Work Project: Al Raja's New Website

Some of you know that I'm working for Al Raja School again. I've been fortunate enough to be able to teach some classes and spend part of my time on administrative oriented projects.  The most recently completed project is a website.  Here's the front page:

Now, I know my way around a computer and the internet as much as your average 20-something.  And maybe a little bit better than average.  But I'm certainly not a programmer.  Or a graphic designer, for that matter (I really do rely on Alison to determine outfits that look good).  So I must emphasize that this is no programing or designing feat I've accomplished.  So how did I do it?

I used Weebly - a Content Management System, or CMS.  CMS could also be called "website making for people who don't have any idea how to program."  And Weebly is the king of CMS's.  Seriously, if you can't figure out Weebly, then you have no business being on a computer at all.  And since its created so even my 95 year old grandfather could create a site, its got lots of templates.

Weebly is also great because it automatically integrates our domain name with Google Apps.  Through Google Apps, we now have access to many of Google's products through our own domain name.  For instance, my new school email is webmaster@alrajabahrain.org.  And not just email.  Docs, calendar, chat, sites, and basically anything else that comes with a Google account.  Including Google Analytics.

Analytics is fantastic.  By inserting a small piece of code in the Al Raja Website, Analytics tracks all the users who come and generates about 50 different reports on visitors to the site.  A lot of it isn't useful to the school because we are a non-profit institution and we don't make sales on our website.  But some of it is useful.  And regardless, I love seeing graphs and charts.  And it automatically generates all sorts of graphs and charts depending on what you want.

I've said it before, but I love Google.  Some people think they're taking over the world, and maybe they are.  But I'm ok with that.  I'm ok with that.

Anyway, that's my latest project.  If there are more projects interesting enough to blog about, I'll do so.

Our Little Corn on the Cobb

On the right, you'll see an updated picture of the size of our little Round 2 (or you should... my changes haven't taken place yet). The size of an ear of corn might be a little misleading. I don't think he* is as thin as an ear of corn - I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the length (which is about one foot long). Alison can feel the baby moving quite a bit, particularly when something is pressing against her tummy (such as my hand!). He also seems to be active about the time we're going to bed. I've heard stories of people being able to "tickle" and interact with the baby, so I'm hoping that at some point we'll be able to do that!

Here are some of the developments taking place in our little Round 2.

• Round 2 is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up.
• His brain is growing quickly (duh - he's going to be a genius)
• His taste buds are continuing to develop.
• His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world.
• His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

There are, of course, other things going on besides the development of the baby. I mean, Alison and I do have jobs, you know. We have other things to do besides sit around and watch Alison's tummy get bigger.

As many of you know, I've started working for our church part time. I've also been teaching English at one of the language institutes here in Bahrain. I've taught one section so far that has started and ended, and I enjoyed it. The students were beginners, and we were learning things such as "Hi, how are you." "Where is this?" or "Whose is this?" The students - all guys - were a lot of fun to work with. I start my next session in two weeks.

Alison, however, has had a bit of a roller coaster ride. Many of you have heard of H1N1, or "swine flu" as its more commonly known as. Bahrain started the year trying to get schools to close until after the Eid Break (this last week). Though they did delay opening for a few days, most schools were open at the beginning of september. After Eid started, the government has again declared that all elementary and high schools will be closed until mid-October. Of course, parents aren't happy about this because 1) their kids aren't learning and 2) their kids are at home ALL THE TIME. There has even been a facebook group created protesting the governments decision to keep the schools closed! It'll be interesting to see how long the schools will actually be closed for.

While this is bad for students and learning, it is kind of nice because it means Alison can take it a little easier. She will still go into work next week, and aparently there will be some correspondence work that she will have the students do, but it will be more relaxed than a full on teaching schedule.

Lastly, I have been growing my goatee out. It hasn't been all THAT grown out, and I'm not sure it will grow as long as I want it to. But I met a guy the other day that has the beard of my dreams. I thought I'd share.



*We still do not know for certain what gender the baby is. Doctors have split 50/50 on their answer, and Alison and I each have a different 'intution' about what the baby is (she says girl, I say boy). I hate saying a gender-neutral "it" and saying "he or she" everytime gets cumbersome. So I've decided to alternately use "he" and "she" in subsequent blog posts. It might cause confusion, but that's ok.

A New Direction

Many people already know this, but some do not. I will be experiencing a little bit of a job change this next year. I have resigned from my position at Al Raja (where I was teaching history and economics). On the one hand, this is very sad, as I have really enjoyed teaching the students at this school as well as working with the staff. I will miss them a lot.

