All I Want for Christmas is Some Snow... Oh wait, I'm in Lebanon!

Just because one day isn't enough, we also had the day after my last post off as well! We set up a Christmas tree in the TV room and decorated it. It was lots of fun and then we ate and watched Nativity! - it was a nice relaxing day before one day of school and then the weekend!

Please note our classy tin foil star :)

That weekend, Tolu and I went shopping at a nearby shopping centre that has lots of Western shops that we're used to and we spent a while in H&M (and Starbucks...). Sunday evening was my church's Carol by Candlelight service where we sang the song that our choir had been practicing. It was a nice event and made me feel like I was back home at our service that's very similar.

 

The last week of school was very hectic with rehearsals for the Christmas performances, Secret Santa, and preparation before the kids went on stage. The Lebanese take Secret Santa very serious... They give a "small" gift each day of the week and then a bigger gift on the last day. I had to step up my game through the week. They have a "thank you" board though, where you write a thank you note to your person, which is a cool idea and brings colour to the wall!

 

I didn't see much of the final performances but I saw a lot of the rehearsals and their costumes. They all looked so cute and the hard work paid off.

 

Nurseries

Lower Kindergarten

Upper Kindergarten

The school is doing a "go green" theme at the moment and the Christmas display in the front of the school was "recycling" Jonathan Dieter's old bug.

 

We decided we had to get pictures with it. :)

 

Christmas Day was really nice! Tolu's sisters were here from the UK for the break and all of us went down to the Dieters for breakfast.

Me and the Dieter girls (all still in our PJs!)

Then for lunch and the afternoon we went to the principal, Dr. Steve, and his wife, Grace's house. We had yummy food and I made mum's famous Christmas wreath marshmallow treat (without the green food colouring).

 

We played an intense game of Taboo and hung out. It was a nice 23 degrees Celsius/73 degrees Fahrenheit. :) Didn't feel like Christmas with such warm weather!

 



 

I really liked spending Christmas here because, although it was away from family, it was good to not have the day centred around presents and expectations. There was something calming and humbling about just having fun with friends without ripping through wrapping paper.
The rest of the break consisted of sightseeing and relaxing/being very lazy. We took several day trips: one to the war monuments at Nahr el Kalb (which I don't have any pictures of, just views around them) and Byblos, one to see the longest natural bridge and some snow (there's some all the way on the top of the mountains), one to do some geocaching, and one to Baalbek. I am so glad we got to do so much and so thankful for the Dieters and the Whites for bringing us. Here are some pictures:

We're always ready for pictures :)

Beautiful Byblos

Two piers at Byblos, reminds me of Dun Laoghaire

 

 Beautiful view while geocaching and stomping through bushes:

Roman ruins

Baalbek temple

It's nice to lean on...

 

For New Years, a group of us just staying in and celebrated briefly before heading to bed.

Happy New Year everyone!!

The break was a really nice time to recuperate, get some essential things done and see some of Lebanon! I did some of my discipleship course, read some, watched movies and Downton Abbey, started pilates (much needed after Christmas and eating Lebanese food!), and did some cooking/baking and laundry. I also had a number of Arabic lessons and have been practicing my Arabic numbers with the registration plates. Over the past few weeks, I've had several different bugs and viruses and I think now they're all gone - the rest definitely helped.

Although I'm dreading waking up super early tomorrow, it will be good to be back on a proper schedule again and maybe even add some classes to my timetable.

Thanks for all your prayers and support AND gifts and cards that you've sent me. I love them all and display them around my mirror. Please continue to pray for safety (as many of you know, there have been several incidents recently) and for strength as I transition back into school mode. Please also keep in mind Katie as she completes her last month in India, Rachel as she starts her placement in Peru, Yasmin as she prepares to leave for India in February, and Aline as she spends some time at home.



The Happenings at LES - Week One and a Half

I moved into a flat above the school last Saturday! It's a double flat so I share a bathroom, kitchen, and living area with a girl from London. This is my room:



View from my room!

The view at night, but this picture doesn't do it justice!

The room looks different now with all my stuff unpacked but it's very nice and has a lot of wardrobe space on the left. Now that I've moved in AND done my first ever grocery shop, I feel more settled!
Saturday afternoon, we went to another Thanksgiving dinner which was super yummy and then played some Wii Sports and Just Dance to burn off some of those calories. :)
On Sunday, I went to church with the Dieters and my flatmate, Tolu. I managed to join a choir that will be performing carols at a Christmas concert next Sunday. Here are some pictures of the church and the views of the city from across the street:



I started working at the school on Monday.

I'm in the infant department and helping out with the music classes for the nursery (3 year olds) and Bible for the lower and upper kindergarten (4 and 5 year olds). It's fun but quite exhausting. Every day is different and some days are busier than others. The children are cute but, of course, there are always the few difficult ones. Most of them I only see once a week so it's hard to know all their names when there's 207 of them! But whenever I'm in the playground on duty, I see them again and can play with them which has helped get to know them better. Every morning there is a staff prayer held in the senior building chapel. That's a nice time to sing and hear a short message with all the teachers! Then, after school, I'm usually quite tired so I don't do much but I have managed to concoct several dinners! (I REALLY need to do laundry...)

In Lebanon, instead of Halloween, they have St. Barbara's Day which is worth researching, because she has a very interesting story. They now celebrate Halloween too but that's fairly recent. The kids wear masks and ask for candy. Each class made their own mask or headband and they're very creative!

These pictures are at chapel and after they went to Dr. Steve, the principal, to get candy. They also made Burbara for the staff which is mainly made of boiled barley, raisins, and walnuts. It's quite yummy!

On Wednesdays, the foreign staff get together for either a prayer meeting or dinner. This week was a prayer meeting and after a couple of us hung out in the senior building TV room and watched Pitch Perfect.

A couple of the American teachers invited me to go with them to Hamra, downtown Beirut, to a coffee shop and I helped them with grading. We took buses and I had my first man'ousheh which is dough with cheese and/or za'atar (which is like thyme mixed with a few other herbs) - I chose to have half and half! It was delicious! It was nice to get out and around and experience some of Lebanon.



That evening a group of us from the school went to a Christmas concert where a woman played the violin and piano and sang! She was very good and there were two other guys, one who played the piano and one who played the guitar. They were all great musicians and it was so nice to listen to them.

Tolu, Kay, and me outside the concert hall



Joy Kim

On Sunday after church, we had a choir practice and then went to the Dieter's for cookie decorating! Jonathan is very strict about his ancient family tradition so we had to follow his instructions and form an assembly line. We made wreaths, angels, snowmen, stars, Santas, and Christmas trees (hopefully that's in the right order!!). They turned out really well and were yummy too. I will give a prize to the first person who can spot the one cookie that's different from the rest.

 

working hard!

At the end, we were very kindly allowed one cookie to decorate however we wanted. :) I chose a Santa and "bejeweled" him.

Before

After

I had my first Arabic lesson on Monday which went quite well. In school, I was able to listen to people speak and pick out words that I recognized. Maybe I'll be fluent by the end... We'll see!

We had the day off school today because there was supposed to be a big storm. It rained this morning but that was all. It was nice and refreshing to have the day off though!

I would appreciate prayer for having strength throughout the whole day, for making greater connections with the children and staff, safety, and letting God work through me here. I have started to wake up earlier to do devotions but could definitely spend more time with Him. Thanks!