Day at the Zoo!

Today all of PreK went to the zoo and we had a total blast! It could not have gone more smoothly! The kids had an amazing time and the parents were a great help! It was a long awaited trip so I am grateful the kids had so much fun! Click here to see pictures of my adorable students and the animals too!

Teachers ready for some fun!

Tired teachers and children on the bus after a successful zoo trip!

An Adventure for a Chair

At the craft fair last week, on the way out I saw a chair I really loved and wanted to go back and get. But since it was a big purchase, I went home to sleep on it. I still knew I wanted this chair! So after talking to my friend Rym who I teach with (who is Tunisian), she said she wanted to go the fair too so we decided to go together! She would help me haggle for my chair and I would help her find the planting pots she is wanting for her house. 

So Wednesday after work, we set off for the Le Krem expo center! We bee-lined for the chair and it was still there! Phew! So Rym haggled back and forth for me for quite a while and got it down by almost 200 dinars! I was so excited! Not only was my chair still there, I got it for a deal! And it is a beauty! I don't know what I would have done without Rym! 

Once we finished our shopping, a sweet man rolled my chair and Rym's pots out to the car. The hard part was getting it in the car! It fit great but the trunk would not close!

So thanks to the Tunisian trash on the side of the road, the sweet man and parking attendant tied the my trunk down with a plastic piece of string. And it held perfectly!

 So I drove home safely and carried my new chair into the house. It fits perfectly!

The chair is made from colorful Tunisian carpets (which I already have and love) and nice wood. Here is the chair from all angles:

The chair fits perfectly and was worth the adventure!

Local Artisian Craft Fair

Yesterday after International Day, I went to the yearly local craft fair here in Tunis. It has awesome items made here in Tunisia. This year was even better than last year. It had a lot of cute things and I loved buying things that remind me of Tunisia.

Laura and me in front of this glittery/sparkly room

 

Katie and Laura behind more sparkly stuff

Katie and I with clay lace shoes and crocs

Here is all of my loot!

Sheepskin rug

Clay tangine

Olive Wood Spoons

Olive Wood Mortar and Pestle 

Large decorated clay pot to plant my basil in

Large decorated clay pot to plant my kale in 

International Day!

Today is my favorite day of the school year... International Day! This is a day where we celebrate all the different countries our students are from. They wear their native clothing and share food from their country (so yummy)! I love how our families share their countries with us! A special day for sure!

Here are some pictures of my students from today- I am not going to share their names but I will share the countries they are from.

Korea, France

Egypt, Korea, France

                                        Tunisia and the Dominican Republic

Algeria

Ireland

India

Tunisia- my dear friend Rym who I teach with and her children

Zambia

Me with one of my students and her sister

India and America (I babysit for this sweet family)

France and USA

Mosaic Class

Tonight I started taking a mosaic class with some friends from school. We will be doing it every Thursday. We are learning how to make our own mosaic tiles and it is a lot of fun. It is hard but fun to craft with my friends once a week. Our instructor is tough but very helpful and a great teacher. We started by picking a design online. I picked a poppy because we have the most beautiful poppies here in Tunisia. They are my most favorite wildflower we have here! Cutting the tiles in straight squares is easy but making small curved shapes is very hard! I look forward to continuing this class for the rest of the school year!

Katie with the instructor's dad

Katie's flower thus far

Karen and her tool as she is working on her cactus

Karen's great progress on her cactus

Me working on my design (colored printed copy)

My work thus far (hard to tell since it is a color copy but I have done the black middle of the flowers- that was hard and the white outer side on the right)

My Mosaic class and our instructor (in white coat) and his dad

Kathy, Katie, instructor's father, Jauwer, Karen, me

Marvelous Monday!

A week ago today I made an impromptu trip with these two to go get ice cream after work. I loved spending time with both of them and eating yummy ice cream!

Jazz Carthage

Last night, I went to a Jazz concert with a group of people from school. We watched/listened to two different groups perform. It was neat to listen to upbeat music and be with friends! There were a lot of strobe lights which made things more interesting to watch. ;)

The strobe lights before the show starts

Selfie with the strobe lights!

Laure, Katie, me

First up was Alice Francis. She is Romanian. She was very upbeat, had a lot of energy and was a lot of fun! Her voice is beautiful too! She sings Swing Jazz... it was really neat!

Next up was Malted Milk. He is French. He was very passionate and a great singer! The musicians behind him were amazing too!

Toni Green came on stage with Malted Milk. She is from Memphis, Tennessee. She was a hoot! 

But to be honest, at this point in time it was way past my bedtime and I was quite tired. But it was still a fun experience with friends!

Walking through Flower Fields

This morning after the three of us slept in, I was walking around my yard and noticed these beautiful flowers!

Poppy flowers! Love these!

Spotted this beautiful peace lily!

This iris is my favorite! I didn't even know I had irises and these colors are so vibrant!

Wild flowers are huge in Tunisia in the Spring and can be found everywhere! They are always my highlight of Spring here! Well when walking the dogs yesterday, I discovered a path leading up to the flower fields across from my neighborhood. I said a prayer for no wild dogs, took a deep breath, and went for it! Oh. My. Goodness! It was absolutely breathtaking! It was just pure vastness of tall grass and wild flowers. There were also paths for us to walk. So the three of us walked through these fields and it was an amazing day! However, I left my phone at home charging, so we went again today and I took pictures to share. God's beauty is amazing!

When we got home, the dogs and I sunbathed in our backyard! It was a wonderful Saturday!