I've had an enforced vacation, of sorts, as the woman I commute to work with has been out of town for the last week, but tomorrow it's back to work as usual, inshaAllah.
I've enjoyed being at home. I've done an awful lot of work here, mind you. Really, all I've done is Academy, Academy, Academy work - but this sort of slogging away at details is necessary to build a top rate school inshaAllah.
And, I need this school personally. I need the job! My kids need this school. They have to learn the Arabic! (Among other things....) And honestly, Algeria needs this school. Algerians need actual, real, fine quality education!
I'm sure good education does exist in Algeria, but not in many places. We need something - and now.
My problem is there aren't other possibilities. I can't afford private school - not for four children - and how can I possibly discriminate and send one child to a great school and the others to a radically inferior one? I can't. Further, the public schools here are even scarier.
The private schools are nightmares. Granted, the student:teacher ratio is better, but one school I know doesn't allow children recess because it "disturbs" the neighbors. So, the children are forced to sit at their desks, even eating in the same place day after day after day. All this for 100 Euros per month. What a deal!
At this same expensive school a student was dosed with adult strength medicine for arthritis when he complained of a headache - after his mother had expressly asked that she be contacted before giving him any medication. This kind of treatment would result in massive firings in the US. Here - malish! (It's okay!)
The public schools are scarier yet. I know of many cases where children are abused and punished until they actually bleed. The classes are beyond overcrowded, the materials are inferior and the teachers usually are untrained and uninterested.
No wonder Algeria is having problems.
On another note I took a dumb Facebook quiz the other day at iPersonic. According to this website I am a Good Natured Realist. And, you know? It was right on the money. SubhannaAllah.
According to iPersonic I am: introverted, practical, emotional, planning, tradition-conscious, good-natured, self-sacrificing, caring, devoted, friendly, loyal, considerate, reliable, conscientious, loving, quiet, reserved, modest, helpful, objective, hard-working, warm-hearted, communicative, painstaking, altruistic.
Gee, I sound like man's best friend - a mutt - or a plow horse.
Maybe that's why I don't mind going back to work tomorrow!