The First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. I began my fourth year in Kuwait, can you believe it? We had a rocky teacher planning week, followed by a not-so-restful Eid break, then finally, today, the kids came. I have been here for a while now. I know many kids – and many, many parents. It was a long day.(It was also a good one - Pitt won, Notre Dame lost - pretty much the definition of a good day!)

My new team mates are, shall we say, not like me. They are quite wonderful people, but they have not just spent three years dealing with a classroom of 6 year olds, and all of the work that entails. They are happy with their small caseloads and assisting in their grade level classrooms. I am not used to working at such a relatively slow pace. I am not sure I will like it, we shall see. Perhaps I can put my own twist on things. This is me, so let the twisting begin.

Tomorrow things should be slower and I can get to the paperwork. We in special education love our paperwork. It makes us happy. Tomorrow I anticipate being very happy indeed.

Meanwhile it is good to start getting into a groove again. It has been three months since we have all been in classrooms. It is good to see new blood, new faces, new energy. The new teachers have really thrown themselves into their jobs. This could go well for all of us this year.

Some are having an issue with the cameras that have been installed in and around our living quarters – for our safety we are told. Jordan says if we are not doing anything wrong we have nothing to fear. He is right, of course, but they are making some folks nervous. We shall see.

Oh, and one more thing. I split the cost of an exercise bike. The school equipment is unreliably accessible so the new bike sits in a friend’s apartment and I pedal 20 minutes a day. It is a great stress reliever. There is a bike in our basement a friend left for me. Perhaps I may even try it as well. The paths along the beach, once you can get there, are lovely and will be increasingly so as the weather starts to cool – eventually.