New bulletin board

Not the virtual kind. The actual bulletin board in my class. This is my new and improved flag of the week. I have a box full of these kick ass flags that someone left from last year, so I post a new one on the board every week and give them 5 bonus points if they can identify the country, give me 5 facts about the country, and include a map. So far it's working like a charm. Notice the sign I made. I included four flags that are important to me--the American flag, the Bahraini flag, the state of Ohio flag, and OSU's flag. :) And I know, Adam, the Ohio flag is isn't technically a flag. Fuck you.

Anyway, went to a new joint today for dinner because it was Beth's birthday. It was a nice Turkish joint, not anything terribly special but good nonetheless. What did make the night interesting was that we sat in the "family" section. In many restaurants, even some of the fast food joints, they have this section where families can sit--usually upstairs--so that the women can uncover themselves. If a women is wearing the head covering, or the ninja veil, or any combination thereof, she is only allowed to show herself to certain men. Only fathers, husbands, brothers, and kids (and obviously other women) can see her with the costume off. So, these joints delegate places where they can "disrobe" in safety. So someone in the group decided to experiment and get us seated in the family section. They put us in this booth just like any other booth in any other restaurant in the world except it had a curtain you could close so no one could see in. We closed it and the waiter would talk through the curtain. Fucking bizzare. We were told by an Indian guy who's our age but has been here for a while that was with us that people often use these for dating purposes. Because the island is so small and everyone knows everyone word gets around fast if someone sees that Ahmed went on a date with Noora. People get their asses beat for this shit here. Muslims have to have permission to date, and even then the process is complex and a pain in the ass. I confirmed his theory because when we DID have the curtain open I saw at least three different couples slip into these booths. This country is strange. I get amused everyday here.

And another teacher got fired. This time it was an Arabic 5th grade teacher. The rumor mill is that she got angry and shoved a desk into a kid. Everyone knows that shit's not kosher I mean halal. I don't care how angry you get with them, you don't do something like that.

And, I'm also starting to get hit with the realization that I'm going to spend Christmas and my birthday here and everyone is leaving so it'll probably be just me and Josh. If you want to feel homesick, that will do it to you. I really haven't had a case of the gimme homes until the last couple days, and it probably will only get worse until the holidays pass. I love it here and I love teaching, but nothing quite beats being home for the holidays.

But, I'll leave on a positive note. I was blaring Rage Against the Machine with the windows down on the way home and some older Bahrani dude pulls up next to me and begins to head bang and actually sing the words. Fucking awesome...