Daily Life in the "Attic"

This post is for anyone interested in where I am throughout the week!

On the forth floor, what I am calling the "attic", is the ACS Upper School Library. This library is shared by the Middle School and High School and is staffed by what I think are some pretty remarkable  and caring individuals. Here is my "cubby". It sits between two of the three main sections of the library. 

Andrea's office is right across from me. She is the Head Librarian and is also the High School Librarian. She has been here for quite a few years. She is a wonderful mentor and friend to me and has been helping me adjust to my new position here.

In the cubby next door to me is Tracie. She is an incredibly articulate and kind person with a passion for her job and great sense of humor. She is new to her position this year but taught at the high school for a bit before moving up to the library. She is the High School IT Integration Specialist. She is also very savvy with Macs. Since I have the PC background I feel that we are a fit for the IT area (1/2 of my job is MS IT Integration Specialist).

Here is the Fiction side of the library. There is a conference room up here with a lot of video equipment in it. I suspect that I am going to be using this area sometime this year for student video projects.  There is a set of really comfy couches and a projector and screen. This side of the library houses the French language area and the Arabic language area as well.

One of the Circulation counters is on this side. This is also where Komal's space in the library is as well. Komal has been so welcoming and always has a smile on his face when I walk in. He is helping me with some basic Arabic. When I finish my 20 minute walk and go up the four flights of stairs in the morning he is always there to give me a "Good Morning".

The other side of the library houses our 20 computer lab with a projector and screen. This is also where the Non-Fiction and Reference section are as well. There is a set of really comfy couches over on this side of the library. I meet with my awesome advisory group (2 sixth, 2 seventh, and 2 eighth graders) for the first 5 minutes of the day here as well.

At the Circulation desk on this side you will almost always find Ghada. She is truly a  wonderful woman. She gives me a snack every once in a while and will split her arabic coffee with me if she thinks I need it. She has wonderful children that go to school here as well. She is always smiling and like Komal, she is helping me with Arabic basics as well.

Hanan is with us part of the time and the other part of the time she is at the Lower School Library. She is also very sweet. We have had a few wonderful conversations after school. She also shared with me some Sumac spice which is used frequently in Lebanese food. It came from her home in the hills outside of Beirut.

There is also this incredible view of the Meditteranean from the library at the entrance to the 3rd section of the library the TPL (Teacher's Professional Library). The TPL is downstairs and houses resources for teachers. There are also some desks, a mini kitchen and restrooms for staff. Our webmaster, Jad, also has an office in the TPL. He is very difficult to get a picture of. Jad is fun to work with as well and has a great sense of humor.

So, this is the "Attic" more formally called the Upper School Library of the American Community School of Beirut. It is my new home where I feel that I truly have been welcomed! It is such a privilege to work with such a fine group of individuals. I also feel that the middle school staff here is truly phenomenal. They are all kind, hard working and passionate about what they do. I am blessed to have the opportunity to work here with such a great community of educators!!

The Weather is here....

The school decided to plan a trip for anyone who was interested to go north of Byblos to resort called the Batroun Village Club. Since Delaney has been on the swim team Janna has been dying to swim and when we heard they had a swimming pool we signed up. What a great opportunity to just relax in the sun!

Above, is the view from the pool. Yes, it was what the Lebanese would call a cloudy day but being from where we are from, no worries! We got there around 10:30 and were hungry so we decided to have a traditional Lebanese breakfast with our friends, Dillon and Brittany.

Notice that yes, I once again found the awesome coffee!! This breakfast consisted of boiled and fried eggs, arabic flatbread, very salty goat feta cheese, a white cheese of some sorts, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives some sort of bologna type meat (some of it had green olives) and labneh (a cross between yogurt and sour cream I'd say), this bean stuff that you put on the bread with all the veggies and labneh that's really yummy, chocolate croissants, and these cookies with mashed turkish delight in between them that honestly weren't too tasty. We all ate well and were totally stuffed. Then it was off to the pool!

Yes, it was windy but it was still around 80 - 85 degrees out. We almost had the pool to ourselves! Here's Janna looking really happy to be swimming.

If you look carefully, Delaney is swimming as well.

