Amazing Architecture in Kuwait

Arab Organization Headquarters Building

On this elaborate inlaid table from Morocco, you can see a scale model of the bulilding.

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the the Arab Fund Organization Building.  It was one of those blistering hot days of 120 degrees plus heat and I was tempted to stay home, but I'm so glad I went.  The outside of the building didn't look all that unusual, but when I stepped inside, I knew that I was looking at a building where every space was filled with a perfect blend of the old and new in the Arab world and I was about to be amazed.

The following is a quote from the Arab Organization Building website; arabfund.org/aohq

"The Arab Organization Headquarters Building, situated outside Kuwait City in Shuwaik, blends modern architectural techniques with traditional artisan crafts. Completed in 1994, it is home to four major Arab organizations: the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development, OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries), the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation and the Arab Maritime Petroleum Transport Company.

Considered one of the most acclaimed buildings in the Middle East, it draws thousands of visitors from across the globe."

When I stepped through the massive front doors my eyes were immediately drawn to the Moroccan water wall.  The perfection and beauty of the intricate tile work reminded me of the tile-work I saw on the walls of the Grand Mosque.  Water is gently cascading down the back wall into the pool below.  

We walked into the library through this wonderful intricately carved screen.  There was so much to see in the library to tell you about, but what really caught my eye was this spiral staircase.  The workmanship is remarkable.

The Tunisian room was beautiful; ceramic tile panels and decorative wood and stone patterns that repeat the design,Tunisian carved stone walls and columns and arches cut from Jordanian stone.

Can you see the repeat of the tile design above in this carved wooden screen?

On the next level we walked onto an atrium nine stories high.  The Egyptian Mashrabiya towers over the the entire nine stories.  There were huge potted trees, a suspended glass wall and a Syrian fountain.

I could write a book about all the wonders of this desert oasis located in the outskirts Kuwait, but if you are truly interested in discovering more about the innovative architecture you can find in the Middle East and traditional Arabic Artisan skills, I encourage you to go to their website and take a virtual tour.  Besides, their pictures are much better than mine!

Detail of hand painted door from Morocco

I'm always looking for decorating ideas.....

A Baby Quilt

Besides teaching music, I have two passions.  One is gardening, which is almost impossible to do here in Kuwait.  The other is making quilts, which I most definitely can do over here, although it gets a bit messy in my little apartment.  One thing I have a lot more of here in Kuwait is time.  I used to spend almost two hours a day commuting and in the winter that could easily double when the roads were bad.  There's nothing more relaxing for me than coming home after a long day at school than pushing a needle in and out of the layers of a quilt.

This quilt was made for my granddaughter, Julia.  Her mother picked out the double pinwheel design and the colors, so I can't take full credit for the design, but I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I pieced the top last spring and started quilting it in July.  I finally put in the last few stitches a week ago.  I can't wait to give it to Julia when I get home this Christmas.

Second Grade Program

We had our first program of the school year a couple of weeks ago.  Since it was in October, I chose a Halloween theme.  You would think there would be lots of Halloween songs out there, but it was a challenge to find enough Halloween songs and fingerplays to fill a half hour program with two groups of classes (five sections). So I filled in with "The Good Ship Lollipop" which I thought was relevant because the song is all about candy and a Raffi song called "One Light One Sun."  Raffi is all about creating a world of peace, so his music always plays well here in Kuwait.

Working their little tails off during rehearsal!

Our programs are always in the afternoon, which is pretty nice for me since I live just across the parking lot from the school and I can just put up my feet and relax after a long day at school, but unfortunately, for about one quarter of my students, their parents aren't able to get away to watch their children perform. I'm used to small town Iowa where nearly the entire town shows up to watch the kids put on the yearly Christmas and Spring programs.  People come to those programs who don't even have children performing.  Back in Baxter, Iowa, the attendance got so large, we had to divide the programs into two parts so we could accommodate everyone who wanted to come, and that was in a large high school gym.  Our auditorium here at UAS is somewhat small, but we haven't quite managed to fill it yet.  Our students are drawn from a city of about four million people.  As you can well imagine, traffic is a huge issue.  Traffic on the main thorough fares at night is terrible, so I understand why our programs are scheduled during the day, but I have to say I do miss small town USA where the most exciting event of the year might be seeing your little one shine as she sings her heart out on yet another rendition of "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer."

