Cultural Whiplash: Part IV Timing is everything

With Abu Tulip traveling I haven't had much time for posting.  Between a new boss at work, new grade levels to teach, three amazing boys at home to care for, water pumps breaking, choir rehearsals and my church responsibilities, things have been hectic.  I mentioned to a friend the other day I usually shower on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  She laughed at how scheduled my week it.  I was looking for (and found) a place to shower as we had no water at the house.  Pure survival right now.

Abu Tulip was at this conference Bethelehem a couple weeks ago and you should watch this video.   I am a Palestinian Christian.  One bit  of cultural shock for us in America was how many Americans do not know that Palestinian Christians exist, or believe they are an invented people.  Many of my closest friends are part of this amazing, resilient people group and have all my respect for finding hope in the midst of conflict.

Teddy Bear turns six today, and it was also Mother's Day this week.  I am in such awe of my three beautiful boys and how they are growing, learning, and the joy they bring to my life.

Last cultural whiplash bit was yesterday at the Mother's Day party for Linus' nursery school.  I asked when it would start, as I had just gotten to the nursery a few minutes late from the scheduled time and needed to grab Teddy bBear from his kg classroom.  "In 5 minutes" and "now" came out of the mouths of two teachers at the same time.  "now" in Arabic bascially means 5 minutes.

Gotta go because I'm supposed to be somewhere "in five minutes".   Um Tulip 

Cultural whiplash: Part III

Snow!

In Michigan, 1-2 inches of snow doesn't make headlines.  We don't even think about it.  Here?  The city shuts down as if 3 feet of the beautiful, white, fluffy stuff has graced our neighborhoods.  Abu Tulip used a squeegee to scrape slush off our porch and stairway.  The roads (narrow, steep, etc) cannot handle even a little snow so we're hanging out at the house today.  Glad to have time with my boys.  I've been crazy busy learning the curriculum and adjusting to teaching 7th and 8th graders.  Quite a change for me, but I'm glad to have a teaching assignment.  We're teaching the 8th graders the song "We didn't start the fire".  Hoping to reach the students with the song, have some discussions about the Arab spring and how we can contribute towards the peace process in the region.  Ambitious?  Yep.  Worth it?  Yep.    ~ Um Tulip