Think like a proton and stay positive.

Today is Sri Lanka day! I am so unbelievably excited to go whale watching and see some elephants! My brain is mostly in vacation mode. I have been having a really good week school wise. I feel like some things are starting to get on track. And now I feel more like a teacher and less like a kid wearing grown up clothes.

The Royal Palms Beach Hotel is where we are staying! Right on the beach. I cannot wait to relax by the water with my kindle. 

I finally updated my bulletin board in the hallway for the first time in months. And now I have 2 months to come up with another creative idea before I have to change it again!

Big shoutout to Dav for the witty title! Otherwise it was just going to be called Shape Pizzas.

It is nice when a foreign place starts to feel more like home. It really does make a world of difference. And when you gain some confidence in areas of your work, that feels pretty awesome too. I feel like my tunnel vision has gone down a little and I remember to actually enjoy the kids and talk to them... get to know my teacup humans! They are stuck with me for 180 days after all, might as well make the most of it.

We have had some interesting weather lately here in Doha. A few days in a row we had insane amounts of fog. And it actually caused a lot of car accidents. Not surprising with the maniacs on the roads here. The best part was that we did not have to give out any tardy slips those days! The fog was so thick. It kind of reminded me of the fog from Catching Fire. Except you know it was not poisonous and people didn't die when they walked through it.

Spooky fog

For 3 mornings straight this was the view

Meanwhile the weather at home has been pretty exciting too! They got a hefty amount of snow and I eagerly shared pictures and videos friends and family sent me to my students. They absolutely loved it and were happily exclaiming how much they wanted to go play there! They especially loved the video of adorable Xian Xian the panda rolling around in the snow. I got a care package from home this week! Harry Potter souvenirs from HP World- I drink from my butterbeer mug every morning. And also lots of junk food because I make fantastic life choices. Animal crackers ginger snaps, Kraft macaroni and cheese (Spongebob and TMNT shaped!) Life is good.

Like I said school has been good. Parts of it were sad because I had 2 students leave my class because they went back to their home countries. One family was so incredibly kind they even took me out to dinner one night. I will miss them so much. However they did say I am more than welcome to visit them over the summer so I may have to take them up on that!

It is exciting to see how much growth some of the kids have made. One child in my class went from recognizing only 10 capital letters and 4 lowercase letters to knowing all but 3 letters. And it is just so exciting to see them read. I think about when I first put a book in front of them and they stood there reading each individual sound of the words and now they are reading books with multiple sentences on them. Some of them of course are still on books like "I can see the cat. I can see the dog." But everyone moves at different speeds and I am confident that by June they will be where they need to be for first grade. We have also begun writing sentences. We talked about how each sentence has to have 4 parts: begin with a capital letter, finger spaces, a period at the end, and written neatly.

Sentence number 2 put a little smile on my face. 

People keep telling me that this is not only an incredible work experience but also life experience. And it really is starting to hit me now how true this is. When I work with so many different types of people and see and meet new people all the time, I realize how special and rare this opportunity is. If I had stayed in New Jersey and took on another year of subbing (maybe I would have finally gotten a long term sub position) and interviewing and submitting hundreds of resumes and not taken this huge leap- my life would be so different. I am giving myself a big pat on the back for taking this huge risk. Because there have definitely been moments where I questioned myself and wondered if I made a huge mistake. Teaching itself is hard but teaching in a foreign country in the desert? Definitely challenging. But I am happy to be here and so grateful for all the people I have met here.

There is a Facebook group called When, Where, and How in Doha. Sometimes people post pictures on there.
 This was one of my favorites.

Awesome shot of the skyline. 

Tonight at 10:40 my flight leaves for Colombo in Sri Lanka! I promise to update with many pictures and stories about my adventures!

Kalutara, Kandy, and Mirissa here I come! 

Help will always be given to those who ask for it.

It actually took me a while to fully understand the meaning of that quote, but my first year teaching has definitely allowed me to realize what it means. For me personally it was/is very difficult for me to reach out and ask for help. During the beginning of the year part of me was afraid to ask questions because I was afraid people would think "how did she even get this job doesn't she know anything?!" But you know what we are all in the same boat. We are all unsure of how things work and trying to make it work with the limited resources we have- it is so crucial to reach out and help each other. We have to cling onto each other like a barrel of monkeys- otherwise it is going to make the school year even longer and more difficult.

Yes I relate Harry Potter to everything!

