Keira's Kindergarten

So, on August 24, 2017, I made my "salsa confession" on the blog, and you haven't heard from me since.  Did you think something had happened to me??

At the end of August, I was sitting in an airport with my family when my husband read the aforementioned blog.  We were flying home from vacation, and we hadn't had internet for over a week, so he and I were trying to catch up on all of our emails.  I knew he had read it when I heard him verbally make some kind of noise and look down the bench at me with eyes and mouth wide open.  He soon shared the blog with Kylie and the other two olders, and they all said, "I can't believe you didn't tell us!!"

Well, we've come full-circle twice since then.  Today, I made my second batch of salsa since vacation, and I haven't had any complainers yet, but of course, I haven't used cinnamon again either.


When we came  home from vacation, time was short, and we still hadn't chosen a school for Keira.  I wanted her some place for Kindergarten where she could learn the local language, but not be so immersed that she teared up every day.

We first went to a new school in our neighborhood that advertised that classes would be taught in English.  I knew she would still pick up language from all the children who do NOT speak English













The school looked great, clean, and new, but they said it was going to be just a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade campus this year, and Keira needed to be 6 to attend.  She was still 4 at the time.

BUT...the head master said he had a partner school that taught Kindergarten in English.  It was further away, but we decided to go for a tour anyway.

Rainbow colors on the outside.  Plus!

 Meeting room where all morning activites take place:  Pink carpet with Tom & Jerry.  Plus!

Science room:  pink carpet with fairies. Plus!



 Art room:  Pink carpet with Tom & Jerry.  Plus!

 

Reading room:  Green Carpet with Shaun the Sheep.  Plus!

English room:  Blue carpet with Tom & Jerry pictures.  Plus!
Nurse's station in the back ?? Questionable??

Cafeteria. Clean.  Plus!

Television Room.  Pink carpet with Tom & Jerry.  Plus!

Weekly breakfast menu.  Check out the bread!  Definitely not a win for Keira.  She doesn't like bread.  To date, she has only had orange juice for breakfast, but breakfast, lunch, and the uniform are included with tuition, so they are there if she ever changes her mind.

 Weekly lunch menu.  She still only eats on "chicken and rice" days, but it doesn't seem to bother her as much as it does her teachers.  When they see her not eating, they sometimes give her a little packaged cake to eat.

Lovely!

Her "playground."  Yikes!

It's a small plot across the street from the school.  I think she's only gone there once.  NOT a plus :)

 

 So, this is her school. 

First day after school ice cream treat.

 

She cried every day for over a month when I dropped her off, but every day I picked her up, she said she had a good day, so we kept trucking along.

She is learning the language, and comes home with new words all the time.   

Happy girl at pick-up time!

Funny story:  I went to her school two days before Thanksgiving to tell them that she would be absent that day (because, of course, they don't celebrate that holiday here).  I asked the teacher if she knew English, and she said, "If you go slow."  So instead, I just told her everything in Kurdish.  Here's the conversation:

Me: Keira won't come to school on Thursday.
Her: She is not coming next week?
Me:  No, not next week.  She won't be here in two days.
Her:  She's missing two days?
Me:  No, on Thursday, she won't come to school because we have an American holiday.
Her:  Last week?
Me:  No,  not today, but the next day.
Her:  Okay.  Would you like her writing assignments?
Me:  Yes.  Thank you.

As we leave, I said, "Keira, what class does she teach?"
Keira:  She's my English teacher.

WOW!

I'm pretty sure that Keira will most definitely learn the language, because I'm not sure about the English she's getting.  The best English she gets every day is while they wait for their parents to come.  They put on cartoons in English for all the kids to watch.  Ahhh! Education!

The Secret in the Sauce

I like to make salsa.

I have a recipe from my mother that has stood the test of time, and we all love it.

However, occasionally, we run across one that has roasted tomatoes or a smoky flavor or something else that just stands out and Doug says, "Ooh.  This is good."

A friend of mine had some on her table for us, and this very scenario happened, so I asked about her recipe.  

It seemed the only ingredient different than mine was "cumin."

So I decided to try it with cumin...

I label my jars on top so I can see them easily as they sit in my drawer.

But, I guess my eyes aren't so good, because this is what I grabbed.

That says "CINN" for cinnamon.

Y'all!  I did not discover this until I had finished the batch and wondered why it tasted so "off."

When everyone tasted it, they all said, "It's okay.  It's different.  Maybe we should just go back to the original way."

I didn't say a word.  

I STILL haven't said a word...until now.

We have a lot of jars left to eat and I need my people on board!

However, three people in my family read this blog, so this is confession time.  

Sorry guys.  Forgive me.  I'm old.

Time to Cool Off

We were invited to go with a group of people to a water park outside of town.  We'd seen posters for it, but we had never been.

It worked out to go with a large group because we could get a discount.

The rules at this place were crazy, and the people they had watching us in the changing room to make sure we did everything to "code" was interesting.

The only one I'll go into was the dress code.  

Woman can wear whatever...preferably a LOT. 

Men can only wear a suit, no shirt.

Well, the guys in our group didn't like that rule, and convinced the man at the ticket counter that with fair skin, they would all burn if they weren't allowed to wear shirts.  

