Weekend in Italy
Two months ago, I ended up in Italy for a conference. (You know, my glamorous librarian lifestyle.) In a misguided effort to save money, I flew a discount airline to Bergamo, rather than straight to Milan where the conference was. And you know what? That ended up being one of my best travel decisions ever. The trip was off to an excellent start with the continuation of my favorite Madrid airport tradition. (Favorite tradition, not favorite airport. Madrid-Barajas is a soulless warehouse of an airport, with vast, fluorescent-lit hallways and...
read more ->Morocco, Week Eleven
Another slow week, which means a short blog post this time.1 After a long work day on Monday, I took a spontaneous trip to the school swimming pool with a couple kids in tow.2 We practiced swimming, splashed, and even had a spirited game of marco polo, then headed to Wafae’s house for soup and Moroccan pastries.3 On Tuesday evening, I accompanied a couple of friends to an informal basketball game with their buddies, where–for lack of proper footwear–I sat and snickered at their warmup hijinks. Ten minutes of utter chaos, with...
read more ->Morocco, Week Six
Week six, week six. As everyone gears up for the start of the school year, it’s become increasingly difficult to find that ideal balance between life and work. I spent long hours at school whipping the library into shape, then worked on the aforementioned secret edtech project from home most nights. This was complicated by the fact that Ramadan was followed immediately by Eid, a two-day holiday, on Wednesday and Thursday, so most of the work at school had to be put on hold until Friday. Still, I managed to get away from my books and my...
read more ->Morocco, Week Five
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here over a month already. Sometimes I feel like I just arrived, and other times I feel as if I’ve been here for years. A strange feeling, like making a new friend who becomes close so quickly that you forget there was ever a time when you didn’t know each other. Hunker down, kids, because these are my notes for this blog post. Front and back.1 My workweek was action-packed, and by “action-packed” I mean “hours in front of the computer preparing a pretty exciting edtech...
read more ->Morocco, Week Four
I received a request last week to share a little more about work, about religion, and about my sleeping habits.1 For those of you who don’t know, don’t care, or just haven’t had the time to meticulously stalk me on the internet, I’m working at the American School of Tangier as Educational Technology Specialist/Head Librarian. If you think that sounds like a lot of work, you’d be right. There are advantages and disadvantages to being in charge of a library. ADVANTAGE: I get to decide how to organize the...
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