Routine, glorious routine

[it says at the top of this blog: "pictures, lots of pictures." when/if I get the internet to cooperate for more than a few minutes at a time I will keep my promise. No one loves pictures more than I do, I promise.]

We finally had a week of school here in Cairo, and it felt so good to be back in the classroom, doing something that fortunately I still enjoy, even after 3 months off!

Routine feels good, and I am at the mercy of a strict teacher bus schedule. No more rolling out of bed 10 minutes before work and sprinting to beat Mr. Buwalda to the front doors of Durham. Bus leaves at 7am, and returns around 5pm. It makes for a longer day, but so far I've managed to leave my work at school. Most days after school there is time to play ball hockey or ultimate with other teachers or run or swim before heading home. I'm enjoying this kind of schedule a lot.

I am now teaching middle school, all of my work until this point in my career has been in high school. It's been a steep learning curve, to say the least. Some of the finer points of management seem silly to me, like the detailed, step-by-step directions I need to give more often; but I'm also loving that I can get away with being so much more juvenile. We spent 10 minutes on Friday guessing how many fingers I was holding up, after learning 0-10. They never got sick of it!

The students are mostly Arabic, but they speak English quite well. I am supposed to enforce a “no Arabic rule” in my classroom, and after 2 years of language and identity discussions at university of Toronto I am having some ideological issues with this rule. When I realized, however, that the students were talking about me and each other behind my back, I became a big fan of the no Arabic rule.

Here are some of the finer conversations of the week.

[after at least 15 students ask if they can write with blue/black pen]. “Raise your hand if you think Mlle Marcus cares whether you write in blue or black ink.”

Student: “Mees, you can call me Aziz, it's easier to say that Abdel.”
Mees: “Is that your name?”
Student: “No, but it's easier to say.”
[you should know, Aziz is my favourite now... there's something in his little eyes...]

Student: Mees, I need to change classes, I'm the only girl.
Mees: Don't be silly, you're not changing classes. Besides, I'm a girl too.
Student: No, you're a teacher.

and my personal favourite ...

Student: “Mees, are you having a baby?”
Mees: “Do I look pregnant? WAIT, don't answer that.”

Friday and Saturday is my weekend now, which is still a bit weird. Going to church on Friday morning is a nice way to start the weekend - I feel like I should be winding down and getting ready to go back tomorrow, but instead I have another day! Bring on week 2!