I have shamefully not updated this blog since last April when my mother came to visit me in Riyadh and it has been a whirlwind of a life since that time.
Now that I am a current graduate student at Columbia Teacher's College (in addition to maintaining my job at AIS-R) and training my students in the art of the "Daily Discipline of Writing" I feel like a hypocrite for not practicing what I preach. So I am determined to maintain my writing and keep this blog updated. It is hard work. After a long day of teaching and coaching the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down and writing a coherent and interesting blog entry, but now that I am into a good rhythm and routine at school I am going to devote at least one day a week (for now) to maintaining my writing during a prep period. I am going to strive to write more than once a week, but for now that is my basic goal. I put a great deal of pressure on myself to write eloquently and "properly" when I know that I have an audience (unlike my journal writing which is pure stream-of-consciousness rambling).
So for now, I devote this blog entry to playing "catch up" and chronicling my adventures since last April....briefly.
May/June 2014
The school year ended as most school years do - in a flurry of exams and grading and hastened good-byes and social gatherings. The most challenging part of the end of the year this year was the fact that we had to move school campuses and compounds. So in addition to concluding the year and sending our students off to summer break after torturing them with essays and final exams, we teachers had to pack up our classrooms, move boxes upon boxes upon boxes of books and tech equipment, desks, chairs, couches, filing cabinets, smart boards, white boards, artwork, trash and all the other major and minor bits and pieces that make up a school. It was exhausting. My legs and arms were covered in bruises and I was sore for days. But I would be lying if I said it didn't feel somewhat satisfying to be able to work and sweat alongside my colleagues to say goodbye to our old home and work together to get our new school ready.
It broke my heart to say goodbye to Al Yamama compound - my home for the past 2 years as an adult, and four years as a child. I dreaded moving and actually waited until the very last minute possible (the day I flew out for summer) to actually move all of my major items and possessions there. I was fortunate to have the giant vehicle and patience of a good friend to help me. It was hard to say good-bye, but I told myself that a villa is merely a space to live and that while I hated the fact that my new compound, Al Bustan, took me away from the world I had grown so accustomed to, I was willing to be adaptable and make the new situation work for me.
I flew out of Saudi Arabia on June 17th and arrived in Belgium to help my mother celebrate her retirement from over 30 years in education. The big and wonderful surprise was the fact that my sister also flew in unbeknownst to my mother and father. They were beyond thrilled and shocked. It was so wonderful and special having the four of us together. My good friends Liz and Matt Gardner came and visited us in Belgium for a few days and we all enjoyed celebrating Belgian victories during the World Cup! I love sharing my country with friends and spending time with loved ones.
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| End of an era -- Raiders Riyadh Softball Champions! |
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| So proud -- my first group of graduating seniors! |
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| Saying goodbye to the old AISR campus.... |
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| Good bye Al Yamama Pool -- oh so many an hour have I lounged by your side... |
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| Last Al Yamama Pool bikini selfie |
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| Good bye old villa -- oh so many wonderful memories (and parties!) |
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| You will always be my home |
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| Best porch and garden! |
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| Gardners come to Belgium! |
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| Simmy surprises the family! The time calls for 10 am breakfast wine |
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| Love these two |
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| Mama is retired!!! |
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| World Cup Madness!!! Nothing like celebrating Belgian victory in Belgium! |
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| Simmy's always good at making new friends... |
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| Heaven. Pure heaven. |
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| Fries for lunch? YUP! |
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| La Hulpe pop up stadium and bar for the World Cup! |
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| "Quietly" cheering for Belgium in America.....bad call..... |
July 2014
I start graduate school!
I am enrolled in INSTEP, the Columbia University's Teacher's College Masters Program that is designed for in-service teachers. It is a perfect program for me because it is an intensive summer program that allows me to complete the majority of my course work over 3 summers with very little intrusion in my professional life (only 2 online courses are required). When I was initially researching Masters programs I was so dismayed by the fact that so many of them were "full time" and required teachers to essentially quit their jobs to get their Masters degrees. This seemed completely ludicrous to me. How is one expected to become a Master educator by removing oneself from the classroom?
My three weeks spent at Columbia University were absolute heaven. I was in such ecstasy every single day. Yes our days were full. I was in lectures from 9-5 almost every single day and when not attending class I was in the library doing research, reading or writing. But I absolutely loved it. I loved being dedicated to nothing but my education for three short, but incredibly intense weeks. I made wonderful new friends, I was so inspired by my peers and professors and gained so much from the courses I took. While at graduate school I wrote every single day. I felt inspired and strove to explore intellectual issues and theories about education that I had never "had the time" to explore in previous years as an educator. My thoughts and ideas were frequently challenged by my professors and peers and I found myself growing more critical, discerning and inspired by the articles I was assigned to read and the daily discussions and dialogues I would get into with my peers. It was so refreshing to be surrounded by impassioned people. Kind, intelligent and creative minds that genuinely want to make a difference in schools.
By the time the program ended I was already fantasizing about working in the New York Public School district and planning my doctoral dissertation....
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| My new home |
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| New school mascot |
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| Columbia University Library |
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| Uptown 1 train on 116th street |
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| Amazing teacher friends/peers by my favorite fountain (Bethesda angel in Central Park) |
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| Staying serious during our workshop at the Met |
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| I got to take classes at Julliard! Freaked out every single morning.... |
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| Ahh....graduate school bliss |
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| Releasing our imaginations.... |
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| Reading workshop at the KGB bar on the lower east side...yes, I had to go to a communist bar for "class". |
July / August 2014
Finally my real summer begins!
I spend the last few weeks of my summer doing nothing but spending precious time with my family and friends. Simmy came and visited me in NYC to help me move out of my dorm and the fun only increased from there!
Oh....and after five long years of heartbreaks and disappointments and frustrations, I finally get to be with the love of my life!
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| Walks around NYC, of course we find a "Wellesley" |
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| We cool.... |
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| Everything is more hilarious with this one |
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| So pretty |
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| I swear we're related.... |
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| Catching up with lovely old friends from college |
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| Matt and my "first date" |
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| Love him! |
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| Can't stay serious for that long.... |
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| Breakfast at my favorite diner, The Chef's Hat, in Williamstown, MA |
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| Loving nature |
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| Playing around the frog pond |
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| Piggy back rides at the farm |
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| Sweatshirt swap and picking raspberries |
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| Matt drove 4 hours to come say goodbye to me before my flight.... |
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| Last meal of the summer -- salmon bacon burger!!! Heaven |
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| My two favorite women in the world. |
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