Vacation in October

Just one of the many views of the lake. 

For years and years when teaching I always thought that I would love a vacation during the autumn months.  When I heard about retired teachers going on big trips during the months of September or October I was always a little envious.  There is something about the change in seasons that gives me a special feeling inside.  Not sure if it is the idea of Thanksgiving or the sight of red and yellow and orange and brown leaves or the smell of pumpkin pie baking in the oven or the sound of squirrels bickering over who gets which nut, but I do know that autumn is one of my very favourite seasons!

I am very fortunate to have come to Bucharest, Romania for the Eid break. With a total of nine days off, I am spending five of them visiting  my daughter, two days travelling and two days back in Kuwait. She warned me that she may not have much time to spend with me and I assured her that I am able to be as independent as the next parent staying in a foreign country.  With that in mind, my daughter prepared a map to help me get around the neighbourhood and today, after a couple of false starts (I got a little turned around and also forgot my camera) I set out to explore "the park".

"Wow, wow, wow," is the expression I use when I am exceedingly happy or excited and this morning was a "wow, wow, wow" experience.  Bucharest is a city where, according to Wikipedia,
1 883 425 people lived within the city limits (2011 census).  Apparently the urban area goes beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of  1.9 million. Adding the satellite towns around the urban area the proposed metropolitan area would have a populations of 2.27 but according to unofficial data the population is more than 3 million, making Bucharest the sixth largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, after London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Paris.

In many cities the size of Bucharest one would have to travel far to reach a quiet spot in which to relax, walk a dog, walk, jog, cycle or fish.  However, just a few short blocks from my daughter's apartment there is a jewel called Herastrau Park, named after the lake it surrounds.  This name has its origin in a dialectal version of the word ferastrau which means saw or sawmill, referring to the water-powered sawmills that were once found on the Colentina river which flows through the lake. 

Just one of the maps that guides people around the lake

First glimpse of the lake and its park

This fellow welcomes all to park.
He apparently replaced Stalin's statue in 1956

This lovely stature found near the children's part of the park

This island beckons the eye to have a good look

The path around the lake is lit at night by these beautiful copper lamps

A forest of weeping willows surrounds some of the shoreline

The park is multi-use and advertises local businesses

This one made me smile!

Dogs are welcome as long as the owner is willing to stoop and scoop

Signs of Autumn are everywhere

The city is very close

Many ducks inhabit the park

Hotels and restaurants are also part of the scene

Another sign of the season

A railway bridge connects the mainland to an island

Bicycles abound around the lake

The golf club on one side of the lake

A tall and proud poplar tree

Skateboarding

A famous building in Bucharest from across the lake

Benches for some R and R

In one spot rows and rows of roses

Yellow- the rose of friendship

One of twelve famous Romanians face one another in a clock like setting

Here is one name I recognized!

And here he is- Romanian Idol?

Swans a swimming

A place for music

On the busier side of the lake, the trail is divided

One last look as I completed the five kilometre around the lake walk

Yes, it was a wow experience and I am so thankful to have made this journey. It is a bonus that I can spend time with my daughter as well as take time to explore some of the beautiful  parts of the city of Bucharest. She has arranged a Romanian tour on Wednesday and I am looking forward to visiting Dracula's castle.  More to come I am sure!

Until next time, 

Bee Rich

Ahhhhhhhhh Eid!

This mural located close to my daughter's home in Bucharest

Travelling is one of the best things about teaching overseas.  This is the first school break of the year and I am so fortunate to be able to travel to Bucharest, Romania to visit my wonderful, hard working daughter.
I flew out of Kuwait International Airport promptly at 2:20 a.m. on Saturday morning.  After a five hour flight to Istanbul, a one hour layover and a two hour flight to Bucharest I was greeted by a driver carrying a sign stating my daughter's company name and a brisk ride in a fancy car to her apartment on Strada Nisipari.  After a warm hug and quick catch up conversation over breakfast we began a day of togetherness!

