Friday, September 30, 2011

Monsters Do Exist!

Most people would probably find my experience to be frustrating, yet it has its humor. Bahrain is my first real teaching job. So, I travel half way across the world, and leave everything behind to come here. Before I arrived, I guess I had this preconceived notion that the students would be really well behaved (I figured that students in the states were going to be the most difficult to deal with ever). So, I was so excited to see what my first ever class would be like. Well, I have had 2 weeks of school to get to know my class, and let me say, it was not at all what I had expected! There are some sweet little children in my class, but the majority of them are little monsters! Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a calm and friendly person who never gets angry. But I can say that these students have brought out some serious rage in me, like blood boiling rage. Granted I don't blow up and scream, but I usually give my students a pretty intense verbal beating. Everyday I have to explain to them that they are here to learn, and not to act silly, and dance, and make noises, and steal things from the classroom, and yell and run through the halls, and all the other things that they just love to do. The crazy thing is that some of the students, when I ask them why they behave this way, they just stare and don't respond, or some of them smile and  think its funny! I have tried everything, from rewards, to verbal recognition, proximity, punishment, and it seems like nothing works. This is funny, just the other day, I had had the final straw with my students not walking in line and screaming in the hall. So what did I do, I took them out around noon to the paved track on the playground, and made the students all walk on the white line for about 3 laps. This may sound easy to adults, but it is somewhat torturous to children, especially at noon when the sun is blazing hot and you don't have water. It was somewhat painful for me even, because I was sweating like crazy and the track is pretty long. By the time we got back inside, the students were soaked! And did it work, no! The next day we had to do it all over again, but this time, after about 2 laps, I let the students who were walking properly sit down in the shade, while the rest had to keep walking until they got it right. So, this is my crazy class. I'm fearing that the gray hairs are going to sprout, seriously! But, I'm going to try and remain optimistic and positive, and pray that the behavior changes soon before I become a big monster than they are, lol. I'll get some class photos soon.

It's Always Sunny...In Bahrain

One of the sweet things about Bahrain is that it is always sunny. Since I have been here, which has been just about a month, the only type of weather I have experienced is hot and sunny. And when I say sunny, I mean sunny. There literally are no clouds in the sky! This is pretty cool considering that when living in the US, I saw weather of all sorts, sun, clouds, rain, snow, ice, hail, and all that jazz. The fact that it's 105 degrees F. doesn't even bother me. I believe that the sunny weather truly helps me to feel happier, and therefore, I don't even feel homesick yet. I probably also don't feel homesick because I have surrounded myself with amazing people, and I do keep in contact with everyone at home as well. But back to the topic of weather, something shocking did happen the other day (shocking because all I see is sun). I woke up one morning and it was foggy! This was the closest thing to clouds that I have seen since I left Pittsburgh. Of course the fog only lasted for a short while in the morning, and then it was hot and sunny for the rest of the day. I can only imagine what it will be like when the rain happens. Apparently here, it rains for a whole 2 days per year, and when it does, everything shuts down because there is no draining system. Last year when it rained, my roommate Rachel (who taught 2nd grade at the time), said that between the 3 2nd grade classes, only about 7 students showed up! So, I will update if anything crazy as far as weather goes, happens here.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Fearing For My Life

