mayhem and gratitude

I slowly slip in to a bizarre realm of workaholism, so contradictory to my personality. In the span of two weeks, in addition to my regular teaching duties, I presented two workshops at a conference. I have been coaching Forensics, which is soon drawing to a close with our tournament in Cairo next weekend. I also had a band concert plus organized two concert events during our school's International Week. I run a jazz band practice on Wednesdays (virtual Friday) after school with students plus rehearse with the adult band on Sunday evenings. We have a performance again today- we had one last Friday, too. And I teach yoga on Saturdays in my apartment. Oy. I am pretty sure I am losing my mind.

The good news is, the band concert is over and went relatively well. The trip to Cairo will be exhausting but it is always nice to get out of Kuwait for a few days. The music workshop I presented was approved by admin at my school to be presented at a larger conference. This does not mean it will be selected by the conference committee, but it is still nice to be noticed. The yoga workshop I presented at the conference went well and I received thanks and compliments and that is all it takes to make me happy.

I celebrated American Thanksgiving with colleagues last evening. It was nice and I have developed some strong friendships in Kuwait. It is unfortunate I do not agree with any philosophies of our new superintendent and feel I must leave in order to preserve any amount sanity I have left. We shall see. The aformentioned busy-ness has not been conducive to a clear thought process.

That said, as I was playing guitar with my students last week, I noted how grateful I was to work as I do. We were sitting out in the sun playing guitar, as it was warmer outside than in the chilly classroom, and I thought, "I am the luckiest person in the world. My job involves sitting around with amazing kids, teaching them chord progressions, and introducing them to the finer points of folk music."

Life is good.

maybe i am a huge egomaniac

The last weeks have been crazy...and then I started thinking it had been awhile since I had written, but it was only a week ago. I have 50 posts on my blog, 51 after this. Perhaps this is a sign of egotism. Everyone MUST want to hear about ME, no?

I conducted the Middle and High School band concert last night. The students did pretty well. It was not perfect, but it was good. The first concert of the year is not usually the best one. The great thing is I have learned to have fun at concerts and I think that really transfers to the students' success. As I am relaxed and enjoying myself, they realize it will be okay- they must be doing well for me to be calm and collected. Now I must get to that point about two weeks earlier. It's all a learning experience.

I was thinking of something my mom said to me in an e-mail, how she prefers I am happy here rather than miserable in Tisdale. I am not happier in Kuwait and I was not miserable in Tisdale per se. Here I am constantly challenged to think, rethink and modify my ideals. I hear myself say things and wonder where they came from. "Yeah, sure, we could go to that person's house but honestly, I'd rather get my nails done." Anyone recognize that voice? Yes, it was MINE! And it is really that my skin gets so dry here that my cuticles and feet are a complete mess if I do not get regular treatments. That aside, I am happier in general as I get older and wiser and develop further stress coping skills. It makes a huge difference.

So the point, though I could write a master's thesis on the topic, is that I need to be challenged in some way. Travel and culture are the best ways for me to be challenged as they do not create undue amounts of stress, but force me to reflect and to accept differences.

In Kuwait, I have met some of the kindest people (mainly expats) in the world. I guess because we are all looking for adventure and perhaps to find our soul mates, we are all open to new ideas and people. I think I have become a better person since moving overseas. I think I have become more open minded and easy going, in action and thought. I have learned to interact with people in more positive ways and to let go of fears and simply do things I want to do. I am not bound by what other people tell me a person can and cannot do.

This past weekend at our local educators Professional Development Conference, I presented on two different topics- rhythm reading in music and yoga as stress management. Both went well, especially the yoga workshop- it reminded me of those days in my classroom at TMSS when my lovely and devoted yoga pupils would strive for greater flexibility. Fun times. I was not unhappy in Tisdale. Here, I am on an emotional rollercoaster but I am learning to cope in a calm and mindful manner. We shall see what happens but I am learning to take it as it comes.


all the best,
R

In Remembrance

I do not know the reason behind this, but we do not acknowledge Remembrance Day here. It is not even called a different name like Armistice or Veteran's day. It may be due to the ignoring of Judaism or something but it's so hard to say.

The weather is now perfect for me, in the mid teens most of the time, I think. I have so much energy from the change in season and it seemed to happen over night. A week ago it was still quite hot by noon and now it's just nice all the time. I am a fan of cooler weather anyway and prefer permanent temperatures in the mids teens.

At school it's International Week and today I had high school band students do a concert. It was pretty good, though still lots to work on. My students are amazing, you cannot imagine.

I am stuck in a travel dilemma for Winter Break. I want to go to India and do yoga and I also want to go to Turkey though it will be cold. I would also like to go to the beach for awhile. Alas, will probably jsut go to India as it will be fairly easy and inexpensive to do.

I think that is all for now as I am tired and in need of sanity.

Take care, eh.

Q8 Update

Greetings and apologies for lack of recent blogging. I have been SO busy since the Eid break (the now famous police station incident) I have not had time to sit and collect my thoughts. Still this post will be brief as my days are mostly jam-packed with school, yoga and sleep.

Last weekend I spent and evening in the desert with some friends, looked at out of commission satellites shot up during the 1990 invasion, and had a picnic. It was pretty sweet, we actually saw a few stars. That's about the most exciting thing of late as school (because I am coaching debate) consumes much of my time.

Ana, Jose, Josef and me!

The jazz band has had no more gigs though we finally got paid for the one we played, which was a pretty big chunk of change (35KD- over 100 Canadian Dollars! each). Which makes me think it's about time for another pedicure. Check out this hilarious picture created by the photographer who had a thing for me. Remember by sheer virtue of being female, I am the subject of much male interest.

Currently, I have several addictions:

Music
All the Roadrunning- a recent duet by Mark Knopfler and EmmyLou Harris
Fall at Your Feet- Jesse Cook
Firecracker- The Wailin' Jennys
Wait- Fruit (and Australian group I heard at the WFF this summer)

Food
Pad Thai from the little restaurant called Thai Dishes , a convenient 10 minute walk from our apartments
Pumpkin Spice Lattes made with soy milk from that evil coffee shop (I have only had 2 but find my thoughts drifting to coffee often- though perhaps that's just a sign of fatigue.

Other
Soaking my feet in hot water and rubbing them with peppermint pumice foot scrub

Because it's the small things.

hope eveyone is well and happy...