My daughter's home sweet home

She took me on a tour of her beautiful apartment then we were off to a mall for some shopping and lunch. I decided to take a nap in the afternoon and ended up sleeping for more than twelve hours.  I cannot blame jet lag because I did even change time zones.  Perhaps it was the very little sleep on the planes or maybe the fresh air of Romania which kept me asleep for so long.
By this morning we were out and about, went for a ride on the Metro, visited a souvenir shop, enjoyed lunch out (yes, again!) and then hit an outdoor market with one of my daughter's colleagues from work. We enjoyed a hot mulled red wine and then rode the metro back to the apartment before she returned downtown for an afternoon of work.

A few shots of downtown 

Beautiful architecture

A pause for lunch at the Trattoria Buongiorno- and Italian eatery

The Tupperware mascot was cheering roadside for the road runners

Just one of many parks in the downtown area

The roses are beautiful here

One of the many finds at the market

A giraffe greets visitors to the Museum of Nature

A warm memorial and cemetery in the downtown area

Once I got my bearings, thanks to written instructions and a map, I went to the Market and shopped for tonight's dinner. For the first time in awhile we are going to enjoy a steak dinner!

Until next time,


Bee Rich

An ADVENTURE!

Connection to home- usually just a click away!

"Today was an adventurous day.  If the purpose of an adventure is to build confidence then I am feeling so quite confident this evening.  Two things that worry me when living in a foreign country are:
1. Walking from place to place by myself, especially if I am not exactly sure where I am heading.
2. Riding in a taxi from place to place by myself, especially if I am not exactly sure where I am going.
Today was the day for me to forget about my worries and be happy!
The day started at 6 a.m. It was Saturday morning, a full 24 hours before school would begin for another week.  I worked on lesson plans, walked to school and organized the classroom a little more. At 2:00 I decided that enough was enough and that I needed to go to the gym (my new past time) for a workout and a swim. Arriving at the gym by 2:30 I proceeded to walk my laps, spin the stationary bicycle and follow the strength program that was set for me.
By 4:00 I hit the pool for a relaxing swim and then a hot sauna and then decided to walk home from the gym for the very first time. It was a very active day and I arrived home tired but happy.
So that is when I discovered that the internet was not working.  I began to panic...who will I check my email? How will I Skype my family? I phoned the internet company and was told that I would have to go out to a storefront where it might be able to be fixed.
I had a decision to make. Do I wait until tomorrow, not know what a Sunday at work was going to bring, or do I get dressed and head back outside in to the heat and traffic? Without hesitation I decided that I really wanted the internet fixed and since I am alone here I was the one who had to do it.
So I hailed a taxi and proceeded to make my way to the Sharifa al Mulla complex on Khaldoun Street which I had no idea where it was.  Turns out because I mispronounced the name of the complex and the street the taxi driver initially had no idea either.  Eventually he figured it out and we were off.
I was dropped off at one building and went to three others before one kind soul helped me find the centre where the modem might be able to be fixed.
I arrived and was surprised by the number of people waiting for service.  The gentleman behind the counter asked me if I had been having problems with my internet and I replied, "Yes."  He then asked if it was since yesterday and I remembered, "Yes. The problem started yesterday."  He told me to sit down and it would take about 15 minutes before he could help.
Little did I know that all of the people there were having the same difficulty with their Internet.  Over the course of about 90 minutes, no less than 30 people came in and out of the shop. Almost all were carrying their modem.  Many were told, in Arabic, to come back "bocra" which means tomorrow.
I did a quick analysis of the situation and realized that I could not come back bocra because I had to work.  Besides I still had not spoken to my husband all day. The man behind the counter was obviously distraught.  He was sweating and kept holding his forehead like he had a bad headache.  I asked if he was okay and that it must have been a very long day.  He replied that the day seemed like a week.
Finally there was only one other person in the store.  The man behind the counter asked me if I could come back tomorrow (which is today or Sunday).  I said no, that I wanted to be back online immediately and that if he could not fix it then I would appreciate a new modem...."

Not exactly alone, Coral and Jade are here with me
and do enjoy my chair when I am out of the apartment!

