Saturday, November 15, 2014

It's been a month?

So I guess the last time I updated the blog was before classes had even restarted in October? You're in luck, readers; wracked by guilt, I have decided to tell you about the last month of my life at last, even if it's already retreating into hazy memory and I apparently didn't take too many pictures.

I'm writing from the threshold of the final week of Term 1. Four more days of school left with the Fall Philosophers and Religious Scholars, and most of them only have three classes during that time, so we're really hitting the home stretch. I guess I've been busy in the last month? Probably not too busy to update, to be honest, but somewhere at that nexus of busy and lazy lies my last few weeks.

And to be fair, this is my first free weekend since that break. Since you last heard from me, I've spent my Fridays and Saturdays:

First, on duty, playing a music fest and chaperoning down at the soccer fields

Second, on duty AGAIN, celebrating Halloween (about which I can't really complain. We do it up for Halloween. Here's the silly pumpkin that I turned into a cyclops)



Third, finally not on duty, but instead #blessed with a full day of Parent-Teacher conferences! Last year, I was able to blog in the middle of those conferences because I had so few; this year, I had about twenty free minutes to even catch my breath between family meetings. It's always more fun than one expects to meet the folks and get an insight into the students' family lives, especially because the parents who show up to conferences are always the interested and invested ones, but "more fun than expected" does not quite equal "fun."

And if you thought the thrill was over that weekend, it wasn't, because I got to spend all of the next day getting my Jordanian Drivers' License!! I'd post a picture, but I didn't take one at the time and now it's just too far away. Turns out the Jordanian DMV is a lot like the American DMV, which by Jordanian standards it's actually pretty good, especially when you have a King's insider whisking you to the front of all the lines and taking care of all the logistics. So now I don't have to be afraid of getting pulled over, and I have a pretty blue thing in my wallet that doesn't expire until 2024. Score?


And now, at last, a few days to breathe. Suffice it to say that I've been having a great weekend doing a lot more nothing than I have the past few weeks.

Not only that, but all of a sudden, America awaits! Believe it or not (I sort of can't), I'm packing up THIS WEDNESDAY to fly home for the first wedding of my generation of cousins. I'm not missing any classes because it's finals week, and my classes don't even have any traditional finals, so I feel minimally guilty because I wouldn't really have been doing much of anything anyway. It'll be a little bit of a slog to count down the days until then, but I'm excited to wrap up a great term with my students and I think I'll manage.

Speaking of feeling minimally guilty, I think I at least owe you all a few more pictures. They were chosen almost randomly, but they're also more or less the best available options from a tragically small pool of October/November photos. Enjoy...



A King's Academy sunset, which now happens at like 4:30 thanks to Jordan's early switch to "Winter Time"




Scenes from the advisory group trip to Burger Shack. I feel good that I actually got to provide them with something tangible and not just vague advice



Big Historians hard at work evaluating each other's posters! Hopefully I'll send this to someone in power and it'll be the cover of a magazine someday.

***
Will you have to wait a month until my next post? Can I ever start taking interesting pictures again? Are you wondering if I'm still making weird food sometimes? (I am!) As for the other questions, time will tell.

Friday, October 17, 2014

VACATION PHOTO DUMP

Or, "I Make Up for Three Weeks of Blog Absence By Uploading a Bunch of Pictures, Most of Which Don't Even Have People In Them"


The first picture is a selfie, but that's pretty much all I've got for you. Hello again, people! It is coming up on 7:00pm on the last day before the last day of vacation, and I am (for once) updating in my apartment instead of a brightly lit classroom full of squirming freshmen. Those little munchkins are making their way back to the dorm tonight after two weeks of freedom and celebration with their families, and I think I'll miss the quiet of an empty Sulafat but I'll hopefully soon rediscover the thrill and excitement of having a dozen barely pubescent neighbors. 

