Eid Adha Mubarak!

I made it through the first two weeks of school! Being in kindergarten again after a year in 2nd grade has been an adjustment but I'm enjoying getting to spend time with little people again. One thing that has struck me about this class is how well behaved trained they are. From what I gather, the classes at this school (it is a kindergarten only school but there are two levels of kindergarten, one for 4 year olds and one for 5 year olds) are kept in the same groups so the whole kg1 class just moves together to the next kg teacher. Whoever had my class last year really had them trained. I can say "clean up" once and they all start singing the clean up song and then go sit quietly on the carpet in a U shape, waiting for whatever is next. Same thing with lining up to come in from recess. They line up and wait to be led back to the classroom, I don't even have to be anywhere near the line, they just go to the right place. I don't want to jinx myself but I hope it continues  throughout the school year.

Although they are for the most part, pretty well behaved, these past few days I've seen a lot of them come out of their shells more and show their personalities. There was one day where they were just off the walls after snack and I thought to myself, "What. The. World!?" Then I remembered that Eid Al Adha is coming. Not that this holiday can be compared with Christmas, but every teacher knows how anxious and sometimes forgetful of their manners and rules students can become in the days leading up to it. So I had a little bit more understanding about their behavior and just reminded myself that if I could make it through a few hectic days I would have a whole week to relax and recuperate.

And what holiday would be complete without some sort of celebration or festivities? To prepare for the festivities our school prepared a little celebration that we had in our indoor play area today. The Arabic staff set up different stations for the kids to visit that had to do with Eid, I did my best to try to understand the significance of everything but since it was all done and taught in Arabic, my understanding is basic to say the least. What I can tell you is that Eid Al-Adha is an Islamic festival that commemorates the sacrifice of Abraham and takes place every year after the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is really interesting to learn about, and I now understand why all of the men on my flight to Jeddah last summer changed into white towels during the flight. If you want to know more about Eid Al-Adha click here

If you want to know how we celebrated at school, I took pictures of our whole day, so enjoy!

children dressed in traditional attire

my co-teacher made each child their own passport for the 'trip'

the principals set up an immigration office for the children to get their passports stamped

photo of the actual site

children reenacting it

this reenactment relates to the story of Hajar and her search for water for her son

during this time many people will sacrifice a sheep or goat

a sheep at school!

     

the end of our trip: the children got to rest and have a drink of water

several parents sent in cupcakes, cake, and chocolates

And that was our day! The kids really enjoyed it and it was nice to see all the staff pull together to make it happen. I learned a lot of things that I hadn't previously gotten in my two years living here, but of course I still have questions and am curious to learn more.

Another thing that I love about my school is that every day the Arabic teachers bring in lunch for everyone. It is usually Emirati foods that I don't know the name of and a really good but strong tea. I love trying the new foods and it's nice to be able to sit down and have tea or a meal with your co-workers to get to know them.

there were little buns and breads in the middle and the small jars around had things to put inside like meat, cheese, or beans

I chose a curried chicken with sweet potatoes and rice, yum!

And now, I will leave you with a funny that one of my teammates sent :)