They loved making a scary face for the big ending!

Fiirst Nine Weeks

This first quarter was much smoother sailing than a year ago.  There was so much to learn about this culture and how I fit into the greater scheme of things here at UAS.  I'm still learning and there is never a dull moment, that is guarranteed!  One thing I did learn is that I never want to spend another Christmas in a desert in Kuwait, so my neighbors here on the third floor will probably get tired of hearing me sing, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" because I booked my flight for United Airlines back in January and Des Moines International Airport here I come!

Expect the Unexpected!

Baby Shower Kuwaiti Style

We gathered in Maria's beautiful villa.

Last night I had a delightful time at a baby shower for one of our para educators here at UAS in the KG department.  The last couple of baby showers I attended here were your typical baby showers held after school in someone's classroom like most of us are accustomed to in the states.  They were really nice with all those neat theme decorating and food preparation ideas you can find on Pintrest these days.  This particular shower was nothing like that at all.  It was held in a beautiful villa In Kuwait on a Friday evening.  I assumed that anything I would typically wear to school would be fancy enough for this baby shower.  Boy, was I wrong!  Many of the women I work with are women who practice the Moslem faith.  They adhere to a strict dress code which requires them to wear clothing that is loose and thick enough so as to not disclose body shape and attract attention.  So at school they will always wear a hijab, which is a scarf wrapped around the head and neck, leaving the entire face exposed. The hijab can be many different styles, depending upon where these women have lived and they are worn with the beauty and grace befitting a princess.  When our hostess opened the door, I hardly recognized my coworkers!  Gone were the hijabs and conservative clothing.  These women were dressed in all the beautiful colors of the Middle East.  Long hair was flowing and exotic jewelry hung around their necks. My mouth must have been gaping because they were laughing at me as I looked around because they knew I could barely recognize most of them!  It was too late for me to go home and change, so I decided to enjoy myself although I felt terribly underdressed.  The buffet was loaded down with many of the delicious dishes we usually see here in Kuwait, but there were also many Mexican dishes served because our hostess is an expat from Mexico and Elly,our expectant mother, is also Hispanic.  The cake was a heavenly four-layer concoction with caramel filling.  We played "pin the bottle on the baby" and another familiar baby shower game where the participants collect clothespins from other ladies they catch crossing their legs.  I didn't last very long!

Where else to play "Pin the Bottle on the Baby?"

A lovely table for party favors

Just relaxing around the table enjoying some after dinner conversation.

It was a lovely evening spent at the beautiful home of my friend, Maria.  I live in a little shoebox apartment here at the teacher accommodations, so it is a real treat to be invited into the beautiful home of a friend and coworker.  These lovely women were from Canada, the US, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, India, Palestine, Mexico, Bulgaria, Armenia, Cuba and Venezuela.  No one spoke of war and ISIS threats.  Nothing could have been further from from anyone's mind.  We were women sharing the time honored tradition of celebrating a precious life soon to be born into a loving family.  The joy and camaraderie I experienced with these beautiful women will be a cherished memory I will hold for a lifetime.

This little alcove sits out a bit from the dining room.  When I come home, I need to do some serious redecorating!

A Visit to the Grand Mosque of Kuwait

Here I am in my hijab and abaya, ipad in hand!

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege to take a tour of the Grand Mosque of Kuwait, the eighth largest mosque in the world.  When we arrived at the mosque, we were directed to to the visitors center where we women were fitted with abayas and hijabs so as to cover our heads, arms, and legs.  Everyone took off their shoes before entering the mosque itself.

My first glimpse...

Around the base of this dome is painted the words "Ama al-hosana," the 99 names of God.

