So, it was a typical day at school. Well, minus the fact that today is the day before the Arab Mother's Day, and so I started my day with a student giving me nice perfume and a couple of flowers. I was hesitant to smell the perfume, as I haven't been much of a fan of some of the ones I've smelled the women here wear, but this one smells really nice and I was pleasantly surprised. Otherwise, today was normal and is my light work day for the week, which means I taught 3 out of 7 lessons. Yes, this is definitely a plus to working at an international school where they have Arabic, Islamic Studies, and Qatar History throughout the week (not all of them everyday). In the States, teachers have one lesson free, but here that is considered my "long day". One thing different for me today than other days, was that I taught Global Studies. I won't go into details, but essentially I have a mix class of "speakers and non speakers" (aka Arabic speakers and non Arabic speakers). We don't have a teacher for the "non speakers", so that is where I come in. Luckily, I share the position with another teacher, so we alternate weeks. It's very easy and my only complaint is that I lose 3 "free" lessons on the weeks that I teach, which is hardly a complaint.
Anyways, the day was going well, as I was cranking things out on my to-do list and in walks Bernadette. She's a friend on my team of teachers (year 5/4th grade), from South Africa, who brought me her old phone for Mark and I to use. I asked her about it the other day, as Mark and I decided to finally "splurge" to go from one phone to two phones. It's crazy how low our expenses are here. For example, for our one phone, (one of our only bills a month...) we pay about $15-20 USD/month. Keep in mind it was one of the cheapest phones we could buy, no Iphone for the Wilcoxen's...not worth the extra cash each month, especially when we are saving for travel, house, loans, etc.
So, I was excited when Bernadette gave me the phone and I looked at one of my student's who just walked into the classroom and had the following conversation.
Convo #1:
Me (to another student): "Hey look what Ms. Bernadette gave me (showing student a cell phone). So now Mark and I finally have two phones, one for each of us."
Student: "My mom has two phones."
Me: hysterically laughing and wondering what these kids think of our "simple living" here.
Mark has had situations where he has confiscated 4 phones from one student. Apparently, it's normal to have more than one phone per person, but still have yet to truly understand why.
Anyways, the remainder of my day goes well and then it's time for tutoring. Mark and I both tutor for the same family on Wednesdays together for two hours. I tutor a boy who is about 6 and a boy who is in 2nd grade. The 6 year old hardly speaks English and they are trying to test him into our school for next year. The test is next week, so I had to have a conversation with the mom today about how I don't think he is going to pass, considering he still doesn't know his letters. She understands, but has increased my hours until his test, to do all we can to help him pass.
After the 6 year old, I tutor the 2nd grader and we experienced the following:
Convo #2- While tutoring after school we were researching Alexander Graham Bell and writing about him.
Me: You need to write his full name when writing about him and make sure to capitalize all three names.
Student: I don't understand, that's only 3 names and not 6.
Me: Yes, in other parts of the world people only have three names in their full name. My name is Kristin Elizabeth Wilcoxen.
Student: (looking confused) But I have 6 in my name.
**good thing they don't take standardized tests where they have to bubble in their full name on the scantron...
Honestly, these are fairly normal conversations to have, but still find them humorous and wanted to share them with you. Now, to end our day...Mark and I are about to walk to our small group that we go to on Wednesdays. This has been a huge help in acclimating to this country, making it feel more like home, and grow in our relationship with our Father.
Love,
Kristin
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