Kan Zaman (better than a day at the office!)
My Sunday and Tuesday mornings are now officially dedicated to the Strawberries, Butterflies and Jolly Bees, those would be the names of the three KG2 classes at Madrasa Al Assriya, or The Modern School, and while the jury is still out on how I feel about spending time with little people (or how much it is going to help my Arabic) it is definitely a nice break from the office! Especially this week, because Tuesday we took a field trip to Kan Zaman.
Kan Zaman is a walled village not far from Amman that dates back to the turn of the century but has been "transformed" into souvenir shops of all kinds and a trendy ‘authentic old-style’ restaurant. The shops have everything from antiques and sand art to glassblowing and woodcarving, not to mention one of those staged photo sets where they dress you up in traditional Arabic garb and take your picture in a Bedouin tent (no I didn’t do it how dare you ask!).
The architecture is impressive with hand-laid stone everywhere from the streets to the walls.
The food was excellent, just snacks for the children since all the teachers are fasting, and I didn’t plan to eat but the principal specifically brought me a plate so I sat myself right down with the kids and enjoyed a wonderful selection of breads filled white cheese and zatar on the top.
I have been spending the most time with the Strawberries, there are two teachers for each class (English and Arabic) and here's a picture of them, along with some of the little Strawberries themselves.
We toured the village and took the kids on horse-drawn carriage rides, then piled back onto the school buses, which reminded me slightly of school buses in the U.S. only much smaller and the fumes are worse because everyone is still using diesel fuel.
It was nice to have a chance to spend some time with them (teachers and students both) outside the class so we could actually talk. After that it was back to the office (budget proposals, student exchange selections, and a new project I'll tell you about soon!) And there are also exciting outings in my weekend plans so stay tuned...
Kan Zaman is a walled village not far from Amman that dates back to the turn of the century but has been "transformed" into souvenir shops of all kinds and a trendy ‘authentic old-style’ restaurant. The shops have everything from antiques and sand art to glassblowing and woodcarving, not to mention one of those staged photo sets where they dress you up in traditional Arabic garb and take your picture in a Bedouin tent (no I didn’t do it how dare you ask!).
The architecture is impressive with hand-laid stone everywhere from the streets to the walls.
The food was excellent, just snacks for the children since all the teachers are fasting, and I didn’t plan to eat but the principal specifically brought me a plate so I sat myself right down with the kids and enjoyed a wonderful selection of breads filled white cheese and zatar on the top.
I have been spending the most time with the Strawberries, there are two teachers for each class (English and Arabic) and here's a picture of them, along with some of the little Strawberries themselves.
We toured the village and took the kids on horse-drawn carriage rides, then piled back onto the school buses, which reminded me slightly of school buses in the U.S. only much smaller and the fumes are worse because everyone is still using diesel fuel.
It was nice to have a chance to spend some time with them (teachers and students both) outside the class so we could actually talk. After that it was back to the office (budget proposals, student exchange selections, and a new project I'll tell you about soon!) And there are also exciting outings in my weekend plans so stay tuned...
posted by prairie at
11:40 AM
1 Comments:
Look at you! It's good to see you out with the kiddies, and you seem to fit right in. I see you are in the land of scarves; good thing we've been collecting so diligently for years. Thanks for the photos! love, mom
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Anonymous, at 5:59 PM
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