So this was the first week of school and it was amazing. The kids at this school have such a healthy attitude toward school and it makes it so much easier to teach them. More than once I asked a searching question just to see how much they had been taught before me so I would know where to back up to. Not necessary. These guys have been well prepared! My classroom is a fun mix of accents and dialects, which also means perspectives as well. I even have a Korean girl from Taejon, where I lived for seven years. This is definitely the most international group of kids I have ever taught.
There is a difference between Far Eastern students and the Middle Eastern ones here in terms of the way a classroom runs. For the most part, my past Korean students were extremely attentive but not as outspoken. There is a real fear of saying the wrong answer among Korean students, so they tend to opt to not speak rather than appear wrong. This is not true for Middle Eastern students. I believe that we come at truth in subjects and learn more when we risk being wrong, and that’s the way the students here are. Discussions have already been lively and incredibly satisfying. For all of the perceived submissiveness of women in the Middle East, I have found my female students are all independent thinkers who are on the same level as their male counterparts.
Our schedule has four blocks a day alternating between two days, so students have eight classes. That means classes are around an hour and a half, which is just right for covering material, but, as is typical at any school, whenever you need to meet with students for tech information or school pictures, you always take them out of English class because that is the one common element in all schedules. We are hit hard the first two weeks, so I am adjusting daily.
I also had the luxury(?) of staying late and completing work or planning when I was at TCIS since home was out the back gate. Here, home is further away. I would think that would make people stay later, but I found the first day Jennie and I stayed late (that would be about 4:15 mind you), the hallways echoed and I am sure if they existed, tumbleweeds would have rolled through them it was such a ghost town. I am learning to use my planning time at school more effectively because once you get back to the compound, you should be relaxing by the pool or working out at the gym, not staying up late to grade since morning comes much earlier here.
Life moves at a slower pace, as I indicated last week, but it seems that Saudis and expats alike realize the value and importance of separating work time and family time and maintaining a healthy balance. All that to say, I am not overwhelmed and I am finding time to exercise and swim more than I have in the past seven years.
I learned patience in Korea because of language barriers, but here your patience is more tried by the slower pace. If I complain because someone promised to return a call or repair something and didn’t, I merely escalate the incident and could cause it not to happen. I have to just call again, make my request and wait. You cannot do anything without an iqama, which is like a religious passport that you show for all things. We had to have medical checks done again once we got here for the iqamas. Everyone else received theirs, but mine is delayed. It seems they put the wrong picture on mine and have to redo it. Some people have told me in the past their iqamas had wrong last names even!
So, I will wait, because I am so very patient! But there is a problem for Jennie in that many things that she should have done, need to be done through me. Also the children will not be issued iqamas until their father has his, so if we were to travel outside of Saudi this week, we would not be able to get visas since Jennie would be sponsored under me as well as the children. It will come, I am sure, just like our shipment from Korea will eventually make its way to us. Jennie will be opening a bank account here Saturday, but I must wait, because I am so very patient!
Went out with some of the guys from school the other night and experienced the male-dominated society’s benefits. It really didn’t feel exclusive, until you looked around and realized there were few to no women. We went to some computer souks (individually owned stores that specialize). There was copied software and DVDs everywhere for very cheap, but the pace was more leisurely and less frenetic than it was in the techno center in Seoul, Korea. I found a router so we could finally have wireless at home. We set out after the final prayers of the day, which was about 8 p.m. This is when Saudis tend to begin shopping and going out. For this reason, most major stores stay open until 1 or 2 a.m. even though they will still open at 9 or 10 a.m. the next day.
We went to eat at a Saudi-style fast food place called Mama Noura’s. You won’t find the typical fast-food fare here. No sodas, only juices. But they are made fresh right there. You just say if you want apple, banana, orange, lemon, tamarind, blackberry, etc., and they mix it up for you. The meal is usually pita bread with humas or swarmas (kind of like a chicken or beef wrap only tastier) or other variations of kebabs or wraps. Very healthy. We arrived around 10 p.m. and the place was packed. But, no women are allowed in Mama Noura’s, one wonders if Mama Noura has even set foot in there. You pay for your meal and receive tickets that you take to many different food preparers around the walls, push through the crowd of men, and wait for the food along with everyone else, because we are so very patient! It was fun and very good.
We followed that with dessert at a bakery that has been around since 1881 in Riyadh. There is only one in town, although they have locations in other countries. They make the best baklava I have sunk my teeth into. Since it is not a restaurant, both men and women are in there together. I have now been there three times and brought home goodies. In fact, I think I will close and go have one now.
It is still hot, but I hear that the weather will get very pleasant in about a month and stay that way most of the year.
All of us are finding friends and just enjoying the slow pace of life, because we are so very patient . . . or perhaps, we are learning to be.
I’m off to grab some baklava while we have our regular Friday morning home service.
