Philippians 4 v. 4-6

I just killed the last mosquito flying around my room. He and his friends have caused me too much itching. There has literally been no rain here all winter which is very unusual and bad for thecountry's water supply. Several days in the last few weeks have been really hot - like shorts and tshirts weather! I think the Lebanese are starting to feel at ease now though, it rained almost all day today and it's supposed to the rest of the week. Hopefully, there will be enough for plenty of snow in the mountains too.

School has just been the same. I have fuller days with the art and drama classes and my discipleship times - nice to be keeping busy! One day last week, the teacher I work with was sick and so I had to teach two classes of Bible. I was super nervous and a little stressed because I wanted to be prepared. The first class didn't go how I had hoped but the second class went much better and the kids (4 year olds) were in awe of how Jesus walked on water. I am so glad God gave me this challenge. And I couldn't have done it without his help.

This past week was book week and each class chose a book to read and do activities with. Each day, chapel was led by different groups of teachers and they acted out a story from the Bible. On Friday, it was the subject teachers' turn and we did the story of Naaman's maid. It was fun to dress up and act. The kids love seeing their teachers acting. Friday was also character day. Coming up with a costume proved to be difficult but I finally decided to be piglet from Winnie the Pooh and pulled together an outfit (much thanks to the school's prop room!!). These kids keep you straight and informed me that piglet doesn't have a tutu.... I tried! :)
In drama classes, the students have been making videos for book week. They were super fun to help with and I loved watching the final video. Here's one that I was involved with:
Junior 2 and 4 LES students
And here's one where I have 7 seconds of fame:
LES teachers
Today, Monday, is Teacher's Day and we have off from school. I think every country should have this holiday, but then again, I probably won't be a teacher in another country... So to add to the craziness of Friday, kids brought all sorts of nice gifts for all their teachers. They were really generous! And then on Friday evening, we had a dinner at a nice restaurant for all the teachers. There were so many people there, it's crazy how many people work at the school - both teaching the kids and behind the scenes. It was a lovely night with yummy food and some dancing. I'm not Lebanese so I wasn't very good at shaking my hips like they can!

(me) attempting dabke

just a normal day

The past two Saturdays, I have gone to the cooking class again. The first week we made shish barak which is meat and pine nuts in a dough - kind of like ravioli - in a yogurt soup. It was very delicious. You really appreciate each little ball when you hand make them yourself!

This Saturday, we made spinach pies. Not exactly sure what they call them in Arabic. Again, these take a while to make each one but are definitely worth it! They were much better than the ones I've had at restaurants.

The past three Thursdays after school, four or five of us from the foreign staff have gone to a centre for Syrian refugees. They do lots of programmes and we spend time with kids from grade 1 to 8 or 9 who are in English schools. Tolu and I take the older group and we play conversational English games with them and teach them some grammar. We have all really enjoyed it. These kids are so excited to see us and it's been great to build relationships. Each week, so far, has been different so it keeps us on our toes and gives us a good challenge. These kids just need someone to love them and have fun with and I've definitely had fun so far!
By being surrounded by Arabic on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings, I think I've been learning more Arabic than ever. When there's a language barrier, it encourages you to try harder to communicate better. We've started learning verbs in Arabic lessons which is making it easier to say more! Teachers in school are surprised by how much I sing along to the Arabic songs in chapel, most of the time I'm just moving my lips but I'm picking up some songs!
Have to give a shout out to the Dieter family who have been like family. I could not have lasted very long without them. Naomi is (hopefully!) going to have a baby before I leave but is still doing a million other things and I can't thank her enough for everything she does for me.
The most recent topics for my discipleship course have been prayer, wealth and possessions, and what's in a name. They have really challenged me to think about these areas of my life and make adjustments to my attitude towards them. Being here is different from the other two placements because I'm not in a church or Bible college setting every day. Quiet time isn't as easy to follow through on every day. From tiredness, to cooking, to other commitments, it can be pushed out of the schedule of the day. Recently, I have been trying to mold good habits that will stick - not only now but when I get home.
Looking around my room, I think how am I going to fit all this stuff into two suitcases?! Plus if I have more souvenirs and food items to include. Praying that it will all work out!