After swimming, I found Tim just lounging by the pool. What a relaxing day!

There were also some really fast lizards running around. If you look carefully, you can see one on the step. Janna was really excited to see so many of them. (This picture is for our friends in Saudi!)

Here is a video of the area we were in. You can see Batroun below.

We had a really relaxing and great time!

Castles Part 2

The second castle was very different from the first.  It is rare to find a German style castle in the middle of Lebanon.  Yet there is an interesting story behind this castle.  First off it was not built by Germans, it was built by one man that wanted to prove people wrong.  The story goes, that the builder was in school during the 1940's and was repeatedly beat by his teacher and was scorned by his classmates.   He often times spent his days drawing pictures of the castle that he would build when he was older.  It was during one of these times that the teacher beat him with a stick, ripped up his picture and told him that he would be nothing.  To add insult to injury the girl that he was in love with told him that he would forever be poor and would never build a castle.  The very next day he left school, walked to a far away town and learned how to be a stone mason. After 15 years of study he purchased the land and began building  In 1962. It would take nearly 60 years of his life.   Mr. Moussa is 85 years old and greets people at his castle and is eager to tell his story.  All of the figures that are in the castle either represent people who helped him or those that ridiculed him.   A small part of me thinks that this is obsession gone just a little too far.  The larger part says, "Way to go Mr. Moussa in following your dream!"  Regardless, well played Mr. Moussa.  Well played indeed!!!


The front of Moussa Castle

A full size replica of the last supper

On the third floor of the castle we found this man playing traditional Arabic instruments.  He called Delaney and Janna down to help him with the music.  He also served us Arabic coffee which Midge and I both agree....we need to find more of it!!!

In the basement is one of the largest weapons collections that I have ever seen.  Here is just a few of the swords and daggers.

Some of the figures that fill the castle.

 A small portion of the firearms that fill multiple rooms.

Backside of Moussa Castle

This boy was offering pony rides for just over a dollar and it was one of those things that we could just not pass up.  This is Janna's first horseback ride... to be honest I thought she was just going to get her picture on the horse and the boy started walking her around!!

A Tale of Two Castles ...Part one

Well, yesterday was a great adventure day for us. We went out to the Chouf to see two castles called Beit el Dine and Moussa.  There was so much to see that I'm going to split this one up.  We'll start with Beit el Dine (spelled Beit-eddine as well). Here's a Wikipedia link that is pretty accurate to the history of this Palace. This is also the summer home to the president of Lebanon. Since it's no longer summer, although it sure feels like it to me, the president wasn't there. Our colleague, Nada, said that if he was there the place would have been swarming with armed military.

 This is the main entrance area. It was really hot but at least it was dry. We can handle that.

 Below, you can see where we entered.

They turned on the fountain a little later.

Here are a couple pictures of us.

When we went into the next area there was this really neat fountain.

We looked around inside and found this "sitting" room. This is where the Emir would see the people and listen to their complaints. All the walls are carved Cedar of Lebanon. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was incredible. I spent a lot of time looking up at the ceilings.

We also went into the area that the president uses for his residence. I saw a room where he meets with dignitaries from other countries. (I saw it in the paper when John Kerry came to see him this summer.)

 

This is a picture that was in the presidental area that I just really liked.

 Below is our new friend and neighbor on the 4th floor Sharon. She's the new MS drama teacher and we think she's pretty nice to have around.

There are also Turkish baths since the Ottomans used the palace as well.

The really awesome thing about this palace is that it also holds the worlds largest display of mosaics. They were everywhere from in the middle of the grass to in little corners and nooks within the palace. Here are just a few of the ones we really liked:

 Here we are in front of the above mosaic. That one was one of my favorites.

 Tim really liked the one below because it has pheasants.

There was also an ancient musical instrument museum here. It was pretty awesome and reminded me of the science project I used to do at HP because they were organized by the type of instrument. Here are a few pictures of the many instruments there:

Here is another picture of the palace that we just really liked:

The view was spectacular. So far, what we have seen of Lebanon looks a lot like this:

This was just half of the day. The next post will talk about the second half but I'm starting to think the Lebanon is the land of awesome day trips and really nice people!