It’s official.

If there’s one thing my school likes more than having parties, it’s giving awards. Nearly everyday someone is presented an award for something or other. The week before last, it was me!

I was the recipient of April’s Talented Teacher Award. In order to win teachers must fulfill all of their teacherly duties. Duties singled out for this award include: arriving to school on time, staying the full school day, arranging students in straight lines for morning assembly, and showing up for work every day for a full month.

I was asked to submit a photo for the hall display. Unfortunately, my awesome photo from Kids Park (a school trip!) was rejected by the administration. Instead they chose a boring one (but didn’t change the caption, ha!). What can you do?

You love the poinsettias, don’t you?

xo, jill

Oh boy.

Horrible news broke this past week. An Indian man either jumped or fell from the 147th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. He landed on a balcony of the 124th floor (which is the tourist attraction, At The Top). What exactly happened is murky.

Original news stories declared the incident a suicide. He jumped. This is the position of the Dubai police.

Later reports declared the incident an accident. He fell. This is the position of the Indian Consulate.

All of the news articles claim differing information on even the most basic facts (such as the man’s age, the floor he landed on, his occupation), but most seem to take the suicide position at this point. Apparently the man was mourning the death of his brother.

Honestly, either situation would not be surprising. The man involved was a cleaner in the building (or a construction foreman) and I would assume lived in a labor camp. It’s a very very tough existence for people in his situation. Suicide among these workers happens.

On the other hand, safety standards here are not always strictly followed or enforced. I’m not an expert but I’ve personally seen practices that would not pass inspection at home. An equipment malfunction or a slip in the wrong direction is always possible.

Either way, it’s extremely sad.

xo, jill

PS. To lighten things up, I’m sharing my favorite headline from this news story: Man Commits Suicide After Humping Off Burj Khalifa.

(In the mall earlier this year.)

What? You don’t recreate your country’s flag with fruit and veg?

xo, jill

Don’t feed the animals.

Last week we visited the Kids Park on a field trip. As a person who is not too fond of zoos, it was an interesting experience.

To be fair, the grounds were very clean and the staff managed our visit well (despite our showing up a day late, oops!). But… not a fan. Not recommended.

The animals are kept in extremely small enclosures and the climate may not be suitable to all of the species. I’m not an expert, but it didn’t feel right. A brief conversation with the manager confirmed my feelings. He had just imported a new species from Australia and was telling me that the “problem” was the animals like to dig. He had to put cement down in their pen to keep them from sneaking off. To me, animals engaging in their natural behavior isn’t much of a problem. It only becomes a problem when you lock them up.

It was interesting to see the wide variety of animals on display. The park has ducks, cows, goats, ibex, lions, tigers, ostriches, monkeys, zebras, peacocks, raccoons, house cats, and more. Have you ever seen a raccoon exhibit at the zoo? Or a house cat?

[Mom and those sensitive to snakes, look away now]

While the girls ate ice cream and candy (before lunch), the staff brought out a snake and a few turtles.

(Seeing the girls handle turtles while eating especially grossed me out considering turtles’ tendency to spread diseases.)

Despite all of my misgivings surrounding zoos, it was fun to see my students’ excitement. It was less fun when the girls starting buying their souvenirs…

Yep. Live fish.

I was prepared for a very interesting bus ride back. Luckily, all of the fish arrived back at school safely. It took a lot of convincing to get the girls to set their fish down on their desks and stop waving them around in the air. Poor things.

Are you curious as to what every one of my students named their new pet?

Nemo. Figures.

xo, jill

She almost fooled me.

It’s not uncommon for my students to return homework that was clearly not completed by them. Usually when I ask who wrote in perfect handwriting on their paper they will admit to receiving help from an older sibling or parent. Most often, it is the drawing portion of the assignment that has been completed by an adult. This week a student turned in a particularly amusing piece of work.

Here is the assignment completed in class by a Grade 2 student:

The possible event is sleeping. The impossible event is monsters under the bed.

Here is the exact same assignment completed as homework by the same Grade 2 student:

Ahem.

Another student finally explained to me, “girl clean up do” which translates to, “Her servant did it.” Uh-Huh! Sarah and I had a pretty good laugh over it… hope you did too!

xo, jill