He Almost Arab!

In my beginners class today, I told my 11 Saudi Arabian students (all men) about the history of Thanksgiving.  Because they're beginners, the story was drastically simplified, but it seemed that they were getting the general idea.  At the end I asked for questions.  One student asked if this holiday was celebrated in other countries.  I said that lots of countries have days to give thanks, but maybe not all with the same story as in the U.S.

He thought about that, then said that the two Muslim holidays are about being thankful to God, too.  Having taught Saudis for over a year now, I'm familiar with the holidays, so I said something about the holiday that marks the end of the Ramadan fast, Eid Al Fitr.

One of my newer students exclaimed in surprise that I knew the name (though I pronounced it poorly).  Another student, whom I've taught longer said, "Of course he know.  He almost Arab."  In the midst of the laughter, a third student corrected, "He IS Arab!"  A fourth student chimed in authoritatively, "SHE is Arab."  Satisfied now that their sentence was grammatically correct,thanks to their group effort, the class all turned to me, smiling and nodding.

I couldn't help chuckling to myself that the "Arab" part was not considered to be an error.

Oh, dear...

So it seems that I haven't posted a real post in awhile.  Now I have two Inspired By Family alerts back-to-back.  Alas.  Well, in any case, my latest article is up here http://inspiredbyfamilymag.com/2012/10/27/fear-anger-and-bitterness-keep-me-company/

And I will try to get are real post on here soon.  I just don't feel inspired, really.  But I'll try.  Feel free to attempt to inspire me in the meantime.  :)

New Post on Inspired By Family

Hey Kids!

 My latest article for InspiredByFamily online magazine has been posted.  If you're interested in checking it out, here's the link:  http://inspiredbyfamilymag.com/2012/09/30/the-busy-trap/

Gas Fireplace

Tonight I laid on the floor of my living room in front of the gas fireplace for a half an hour.  I'm really happy to have a gas fireplace.  But it's not the same.

It doesn't sound right.  It doesn't roar.  Or snap and pop.  It doesn't make that sound when the wind blows hard and sucks extra air up the chimney.  And my very favorite fire-noise:  when the flames get to a sap pocket in the log and it hisses for a few second before the super-loud CRACK!  That's my favorite.

Gas fireplace doesn't look right, either.  It doesn't shift.  The flames are always the same color.  You can't poke it.  And you can't have that little moment of secret victory when you've neglected to feed it and it's died down, so you haul in a few more logs, stack them on what looks like a dead fire, and then give it a few, long, narrow blows. And then, like magic straight out of a fantasy novel, the fire SPRINGS back to life and you smugly smile and go back to whatever you were doing.  YOU knew it wasn't dead.  YOU knew it was playing possum, and look!  Here it is again- that fire's right as rain, thanks to your expertise.

None of that with the gas fire.  But it's ok.  Gas fireplace is still a pretty awesome perk.