Memorisation...

Remember when I posted about writing reports the "British way"? Well, it's report time again...

Now, I have learned to say, "Vladimir needs to practise memorising his basic Maths facts."

Pretty neat, huh?

Just thought I'd let you know I'm learning more British than Russian!


Oh, and by the way, I have only had ONE friend give me their hair color vote. Very disappointing. Come on, people. Don't let me down. This is your chance to change the way I look for awhile! This opportunity only comes once in a blue moon.

What does that mean, anyway?

Ciao with Friends...

This past weekend was my friend and teammate's 30th birthday. Sonia is a great person to work with and know. She is Irish and has a very strong accent. We laugh all the time because I sometimes have to ask her "What?" about 10 times before I understand what she's saying.

This is Sonia, her son, R'iordan (pronounced Reardon), and her husband, Matthew, who is British. They're a cute, little family.

We, along with other teacher friends, Narita and Katy, decided to celebrate Sonia's "big one" at her favorite restaurant here, Ciao Pizza. They really do have pretty tasty pizza, our favorite being the Ciao Pizza, with cream sauce and corn. Sounds weird, but it's delicious. I was too excited to eat it to take a picture first. Stephen and I demolished it, though. I also just realized I didn't get any pictures of Katy and Narita, but I will.

R'iordan is my buddy. He likes to wear his daddy's sunglasses. And he wanted to see "me" on the camera screen everytime I took his picture.
That's a little Matchbox car in his mouth. He drove that thing all over the back of the seat cushions throughout lunch. He was so well-behaved!

We Did It....

I just sent the email to the HR guy at my school, letting him know that we'd be moving out of the staff accommodation by February 8.

Huzz and I just feel like it will be for the best. Even if the school follows through with what they're promising now, it will always be something more that we are dealing with. It will probably relieve a lot of stress to live elsewhere. Even though moving is stressful.

But hey, most of our stuff is back in Colorado in the storage unit, so at least we don't have to move all of that!

Now for some random-ness:

I've been thinking lately that I might want to dye my hair. Should I? It is all natural color right now and has been since college, so for several years. I think it'd be kind of fun, don't you? I'm thinking lighter...like blondish. What do you think? Leave me a comment and cast your vote. You will decide for me. When I go home at Christmas, I will do what the majority verdict declares on this here blog.

We really need to do our Christmas shopping this weekend...online. No, we are not bringing back authentic big K gifts. Trust me, you probably wouldn't want them. Unless you have an unfathomable hankering for horse meat. Although, we do have a gift for a few of the men in our families that we just thought they might think interesting. Nothing too exciting.

I knitted some baby booties for our friends, Rick & Katy, who are having a baby girl in March. They are so tiny! I'm nervous they'll be too small, even at the beginning. That's something I'm trying to work out with my knitting, is being consistent with the tightness of my stitches.

I know at least half of you just fell asleep, there, so I'll stop talking about knitting.

I made chicken parmesan last night and it was sooooo YUM. Thankfully, we have leftovers for tonight. Although, Huzz likes to have large second portions, which throws off how much is left for the second night. So, I usually end up having a half a portion, plus anything else I can find...usually bread. Which is not a good choice, but hey - I roll with it.

I am in the midst of writing reports, figuring out grades, and grading exams.

Yes, I had to give my baby seven year olds exams. And to the ones who can't read English, too. Of course, I read it to them, but their understanding is still so minimal. I make them sound like sweet, innocent things, but they're not. I am praying for patience each day, as they are very challenging children...spoiled, to say the least.

So, this week is crazy! I'm almost done with the written reports, though, so that's a relief.

Now, I need to pack up my things so I can grade exams at home tonight. Oh, joy.

Hopefully, I will post some pictures soon. I really need to get better at doing that. Maybe that will be my New Years' resolution.

Should We Stay or Should We Go?

Some of you are aware of the “situation” with my job at the school. I’ve hinted at it a few times here. Let me give you a taste of what that’s been like and what we face now, because of it.

When we first moved here this summer, we lived in an apartment, temporarily, until I was to report for work. The school would be providing the teachers with subsidized accommodations.

Remember that first apartment? We frequently were without hot water. We didn’t have internet at all for the first 3 out of 5 weeks that we lived there. I kicked out the Internet Master by saying Goodbye! in Russian. I was home alone during the day while Stephen was at work, watching FoxNews repeat itself in 4 hour cycles and watching Friends on my computer because the DVD player wouldn’t play our DVD’s. I knitted a lot. I didn’t know anyone and I was lonely. I wondered what we were thinking.

We were so excited to move into our staff accommodation! Although we moved in a week late, since they weren’t finished yet, we were going to have internet, a large apartment, the quiet of living just outside of the city, better t.v.! Things were looking up!

Now, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, so I will tell you the good things about living here before I inform you of all the problems.

• We have made some good friends while living here than I’m not sure would’ve happened if we hadn’t lived in close proximity with the teachers.
  
• This place is huge! 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms that I get to clean, a large kitchen, two living rooms…Huzz and I lose track of each other sometimes! Much different from our NYC studio.
  
