I can't believe it's summer already! With school projects, youth events, and the like, spring has just flown by. Here's some highlights:
Grade 7 took a field trip to the Bahrain Coast Guard! Sad to say, I never knew we even had one, but I suppose it makes sense! The entire presentation was in Arabic, so I have no idea if it was even good or not, but afterwards we got to go on a fun boat ride! We stood on top of the open air boat with only a thin wire to keep us on board. It seemed slightly dangerous with a pile of rambunctious seventh graders, but it was fun cruising the coast. :)
Most of the fourth quarter we were reading the novel Hoot. It's quite the cute and entertaining story of several misfit middle schoolers on an environmental crusade. Although I had to read most of it aloud and explain all the sarcasm, my students really enjoyed it. Here's the awesome bulletin board I made of all the characters, which turned out to be quite helpful as one of the boy characters is named Dana which was terribly confusing for my students!
In June we celebrated the Al Raja graduation. As usual, it was quite the festive occasion. Here's Rey and I all dolled up for it.
This year was also a special on as it marked the retirement of our principal, Peter Kapenga, after 10 years of service to Al Raja School. We had a lovely celebration dinner at the Regency Hotel, complete with a song and dance put on by the staff! (No, I did not participate, considering my inability to carry a tune and my Dutch blood :) )
This spring we also welcomed the newest member of our family, DJ Fluff Magnet. (Yes, Rey must have some magic power to be able to convince me to get a dog!) I still would say I'm not a fan of dogs, although this little one has managed to steal my heart.
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Last week we had another youth event, a praise and worship evening called (HE)art of Worship. We wanted to explore other art forms as worship (dance, painting, drama, rap, poetry, collage) We started with a time of corporate singing, and then broke into stations where the youth could try out a different art form. I was in charge of the collage station. Fortunately for me and my green habits, I stumbled upon the art room at school at the end of the year when they were getting rid of all the old supplies. I garbage-picked two big bags full of acrylic paints, colored pencils, glitter, colored paper, brushes, old magazines, and even half-finished canvases that I repainted. It was a gold mine! Rey just rolled his eyes as I walked away with all my treasures, but the timing could not have been more perfect. After the stations, each group had a chance to come to the front to present what they learned. It was a great event with about 100 kids attending. Surprisingly, most of the youth had NOT been part of the camp in April, so our reach is spreading!
art+of+Worship.jpg)
Rey being, well, Rey. :)
Collage station
Dilip leading worship.
Our awesome team for (HE)art of Worship.
Now we are on summer vacation. This will actually be my FIRST summer spent in Bahrain! It's already been 110* (or hotter, I'm sure) and Ramadan starts in 10 days. Still, I'm trying to be optimistic. I've made a list of things to keep me occupied this summer including many Pinterest recipes and projects as well as exploring some new corners of Bahrain (or perhaps discovering there are no new corners!) I'm going to try to post my discoveries quite regularly throughout the summer. In the meantime, I've been on a shopping spree of buying plants to at least give me the comfort of being somewhere green.
Grade 7 took a field trip to the Bahrain Coast Guard! Sad to say, I never knew we even had one, but I suppose it makes sense! The entire presentation was in Arabic, so I have no idea if it was even good or not, but afterwards we got to go on a fun boat ride! We stood on top of the open air boat with only a thin wire to keep us on board. It seemed slightly dangerous with a pile of rambunctious seventh graders, but it was fun cruising the coast. :)
Most of the fourth quarter we were reading the novel Hoot. It's quite the cute and entertaining story of several misfit middle schoolers on an environmental crusade. Although I had to read most of it aloud and explain all the sarcasm, my students really enjoyed it. Here's the awesome bulletin board I made of all the characters, which turned out to be quite helpful as one of the boy characters is named Dana which was terribly confusing for my students!
In June we celebrated the Al Raja graduation. As usual, it was quite the festive occasion. Here's Rey and I all dolled up for it.
This year was also a special on as it marked the retirement of our principal, Peter Kapenga, after 10 years of service to Al Raja School. We had a lovely celebration dinner at the Regency Hotel, complete with a song and dance put on by the staff! (No, I did not participate, considering my inability to carry a tune and my Dutch blood :) )
This spring we also welcomed the newest member of our family, DJ Fluff Magnet. (Yes, Rey must have some magic power to be able to convince me to get a dog!) I still would say I'm not a fan of dogs, although this little one has managed to steal my heart.
.JPG)
.JPG)
Last week we had another youth event, a praise and worship evening called (HE)art of Worship. We wanted to explore other art forms as worship (dance, painting, drama, rap, poetry, collage) We started with a time of corporate singing, and then broke into stations where the youth could try out a different art form. I was in charge of the collage station. Fortunately for me and my green habits, I stumbled upon the art room at school at the end of the year when they were getting rid of all the old supplies. I garbage-picked two big bags full of acrylic paints, colored pencils, glitter, colored paper, brushes, old magazines, and even half-finished canvases that I repainted. It was a gold mine! Rey just rolled his eyes as I walked away with all my treasures, but the timing could not have been more perfect. After the stations, each group had a chance to come to the front to present what they learned. It was a great event with about 100 kids attending. Surprisingly, most of the youth had NOT been part of the camp in April, so our reach is spreading!
art+of+Worship.jpg)
Rey being, well, Rey. :)
Collage station
Dilip leading worship.
Our awesome team for (HE)art of Worship.
Now we are on summer vacation. This will actually be my FIRST summer spent in Bahrain! It's already been 110* (or hotter, I'm sure) and Ramadan starts in 10 days. Still, I'm trying to be optimistic. I've made a list of things to keep me occupied this summer including many Pinterest recipes and projects as well as exploring some new corners of Bahrain (or perhaps discovering there are no new corners!) I'm going to try to post my discoveries quite regularly throughout the summer. In the meantime, I've been on a shopping spree of buying plants to at least give me the comfort of being somewhere green.
