Back to Alex !

And soooooooooooo ... where was I? You guessed!! CAIRO!! Spent the day there and met Doshar, Roora, Wonderer, and Nerro!! Girls... you were wonderful ... especially Doshar who picked me up from the station and drove me around ...

Too tired to write now... have work tomorrow... all I wanted to say is I reaaaaaaaaallllllly enjoyed my day... more tomorrow inshAllah...

Nightie night :-)

Thank God everything is fine ...It's just that I'm too distracted to write now... too many things going on... not getting enough sleep... focusing on too many things at the same time... and trying to stay the "calm me" .... el7amdulilah ...

Sweet

Am also amazed how people can be so sweet !!! Wonderer read my last couple of posts (if I may call them that!) and she felt something was wrong ... so she immediately called me.... thanks Wonderer for your sweet call... it made my day :)
Thank you all my other blogger friends for being so sweet as well :)

Am amazed how people can sometimes be so selfish and self-centered... I don't think they feel that that's what they're being... but it hurts me...

Stressed out

Allahomma eghfer lee thanbi wa ath-heb ghaitha qalbi wa ajerni min alshaitan

Teaching? Guiding? Helping?

I just commented on a post about teaching on Doshar's blog ... and it triggered me to write a post I've been postponing for so long...

I've been teaching English as a Second Language since 2001... started as something part time ... a hobby... but then I found I enjoyed it sooooo much I wouldn't give it up....

But what is teaching exactly? Do you instruct? Do you train your students? Do you lead and show them the way? Do you help them learn? But what does "learn" mean? Does it mean "to be taught"? Or "to gain knowledge"?

So many questions... and so many answers... depends on who you're teaching and what you're teaching....

My experience has taught me (and what does "taught" mean again? ;-) that to make students learn English ... you must make them first "want to learn" ... and know why they want to learn... then guide them through it... help them acquire what they want to ... not "give it" to them ... elicit it from them... bring it out from them.... they must feel that you are there to guide them... but to learn... they must make an effort .... and enjoy that effort... and then feel the "thrill" of being able to use a language they once knew nothing of !!!

It isn't as blissful as I make it sound.. but I do try to do what I can to make it that way... I don't always succeed but there are many times that I do...

But it isn't all about acquiring knowledge... there's the discipline part too ... and that's the tricky part ... especially with adults... I always put myself in their shoes... what would I feel like if I were sitting there?

I started teaching when I was 22... most of my students were older than me... I'd have men in their early forties ... or housewives in their late thirties... people who didn't have a chance to learn English.... and I realised it's all about "respect" .... show them respect ... it reflects..... they give you respect... the point is I genuinely respected them... I appreciated the fact that they were coming to learn... sometimes with the younger ones ... the ones around my age or a little younger... I'd have a few problems ... but nothing really major.... I gradually learnt when to have to stop at a problem and when to let it go....

Now I'm part of a sort of "crash course" programme... I go from 9-3 with 2 half hour breaks .... by the end of the day I'm quite exhausted and so are my students (I have 16) .... a couple of weeks ago... one of my relatively good students almost dozed in class... it was around 2:30 ... and I saw his head nod... I chose not to look in his direction and pretend I hadn't seen him ... I don't think anyone felt that I'd seen him.... at the end of class I found him waiting for me at the door ... telling me he's really sorry for what happened in class 30 mins ago ... I couldn't believe it .... here was this 28 year old gentleman ... owning up to me... out of respect... now had I embarrassed him ... would he have felt that way?
Not all cases are the same ... and I sometimes deliberately ask students who are always not paying attention to join in something we're discussing... but like I said ... you eventually learn when to stop and when to let go....

In all I think I enjoy teaching... I don't know how I'd feel if I were teaching something like Physics for example... but language teaching suits me just fine....
I think to teach you must keep in mind that you're helping people acquire and gain something they don't know... you guide them and show them the way... and try to make them value what you're leading them to....

Eid, rain, bubbles and visits...

So it's been raining all throughout Eid !!!! But would I let that trap me at home ? No No No never !!! Not that we really went "out" ... mostly we were visiting but it was fun anyway....