It's been a great vacation, though! A week of LOTS OF THINGS was followed by a week of almost nothing, in proportions that seem to have evened out well enough to leave me reasonably rested and reasonably prepared for the school weeks to come. I'm usually not one for vacation updates (isn't hearing about Jordan what you all pay me for?), but this one is a birthday present for Nana, so enjoy the photo safari of my Big Balkan Vacation!


Adventures began during a 6-hour layover in Istanbul, of which I took full advantage. Note my enthusiasm at having successfully left the airport and found Galata Tower (it wasn't hard), despite operating on 2-ish hours of sleep at 7:00 in the morning.



The spice bazaar wakes up. Because what was I going to do with three hours in Istanbul besides retrace the steps of my food tour for a third time?



First stop, chez baklava. They were only selling breakfast breads, so I bought one of those instead. This kicked off a string of utter gluttony that also included Turkish delight, pomegranate juice, chicken pudding, börek, and, eventually, baklava:



Close focus intentional.

Then I got a haircut, and then I got back on the plane, and it took me to a place called Podgorica in Montenegro, and I was picked up by Eli, Harvey, and Nick! They had come to collect me after a wild week in Munich and elsewhere in Montenegro, and as soon as I was in the car, we were off.



First, across lovely Lake Skadar for my first taste of Montenegro's eponymous beauty.



Within about a half hour of arriving, we stumbled upon a family vineyard selling homemade wine, brandy, and honey. They spoke enough English that we were able to do great business, and also had some cute cats. Good start to the trip, to say the least.



Late that night, after a dinner stop in Cetinje drive down 25 spooky mountain switchbacks (check the Google maps road for proof!), we arrived in Kotor, which is not named for the Star Wars video game but is certainly sufficiently impressive. We hit the town in the evening after becoming better acquainted with this Eurovision hit. It immediately became the theme song of the trip.



A view from the next day, as we ascended to the fortress of Kotor with the lovely Cruise Ship of Kotor beneath us.



View from the descent. Construction worker, I guess?



The old city of Kotor is completely contained within a triangular castle that abuts the mountain we climbed to reach the fortress. It looks as majestic and imposing from sea level as it does from up here. 



Next stop: Dubrovnik! Having already been, Eli and I figured we could revisit some old haunts while Nick and Harvey explored the city walls.



We stumbled upon the Jewish museum by chance and asked about Yom Kippur, which had ended the previous night. Apparently, 80% of the 45 Jews in Dubrovnik are women, which means they don't have enough for an Orthodox minyan, so nothing happened for the holiday. It was great to get even a small glimpse of the local Jewish culture, though.



Look familiar? It's the rock that Eli jumped from during Whiff year! He did not attempt a two-year reunion jump, and neither did I. The pirate ship is a bonus.



Another day, another country: Bosnia ahoy. This is the totally epic bridge of Mostar, destroyed by bombing in the 90's but rebuilt through the combined efforts of a bunch of European countries and banks. Totally worth it; it was gorgeous at sunset.



And last but not least: Sarajevo! My trip ended as it began: a solo excursion in a cool city (the other guys had an earlier flight than I did). Here's a view from one of the steep hills surrounding the city.



So I walked and walked, checking out mosques and churches and synagogues and plenty of foods. I took a nap on a park bench, and snapped this photo of the point at which Sarajevo's western and eastern "old city" areas meet. Clearly, they are aware that this is of interest to tourists.



Up another hill for tea and a book until the call to prayer resounded from hill to hill. It's a beautiful city, like a mini-Istanbul in its diversity, and I was really surprised (pleasantly so) by the vibrant buzz of a city that was so recently torn up by conflict. Everyone we met, from hostel owners to shopkeepers, seemed very optimistic about the future of the city and the country, and I feel like I haven't seen the last of Sarajevo. I sure hope not, anyway. That food was delicious.




And last but not least, the whirlwind tour of Jordan! My flight arrived at close to 4 in the morning, and after sleeping in at King's, it was immediately off to Wadi Rum. Here, Nick and Harvey climb a dune.



