I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope you enjoyed your field trip to UNCW. My trip is going well. Today we went tot he top of the big towers and we went to the Souk (Market)
We had an authentic Middle Eastern meal that included lamb, chicken flat bread and hummus. It was delicious. I met my students on Thursday. I have not given them your letters yet but they are excited to hear about North Carolina.
If ya'll have any questions please send them.
Mr. C
Well I'm in Kuwait. It was a long travel day flying from Wilmington to Charlotte to Washington then Kuwait. The flight from DC to Kuwait was about 12 hours. We flew along the east coast of the U.S. up toward Nova Scotia Canada then around the northern part of England and down Europe trough Poland & Turkey before heading across the Black Sea and over Turkey. That travel route sounds counterintuitive, but due to the curvature of the Earth it makes sense. Believe me, I was too out of it to think about that on the flight.
ReplyDeleteNext we flew along the Iraq and Iranian border then finally landing in Kuwait.
I did get the chance to talk to a soldier that was on his way back to Afghanistan on the flight. Actually there were 50 or 60 of them on the flight. (all out of uniform) He gave me an interesting perspective on the war. According to him many soldiers are frustrated because of the last several years, but there was a sense of having a clearer mission now. However, they are all very tired and ready to come home. Inshallah (God willing) they all will make it home safe.
When we were all settled in we went out to dinner on the Arabian Gulf (
persian Gulf) By the time we finished being up for more than 24 hours hit me.
I went to bed early and slept like a rock.
At about 4am the Azan (call to prayer) woke me up. It was a hauntingly beautiful sound. Sometimes you can hear two or more Mu'addin or Muezzin (the guy who sings the Azan)
I'll be teaching 8th grade social studies and language arts at the American Creativity Academy here in Kuwait. My classes will be all boys because they separate boys and girls. All the lessons are in English and all the students learn English from kindergarden on. Although it is not a religious school, Islam is part of the curriculum, but it is not the focal point of the education. However, because Islam is a religion and social structure there is not separation of "mosque and state" in the frame of reference we would consider it.
Islam, is part of the social message and structure in terms of building a whole person in the schools philosophy. But it is not there in a way that gives the school a sense that you might find in a completely religiously based school. It is just there because of the message social and economic justice, and global citizenship and that is pat of the mission of the school. Its probably similar to what you would find at a somewhat religious private school in the U.S.
I have done a little exploring of the neighborhood where I'm staying. There are some small markets and shops but nothing too interesting. I'm about 400 meters from the Persian Gulf and I walked down there today. There is a marina with some pretty impressive boats and a few cafe's.
I look forward to going to the Souk, the large outdoor market this weekend. I'm hoping to find some good lamb to cook.
The weekend is Friday and Saturday. Friday being the Holy Day.
The call to prayer-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAvlimEYEpQ