A beautiful, brief thunderstorm just rolled through downtown Baltimore. The leaves now stand in bright green showing off their rain-dappled splendor, the streets are washed clean of trash and debris, and cool air has replaced the oppressive heat and humidity of the afternoon.
I think I'll miss these summer thunderstorms living in the desert. I will NOT miss the humidity that precedes them. :)
All photographs were taken by, and are copyright of, the blogger.
27 June 2008
23 June 2008
Crazy Week
What an amazing week! School let out for teachers only 9 days ago and so much has happened!
First, I am getting ready to sell my house, which has been a great deal of hard work!
Second, I picked out an apartment in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. I am very excited about the apartment, because it has absolutely insane furniture that reminds me of the amazing 1946 French film La Belle et La Bete.
I also got my assignment today for next year's classes. While I am not teaching drama as I had hoped, I will still surely be involved in performance arts in the extra curricular vein. I am teaching 8th, 9th and 10th grade English and Speech and Debate. While I have no Debate experience, I have a lot of experience giving and attending workshops on public speaking (not to mention dozens of public speaking events) from my days working in medical communications.
My days have been completely absorbed by spackle and paint - and researching things to do in Maadi and maps of Cairo. I have also had a few opportunities to email and IM with some of the other new staff members at my school, which has been very exciting!
I leave 2 months from yesterday!!!!
First, I am getting ready to sell my house, which has been a great deal of hard work!
Second, I picked out an apartment in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. I am very excited about the apartment, because it has absolutely insane furniture that reminds me of the amazing 1946 French film La Belle et La Bete.
I also got my assignment today for next year's classes. While I am not teaching drama as I had hoped, I will still surely be involved in performance arts in the extra curricular vein. I am teaching 8th, 9th and 10th grade English and Speech and Debate. While I have no Debate experience, I have a lot of experience giving and attending workshops on public speaking (not to mention dozens of public speaking events) from my days working in medical communications.
My days have been completely absorbed by spackle and paint - and researching things to do in Maadi and maps of Cairo. I have also had a few opportunities to email and IM with some of the other new staff members at my school, which has been very exciting!
I leave 2 months from yesterday!!!!
A Little Background
Oh goodness, where to begin? I have been teaching in Baltimore City for the last two years at a really fantastic school called Doris M. Johnson High School at Lake Clifton. I followed my students from 9th to 10th grade there and, while I love them all very much, found that it was time to leave them.
Baltimore was beginning to feel very small. Between my teaching duties, my involvement over the last 8 years with fluid movement, and my part-time job as an event manager at the Creative Alliance I have met many wonderful people from the Baltimore community: teachers, writers, performers, artists, shop keepers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, food critics; and made many wonderful friends - but I have spent all but 6 years of my life here in "smalltimore" and there is so much more world to see!
I applied in November to teach internationally. I didn't even have a specific place in mind (though South America and Italy were particularly high on my list in the beginning), I just knew that it was so important to get out and experience the greater world. Before applying I had visited 12% of the world (according to my "World Traveler" map on facebook); Italy, Britain, Ireland and Canada being among my favorite spots. As the interview dates approached I began to get interview requests from places I had not even thought of: Thailand, China, and Egypt included, and I realized that the world was an ever bigger and more exciting place than I had ever dreamed.
In February I trekked up to New York City for a week of interviews. By the end of the first day (and 12 interviews) I would have 2 concrete job offers: one in Mexico and one in Egypt. I also had potential job opportunities in Ecuador and Singapore. In the end, the decision was nerve wracking and quick. I had been to Mexico and was not ready to live a 24 hour plane flight away. I have always wanted to see the pyramids and was obsessed with Egyptian history, art, and mythology as a child - even working it in to some of my English classes when I could. The school representatives were exceptionally kind and had a table of gummy worms, peanuts, and other snacks sitting on a reception table in the hallway for potential employees waiting their turn, which was like a sign from Isis that this was the job for me! (I am a complete sucker for gummy worms!)
After accepting the job offer early on the second day of interviews and signing a mountain of paperwork, I took a cab from 42nd Street to Union Square and walked right into the Barnes and Nobel travel section - which had only one book on Cairo: "The Practical Guide to Cairo", which has become my bible and is already highlighted to the hilt. I also treated myself to a very special dinner that night at Perilla in the East Village, which was opened by Harold Dieterle, the winner of the first season of Top Chef (I am a HUGE top chef fan, I also treated myself to lunch that day at Craftwich, Tom Colliccio's sandwich shop). My dinner was perfect - possibly sweetened by my success!
And so here I am 4 months later getting very excited for the adventure of a lifetime! While my departure is not for another 9 weeks, my journey has already very much begun!
Baltimore was beginning to feel very small. Between my teaching duties, my involvement over the last 8 years with fluid movement, and my part-time job as an event manager at the Creative Alliance I have met many wonderful people from the Baltimore community: teachers, writers, performers, artists, shop keepers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, food critics; and made many wonderful friends - but I have spent all but 6 years of my life here in "smalltimore" and there is so much more world to see!
I applied in November to teach internationally. I didn't even have a specific place in mind (though South America and Italy were particularly high on my list in the beginning), I just knew that it was so important to get out and experience the greater world. Before applying I had visited 12% of the world (according to my "World Traveler" map on facebook); Italy, Britain, Ireland and Canada being among my favorite spots. As the interview dates approached I began to get interview requests from places I had not even thought of: Thailand, China, and Egypt included, and I realized that the world was an ever bigger and more exciting place than I had ever dreamed.
In February I trekked up to New York City for a week of interviews. By the end of the first day (and 12 interviews) I would have 2 concrete job offers: one in Mexico and one in Egypt. I also had potential job opportunities in Ecuador and Singapore. In the end, the decision was nerve wracking and quick. I had been to Mexico and was not ready to live a 24 hour plane flight away. I have always wanted to see the pyramids and was obsessed with Egyptian history, art, and mythology as a child - even working it in to some of my English classes when I could. The school representatives were exceptionally kind and had a table of gummy worms, peanuts, and other snacks sitting on a reception table in the hallway for potential employees waiting their turn, which was like a sign from Isis that this was the job for me! (I am a complete sucker for gummy worms!)
After accepting the job offer early on the second day of interviews and signing a mountain of paperwork, I took a cab from 42nd Street to Union Square and walked right into the Barnes and Nobel travel section - which had only one book on Cairo: "The Practical Guide to Cairo", which has become my bible and is already highlighted to the hilt. I also treated myself to a very special dinner that night at Perilla in the East Village, which was opened by Harold Dieterle, the winner of the first season of Top Chef (I am a HUGE top chef fan, I also treated myself to lunch that day at Craftwich, Tom Colliccio's sandwich shop). My dinner was perfect - possibly sweetened by my success!
And so here I am 4 months later getting very excited for the adventure of a lifetime! While my departure is not for another 9 weeks, my journey has already very much begun!
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