I will now be working at our church I attend as the Community Relations Coordinator. This will be a part time job, and my responsibilities will revolve around helping coordinate different events that the church puts on. I'm really looking forward to it. However, as it is part time, I will also be teaching English at one of the local English institutes. There are a lot of great things that will come about with all of this - including a little bit of flexibility for when the baby comes.

In other news, we have been in the US for about a week now. Today is independence day, and if you wish, you can read about my thoughts on celebrating this day here. Had a great breakfast made by my brother-in-law and his wife, played some tennis and then we'll head to church tonight where Alison will be able to see some friends. Its going to be an action packed summer, and you can track all of our travels here.

Unfortunately, Alison still doesn't have clothes. British Air lost a whole truckload of luggage, including mine and Alison's bags. A few days ago, they found mine and delivered it to the house we are staying at. However, they still have not found Alison's bag. Hopefully this will translate into an upgrade of seats for us on the way back to Bahrain. We'll play the you-lost-the-bag-of-a-pregnant-woman-and-made-her-suffer card.

Million?

A friend sent me a link to the Obama administration's "transition team" website. On this website, you can ask for an application for a job within the administration.

Just for fun, I thought I'd fill it out and see what it said. Here is a sample question.

What is the largest budget you have ever had to preside over?
a) 0-2 million
b) 2-20 million
c) 20-100 million

Million? As in dollars? Or maybe... nope don't even have a million anything I've presided over. Except minutes of my own life. I've got about 13.5 million of those under my belt.

Let's try $300 or so when I was an assistant resident director at nwc.

When asked what position I thought I would be most qualified for, I said that I could help out with their Middle East foreign policy.

I mean, Sarah Palin said she had foreign policy experience because she lived near a foreign country.

Any one want to be a reference for me?

Lets Get This Party Started

So guess who supervised his first high school dance last night? Wait, before you start guessing, I'll tell you. It was me.

There is nothing like the torrent of emotions and hormones that spew forth during these parties. The dj arrived sometime around 6:30 to start setting up, and there were many students who had already shown up for the car show earlier in the day, hosted at the school. But eventually, the school filled up with around 300 kids (most of which were not from our school). And thats when the fun began.

It was different than the dances in the states, though. Here, the guys and girls don't really intermix their dancing. It was all guys on the dance floor, grooving to the music. The girls were on the side, watching and sometimes getting their own groove on.

For my part, I was content to watch. I roamed around talking to students, sometimes pretending to be cool. Which is a funny thing - the students don't know what to do with me sometimes. I'm young enough that, under different circumstances, I could be someone that they deem cool enough to emulate. But then, I'm a teacher. So I can see the wheels turning in their heads as the process whether or not to take me seriously.

In the end, they usually don't. And I go back to my corner and dwell on the fact that I'm STILL not one of the cool kids.

Dust Storms

Minnesota has snow storms.

Texas has hurricanes.

We apparently have dust storms.

Well, we haven't really had any dust storms. But I've heard stories. However, in the last week we've had large amounts of dust come over, aparently from Saudi Arabia. Its nothing more than slightly heavy fog. But it coats everything in this annoying dust.

And I know you are asking, "who left their apartment windows open?" Well, let me tell you. My roommates. Though I don't blame them. Its been a habit we've gotten into. But we came back to find all of our possesions clothed in the light brown desert deposits. Gross.

Mr. Joshua: Teacher, Traffic Director, Firefighter

I am many things to many people. Mostly, I am a teacher. But please, don't put me in some sort of box. I have many skills.

My new favorite activity is standing in the afternoon desert heat. In pants and long sleeves and a tie. After school every day, parents come to pick up their kids and attempt to wade through the sea of cars within the narrow, narrow street. Teachers are always outside turning this street into a one way road (which the neighborhood residents don't appreciate). I have traffic duty twice a week.

However, this week, I added a new job to my list: firefighter.

I was standing near my room watching students move to and fro during their break. I can see down the hallway and outside, and as I'm staring blankly down this hallway, a student runs in, grabs the fire extinguisher, and runs away. Mischief was in the air.

As I tore off after the punk, the kids are saying to me, "Mr. Joshua, there's a fire!" And I was thinking in my head, "I'm sure there is. Go to class." As I follow our little thief around the building, I see smoke billowing from the bushes at the back of the school. As I got nearer, I saw the flames. We're not talking about small flamelets. I'm talking about large LARGE flames. Large enough for about 30 people to roast marshmallows on. Of course, I started freaking out.

I grabbed the fire extinguisher and got in as close as I could and started spraying it. I soon finished that one and before I was done putting out the fire, about 4 fire extinguishers had been used up. I didn't even know we had four fire extinguishers at the school. My clothes wreaked of campfire smoke for the rest of the day.

What caused the fire, you're probably wondering. I'm wondering, too. Student mischief comes to mind, but I don't know.

What matters is that I win this week's "hero award".