Henna, the colored dye, is used a lot here in various ways.
It's used in intricate designs painted on women's bodies, usually their hands and forearms, and sometimes their feet.
It's used as a fingernail polish, but the whole tip of the finger is colored.
It's used to color hair.
It's used to color beards. Not sure what the significance is there. Thankfully, you don't see it often because it's a rather strange sight. A bright red beard on folks my complexion causes you to take a second look.
It's also used by men on the palms of their hands and bands around their fingers to indicate they're married.
One of my teachers had her hands painted and had a horrific allergic reaction to the dark brown/black henna which is believed to be stronger (???).
Interesting, right?
Now to school stuff -
Today was the first day of standardized testing. The students were tested on reading and writing Arabic. The whole testing environment is in keeping with everything else here, very laid back.
I was monitoring a 4th grade class of girls because their teacher was absent. About midway through the testing period, someone came in and chatted with the girls, interrupting for about five minutes. No problem. No big deal, but unheard of in the US.
Like I said yesterday, this is the least stressful testing I've ever been involved in.
Beginning tomorrow, the boys will go home at 11:00 and the girls at 11:45. Gotta love that, too. Normal dismissal is at 12:45 for the boys and 1:45 for the girls.
Those times are colorful, too, because the last period should go from 12:15 to 1:00 for the boys and 1:15 to 2:00 for the girls.
Here's what happens. Beginning at 12:30 and 1:30 respectively, everyone starts heading for the door. It is a daily exercise in controlled chaos. You just pray to God that everyone gets where they're supposed to go. The last class should be a study on how efficiently everyone can clear the building.
Adhering to dismissal times and adjusting those times so that the students are not missing instructional minutes, is a work in progress.
As I've mentioned, the girls use 11 huge busses, to accommodate them all. The system is such that none of the busses move until everyone is on board. Then they depart in caravans, some going left, the others right.
Finally, there is another thing I've noticed about the students.
There seems to be a higher percentage of special ed students, probably because of the custom of marrying relatives. The country has just started to push for genetic testings before and after marriage, but that's proving to be an uphill battle. What's really fascinating is the stigma associated with having a special needs child. Because of this, there is also a high percentage of unidentified special ed students. We do have a teacher for these students, but it is a new focus, for sure.
OK. Just one more thing.
Mother's Day is celebrated today in Ireland. One of my teachers is from there. She also shared that she and her family and friends had a big St. Patrick's Day celebration. I didn't even realize what the day was. It was not recognized in the malls or shopping areas.
Mother's Day is celebrated in this country on Wednesday, the 21 of this month, the first day of Spring.
Who knew Mother's Day wasn't universally celebrated on the same day around the world?
OK, that's it.
I think all of this is very interesting. I hope you do, too.
It's used in intricate designs painted on women's bodies, usually their hands and forearms, and sometimes their feet.
It's used as a fingernail polish, but the whole tip of the finger is colored.
It's used to color hair.
It's used to color beards. Not sure what the significance is there. Thankfully, you don't see it often because it's a rather strange sight. A bright red beard on folks my complexion causes you to take a second look.
It's also used by men on the palms of their hands and bands around their fingers to indicate they're married.
One of my teachers had her hands painted and had a horrific allergic reaction to the dark brown/black henna which is believed to be stronger (???).
Interesting, right?
Now to school stuff -
Today was the first day of standardized testing. The students were tested on reading and writing Arabic. The whole testing environment is in keeping with everything else here, very laid back.
I was monitoring a 4th grade class of girls because their teacher was absent. About midway through the testing period, someone came in and chatted with the girls, interrupting for about five minutes. No problem. No big deal, but unheard of in the US.
Like I said yesterday, this is the least stressful testing I've ever been involved in.
Beginning tomorrow, the boys will go home at 11:00 and the girls at 11:45. Gotta love that, too. Normal dismissal is at 12:45 for the boys and 1:45 for the girls.
Those times are colorful, too, because the last period should go from 12:15 to 1:00 for the boys and 1:15 to 2:00 for the girls.
Here's what happens. Beginning at 12:30 and 1:30 respectively, everyone starts heading for the door. It is a daily exercise in controlled chaos. You just pray to God that everyone gets where they're supposed to go. The last class should be a study on how efficiently everyone can clear the building.
Adhering to dismissal times and adjusting those times so that the students are not missing instructional minutes, is a work in progress.
As I've mentioned, the girls use 11 huge busses, to accommodate them all. The system is such that none of the busses move until everyone is on board. Then they depart in caravans, some going left, the others right.
Finally, there is another thing I've noticed about the students.
There seems to be a higher percentage of special ed students, probably because of the custom of marrying relatives. The country has just started to push for genetic testings before and after marriage, but that's proving to be an uphill battle. What's really fascinating is the stigma associated with having a special needs child. Because of this, there is also a high percentage of unidentified special ed students. We do have a teacher for these students, but it is a new focus, for sure.
OK. Just one more thing.
Mother's Day is celebrated today in Ireland. One of my teachers is from there. She also shared that she and her family and friends had a big St. Patrick's Day celebration. I didn't even realize what the day was. It was not recognized in the malls or shopping areas.
Mother's Day is celebrated in this country on Wednesday, the 21 of this month, the first day of Spring.
Who knew Mother's Day wasn't universally celebrated on the same day around the world?
OK, that's it.
I think all of this is very interesting. I hope you do, too.
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