The Grand Mosque of Kuwait, a national treasure, is considered the most important sight in the country.  Our tour guide, Khalil Habash, is clearly a goodwill ambassador for the Muslim faith.  Most of us in the tour were Christians, and we were made to feel very welcome in this house of his God, Allah. 

Our wise and gentle guide, Khalil Habash

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One of the many vaults that line the perimeter of the mosque

The inside of the mosque was quite spectacular.  The mosque encompasses 45,000 square feet and can accommodate 11,450 worshippers.  The construction of the mosque which began in 1979 was completed in 1986 at a cost of 490 million dollars.  My attention was immediately drawn to the beautiful dome.  In this dome are painted the words "Ama al-hosana" which are the 99 names of God as revealed in the Quran.  The mosque contains 122 stained glass windows which came from France, Italian marble, ornately carved teakwood doors from India and four 18 carat gold chandeliers from Italy.  We were told not stand under them because they each weigh a ton!  The walls were covered with intricate mosaics which were done by hand by special artisans from Morocco.

One of the four 18 carat gold chandeliers from Italy weighing in at one ton.  Now I know where to find a  nice chandelier when I decide to do some redecorating when I get back home to Iowa!

This is what we in the west would call the altar area.  You can see an ornately carved pulpit on either side of the vault.

The building is truly massive and a classic example of traditional Islamic architecture with its  beautiful dome, arches, and vaults covered with intricate patterns of mosaics.  A visit to Kuwait wouldn't be complete without a side trip to the Al-Masjid Al-Kabir, otherwise known as the Grand Mosque of Kuwait.

Panic Attack!

At our tour of the mosque, my friend Linda and I met an expat teacher from the states and she invited us to come with her to take a tour of the Liberty Towers.  That didn't work out too well because contrary to the information on their website, they were closed.  We then decided to go out for lunch and get to know each other a little better.  On the way to the restaurant I was digging into my purse and much to my absolute horror, I discovered that my pocketbook was missing!  The last thing you want to do in a foreign country is to lose your civil ID and your bank card.  It's not quite as bad as losing your passport, but it ranks right up there with all the sticky situations expats can find themselves in, not to mention identity theft.  I was pretty sure it had fallen out of my purse at the mosque because I was reaching into it quite a bit pulling out my iPad mini to take pictures.  I couldn't imagine traipsing all over that massive building hunting for a black pocketbook.  We looked up the phone number for the mosque and, of course, no answer.  We even had the phone number of our tour guide, but there was no answer there either.  And on top of that, my friend, Linda, had forgotten her purse, so between the two of us, we had no money for a taxi or bus fare.  Our new friend, Kristen, whom we had just met a couple of hours before, had only been in this country one week and she only had six KD to her name and I had to ask her for 1/2 KD so we could pay for bus fare to get us home.  It doesn't take too long to discover who your true friends are in Kuwait!  So after waiting for what seemed like a lifetime, our bus finally came, picked us up and dropped us off in Hawally.  We still had well over a mile to walk back to our apartment in the 106 degree heat.  I'm sure I wasn't very pleasant company!  We finally got back to our building.  Getting off the elevator, I see a note taped to my door.  It read, "Hi, Did you leave your civil ID in Sameer's taxi?  Here's his number.... He will come back, Maggie."  I kid you not, Maggie is my next door neighbor and Sameer is her regular taxi driver!  What are the chances in this city of 2.5 million people that a random taxi Linda and I got into this morning just happened to be my neighbor's regular taxi driver?  I carry a laminated card in my pocketbook that gives directions to the apartment I live in, so thanks to that little card I've been carrying around for over a year, Sameer knew where to find me.  When he discovered that I had left my pocketbook in his taxi, he brought my civil ID to the building to give to one of the guards to give to me, but then he came back after I could contact him to give me my pocketbook in person.  He insisted I look through it to make sure everything was there.  I was glad I had cash in it to give him for all his trouble.  Unbelievable!  On top of that, it was a very good thing Linda had forgotten her purse that day because had she money on her for cab fare, we would have been at that mosque aimlessly wandering around looking for a pocketbook that was never there!

