Back to school

We are back to work after 3 rain days. The school was closed from Wednesday to Friday due to a crazy storm that hit Beirut, and all of Lebanon. We were watching the storm last Tuesday night from our neighbors apartment that has a view of the sea, and it was wild. There were waves crashing over the sidewalk and street on the corniche, which made running a lot of fun! It also got chilly here, which is a big change from last year. Our apartment, and most apartments here, aren't set up for cold weather, and they do get cold! The temperature dropped down to around 40 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which is obviously not as cold as were used to being from Chicago, but is definitely cold here.
The three days were nice to help get back on the right time zone. Ryan had no issue, but that is because he was off all of Winter Vacation. I am still struggling with sleeping all night, but it's getting better.
Thursday night we celebrated Serbian Christmas with Nick, Michelle and Lucia. Nick's family is from Serbia so he included us in his celebrating. Friday we celebrated Jane's birthday with Margaret, Joe, Jess, Eric and Zainab, which included dinner at our favorite Italian place, Dottore. They pulled out all the stops including massive sparklers in her tiramasu. It was fun catching up with everyone on their travels during the break. Saturday night we attended a concert at the Rose House that included an Arabic singer Maya Hobeika, and a small orchestra that accompanied her. Even though I didn't understand most of what was said, she had a beautiful voice that made the evening incredibly enjoyable. Sunday was a beautiful day, so we headed out around town, walking around the different neighborhoods and parks here.
It was so much fun to see all the students again on Monday. I think everyone was refreshed and ready to be back to school. The sophomores are so fun at this point in the year, since they are much more mature than they were to start the year off. It is awesome to see the change in all of them.
Ryan leaves tomorrow for a conference in Cyprus, just till Saturday, where they will be working on some details for upcoming international tournaments, including the Soccer tournament he is hosting in Cyprus in February.