In the USA

Here we are in Sunnyville, PA, enjoying our summer vacation. It's been so busy so far, and I know that it will continue to be throughout July and August. Chris and I are loving our time here visiting family and friends, and look forward to seeing those we haven't visited with yet.
Here's an idea of our schedule for the rest of the summer:


July 2-19: visiting Chris' family in Massachusetts
July 20-22: back to Indiana for a few days
July 23-29: vacation in Florida with the Shankles/Tews
July 30- August 9: hanging out in Indiana
August 10-15(give or take a few days): heading out to see friends in eastern PA
August 16-26: in Indiana
August 26th & 27th: back to Kuwait

I've also compiled a giant reading list for the summer, since we're going to be doing a lot of traveling, and we aren't terribly busy during the days. Let me know if there are any must-reads to add to the list!

1. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
2. The Greener Grass Conspiracy
3. King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus
4. Tea: A History of the Drink that Changed the World
5. Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe
6. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

Drawings that are Endearing #3 and #4

Ok, only one of them is a drawing, and I think it's supposed to be me...or maybe Lulu, its artist. The postcard just shows how they literally translate things in their heads sometimes, although Aslaa is one of my best reader/writers.

Enough of pictures...I still need to pack! We leave tomorrow night (about 5pm EST, 12am here) and will arrive in the US sometime Saturday morning!

Drawings that are Endearing #2

Quite the clever birthday note, from Ghala
I guess she's never seen a real banana tree...

Drawings that are Endearing #1

Since it's the last week that I have to be at school, I thought I'd post some drawings that I found while cleaning up my classroom. The girls loved to draw and leave me little notes, sometimes putting them on my desk or hiding them inside my notebooks. I actually threw a ton of them away, because there were so many (18 x thenumberofschooldays), but soon to follow are some of the funniest and best.

This is one of my personal favorites by Al-Zain, the best classroom helper and a funny little girl who tried to wrinkle her nose like I did, in fashion of a rabbit:

Yep, that's Mr. Freeman and I, holding my i-phone, since I told the students that's what I hoped to get for my birthday.

5 days left

There are five days left until I leave for the summer. Here is just a snapshot of my to-do list:

Pack...for 2.5 months and three locations
Clean the fridge
Cover the furniture
Wash laundry
Pack...
Finishing organizing my classroom
Finish passing out report cards
Complete classroom inventory
Pack...
Get my ticket from HR
Help my friend move her apartment
Say Goodbyes
Pack...

...almost there

I am really excited for the summer to be here. That's all I have to say about that.

Tuesday was my birthday, and my friends Dana, Dina, and Rasha took me out to dinner, and then we all got manicures and pedicures. Yes, that sounds like a really girly thing to do for my birthday, but believe it or not, I enjoyed it. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. Chris was off performing at the first showing of The Desert Song, so the girls devised a plan.

Wednesday, I went out for a quick bite with my friend Anita that I hadn't seen for a long time. She gave me a really unique gift, which was a hand/beach bag made out of plastic shopping bags. There's a "safe house" here in Kuwait that keeps women who are either run-away maids or are waiting on any number of deportation processes, but their embassy can't house them. One of the ways that money is raised to house these women is through a trash to treasure sort of program, which teaches the women to make things like jewelry out of old magazines and hand bags like mine. It's really quite a neat process and helps the girls contribute to their well-being, and it also gives them skills to use when they are finally released from Kuwait.

On Thursday night, some other friends and I went to see The Desert Song. It was a light, comical musical that was a little cheesy (intending to be that way), but the musicians and singers did an amazing job. My friend Jumel (seen in red) sang on the worship team with me when I still attended the 6 o'clock service, so it was nice to hear him in his "professional" element, too. Afterward, a number of us met up at Costa Coffee (move over, Starbucks!) to meet and greet and generally cause a ruckus.

Today, we had an awesome church service and went out to eat lunch with yet more friends...I guess I've done a lot of eating out this week. We came home for a quick nap and Chris headed out to his last performance of the show. I'm sitting here working on report cards. Well, I was working on report cards until I decided to write an update.

We're excited to be in the States in two weeks, though it seems kind of surreal. This year has been so full and has gone by so fast, that it's hard to imagine summer is really here. The 120' temperature is a great reminder, though. All I have to do is open the balcony door to get a blast of stuffy, hot air, and it feels real again!