We thought some of our photos were good enough to be publicity shots for Suleiman. He was, as always, a great guide in the desert, and we had a very relaxing evening out on the dunes and under the stars.



Petra, of course, which never fails to disappoint. We were there until it was pitch dark, then drove immediately to Amman to meet Harvey's cousin at a bar. I don't know if I've ever been so exhausted. But I don't regret it: always good to have new adventures, especially when touring people around. Plus, I had a whole week to recover.

***


And did I recover? Let this picture stand as a testament to the fact that I at least baked a ton of muffins. This (apple) was the first batch, which I made for our Survivor catch-up/Canadian Thanksgiving-themed Happy Hour. Today (peanut butter) was the second batch, which I made for our Board Game Brunch. Sound ridiculous? Every day was like that. Parties, cooking, restaurants, Chase's birthday, games, and the occasional thought of school have dominated the week, and I think I feel sufficiently vacationed out and ready to start back up. Tomorrow I proctor the PSAT at 8am, which will definitely get me on my feet whether I like it or not, and then it's off to the races.

Hope you enjoyed the little Balkan photo trip! I'm realizing that after being gone so long, it's going to be nice to get back in the classroom with my students and remember why I like this job so much in the first place. Hanging out with friends is fun, but you can do it anywhere, and I suppose I'm looking forward to a return to the hustle and bustle. We'll see how long that lasts.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Shanah Tovah 5775! (All you wanted was pictures of food, right?)

Because that's pretty much all you're going to get. 

When school ended on Thursday, I began a more-or-less uninterrupted run of cooking and eating that lasted until Survivor brunch ended around noon today. What follows actually begins before Thursday, with the Challah Odyssey that Hannah (new history TF) and I undertook in advance of our unprecedented four-Jew Rosh Hashanah dinner. Look on in wonder as:



The dough, with yeast successfully cultivated, begins its first rise.



Post-rise dough looking awfully risen.




Out of the fridge, into silly looking little rolls, and ready to rise once more.



Look how it keeps growing!



Let's skip right to the final product. Having never made bread before, I was pretty thrilled with these results, and they tasted nearly as good as they looked. Here's a shot of our holiday table:



This just before Mike graced it with lamb and cauliflower soup and carrots and egg noodles, to go along with (of course) apples and honey and challah and wine. Note my sneaky pomegranate-vase/Jewish-holiday-multipurpose-tool to the left of the candle. It was a delicious dinner, a great way to ring in the New Year, and made us all feel lucky to have one another to celebrate with. Is more bread in the future? With Hannah's and my hubris adequately burnished by our first attempt, you can bet on it.

***

Then came Friday, and the Sulafat progressive brunch! At long last, our dream of moving from apartment to apartment and eating too much food in each place came true. I have tried to spare you the gory details, but here's the basic progression:



Stage One: The Smith Abode. Yogurt parfaits with granola and fresh fruit; deviled eggs; Irish tea brack; coffee and tea.



Stage Two: The Watsky/Procknow Palace. Shown above is the spinach and cheese strata I made (pour one out for Yasmine).



Stage Two (con't): Strata, now accompanied by juice and johnnycakes.

Stage Three (not shown) included an unreal mint cake and a delicious and flaky spinach pie. I thought I wouldn't have to eat for a week or so, but then it was time to cook for the weekend activity.

***
This weekend, Nihal house hosted their annual international dinner, in which students cook food from their respective homelands. Chase and I hosted team dessert, the hallmark of which was an all-American apple pie. Take a look:


***
So it was, by all accounts, an utterly delicious weekend, and I tried my best to think of the ideals of reflection and self-improvement that should characterize the Rosh Hashanah season. Now, just five short school days separate us from a two-week vacation that will see me trekking through the Balkans and shepherding some old friends up and down the King's Highway here, so be on the lookout for pictures if I ever feel like posting them. Onward to October!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Long Weekend

I write, yet again, from the laziest of weekends.