I'm hoping to have the experience of a Lebanese hairdressers today. Excited to see what this important part of their culture is like. Stay tuned for the remaining adventures in Lebanon....

Lebanon: the Land of Food

As I think about the last month, I think, what have I even done?! And, where has the time gone?! By now, I've gotten into the groove of things and it feels like I've been here a lot longer than three months.
Going back to school after Christmas was much easier than I thought it would be. I knew what I was doing and the kids seemed calmer and better behaved. A couple weeks into the new term, I added to my timetable. I now assist in three drama and two art classes a week in the junior school. So far, I have really enjoyed them and it's fun to see classes for a different age group. I'm so used to using some Arabic words with the infant children because not all of them speak English. Teachers in the junior school aren't suppose to speak any Arabic to their students but I used some Arabic in a grade three class without thinking - the irony...
Also, I have integrated time into my timetable to do some of my discipleship course. It has been really great to get back into now that everything in school is going smoothly.
Each weekend since Christmas, I have had something to do. The first Saturday, I babysat some American girls who are linked to the school. The second Saturday, I went to a brunch for all the infant staff. We ate lots of food and hung out. It was really fun.

The next Saturday, I went to Tyre with Naomi and the kids. We met up with Andrea, a woman from Scotland who works at the LES school in Tyre. She showed us around and brought us to the Hippodrome and the harbour. It was so pretty and cool to see a town that Jesus went to!

 

Yummy coffee!!

Then, the next, I met up a girl that works at the school and a Syrian woman came to her flat to teach us how to make some Lebanese food. She had an interesting story and the food was delicious!! We made chicken and rice/potatoes with coriander and garlic (Djeej w riz/batata ma3 kizbara w tum!!) and tabbouleh.

One Sunday, I went to an EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) in downtown Beirut. It was a nice little church and cool to see what another church in Lebanon is like. The pastor's wife is a teacher at the school. It was the first time in quite a while that I had listened to a sermon from an American pastor!!

All the poster boards in school are covered with valentine themed messages and the board in the staff room was decorated by all the staff! :)



In Bible, we just finished the story of creation and we decorated one board with the wonderful  creation that God crafted:

For a few weeks, I was praying for rain because it has been nice weather, which is unusual for January/February. This past week was ski camp and with no rain (snow in the mountains), I thought they would postpone or cancel the camp. Luckily, they had hiking camp instead which meant there was no school and I could spend the week with my family and best friend who came to visit!!!
It was a great week - it went by fast, but was so lovely to see them. My dad had the special privilege of driving here. He quickly got used to the lack of stopping at red lights, the necessity of honking, the creation of a new lane whenever the other lanes aren't moving fast enough, and the general ignorance to most traffic rules. I tried to fit in as much sightseeing and Lebanese culture as possible - so basically all I have done in three months squeezed into five days! They coped really well though. Well, everyone except my brother who insisted on ordering McDonalds the second night. I brought them to Byblos, Tyre, and downtown. We also went geocaching with the Dieters - my dad is now hooked! We had Lebanese food for almost every meal and I attempted to make tabbouleh, I'll be eating the rest of it for weeks now! I'm so glad they were able to come visit and I'm stocked up with sweets/food/coffee etc that will last me until I leave!

Downtown

 

 

Geocaching

 

Tyre Souks (not soup, Duncan!)

 

Making Tabbouleh!

Back to school again today and only have 2 months and 5 days left - time flies!
Please pray that I will be useful and energetic for the last section of my trip. I have learned so much, both practical and spiritually, and something I'm struggling with right now is to take in all these lessons and then remember them when I need them or things get difficult. So thankful for all your support and encouragement.

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.