School Life
Wednesday, October 28th will make it 1 month that I have been here. The week FLIES by with so many daily activities. I clock in at 6:45 am and end my day at 2:45 pm. There are 8 periods in a day. My first two periods are blocked with language arts. Third period is math and then I get a break during the fourth period. Fourth period is normally Arabic, Islamic, or PE. Fifth period is science. After science, students have a lunch break/recess. The rest of the day alternates daily between Arabic, Islamic, art, library, social studies (twice a week), and L.I.M/centers (Leader in Me). Teaching math and science is easy, but I'm struggling with language arts. There is a lot of content to teach during the 80 minutes and I want to make sure that the students have a good understanding before we move on. Every Sunday, we have morning assembly. During the assembly, the students learn about a different them each month. My class did a song related to friendship (Bruno Mars). Unfortunately, it still plays in my head throughout the day. The students also listen to a verse from the Quran and end with the national anthem. That pretty much sums up my Sunday through Thursday schedule.
Getting Around
The other teachers in the compound are really nice. They all have been showing me the ropes and giving me good tips on getting things as well as getting around the city. We have a company van that takes us to the local grocery stores twice a week and to one of the many malls on Saturdays.Today, we went to a mall in Al Khobar. It was okay. Most of the stores were closed and weren't due to open until 4 pm. During prayers, everything shuts down. If you are in the store when it closes, then you get locked in until prayer is over. This can be good if you need some extra time to look around to make more purchases. It can be bad if you are ready to go because some times you end up with a very long line of people waiting to check out. I have found that Saudi has everything we have in the States. Of course, hair care products are hard to come by. Honestly, that is expected. I haven't gotten my iqama yet, therefore, I can only visit the surrounding areas. Many people travel to Bahrain to shop and hang out in a more relaxed environment. You don't have to wear the abayas there. My first trip will probably be to Dubai in November (if I get my iqama).
Compounds
Basically compound living is like living in a hotel. We have a swimming pool, fitness center, laundry room, lounge, and access to little markets in the surrounding area. Not all compounds are alike, but they do have some of the same basics. I went to an American compound on Friday in Al Khobar with some friends from my compound. We met up with some of their friends and went bowling right there at the compound. Their compound had a arcade, restaurant, and an indoor soccer field. Soccer is big here. The houses in their compounds look like condos. The second compound that I visited was yesterday and it was at Aramco. Their compounds were actual houses. The family we visited were having a BBQ and had just finished decorating their house. It was a very comfortable environment. It felt like the States and not Saudi.
Restaurants
I know many of you wonder about food here. Well, here is a list of restaurants I have seen so far.
McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Popeye's, Domino's, Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, TGIF, Chili's, Fudruckers, Baskin Robbins, etc. The list goes on and on.
I will leave this post with some pictures from different areas. I will try to update more since I have a routine established. Until the next post, take care and God bless!
Wednesday, October 28th will make it 1 month that I have been here. The week FLIES by with so many daily activities. I clock in at 6:45 am and end my day at 2:45 pm. There are 8 periods in a day. My first two periods are blocked with language arts. Third period is math and then I get a break during the fourth period. Fourth period is normally Arabic, Islamic, or PE. Fifth period is science. After science, students have a lunch break/recess. The rest of the day alternates daily between Arabic, Islamic, art, library, social studies (twice a week), and L.I.M/centers (Leader in Me). Teaching math and science is easy, but I'm struggling with language arts. There is a lot of content to teach during the 80 minutes and I want to make sure that the students have a good understanding before we move on. Every Sunday, we have morning assembly. During the assembly, the students learn about a different them each month. My class did a song related to friendship (Bruno Mars). Unfortunately, it still plays in my head throughout the day. The students also listen to a verse from the Quran and end with the national anthem. That pretty much sums up my Sunday through Thursday schedule.
Getting Around
The other teachers in the compound are really nice. They all have been showing me the ropes and giving me good tips on getting things as well as getting around the city. We have a company van that takes us to the local grocery stores twice a week and to one of the many malls on Saturdays.Today, we went to a mall in Al Khobar. It was okay. Most of the stores were closed and weren't due to open until 4 pm. During prayers, everything shuts down. If you are in the store when it closes, then you get locked in until prayer is over. This can be good if you need some extra time to look around to make more purchases. It can be bad if you are ready to go because some times you end up with a very long line of people waiting to check out. I have found that Saudi has everything we have in the States. Of course, hair care products are hard to come by. Honestly, that is expected. I haven't gotten my iqama yet, therefore, I can only visit the surrounding areas. Many people travel to Bahrain to shop and hang out in a more relaxed environment. You don't have to wear the abayas there. My first trip will probably be to Dubai in November (if I get my iqama).
Compounds
Basically compound living is like living in a hotel. We have a swimming pool, fitness center, laundry room, lounge, and access to little markets in the surrounding area. Not all compounds are alike, but they do have some of the same basics. I went to an American compound on Friday in Al Khobar with some friends from my compound. We met up with some of their friends and went bowling right there at the compound. Their compound had a arcade, restaurant, and an indoor soccer field. Soccer is big here. The houses in their compounds look like condos. The second compound that I visited was yesterday and it was at Aramco. Their compounds were actual houses. The family we visited were having a BBQ and had just finished decorating their house. It was a very comfortable environment. It felt like the States and not Saudi.
Restaurants
I know many of you wonder about food here. Well, here is a list of restaurants I have seen so far.
McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Popeye's, Domino's, Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, TGIF, Chili's, Fudruckers, Baskin Robbins, etc. The list goes on and on.
I will leave this post with some pictures from different areas. I will try to update more since I have a routine established. Until the next post, take care and God bless!
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