Normal days

This week was another beautiful weather week. The issue is Beirut needs rain. We have only had a small amount so there is definitely a water shortage. The mountains haven't gotten a lot of snow either. So, while I love the 60s and 70s that we are having, I am hoping for rain. In other news, there is no garbage pickup right now because of some protests over a landfill so that is gross. Reminds me of the strike in New York.  I am hoping it doesn't last long. 

It was the end if first semester Friday. It has gone by fast. We started talking about what classes we would like to teach next year, which was nice. My department is great, all willing to work together. It's also the time of year where teachers are deciding if they are staying or going. I was thinking a lot about this and how different people's experiences are here. Two teachers could have two totally different experiences in the same school. I am so thankful for the experience Ryan and I are having here. In March we are going to Austria, Ryan has a meeting there to look into getting us in another conference for sports. In April I will be going to Amman, Jordan for track, which I am coaching starting in February. Then, for spring break we booked tickets to Brussels, where we will see Ryan's cousins and then take the trains to Paris and London. I am so excited for all the traveling we are going to be doing. 

Not much else new to report. 

Back to school

We had an incredible Winter break and we made it back, with a slight hatred for American Airlines, but a great break regardless. We arrived in Chicago after traveling through Heathrow, however Ryan's bag decided to take some time to stay in lovely England. That was quite fun, since he wore sandals on the plane, and had no other shoes to change into when we landed in cold Chicago. Oh well. We went straight to his family's Christmas party and didn't stop seeing family and friends till we left for Florida. We traveled through Miami to Milan to Beirut on the way back, and it was a great trip.

This past week of school we were right back in it. Ryan started basketball. He is coaching JV boys. This will keep him even more busy. He has a great group of guys out for the team and he is looking forward to being a coach again. I was excited to see all my students. They are an amazing bunch, and even completed so big projects they had over the break. I was so impressed with how hard they worked.

Wednesday we went to see Dirty Wars, a documentary film by Jeremy Scahill. It was quite the experience being in an auditorium in the Middle East watching a film about drone usage and more. Jeremy Scahill was there and spoke before and after the film. I recommend watching it, and reading his books.

The theatre at AUB for the movie

Jeremy Scahill talking

 The last week has been beautiful outside. The weather here when we came back was mid 60s. We have been enjoying running in tshirts, thinking of all our friends in Chicago and there negative 50 wind chill weather. We have the best views when we walk to and from school. Here are some random sunrise/sunset photos of those views.

 Saturday Ryan and I went up to the mountains to run with the cross country team and make sure the course was ready for their first meet. It is a hilly course, but it was really nice to be able to run in a quiet forest, instead of on the busy Corniche. The course is at our school's outdoor ed facility, and Ryan took a few moments to work on his New Year's resolution: to rock climb. That went well.....

On the roof doing an ab workout with the Cross Country team. Can't beat that view. 

Outdoor ed facility 

Part of the trail

Ryan attempting to climb, he cut his thumb. 

In other news, a new restaurant opened up in Hamra called Dottore, which means doctor in Italian. Ali, the owner, has a restaurant in Gemmayzeh that we had been too, so we were really excited about this place opening up. So excited we went there three times in the week....yikes. The food is amazing, and I had another chance to see how great the people are here as they gave us tiramisu, for free of course, and I couldn't finish it, but wanted to take it home. They don't do a lot of doggy bags here, not really their thing, so they don't have boxes. Instead, they just took some tin foil and wrapped up the actual plate, and just told me to take the whole thing home. Wouldn't really happen at a place in Chicago.

We have today off of school, so we are keeping the four day week streak alive. However, next week, it looks like we are going the whole week. Gasp. It is crazy that half the year has already passed.