orientation continued

Yesterday we had a speaker called Ali, who has a book, radio program and website called "Ask Ali" He shared his knowledge of Arabic culture with us and reassured us that we would not be arrested if seen eating or drinking in public or if we were dressed inappropriately. But that it was considered polite to eat or drink in private during Ramadan and to at least have your shoulders and knees covered. That was a big relief to a lot of us. What he basically stressed was that the Arabic people are more aware of the importance of the social and religious rules. They aren't as worried about things like getting a ticket for speeding, but if they lose face by doing something against the religion it is a big deal. He was really funny and very informative.

Today we had more inservice training and arabic lessons. I think the thing that is going to be the hardest in teaching here is to get the students used to cooperative learning and problen solving. It's also going to be hard to convince the parents that students are doing well if they show improvement in skills. Parents want to see grades, and they are moving away from the importance of grades in the lower grades. Up until last year, even 1-3 graders had exams and their grades came, for the most part, from those exam scores. We are really pioneers in this country with the way we teach. It will take time for the native teachers to accept and use some of our teaching methods.

Wesley is taking good care of the dogs. Here they are with their new haircuts.

I am going to a bazaar tonight and may finally break down and buy and abaya. We'll need one to go to a Mosque tomorrow anyway and I don't want to wear one that they lend to tourists. Who knows where that has been!

I'm really enjoying our Arabic lessons and hope they will come in handy this year.