• I have free transportation to and from the school with these little buses the school has.
  

Now, for the gripes.

• We had no t.v. service or phone service for the first 5 weeks we lived here. We still don’t have internet service. The first month we received our bills, we got one for a “service charge,” which came to about $200 a month! This is essentially a home owner’s association fee, which the teachers were not informed of, ever. We were promised that the school would pay that for the teachers.
  

One week later, they said they couldn’t pay it because it wasn’t in the school’s budget.

Believe me, this is only one of the issues the teachers have been fighting since August. The downstairs units are falling apart, due to faulty plumbing and wiring. Just last week, we didn’t have water at all on one side of the house because the pipes were clogged with plastic bags and building materials. The plumber made known his disdain for us in Russian, because as you know, we love shoving plastic bags and drywall down the toilet. We are forced to stay at the school at the mercy of the bus schedule, which most days come to twelve hours. It seems that everyday, there is something new. It is incredibly wearing.

The teachers have had it. Last weekend and this weekend, several teachers have moved out of the accommodation houses, at the risk that they will not receive the subsidy that has been promised, as yet not fulfilled. We have learned that the Soviet apartment buildings, while ugly on the outside, actually have pretty decent apartments inside. You have to tread through dark, smelly, syringe-filled hallways. But, once you get inside, all is good. Then, today they had another meeting with the housing people. Apparently now, they have offered to pay the service charges for us and pay our bills, plus have “promised” to get internet installed.

Now, I am not a stupid person. Based on past experience with these people, I’d say they’re full of it. I’d say these are empty promises. I’d say we still won’t have internet by the time we report for school in January. I am not being pessimistic. I am being realistic. And smart.

If they actually did fulfill all of these “promises,” I would love to stay where we are at. #1 reason is because I am sick and tired of moving. This would be the third move in 4 months. Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive?

More pros to moving: All of our friends are moving out of the staff accommodations, so we could get an apartment near them, hopefully. And without them, I’ll be lonely again. The school will have one less thing to have a hold on me. No more taking rent money out of my paycheck! We’ll actually save a significant amount of money by moving. I actually think I might be a lot happier if we moved away from the accommodations. I say might because I don’t want to commit myself to some feeling that I’m not ready to display.

Anyway, that’s just a taste of what we (I) have been dealing with for the past few months. Now, just apply that to starting a school, teaching for 6 weeks without any books or supplies….the list goes on.

Now, I have that song in my head Should We Stay or Should We Go?

I better turn on some Christmas music. That’s much better to have in my head!

22 Days...

22 Days…

Reasons I can’t wait to go home:

My family – When I get home, I get to spend time with my mama and my sister, soon followed by my daddy. I need some good hugs and they need them from me. Then, right before Christmas, hopefully Bro, sister-in-law, and little niece will make it out. Also, Grandpa John and Grandma Nancy might be coming out to see us, depending on a pending trip of us going to Iowa.

My friends – Angie, Kari, Ali (hopefully) – I need this time with them. The ladies know my heart.

Riley – I miss my dog so much, it hurts.

Church – There’s just something about the church you grew up in that makes you feel at home.
Clean Colorado air. It’s the mountains without the pollution.

Tumble dryers. No more crusty, air dried clothes…at least for 3 ½ weeks.

Milk. Real milk.

Mexican food – we are going for good Tex-Mex for my birthday. Cheese enchiladas, guacamole, and a margarita make this girl happy.

Haircut from Vanessa – haven’t had one since June, so I’m due.

Cuddle with my Hannah Faith.

A good sleep in a nice bed.

I just need home. I never would’ve thought the past five months would’ve been as difficult as they have been. I am so thankful that Christmas is coming and we’ve been planning on this trip from the beginning and are able to do it. I can’t wait to see everyone!

Frustrations...

Hello faithful readers! This blog entry is a facade. It is a facade, in that I cannot post pictures. We had beautiful snow fall this weekend and I just wanted to post some pictures of that today. However, the big K is making this difficult on me. From now on, it looks as though I may only be able to post pictures to the blog when I can get into Stephen's office and have a good sit-down at the internet there.

The school decided to block pretty much anything and everything when using the internet and has deemed blogger.com as "unsuitable content."

The internet access we have at our house is dial-up. The computer says it's 56k, but it's definitely not that fast. It is impossible to upload pictures. It takes a good 5 minutes to tell me that it's just not going to happen.

Am I upset? Ha! If you know me at all, you know the answer to that question.

I will tell you that I am having an incredibly difficult time right now. I'll blog more about it when I have more time on the internet. Right now, my momma is supposed to call me soon tonight and I want her to be able to get through the phone line. I miss my mom. Although we get to talk on the phone more than I thought we would, we haven't been able to do video Skype in a loooooong time. Hopefully we can make it to Stephen's office this weekend and set up Skype dates.

If you think of it, say a little prayer for little 'ol me. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope, so they say. Just ask Stephen. He would probably agree with that statement with gusto. On second thought, say a little prayer for him, as he is the one who has to deal with me each day!

Oh, my Dubai...

