Spring break!

Ryan and I left last Friday for our first spring break trip ever. For the last ten years we both have had to coach during spring break so we were never able to go. Well, we made up for those years this week. We left Friday early morning and had a few hours in Cairo before landing in Brussels.  Ryan's cousin Christi and her husband picked us up from the airport and we were off. We got to their amazing house in this great neighborhood in Brussels, near shops, markets and a great hill to run on. We then went with the boys, Marshall and John, to see their school, ISB. This campus is incredible. There is so much green space around the school. It was cool to see where they go to school and compare it to our experiences at ACS. That night we went out in the Grand Place a square full of bars and restaurants. We had a good time people watching and catching up. We also went to a Lebanese falafel place and talked to the guys about living in Beirut. In true Lebanese hospitality they gave me a free falafel.

The next morning we had a great run through the neighborhood followed by a trip to the Saturday outdoor market. This market was incredible and a definite must do if you live here. Then we were off to the train station to make our way to Paris. 

The train was really easy to take and fast as well. We headed to the 3rd arrondissement to our hotel. After checking in, we wandered around, which is pretty much what we did all week. Some highlights of Paris were walking the Promenade Plantee, which is like the New York high line park, eating and drinking in parks, seeing the city on a river cruise, and the Louvre-through the side entrance skipping the line because we're in the know.  We went out for a run on the Sunday of Easter and happened past Notre Dame during mass and without a huge line in front, so we went in and walked around and heard some of the mass in French. Pretty much the entire trip I spent trying to remember my French, which I was ok at, and as the week went on I think I was better or maybe it was the great french wine-not sure that my French teacher Madame Bald would have been impressed or not.

We of course went to the Eiffel Tower but did not want to wait in line to go up.  Ryan loved the park in front of the Eiffel Tower for his favorite highlight, and since he has only written one blog post I guess I'll write about his favorite-also to see if he actually reads what I write. We walked the Champs élysées at sunset, which Ryan took some great pictures.  Another night we had the chance to eat dinner with Margaret, a wonderful woman we teach with in Beirut who is from the Northwest, and her sister which was really nice. After that dinner, Ryan and I were sitting in the garden at our hotel and two little kids were playing hide and seek. They were speaking Spanish so we were testing our Spanish skills. We may have helped the little girl cheat as well always telling her where the little boy was hiding. They came over and talked to us for a while.  He was from Miami, and her family from Venezuela. It was interesting and so funny to watch them. It was hilarious, until I somehow made the little girl upset, probably because my spanish was not good enough to understand her, and she ran away crying. Pretty classic Becky/random child interaction. 

Next up, the train to Amsterdam. We stayed near the Central Station neighborhood and just really enjoyed more green spaces. After being in Beirut for 8 months I have really found an appreciation for parks and even just grass. It was great to picnic in Vondelpark  and Rembrandtpark. The people watching was fantastic there as well. Although with all the bikes, I did want to pull a little Big Daddy action and lay a big stick in the road, but I didn't, perhaps next time. We did the most important spots in Amsterdam, like the cheese museum, and the Heineken tour, were cultured like that. 

After a few days there, we were back to Brussels via train to hang out a little more with Christi and the boys. We got a chance to go to a favorite local Italian place and enjoyed a late dinner. It stays sunny there well past nine, so it feels earlier than it is actually. John did get his family some hot oil, thanks to the inattentiveness of the less than polite waiter, so that was a big score.
The flight back left a lot to be desired, note to anyone reading EgyptAir, not a great airline. There were so many kids running up and down the aisle of the plane, laying down on the floor and crying, it was insane. Not to mention they asked us to change seats 3 times because others didn't like their seats. Oh, and the small matter of a woman and man fighting on the plane because he reclined his seat, which was in front of her. I was on her side on this one, he was reclined really far back, and that just isn't right. It was getting pretty sketchy, so I flagged down the flight attendant, who had to stop it. However, I never laughed so hard at a border stop then when we landed in Beirut and went through customs to get back in to Beirut. The customs guy was cracking jokes-sort of, or I took them as jokes. At one point I think he asked if we were CIA, so I told him yes.  He asked where we live, and I told him the airport, and he then proceeded to invite us to live with him, and told me he wanted to drink Coronas with us. Seems totally normal. 

It was a really relaxing vacation, which we needed to rest up for this upcoming week. Thursday we head off to Nepal with 65 students. Should be quite the adventure.

Louvre

Mona Lisa, a lot smaller than I would have thought. 

