I have neglected this blog for most of this month out of boredom and business. This is an obvious contradiction, but welcome to my life in Egypt. For the sake of my family who thinks I dropped off the map (maybe I did come to think of it) and for personal posterity reasons, I will give a brief run-through of January.
The first week of the new year began with oral examinations at the college. Grace and I were solicited to assist Dr. Heba and our other colleagues administer examinations. This was an interesting experience to say the least. It seemed that the students were just as nervous about their performance as the teachers were unimpressed with the students’ responses. Oh well.
The ETAs from the Middle East united in Amman, Jordan during the second week of January for a mid-grant conference. I cannot say that I learned much from the official educational program, but I did gain a lot of insight about teaching from my fellow ETAs in Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Bahrain, and the West Bank. We spent our time outside the conference room catching up on the joys and frustrations of life outside America. This was a great encouragement and rejuveniation for the remainder of my time in Egypt, not to mention a ton of fun. Our regional group of ETAs is simply a ton of fun. It is hard to explain much more than that, but it felt good to laugh that much again.
Another great aspect of my trip to Jordan was the day trip we took as a group to Bethany. This is a spot along the Jordan River south of Amman believed to be the baptism site of Jesus. When I was in Jordan two summers ago I was blessed to visit a lot of historical Biblical sites, but I did not make it to Bethany. The site was spiritually peaceful. (A complete foil to the noisy chaos of the train I am currently on from Alex to Mansoura. I guess it takes chaos to appreciate peace and harmony, though.)
I returned from Jordan to begin grading final written examinations. Oh the joy of grading worthlessness. Some days I wonder if my students hear anything I said all semester long. I begged them to give me original ideas on the exam, but most of them simply regurgitated the poorly written theoretical material from their courses. I have felt the urge to gouge my eyes out all too often these past two and a half weeks because of the dribble I am forced to assign numerical value. Now I know, however, that I have to work even harder this next semester to elicit creative ideas from my students.
In the midst of grading, a few friends came to visit Alexandria, and those days provided a much needed break. We went to a basketball game at my club, drank a ton of juice, visited Montazah (a castle right outside Alexandria that belonged to King Farouk; unfortunately, the castle is not open to the public, just the surrounding gardens), and wandered around the Bibliotecha. It was fun to explore the city a little, something I really haven’t taken the time to do yet even though I have been in Alexandria for four months now.
This week I am finishing up grading and preparations for my parents’ arrival Saturday.
Oh, Grace is leaving for America in two days. I will miss her so much, but I am very excited for her. She is really looking forward to seeing her family and I am glad she is taking this last week before our next semester begins to rejuvenate herself with the people she loves most. I am in essence doing the same since Mom and Dad are coming here, except that I will have to wait another four months to see my better half- my sissy.
The first week of the new year began with oral examinations at the college. Grace and I were solicited to assist Dr. Heba and our other colleagues administer examinations. This was an interesting experience to say the least. It seemed that the students were just as nervous about their performance as the teachers were unimpressed with the students’ responses. Oh well.
The ETAs from the Middle East united in Amman, Jordan during the second week of January for a mid-grant conference. I cannot say that I learned much from the official educational program, but I did gain a lot of insight about teaching from my fellow ETAs in Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Bahrain, and the West Bank. We spent our time outside the conference room catching up on the joys and frustrations of life outside America. This was a great encouragement and rejuveniation for the remainder of my time in Egypt, not to mention a ton of fun. Our regional group of ETAs is simply a ton of fun. It is hard to explain much more than that, but it felt good to laugh that much again.
Another great aspect of my trip to Jordan was the day trip we took as a group to Bethany. This is a spot along the Jordan River south of Amman believed to be the baptism site of Jesus. When I was in Jordan two summers ago I was blessed to visit a lot of historical Biblical sites, but I did not make it to Bethany. The site was spiritually peaceful. (A complete foil to the noisy chaos of the train I am currently on from Alex to Mansoura. I guess it takes chaos to appreciate peace and harmony, though.)
I returned from Jordan to begin grading final written examinations. Oh the joy of grading worthlessness. Some days I wonder if my students hear anything I said all semester long. I begged them to give me original ideas on the exam, but most of them simply regurgitated the poorly written theoretical material from their courses. I have felt the urge to gouge my eyes out all too often these past two and a half weeks because of the dribble I am forced to assign numerical value. Now I know, however, that I have to work even harder this next semester to elicit creative ideas from my students.
In the midst of grading, a few friends came to visit Alexandria, and those days provided a much needed break. We went to a basketball game at my club, drank a ton of juice, visited Montazah (a castle right outside Alexandria that belonged to King Farouk; unfortunately, the castle is not open to the public, just the surrounding gardens), and wandered around the Bibliotecha. It was fun to explore the city a little, something I really haven’t taken the time to do yet even though I have been in Alexandria for four months now.
This week I am finishing up grading and preparations for my parents’ arrival Saturday.
Oh, Grace is leaving for America in two days. I will miss her so much, but I am very excited for her. She is really looking forward to seeing her family and I am glad she is taking this last week before our next semester begins to rejuvenate herself with the people she loves most. I am in essence doing the same since Mom and Dad are coming here, except that I will have to wait another four months to see my better half- my sissy.
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