Mom for a week...

One of the jobs I have here is to serve the M's that I work with. It is an honor and a humbling experience to get to work with and for them.

Well, one of the families over here has asked me and a friend of mine, Alex, to house/babysit their 4 kids while they attend a conference in Morocco for a week. I happily agreed to help them out. Their oldest is a girl in the 10th grade, then they have an 8th grade boy, and two younger boys, one in the 5th grade and the youngest is a 3rd grader. They all attend the school I work at, Whitman Academy.

This week has been a lof of fun as well as a lot of hard work. Right after school Alex and I head over to their house. Alex begins cooking dinner (which is promptly at 5 pm!) and I help the two younger kids with their homework. Then after dinner we clean up and entertain the two youngest kids, this involves playing with the wii, watching movies, playing a game...or leaving them be to play on the computer. Then you have to get them to take their showers and get ready for bed. This is the most interesting part of the evening...you learn new and improved ways of being persuasive and cunning :)

The two teenagers spend most of their time in their room on the internet. Every once in a while they'll come out and conversate with us, which I greatly enjoy. It's interesting to hear about a teen's day and thoughts. Wow!

While doing all of this we have to find time to shower, do work at home, make phone calls and send emails as well as have quiet time. Being a stand-in mom is a hard job, but it has been oh so worth it to get to know these cool kids better and be a part of their lives for a week.

Cucumbers

Since being here I have lost a whole 7 kilos, that's about 15 pounds for us Americans. It's the Middle East diet! Don't get me wrong, the food here is unbelievably delicious, it's just that it's all so much healthier for you..as long as you keep a healthy daily minimum pita intake. I only allow myself to have one piece of white pita bread a day...it's so hard b/c they are oh so yummy!

All of the fruits and veggies here just taste so scrumptious. They are all juicier, bigger, sweeter and more delicious than the fruits and veggies back home. I've heard it's b/c they don't use any pesticides here. Which is why we must wash them really well before eating them.

Back home one of my least favorite veggies was cucumbers...I just did not like them one bit. Here though I can't get enough of them. They are so good! And they are used in so many Arab dishes. Pretty much every salad here has huge chuncks of tomatoes and cucumbers in it, so if you don't like them then you're pretty much out of luck.
I hope that my obsession with cucumbers is able to continue when I return to the States...

There are fruit & veggie stands all over the city. There's one about a 10 minute walk away from out flat. I walk there once every other week to stock up. The guys there know me...I'm the American girl that comes in with her backpack and loads it up with bags and bags of goodies!

My bi-weekly fruit stand trip is also a good workout with that heavy backpack of mine! I'm sure I'm a funny sight to see walking down the street on the weeks I decide to buy a watermelon!

Giza Pyramids!

When I was in high school I had a dream list, things I wanted to see and do in my young age…one of those dreams was going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower. A couple of days after I graduated from High school my amazingly cool Uncle Tony (he lives in Belgium) took me on a two week trip to Europe. One of the stops we made was to Paris….. our 2nd day there I found myself at the top of the Eiffel Tower staring out over the big beautiful city of Paris. I remember standing there thinking..”I’ve accomplished one of my major dreams at the young age of 18! Cool!"

After that the adventurer in me made a list of all the things I wanted to do and the places I wanted to go and see before I died. On that list of places to see was Cairo and the Giza Pyramids.

Well, this past weekend I had a friend visit from the States. She let me know that one of the things that she just had to do while here was see the Pyramids. Well….the Pyramids are not in Jordan…but they aren’t very far at all from here…just a little ways to the East. So we hopped on a plane Sunday morning and flew to Cairo.

There I found myself on a camel, in the desert, staring at the grandeur of the Giza Pyramids. I sat there on that tall, stinky animal thinking to myself..”Wow, another thing I can cross off my list, crazy!”

God is good! He has allowed me to experience and see so much during my time out here. Not only have I seen Petra (3 times now), one of the New Wonders of the World, but now I’ve also gotten to see THE PYRAMIDS! I’m so stinkin’ loved!

