haaaaaalllllellllluuuujah! haaaaaalllllellllluuuujah! hallelujah, hallelujah, haaalllleeeelllluuuuujjjjaaaahhh!!! (on your feet for handel's messiah)

we have the internet! YAY!!!!!!

i said i wasn't going to update until we had the internet, and i've been true to my word. . . .plus we've also been ridiculously busy finishing up arabic classes, and getting ready for school. school begins tomorrow, and i have to say this is the least stressed about the first day that i've ever been. this must be what it's like to work in a private school with no TAKS tests to worry about all the time. i don't even have bookshelves in my room so all the books are sitting in the corner on a table i scrounged up. i have two rooms, and both of them look pretty similar. here is a picture of each room. This room is my third grade room, and
as of today it has a lot more stuff
on the walls.

This is my fourth grade room. It's also a lot more decorated now, humdulillah!

i also see from my camera that i've taken several pics of random things pertaining to daily life so here they are with explanations of each picture to kind of explain what goes on around here--shweeah (arabic for "a little bit/sort of." hope you enjoy them! I thought Tootsie would like this one...snapping green beans for dinner :]

I woke up a couple of weeks ago to look out of my window to see this! She was cleaning the windows on the fourth story apartment across the way. Scary!!!

The three of us went up to the roof the other day.
This is what we saw. . .as far as the eye could see.

This is how we've been accessing the internet until tonight.
We stick our computers out on the window ledges to steal our neighbor's internet.
It's been iffy at best.

These are our water bottles for approximately two days.
It's disgusting that we are using this much plastic, however,
if we drink the tap water we'll get sick so we just drink the bottled variety.

This is Driss, my very most favorite Arabic teacher at my school.
He's VERY patient and kind, and explains things over and over again without getting mad. I told him after we took this that he was my fav, and he said that our class was his favorite b/c we loved learning Arabic as much as we do that it's a treasure for him to come teach our class.

some thoughts for me these next couple of weeks:
--the month of ramadan begins thursday or friday. we will most likely be invited to join families for their breaking of the fast after sundown each evening (they fast all day--not even drinking water!). this is a great time to get to know them, practice our arabic, and spend time learning about this month that is very important for them. it's a rich, rich cultural experience!
--the beginning of the school year is usually a pretty hectic one. you could think about my students and their acquisition of the english language plus their critical thinking skills. we are working to build the levels of both. they are skills that will help them move on to better lives and better opportunities.
--the weather has been pretty stinking hot the last few weeks, and a huge thanks to the BR Life Group for asking for cooler weather for us. it worked! it's even been raining, which is unheard of this time of year! ask for continued good weather, if you think about it! it's been lovely. . .esp. since we have to walk everywhere.

since we have internet, and will have our vonage phone tomorrow please call us! we'd love to hear from you. . .even if it's a voice mail. i'll send out an email with our number and address on it. can't wait to hear how you guys are doing! we've all three (katie, melissa, and me) started really missing friends and family more than usual this week. we're glad to be able to communicate with the outside world once again!