hamad." After Arabic I had recess and I played with my friends, Sheka and Leia. We played monsters and it was fun, not scary. Then we read a story. After the story we went home. After school I was playing on the playground a big boy hit me on the head. Maria told him to "STOP!!!!" She said, "Don't climb on the roof of the house or I'll tell Mrs. Angela." And then the boy went to the big playground. We played with Harry after school. He's in Xavier's class. Harry will come over to our house on Tuesday. The End.

Love,
Anouk

Interview Jitters

Nobody likes an interview. It's not a skill we practice very often. Actually, it's only really a skill that we use when we're in need of a new job, so I hypothesize that that is part of the problem with interviews. You're jittery because you want to shine and you need a job! So it's kind of a "no duh" that Rob had this look on his face before we had our initial Skype interview with our first prospect. Once the "phone" rang and we were head-to-head with our interview, I began to think that this whole Skype thing was the way to go. It was cool to come home from work, change your bottoms from tights and skirts to jeans and slippers, and then sit comfortably in the security of your own home to conduct, what could amount to be, one of the biggest changes in your life--a job interview.

Anyway... I don't want to talk too much about it here, this is kind of the public domain and all, but I'll tell you--Rob and I are excited. We are thrilled, not only to have the first interview under our belt, but we are even more ecstatic to know they want to conduct 2nd interviews with us.

Wish us luck. With the Bangkok fair complete, our job pool (we search based on Tech Teacher positions available) leaves us only 11 schools in 8 different countries: Oman, China (Shanghai and Beijing), Israel, Morocco, Indonesia (Bali and Suribaya), Jordan, Qatar, and Vietnam.

Anything sound interesting to you?

Jordan

It's been hard staying positive around here sometimes, so this blog has really fallen to the wayside. But things are changing for us.

Just days before our Christmas Holiday began, Rob and I declined a resigning contract here in Kuwait. It's just not the place for us. It is a weird feeling though. In light of the current financial crisis--Rob and I have quit our jobs. It may not be the smartest thing in the world, but we think it's best for the family. So we'll be going to a job fair in Boston in February. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

In light of all of these changes... what is the best way to not fret about your job loss? Go on a trip and enjoy yourself. So that is just what we did. December 18th, we left Kuwait and made the short trip to the country of Jordan. Here is our diary...

Officially referred to as “The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan”, Jordan was one of those places we were told we HAD to see before leaving the Middle East. With an impending move on the horizon, we decided to experience this majestic land ourselves. Bordered by Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, and Iraq, Jordan is a place that historically captivated ancient travelers. Today, Jordan enthralls millions of tourists with its energizing cities, biblical history, mysterious Petra, inexplicable Dead Sea waters, and the ancient beauty of Wadi Rum. This is the story of our fabulous Christmas holiday, 2009.

Starting in the beautiful city of Amman, we were amazed by the contrast of it all. Amman is a beautiful mix of old and new—one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, it is a city of hills between the desert and the Jordan Valley. Our tour began at the Roman Citadel where we came face to face with the Dead Sea Scrolls, climbed through the ruins, and overlooked the modern city of Amman. Most top-quality finds were sold to the highest bidder and are housed in world-famous museums, so the Dead Sea Scrolls we saw at the British Museum this summer were more complete, oh well! It was amazing to watch the kids climb on the unearthed ancient ruins--something not allowed in other parts of the globe.

Focused on tourism, (the American-born) Queen Noor encouraged the restoration of the historic Amman (Philadelphia) amphitheater which you can see from the Citadel. Despite the majestic of it (situated amongst old town-house size homes), we decided not to push the kids to visit it and, instead, we moved on. Jerash was next on our list. The area is considered to be home to the best-preserved Roman ruins in the world dating back more than 6,500 years. The kids were most impressed by the physics of the amphitheater where no microphones are needed. Walking up the steps of the amphitheater was awesome and incredibly frightening because they were so steep. I had fears that the kids would just tumble down, but all of that vanished as we sat peacefully and watched the Arab musicians strum away on their jibras. The jibras sound like a deeper-sounding, smaller-looking version of Scottish bagpipes.