So, last week was half-term break for my school, and Stephen and I headed to Dubai for a much needed break on Tuesday. Me, along with about half of my class. But, they left on the Saturday before, so fortunately, none of them were on our flight.

When we got to the airport, there was a group of people standing around in a circle, dressed in traditional Kazakh dress. Inside the circle, a couple of women were playing dombras, a Kazakh instrument. Click on that if you're interested. Anyway, I couldn't get a better, closer picture because there were so many people.

We waited in the airport for a couple of hours, checked out the duty free store and took the above picture. We were excited!

The next morning, we rose and this is what I looked at for the better part of the day. The beach had the most amazing sand we've ever felt! So soft and fine.

This is the Persian Gulf and we did go swimming and the water was also the warmest sea water I've ever swam in. There were also great waves to play in. Some people were boogie boarding.

That's my husband. I love him.

Then, a man appeared on a camel! That was kinda fun. He led people up and down the beach all day long. Poor camel. Actually, it's what he's made for, so maybe he actually liked it. He didn't smell very good, so that kept me from begging Stephen to go on a ride with me.

This is the view from our hotel room balcony. I know, pretty, right?

Everyday, the hotel staff would replenish our supply of fruit. Above, are some bananas and something else weird. I cut into the weird one and it was filled with white, goody things. It didn't taste nice, either. Anyone know what the name of it is?

Here are two more fruits from another day that were just too weird looking to venture into. Anyone know what these are?

Then on Thursday morning, I woke up with the above all over my legs and one of my arms. Gross, huh? It was itching me like the dickens. My best guess is I broke out in hives because my body was so confused by all of the relaxing that was going on. It's just not used to it. I have broken out in hives before because of stress. It's just weird that I wasn't stressed.

Even though I was feeling a little funny from the hives, we still went into Dubai and went to the City Center. We were drawn to the Golden Arches and had some Nugs at 10:00 in the morning. You don't realize how much you miss the Golden Arches until it is completely unavailable to you for four months!

While we were at the City Center, Stephen bought me this new little prize! Isn't it so pretty? It's for our anniversary/my birthday.

And then we stood in the cab line for 45 minutes to go meet our teacher friends at the Hard Rock Cafe. Touristy, I know, but again - they have good french fries. Or chips as my British friends call them. Anyway, on our way to the Hard Rock, we witnessed how much construction is going on in this busy city. We passed the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world!

Here is the combo platter we ordered. Fried goodness.

And the final picture is us. My left foot's in the air because the sand was so hot.

All in all, awesome time in Dubai. Friendly people, which we have been missing. Great shopping, which we have been missing. Warm weather...

We will definitely be going back one day.

Tag...I'm It!

I got tagged again. By my friend, Megan - neat little chica from high school. She's a few years younger than me, but we became friends mostly through choir-type deals. And probably through all the time we spent at basketball games, volleyball games, and really....anything. She is stinkin' hilarious and I miss her!

So, apparently, I need to blog about 7 random facts about myself...

1. I really love to knit...yes, Megan, it's true! I recently finished a tiny little pink cardigan for Stephen's boss' baby who will be born in December. It's the cutest thing, ever. Now, I'm working on booties. I have knitted many things: scarves, afghans, other baby sweaters, baby blankets, and now booties. Bootie! (You know you wanted to say it.)

2. I am susceptible to kidney stones. It is the worst, ever. And yes, it is the worst pain, ever. One of my nurses once told me she's had stones and given birth and stones is way worse. One day, I'll give you my own opinion on that one. So, I'm not supposed to drink soda, coffee, or anything with caffeine, really. #1 - I need my diet coke each day. #2 - I try to restrain myself from coffee, but sometimes, a girl just needs a good cup o' joe. Plus, I'm supposed to drink lots of cranberry juice, which I absolutely cannot stand. However, it's been over two years since I had any stones, so I'm doing good...so far! (I've had them 3 times, though.) Oh, and I found some delightful caffeine free herbal tea here, called Creamy Roobois. Yum.
3. I miss Febreze and Swiffer. Like, a lot. I don't love to clean, but Febreze is such a nice way to make a room feel clean and refreshed. Especially if you open up the windows on a nice, spring day and spray it on your duvet cover. Loveliness. And since I don't like to clean, Swiffer makes cleaning the floors easy and does a great job.
4. I really like taking pictures, but I am not that great at it yet. I'd really like to get a digital point and shoot. Since I'm no Ansel Adams, a basic-type camera would be good, but it has to take good pictures. I need all the help I can get.
5. I love to read. I've made it a point during the last couple of years to read each night before I go to bed. Stephen will testify that he finds me with the book fallen on my face or my chest and me passed out cold. But, it's a nice way to fall asleep. I just finished The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. Gotta be honest: kinda weird.
6. I really like my head being scratched.
7. When I hear music, I "play" it on my legs or the table or the steering wheel - like I'm playing the piano for it. I'm a nerd.

Okay, so there are way more random things about me, but those are the ones that came to mind. And now, I tag: My cousin Jessie, Kate, Angie, Josie, Melanie, Becky B., and Jennifer.