NB: I’ve written a week’s worth of these and intend to post them all. They are still without pictures, because I am not at leisure to post for as long as it takes. I suspect I will not be able to keep up this pace of posting (I know, what a relief, right?) once school starts next Monday.
8/22/13 Shopping today. We went to the most enormous mall I’ve ever been to called The Avenues (though I’m told there are bigger ones) and I made my first trip to an Ikea. I got lost. Once I found my way out, with a clock and a pillow, I progressed toward Carrefour (I think that’s how it is spelled), which is akin to Walmart or Target.
Everyplace we go is by taxi bus and all the first year teachers go together. Some are talking of getting cars, but I’ll stick to the taxis. Everything looks so much the same here and there are few street signs except on the main thoroughfares, plus driving is a sport with few rules. There is some activity planned for everyday, and much of it is divided between social and work. During the workdays we are at school from 8:00-2:00 and the first week had something on for every afternoon or evening. That gives us a bit of down time somewhere in each day. The weekend was this big shopping trip today and then out for a very nice dinner at a Lebanese restaurant. Tomorrow is a trip to the beach. Some people have a view of the gulf. Every time I look, I can’t tell if it’s water I see out there. I’m told I need to watch the sunrise, so I’ll see if I can get some pictures of that.
I did my first load of laundry and have some lovely unintended tie-dye on some things. Even though I have not turned my water heater on, the water is solar heated to such a degree that it caused the colors to bleed. Oh well, I’ll do better next time.
I brought some 3M Command hooks with me and am very happy I did as they have come in handy for getting things up on the wall right away. I’m still without a light in my bathroom and I am still not able to get the outlets to work. I charge my computer at other people’s apartments or in common areas. There’s a community room (with books and DVDs to swap, a pool table, ping pong table, and benches), a gym with all sorts of equipment, and a pool to which all of us have access. My building is outside of the guarded gated place, but I feel quite safe here.
The high school and middle school are spread over 3 floors each and there is a large green space with a straw roofed hut in it between them and the elementary school. There is a CDC (Child Development Center) for 3 year olds, KG-1 for 4 years olds, and KG-2 for 5 years olds, then grades 1-5. The CDC and KG classes are on a separate hallway and have a separate play area (high awning covering an AstroTurf soccer pitch size field). Grades 1, 2, and 3 are on the ground level and grades 4 and 5 on levels above 3rd. There is a pool and a basketball court covered by a quilted-pillowy looking building made of canvas on the school grounds as well!
Those of you who patiently heard me out when I bemoaned the hurdles I had to jump through with medical exams, blood tests and x-rays might be interested to know that I will be going next week to have them all RE-done here! Seems a bit of overkill to me.
It seemed like a Harry Potter kind of day today, so I watched the Prisoner of Azkaban in stages during various breaks. Now it’s time for bed. I do wear earplugs to bed every night due to pretty constant and often loud street and construction noise.
allaboardforadventure 