My flights back to Philly were definitely an adventure. Never again will I book a flight that makes multiple stops! My trip back home was from Doha to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to London, and London to Philadelphia. Doha to Abu Dhabi went smoothly. Abu Dhabi to London- not so much! The flight was delayed because apparently air traffic was congested flying into London. We landed in London around 7:20am, and my flight was leaving at 8:10am. I had to take a bus shuttle to a different bus terminal to get to my next flight because I switched airlines for the last leg of the flight. I got there around 7:45am and they informed me that they finished boarding for the flight and that I wold have to take a bus shuttle back and find another flight. In my head I was freaking out because I just wanted to get home and see my family and friends. Fortunately they managed to get me on a flight that was leaving at 12:25pm and I got home 4 hours later. I was bummed that I missed my sister's first cheerleading event but it all worked out. Note to self and advice to anyone else: do not ever book a flight that makes 2 stops and switches airlines! I do not know what I was thinking. Clearly I was not thinking when I booked this back in the beginning of October!

It was great being back home. I was traveling all over because I wanted to take full advantage of being able to drive. That in itself was a weird transition on top of the jet lag! But I managed to get to Washington DC, Bel Air MD, and York PA! In DC I got to see Zoo Lights in the Washington DC Zoo which was awesome. Basically all throughout the zoo they have all these light displays. And I tried pho for the first time, which by the way is pronounced like fuh. Yay for yummy noodles! Then I visited my aunt in Maryland before going to York where I got to see The Force Awakens. And it was fantastic and got me craving Star Wars. I haven't watched those movies in so long!It was so great to see friends and I enjoyed couch surfing for those few days, but then the rest of the time all I wanted was to go back home. And I basically spent the rest of my break home relaxing. And going to the Lakeshore teaching store for the first time and being completely overwhelmed! One of my favorite stops was the dollar store. Doha needs dollar stores! Christmas Eve was one of the highlights of the whole break. A night in with the family playing Cards Against Humanity. The adult version of Apples to Apples.

I have pictures somewhere but cannot find them at the moment. 

BB-8 <3 

I survived the first 2 weeks back of school- and in 2 weeks from now I will be in Sri Lanka! The first week back was tough. It was hard saying goodbye to my family at the airport, but at the same time Doha does not feel completely like my new home yet. So at first it was like I had an identity crisis and was asking myself 'where do I belong?!' For Christmas I asked for a lot of things for my classroom and also for my apartment. I asked wanted things to make it seem more homey. Kind of necessary to come back to somewhere warm and welcoming after long days at work! And hooray for blackout curtains!

I redid my photo collages. They were originally held up by blue sticky tack... which is still up there and hard to get off because it turned into this blue slime that does not hold up the pictures very well. So scotch tape it is! 

You can't see the blue sticky tack in these photos but it is still there... trying not to think about how much fun it will be finding ways to get it off the walls... and hopefully not the paint from the walls too!  

And my room just feels extra complete now with my crazy cat lady calendar. 

Family: like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one. It puts a smile on my face looking at my wall and seeing all these familiar faces. Cats included! 

Eventually I will hang this up as well! Unlike the tree branches one it is not a sticker. It is one that you rub onto the wall. I am looking to get some kind of posterboard paper and putting the quote on that. After the blue sticky tack fiasco I don't want to have anymore trouble getting anything else stuck on the walls! 

Last weekend I did The Color Run 5k. I have done them in the past and they are always a good time. How can you resist doing the happiest 5k on the planet? And for the first time I jogged the whole thing! Sadly not even halfway through the jog and one of the lenses of my sunglasses just popped out. So when we came to the different areas where they throw color at you I was kind of careful about making sure it didn't get in my eyes. Maybe goggles next year will be a better plan! It was a beautiful day for the run too- clouds in the sky and not too hot!

Before... 

After! Go team GEMS!

Jump jump jump! 

Yes that's a unicorn on the stage. Runicorn I believe was its name. Basically the main reason so many people stayed and jumped around was to try to win free stuff! 

It has been great seeing my teacup humans after the long break. I missed their honesty. Some memorable quotes: *anytime I am modeling drawing/writing* "What is that!? That looks like a monster!" "Miss Kellie we know you're not a very good drawer." *draws 9 tents when we are talking about the number 9* "I am gonna draw tents too! Except mine are gonna be better than that!" They are so brutally honest but also incredibly kind and caring. They teach me just as much as I teach them! I am just reminding myself to keep a positive attitude and to keep reaching out for help. I cannot do it all on my own and my coworkers are a great resource. We have to act like a team and support each other! I am doing the best I can and can only focus on the things I can control and to not beat myself up too much. Everything will work out!