Newroz

I am realizing that keeping up with my blog is harder than I originally expected it to be.  It has been over a month since my last post.  Since my last post we had about a 3 week break from teaching because of the Kurdish New Year they call Newroz which is celebrated on March 21.  We got to experience much of the festivities including walking (and dancing) on Salim Street, which they close down to car traffic the night before Newroz, and going on the a couple of picnics in the mountains which is typical over Newroz.  Unfortunately I am still having trouble posting pictures on my blog although I do have some good ones posted on my facebook page (or have been tagged on them) which show many of our adventures.
Also over my break I walked over to a local soccer court several times and either kicked a soccer ball around with Kurdish players or played in actually games.  They have been quick to welcome me into their games.  This has been a lot of fun for me because I could both get a little exercise and I have been able to try to communicate with them with limited Kurdish.  I also had a few days trying to rest out some stomach problems which is to expected for the first few months living in a new culture.
Now it’s back to teaching.  I have been back for about a week now.  I was a bit surprised to find that part of me was looking forward to getting back into teaching.  I think it is because I know that I am here to teach.  I like having purpose for being somewhere and teaching (or building relationships with my students) gives me purpose for being here.  I even picked up a new class this week made up mostly of teachers and Deans at the school.  I taught one class with them and really enjoyed it.  They are a lot of fun to work with.  I was a bit intimidated at first since I never taught students who were older than me but they seemed to enjoy the class.   So, I guess I am now a professor to professors.
Thank you all for reading this and for being interested in what is going on in my life. I am truly blessed to have so many people supporting me and my life in Iraq.