Mini field trip

Today I took my grade 10 students on a class field trip to Starbucks. The lesson came courtesy of Gretchen. The students have been studying the enlightenment the past two weeks and learning about how the coffee houses of the 17th and 18th centuries were the place to spread ideas. We walked the few blocks to the Starbucks, they ordered some food and drinks and then took to their assignment which asked them to set up a way of life if they had just been on a plane crash on a deserted island.The discussions were amazing as they decided if they were going to be a Locke or Hobbes style government. All in all it was a great lesson. I am so fortunate to work at a school that allows these types of lessons. With the small classes and respect for student learning, it couldn't be a better school. 

Here are some pictures. 

Look at all these cats!

Delivery magic

This blog post was recommended by Gretchen, how do you like that shout out! First things first, as I write this I'm watching Bring It On on our Lebanese cable, genius. It's the little things. I don't think I have written yet about one of the greatest parts of where we live: free delivery. I mean absolutely free. Anything you want. Whenever. For example, I just ordered myself a bottle of wine, because I'm classy like that...or lazy. The amazing thing is how quick it is delivered too, not to mention they bring it all the way upstairs. I'm telling you, the Lebanese have the service industry down pat. They are the nicest shop owners, and wait staff I have ever come across. This is no surprise with how nice all the people are everywhere here in Lebanon. But they genuinely want to be friends. Mike, the salon owner we pass everyday to and from school, comes out every afternoon to talk. Yesterday I bought some veggies for dinner but realized I forgot an onion. I stopped at another shop and tried to buy one, but the guy wouldn't let me pay, just insisted I take it. Ryan and Mike, not the shop owner Mike :),  have talked a local bar to let us stream football games there the next night, so Tuesday we are watching he Monday night game there.  There are some guys Ryan met that invited him to play soccer Wednesday nights, so that is helping with how much he misses the softball team! 

The people here are incredible. 

Side note: school has been going amazing. Tomorrow I'm taking my grade 10 to Starbucks to discuss enlightenment ideas thanks to a lesson from Gretchen. Can't even imagine doing that in the states. 

Coaching

Yesterday was the first day of practice for my new volleyball team....middle school boys volleyball. Wow. There is not really a lot I can say about this experience. They are so small, and the net is so low, I felt like I could really kill the ball and look like a monster. I didn't, but I can't promise I won't soon. There are 8 of them as of now, there may be more at the next practice. It is such a change from being competitive with girls and boys varsity. This is more like lets have some fun and learn some skills, and we may get to play a game. But I will say this, these guys were so into the sport, and had a lot of skills. It was very impressive, but those of you that work with middle school kids, or have them, I'm sure you can imagine 8 middle school boys running around an outdoor volleyball court playing. Hilarious. More on that soon!

Beach Day!

Today we were able to take a trip to the Palm Islands, just off the coast of Tripoli with our friends Fabio, Gretchen and Mike. Palm Island is an amazing, small island that is some what private. We were able to enjoy some beach time, and be in the Mediterranean. The problem here in Beirut is there is so much of the sea, but really no where to go in and enjoy it. The water is dirtier than you would like, and mainly men are in the water. There are parts you can go into, but you have to pay to go, which isn't really a big deal. But today, we did it up right. We took a bus with a tour group called Vamos Todos to the islands, and then a boat to the island. Before that we stopped at a Mamluke citadel from the 14th century. It was amazing how well it has stood the test of time.

At the island we just hung out in the water, which was amazing. The water is really salty, but so warm. Then the tour group prepared a great lunch, grilled fish for everyone, (we didn't have any), baked potatoes, and of course, hummus. Seriously, I think Ryan and I could live on hummus.

Last night we went to a member of the PE department's apartment which has this insane rooftop view looking out over the Corniche and the Mediterranean. There were a group of us talking and sharing stories about the first week of school, and then of course watching the sunset over the water.

Here are some pictures from the beach trip.