I think I've actually outdone myself from last weekend. Last weekend most of my friends were around, and we hung out and talked and were alternately productive and unproductive together. This weekend, almost everyone headed off campus to chaperone the proctors on a trip to Wadi Rum. I opted to stay behind, initially because I was just too late to respond but then because I realized the magnitude of the work before me:

- 28 Philosophy papers to grade
- 30 Big History assignments to grade
- 58 midterm comments to write for all 4 classes

(not to mention the normal planning responsibilities of a normal school week)

Yes, midterm season is somehow already upon us, and in order to even get to the comment-writing part I had to finish all the grading. So it seemed like a good idea to stay home, and I have to say I'm pretty dang proud of my accomplishments so far. 15 Big History assignments and 28 comments remain, and the deadlines feel so much less ominous, and I still have three hours to kill in various ways before our latest Downton Abbey marathon commences at Lina's. So I thought I'd do a little writing.

Big major life updates? Not really. But here are some pictures:


Mr. Ben with his advisees. Took an awfully long time to finally take the selfie, but I'm pretty happy about it.



Speaking of advisees, I forced them all to download this app that tracks how well you sleep and wakes you up with a biologically calibrated, phenomenally gentle alarm. This is my pride and joy so far: last night's 95% sleep, which I hope to share with my advisees and lord over their heads while they exhaust themselves with homework. Seriously, though, the goal is to make some actual progress and get them to actually consider their terrible terrible sleep habits, so I hope this can galvanize them into action.





Cooking! Top is a lentil stew made by yours truly; bottom is a paella made by Lina's truly. I had no part in the bottom one but it was delicious and we ate it while watching four straight episodes of Downton. It's really one of the only things I've been doing for the last couple weeks. It will be weird when we're caught up (hopefully by tomorrow!) and the marathon days are behind us. Looking forward to some more tea tonight.



Kittens! When I left my house for dinner in between 3 hours of grading and 3 hours of reading alone on my couch, I was greeted by this adorable sight. Look at em! The mom is in front and the babies are behind (there are actually 4 in total). They're even fluffier in person. I guess the wild cat situation at this school isn't all bad.




The one thing I'm really proud of this weekend (well, besides all the work I've gotten done). Finally busted out my beautiful Shabbat vase and actually lit candles, and even had company to do it with (you can see Mike's leg in the background there). Jordanian vintage port and some local bread made perfectly good substitutes for the real thing, and it just felt so nice and comfortable and homey to do a little celebrating together on a Friday evening. Here's hoping I keep remembering to actually do it. And also I'm gonna need more candles.

Well, duty calls, I think: laundry and other such weekend duties before I head to Lina's to bang out some more grades and watch some more British people totter around. No school tomorrow because of a Professional Development day; I can handle that. And in two weeks it'll be October break and I'll be in the Balkans, which is pretty hard to wrap my head around. Life certainly moves fast enough around here; sometimes it just rocks to slow it down and just sit and think and read and write for a weekend. Til next time.



Monday, September 8, 2014

The Mondays

Last year, the best thing about the Sunday-to-Thursday work week was that the weekend seemed to show up sooner than you expected. This year, I realize that I get to experience the Mondays not once per week, but twice!

In the two weeks that seem to have passed since last we communed in the digital plane, school has started. We are now in full swing, almost halfway through the second full week, and I can't deny that I'm feeling the difference between Teaching Fellow life and Real Teacher life.

Before more details, here's the hastily composed mirror selfie that became the Shot Heard Round Facebook:


Way more popular than I expected. Anyway.

My new teacher life, basically:

- Four classes: two of philosophy, one of world religions, and the Big History monster (amounting to 16 periods of teaching per week)

- The triumphant return of the Glee Club (with more singers than ever, which is thrilling, and a gigantic performance coming up in October, which is I guess a little terrifying)

- Dorm duty once a week (hooray!), but because it's with freshmen, we're starting off the year with something that amounts to supervised study hall. Don't be surprised if I send more updates from fluorescent prisons for the next couple months.

