Hello to all.
Joe and I arrived safely in Ankawa last Friday, July 6, 2012 at 3 am. It has been a whirlwind of activity since then. Most of our time is spent at Mar Qardakh School. The school week is from Sunday (a half day) through Thursday. Friday and Saturday are free days. Saturday we went and visited some of the area sites, the citadel, a park, American Burger where you can get a good hamburger. It was fun, but very hot so we didn't stay too long in any one place. If you do not have a car you take a taxi. There are not any stop signs or signals here. Your horn is how you let other drivers know you are coming (sometimes you do not look to see where you are going because you see an accident waiting to happen). However, those that do drive know this as normal and so relatively safe. Last Sunday we spent our day at school setting up and getting ready for the students. We were not quite sure what we were in for on Monday. Monday the school children and their parents arrived. We are expats and we were assigned the tables where parents came who wanted to sign their children up for the bus or would be "walkers". Walkers are children who will have a parent, relative, etc pick up their child from school. The parent designates who is allowed to pick up their child. The rest of the morning was having the children pick their major of either Drama, Art, Music, Computer, Gym and then go with that group. Joe has students in 3rd and 4th grades for Drama. I have students in 3rd and 4th grade for Gym. We were pretty worn out by the end of the morning. We still were in jet lag mode. The afternoon was meetings with Diane (Head of the school) and the teachers. It does not take long before you are put in an area of responsibility, team leader, department head, office staff. It is now Tuesday and we are finally getting into a routine. We are staying at St Peter's, a seminary. Breakfast is a 7, bus 7:20 to school, meeting at 8 and children arriving at 8:30. Then until 1 pm it is time with students and for Joe, Drama Class and myself, Gym (unless you are called to a meeting). Everything is very fluid here. The afternoons are with the teachers or your group putting together lesson plans or working on a project (carnival, drama presentation).
Mass, Sunday evening at St Joseph's, the cathedral, was very beautiful, but different from what I have ever experienced. Sunday evening was windy and dusty, but by Monday morning the dust looked like a fog. Glad that has cleared by today.
Well, it is time for dinner. Will blog again another day. Please continue to pray for us and all those here.
Joe and I arrived safely in Ankawa last Friday, July 6, 2012 at 3 am. It has been a whirlwind of activity since then. Most of our time is spent at Mar Qardakh School. The school week is from Sunday (a half day) through Thursday. Friday and Saturday are free days. Saturday we went and visited some of the area sites, the citadel, a park, American Burger where you can get a good hamburger. It was fun, but very hot so we didn't stay too long in any one place. If you do not have a car you take a taxi. There are not any stop signs or signals here. Your horn is how you let other drivers know you are coming (sometimes you do not look to see where you are going because you see an accident waiting to happen). However, those that do drive know this as normal and so relatively safe. Last Sunday we spent our day at school setting up and getting ready for the students. We were not quite sure what we were in for on Monday. Monday the school children and their parents arrived. We are expats and we were assigned the tables where parents came who wanted to sign their children up for the bus or would be "walkers". Walkers are children who will have a parent, relative, etc pick up their child from school. The parent designates who is allowed to pick up their child. The rest of the morning was having the children pick their major of either Drama, Art, Music, Computer, Gym and then go with that group. Joe has students in 3rd and 4th grades for Drama. I have students in 3rd and 4th grade for Gym. We were pretty worn out by the end of the morning. We still were in jet lag mode. The afternoon was meetings with Diane (Head of the school) and the teachers. It does not take long before you are put in an area of responsibility, team leader, department head, office staff. It is now Tuesday and we are finally getting into a routine. We are staying at St Peter's, a seminary. Breakfast is a 7, bus 7:20 to school, meeting at 8 and children arriving at 8:30. Then until 1 pm it is time with students and for Joe, Drama Class and myself, Gym (unless you are called to a meeting). Everything is very fluid here. The afternoons are with the teachers or your group putting together lesson plans or working on a project (carnival, drama presentation).
Mass, Sunday evening at St Joseph's, the cathedral, was very beautiful, but different from what I have ever experienced. Sunday evening was windy and dusty, but by Monday morning the dust looked like a fog. Glad that has cleared by today.
Well, it is time for dinner. Will blog again another day. Please continue to pray for us and all those here.
Glad to read everything is going well
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