The man rebutted with how hard the rides would be to ride with shirts on, and of course, someone in our group said that the women seem to do just fine with their shirts on.

Okay...men in your group can wear shirts.

Many girls and mom's were dressed like this girl...in jeans and long sleeves, although some wore abayas (the long, black cloaks).

The ladies in our group wore t-shirts and tights or long shorts over their swimsuits.  

The biggest problem was blistering feet when walking around.  It was hard to find relief for feet outside of the water.

And there was the token no-eyed, scary mascot that awkwardly scooped Keira up in his arms.

I couldn't get pictures of some of the more interesting suits I saw that day, because I try to be discreet, y'all.

There were some too low, too high cut, and some not covering enough.

And I'm not talking about women.

This culture has no shortage on hair, so let me just leave you with this, and you can imagine the majority of our day.

While You Were Sleeping

There was a "need" at our house four days after Ramadan ended, so I went to see if I could go buy said "need" in our neighborhood.

Nope.  Nope.  Nope.  I tried three little stores, and I came up empty.

So I kept walking.  I decided to go to a grocery store that's a little larger, about a mile from our house.

However, I was feeling strange, and I couldn't put my finger on the problem.

And then it hit me.

There were no people.

Anywhere.

It was about 112 degrees.

When Ramadan began, temperatures during the day hadn't reached 100 degrees yet.

But while they were sleeping through their days, they missed this rising heat.

It seemed to me that even though their lives were supposed to start again during the day after Ramadan, they couldn't bring themselves to face this new reality of heat.

Of course, we hadn't been sleeping through our days, so this was nothing new, but all of a sudden, I felt hotter and more tired than usual because I was alone.

My thoughts were saying, "I'm the only idiot out here.  It's really hot.  I deserve a reward."

So, along with said "need," I bought myself ice cream on a stick and brought home 5 others for my family, which didn't even melt - scary to think what products are in it to keep it from melting 😟

AND I got a blister on my foot because I didn't know I'd be walking over two miles when I put on my flip flops.

Summer is not looking too promising.

Maybe I'll hunker down during the daylight hours, too.

I don't like what happened to the temperatures while they were sleeping.

Snapshots of Ramadan

 The sun was setting.  People were rushing to get home.

 

Then, while everyone was breaking fast, we went to the mall to the food court to see if anything was open.

Abandoned coffee shop.

Abandoned. 

Abandoned.

Abandoned and very trusting, I might add.

I might also add, that it's not just this time when the streets are empty.  During the day, they are empty, too.  

After that 3ish am call to prayer, there is not a lot of activity in the streets until 4pm ish.

By the way, this is a GREAT time to learn to drive in a new country!

However, when the sun sets...

Party in the streets.  

This was taken at approximately 3am.  The kids were popping fireworks and making so much noise, that I went on the roof to see what all the excitement was about.

Nothing really.  Just another night of Ramadan.

Men, drinking tea and playing games down at the corner about 1am.

Kids were just sitting outside my gate as I walked up around midnight.

One night we invited a local friend to a restaurant for dinner.  She made a reservation for us and told us that they would allow us to start eating before the set time.

She misunderstood.

We were seated, but we had to wait 45 minutes before we could eat.  In the meantime, the waiters were filling up everyone's table with food and drink.

And when I say filling it up, I mean FILLING IT UP!

These were the appetizers.

Believe it or not, we never said a word about what we wanted.

  

We never even ordered.

  

This is the common fare for everyone who comes in during Ramadan.

Crazy, right?

Awesome crazy!

It was like being on a cruise and ordering every appetizer and entree they have on the menu and the waiters don't even bat an eye.

We made it through another Ramadan, and we were more prepared this year.

Last year, everything was new.

The day before it started.

Learning that life doesn't happen during the day.

Learning about the night life.

And participating in my first "end of Ramadan" party. 

Here are the kids dressed for Eid al-Fitr.  It's the first day after Ramadan is over, and we visit neighbors and friends. 

The conversations were better this year.  Our neighbors know us a little better, and we know how to say things a little better.

It's all a process.

Where are all the people?

The evening of May 27 was the beginning of Ramadan this year.

This is a type of calendar the people here follow to know when the 5 prayer times are scheduled and when they can eat.  

You will see on the first day (read right to left), they eat at 3:06am, then have prayers at 3:21am and so on.  

They broke their first day's fast at 7:17pm, right at sunset.

I have been in a home and a restaurant before, watching them count down the minutes.  It's a serious thing.

This is what my neighborhood looks like when everyone is inside breaking fast with their families.

This fruit stand owner just covered their fruit, left it outside, and went to eat.

In the background, you can see Doug and Caleb walking.  We were on our way to catch a taxi.  A few places cater to ex-pats, and so they remain open during this time.

A few people decided to break their fast at this restaurant, which is down the street from us.

Even the roads were empty.  

For a city of 2.2 million, during this time of the day during Ramadan, it can feel like a ghost town.

Shortly after this, the people that have been resting all day will start a LONG night of loud activities.  Shopping, visiting friends, hanging out, eating ice cream, driving around...you name it.

THAT'S when you'll see all the people!