The above blog was started about one week ago.  It is all true and it ended up that the man behind the counter was a real hero.  Instead of giving up on my broken modem, he persisted and made everything better.

I joyfully took a taxi back to the apartment (by this time it was almost 10 p.m.) feeling confident that I could manage some things on my own.

So what does this have to do with an ADVENTURE?  And what is it with the monkeys?

The rest of the story is that in India we had a friend who was always up for an adventure, whether it be a trip to a downtown brewery or a taking a course in bar tending.  We would all three (my husband, me and our friend Jon) would hop into a tuk-tuk and make our way to some uncertain destination.  The great thing about this was that Jon usually brought adventure snacks.  Precious memories of our time in Bangalore!

Mode of transportation in Bangalore!
Heading out on an adventure in the fall of 2012

And the monkeys?  Coral and Jade represent the two stones that are symbolic of 35 years of marriage. They were given to my husband and me by my wonderful sister-in-law this past summer.  They have accompanied me to Kuwait and we three are anxiously waiting the reunion with my husband and dog in early November.

In the meantime, the Eid break is here and my daughter and husband have arranged a return flight for me to travel to Romania to spend some time. I will be leaving the apartment in about 24 hours. Hopefully I will be able to venture out tomorrow to find something Kuwaiti for my hard working daughter.  Can't wait!

Wishing you many adventures!

Until next time,


Bee Rich

Saturday Blues

The view from the apartment window

Same window, different view. 

"Today was a day that I did not have to get up.  I had planned to stay home and to try get over a cold, which arrived early last week. This is my day to sleep in!  This was not to be...the call to prayer started at 4:30 a.m. and the construction across the street began at 6 a.m.

As I lay in bed I thought to myself how very fortunate I am to be living in one of the safest countries in the world, working at my chosen profession and meeting new people every day...."

This was the start of a blog post from two or three weeks ago. The title indicates that I was having a hard time of it during my first couple of weeks here.  I was sick, tired, feeling lonely and a little bit sorry for myself.

But somewhere between the title and the second paragraph I was able to switch gears and be thankful for my good fortune. Today as I gazed through unfinished posts I learned a little something about myself.  I am essentially an optimist as I try to see the good in everything, everyone and every situation.

Shortly after writing the opening of this blog I made a decision to keep swimming.  After a summer on the lake and swimming almost every day, my body was aching for some exercise. I mentioned this to a colleague at work and she suggested that I join the local women's gym.  I wanted to shop around before making a decision and I was glad I had waited.

The pool is at least 25 long and almost as wide. It turns out that very few people are actually in the area where lengths are swum.  My first experience in that pool was almost surreal. The water did not smell like chlorine, nor was there a funny taste. There was actually a pleasant odor from the massage room down the hall.  There are two hot tubs, a steam room, a sauna and a juice bar.  Towels and lockers are included with a membership.

Thinking I would swim only I soon realized that there was more to the club than the pool.  Everyone is weighed and measured and then put on a program according to their body type.  My current roundness qualifies me for the "apple" category and my program includes stationary cycling, walking on the indoor track followed by two sets of high repeat, low weight training activities. For me it is a good place to start.  Four or five times a week has put me in a more positive frame of mind so no more Saturday blues.

It's official - membership does have its advantages!

Until next time,


Bee Rich

Living in the Middle East, Again!

Hey!  I am going through my list of blogs that I have not completed.  Each one reminds me of a moment where I thought of something great to write, but then lost steam and abandoned the ideas. Sometimes I had only a title written.  At other times the first sentence points to what I was thinking. This particular blog post was started in a moment of "gasp- here I am in the Middle East again!"

After two years in Egypt (September 2008-June 2010) we thought we would never return to the warm, sandy, dry and always interesting area of the world. However, we were wrong. When teaching intermediate geography I was always curious about emigration and immigration and the factors that cause people to move.

Of course everyone's circumstances are different, but it boils down to two concepts- Push Factors and Pull Factors.  That is, what pushes us away from our present place and/or what pulls us to an new place in the world.