We were in Cairo for less than 24 hours. We flew in in the morning, saw the Pyramids, the Egyptian Museum and the Nile, and then went back to the airport in the evening to fly back home. Upon returning home I realized how grateful I was for Amman, Jordan and how much I love it here. Like I said, Cairo was fun, but it was….overwhelming. Cairo, the city alone, has about 6 million people in it; as opposed to Jordan which has 6 million people in the whole country. Needless to say, Cairo was very busy, crowded and ummm…stinky:) I would however like to return one day and sight-see some more with Will

What can I cross off my list next?! :)

Beep beep!

I haven't driven since I left home. We can rent cars here for fairly cheap for weekend trips and the such. Everytime friends and I have had to rent a car for a trip I have never been the one to drive. Mostly b/c driving here can be scary. The roads here are not like the orderly ones I'm used to back home. There aren't any rules or reason to the roads here. People turn right from the left lane, and turn left from the right lane.... they don't use blinkers or pay much attention to stop signs. You just kind of drive through the neighborhoods and streets constantly honking your horn to let people know you're coming and to get out of your way. People zoom in and out of traffic, cut you off and ride your butt. There aren't many intersections with traffic lights, instead there are circles. The circles intimidate me greatly....you just kinda get in and hope to get out by the time you need to make your turn...if not then your stuck going around the circle again and again till you can make it out. I won't even watch the road while in taxis, I just stare out my window and pray that I make it to my destination safely.

Well, I have a friend coming to visit from the States and we have some traveling that we need to do, i.e. drive to the Dead Sea, Petra, the airport, and the such. So today I had to go rent a car for cheap and drive for my very first time here.....I was nervous at first but after a bit I got the hang of it, it's kind of like driving in a Nascar race at all times which is pretty fun....although the cirlces still scare me.

Dr. Seuss day

Joanna and I LOOOOOVE Dr. Seuss. So we planned to have a whole day with our classes dedicated to celebrating his birthday. The two of us dressed up as The Cat in The Hat. We made green eggs for the kids to try (we skipped on the green ham cuz it's not so easy to come by in this Islamic country. Muslims don't eat pork). We read many Dr. Seuss books throughout the day (who knew Fox in Socks was such a tongue twister?!) and concluded our celebration with some icecream while watching Horton Hears a Who. Fun, laughs and new experiences were had all around. Oh how I love teaching Elementary school!

Green eggs are sooo yummy! I can't wait to make normal hum-drum food dishes fun with food coloring when I have kids. Green eggs, purple meatloaf, blue rice, pink chicken nuggest....oh the possibilities are endless!

A classroom full of cats in hats!

How well is your Middle East geography knowledge?

Find out here!

Heroes

Once a month at school we have what we like to call.....Spirit Day! The high school student council picks the dress-up theme for the day...and at the conclusion of our school day we have a big all-school assembly. The whole school from 1st-12th grade, teachers, office staff and principal join together for some praise and worship as well as a short word from our principal. The student council gives out a prize to the best dressed elementary student and the best dressed high school student. Today was hero day! I wasn't sure what I was going to see my kids dressed up in as they entered the classroom door....but upon their arrival I was greeted with some pretty cute kids in some surprising costumes.

My boys (left to right): superhero Robin, Prince Caspian (I'm a fan of Caspian myself!). and last but not least I had the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, in my classroom, quite impressive huh. Ban Ki-Moon is Korean as is my adorable Samuel. On the first day of school I asked all my students what they wanted to be when they grew up as I always do and Samuel's response amused me the most...."Ms. Kidd, I want to work for the United Nations when I grow up!" That most certainly made me grin. In my short 3 years of teaching that is the most unique answer I have gotten.

My girls (left to right): an angel, the virgin Mary, Hannah Montana and the sweetest one of all was Miriam, she dressed up as her dad, awwwww!

These are two of the 1st graders. On the left we have Queen Rania and on the right we have Ruth with a bag full of wheat and all. Ruth actually won best dressed for Elementary.

The people that children hold up in high esteem at their young age is precious. They are so innocent.

My mom is my hero.

Who's yours?