Ok, so maybe my post title is a bit dramatic, but I had some pretty dramatic thoughts in my mind. I really haven't feared for my life yet since I have been here, but this was really like something you might see in a movie.  So, upon my arrival in Bahrain, I had to get my fingerprints taken and my photo and all that jazz. I also had to go for a medical exam, even though I had to have one before I left the states. So today, I had to leave school a bit early to go on the bus into the city to go to the medical clinic for this exam. Now understand, this is a modern country that I'm living in, but going to a medical facility here is not quite like going to a hospital in the states. In the US, hospitals are sparkly white and smell like bleach and cleaning products and they are just so sanitary you could eat off the floors. Well, the medical clinic here is kind of like that somewhat dingy looking building that you don't feel all so clean in. It's like in a movie, when someone has to go to some spooky doctor office, and there's babies crying and people coughing and such. So the clinic was very much like this movie setting, except there were no babies crying, and I was maybe one of 5 ladies in the clinic. I would say there was a ratio of about 1 female for every 20 males, so they all give you the stare down when you go. Definitely interesting. By law, the men and the women have to be in separate areas for any procedures. So while the million men sat outside on the chairs and waited to be x-ray in one room, myself and the 4 or 5 other ladies had to cram into this little cubicle, close the door, and get dressed there. There was a bin full of what I assume were used gowns, and one hanging, which I'm still not totally sure if it was used or not. And every time this cubicle door was opened, all the men outside would see us standing in the hospital gowns (it was awkward, but I guess now I can look at that and laugh). After, I had to get my vision checked, my blood pressure, and my heart checked. These tests are done when there are 5 other patients in a room with you as well. When this checkup was complete, I must say I was happy to leave. Nothing traumatic happened, but it was just a weird place to be. I would have taken some photos for everyone to see, but I don't think it would have been a good idea to take pictures inside the clinic, but really, just use your imagination, and you will get the picture. All in all, I just hope I don't get so sick that I have to see a doctor while I'm here, because that thought scares me. I'll stick to eating healthy and drinking lots of water.    

Friday, September 16, 2011

Live Bands and Going Out







One of the other cool things about Bahrain is that on weekends, and even weekdays, you can usually find something to do. I still don't know the area that well, but my friends do, so they know where all the fun is. One of the common things I have seen is live bands. Bars and clubs seem to always have live bands doing cover songs of other bands. The very top photo is of a Filipino band who did popular cover songs by various artists, and they were really good. I totally enjoyed their performance. Below that is a pic of myself and my super awesome roommate Rachel. She and I and some friends and her boyfriend all went out and had a lovely time. Following is a snapshot of myself, Rachel, and  Ben (the 1st grade crew), and then a nice group photo. Bars and clubs are not like they are in the states. You don't just walk along any street and find a bar or club to go to. Here, since most people don't drink, the bars and clubs are inside of hotels. So, at these places, you find people from all over the world, as well as from Bahrain. It's funny because you even see a few religious men in their clothes they would wear out and to the mosque, in the bar. Seems a bit backwards, but Bahrain is one of the "playgrounds" of the Middle East. It really is quite liberal here. Onward! Following the group picture are some more photos that I took last night. Charmaine, who lives downstairs from my apartment and is from South Africa as well, went out with me to a hotel last night. We also invited 2 other teachers to join us as well. We went to one hotel where a South African band was performing (also doing cover songs), and it was ladies night! Ladies night here mean that females don't pay anything for their drinks the entire night. We also went to another hotel where we met up with a few more friends. This hotel had a Beatles cover band performing. The band was amazing and really had the mass crowd excited. I tried to get a few pics because the outfits were great! The last photo is of my, Charmaine, and Frank. Frank teaches as well, and he and his roommate had an awesome time out as well. It's exciting to go somewhere where there is always something to do and people to hangout with and have such a fun time. I think these experiences will help me really adjust to my environment and grow to love it more and more. 

And it finally arrives...........the first day of school!







