Check the date! The first month of school is now over. We started classes on August 29, taught for 9 days and then had a week's holiday.
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And it was a grand holiday!
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Post Eid was a two week full on schedule and today is the first day of a three day weekend! Happy Islamic New Year. The date is actually on Monday, but we are getting Sunday off instead. Great idea, as it creates for us a long weekend, instead of being off for a weekend, returning to school for one day, and then a three day week.
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| The Instagram message that told us that this Sunday is a holiday! |
School is fine. There have been plenty of changes this year...classrooms, subjects taught, staff members, program...all for the betterment of the school. I am adapting to the reality that I am no longer the Grade Level Coordinator, and that I have more time to pursue other interests and to get involved in other areas of professional and personal development. I can safely say that I am no longer, living, breathing and overworking my job,, resulting in a more balanced lifestyle.
One of my favourite things to do is swim. I find myself able to get to the club four five times during a typical week. Swimming has given me an outlet for stress management and weight control. I am also trying to walk to an from school each day, as well as get in a longer walk once or twice a week. I found a walking park not too far from the apartment. The pictures below show the greenery of this little corner in Kuwait.
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| The fence is decorated with symbols of Kuwait- the sun, sand and sea. |
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| One of the beautiful flowering bushes. |
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| The trees are trimmed by an small army of gardeners |
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| This beauty is near the entry gate |
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| Date palms with real dates falling on the ground |
The park has a walking path that takes about 8 minutes to walk around, Within the park are trees and bushes, grasses and benches for sitting, a children's area for playing, and several fountain type structures that are not yet functioning. The park is surrounded by a mosque, apartment buildings and various restaurants, gyms, and "saloons" (aka ladies salons).
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| The view from the middle of the park |
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| The mosque beside the park |
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| Buffalo store! |
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| Sample apartment complex |
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| Men's gym |
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| Another Men's gym |
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| Not sure what this is- maybe a salon? |
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| Where I swim- a ladies club |
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| A Fuddruckers |
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| Lucky Salooon |
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| Children's gym |
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| Yet another saloon |
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| And another |
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| Same mosque, different side |
That brings me to the end of this tour. These pictures were taken two weeks ago. Last weekend I was here at the building helping a teacher who is leaving, pack up her apartment. The weekend was a busy one with a couple of swims, tutoring, preparing for classes, and of course, packing lots of stuff. I will try to get a picture of the boxes...
But this weekend is different. I stayed at work late yesterday, marked children's work, and prepared lessons for the four day week ahead, After I publish this blog, I will head out for a walk and a swim,
After that, if I can't find a good movie on TV, I will turn to channel 10 for the latest BBC news before reading, checking emails, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and finally sleeping (as long as the cat will allow).
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| "MEOW!" |
Tomorrow is the middle of the weekend and I am going to shop for groceries and visit with friends on the other side of Kuwait City. It is always nice to hear someone else's perspective about living in the Middle East.
For now I remain safe, happy, and taking one day at a time.
Until next time,
Bee Rich
