10/19/2003
Whew! Time flies when you're having fun. I have been keeping busy with school and have fallen behind in the email department. Here's some updates
I have a Saturday job. I am supervising the outdoor athletic "field" at school from 10am till 2pm every Saturday. There's a small stipend that goes with it and it's a good opportunity for me to add some activity to my otherwise sedentary lifestyle. I also get to meet students from K-12. Essentially, I sign kids in and check their IDs to be sure that they are students at ACS (my school). It's kind of slow, so I make it a point to stretch, walk around the field, jog a little, and even play BB and soccer with the kids. I've only done it three Saturdays so far and only about 30 kids come each week so it's easy dough. It does commit me to being in town every Saturday (except vacations) but Beirut is so cool, that I don't mind staying in town.
I went camping with the seventh graders for three nights. It was a great trip. The mountains are spectacular and I got to supervise activities like rock climbing, rappelling, caving, archery, and hiking. It was like scout camp complete with campfires, songs, skits and smores. The kids loved it and everyone had a great time. Not a single discipline problem the whole time. I was amazed. I was one of the organizers of the trip so it occupied much of my free time for a couple of weeks.
My Cairo friends came for a visit on a recent four day weekend. I hosted eight former colleagues for four days. We visited the crusader castle in Byblos, the roman ruins in Baalbak, the vineyards of the Bekka valley and the Tripoli coast. We also enjoyed the restaurants and night life in town. They kept me busy for days.
I am on a couple of committees at work. One is involved with starting a "Middle Years Program" in our middle school. It's an International Baccalaureate program for grades 6-10. The "IB" program is sort of a "super diploma" which is recognized by universities around the world. All of those foreign students at Yale, Harvard, USC, Stanford, Georgetown, etc... are former high school kids who got "IB" diplomas at some international school. It's normally a two year program (11-12 grades) and there is a recent push to prepare younger kids for the rigors of it. Hence, "MYP" or Middle Years Program. I have taken an interest in Middle school age development and quite like working with motivated students so I got on the committee.
I am also teaching a workshop at the upcoming Near East Schools Association conference (NESA) that ACS is hosting at the end of the month. The best four presenters will be sent, all expenses paid, to the NESA conference in Bangkok, Thailand in April. I'm hoping to go. So I'll be working on my presentation this week. I'm also entering the essay writing contest.
I started Arabic lessons last week. Every Monday night for an hour six of us sit in a classroom and butcher pronunciation. It's brutal, but I am committing myself to learning another language. I can actually read the alphabet, but I don't know what the words mean. I have also started pottery class. every Wednesday the Art teacher has invited interested teachers to the pottery studio at school and work with clay. I need some mugs and other earthenware in my apartment so I signed up. After one session, I am convinced that I will have a cupboard full of ashtrays in no time. I may have to take up smoking.
And finally, the last thing to take up my time lately is the Beirut Marathon. I didn't run in it but I did go and cheer on a couple of friends who did run. It was fascinating. Running 26.2 miles is a big deal to some people. I helped my friends map out the course ahead of time, calculate pace times and helped to hand out water. It was neat being involved in such a huge event. There were something like 3000 runners and the winner was an Ethiopian who beat the recent record set in Chicago just two weeks before. (2 hours and 5 minutes, by the way) My friends ran it in 4 hours and 10 minutes. Check out beirutmar athon.com. There's a satellite photo of Beirut with the course map outlined. My school is clearly visible and labeled.
Maybe I'm still experiencing the adrenalin of post race euphoria, but I got a crazy idea today. I'm thinking of running it next year. No, not organizing and leading it, but actually running in it. I know it sounds crazy, but I really got caught up in the whole "training for a goal" mentality. There is something about setting a goal, working towards it and achieving it that sounds attractive. I still remember the feeling I had when I rebuilt a truck engine. Does anyone else remember that summer? Dad might, since I used his truck much of the summer while mine was out of commission. I was a big deal for me because I had never so much as changed my own oil before, and yet, I removed, tore down, rebuilt and installed an entire motor. I felt proud of that. Not just because I had done something few, if any, of my friends had ever done, but because it was a useful thing to do. It had a sort of "self sufficient" quality that made it significant.
Running the marathon would be similar. It would certainly be a big deal for me because, if you add up every foot I have every run in my life, it wouldn't equal 26 miles. In fact, walking up a flight of stairs can be a challenge for me. It is a feat that few, if any, of my friends have done. And it would be a useful thing to do. Have you ever noticed a fat marathon runner? One side effect is that i would become physically fit. If I am successful, it may very well add years to my life. Of course, it might kill me in the process. Luckily I have the support of friends here who are experienced marathoners and have offered to help me train. I have an entire year and they seem to think I can do it. They know how inexperienced I am and are convinced that if I start now, I could easily be ready to run the 2004 marathon next October. I start walking tomorrow.
As a bonus, I plan to write about my experience. Who knows? Maybe it will be the next "Walk in the Woods" by Bryson. Except where he failed I will succeed!
So that's why I haven't written in a while. I'll try to write more often and let you know how my training is going.
Love
Stu