So the whole reason I came to Bahrain is to teach. This is my first ever teaching job and let me tell you, it is hard work. The photo I posted at the top of the page is the blank canvas of a room that I was given for my first grade class. Unlike schools in the states where you are given a lot to work with, here, you get an empty room and have to select things that you want for your class, and hope that you will get it. This can be frustrating, and there were definitely moments where I was sitting in my room and feeling very upset with the way things were going. However, I started decorating and trying to make it look fun for the first graders. Each class has a theme animal, and my classroom, as I'm sure you could tell, is the frogs. So there will be many frog decorations in the class. When I finished decorating, it was by no means perfect, but it wasn't too horrible looking either, nor was it over cluttered with things everywhere. 
 So the big day finally arrives! Yesterday (Thursday), was the first day for my students. (The school week here is Sunday-Thursday) This gave me anxiety all morning before they arrived. I was just dying to know what my class would be like, and if I would do an ok job. My class roster lists 25 students in my class (which is a lot for a lower grade and just 1 teacher). 17 students showed up, with the majority being boys. I have only 7 girls in my class, and 18 boys! The students arrived slowly, and once they were settled in and said their goodbyes, I was finally able to get an idea of what my class would be like. It took me maybe a whole 2 minutes to discover which students in the class were going to cause premature aging and graying. Fortunately, of the 17 I had yesterday, the are maybe 2 or 3 that will cause this issue. All of my students are very nice, there are just a few that like to shout out and fidget like they have ants in their pants. As for all of them being English language learners, they are quite good at speaking English. I expected some of them to barely be able to say anything, but maybe of them carry on very long conversations in English (and most have A LOT to say). Nonetheless, I think I will definitely grow to love this class.
The day was chaotic and confusing, but it finally came to an end at 1:20pm, when then students are dismissed on Thursday (no 8th period on Thursdays). I took an deep breath and was pretty happy that I survived day 1 of my big girl job, even though it was tough. I am definitely looking forward to see what the rest of the class will be like, and how they will change over the course of the year, and how I will change over the course of this first year as well.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Giant Pizzas and Tiny Sodas





At home in Pittsburgh, people usually order pizza in a square box and get giant sodas to go with it. Here in Bahrain, its a little different. One evening, we had a gathering at my roommate Rachel's boyfriend's house (his name is Mike). As a few more people joined our party, we felt it would be a good idea to order some pizza (which I believe came from Little Caesar's, didn't know there was one here). Little Caesar's offers "meter long" pizzas! So of course, we ordered 2, plus maybe 2 additional pizzas. You think that was enough? We had about 8ft of pizza for about 9 people. My 1st grade teacher colleague, Ben, was kind enough to help model the massive size of this pizza. So, what was even more exciting than the giant pizza was the tiny little cans of sprite. I'll tell you, they were just the most adorable things ever! and they fit in the palm of your hand, little bit size sprites (or maybe shot size or a little bigger). I found the huge pizzas and baby soda cans to be entertaining, so I felt it would be appropriate to share with the world.

Drive-up Liquor

This is one of those things I wish I had a camera to take a photo of. Today, following an employee lunch, myself and a few friends had to do some grocery shopping, and on the way, we decided to make a quick stop at the liquor store. There is only one liquor store on the entire island, but considering how many people do not drink, this is not unusual. For those of us from the U.S., this may be odd considering we have usually one liquor store per neighborhood. Anyways, the funny thing about this liquor store is that it has a drive-thru window. It's just like going to your local fast-food spot. You drive up, place your order, pay, and then you are on your merry way. In Pittsburgh, we do have drive-up beer distributors, but I'm fairly sure we don't have drive-thru liquor, so this was quite the sight for me. I suppose the thought of ordering Grey Goose while driving seems a bit backwards. Regardless, I did not purchase anything from the store. Aside from not having anything I liked, (the selection was limited), some of the bottles were extremely expensive. A bottle of Goose costs 44BD (Bahraini Dinars), which is over $100U.S.D! I must admit, I find out surprising new things about this country everyday, and I love it! 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

