First Friday August 28, 2009

Today was another good day! We painted today which was a big mess and I’m positive that my little guys who were wearing white shirts today are going to have some pretty upset mommies. Even with the smocks. O well, it was fun and kept them occupied!

They also all slept at nap time today. BLISS!

Because all my kiddos were sleeping, I got a chance to talk to my co-workers about their religion… so very interesting! Here’s what I learned about what THEY believe… in bullet form cause I like it that way.

• They believe that Jesus was a prophet of God came to earth to tell us all what to do.
• Mariam and Yusuf are our equivalent to Mary and Joseph. (That’s why you’ll run into a bunch of Muslims with those names!)
• Mohammed was a prophet who came after Jesus cause we all were still messing up. His job was to give the people the Qu’ran so they could live correctly.
• The do not believe that we are God’s children.
• The inside of a mosque (or majad, in the Arabic) is basically a very large, empty room. You sit on the floor and pray. On Fridays (the Muslim equivalent to the Christian Sunday) they have someone say the equivalent of a sermon. Yes, I do still have to work on Fridays.
• During Ramadan, the month of fasting, they eat before the sun comes up and after the sun goes down. You don’t have to fast if you are young, sick, old, or traveling. They do this to practice self control and to mature spiritually. They liken it to the equivalent of the Christian Lent… Interesting.
• They are VERY upset as a group about what happened with September 11… perhaps more so than other groups of people. That is not any more ok with them than anyone else.
• They understand fear people have about them, even though there is no need for it.
• People of Arab countries (Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, etc.) are in the minority when talking about Muslims. Indonesia is where the Muslim religion is the most widespread and where the most Muslim people live. My co-workers are from Palestine and Afghanistan. I have students from Somalia, Bosnia, Pakistan, and Iraq, among others. I only have one “American” girl in my class.

These are some of the kindest, most understanding people ever. I’m having a hard time with the fact that they don’t know the truth about Jesus… That’s the hardest part about working in this environment. I’m praying to learn enough from them that I can show them who Jesus is and what is so different about my beliefs. I feel like a missionary. Probably cause I am.

Going to Lincoln, IL with my man tonight… Can’t wait for the weekend to start!

Ok, I think I can survive…

Today was my much-needed better day. My kids were better… and fewer! I only had 14 today which sounds like a lot still, but without those 4 girls, life was a little easier. I don’t know if it was really because they were gone, it may just have been that I’ve started figuring out how to plan this whole thing. I guess you could say I’m starting to get it, but I don’t want to speak too soon. I will say that I can tell people are praying. I really can… it’s the coolest thing! I’ll wake up in the morning ready to go, with a bunch of patience, ready for the day and I know that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that is due to me. It HAS to be God. Seriously. I am simply not patient enough on my own to do this job. God’s got control… and I am so incredibly thankful!

I made my own abaya today out of a full sheet set I found on a SUPER sale. It’s pretty awesome… my mom said it looked like the witch costume she made in grad school. I don’t care… change the head piece and it’s perfect! And it only took a little while! I like being crafty to get things that I actually need!

Only one more day and I’ve officially survived my first week!

Praying that tomorrow is even better!

What am I doing? August 26, 2009

I am in no way prepared to do this job.

I went to college to study elementary education. I am only certified to teach grades 1-6 and I am partial to the upper grades of my certification. Never did I learn anything about early childhood education, particularly with 3 year olds. I have no clue even what lessons to plan or what to do.

I do not know Arabic or any other middle eastern language. In several cases, I don’t know how to even communicate with these kids. I know they’ll pick up on English eventually, but as of right now, I have to figure it out on my own.

I am not the right person for this job.

I feel like Moses when God called him to be the leader of Israel.

After God called Moses, he said “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11, Message) Moses even went on to object with God and say “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly.” (Ex. 4:1, Message)

I feel Moses’ pain. It sucks being in a situation where you’re out of your comfort zone, you have no idea what you’re doing, but God shoves it at you anyway and all you can do is say “Whatever you say” whether you mean it or not.

BUT God did say he would be with Moses… and He definitely was. I wish I felt like that, too. I feel very alone. I know it’s most likely a trust issue for me… or maybe even a “give it to God” kind of thing, but at the end of the day, I’m the one in the classroom with no idea what to do with these babies.

In my interview they asked what I would do if I walked into a class with no books and kids ready to go. My answer was that the internet is my best friend. So here I go, using every possibility possible.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS! What do you do with these kids? What should I plan? How can I survive this? HELP!

EVERYONE ELSE! Please keep me and my very tired assistant in your prayers. If you have any pearls of wisdom, feel free to share, but the prayers are amazing. Let’s have faith together that this year will turn into something unbelievable for God’s kingdom.

Just call me Khala Megan…

It means “auntie” in Arabic. It’s what the kids call me, which is so cute it makes me smile every time!