The next day we moved from ancient history to the city of Madaba and Mt. Nebo where we brushed up on our Old Testament knowledge. Mt. Nebo is thought to be the site where Moses was first given the view of the Promised Land. When we got there, Rob and I thought a lot about my Nama and how proud of us she would be. The highest point is marked by a map which shows Bethlehem, Jericho, and the Dead Sea. We continued our biblical tour with a visit to St. George's Greek Orthodox Church where a 6th century Byzantine map of Jerusalem and other holy sites was unearthed. The most amazing part of this history is that it's not protected by anything but a piece of carpet. During services, a piece of carpet is rolled over and people walk all over it. Important ancient discoveries are so common in Jordan that they just become part of life. Raed, our driver, told us that more than 50% of the homes in old Amman (where we were the day before) are built on Roman ruins, so to most people--they are not a big deal.

From Mt. Nebo, we made the long drive to Petra which took us through a vast array of landscapes. From the forests and city of Amman to the limestone mountain ranges of the King's Highway. We stopped briefly at Karak castle which was monumental for the crusaders and the Langlands family. The kids loved running through the soldiers' sleeping chambers, prison cells, stables, and the large kitchen areas. It was hard to leave the fun, but Petra, my dream locale, was calling.

As the long drive through the desert made way to sandstone mountains, I knew that Petra was on the horizon. As we drove higher up the mountain, we arrived at an amazing diamond in the rough. We crept our way into Taybet Zaman Hotel which reminded me of the Olerai House. The hotel is located just outside of Petra in an old 19th century city called Taybet Zaman. The entire complex is built of huge sandstone bricks. This gorgeous locale made me even MORE eager to get to Petra the next morning.

At 4.30 am, the Azan (the first call to prayers) began. But the mountainous terrain of this area made the call even more amazing (read: louder and closer)--the musical prayers came from at least a dozen different mosques and were the most beautiful I have heard yet. Full of excitement, I knew I couldn't go back to sleep--Petra was here! Raed picked us up and drove us about 20 minutes down to the gates of Petra. It was there that we met our guide, Zaid (who, oddly enough, went to university in Santa Cruz and used to live in Emeryville). Trekking into this unique city carved by the Nabataeans showed off how they were influenced by their travels (and thefts) from China, India, Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome. We started the hike into Petra with a horseback ride for the kids. Walking through the towering rocks, I was bummed that I had just finished teaching the rock cycle at school. As Rob and I walked to the Treasury with our mouths aghast at the magnitude, the kids were excited to walk in the troughs (once used to control the water flow), climb through caves, and dodge the camels and horses people were paying for transport. By the time we got back to the hotel and crashed, Rob and I looked at each other and equated the experience to that of safari--a mezmorizing and exhausting experience that everyone SHOULD have (besides by just Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

The next day, we were off on another fun adventure. Wadi Rum is a magestic site which remains virtually untouched by human hands. Though a few Bedouin tribes still remain, Wadi Rum is the type of desert you envision when you think of the Middle East. T.E. Lawrence called it "vast, echoing, and god-like" and once there, I could totally see why. We went dune bashing through these great expansive dunes, checked out rock drawings by ancient Bedouin tribes, and listened to our voices echo amongst the mountains. Wadi Rum is most famous as it served as the set for "Lawrence of Arabia," I guess now we have to see the movie.

After our dune bashing, we loaded up in Raed's van and made the three hour trek along the coast to the Dead Sea. Being just a stones throw away from Israel was exciting and scary as it forced us to go through numerous checkpoints with guys with big guns. The most interesting part of our drive was when we got to a junction with signs to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel-- we were just 10 minutes from the borders of each of these 3 countries. And despite the tension between Israel and the rest of the Arab world, Israel and Jordan have figured out how to work together when it comes to the runway used by the King Hussein International Airport (Jordan) and Eilat Airport (Israel). For both airports, in (sometimes) enemy countries, they use the exact same runway (since both countries are within spitting distance of each other). Why can't we all just learn to get along like this?

