9/10/2007

Hey Dad!

Well, I had my first class so far, and now I'm on my 2.5 hour break between classes (because they won't let me teach for overtime, grrr). Things are crazy here. the hallway down here is packed with girls still waiting to register. You could never handle this country because NOTHING goes as planned, and everything is terribly disorganized! We, the teachers, are expected to be super-organized when nobody else is! So we all had lesson plans, power points, etc. for today, and we didn't even have our class rosters when class started! Someone came in in the middle of class with my roster. :) I had about 9 students out of 21 show up, which was a really good turnout--one of the other teachers just had 1 student come, but she still had to stay in class with the student for an hour and a half! THAT could be awkward! I filled up the hour and a half with silly blabbering basically. Tried to get them to talk but they didn't really want to. But I'm soooo happy to be teaching! It really brightens my day and energizes me--yes, I know I have found my calling! Half the students who came today are named Noura, which I had been told is a very common name, but wow! So I told them it would be easy for me because if I don't remember someone's name, I can just say Noura, and I'll most likely be right! They laughed. Ahhh, always good to have a good audience! :)

Well, poor Diane. She was going to have her stuff sent to her in Iraq (she flew out today), and found out last night that they can't send her stuff as they said they could before. Miscommunication: they can send it to Baghdad, but she's way up in northern Iraq with no way to get to Baghdad to pick up stuff. So she "sold" me her TV, satellite receiver, a BEAUTIFUL carpet (the size of the one you guys gave Kate to cover the living room), throw pillows to match the carpet, a coffee pot, a bathroom carpet, and a ton of other stuff for $425 Rials, which is just a little over $100 USD. She wanted me to give her $350 riyals, and I wanted to give her at least 500 (because all she gave me was worth well over 1000), so we haggled "the wrong way" with me insisting on paying more and her insisting on me paying less until we settled on 425. Anyway, she is an absolutely wonderful woman, and now my apartment looks more like a home and less like an empty apartment! I'll take a picture of the carpet to send to you. It is soooo beautiful! Anyway, please put her on the prayer chain. She needs it! What an awful thing to have to deal with 24 hours before you leave! And you can't buy a lot of that stuff in Iraq; that's why she was taking it with her. But anyway, I never cease to be amazed at how good people are to me! She could've given it to a lot of other teachers whom she's known longer, but she chose me. Bless her! She is very sweet and got a really bad deal here. and she's a strong Christian, and i told her that people in the states whom she's never met are praying for her (that would be you guys). :) so please put her on the prayer chain. she is teaching at a university in northern Iraq, or she will be as soon as Ramadan ends.

Well, i want to tell you about my progress with the kitties, but I need to go eat some lunch and figure out why I can't log onto the Yamamah stuff to take attendance, etc. Kind of important, although not just yet because things are sooooo chaotic here that taking attendance, or the mere idea of it, is a joke! I don't know why they even had us start classes this week, but they told us (and the students) no attendance taking for this week. now, if you tell the students that, of course they're not gonna show up! DUH! ok, anyway, I love you!!!

Much Love,

Lizz