Wednesday, December 15

Well, our best news is that we have a new niece. Joe's sister, Cory, had a baby girl today, Arianna Marie. We've seen pictures already, and she's adorable. We only wish we could be there to see her and to get to hold her. We hate that we have to miss the big moments while living overseas.

Things are getting busier as we wind down our second term at school. Today we had a door decorating contest at school. Joe thought his class of 10th-graders would win, but wouldn't you know it, my 11th-graders kicked their butts! (I have to get excited about the little things in life.) It was nice, though, to see Christmas lights and decorations. Our school even rounded up a few Christmas trees. Joe and I might get a tree through one of our student's parents. The student told me 25 LE (US 4 bucks). It's so cheap. They are not quite like the ones at home, but they'll do. Last night, we were listening to Christmas music that I brought with me from the U.S. It helped us get in the mood. Maybe we'll even try to make sugar cookies or something.

It's hard thinking of winter when it's not that cold out. I complain about it being cold every day, but it's not below freezing or anything. It did rain again yesterday. It came down pretty hard for all of about 5 minutes. I was wishing that there would be thunder or lightening or something. Anything to make it different.

Our students have said some pretty interesting things lately. For example, I was discussing a vocabulary word with my students the other day. It was about measuring humans and I mentioned that in some cultures, people used to be shorter, and they've gotten bigger over time. My students were adament that I was totally wrong. They claimed that people used to be as big as houses. I said, "How big of houses? How many stories?" Their reply was, "Four story houses!" They said they had been taught this in religion and in science class. It seemed absurd to me. I told them I would keep an open mind if they brought me some scientific research. They brought me something about ancestors being taller in some cultures, but not as big as houses! I just thought it was so interesting that they firmly believed in this and I firmly believed in the opposite, simply based on our upbringing.

Then, get this, Joe's students told him the other day that they heard Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus! We do get a good laugh now and then. Joe had to explain that, no, in fact, Santa was around a little before Coke products. Even though he then told them that Coca-Cola may now own Santa Claus.

Tonight someone told me, "Happy Meal," after I ordered food. I said, "What?" and then realized that they meant, "Enjoy your meal." You've got to love the little differences.

Things have been going well. Vacation time is creeping up on us. We'll see what we end up doing for the holidays.