I am constantly amazed at God's loving kindness He has shown to me over and over in so many ways in my life.  I'm sure in the greater scheme of things happening in this world with constant war, injustice and the ebola outbreak, my little everyday problems rank pretty low.  But nevertheless, God in His infinite mercy and grace continues to guard and protect me and keep me from getting into too much mischief!  And this story also speaks to the basic goodness of human beings all over the world and particularly in this little corner of the Middle East!

This is a selfie I took at the Arab Organizations Headquarters Building, home of OAPEC.  I will tell you all about it in my next blog.

Heading Out and Heading Home

It was an amazing year, full of many ups and downs, but by far it was a wonderful experience.  For God to pluck this middle aged woman out of Midwest small town USA and plop her down into a desert in the Middle East was something only He could make sense of.  So many friends and family had grave misgivings regarding me traveling and working in the Middle East, especially when so many embassies were being closed shortly before I left.  But I always had peace about my decision to leave my beloved Iowa and venture into the unknown.  I'm not a particularly adventuresome person but I had faith that if God led me to this place, He would guard and protect me.  That he did.  Not only did He protect me, he blessed me with wonderful friends and coworkers and a school that needed a music teacher with passion for the job and patience for the challenges ahead.

It took forever for the the school year to end.  I'm used to wrapping up the year in mid-June.  We didn't dismiss until June 17.  The last two months were as warm as the previous August and September, well into 120 degrees.  I thought a person had to be standing on the edge of a live volcanic crater for it to be that hot!  After my last program, anticipation for coming home made the days drag on and on.  The last day finally arrived.  There was this blur of cleaning and packing and getting a taxi to take us to the airport and there I was on a plane to Portugal, soon to be reunited with my daughter who I hadn't seen since she left for officer military training in Texas in July of 2013.

Lisbon!

After ten months in Kuwait, it was time for a much needed vacation.  Where to go?  My daughter had been sent to Lisbon, Portugal when she was in ROTC at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.  She had a great experience there, so we decided that would be a perfect place for a holiday.  She got there a day ahead of me and was able to meet me at the airport. After many hugs and tears, we headed outside to catch a taxi to our bed and breakfast.  Stepping outside into the balmy Mediterranean climate of Lisbon after the searing heat of the Kuwaiti desert was indescribable!  

View of the street below from our bedroom at our bed and breakfast.

This is what awaited us every morning.  Good thing we had a lot of walking to do every day to burn off all the calories!

Castle of Sao Jorge is a Moorish castle occupying a hilltop overlooking Lisbon and the Tagus River.  It dates back to the medieval period of Portuguese history.  

This was the first place we visited.  It was a good thing I wore my good walking sandals because I never climbed so many stairs in my life!  It was well worth the effort because the view of the city from the battlements was breathtaking.

  

Discoveries Monument is located on the north bank of the Tagus River.  It was built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of prince Henry the Navigator.  It represents a three sailed ship ready to depart with important historical figures of the time.  It was very impressive.  The figures on the monuments reminded me of the sand sculptures I saw in Kuwait last February. 

Belem Tower

A view from the top of the tower overlooking the bay.

Belem Tower stands on the banks of the Tagus River at the point where it opens up into a bay.  Built in 1515, was originally conceived as a defensive fortress.  It also served as a lighthouse and finally a prison.

It was raining hard that day, not just a gentle sprinkle here and there.   Neither one of us thought to bring an umbrella.  But we were determined tourists and we suffered through the downpour.  The tower isn't that big, so they could only allow about a hundred people in at a time.  Walking through the gates was like stepping back into time.  You could almost hear the footsteps of the men rushing up the steps to man the canons, ready to defend their country at all costs.  The view of the bay was spectacular when the sun finally came out.

