from the mind of a seventh grader...

I was reading through my students' journal this afternoon and ran across these two entries that had me laughing out loud. While they might seem strange and absurd, you have to admire the creative juices that are flowing. :)

Q: Would you rather be 1m tall or 4m tall? Why?
A: I would rather be 4m so I can squish my friends which chose 1m to the ground and then put sticks in them and put them on the BBQ machine so they can be friends on a stick.

Q: What kind of ice cream flavor would you like to be?
A: I would like to be chocolate ice cream coated with sprinkils because then everyday after lunch I would lick myself a few licks instead of getting up going to get a plate and put desersts on it. It is much better to lick myself.

one quarter down...

I just finished up my first quarter as a teacher. Here are some memorable moments as of late.

"Miss, I will pay you 20 dinars to change my seat. "

One of my students walked into class the other day with a large rip in the front of his polo shirt, right along the collar. He could see that I was looking at his shirt, so he merely smiled and said, "Teacher, it's the new style." I kind of shook my head and let it go. About 10 minutes later, the students were working on a writing assignment. I looked up from my desk and discovered that Mr. Fashion had taken a mini stapler out of his pencil case and was now intently trying to staple his shirt back together. I watched him for a good 3 minutes without him knowing. After three or four strategically placed staples, he was satisfied. He put away the stapler and continued writing.

Student:"You'd better not or you're dead meat and toast!" (said to another student while I was standing nearby.)
Me: "Dead meat on toast?"
Student: "No, AND toast."
Me: "Where did the toast come from?"
Student: "I don't know; it's just dead meat and toast."

A few weeks back I decided we need to do some drama in my class. I assigned the students a story to read, and then placed them in groups. Their task was to write the story into a play that they would act out for the class. I gave them the liberty to change the dialogue as they saw necessary, and they took to the task like fish to water. After several noisy and fairly chaotic class periods, the scripts were ready and the plays set to begin. Little did I know just exactly how into it these kids would get. I had students in costumes, boys in wigs, and shirts stuffed with Kleenex. One group even included a little break dance scene enhanced with the appropriate lingo, such as "What up, boy?" It was great fun.

The budding stars

snapshots of India

It's been quite a while since my last post. I guess it's true what they say, time flies when you are having fun. Although, I must admit that I am having a rather strange experience when it comes to time. We don't really have seasons here, so it never really feels like time is passing. For instance, I'm sitting right now in my air conditioned apartment because the daytime highs are still in the 90s, yet the calendar tells me that it is November 1; I hardly believe it. My environment tells me that it is still summer, so hearing about Halloween, pumpkins, changing leaves, and cooler weather seems rather surreal and foreign. It's a very odd experience. But the first quarter is ending, so time must be passing. In a way it is nice because it's already November and I hardly realized I've been here for over two months.

A few weeks ago we had a week holiday from school to celebrate the Muslim holiday called Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan. I thought it wise to make the most of this time off, so I took a trip to India. Wow, what an experience. I fell in love with it as soon as I got into the rickety mini bus taxi with red and black tiger striped interior that served as our transportation to the hotel. The sights and sounds of India were so fascinating. I've been wanting to visit India for over a year now, so I was very thankful for this opportunity. We visited Goa, which is the location where they shot to opening scene in the second Bourne Identity movie, for those of you movie buffs out there. Goa was originally settled by the Portuguese, so some parts have a very European feel, but the tropical environment was undeniable. I have never seen so many palm trees in my whole life. Where we have forests of oaks and maples, they have forests of palm trees. My eyes were glued to the window for the entire drive from the air port to Goa. Bahrain is nearly colorless, so the vivid shades of India's landscape were a welcome relief to my eyes. If there was ever an occasion to use the word lush, now would be it. Everything was green and fresh; amidst the green were flashes of brightly colored flowers--pinks, reds, purples. The buildings of India are also painted in vibrant reds, yellows, blues, and greens. The people are beautiful--dark, sun-baked skin draped in the rich colors of saris and accented by gold chains and hoops. Words are not enough and my eyes could scarcely take it all in.
We stayed right on the beach, which is most likely my favorite place in the whole world. We could walk out the back and literally be in the sand. The water was so warm and the waves were huge. I had a ball. It was a week of much needed rest and relaxation, which only meant that coming back was even more difficult. But you do what you need to do. I only hope that some day I can go back to India.

I will try to post a few pictures tomorrow.