Jai, softball and CAS

This week felt really long but probably just because we did so many fun things. Monday night we went to a Super Bowl party at Mike and Gretchen's house. They replayed the game here at 7 pm so it felt like the real deal, without the commercials but with the halftime show. I watched about the same amount I would've in Chicago.  We did have a lot of great snacks though, which clearly is the most important part.

Wednesday night Ryan and I went to Jai, which is one of the only places here for legitimate Thai and Indian food. This place only has one table and you eat right in the kitchen. They do a lot of take out and catering as well as the one table to dine in at that can comfortably seat four. They only have a few reservations a night so it is tough to get into. The food is amazing and really decently priced.

Friday night had us at ACS with 4 basketball games. JV girls and Varsity girls won, the JV boys and Varsity boys played tough, but lost. I worked the book for the Varsity boys game, made me miss the old team that I worked games with at Argo! The book is a little different but the hilarious part is how serious the officials took the book. Now, you should know that these officials barely call any fouls, and yet, I wrote 5 instead of 05 for number of points scored and it was quite the big deal. Hilarious. It was fun to be at all the games and to see all the players working hard. We went out for Italian food at our new favorite place Dottore after with Phil, who is the Varsity boys coach and current Assistant Middle School principal and next years Middle School principal. He is from Indiana, and actually played basketball growing up with Scott Skyles, the old Bulls coach, so it is always fun talking with him. He has been in Beirut for about five years, so he is a great resource on all things Beirut. 

Saturday in the morning Ryan and I ran down to the farmer's market at the Souks. The Souks are theh shops downtown, set up like an outdoor mall. The farmer's market happens once a week there, and they have fruits and veggies, as well as cooked food. There also are soaps, wicker items, and pottery. There was a guy there who had this bike that was modified so the front he could put bags in, and he would drive people's purchases home for only 6,000 lbl. Ryan was really interested in that. There was a lot of great food, and crafts to look at and sample, but in the end we didn't buy that much. We did end up buying some homemade fruit roll up type things which are delicious. Everyone there is so friendly and always offers lots of samples.

Saturday was also Mike's birthday and him and Ryan planned quite the celebration. We played a softball game at school with a 16" ball-just like Chicago-and teams of five and six. My team lost but only by one run. There was only one injury which involved me barreling down the baseline and knocking over Tracie who was trying to tag me out. She's ok, I felt terrible especially when I saw her later with a cut on her face from where her glasses cut into her face before they broke in two. What can I say I'm a Chicago white sox fan and we play hard.  After softball we all got together to watch Liverpool destroy Arsenal which was another great thing for Mike and Ryan and a few other fans. We do have some Arsenal fans we work with, so they were not pleased.

Today started a new adventure. Two great students are doing their CAS project and they asked me to be the teacher there during the project. CAS is community action and service and it's a big part of the IB program. All the students have to do a project. These two decided to do a basketball camp for 10-12 year old refugees. There were about 15 kids there and they were so fun. Now I know some of you who know me are stopping here to think you, basketball? Not Ryan??? Those are good questions, but I can come up with some fun games and Jessica and I did do a basketball camp in fourth grade that I remembered some drills from not to mention my amazing stint as a double b team bench warmer. Either way, the kids were great and maybe I'll learn more Arabic from them. 

We finished up the weekend with a nice Lebanese lunch with Mike, Gretchen and their wonderful landlord Nabil. We had a lot of nice mezze and even better conversation. All in all a great week. 

This week we have Friday off. We are heading up to the mountains with some people for the night. I am looking forward to getting out of the city and up to the mountains for some hiking. 

Jai 

Softball

Farmer's Market

Fruit Roll ups

Kids from the bball camp