- Various and endless meetings related to: advisees (I have six of my own now; five juniors and a sophomore, each with his or her fair share of emotional or intellectual baggage for which I have quickly become an unloading point), professional development (which I signed up for, so I can't complain), and eventually Arabic (which hasn't even started. How do I make time for that one?)

- On the plus side, I don't have a co-curricular, which leaves my afternoons bafflingly open, especially when I'm feeling on top of my work. Today, for instance, I felt both so academically drained and so guilty for having a free afternoon while everyone else slaved away on the tennis courts/improv stage/debate halls that I did this: 


First-ever solo baking project in Jordan! Except I still owe Yasmine for the ingredients, which she bequeathed to us like three months ago. I'll get there.

So life is busy, which isn't that much of a surprise, but is still feeling like something to get used to. Big History has been a crazy mosh pit of excitement so far because we're trying to coordinate schedules across oceans and time zones, but the students are so thrilled about the class that I'm usually very excited just to walk in the door. World Religions feels a little strange because I'm (pretty intentionally) leaving the curriculum design in the hands of the new teaching fellow in the department, and since she's never taught before we're still ice-axing our way up the learning curve. Philosophy often feels like the old shoe I can just slip into, except when things go haywire (like they did this Sunday) and I feel like everything I know is slipping out from under me. Hopefully that doesn't happen too much more; it's not what I need on Mondays. Or Sundays. Or both.

There has been time for fun, of course, very little of which I have documented except the food. Are you surprised?


This one time we cooked dinner on a weekday! That doesn't happen often enough and should probably happen more. I helped with the eggplant at Meg's; Meredith was (as always) responsible for southern comfort. 


Once we watched a Studio Ghibli movie with a projector on a wall. "The Cat Returns." Familiarly weird and totally fun.


Last weekend, the return to Beit Sitti! Made some different dishes, had the same amount of fun, and there were about 40 people there (30 of them from King's) which made for a uniquely raucous good time.

Nothing on tap yet for this weekend, which I can't say I'm sorry about. I'm sure things will come up, and until then I watch it from my faraway Monday outpost. Tuesday's my big day, with all 4 classes and Glee Club, so I think the thing I'm the most excited for is the big ol' sleep I'm planning to get starting around 10:00. Guess I should feel lucky I can get to bed that early. 

More news from the front to come!! Life has felt pretty normal so far; I apologize for not having quite the same I'm-in-Jordan joie de vivre that probably characterized my posts at this time last year. I'm having fun, don't worry, but I'm also definitely working, and I'm glad to report that so far that's not a bad thing.


Friday, August 22, 2014

Two

About a week ago now, two things happened that made me realize I needed to start updating this blog again:

- Tumblr wished "Mr. Ben at King's" a happy first anniversary, reminding me that I have a blog in the first place (although it isn't actually a tumblr)

- a woman on my flight from New York to Amman (first direct flight to Amman ever!) asked me if I was traveling on to Kuwait. I said no and asked why, and she responded, "I'm moving there to teach this year, and wanted to ask if you were too because you look like a teacher."

I didn't ask her what she meant.

Then, more recently, something else happened that led me to the same realization, which was that I learned that one of the new Teaching Fellows has read this entire blog, which he found in Google results for "King's Academy." I didn't know there were people who followed this blog who didn't share genetic information with me, so I was flattered/inspired/embarrassed/encouraged and have now decided to take up the mantle once more. Shout-out to Mr. Tom for all the page views.

So hello again, world! Since last I posted here, I have:

- flown on 9 airplanes
- gotten my passport stamped in America, Japan, America again, and Jordan
- eaten so much good food, so little of it hummus
- seen so many people I already know and love
- met and come to love so many other people (to which I largely owe GAKKO, which deserves a blog of its own that I will never write)
- listened to great music and made OK music
- thought about the new school year, but probably not enough
- a lot of other things besides

But now the summer is behind us all, and I'm back for another round of adventures. King's looks pretty much as good as ever:


And I have moved (and more or less settled) into my new apartment with Chase, with a significantly smaller room...but look at how efficiently my Shirt Rainbow uses that space!