One of our favorite attractions was the Jeronimos Monastery.  It was constructed under King Manual I.  Construction began in 1501 and was completed one hundred years later.  The role of the monks who occupied the monastery was to pray for the eternal soul of the king and provide spiritual assistance to navigators and sailors who departed from the beach of Restelo to discover the new world. 

We climbed up into the balcony and had the unexpected pleasure of listening to the rehearsal of a visiting children's choir.

Portugal is well known for their wine.  We enjoyed a beautiful sangria at this little mom and pop restaurant.  

The proprietor of our bed and breakfast highly recommended we eat our last supper at a restaurant run by a friend of hers.  Their specialty is a traditional Portuguese dish called cozido.  So we made our way there that evening negotiating the labyrinth of tiny streets so common in Lisbon.  We ordered the cozido and waited patiently for our meal to come.  We really had no idea what cozido was, but we wanted to try a Portuguese specialty so we decided to go for it.  When it came, we were somewhat taken aback by all this shellfish staring up at us from a pot of stew.  It was a tomato based soup with a wine reduction.  There was also rice in the bottom.  I guess it tasted ok, but I couldn't quite get pass the spector of my food seeming to look back at me.  I guess that's my small town Iowa colors showing!

Botanical Gardens of Lisbon

Home at Last

Coming home felt a little like Dorothy clicking together the heals her ruby slippers and chanting "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."  To wake up at last in my own bed and run out to my gardens and feel the sweet pleasure of green grass between my toes was a special heaven on earth.  There's nothing like spending ten months in a flat a barren desert to make you appreciate the simple pleasures of home.  It was so liberating driving a car again.  And yes, I could still differentiate between the gas and the breaks!  Cooking in my own kitchen, attending my St. Paul's Lutheran again, FaceTiming my family in the same time zone, shopping in stores where I could find what I needed, and of course seeing my sweet, sweet granddaughter who was an infant when I left and was now an official toddler...all of these were among the best things about coming home again.  

Getting reacquainted with Julia

My daughter, Stacia, and I at the Iowa State Fair

It was wonderful to see friends and family again, and to those of you I didn't have a chance to see, there is always next summer!  The two months I was home flew by in a whirlwind of weddings, baptisms, 4th of July celebrations, and reunions with family and friends.  Every day I was home was an absolute blessing.  Before I knew it, it was time to head back to Kuwait for another year of "Life in the Sandbox" as we like to call it around here. 

This is my son, Brett, and his wife, Sara, my granddaughter, Julia (already in her jammies ready for the long car ride home) and my dad, Ed Kokes.

I'm back in Kuwait for another year. The beginning of a new school year is a busy, busy time.  I've been here for two weeks now and it almost feels like I never left.  But I do have my memories of a magical summer in Portugal and the "land between two rivers" called Iowa.

A monarch resting on a zinnia at the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair

Almost Home

                          A view of the Gulf from the marina on a evenings stroll with friends.

Wow, what to say after living and teaching in the Middle East for the last ten months?  Well, I never did learn everybody's name which was pretty frustrating at times.  What is the fascination for the name "Abdullah" and the nearly ten variations of that name?  It's nice not to have to worry about a car and practically needing to take out a second mortgage every time you fill up with gas.  However, I do miss the freedom to get in my car and go when and where I want, anytime I want.  I'm not a fan of taxis and public transportation.  There are a surprising number of American products and restaurants here, but they are usually pretty pricey.  I've learned to adapt fairly well, I suppose.  It's always a choice to accept the things you can't change and try to put your own signature on the things where can have an impact.

