Thankful Thursday

We've been confirmed for tomorrow. We should be seeing the contents of these again soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Waiting for…

No order in particular and no particular order…

shipment

pay day

work visa (thus a passport returned)

friends to visit

family to visit

internet at home (therefore Wi-Fi)

At least the weather has cooled off!

Snip

I went to the store this morning. On my way home I got a text from J saying, "You need to be forewarned. G cut a small lock of her hair."

I came home to this evidence.

I had taken a look through the house when I came in and didn't see G anywhere. She was hiding in a corner. When I asked her what happened (remember she is an only child) she told me her sister cut her hair.

Note: This is not the first time her sister has been a part of our world. Her sister, Sabine, has been around for more than a year. She also has a brother Karim.

I asked her if that was the truth. She shook her head, but remained mute on the subject. I racked my brain trying to put myself in her position, what would her motivation have been? I took a guess.

"Were you using your scissors and wondering how they might work on your hair?"

An emphatic nod.

"What did you think when it worked?"

Nothing.

"Did you think 'Oh No!' or did you think 'Cool!'?

Her face lit up as I put words to her scrambled thoughts.

"Cool!" she replied.

We talked about how scissors are only for paper, and only appropriate paper at that. She knows her scissors are no longer available for her to use unsupervised, rather she has to earn back the ability to have them anytime she wants.

I showed her how, when her hair goes in a pony tail now not all of it is long enough. She didn't like that and tried to fix it with a headband, which didn't work either.

"Has this all really sunk in?" I wondered until we sat down for our typical Sunday second breakfast of French Toast. She said the blessing and told God she was sorry she cut her hair.

Fortunately her hair is curly and the weather is humid enough that you can't really tell. It sure could have been worse!

Thankful Thursday

Two things on my mind…

Credit: Rowena (Rubber Slippers in Italy) on Flickr Creative Commons

I am thankful that a full moon only comes once a month, the communal behavior this afternoon amongst the students was a bit much.

I am extremely thankful for having a helper. We haven't had one for nearly a year. I had actually gotten used to doing everything myself, but marble floors are where I draw the line. (And yes, I realize how this sounds. You can move overseas and have these adventures too.) I did chuckle when we got home today. As we reached our floor I thought, "Wow! Someone is cooking something yummy." I then walked in my door and realized it was my dinner. Woot!

Wordless Wednesday

Miss!

Arab students are famous for calling their female teachers, "Miss". At times it can get very annoying.

"Miss!"
"What's my name?"
"Mrs. Lonheim."
"What can I do for you?"
"Miss, …"

It happens all day long, every day. I have been experiencing it since 2005. You might think that by now I would just give up. Yesterday's Social Studies lesson put a new twist on it.

We are brushing up on map skills, right now focusing on absolute location - latitude and longitude. To practice their ability to read coordinates they were playing Battleship in partners.

"Miss!"

I turn, but no one is looking at me.

A few moments later I hear it again.

"Miss!"

And then I clue in. "Miss" rather than "hit" as they respond to their partner's strategic calls in Battleship.