Second Week of School

This is now the second week of school. Things are going well, and we’re starting to adjust. It’s been the easiest beginning of the year since the Deckers have been here, and it’s their fourth year. There’s just some confusion at the beginning with English and math placement tests.

I could not have charaded the story of creation more than I did with my ESL students. “Firmament” was a fun one. I know next to nothing in Arabic, so I used my hands a lot. “Water” (at the ground), “not water” (in the middle), and “water” (above me, which I then showed as raindrops falling). SaH? (Do you understand?) And I showed water, and then sucked in my cheeks and put my hands to my face like fish gills… Absolutely ridiculous, but it works. I was able to somewhat explain that Eve was taken from the rib meaning that she is not to rule over Adam nor be trampled under him. Today in class I had Saeda, one of the 11th graders translate some more points that I wanted to make sure that they understood. It’s a Bible class, not just an English class where they learn Biblical words, so it’s important to me that they learn about God. There are four girls and 20 boys in the class. The Sudanese students speak pretty good English when they come, but their writing isn’t as good, so unfortunately in classes where all of ESL is together, they have to put up with classes like mine. Unfortunately I am already starting to “speak ESL,” in other words automatically switching one big word for several little ones and being more expressive to get my point across. The students are so cute! I can’t even stand it sometimes! There are some boys that are 14-ish, but they look like they’re 10. And they have skinny, linear little bodies and eyes that are full of light and high little voices. Taylor described one as “half squirrel” because he has a skinny little body, round face, and is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. And the ESL students haven’t learned the rules/ways at NUA yet, so they talk out of turn more—in Arabic, and usually about their utter confusion. I don’t enjoy them talking out of turn, but they’re just so cute and little. They also probably haven’t had much interaction with girls other than family members, so when one of them asks me a question (even if they don’t speak any English…), five or six more crowd around them draping their arms over each other, interrupting and attempting to explain in one or two English words. It reminds me of the seniors when they were younger. These students are just so funny. I wish that everyone could just see them. I have two ESL students that are good friends, who follow me around more than most. Both of them speak somewhat better English, and I explained that they were in my “bubble” today. They’re sweet. But I can tell they’re just looking for any excuse to come talk to me.

Tomorrow in the 11th and 12th grade Bible classes, we’re doing personality testing, and I’m really excited about that. The semester is split into thirds—awareness of self and others, marriage, and children.

Ashraf, one of my seniors, told me that it’s time for me to get married. Jessica is married. Now it’s my turn. When I go back to America I need to get married and have children. It’s time. I’m 23. Oh dear…

I played the guitar for song service Friday night and Sabbath morning. I pretended to be Jessica.

One of my ESL students came to me with a toothache last night. He had a lot of pain and a swollen submandibular lymph node. I gave him Tylenol and figured that we’d give him some kind of penicillin but wanted to check with Peggy for the normal toothache/infection protocol. So we went into town and got him some amoxicillin. I felt like such a doctor. I’m smiling proudly as I type this. Haha. I’ve been getting more nursing responsibilities lately. Sprained joints, upset stomach, infections, etc. I’m still in the process of figuring out what they act like when they’re sick. I know that they are coddled here much more than we are in America, so they could act like they’re dying and be totally fine. I feel good. I feel like I’ve learned some basic nursing skills, which is good. What use am I in everyday life if I know all about IV drips but can’t take care of an upset stomach?

Oh, apparently last time I was here I was fat, and now I'm "sin." I was told this when I came back to visit too. But I wear the same pants now as I did when I was here the first time. I'll probably get "soooo fat" again after being here for a while... eating the oily food and not having time to exercise--though I have been making it a point to exercise.

The seniors are older than when I had them last. (Duh.) But it’s really exciting to see them now. AND they’re easier to handle in class… Oh my goodness… I couldn’t even describe what they were like in ninth grade. I was talking to one of the boys on Sunday for a while. I was close to him when I was here last, and I had really taken the time to try to understand him then. He calls me his sister. He doesn’t open up very easily and he bottles it up inside. His father died I don’t know how many years ago. He has two older brothers. Yousef is 16 years older and lives in Kuwait to make more money to send to his family in Zewak, a very conservative Upper Egyptian village, and to NUA for this student’s education. My student’s other older brother is deaf and has some brain damage. His name is Adel, and he works at the school making bread. He loves to draw and smiles a lot. So this student of mine is the man of his household now. He was telling me that after he graduates he wants to go to school in Texas. I asked why he wanted to leave Egypt. He said that he needs to go to college in America so that he can make more money than he would here. He wants Yousef to be able to go home and be with his family and watch his kids grow up. Apparently Yousef hasn’t seen one of his own kids because he hasn’t been home in a long time. And this student wants to make money so that he can pay for Yousef’s kids to go to school like Yousef did for him. I know that he truly meant that. Mary has one of her English classes write every day about whatever prompt she gives them on the board. One was asking what they would do with 1,000,000 Egyptian pounds (LE). All of them said that they would help their families and help their church. I feel like a lot of kids in America would talk about shopping and iPhones and shallow materialistic things. So people can criticize Egyptians for not waiting in line or for having some nauseatingly emotional movies and even for not taking responsibility for their actions very well, but they care for their family so deeply.

I love the way that the people interact here. It’s so nice to watch them. And I guess part of it is that they’re younger and therefore more energetic. But it’s just nice. The cultural is a more aggressive culture in general though. They’ll kick or smack each other on the back pretty hard, and it was alarming when I first got to Egypt, but they’re just playing around. I did see some little boys throwing glass bottles at a wall in an alley tonight on the way to the pharmacy, and that was a little too much for me, but most don’t take it that far. ☺ When they joke, they hang all of each other and slap hands when someone makes a joke. Sometimes when they laugh, they fall into each other. It’s just nice because it feels like they really love each other.

I taught the 11th and 12th graders about “the human condition.” I explained where our “buttons” come from. For example, if someone has been made to feel stupid in the past, they become more sensitive to situations from which they could interpret that they are being called stupid. They understood it well and seemed to appreciate the lesson. I had them then write a paper about what they think their buttons are and where they came from. I didn’t want to pry, so I told them that I would check the papers in for credit but wouldn’t read them unless they told me that I could. But I did make it known to them that it is important for them to be able to trust trustworthy people and they must let people in in order to have close relationships, so this would be a good opportunity for practicing that. Some of the papers I got, well, all of the ones that I read hurt. Some people misunderstood what they were supposed to do but talked about something that was painful to them anyway. Some talked about how they had been made to feel like failures and how they’re sensitive to being ignored because they felt that way as a child. One student felt disrespected by his family in front of others and it made him feel sad and embarrassed. One student said that sometimes it hurts to see people wearing nice clothes because it makes him feel like he doesn’t have any money. It made me cry. I was thankful that they were willing to let me in. I’ve always loved them, but we bond in our pain and weaknesses more than in our strengths. And now I can pray for them more specifically. I just want them to feel healing and peace. Some of these students’ attitudes and mindsets frustrate me, but I love them all.

I don’t like not being able to run in basketball shorts or having to wear long sleeves when going outside the school wall. I don’t like the smell of our kitchen or bathroom, and I don’t like how my feet look like a gnarly old woman’s or how the stray cats run under my legs when I'm trying to walk, but the thought of never having this back again hurts me in a deep place. I don’t want to let go.