This isn't a culture that is rich in the arts, but that is slowly changing.  This country took a big leap into the modern era once oil was discovered in the Gulf.  I think we teachers forget that reality and tend to get impatient with some of the practices and attitudes we are confronted with on a daily basis.  But sweet faces of children are the same all over the world.  They can also be as exasperating here as Anyplace, USA.  I came here to teach music, and teach, I did!  It was a special challenge my first year.  It wasn't always easy, but I was never alone.  God was with me every step of the way.   When I thought I would never teach again, He had a plan for my life that I never dreamed of.  Jeremiah 29:11

Expats

 

My friend, Penny Lee Hallin comes from Chicago, Illinois. Teaching is a second career for Penny. She attended the University of Colorado and earned a degree in English with aspirations to attend law school.  Before embarking on a career in her chosen field, she decided to take some time to spend with her grandmother who was in declining health.  While she was with her grandmother in Los Angeles, an opportunity arose to become an office assistant at the recording studio belonging to country music artist, Emmylou Harris and her then-husband Brian Ahern.  When it came time for Emmylou to go on the road and record a live album, Penny joined the production team. She worked in the office during the day, and learned the mechanics and operation of the remote recording truck (called Enactron Studios) at night. Enactron was where Willie Nelson recorded his famous “Stardust” album.

A new job opportunity in the burgeoning world of music videos came about and Penny went to work for Backstreet Records, home to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Backstreet was producing one of the first “rockumentaries” for the fledgling cable channel, MTV. Penny was the production coordinator for that project as well as many other music videos for the label’s artists. A chance meeting with the owners of Soundelux took her on a new path as an assistant sound editor for feature films. Penny worked on such movies as “Turner and Hooch” and “Young Guns”. Another opportunity presented itself to move to motion picture editing. She became an assistant film editor on such movies as “A League of Their Own”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “The Last Samurai”.

In 2000, Penny took a summer course on Italian Renaissance Painting at Oxford University in England. While there, she was fortunate to be shown a chalk drawing done by Michelangelo from a private collection. She knew this great artist was well-known for his paintings but what he really loved with his heart was to sculpt. Penny said she could relate to this (on a  much smaller scale!). Even with a successful and rewarding career in show business, there was something she’d always wanted to do: Teach!

So in 2000, Penny went back to school and enrolled in North Park University in Chicago and earned her Elementary Education Certification.  She taught for three years in Chicago Public Schools, four years in Burbank, California and two years in Denver, Colorado.

                                  Gathering the "flock" in the morning

 

So what made her decide to come to Kuwait?  A good friend and colleague from her days in Chicago Public Schools had been teaching at UAS the last few years and urged her to apply for a job that was opening up in the elementary.  And the rest, as they say,  is history.  It has been a wild ride at times, but mostly rewarding.  As Penny sums it up, "I'm here to give what I can to my students and be open to what I can learn from them and bring back to my own culture." 

Penny came with me and a group of about fifteen of us that started the new year.  Four of our group didn't finish the year with us, but the rest of us are still here and with just days before the end of the calendar year, I think it safe to say that we all have survived somewhat unscathed.  Penny decided she liked Kuwait much more than she anticipated although she is looking forward to seeing level sidewalks and paper towels again!

Greetings!

We were minus about twelve students today.  As the temperatures climb towards 115 degrees, attendance falls off pretty quick.

The last few years I taught in the states, it had become my habit to greet my students outside the door with a cheery "Good morning everybody!"  Being the music teacher, I sing it, of course!  They sing back, "Good morning, Mrs. Kluever!"

Then I give them the new word of the day which is always a new way to say, "great."  So after they hear their new word (this week it was "sublime"), then I sing to them, "How are you today?"  Then they answer in unison, "We are sublime!"  The next exchange is, "Come and find your places," to which they reply, "We will do it quietly!"

They really respond to this greeting and if I give them a word I chose way back in October, for instance, they let me know right away!  Lately I've had to scramble through the dictionary quick before they get my classroom to find a suitable synonym for "great."  I should have written them all down this year...

My last class of the day is second grade.  These poor teachers have to walk their twenty-five or so highly excitable eight and nine year olds with all their back packs and lunch bags down four flights of steps to the underbelly of UAS to get to the music room.  By the time they arrive, usually in two or three scraggly groups, the teachers are somewhat short on patience.  They are using their sternest teacher demeanor with limited effect on their little charges.   It's the end of the day and both students and teachers have about reached their limits.  The students are arranging their heavy back packs against the wall and finding their place in line when I step out and give the students my cheery little greeting.  The kids immediately step into formation and are ready for the greeting ritual.  The teachers sigh, and give me that "Good luck with this bunch today....look".   The kids file in the classroom and if they are quiet enough, someone gets to ring my Chinese gong.  Woohoo!

