Spring Fever

The weather here has become warm - many might say, rather, that is is hot, with temperatures pushing 35 celcius in the mid-afternoon. But to me, it feels like spring. Walks along the sea-front are pleasant, as the ocean breeze moderates the day-time heat. We are trying to get out as much as possible to enjoy this brief window when it is neither too cool nor too hot to appreciate being outdoors.

Feelings of restlessness and impatience have arrived along with the change in weather. I've started the countdown - after this week, only eleven more weeks before we are out of Kuwait. There is a lot to be done before then, including having the proper paperwork for Aysha (so that she is able to leave the country). Jamie went to pick up Aysha's passport today, only to be told by the Canadian Embassy that they couldn't do it, because we still don't have the proper paperwork either from the hospital or from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each time that we think we have the problem solved, we are told that we are missing some other peice of paper, information, or signature. It has been really frustrating, and almost makes me think it would have been easier to have flown back to Canada for Aysha's birth.

Before we leave Kuwait, we also have to pack, sell our car, and sell all of our apartment furnishings. I expect that transitioning between jobs and countries will be all the more challenging this time around because we will have to do it with a baby! Nevertheless, I am excited about moving on, and especially eager for Aysha to meet family and friends back home (or more accurately, for them to meet her, as I am not sure how much she will remember of her first summer in Canada).

We are in the first day of a four day weekend. Many of our teacher friends are travelling, but Jamie and I are catching up on school work (grades are due the Wednesday after the break). I feel swamped with the number of papers and tests that need grading before the end of the quarter. Since Aysha's arrival on the scene, I almost never take school work home, so I feel as though am perpetually suffocating under a pile of assignments that I should have given back a week or two weeks before! As someone who is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to providing feedback to students though evaluation, I'm having to relax some of my previous self-imposed standards and accept that things cannot be done as I used to do them. It's still a struggle.

If we can get enough work done, Jamie and I hope to get out for a few more walks along the Gulf. Other than that, we plan to go to a friend's graduation party on Thursday night. She and her mother are friends from dance class. They are both Lebannese. One of the things I have appreciated about Salsa class is that we've gotten to know a much more diverse group of people, both in terms of culture and age. We've been invited to this party despite that we stopped going to Sasla class last Novemeber (it was getting too uncomfortable/tiring for me). We started again a few weeks ago, but the number of students in class has increased to the point that we are not enjoying it as much (too crowded, and the instruction in not as individualized); thus, I don't know how long we will keep it up. Going to class also means having to find a babysitter for Aysha, and we already feel that we don't see enough of her.

Well, Jamie says that I am writing a novel, and that my readers will be getting bored. He may be right. Besides, I am procrastinating. I should really be getting back to the stack of tests piled in the middle of our livingroom floor. Depressing :( .