There’s a good reason God makes kids cute. He knew that they would need some kind of defense when they’re 3 and their moms/dads/preschool teachers have to deal with their crying and disobedience. It really is a good thing these kids are adorable.

Today was a better day- much, much less crying! They still cry when mom or dad drops them off, but they’ll get over it soon. I think they’re actually dealing with the change better than I am. It’s a hard transition, going from 3rd grade to 3-year-olds. They don’t know ANYTHING…  but then I guess that’s my job. I have a new found respect for preschool teachers. To be completely honest, I haven’t had much respect for this profession before. I always thought “All you have to do is teach the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. How hard could it be?” AHHH was I wrong! SO, SO, SO wrong. I didn’t take into account everything else, and with preschoolers, the everything else is so much more than the actual “material” you have to cover. Just keeping my feet under me has been a challenge at times!

I feel bad for my co-preschool teachers. There are 3 of us in 2 rooms with a total of 32 students (that were here today.) The other two have done this before and know all about how to work with preschoolers… I REALLY don’t. I try, but the youngest my knowledge goes is first day of first grade, which is 3 years older than my kids are. I have so much to learn it’s silly. I feel like I never went to college and  earned an education degree! The other teachers are unbelievably understanding and kind. They don’t mind sticking with me through my learning curve- it’s just something they expected! Amazing.

I had a new student in my class today. This poor little girl doesn’t speak a word of English and I don’t speak a word of what ever language she speaks. Today was hard on her… and understandably so! All I could do was hold her and make soothing sounds… I talked to her, but I knew she didn’t understand anything I was saying any more than I understood her as she told me her reason for being sad. I came close to breaking down in tears as a rubbed her back and prayed for her during nap time. Her sobs really broke my heart.  I hope her tomorrow is better.

Random funny thing from my day- I decided it would be more economical to make my own abaya (the gown thing I have to wear everyday) and because I get slobbery and snotty every day from my little guys, I thought it would be a good call to make one for tomorrow. I even found out how much material I would need to make it just right. After a short chat with the very kind worker at the fabric store, I realized that in order for me to make a janky abaya, it would cost about $20-30 MORE than if I had just bought one off line and had it sent to me from where ever they are made. (India, maybe?) That’s silly. I will definitely not be getting crafty with my clothes for work!

I guess I’m ready for tomorrow… if it keeps getting better I think I might be able to get through this!

My first day… August 24, 2009

Today was my first day as a preschool teacher in a 3-year-old classroom. Today was my first day as a Christian teacher in a Muslim environment.

Yes, I do have to wear the head scarf and the long gown… I’m still learning the names of things, but I believe the head scarf is called a hijab and the gown is called an abaya. I love the abaya- it’s really comfortable and I can wear whatever I want underneath! I like wearing workout pants and my Casas por Cristo (houses for Christ) t-shirt! I like to think of it as my way of bringing Christ into my day. Well, that and prayer! I know I will get used to the idea of a hijab (that’s my head scarf!), but right now, they are hot and sometimes constricting! Today the one I wore must have been a children’s size because it was strangling me ALL DAY. Seriously, I will never wear that one again! I think I’ll go more towards the scarves I already have- they may be harder to keep on but they are WAY more comfortable!

My little 3-year-olds are super cute… honestly some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. Those poor kiddos… some cried all day long. They’re just not used to the idea of school and mom being away. It will get better. It has to get better, or I’m gonna go CRAZY! (P.S. You won’t know the names of my kids from my blog… I want to respect their privacy!)

I know some of you are wondering how I ended up in this very unique position… so here’s that story….

I worked at a school last year as a classroom assistant in a third grade classroom (one of my specialties, by the way) and had planned on going back to that school this year because I hadn’t gotten any calls to be a regular classroom teacher. About a week before school started, I found out that my position was no longer available and  started looking for another job. My friend, seeing my facebook status something to the effect of “I hate the education job market” asked if I had a job, and when hearing no, got me an interview as a teacher assistant at the school she was working in- an Islamic day school. I interviewed and was hired on the spot as a preschool teacher! I still don’t know how exactly that happened- I guess the principal liked me and that was the open position!

A note on my co-workers: These people (mostly women) have been the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. Though my situation is challenging and unique, I have been blessed with wonderful people to work with. Who else would give you the beautiful and possibly expensive clothing from their closet to make sure you had something to wear? Seriously, they are great. I am blessed. I only wish Christians behaved more like my experience with these Muslims (I know MANY exceptions, but we don’t have such a fantastic reputation as a whole)… What a ministry we would have!!!

So overall, my day was rough. Did I mention most of my kids don’t know English yet? It’s a difficult job, but I know God is with me…. If he wasn’t there is NO way I could survive!

Gosh I’m tired…