Life...

I am finding that this summer has seemed like life slowed down a bit, but in some ways I have more to do each day now than I did while school was in session. :) Maybe it's because my routine varies from day to day, rather than 5 days of the same thing each week.

My routine has turned into something like this:

Sunday: 10-3ish - a gathering with the other teachers from the center, to stay on the same page with each other.

Monday: prepare in the morning for teaching; teach my class from 4-6; hang out in the coffee bar at the center until 7:30-8

Tuesday: one hour of Arabic with my tutor (sidenote: I feel like I'm learning a lot and finally, finally am able to put thoughts into sentences in a way that actually makes sense); also meet with my friend at some point.

Wednesday: the same as Monday

Thursday: one hour of Arabic; and then whatever else comes up for later in the day.

Friday: sleep-in; church in the evenings

Saturday: a two hour session with my tutor, my roommate and my friend (we are all studying with the tutor and use Saturdays to learn also from each other) in the morning

And throughout the week I might add in a Conversation Evening at the center, hanging out with friends, a visit to the university to meet with my friends there and other various random activities.

I just realized I might not have put pictures on that I have from the picnic/convo night that we had a couple weekends ago. However, I want to be sensitive to my students so I might ask them first if they would mind if I use the pictures. It was a fun night...one of the teachers, who is from Norway, brought this game that's kinda like bocce ball or bowling or something like that, but with wooden blocks and so the students played in teams in a kind of tournament. There were a few guys teams and then the girls had a chance. :) I was on the team that lost in the game of two girls teams, but I am proud to say that the other girls team beat one of the guys teams before going on to lose to the tournament winners. :)

Another thing going on was the death of one of the center's students. He was a 17 year old who was just finishing high school, and he had an accident at his home. We closed the center last week to honor his death and then the next day of classes we had a small memorial time. My friend was his teacher and I think her class will probably feel the effect the most.

This evening I came back from an overnight stay at the Dead Sea. :) A couple friends and I went down yesterday, tried out the mud, and took a dip in the sea before laying the rest of the afternoon, and half of today in deck chairs by the pool. :) It was glorious! The Sea is amazing...you know how in regular water if you lay back you're going to sink at least a little? Well, not in the Dead Sea. I laid back expecting the regular experience only to float as if I were sitting on an inner tube or something like that. It's a crazy sensation that can be experienced in only one place. 

I came back a bit sunburnt, but I think it will fade quickly and I won't be so completely white anymore! I missed soaking up the sun, since in normal life here I have to be pretty much covered from wrist to ankle. 

Pictures will be coming as soon as I get them from the friend who actually remembered her camera. :)

Next weekend we are again making a trek to the country next door, this time with a few more friends. :) Some of the teachers who are here for the summer are going with us. It should be a riot!

And with that I think I've come to the end of my random life update. I do have a few pictures I might upload tomorrow of the lunar eclipse a couple of weeks ago, and of a little kids tea party I hosted. :)