And we've been orienting and meeting and writing and planning and recovering from jetlag and welcoming the proctors and getting geared up for the Actual First Day, which is just about 36 hours away. I would've written sooner, but I spent most of my free moments either putting together my bedroom or thinking about how much more productive I could be if I had had more than 4 hours of sleep. Glad that part's over.

Hopefully I'll be able to update as regularly and enthusiastically as last year! I preemptively beg your forgiveness, though, because of my increased responsibilities here: 

- teaching 4 sections (instead of 2) of 3 different classes (instead of 1), not to mention the Glee Club;
- advising 6 beautiful and amazing students, 4 of whom I already know to be beautiful and amazing and the other 2 are new but I have high hopes; 
- living with a roommate, which has already revolutionized the solitary and arguably over-scheduled existence I led last year;
- a lot of other things besides.

But I'll do the best I can, especially now that I know that this blog has so much traction vis-a-vis Google results. Future King's teachers of the world, find this and read it! At least one person who works here has already found it informative, and the school year hasn't even started yet.

Who knows what will have happened by the next time I post. It's definitely different to start the year already feeling so familiar and knowing so many people and so much Arabic, and I'm glad to know that this year will mean not only the old comforting routines, but also lots of refreshing, unexpected challenges and opportunities. For now, it's time to head to Burger Shack. Let's get this party started. 

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Well, here we are.

Tell me: how do two weeks go by so quickly?

I have been meaning to write something new for a while now, but I had absolutely no idea it'd been two weeks, and I think it's mostly a testament to how wild and crazy the last 15 days have been. Since returning from a whirlwind trip to the US for Yale graduation, I've been making my way through an equally crazy time here, and the busy-ness is just beginning to wind down. Here's a little trip through my last two weeks:

(Even writing "last two weeks" I am flummoxed. Has it actually been that many days? How and why did it all start happening so fast?)

Anyway.

1: THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL.

Not much to say here, really - I didn't get back from New Haven until May 20th, and by that point there were only 3 school days left. One of my classes, having lost 7 seniors (they don't have to attend the final week), was down to 6, and so those last few days felt more like a chance to hang out with my students and casually wind down the year than actual days of class time.

Not only that, but of those three remaining school days, only one was actually a normal school schedule! That was the first day. The second day was

2: PROM.

Which is a big deal here. Like, shortened-school-day big. And they do the campus up right. This year was World-Cup-themed, and we were all decked out in Brazilian flag colors:



The students dress to the nines and arrive at a red-carpet reception, and we teachers did the same: you actually walk through a gauntlet of people and get your picture taken and the whole shebang. I have done a fair number of things in my life, but that was not one of them until last Thursday. Still don't have those pictures though...

The event itself is also a total blowout. People have been telling us for months that "the campus is transformed" for prom (using that exact phrase), and I have to say that it certainly didn't look like the courtyard outside the library usually looks. DJ and dance floor, of course, as well as popcorn and ice cream machines, massive buffet spreads, couches and tables moved outdoors, and all manner of lights and flags and decorations. Here's the party in full swing:



Like any good movie-cliché high school, we even elect a prom king and queen (not to mention prince and princess for the juniors), and you will have to take me at my word that there were fireworks when their names were announced. Like I said, we go big for this thing.

Then afterwards the students make a break for it and rent out Amman's swankiest event halls for their post-prom. We get together in a faculty apartment and have some fun of our own. I stayed up late that night.

So that was the second day of school left. The third, and final, was

3: GRADUATION.

No pictures here. Know why? Because it's a state affair, that's why. 

As of about 4pm after the school day had wrapped up, His Majesty's security detail was on campus. Dorms got locked up, metal detectors got set up, and the students were confined to the auditorium (except for a few singers, who joined me to perform at a development event for the dedication of a newly-named classroom. Further proof that singing for swanky events and little chocolaty hors d'oeuvres never has to end).

The event itself is also quite a show. The whole underclassman student body, as well as the faculty, line up along "Commencement Walk," and the seniors process down past us, led by Their Majesties themselves. There was a lot of walking through gauntlets of people the last week, now that I think about it. I guess it does make things feel pretty celebratory.

And because of the head honcho's tight schedule, the event is pretty quick: a few students get awards and deliver addresses, the Queen (this year's speaker) gives a lovely commencement speech, names are read and diplomas are given, and then we process in a big giant mosh to the square outside the dining hall, where everyone hugs and cries and takes pictures and leaves forever. 

It is a little weird to think that I'll never see the seniors again (although a half-dozen of them have already friended me on Facebook). I liked them and I'll miss them. Also, let's pause to consider that I work at a high school at which graduating seniors receive their diplomas from THE KING OF THE COUNTRY. I may never stop looking around and thinking "what on earth am I doing here."


4: OTHER THINGS.

There are always other things, in and around these final days of school, and here are some of them:

- The senior awards night dinner, at which I conducted the Glee Club (they sounded great and the mic'ing was INCREDIBLE for outdoors) and gave out the Choral Award, which I was sort of surprised to learn was actually an award. But we had a senior singer who deserved it, so she got it!

- Oh, also, two days before graduation Pope Francis came to Jordan. And we went. Look!



So in between all this school madness, I was that close to the Pope in a big stadium full of people where he led a partly-Italian, partly-Arabic mass. Frankly, the best parts where when he entered and exited on that awesome Popemobile, because the mass was hard to understand and no one in our section of the stadium seemed to care that much anyway.

But it's still pretty awesome and pretty once-in-a-lifetime to find oneself in such a place. Here's a picture of some priests (you can make out their white-and-gold umbrellas) spelunking into the crowd to dole out a massive communion:



To be honest, most of what we remember is this abominably catchy song, which played about eight thousand times before His Holiness arrived. His face, and this melody, may be forever etched in our memories.


5: NOW?

Yeah, good question: what are we doing now? It's been three days since graduation, although to be honest it feels like a million (time is really doing cartwheels around me right now), and I am 14 final papers away from being done with my first year as a teacher. Mustering the energy to grade them will certainly be a challenge, but I've got it blocked into my schedule today, which I call a good start.

Other than that? Just wrapped up 3 days of Professional Development with some folks from CollegeBoard who gave us a very productive and quite engaging 12ish hours of activities, strategies, and discussions about reading/writing/analyzing/other schooly stuff. I'm glad it's over because I don't have to do anything any more, but I'm also bummed it's over because I don't get to do anything any more. I was even too lazy to go shopping in Madaba this afternoon, and am here trying to eke out some productivity points by writing this blog post instead. 

Home beckons in about a week, and until then:

- PARTIES. Rooftop barbecue; department dinner; student graduation party; goodbye party for a special TF friend; goodbye daytime barbecue for all departing faculty; real goodbye party with Haram beverages for departing faculty; FINAL goodbye dinner for everyone. 

(That's seven parties in the next seven days, and despite the fact that one spills right into another, something tells me at least one more Fun Event will rear its head before I get on a plane out of this place).

- A few more meetings, probably totaling a couple hours.

- My personal goals: starting to get ready for next year's classes and the summer work I have to do, packing up and preparing to move (oh yeah - I'm moving in with Chase next year! Nothing more to report there except that I think it'll be fun to live with him and actually be in a dorm), and getting bored enough that I actually want to be productive. I have a lot of free time so I think I might actually be able to make that part happen.


This might be my second-to-last post before the summer begins, and I think I'll go on a hiatus and start a food blog? Definitely still up in the air. For now, at least, don't touch that dial; I'm sure you all want to hear about all the parties I'm going to in the next week. Right?

(Oh yeah - and that Wadi Rum music video finally got released!! I still haven't seen my face, but you can see Alli and Jimmy and I think you can make out my sweatshirt. Still totally worth it.)