20 days left

Well, it's really starting to get close! I leave in exactly 20 days....WOW! It's starting to hit me. I still need to pack up a ton of stuff in my house, and I need to pack, see a few more people, there is going to be a comissioning service, and there is talk but no offical plans yet for a party. AH! So much to do and so little time to do it!

A major praise happened about a week or so ago though. A family friend set me up with a family living in dubai and now I have a place to stay while I'm there for a week! That is such a weight off my shoulders! I wasn't sure what I was going to do if I had to stay in a hotel. I was planning on staying in this place specifically for kingdom workers, but they were booked up for a conference. So now I'm staying with a family who live on these amazing man made islands. The Father is so amazing! The best part is that my friend who teaches kindergarden is giong to be able to stay with me for a few days too! How cool is that!

While I'm in dubai, I'm going to be getting together with some friends that I worked with in Pakistan last summer. I'm so excited to see them! I got an email from one of them the other day and I wanted to share it with ya'll. It shows some of the fruit from all of the labor that went into that trip....

Last week when I was in Pakistan, I was in a remote village, sitting around talking and having tea with some guys, when I saw a familiar face. I couldn’t place it. The guy who translated for your teacher training drove me there, and he told me who the familiar face. It was one of the men from the teacher training. The building we were sitting on the porch of was the school building where he teaches. I asked him how the training has helped him teach.

He said now he knows that he should have a plan and a system for teaching, he should be humble with the students; students should be punctual; education can be fun, not just a dour intake of information; and students don’t have to be only recipients of teaching, but they can also participate in the teaching, and he has them come up front and help present things.

That may not sound too amazing to ya'll, but trust me, that is a major step! When I got my students last year, their idea of teaching was, to quote one of my pupils "Ah, I wake in the morning and I think to myself....hmmmmm what do I want to teach today?!"

So if you wanna do something before I leave OR if someone wants to clue me in on all these murmurings about a going away party....Call Me!

Lots of Love ya'll,

Sarah

no great title comes to mind

So I've been stuck in Southaven MS for the last two weeks. I thought I was going to hate it here at Pre Field Orientation, but there couldn't be anything further from the truth. I love these people! The sessions I've been through lately have really resonated with me. Working with third culture kids is a lot like working with my Sam Houston babies. I posted pictures on facebook of some of the fun things we did in memphis and I hope to get a lot of pictures taken tonight at the OASIS banquet. I'm really excited about the upcoming changes taking place in my life. I will dearly miss the people that I've met this week though. They have helped me in way I never could've imagined.

With that being said, I am so excited to be coming home to a real bed and my own shower.

Love ya'll

In the beginning

So, People have been telling me I need a blog. After like the 12th person told me this, I conceded and here I am, blogging. It's been years since I blogged. I'm not even sure that I'll use this site or how I can let people know about this site. I do know that I will be mainly blogging about my new life as an expatriate living in Afghanistan.
I'm in Southaven MI this week for pre-field orientation. It is a requirement for all people going on the field to attend this two week training. I really didn't want to go to it, but I am so glad I did. It has been such a great expierence to meet people getting ready to travel the globe just as I am. It's also nice to be around people who know what I'm going through. The sessions are pretty boring, but the people here have been great to meet. I now have friends literally all over the world.

Now, for a few ground rules. If you want to post a response to my blog, which I highly suggest as I LOVE to hear what people who read this are thinking, there are a few things that I need you to be aware of. The first one is that there is absolutly under no circumstances NO USE OF THE M WORD!!! If you don't know what that stands for, ask someone else. The second is to remember that there is a chance that this is not a private blog, when I was in Pakistan I was told that the government does check on expats, and I have good reasons to believe that will be the case in Kabul too.

So, that's it! I know, short and sweet... I'll probably update more later.

Love ya'll