First day of school

 Today we finally had students. It is an amazing feeling to be back in the classroom, since I haven't taught since May. I only had two classes today, since we are on a block schedule. I taught the first and last block of the day. The second block, out of five, I had my advisory students, but they had an assembly. Here are some of my observations from the first day.
First, the students are amazing. They are world travelers who have had a lot of great experiences and they bring these experiences to the class. They want to learn, and were really willing to participate in the discussions today, on the first day. The students are open to new ideas as well, and are very technology saavy.
Second, there is a lot more student freedom. The school has a college feel to it, since there are no bells, and there are a lot of breaks for the students. The students have 10 minutes in between each class. They also have a 20 minute break after the second block, and a 35 minute lunch break after the fourth block. During these times they are free to be anywhere on campus. There are students in the halls, in the cafeteria, outside, everywhere. Since all the students are on lunch, it isn't like they are disrupting classes. The students can go to the cafeteria during passing periods and get snacks or drinks as well.
Third, it is really a relaxed, student centered environment. The assembly today was run by the student council, with other students coming up to speak on behalf of their groups.
Finally, the students want to do well. They are really concerned about being prepared for their exams. They want to succeed.

A lot of the characteristics of the students apply to the students I taught in the States, but the students there did not have as many chances to be worldly and I think that definitely impacts them.
All in all, a great first day. Tomorrow is another first day, seeing my other to sections for the first time.

Grade 9 field trip

Yesterday I met the students I will have as advisory students that are in grade 9. It has been quite some time since I taught grade 9, and I forget how small and not older they are. But all in all, they were great kids, and it was nice to meet some more students here.
Today the advisers of grade 9 took the students to an outdoor education center called Peaks, in the mountains. Here the students had a chance to zip line, repel, rock climb and do a high ropes course. The bus ride up was fun, it proved that kids are kids wherever. First, the bus situation here is interesting. We take coach buses everywhere. We were supposed to leave at 8 am, but we ended up leaving at 9. As they say here a lot, welcome to Lebanon. The bus ride took about an hour to get about to the mountains, because traffic here is insane. There are no real lanes, or traffic laws, as I am sure I have mentioned before.  The topics ranged from Kardashians to Futbol, taking Instagram selfies to how many likes they got, Paris Hilton to, of course, Miley Cyrus. Some differences from other kids are that these kids have been to a lot of places, and their family has been to a lot of places. Some of the kids were talking about where their family members were studying, such as Florence, St Maarten, Rome and a lot of places in the States. The kids are so cute though, still in that sitting all girls to a table or all boys to a table. Ahh, the innocence.

Once we got to the facility, they had a great breakfast prepared for us, and then we split into our groups. We didn't have a lot of time at each station, but it was so nice to be outside all day. I did get a chance to repel as well. After the activities, we had another great meal. The food here is so incredible, and even as a vegetarian there are a lot of choices.

The bus ride down was going smoothly till we were about 20 minutes away from the school and our bus broke down, on the highway. We had to get the kids into the other bus and cram in from there. It actually went really smoothly.

All in all, it was a really great day, even though I am exhausted from 9th graders!
Ropes course

Getting ready for zip line

Repelling

Zip line

Where we had lunch

Lunch

Random Pictures from around Hamra

The area we live in is called Hamra. The streets have names, sometimes, but mostly you wander around looking for landmarks to determine where you are at. The conversation for telling people where you live, or where another store is can be hysterical.
"wheres the best place to get hummus?"
"You know where Silver Arrow is? Go down that street toward the garage that sells vegetables. It is the store with the small tiles on it."
Hilarious. There are no addresses, and a lot of the small shops have no names on them. It seems to work.
Yesterday we had a chance to see three other apartments of people that work at ACS. They are all nice, and different. It is interesting to see apartments of people who have lived here a while and have made it their home. We are still in that process.  Finding items for the apartment is an adventure, because there isn't like a one stop shop, like a Target, so we find ourselves wandering up and down streets stopping in small, overstuffed stores. Yesterday we finally found some big mugs for Ryan. The cups here are ridiculously small. Yesterday we went to a rug guy, we had tea and he showed us a lot of nice Persian rugs that we were not going to be able to afford. Today we found two small rugs at the grocery store for 3 bucks...an obvious place for rugs in our price range.

Here are some pictures from around where we live.
Fruit and Veggie stand.

 Hummus store

Butcher Shop, haven't been in there...

I don't know what this place is, but looks awesome. 

Another Fruit and Veggie stand 

obvious. 

Time Square looks different from what I remember. 

My fav grocery store. 

Karaoke bar I have to go to!