This is the happy couple with this bride's bashful nieces
This fall I received a last minute verbal invitation to the wedding reception of a colleague of mine here at UAS. Her family is Pakistani, so I knew it would be a wedding like none other I had ever attended. The civil ceremony had already taken place downtown. The reception was held in a beautiful hotel. When the bride walked in she looked positively stunning in her orange silk sari embroidered in gold. The groom stood handsome and proud of his gorgeous bride. We were then treated to a lavish feast of traditional Arab cuisine alongside a few American dishes like lasagne that were also served. Then there was a wonderful variety of appetizers and desserts certain to break the will of the most fervent of dieters. Oh well...you don't attend a Pakistani wedding feast every day and you certainly don't want to offend the family by not filling up your plate!
Henna designs are ceremonial traditions that women of many Middle Eastern cultures use to beautify and adorn themselves for special events.
Expat Bobby Lincoln
Bobby Lincoln came to UAS for the 2014-2105 school year. He had just finished a one year master's degree program where he studied linguistics at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia. Bobby is from Belleville, Illinois. He graduated in 2004 from Eastern Illinois University with a major in English with teacher certification and a minor in Spanish. He taught two years at Fenger High School on the south side of Chicago. After two very challenging years at Fenger High School, he moved on to Noble Street Charter School, also in Chicago. Noble Charter Schools serve primarily low-income students preparing them to graduate from college. He taught English all six of his years in Chicago.
At the top of a hike to Wonderland in the Grampians National Park, Australia
While studying in Australia, Bobby met many overseas teachers who were also pursuing advanced degrees. This is when he became addicted to overseas traveling. Besides Australia, Bobby has been to the Fiji Islands, Singapore, China, South America, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Peru, Mexico, Puerto Rico, UK, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, UAE, Turkey, Oman, and Sri Lanka. I'm sure I've left out one or two countries, but I think I'd be safe saying that Bobby has become a world traveler.
Couldn't miss this opportunity in Yangzhou, China
World travel is a powerful draw to many young people who choose to teach overseas. Teaching students in a different culture has many challenges as does living in a part of world where everything from transportation to finding your favorite brand at a grocery store makes life overseas a series of hurdles to overcome. But the rewards are there. Much of what we experience here we can look at as one obstacle after another, or a challenge to overcome. I asked Bobby what advice he would give to someone who is interested in teaching overseas. His answer was to be committed to the experience. Also, come here with an open mind. There are many things that are done in school systems overseas that are very much different than our experiences in the states, but it is important to be open to their way of accomplishing an objective.
The culmination of a four day hike along the Incan Trail arriving at Macchu Picchu at sunrise
"Something I'll take away from my experience in the Middle East is cementing my understanding that, all around the world, people are pretty much just doing the same thing. The difference is in how cultures choose to express those things. It's kind of calming to see that when the common denominator is human, what we get out of different combinations and expressions of idea and behaviors is such a diverse range that I find beautiful and exciting." Bobby Lincoln
Jet Lag Tired
I have discovered in my last two Christmas holidays home, that there is no tired like jet
lag tired. Oh, I used to complain about daylight savings time in the fall when we would lose an hour of sleep on a Sunday and feel a bit out of sorts the next day or two. But the jet lag a person feel after about 16 hours sitting in the cramped quarters of an airplane, untold hours sitting around in the airport and then doing all of this in reverse ten days later is a tired that is beyond description. When I got home this December I immediately launched into a frenzy of baking and decorating so everything would be just right for my family coming home for the holidays. And they came and it was a wonderful and joyous as a holiday can be with a two year old granddaughter who is discovering the joy finding gifts under the tree. A few days later I drove seven hours west to visit my Dad in Nebraska who isn't able to travel anymore. I can't go home without touching base with him and assuring him that I'm ok clear over here on the other side of the planet. The weather was starting to turn nasty, so I had to cut my stay short and head back to Iowa before the roads began to get icy. Two days later I had to get up at 3:30 am to catch my flight back to Kuwait. I was extremely lucky and didn't experience any flight delays. I got back to Kuwait and had three days to recover. You would think that after three days of doing practically nothing, you would be ready to face the new year. In my case, that wasn't nearly enough time. It has been two weeks now and I'm just finally feeling like I'm back to my old self again.
I started teaching in 1977. Please, DON'T do the math! That is a lot of years of getting to work on time. That includes 2:00 am and 6:00 am feedings, toddlers who would NEVER sleep through the night, a two hour commute to work on icy roads only to discover within a mile of the school that it had been canceled, fog, flooded roads, and more road construction than I care to think about. And never once was I late. Sadly to say, I overslept the second day of school after the winter break. I woke up and there was sun streaming through my window and I was gripped with this sick realization that I had exactly twenty minutes to put myself together, thumb in, and greet about 26 fourth graders all ready for the first music class of the new year. Good thing the apartments here are just across the street. I made it with five minutes to spare! I'm not saying that I had the very best day of my career (I don't really remember much of that day, actually) but I'm happy to say I was still standing when the day was done. When I got home, I checked my iPad which I also use as my alarm clock. It actually did go off just as I had set it. However, it will stop ringing after a while if it's not shut off. How I could have slept through that incessant ringing I'll never know. I guess that's when you know what it really means to be bone tired. What is really sad is that this same thing happened to me last year after I came back from my holiday in the states. So after this happened yet again, I set three alarms; two by my head and one across the room. Last week I was down to two alarm clocks. I don't quite trust myself yet, so I have decided that I will use two alarm clocks for a while. You might wonder what the reaction of my principal was after I did something so irresponsible. Actually, people are pretty understanding around here when these things happen after the holidays. She gave me a hug the next day when she saw me at my post on playground duty. As long as you get here within an hour of the school day, it is up to the discretion the principal to dock your pay. I sure don't plan to let it happen to me again!
Many of my friends went on holidays to Italy, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other exotic locations. They came back to school relaxed, tanned, and refreshed. My vacation was more like a happy homemaker marathon with a couple of six hour road trips thrown in for the fun of it. I am a music teacher and the two weeks before I went home I had six holiday concerts. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!
Camels running free across a soft, green desert. It had been a wet winter! Once again thanks to my good friend, Linda Young, for her beautiful photos of the wedding and the camels in the desert.
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