Thank goodness it's Thursday! Thursday starts the weekend in Egypt and we are so ready for it! It's ironic, because we actually had a long weekend last week so we should still be rested up from that. Instead, we had super busy days the last couple of days and are even more ready than usual for the weekend!
Here's a snapshot:
Work (Christiy) - One of the things I really like about my job is that it involves interacting a lot with other people. I like talking with people and meeting people, especially here where you're never quite sure what nationality you'll be working with. Much as I like it, this can also be exhausting. That's been the case this week - one person after another - I am ready to hide myself away for a while.
Work (Dylan) - Dylan had his first experience substitute teaching this week. It's hard work teaching classes all day! Aside from subbing Dylan is up to 5 regular tutoring students now - at an hour and a half each, that takes up a lot of evening time!
Arabic - Dylan and I had our first Arabic lesson yesterday, where we began learning the alphabet. We can now read and write nine letters and three short vowels. The vowels take the form of little accents above or below the letter. The letters look different depending on whether they are at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. It can be tiring to try to get your head around the new shapes and sounds, but we're forging ahead anyway!
English - I taught my first English class yesterday! It went really well. I felt like the students were trying hard and learning and that I actually had something valuable to teach (I'm SO glad English is my native tongue!). Some parts of the lesson went faster or better than others, but I filled the whole three hours okay! I know people were praying for me, so thank God!
Sports - Dylan plays on a community softball team called the Nomads and a community men's volleyball team. Abby plays on the CAC volleyball team and on a community softball team as well. Ann and I try to show up at as many of these games as possible, so this week we spent Monday night watching Dylan play and will see both Dylan and Abby tonight (volleyball) and tomorrow (softball). I'm kind of glad I'm just a spectator for these with so many other things going on!
Yay Thursday!
Here's a snapshot:
Work (Christiy) - One of the things I really like about my job is that it involves interacting a lot with other people. I like talking with people and meeting people, especially here where you're never quite sure what nationality you'll be working with. Much as I like it, this can also be exhausting. That's been the case this week - one person after another - I am ready to hide myself away for a while.
Work (Dylan) - Dylan had his first experience substitute teaching this week. It's hard work teaching classes all day! Aside from subbing Dylan is up to 5 regular tutoring students now - at an hour and a half each, that takes up a lot of evening time!
Arabic - Dylan and I had our first Arabic lesson yesterday, where we began learning the alphabet. We can now read and write nine letters and three short vowels. The vowels take the form of little accents above or below the letter. The letters look different depending on whether they are at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. It can be tiring to try to get your head around the new shapes and sounds, but we're forging ahead anyway!
English - I taught my first English class yesterday! It went really well. I felt like the students were trying hard and learning and that I actually had something valuable to teach (I'm SO glad English is my native tongue!). Some parts of the lesson went faster or better than others, but I filled the whole three hours okay! I know people were praying for me, so thank God!
Sports - Dylan plays on a community softball team called the Nomads and a community men's volleyball team. Abby plays on the CAC volleyball team and on a community softball team as well. Ann and I try to show up at as many of these games as possible, so this week we spent Monday night watching Dylan play and will see both Dylan and Abby tonight (volleyball) and tomorrow (softball). I'm kind of glad I'm just a spectator for these with so many other things going on!
Yay Thursday!