The teachers get a little snarky with me sometimes about my greeting ritual and sing  a greeting to me when they see me in the hallway or out at recess duty.  It's all an act, of course.  What are we teachers, other than underpaid actors who's day job is to try to educate the next generation?  If we have to resort to the entertainment factor to get our students' attention at times, so be it.  I don't mind being teased.  Actually, some of them are beginning to sing to their students, too.  Whatever works!

The Last Program of the Year!

      A group of my fourth graders

Those of you who know me from my last school in Baxter, Iowa, know how busy my life was teaching K-12 vocal music the previous nine years.  There were four elementary music programs each year, two junior high, four high school programs, small group contest, and numerous vocal music festivals scattered across the school year, plus graduation.  When I came to UAS, the elementary principal asked me to put together a program for each grade level.  After being accustomed to about twelve programs a year, four didn't seem too much to ask.  Four programs became six after I agreed to allow my UAS singers to sing at the Christmas program with the high school band and then I agreed to help the nursery, preschool and kindergarten with their Spring Show.  That was OK.  Keeping busy is a great way to make the school year pass quickly and keep my mind off family and friends back home.

So at last, May 22 arrived and it was time for the last program of the year; the dreaded 4th grade!  Every school I have taught always has one class that the teachers find particularly challenging and this year it was definitely 4th grade.  I agonized over the song choices.  Didn't want the songs to sound too childish, but they must be kid friendly, singable, and not too challenging for my piano skills!  I have to keep one eye on the music and another on the kids, so anything with five sharps and lots of running sixteenth notes are not going to make the cut!

Part of my select UAS singers looking sweet and angelic.

After songs are chosen and adequately rehearsed and somewhat memorized, the dreaded days of "Rehearsal on the Stage" begins.  We have five sections of 4th graders this year (twenty-five students in each section), so I put together one group of two sections and another group of three sections.  I put together this elaborate seating chart and taped their names on the seats in the auditorium.  Each student at the start of the row holds a card so I know when a new row starts.  The whole system works pretty well.  All the kids have to do is stay behind the person walking in front of them.  It doesn't sound that complicated.  It worked for the  second and third graders.  You have probably guessed by now where this is going!  Someone decided the person in front of them was moving too slowly, so this next line got in front of the line they were SUPPOSED to be behind......!   We eventually got it sorted out.  Thank goodness both principals and all the teachers were there to help.  We have a great staff here and the teachers have been a huge help to me this year.

   Now you know what I REALLY have to put up with!

 

The program went very well, after we had a slight problem in the first song.  One student had a meltdown in front of the entire audience because someone was standing too close to him.  Thankfully, it happened right I front of me as I was accompanying the students as they sang "Puff the Magic Dragon."  I can play that song practically without looking so I kept trying to get this kid's attention whispering his name as loud as I dared.  When the song was over, I walked over to him and he was still elbowing this poor student standing next to him.  There was a little space behind this kid, so I directed him to move.  (He spent some time in suspension the next school day!) The rest of the program went without a hitch.  It is so rewarding to hear Tom Chapin's song "This Pretty Planet" sung beautifully with the magical, unchanged voices of children.  It is such a privilege to work with these slightly naughty, rambunctious kids and showcase the pure beauty of children's voices.  I was told in the airport in Jordan from a music teacher that the kids in Kuwait were pretty difficult, if not impossible, to train to sing properly.  Well, I found that yes, it was challenging, but not impossible!

Summer Just Around the Corner!

My next blog will be coming to you from sunny Portugal!  I'm taking a little detour on my way home.  I'll be meeting up with my daughter, Stacia, in Lisbon for a trip to remember for the rest of our our lives.  I will keep you posted!