The first day in the morning there was the "meat mess" ... was quite fun actually dividing the meat into packets for the poor... packets for friends and relatives... then packets for us ... then the distributing.... thank God we managed to finish... when that was over we got dressed quickly and off to my Grandma... big bro and his little family were there too... we barbecued lamb ribs, minced meat(kofta), kebab and chicken ... boy... I ate so much !!! It was raining ...raining ... raining... felt that it stopped raining only to start all over again !!!! but we barbecued on my Grandma's roof in a sheltered placed keda so it was fine... quite cold but fine... and the best part was taking the meat right off the grill onto our mouths ... Yummy :)

Little baby N was there of course... and she was adorable !! I'd bought the soap solution that makes bubbles and brought it with me (I'm crazy about it btw :-D) ... and I blew bubbles for baby N... she loved them and got so excited !!!! wanted to touch them ... I love the way she'd watch them as they fell to the floor... big bro was carrying her and she'd lean down after the bubbles and like talk to them or something!!!! mashAllah she's sooooooooo cute .....

At night it was raining really hard... with lightning and thunder and all that... was a bit scary cuz we felt the building shake a bit!! ... but we waited till it sort of calmed down and went home....

The next day we were invited at my bro's inlaws for lunch... it was fun el7amdulilah ... we had a great time... then at night I had a wedding... never expected to be invited to that wedding .... my colleague's brother was getting married so she invited me! ... I mean I've only known her for a couple of months....but we get along... I was the only one she invited from work...so I sat on a table with the rest of her friends ...was quite nice actually... but I couldn't stay late cuz I was alone...

Yesterday we went to my uncle then my aunt ... was raining and raining on the way .. and really cold too... but I enjoyed it... don't know why I get excited by rain... my friends at Uni used to call me a "psycho" :-D ... the only part I don't like about rain here is that it seems Alex doesn't have a very good drainage system ...so many streets are flooded and it isn't a pretty sight :(

Spent the day at home today... but I might be going out with my mum to buy some stuff now... will be back to read your blogs and start commenting inshAllah ... miss you guys...

Eid Mubarak everyone !!!

كل عام و أنتم الى الله أقرب

Haven't been able to blog lately ... well actually it's not really "haven't been able" ... sometimes I'd just have too many other things to do ...and then I'd be too lazy to blog.... just wanted to tell all of my dear bloggers... that I've been trying to read your blogs ... even though I may not comment.... I still do read .....

The past couple of weeks have been a little hectic... el7amdulilah ... nothing really "bad" or anything ... but a little messy....

Work has been getting a little more demanding ... now I'm teaching higher levels that need a little more preparing ...it's sort of a "crash course" so my students have been having some difficulty catching up with all we're doing ... which means extra work from my side to try and help them keep up their standards....

My adorable baby niece is here in Egypt !!!! M (big bro's wife) got here a couple of weeks ago with baby N .... and mashAllah she's amazing begad .... Rabena yebareklohom feeha... so I've been hopping over to their house after work soemtimes and going out with them some other times....

Little bro has been officially admitted to the army for the compulsory military service... I won't start talking about that ... needs a whole post... he's not "in" yet but he should be going in on the 17th ... very depressing... but el7amdulilah ... you never know what is for the best ... anyway ... been spoiling him and trying to make nice food every day and stuff like that ... besides having to help in buying him stuff he needs to take with him for the first 45 days (when he isn't allowed to leave camp)... el7amduliah for everything....

Mama couldn't take being away from us in these circumstances ... she wanted to see little bro before he goes int he army and see if he wants anything etc etc....at first she didn't want to come and leave baba alone on Eid but he told her he would feel better if she did .... wasn't sure she'd be coming till the day she came .... anyway el7amdulilah .. she's here safe and sound.... she made all the "Eid food" for baba before she came and put it in the freezer over there (all the fatah ... salads... boiled meat... grilled meat ... and some raw spiced up meat for him to grill if he wants etc) .... but the point is .. it's not all about food... it's about him being all alone on Eid ... it's never happened before ... there were times it would be me and him in Libya.... and mama with my bros in Egypt.... but all alone ... never ... he sounds fine so far... but I can't help feeling so bad sometimes....

Big bro got here from Saudi the day before yesterday too!!! But he took his family for a little vacation before Eid to relax ... can't wait till they get back.....

Been trying to do all the charity work I want to do ... but I haven't been able to :( ... been busy ... I hate it when that happens ... will try and not make that happen again .... el7amdulilah I've been going to the mosque regulary though...

I don't know if this post is going to make any sense... i won't reread it before posting it ... see if you guys can understand :-P

Don't quit....

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worse,
That You Must Not Quit!

Note: Received this a couple of days ago via email... don't know the author...