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

Ryan's Birthday

This was another whirlwind week. I can't believe it is already the middle of November and we have been here for three months. We had Thursday off this week, and we took a trip with Jamil (our neighbor) and Jesse to Jezzine. Jezzine is in the south of Lebanon and it has a waterfall there. It was a wonderful day out of the city, and we finally got to have bread purses called Kaak. In mine, I had the cheese and spices, Ryan went with Nutella and bananas. They were delicious.

Picture of the bread purses

Jamil's dogs Steve and Duke

The whole crew at the waterfall

Wednesday at school we started our community service project that Ryan has been organizing for a long time. Some groups of students volunteered to help clean up an area that a lot of us walk through daily to get to school called the Rainbow Stairs. The buildings around this area were covered in graffiti, and filled with trash. We worked Wednesday clearing the garbage, rocks, dirt etc. Friday we painted over all the graffiti. Saturday we repainted designs on the walls and steps. It is incredible what we got accomplished all because of Ryan's amazing idea, vision and hard work, and these impressive students who gave up a lot of time, got dirty and covered in paint, for the good of the neighborhood. 

Before we painted. 

Group of kids who helped. 

After the first coat of paint. 

Ryan's spray painting design

The stairs I painted green. 

Kids cleaning before we painted

 Gretchen and Mike's stencil

 

Saturday was Ryan's birthday, so we had a few people over that night. Sunday was the big adventure. Fabio took Jamil, Ryan and I to Jounieh to jump off a mountain and paraglide down the beach. It was an incredible experience. I went first, and had really no time to think about it at all. Ryan got a great video of me jumping. Ryan went next, and I have some great pictures of him landing. The guy he tandemed with was about 5 feet tall, so it was hilarious to see them together. While we were in the air we were both able to take the controls for a while, which was really cool. I was able to do a downward spiral dive which was a G force. It was so crazy. It seemed like we went around one hundred times, but probably closer to five.  Then we stopped for a little while along the beach. It was such a beautiful place to relax, and another part of Lebanon that we really haven't been in.  There are some great hotels there that we might go back and stay at some time. 

Where we sat after the jump

The water where we were landing near

Yachts in the water still

Jamil flying

Ryan flying

Sweet helmet

Ryan's selfie

Ryan's feet

My foot

view from the air

Ryan's landing

Me before take off

Beirut Birthday

This weekend I celebrated my 32nd birthday here in Beirut. It was quite the experience. Another teacher shared the same birthday so on Friday after school a lot of teachers met out at a neighborhood establishment. It was amazing to sit back and think how in less than two months how many new friends we have made. Shelly, another teacher, put the whole thing together for us. Annie, a new teacher, made us cupcakes that her and her fiancé brought to the bar. The bartender had candles that Jesse, another teacher put in out cupcakes and everyone sang. It was another great chance to talk to different people who have had so many incredible experiences.

Saturday, Gretchen found an amazing hidden gem from another woman at school. It was called la plage. It was a great pool right on the sea. We hung out there all day-after doing an intense ball cushion work out in the morning at Exhale, and mimosas and breakfast made by Ryan. The pool was so nice, not too glitzy but still very classy. We were so excited to find it, and then we asked and they told us it was closing for the year Monday, which is crazy because it is still hot out. I will say it was the first time I ever celebrated my birthday at a pool. 

That night a few of us went out to dinner in Gemmayzeh, another neighborhood near downtown, which is like a ten minute ride.  The place we went to was found by Gretchen called the gathering. The restaurant is three old Lebanese houses that are a wine bar, Italian food and a butcher. Everyone sits out in the courtyard and you can order from any of the three. It was great food and an even better atmosphere celebrated with great friends.

As I write this and reflect on this weekend, I can't help but feel so lucky. As all the happy birthday wishes came in from my friends, family and ex students back home, and I hung out with some great new friends I know Ryan and I made an excellent choice to take on this adventure. 

 Amazing graffiti!

 Great new friends, going around the table starting with me, Gretchen, Ryan, Mike, Fabio, Phil, Shawn, Julie, and Jesse

 Delicious cheese plate!