Get with it, Pam!

9/4/13

As expected I have not gotten to writing as much since school started. Of course the start of school was also the start of a small rise in the humidity levels. At 6:45 am, when I have to report for duty to watch students as they gather on the soccer pitch, I had sweat running down my back. Then I go inside to my refrigerated room.

I think I’ve estimated that I will see (by the end of Monday next week) about 800 students. I think I would be able to get all their names down within a month or so, except there are sometimes 3 students with the same name in a class and several more with the same name in other classes. Some of the most popular names are Abdullah, Salem, Faisel, Bandar, Reem, Haya, and Mohamed. I get my pronunciation corrected routinely. Haha

So on Friday, the lead teacher for Specials is having us all to her apartment for brunch. Then on Saturday I’m going to an orientation sponsored by the AWARE center.  (See previous post.) I’m going with Kelly and Gabe and I anticipate we’ll have a great time.

Gabe and Kelly at Friday Market

All of us are so ready for the weekend. We’re all walking around exhausted from being on the go all the time before school started and then seeing students.  The first bus for school leaves at 5:15. Some of the people who drive leave at 5:00! I’ve been catching a ride with Gabe, who leased a car, and we leave at 6:00. It’s about a 20 minutes drive at 120km/hour. When we arrive to the walled and gated school, guards pull the first heavy steel gate open and motion us through. Then we have to stop while they walk around each vehicle (including the buses) with the mirrors on a pole so they can see under the vehicle before we can go through the 2^nd gate and find a place to park.

My friend, Lucia, who shares my exact same birth date called tonight and I realize I miss seeing all the new teachers. Since school started, the middle school and high school teachers never cross paths with elementary. Lucia teaches middle school, so we decided we needed to make a plan to meet and spend a little time together. She is from Romania, but moved to Minnesota when she was about 18 and then moved to Arizona.  Almost everyone here has such interesting stories.

Fast!

All the pictures are off the walls now, packed up and it’s time for a trip to the storage place. 

In the midst of all that, my son arrived home from China. He had a great time overall, and it has been fun to see his pictures and hear his stories.

Then on Saturday afternoon we drove to Charlotte for him to redeem a NASCAR driving experience certificate we had given him 2-1/2 years ago! He went 151.59 mph! It’s quite a different population of people who frequent the speedway.

My son sitting in the driver’s seat!

It was an interesting experience and he said it was quite an adrenaline rush. I felt it too, and I was just watching!

He’s headed back to Wilmington soon and my daughter is arriving on Monday! I hope to make a final push this week while she is here to get everything into storage that needs to go.

My kids’ grandmother very thoughtfully sent me a package in anticipation of my travels and I am anticipating a fun going away dinner Monday evening.

The main worries left to me are whether or not I will get my papers authenticated in time to travel and what to do with my house if it doesn’t sell before I leave. These are biggies, but I am trying to continue to trust it will all work out.