Anyway, after a long, hot drive, we finally arrived at the Dead Sea--Rob's highlight of the trip. We checked into our hotel, dumped our luggage, got dressed in our bathing suits, and walked down to the Dead Sea to take a dip. The water was unlike nothing I've ever experienced. Water from various sources, including the River Jordan, end up in the land-locked Dead Sea which also serves as the lowest place on Earth (even lower than the Grand Canyon). The water leaves an oily residue on your skin while the mineral-rich heavy waters make you float with little effort. Trying to get up from a floating position--now THAT takes effort. We rounded off our trip to the Dead Sea with a lovely pasta dinner at the Marriott Hotel which included--BACON!!! God, I love Jordan!

The next afternoon, we woke up and make the quick 1.5 hour drive back to Amman. We unloaded in our last hotel and got a taxi into the old downtown of Amman. The shopping district was full of life and energy. There was music and laughter, great food on every corner, and shops full of everything one could want. After walking through the steep alleyways and stocking up on a few last minute purchases, we ended up at Hashem Restaurant--Jordan's most famous hole-in-the-wall. For around $10 we ate in a no-frills restaurant that would have scared most people. Stacks of freshly made pita are tossed onto your table when you arrive. Your meal of hummus, falafel, foul, with tomatoes and mint are served without plates and silverware. Despite the look of the joint, the walls are full of pictures of Arabian royalty and international heads of state who all came to eat the most delicious food. It was the first time in 7 days that Anouk didn't complain about her meal and Xavier didn't come up for breath until there was nothing left on the table. Our experience at Hashem was the best way to end our lovely holiday trip to Jordan.

...I wonder if the American Community School in Amman has openings.

check out pictures of our trip...

Belgium or bust

We've actually enjoyed a real, proper Belgian holiday this summer. When we arrived in Geel, the weather was cool when all of a sudden the heat and humidity arrived and we were wiped out. At night, the clouds burst open and cooled us down with a huge downpour followed by intense thunder and lightening.

Rob and I enjoyed our 8th wedding anniversary (and Belgian independence day) by spending the day in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. We had a lovely day walking around, window shopping, people watching, and eating at delicious restauraunts. My favorite part was tasting olive oils at a store called "Oil & Vinegar" while Rob quite enjoyed watching me buy tunics in an air-conditioned shop. The next night, Rob and I had a grown-ups only night at Tom and Elly's house where we played poker, taste-tested beer, and laughed into the wee hours.

We have taken advantage of the huge 50% summer sales by spending a day in Antwerp to kit out Rob and the kids. We had lunch at one of our favorite Lebanese restaurant. The next day, the kids hung out at the park with Bomma and Bompa. We ended our great relaxing day by driving to the forest where specialty ice cream trucks are parked. We tasted delicious handmade ice creams from goat milk and can't wait until we get to go back.

All of that was great...but nothing so far compares to the awesomeness of teaching Xavier how to ride a bike in an hour. Using the short-cut grass as a race course, Xavi learned in no time. The next day we went to an empty car park and taught him how to use his breaks and start himself. Within another hour, Xavier was dodging Anouk, and riding non-stop laps.

So far we've had a lovely time and it will only get better with trips to Brugges, the beer garden, and London.

my brown eyed girl...

turned four this week! Tuesday was her big day and we celebrated her birthday on Friday 5.15 with way too many kids at our house. In an effort to give the kids more room to play, we told parents to drop the kids and go [read: escape]. 10 kids + my 2 = AAAHHHHHHHHH!!! The playing wasn't the big problem. But it's amazing how thirsty these 12 kids were. They were like camels. And they always wanted to drink at the exact same time!

It didn't matter how exhausted Rob and I were at the end of the two hours. The kids, especially Anouk, had a great time! Want to see the birthday photos?

Also... our www.angelaandrob.com website is finally up and running again. Long time no update. So if you want to see some photos of our adventures, check them out!

the dust storm cometh

Thursday, May 14, 2009

As we walked home from school on Thursday, their was a vortex of dust swirling in the distance. We walked home briskly so we could make sure that the windows were closed and the house was protected from the impending dust storm. We had to run to the store to pick up some supplies for Anouk's birthday party on Friday, so we had no choice to go outside and deal with the dust.

As we arrived at City Centre, we stopped to photograph the dust storm. Yuck.

The first picture is from the parking lot at City Centre.

The second picture is the new apartment across the street. All of that brick was laid during the day. There was no sand on it before 230 pm.

The third picture is night falling on our little ghetto. The haze is repulsive.