First Days in Doha

Well let's just say I feel more than 8 hours away from the USA. The international school is quite different in how things are run. At times this can be quite frustrating, but I am confident things will come together! My little classroom is starting to come together. We have an open house on Sunday Sept 13 but then the kids do not start until Sunday Sept 27th. There is certainly more planning and organizing to do. I must say I have LOVED setting up the bulletin boards that have the background on them already! (other teachers, you would understand my joy!)

The Al-Hekma International School that I am at has a website:
http://www.alhekma.com/qatar/qatar.asp

I still need a few more details, but I am a homeroom teacher for grade 5 (it is not called 5th grade, but Grade 5). I will be teaching Social Studies and Literature to Grades 4 and 5, and then Math to Grade 2. We are all still waiting on details about the curriculum we will be teaching. Meetings have been grueling and supplies always seem to be "in the next shipment". Dispite those factors, school will be school and when the students come, things will fall into place! Here are a few photos of my classroom:

Talk about being back to school... The 4 other American teachers and I got in "trouble" and "sent to the principal's office" the other day! We were chewing gum and sipping on water in the school! That is a huge no-no and disrespectful during the Muslim fast of Ramadan. Muslims are not able to eat, or drink (and apparently not chew gum) from sun-up to sun-down. That means that we are not able to do those things in public from 5:00am until 6:00pm. I have to give the Muslims a LOT of respect for sticking to the fast for over a month!

Another funny story we got in trouble for was at the Villagio Shopping mall on Thursday evening. A security guard approached one of my roommates about not adhering to the dress code of the mall. Apparently she had on a skirt that was just above the knee and was too short. The people get very strict around here during Ramadan. The guard asked for her ID and could have fined her a fee. The situation was explained and we left the mall. Lesson Learned!! Check your knees before going in public!