One Month.

Hard to believe a month has already passed since I stepped foot in Cairo.
(I left one month and three days ago, but we won't go back into that now.)

Attempt at a brief recap/what I've learned/am learning:

-How to shop for food (first time without a meal plan or a mom haha)
-Renewed reminder of how much I absolutely love finding myself in a new place-I can be frustrating to be in a place where all I can say is Good Morning, Thanks & orange juice.
-I need to make in-progress demo pieces to show my students (get too caught up in them & finish)
-I've learned what happens when you assume your students know something...
-Eye contact is critical and key.
-It's ok to demand the highest quality of art from 6th graders. It's ok (though it breaks my heart inside) to ask them to start over on a project they work for a week on because you know and believe they can do better. If you demand it, they will answer.
-"Shut up and teach" --the power of silence in instruction....
-Challenge lies in teaching upper class students the importance of recycling and conserving when they have the means to replace and simply buy more (water bottles) every day..
-I must leave Maadi at least once a week or I'll go crazy (still hypothesis at this point)
-librarian=best friend, especially when hes throwing out hundreds of old magazines-I've read the Namesake, The Memory Keepers Daughter, and currently on the Book Thief at the moment, ironically enough after my trip to the library today confiscating old materials
-My favorite pastime is sitting on my balcony with a faint breeze at night, listening and watching children in the streets and reading...-It's a little saddening to live in a beautiful culture that focuses sooo deeply on family and togetherness, and to be so far from my own-to realize I don't really have family here...
-International teaching is definitely one of my callings. Though I don't like going at it alone persay, I do love going at it.......

ps. this is why i'm here: this note was written by a middle school girl who is joining my after school art club, Destination Imagination, to "give me an idea of her interests in art"....."I really like anything about art, normally I do not care what I do in art.. I like horses, even though I do not ride them. My family and me travelled around the world, it was awesome!"