For me the push factors and the pull factors were one and the same.  Work!  I love teaching.  After a change in school boards in Ontario, there were no teaching jobs for me in Ontario.  I applied for work in other provinces, but again, not successfully. I finally I realized that if I wanted to work I would have to relocate.  There were teaching jobs abroad.  So there you have it, simply stated I am doing it for the satisfaction of having an enjoyable job.

My 42 kids on Day One

Self Portraits- 2B

Self Portraits- 2A

2A - Silliness on Free Dress Day

2B - How cute are they?

And yes!  I am enjoying the lifestyle in this warm place.  As the weeks turn in to months I have been assured that the daily 45 C temperatures will moderate and the winter will be quite pleasant; some say even cool!  I am looking forward to that.  And school is over in mid-June so I will have the opportunity to return home in time for my favourite Canadian season, summer,

In the meantime I will keep you up to date on the latest developments in the Middle East.

Until next time,


Bee Rich

Blog Number 3 from Kuwait!

It is the Eid break, a time that I have looked forward to for the past five weeks.  One month ago today I arrived in Kuwait and have so far survived the heat, humidity, dust, uneven sidewalks and regular call to prayer at 4:00 a.m.

In case you didn't read my first post from Kuwait, I will revisit my adventure...

On August 21 my husband and I flew to Vancouver, B.C. to begin an Alaskan cruise that truly was a trip of a lifetime.  I am still marveling at the photos taken while aboard the ship, Radiance of the Seas, the trains and the buses while touring the biggest state in the USA.  One of the highlights for me was a visit with my American cousin and his wife, who live in Ketchikan, Alaska. We had a wonderful day visiting with them touring the area and seeing where they have been living for over ten years.  I will never forget their kindness and hospitality.

My cousin and his wife

We traveled the inside channel from Ketchikan to Seward on the cruise ship, enjoying the all the amenities of our first ever big ship cruise plus the stops along the way.  It was enjoyable and very relaxing.  Upon our arrival in Seward we boarded a bus to Anchorage where we checked in to a hotel before I took off on another adventure- a teaching job in Kuwait. After 8 flights (Anchorage-Seattle-Chicago-Philadelphia-Ottawa and then Ottawa-Toronto-Istanbul-Kuwait) I arrived at 2 am on September 2, just in time to grab a few hours of sleep before teaching grade 2 children on their first day of school.

Kuwait- small green country just east of Iraq and north of Saudi Arabia

Thanks to a friend from teaching days in Egypt I enjoyed a nice packed lunch, an Internet connection after school and delivered food.  Em lives in the building next door and has been an inspiration and support person as I made the transition back into teaching.  Our weekly jaunts to the Avenues, an amazing mall here in Kuwait, have been an enjoyable way to spend Friday mornings.

Em and me at Tim Horton's

The Grand Avenues where the ceiling changes colour, right before your very eyes!

School is just like any other school.  The children are precious, smart and resilient.  There are eight sections of each grade level and I am part of a lovely team of teachers.  Each morning at 7:15 the children line up for the "morning routine" which involves greeting the deputy deputy principal in Arabic, reciting part of the Quran, singing the national anthem, raising the flag, greeting the principal in English and listening to announcements.  There is a band (drums and accordions) that accompanies the ceremony and the Boy Scouts march in and lead the entire grade 1-3 section (24 classes X 21 students) in cheers in celebration of Kuwait, the emir and the Arabian countries.

Morning routine at the school- Free Dress Day

Following morning routine the children walk in straight lines to their classrooms for the first of eight 40 minute classes a day. It is a rigorous and very busy schedule with the children taking classes in English, Science, Mathematics, Art (all in English) and PE, Music, Civics, Arabic and Religion) in Arabic.

By the end of the day students are teachers are happy to make their way home for a little rest, relaxation and sustenance before it all starts again the next day.

I must say that I am enjoying being in a classroom.  At first I was a little overwhelmed but by the second or third week I began to feel normal again and look forward to each new day.

So time is going quickly.  I look forward to the next nine days of a little bit of school work, a trip to Romania to visit my daughter and several workouts at the gym and pool.

All in all, life is good!

Until next time,

Bee Rich