Annie finished first grade or "poly yek" as they say in Kurdish on Sunday, no wait on Monday! You never really know the schedule around here. It travels by word of mouth, usually we are the last to find out and it often changes at the last minute. On Sunday morning they told us to come to school that afternoon to get her report card. we showed up and no one was there. go figure...apparently it changed to Monday. So on Monday we showed up 5 minutes early and the program was already in full swing! that too changed...who knew! But it was a great year! Annie overcame her fear in a major way. She never really LOVED going, but at the end of every day she was always saying how great it was. This is Annie with Mamousta Speida...her Kurdish teacher! Annie was one of the top 10 students in her class and was given an award...a necklace!
This is her principal...kind of a gruff dude, but sad because his family has all left him. Maybe annie will be a part of bringing hope to his heart.
Annie and her English teacher...who doesn't actually speak English but is really nice! =) and no it was not "Laura Ingalls" dress-up day!
Annie and Soma, who speaks perfect English because she lived in Holland for a few years. She helped Annie transition this year and Annie knew she could go to her if she needed help on anything! Thank you God for a sweet friend!
Annie Tim Paul's (that is her name in school, they take the father and grandfather names) report card...the grades are as follows:
Kurdi (Kurdish): basha (good)
Ingleezy (English): naiab (excellent)
Beerkary (math): zor basha (very good)
Zanist (science): basha (good)
Sirood (music): naiab (excellent)
Waina (art): naiab (excellent)
Wurzish (PE): naiab (excellent)
We are so proud of you Annie for persevering and having VICTORY and COURAGE this year! Let your Light shine before all men!
YEA Annie!! Congratulations! I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you! You are a wonderful example of what G. can do through a willing vessle!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing what is going on! I love reading about y'all's life and goings on over there.
ReplyDeleteLavine is so adorable!
Meagan Johnson
If you ever want to go on a really fun picnic, you should go with Annie's English teacher's family. Her sister Zhalla worked in the Presidency at the University. We all went over to their family's house and they taught us how to make biriyani. After we made biriyani, they took us to a village on the other side of the mountain. It was so nice, tranquil, and green! A spring runs through the village, so everything was green and there were a lot of fruit trees. I didn't realize I had forgotten what the rustling of leaves in the wind sounded like. We also got to see Annie's teacher (Alla?) and her mother run a full-on sprint out of fear of a dog. It was rather entertaining having never seen a Kurdish female run outside of playing volleyball! Her mother runs the women's center, but I have forgotten her name. Her father is/was writing his own English dictionary. I think he was up to O when we visited.
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