:: THIRTEEN ::

Exam results are looming... it's like staring in to an abyss
I have no idea why Arabs feel the need to make school life so miserable...
Ask almost anyone living in an Arab country and I can almost guarantee they'll tell you how grim and arduous the school year is. It's a seemingly endless round of exams with not much time for studying in-between; which is why the students spend most of what should be crucial learning time, memorizing what they need in order to mentally regurgitate it back on the the page for their exams.

I tell myself, that at least they're studying in Arabic, at least they have a full hifdh programme at the masjid, and at least they're attending almost daily halaqaat...

However, as an ex-homeschooler I can see the effect that a state education has had on my sons, not my daughters...
Two of my daughters have never been to school, were home educated and passed their exams. One of them is still studying for A'levels.
The two younger girls are doing well and are ambitious about succeeding and getting good grades mashallah.
Boys it seems,find it harder to stay on the right track even when given every available means to make it easier...
Boys, the teenage ones in my life at any rate... exasperate me!

We have a two week spring break starting on Thursday... first we have to collect four sets of exam results from three different schools...

I'm planning some Tarbiyyah Islamia in my home during the holiday... it's time to pull some teens back in to line and get a bit more Islamically motivated inshallah....

Wish me well.... it could prove to be a bumpy ride!

For the past two years of my hijrah, I have ambled along. Living life, dealing with crisis, big, small and middling, got pregnant, had a baby...volunteered as a teacher...dealt with the numerous and varied curve balls the dh throws at me.. learnt new skills, made new friends,..lived in three different homes, and as each phase was dealt with and passed, somewhere deep inside there was a niggle that woudn't budge.

I've been slightly off kilter the whole while and didn't realise it till this afternoon when, after nearly  week of suffering the ill effects of a mutant virus and feeling as if I would never feel well again the realisation suddenly hit me full in the face. It's the lack of home-ed that's making everything cock-eyed and out of balance.

Reading through one of my old journals later this evening only served to confirm it... I was so much more productive when I homeschooled. Everything was centred, and we had a a lifestyle based on teaching, learning and exploring faith. And not only do I miss it, I realise now that it's made a profound difference in how I live my daily life...

Of course the children have gained alot of benefit from being at school for the past two years, but we've also sacrificed something huge. And now that I've realised what the problem is, I now need to find a way to heal the wound..which isn't quite gaping but is, none the less in need of a soothing balm insha'allah.

I need to find a way to bridge the gap that a non homeschooling life has made, two years is a long time to have wandered along an unfamiliar road without realising....

today my brother-in-law returned to me my new and improved laptop...complete with entirely new system, without the excess baggage of ALL my files AND photos, and ENTIRELY in FRENCH...but I'm assured the fan is now clean enough to ensure it will no longer overheat, and so far so good. It's just a shame my schoolgirl French is having such a hard time trying to decipher it all...but heck if it means blogging in bed and browsing in peace while the family are sleeping then I guess I can't complain.

for me internet use doesn't happen past dinner time..I have a wee fella who insists on having his mummy close by while he's sleeping....and short of dragging the desktop into bed with me there wasn't much of a soloution.

insha'allah I'll be able to share some of the creatvity going on around here at the moment... including our once weekly crafting session for some of the local girls. We're attempting a project per month..and this month it was cross stitching their initials onto Aida fabric (which they had never seen before and were instantly obsessed with). I have to say  wasn't prepared for so much difficulty in putting crosses onto fabric, but the girls are happily enthusiastic, so we persevere ....

and now I'm off to get my fix of ravelry before I finally hit the pit insha'allah...normally I'd be alseep by now (having to be awake by 5.30am sees to that normally..) but clearly the laptop has made me naughty...we'll blame the bil shall we?

Thursday, in our house is prep day for the weekend,
thinking about what we want to do over our two days of relative calm...

some things have to be worked around,
Jumuah..the busiest day of our week..
getting the men ready for Salat, boys coming and going all day between tutoring, and masjid.
Our Friday, post Jumuah craft group for some of our masjid students

and this weekend with the baraka of a borrowed sewing machine to use I will insha'allah be sewing velcro to re-usable nappies and whipping up a couple of outfits for the young ladies in my life insha'allah.Velcro

I had planned on doing more, but I have a poorly baby on my hands who needs love and cuddles, so apart from the immovable parts of my weekend... I will insha'allah be doing nothing more energetic than snuggling with my mini man and finishing off those bits of crochet that are bothering me in the basket...