Boat trip, classy plastic cup of wine. 

Our lock on a bridge in Paris. 

Michelangelo statue

Promenade Plantee in Paris

Hanging out by the Seine

Sunset picture Ryan took. 

Jim Morrison's grave 

Group in  Brussels

Marshall, John, Ryan and I in Brussels. John is officially taller than me

Family of ducks in Amsterdam

Tulips in Amsterdam

Arc de Triomphe at sunset

The great Cheese Museum in Amsterdam

Another sunset photo. 

Austria

Ryan has been working hard to find new places for our talented athletes to compete, and he found a conference called CEESA. This conference is comprised of international schools in Central and Eastern Europe. Last week, he had an athletic director conference in Vienna, Austria, so off he went on Wednesday. He was able to make a lot of connections and hopefully get some new tournaments and games set up. I also decided I wanted to see Austria, so on Friday I headed off to Vienna.  I flew in Friday afternoon, and immediately was in love with the efficiency and cleanliness of the country. There are so many green spaces, and trails to run and bike on. Ryan had meetings all day Friday and Saturday so I was able to explore on my own. I took a bus tour of the city and traveled all around. It was a great experience. While at the conference we met four athletic directors from different countries that all grew up in the Chicago area, including someone from St. Charles, Oak Lawn, Western Springs and the city. We also met some people that knew teachers we work with now. It is really a small world in the international teaching community.

School has still been going really well. The 3rd quarter is finishing Friday. My IB students have begun work on their first major assessment for IB, their historical investigation. They are working hard on researching topics they have chosen from history. My grade 10 students are finishing up the Industrial Revolution, and they are developing some major projects on their own. I have three students who are building a working steam engine. It is fascinating watching them work on this project. I have other students who are interviewing the grade school kids about what they would invent if they could invent something, and then they are going to be interviewing high school students to see how creativity is changed as we get older. There are students researching the global business practices of companies and creating brochures about their practices. It is great working with so many interesting students with different talents and skills. The school does really give me the freedom to give them the freedom to be creative.

]Monday we celebrated St Patrick's Day, with some friends, including Julie, from Ireland. There aren't any Irish spots nearby, so much to Julie's dismay we were at an English establishment. But, they did download Irish music for us, and we taught them how to turn their drinks green. It was a fun evening, almost reminiscent of Chicago river dyeing.

This week is Spirit Week at school. Wednesday was dress like a celebrity or character. There is a teacher in my department that loves a bow tie and a monogrammed shirt for his basketball game days, so I rallied the teachers in my department to dress like him, and then found out his basketball team was doing the same. I don't have any button up shirts, so I wore Ryan's-it was a litttllllleee big on me. Here is a picture of some of the Mr. Peet's. There are a lot of students that are getting involved in the spirit week here, which is great to see. Ryan is also working on having the band and dance team perform at a game soon, which will be a first here. He was showing videos of high school bands at games to give them some inspiration. He is really working hard to build up school spirit and get attendance at the games.

Dressing up like Mr. Peet. Social Studies teachers and some girls varsity basketball players. 

Ryan has also been working hard organizing the Week Without Walls trips that are coming up for grades 10 and 11 in May. He has been spearheading all of the work for getting visas, payments, itineraries for the trips both here in Lebanon, in Nepal and South Africa.  There are around 20 students going to South Africa, 60 going to Nepal, and the rest of the grade 10 and 11 will go on local trips. I am really excited to chaperone the trip to Nepal with Ryan, and 4 other teachers.

I booked our tickets back to the States for the summer. I have a conference in DC that I am attending at the end of the school year, so I will be back in Chicago on June 20th, which is about 3 months away. I can't believe how fast the school year is going. Within the next three months we will have traveled to Nepal, Jordan, Brussels and Paris. Crazy.

It was a cloudy day in Vienna, but made for great pictures. 

Inside of St Stephen's Cathedral 

Gardens at Belvedere Palace

St Stephen's at night

Opera house at night

Russian Church by our hotel

Inside St Stephen's 

Rainy picture from bus tour of Francis of Assi Church

Mozart statue and Treble Clef garden

Statue in garden of Belvedere Palace

Upper house of Belvedere Palace

Belvedere Palace

Old Hapsburg Palace, Fine Arts Museum now

The point in Vienna Napoleon made it to when capturing land

Gardens 

Gardens

St Stephens

Outside of St Stephens

St Stephens

World War II Memorial

WWII Memorial