She Taught Me Good!

My first semester is officially done.  Finals graded, grades submitted, and graduation cookies have been eaten.  At our last faculty meeting, we were given our student evaluations.  Having written these as a student, it was a new experience to be on the receiving end.  Out of my 80ish students, only two weren't very pleased with the class. One said I should laugh less...

Overall, it was a very rewarding semester and I genuinely hope that some of my students left my classroom no longer fearing grammar.  I am aware that most people despise it, so if they left with only a mild distaste for the subject matter, I'll take it as a success and move on to tweak and improve where I can for next semester.

A week of fun (at least I hope fun and not riots) in Cairo awaits and I'll shall leave you with yet another awkward (awesome?) exchange I had with a student this semester.


This student approached my desk during a group assignment to eventually ask me about 'burps' via farting....the conversation went like this:

Student: Hi teacher...aaah Ok, you know the air down there?... (motions behind him while pointing down)

Me: the..air...down there???

Student: Yeah, the air down there... (whispering) it's called farts...

Me: Are you really asking me about farts in the middle of an exercise?

Student: No disrespect...aah, ok?

Me: oooookay...what would you like to know?

Student: Well...the air up here (motions to throat)..what's called?

Me: Burp...That's a burp...you can also use that as a verb...

Student: Oh. Okay! Thank you teacher!

Just to be clear, the assignment they were working on involved neither of those bodily functions.

I will miss my level 2's dearly, and wish their level 3 teachers lots of luck!

"You look like Adele!" and other strange things my students say

What does a twelve week semester with eighty students at a university in Iraqi Kurdistan make a teacher? 

That would be slightly crazy and a tad sleep deprived.

My first semester at AUIS is almost at an end, and as I'm starting to see cross-eyed, I think that's a good thing.  It's been a whirl-wind semester and rather than beating myself up for not posting to a website that no one reads, I decided to post stories about my students and my classroom.  

I  am amazed, entertained, enraged, deeply moved, enlightened, frustrated, or a combination of all of those on a daily basis with this great group of young adults, and some of their antics should be recorded. 

The following is an email exchange between a student and myself. The student in this case did not pay attention when I assigned a verb chart for homework:

(Note: Mastaw is the Kurdish phrase for brown-nosing)

Meer: Hi Mrs.Ramey

I Just want to ask you about the Home work sheet that you gave it to us... which verb should we use?

Me:  MEER!!! There were two, I wrote them on the board!!! I want you to call a friend and ask them. If you still can't find out what they are, email me back and I'll tell you...you've got to write down what I put on the board! 

Meer: I'm really really sorry.. I don't have any phone number of my friend.. I was sharing work sheet.. I didn't know ! 

Can you tell me? Please!!   

Me: To decline and to decrease. They better be the best verb charts I've ever seen!! :D

Meer:  Ohhh, thank you so so so much!!!.. I don't know how much I love you!! :) , trust me it's NOT (MASTAW) :D.. 
Thank you !

Me:  If you don't know how much you love me, there is a problem with your memory :D The phrase should have the pronoun you as the subject :D And you can show your love by doing your homework and getting an A in my class! 

Meer: Ow My God !!! I did a huge mistake... I meant (You don't know how much I love you) .. :D

Good Night :)

My battle this semester, along with teaching grammar, has been to encourage my students to think for themselves, use context clues, and above all READ THE DIRECTIONS!  Needless to say, it's been a struggle.

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

Update, Jealous!?

I was going to try for a scintillating report/commentary on some issue in Egypt/on campus/in Rehab, but I got nothing. But since my friend Ben will harp on me if I don't update this thing, I thought I'd just give you a few bullet points of what's been going here in Al Sahara:

1. I'm still attending all my grad classes; although, there are mornings where for 2 minutes and 34 seconds I seriously contemplate sleeping til 4pm and not going outside til the sun has gone down.

2. We just started getting some "fall-like" weather here at night. The other evening as I was walking to a friend's house, I actually said to myself, "oh! It's quite chilly. I wish I had brought a light cardigan."

3. I'm teaching 3 English classes at the Lamb Center. All level 12 which I've taught before. The final will be on October 31st, which just makes me realize how fast this semester is going by!

4. Our waiter at Lucille's restaurant asked for my number... granted, it was so they could notify me when they would start carrying pumpkin pie (next week, InshAllah, if you were wondering)

5. I'm thoroughly enjoying my apartment still. I am still waiting for an A/C unit to be put in my living room, but my gas stove didn't kill me when I used it the other night, so that was a plus.

6. I live on the 5th floor. There is no elevator. The grocery store delivers my groceries (which include large boxes of bottled water) for the U.S. equivalent of $.85. Jealous?!

7. I left my 'metro token' coin holder in the states and am so heart-broken. So now every time a guy selling tchotchkes gets on the metro, I'm ever hopeful he will have some for me to buy. Alas, the guy the other night was only selling sheets of band-aids. Because, I guess you never know when you might need to quickly patch up a head wound.

8. One of the things I'm missing the most about America is my chiropractic clinic; I need an adjustment like Woh! Oh, and pumpkin flavored treats that abound during this festive time.

9. There are no pictures for this post cuz I have consistently left my camera in the apartment every time I go out. Next time, I promise! =)

The Beginning (Again)

That's right folks, school has started again and I am back in Cairo. Classes actually began on the 5th, but seeing as I just got internet at my apartment, the blogging had to wait.

All my roommates from last semester have left, so I've moved from Maadi to a 2-bedroom apartment in El Rehab. I'm now only a stones throw (read: 15 minute bus ride) from the university, which is absolutely lovely in comparison to the 50 minute drive from Maadi.

I arrived in Egypt for the last week of Ramadan, so I only had 3 class meetings before we had a nice, little vacation for Eid!

My classes this semester are pretty interesting; Pragmatics, Language Assessment, and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). No classes on Tuesdays again and as usual, all of my classes start at 2PM! It's a rough life, but someone's gotta sit on my awesome balcony and drink tea! :)