I feel like I want to do some hand quilting too, but I'm fighting that one a little

So, it's a new year huh?
time to look forward and face new challenges.....

We actually passed the Islamic new year already, and in my house we celebrate neither.
But it is a chance (on both occasions) to think and reflect about how we passed the year gone and what we hope to achieve during the one facing us...

Personally, I'm suffering partial brain fog right now....
and can barely think past the next few minutes,

but things looming on the horizon this year are....
hopefully a visit from my Mum and neice and her beautiful boys insha'allah, which is something we're all looking forward to. It will be two years by then since the last time we saw them, and with our patchy communication (too expensive to phone UK, and we're not even going to discuss the internet connection!) and lack of decent postal service it's been really hard to stay in touch. We have managed, but barely..and it will be nice to have them here and show them the place we call home.

School remains our main focus of attention for the first half of the year, it's all consuming at times, and the school system makes for a really frustrating experience both for the children and the parents. Here the emphasis is on exams, exams, exams...and each term is so full of tests, mock exams and real exams that you begin to wonder where the real learning is happening.
Here in Algeria, if you don't reach the required total in your exams you get the opportunity to repeat the whole year all over again...so we will spend the next few months coaxing, cajloing and worrying our children into studying, revising and re-revising until we're all fit to burst!.

And hopefully there will be some studying for the older family members... I've only just managed to drag out my study books and dust them off, hoping to be able to pick up where I left off. Just don't tell anyone the last time I did any serious amount of studying was when I was still in the UK...

And insha'allah this year we hope to get out and about a bit more...car problems meant we were pretty housebound this summer gone,  it'll be nice to finally get to explore!

Our English lessons in the masjid look set to continue this year, and we may even introdce a craft session for the girls.

it would be good to get some of  THAT  bloomin list accomplished too.....

Really I just hope to have a year full of goodness and blessings from Allah ta'ala..in whatever shape or form they may come. And I pray that all those out there who are suffering hardships find some relief from their problems and gain a bountiful reward for their patient perseverance, ameen

all in all,

the past week and a bit has been a pretty hard slog..and I have been more than happy to see the back of it all..

There is something relentless about sickness in a large family...

it just all seems to keep going round and round and....

well, you get the idea right?

so, I have welcomed December with open arms...

eager to start a fresh month, with new possibilties and put the  nasty old puke filled one behind us...

crafting has been happening...s.l.ow.l.y

what can I say?

the urge to craft dwells within us,

the ability however to find space in the day to achieve it is something else altogether!

Our lack of routine is seriously wreaking havoc on my craft life and it isn't making for a totally happy bunny!

I seem to be in a constant state of routine change these days,

something is slightly off kilter, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find the beat of your own rhythm when everyone else's  is so bloomin loud!

I battle on regardless though, trying to find a way to carve some time for myself while tending the needs of others, and the most routine changing decision I have made this week is to give up tutoring..

a decision that has taken me weeks to make,

but one that feels right.

Living in the commmunity I tutor has not been an altogether profitable experience in many ways.

It's just been far too convenient for people to drop in unannounced and univited for impromptu advice, lessons and requests to do any number of relatives homework..

So, apart from my once a week job in the masjid AND a few tutoring favours for friends I have decided to take no more new students and to let the ones I have go...

especially after my 10.30 saturday girls decided to take their chance in coming this morning at 9.30.

Of course it's because their mothers are busy with weekend cleaning and want them out of the way..if they dont come to me they wander the streets.

And on one hand I feel bad, but on the other hand I can't allow myself to be used as a baby sittig service at the expense of my own childrens weekend...

The school routine (especially exam time) is pretty outrageous and I just feel the need to spend some quality weekend time with my own children rather than other peoples...

Which means I'm looking forward to some proper weekends with some proper downtime insha'allah...

anyway... a walk into town this afternoon means I need to get cracking and sort myself out..

we're off to buy a couple of pattern(crochet)books

and see what (Algerian quality) yarn can possibly entice us..

Sunday...

and start of a new week for us here in Algeria...

It took me a while to get used to a Friday /Saturday weekend when I first came here

but it's normal now...and we generally look forward to the couple of days off school.

Falling into a slightly different pace & routine.

It's not altogether unbusy of course...

Friday, being Jumuah is the nicest day of our week.

My boys wander off to tutors in the morning while the rest of tidy up the house a little and make ready for any of the drop in guests we normally get over the weekend.

Boys are back in time to shower and run off to meet their Abi in the masjid and then we prep lunch and settle down to a nice family meal post salat... and hopefully to an afternoon of lounging around catching up with all the things we wanted to do during the week but didn't have time for because we were too busy doing the "have to's" of life.

Although in reality our weekend quite often gets hijacked by friends and neighbours popping in for tea and a chat.

This weekend was nicer still because lunch was courtesy of an aunt in law who sent it along with my boys..and then we drifted off in the afternoon ( they live just a short walk away)to spend some time with them all and the new baby in their lives masha'allah.

Saturday is another affair altogether...back to an early start after the Friday lie

and making ready for my "Saturday Girls"

A group of 5-6 girls from my Tuesday masjid class who come for extra tutoring.

Though we've decided that Saturday should be more informal and as we're not actually covering much academic ground on a Saturday we're changing it to a crafting session insha'allah...so I hope we'll have something constructive to show for ourselves sometime soon.

My other two regular adult students weren't able to make today... so we had an easy afternoon.

Dh was out all day, so we all sat down with the knitting sticks and cast on projects to make us happy...

a rash of baby wear  is taking shape on our needles and after a few days of not being able to find a rhythm to our yarn crafts we are finally back in the groove and happily knitting away masha'allah.

Tomorrow?

Well,

it's the first day of a new week...

which, in my house means cooking & cleaning

getting rid of all my week long stash of stale bread and turning it into bread puddings

making some soup and bakeables

getting rid of weekend dust and lighting bakhoor to freshen the place up

and being ready to offer up the younger ones something warm and comforting after the long-ish walk down to the school and back...

I love the start of a new week almost as much as I look forward to the weekend...

My younger children are another matter altogether..

After years of homeschooling, Sunday morning holds less joy than it used to..and it seems more important now to make home somewhere where they can offload and relax.

I used to fight against housework and what I thought was the drudgery and monotony of everyday chores.

But I know that my job makes the other people in my life more relaxed, and makes life easier for them..after all they are the ones who are facing the real hardship of having to leave home day in day out whatever the weather....

The job I used to resent...even if ever so slightly I now (usually) tackle with relish and a new found enthusiasm.....

Well what can I say?....

It's quite clearly no easy task finding the time to come here and share with you!

Life has picked up a pace, and with first semester exams looming we are being kept busy with students coming and going, for supplementary lesson, and sometimes just for advice.

That, combined with the regular demands of family life have all conspired to keep me away.

When we came to Algeria last June, we knew that we wanted to be as involved in our local community as we possibly could, and for us the main area we've concentrated on so far has been in offering tuition (in English)at home, and our local masjid.

It's been a fruitful and rewarding project, though certainly not without it's challenges and frustrations...

and we're really now beginning to enjoy the girls we teach masha'allah.

Alot of time is spent in planning lessons and finding interesting, and enjoyable ways for the girls to become more confident in their language skills, and for the most part it seems we are winning the battle.

There is a general lack of respect between teachers and students here in Algeria, and it seems the  only teaching tool required here is the ability to bully knowledge into children...so our girls have found it a refreshing change to be so so involved with their own learning path and to be respected enough not to be slapped, smacked and verbally pelted with a barrage of abuse every time they get something wrong.

It's been such a joy to come back after a long summer break and find young girls enthusing about learning and being in a classroom on their afternoon off from school.

On the home-front... changes to our lifestyle continue to happen.... but that's a blog post waiting to happen...

Wonderful new Kabylie recipes have been learnt and I'm waiting for a spare moment and time enough to upload my photos so I can share them with you.

I'm really blessed that my kabylie neighbour is so willing to show me the ropes, and I'm learning to be yet more frugal with her wonderfully rustic and wholesome dishes masha'allah.

And now I'm off, to think about what lies ahead tomorrow...

a day at home..only one student due in the evening (for dd18)

lesson plans and study notes needing my attention

and lots of cooking that needs to be done..after a day with only variations on the theme of pasta lovingly yet unceremoniously thrown at anyone who stood still for long enough it's time to get back in the kitchen and create some homliness for those poor unfortunates traipsing about in the damp, increasingly chilly Autumn weather.