"His Still Quiet Voice" Update #2

I have some very exciting news. My wee brother David entered a film he directed and produced in a film competition in San Antonio, TX. Some may remember the blog entry from a few months ago.

He (finally) found out today that he has made it as a semi-finalist in the film competition! He is now in the running for a $10,000 cash prize. Check out "His Still Quiet Voice" on the festival's website.

David will be traveling to San Antonio on October 19-21 with my parents to attend the festival, which also includes workshops on film production.

Check back here for updates on the film festival progress. Promoting the film is the least I can do, as I was the only family member not to appear in the film...

j/k David. I'll be in the next one. Maybe. If you do a documentary on Bahrain.

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Water Heater

This past week, I have been without hot water. You wouldn't think this would be a problem - I mean, I live in a fairly hot climate. Either the water is already hot or a cool shower would be refreshing.

However, we have our air conditioning on so blasted high that we open up our freezer to defrost our kitchen. So its imparitive to have hot water in the morning. Yet, we have suffered.

My roomate, Steven, went to our landlord, asking him to come up to take a look at our water heater. He thus came up, and as I followed him into the laundry room, he began to stare hard at our broken machine. He then started to walk slowly away. I bordered on being annoyed - he hadnt' even touched the water heater, much less fixed anything.

He went to the wall opposite the heater, and headed for a switch on the wall - the switch to the light that was out in that room. He flipped the switch and gave me a satisfied smile that said "I fixed everything." (His English is limited, and Arabic certainly isn't my first language).

I was confused. Not only had he forgotten about the water heater, but he obviously hadn't fixed the broken light, either. "What about the water heater?"

"Fixed." He pointed to the heater hanging from the ceiling. A sly smile creeped onto his face.

I up behind me and saw a little red light at the bottom of the heater that I had never seen before. And then it dawned on me. The water heater is turned on and off by that switch. And the light in the laundry room - nope, its not broken. There's actually another light switch in the room.

Just be happy I'm not teaching YOUR kids.

Ramadan

In a few hours, Ramadan will start.

Ramadan is the month in the Islamic calendar in which the Prophet Mohamed received his visions from the angel Gabriel, which are written in the Qur'an. During this time, muslims fast from sun-up till sun-down. They will wake up around 4:30 every morning to eat before the sunrise. The rest of the day, they don't eat or drink anything. Once the sun has gone down, they will gather with family and friends to break the fast for the evening. In Bahrain, it is against the law to eat or drink in public. Restaurants are closed until nighttime, but are open all night.

The fasting is a tangible way to cleanse the body, and an act in which Muslims seek to become closer to God and to know His will.

Typically, school goes from 7am till 3pm. During Ramadan, school will only go from 8am till 1pm. Most students will be tired and worn out from the fasting and late nights, as will many teachers.

Ramadan ends in mid-October with the Eid ul-Fitr festival (and marks the beginning of the following month).

A Fundraiser Downtown

I just returned from the Coral Beach Hotel in downtown Manama (the capital city of Bahrain). There, the Lebonese embassy put on a fundraiser to help purchase medical supplies for children hurt in Lebanon. There is at least one family in our apartment complex who has family in Lebabnon, and was there when the war started. As they were selling tickets to the event, I decided to buy one. Many of the people in our apartment complex went, so it was also a good oportunity to meet some of the people around me.

Even though I like political intrigue and world events, they often seem very distant, abstract and like an interesting story in a book. But the rubber has met the road in the last few weeks as I have met countless lebanese - some of them my students (and even a few who are at this school as a result of the war) and some my neighbors, all who have family and friends in the areas of Lebanon affected. Politics and foreign policy - which sometimes make things like this too abstract and a mere mental exercise - get put into the backseat as I see faces that try to show steele, but are betrayed by the fear and uncertainty washing about behind their eyes.

And so once again, life gets put into perspective. School will be hard this year - but not that hard. Living in a new culture, with new norms and values, and new ways of doing things will be frustrating - but things could be worse. Much worse. And I would do well to remember that.

And Life Goes On

I have now finished the first week of school. It went well. I met the kids, did some teaching, and started to get into the groove of life. I wake up at 5:30, leave for school by 6:30 and start by 7. School right now goes till about three o'clock. So its a long day, but during Ramadan, one of the major muslim holidays, school will only go from 8am till 1. And that's a month long.

I have been having a grand time in the neighborhood, too. I have met a few of the local shopkeepers, bought an abundance of groceries from them, and askd them for help as I get more settled in.

As I type this, the call to prayer can be heard throughout the neighborhood. It is broadcast over a loudspeaker from the local mosque. I can also hear it at about 4:30 every morning. As you can imagine, most of the people in my neighborhood are muslims.

However, with being in the middle east, in a different climate, in a different culture, with a different religion, things are not as different and exotic as I imagined. Life has been strangly normal and I'm waiting for that "aha" momment when I am all the sudden I realize that, toto, we're not in kansas anymore.

Someday, but not today.

And back to the lesson planning I'll go - my life for this year.

1st Day of School

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tomorrow is the first official day of school. It should be good. Hopefully. But you know how those first days are...

I thought I'd give you an idea of what its like at my school through the nationalities presented. Here are some of the ones I can remember:

Canada
United States (that would be me)
Bahrain
Morrocco
Tunisia
Zambia
South Africa (Johanesburg Area)
England
Ireland
France
Ukrane
India
Philipines
Oman
Jordan
Lebanon

I think that most of the students are from Bahrain, but who knows. Apparently, there was an American kid there last year, but we'll see. In my neighborhood, in the villiage of Diraz, there are quite a few Indians, a few packistani's, and then a few Nepalese. I'm sure there are other nationalities I don't know about, too.

So far, the heat hasn't killed me. I'm even getting used to it. I had to sleep with the covers over me the other nigth because I was getting cold!

To be honest, there is so much to write, but so little time (and so few internet connections). Maybe some day soon I'll write something of substance on here. But lets not get our hopes up.