My House Is Your House








I feel as though I should take everyone on a small tour of my apartment, just so you can see how I'm living. I am not living the life of a queen, however, I have no complaints. The place is spacious and clean, and that's all I really need. The photo at the top is of the outside of my apartment. The balcony that you can see on the second floor, that is the balcony outside of my bedroom. The photo below is of our driveway, and more importantly, the stray cat that lives here as well. I have not yet named this cat, but I am open to suggestions. This cat has lived here longer than I have, so I feel it would only be appropriate to name it. A little info about him, he is mostly black, very skinny with a fluffy tail, loves to lay in the shade or in muddy puddles if he can find one, and is quite the romantic (sometimes at night I can hear him having a jolly old time with the lady cats of the neighborhood). Moving on, the third photo is of my living room area. It is pretty plain, we have not yet bought any fun pillows or throw blankets or tables for this area. Still, the couches and chairs are very comfortable. Next, we have our kitchen, with all the kitchen basics. I recently made my kitchen 100 times better by purchasing a George Foreman grill (yes, George is even in Bahrain)! Below that is my bedroom, which as I mentioned, has a balcony facing the street. I included, as a final photo, I pic of the view from my balcony. This area is outside of the city, so there are not many lit up buildings, but the view is still quite nice. As a final note, the other interesting thing about my apartment (besides the fact that there is a pool, which I have not yet used or even seen), is that from here, and from pretty much everywhere else in the country, you can always hear when it is time for prayer. Bahrain is a primarily Muslim country, and they pray 5 times each day. Whenever it is time for prayer, this chant comes on to signal prayer time, and goes on for about 5 minutes or so. I assume that some how this country is rigged to a bunch of loudspeakers, because these chants can be heard everywhere! They are very pretty though, so I don't mind. So that is just a bit about the living quarters and such. Nothing crazy has happened yet, but then again, I have only been here for 6 days, so I'm sure that crazy times will happen sooner or later.

Sometimes.......I Wish I Had a G.P.S






Warning! Let's say that someday you decide that you would love to come and visit the lovely Kingdom of Bahrain. Of course, when you are here, naturally, you would want to explore the area around where you live. Well, if you do not know this place like you know the back of your hand, you might want a G.P.S. So, I will share my story of living sans G.P.S. My first 2 days of school involved me getting a ride back to my apartment, on the account of me having a million pounds of books, or helping people with their books. Now, my apartment is only a 2 minute walk from the school, so it is extremely close. Anyways, I recognized some familiar buildings and walked towards them, assuming that was where my apartment was located, however, after walking for about 5 minutes and not passing my place, I realized I was not on my street. You see, what makes this so challenging is that in Bahrain, you can't really identify where you are going based on buildings because they are all some variation of beige or sand color, and almost all have flat roofs. For example, you can't tell someone, "Hey, I live near the big, red brick house", because in Bahrain, there is no such thing as a red brick house, they are all beige, and not brick! Also, in Bahrain, you can't identify what street you are on or even near because most streets are not marked with a street sign, and if there is a sign, it will be posted somewhere on a wall outside of someones house. Additionally, the streets all go by number, and not by name, so you would need to know your street number as well. Even cab drivers here often times are not sure of where to go because of the lack of street signs and identifiable landmarks, especially in neighborhood areas. Well, needless to say, after about 10 or 15 minutes, I found my apartment, and was quite excited to see it and get out of the hot sun. So, the lesson of this story is, please know your way around, or at least wear your walking shoes. 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

More Adventures and Fun Times




So I finally figured out how to post some photos on this blog. So, the top photo is of one of my evening gatherings. A group of 9 of us drove into Bahrain's capital, Manama, and went out to eat at Trader Vic's. Trader Vic's has amazing food, especially seafood. As I'm sure you can imagine, being on an island, you get plenty of seafood. For appetizer's, I had tuna tartar (raw tuna, topped with an  avocado mousse), and crab rangoons (wontons filled with crab). For my entree, I had red curry seafood, and it was just so delicious. I had a lovely time with all of my new friends. I could not have asked for a nicer evening. The bottom picture shows three new fruits I tried this evening. When I first went grocery shopping, I noticed that there are many fruits and veggies here than I have not seen in the U.S. So, I made it my mission to try as many new things as possible. When grocery shopping, I did see lamb brain, but wasn't feeling THAT adventurous. So here is what I tried. The fruit on the left (the yellow one), is a Thailand watermelon. It tastes just like red watermelons that we are used to eating, only it is not quite as sweet, but still tasty nonetheless. The fruit in the center is a rosemary pear. I don't think I have ever tried this kind of pear before, but it tastes just like any other pear. Finally, the fruit on the right, the red spiky-looking one, is called a Rambuttan, also from Thailand.When you slice off the top, there is a white fruit inside, with a pit. Once you slice the top, you can peel off the rest of the skin. The actual fruit is quite tasty, its very similar to a lychee (kind of like a large, sweet white grape). So these were the adventures of today, it was quite enjoyable. I did also find a George Foreman grill, which was equally awesome, and will be my best cooking friend. 

