Teaching in Kurdish Iraq

        It's Thursday and the last day of the first week of teaching at AUIS (weekends here run Friday/Saturday).  I have about 65 students spread over four level 2 Grammar classes, and so far it's the best, most exhausting teaching experience I've had so far.  We get in early and leave late and go home to grade papers!  The other instructors here really work together within the disciplines and within the levels, and they have been a great support in my transition back to an EFL teacher from ESL in Virginia.

     My students come from different parts of Iraq and Iran, and are eager to begin their academic studies in IT, engineering, mathematics, etc.  Our program runs on trimesters, so I only have 12 instructional weeks to move my students to the next level.  We will be exhausted my February, but InshAllah, we will all have learned a great deal.

APP Orientation

Iraqi Kurdistan Resident Here!

 

Received my residency card today from the Immigration office in Sulaimani, and all it took was a little blood (an HIV test is a requirement for the card).

I think I’m adjusting pretty well. It helps that my new apartment is gorgeous and feels already so homey because my new roommate is a friend of mine who has been living there for a year already. High five Zayne!

Classes begin on November 4 and I am very much looking forward to teaching Grammar 2! Before that though, we have a 5 day break for Eid. I would like to travel to the capital city of Erbil just so I can go to Carrefour. I have heard rumours that they have Crockpots, and I need one!!!

Our semesters at the American University of Iraq Sulaimani (AUIS) are only 12 weeks long and I feel like this first one is going to fly by.

Ok, it’s tea and Baklava time, so I’ll leave you with a few pictures I’ve taken so far :)

On campus

 

A view from my balcony

                                                                 

Here and Now

I often wonder how I will look back on this time in my life.

If God gives me 60 more years, what kind of lens will I see my former self through?

These adventures to come...I pray they shape me into a woman of faith and courage.

May God allow my doubts to move me to action; may my quandries lead to wisdom, my fear to love.
May my gifts and energy not be wasted on worrying about 'what if's' and 'what could have been'.

May I look back, whether it be tomorrow or many years from now, and know that I have tread my own path and all is as it should be.


I'm finishing up my final week of classes at VCU and preparing myself for a new university, in a new town, in a new country.  I will call Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) my home for at least a year, and I am looking forward to the many adventures/challenges I will face.  I am excited in knowing that I will continue to grow as an educator, and am looking forward to learning from a new group of students!

I head out in the beginning of October, with a quick stop in Istanbul. Stay tuned for lots o' pictures and sarcastic ramblings!

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru