Yesterday felt like a million days long, which is understandable since I didn’t even leave the school until 4pm! Today was a more reasonable 2:30, so there you go. Because if 4pm became the norm during Ramadan, I have a feeling that it will only get even more ridiculous after Eid, once class itself ends two hours later and I actually have marking and planning to do!
I made dinner when I got home. And then realized that it was 3:30pm – which is normal for this culture, to eat a big meal in the afternoon, and have a smaller meal in the evening. I’m slowly turning Arab, one year at a time. It helps when you’re too busy to eat during school hours.
Today was day two of classes and again, not without it’s challenges (we lost electricity for AT LEAST 2 hours today) but the kids managed to work pretty well through most of the dark and heat. I took the 6th graders on a “field trip” down to the Kindergarten classroom to work, because they still had power there, and the KG kids don’t start until after Eid. Kindergarten is in what they call the “North Tent”, which is a large room used as a sanctuary on the weekends. We sat on the stage and they did their work. It was fantastic. Mostly because they did their work without arguing with me, and with very few questions. And without a teacher teaching them anything (I’m the facilitator, not the teacher). It’s a Northstar program and all they have is the textbook at the moment!
This morning at staff devotions, our leader asked for a Jewish song, “you know, something with that beat and those chords” (he was more specific, I’m not musically inclined) and we suggested Jehovah Jireh.
Which couldn’t be more accurate, right about now.
When I received this job, I gave God three jobs: to find me a place to live, a working residency, and a car.
He gave me a temporary residency, to facilitate the transfer process.
He gave me a home at just the right time, in the right place, with the right everything.
But those are two things that I have almost no control over. Those are (generally) easy to give up and trust Him with.
The car was another story. I’ve been looking at car websites for the past 5 months, looking at leasing and buying and generally unsure about everything. I kept getting the feeling that I should buy, but leasing seemed easier. I knew that I had given that task to God, but, I felt as though I should do what I can, and let Him fill in the details (note: God lets us try. He doesn’t like being co-pilot, but thankfully, He’s very patient. Sometimes I feel as though He’s sitting there beside me, letting me have fun in the air and taking over the controls when it comes time to land and it’s getting too scary. But usually by that time, I’m nose-diving to the ground with two stalled engines and begging Him to take over, while He’s graciously and calmly reminding me to remove my hands from the steering wheel.)
The day after I arrived in Kuwait, I went to the Toyota dealership to sign up for a lease. Last year, we signed up at a different dealership and walked away with a car that very day. I assumed it would work the same way, but it didn’t - this place requires that everything be approved. I left with a temporary rental and a promise that they would be done within the week.
That was almost 2 weeks ago. It’s a little less than 6 KD a day (about $20), and although most days I don’t go anywhere that would cost more than that in taxis, the general freedom makes it entirely worth it.
But I found an expat who is leaving the country and trying to sell is car. I thought it was a long shot, but it seemed like a decent deal (not too good to be true, not a rip-off….) so I messaged him. We were FINALLY able to meet up today – and he brought it to the church, since I had to work.
I love my new job. It’s like being part of a gigantic multicultural family. Pastor Keith, our worship leader, is a Mechanical Engineer by trade. Brother Macky, one of the accountants and my building’s superintendent, used to work for Hyundai. They were both willing to check out the car for me, seeing as I have absolutely no experience with any of that and they are actually experts. They both even took it for a test drive while I was teaching! They also both speak Arabic and understand legal issues.
Freakin’ awesome is what it is. We’re meeting again on Thursday, to get the car checked out at the dealership, and I’ll let you know from there. Anyways, if it fails and the car is actually a lemon, the Toyota lease should be coming through aaaaaany day now ;)
I’m just blown away by the amazing people who I work with. I think I should bake for them once a week, just to make their day.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
I will almost have a legal residency :) The okay went through at the ministry and we were given a whole bunch of new visas!! I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a surprise, the conversation kind of came up unexpectedly, but…I’ll act surprised when Mrs. Jacque tells us :)
Isn’t God WONDERFUL??
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