Things I've Learned in Bahrain

I've been in Bahrain for four days now, and even in just those days, I have learned a lot. Here are some things  you all should know about this country. 1. It is hot, and pretty humid all the time (indoors is the only way to escape it. 2. Even when you are indoors, you can't escape the heat completely, because in manifests itself in the water. In Bahrain, there is no such thing as cold water coming out of the faucet, it's either warm or boiling hot. It's is not advisable to take a shower during the day because you will roast. Early morning or night is best. 3. The water is not drinkable. Everything has bottled water or water coolers. Drinking it is a very bad idea, one that I don't want to try. 4. You can't avoid dust. I spent time cleaning and sweeping and mopping my apartment because the floor seemed a little dusty. Well, you better believe that the moment the floor dried (about 2 minutes later due to the heat), my floor was dusty again. Because of all the sand, there's no stopping it. 5. The people here are by far the friendliest, most helpful, and honest people I have ever met in my life. People constantly go out of there was to help you and make you feel comfortable and welcome. My awesome roommate Rachel, has introduced me to so many people and taken me shopping and out for outings, so I feel like I'm a part of the group already. Also, the honestly of people is unbelievable. A group of us went shopping at a local store called Ramez (kind of like a giant Walmart). At Ramez, you put a coin into a slot in the shopping cart, and it unlocks it for you to use. When finished shopping, I put the cart back, grabbed my bags, and went back to the van. Moments later, a gentleman from the store came running out after me because I had left the coin in the cart (apparently the coin comes back out when you return in). He wanted to return the coin to me, even though it's only worth 1/10 of a Bahraini Dinar. It was so sweet. 6. Bahrain is very safe. There is virtually no crime here, people leave car and home doors unlocked and never have a problem. You don't have to live in fear of walking outside at night. It's really nice. 7. The people here seem to really like the King. His picture is everywhere. It's on the sides of buildings, on the backs of peoples cars, on booths at the malls, and everywhere else imaginable. You can't forget his face. 8. The gas here is ridiculously cheap. To fill up the car, it cost about 3-4BD. which is the equivalent to about $8-11! Definitely a good place for driving. So these are just some of the things I have learned about this place so far. I love learning new things, so it has certainly been great for me. I hope I can have a list of 100 things before I leave.

My First Day

My journey to the middle east started on Friday, September 2nd, with some teary goodbyes at the airport. After a few moments though, I pulled it together, hopped on the plane, and before I knew it, I was in Bahrain! Since I have never traveled to the middle east, this was a whole new experience for me. I went through customs, had my photo taken and fingerprints scanned (because I would be living and working there, I have to be in their files). I was greeted by Maya, a lovely Lebanese lady who would be driving me to my new flat. She is also in charge of everything related to kindergarten and 1st grade, so she is kind of my boss as well. She was very sweet and took me to get a new phone, and help me get to my flat. When she left, the confusion began. The first struggle of the night involved my bed sheet. There was only one sheet, stitched together only at one corner. It took me 15 minutes of thinking how this would work, so I just guessed maybe people don't use a fitted and flat sheet. Then, I wanted to use my new phone, but all the options were in Arabic, so I couldn't read and understand what they said. Finally, the bathroom light was out and there was no shower curtain, so bathing was tough too. Finally, I figured it was best for me to just go to sleep, and start new tomorrow. It's exciting to not know what the future holds.