Plans for 2010

Some people have had the audacity to nag me about how frequently I update this blog. But please interpret my lack of updates as attributed to how diligently I'm working at TYO! :)

Now that I've essentially wrapped up 2009, I think it's time to move into the new decade and tell you all about my very exciting plans for this semester! In terms of classes, I'll have the same ones-- I'll be teaching drama to the kiddies and dance to the moms. I really felt like I had learned so much about those classes in the last semester that I would be able to put towards making them better that I opted to teach the same classes again.

This past week has been my first week of classes and they went really well. My mothers' exercise class has about doubled in size (maybe good word of mouth!) and I have lost my lovely fellow intern Nachel back to the US, so it's just me and about 30 ladies looking to get in shape! So far it's been going really well. I've recycled all of the material that I used last semester, since it took a very long time to come up with and teach. As the class progresses I will phase out the old stuff and introduce new stuff. Right now I am ending each class with a few salsa steps that I hope to incorporate later. Arab dancing uses a lot of hips just like Latin dancing so the women have a serious advantage in that respect.

My drama class also began this week, though since the first few weeks are usually pretty hectic and class attendance and enrollment will fluctuate, I've been holding off delving into the real theatrical stuff. Plus, I got the go-ahead to make a black box theater out of my classroom, but painting got held up so it's not quite ready yet. The walls are black now and it makes the room look AMAZING. I hope to put up a great curtain, some decorations, add in a costume/prop area and a corner for my revitalized puppet theater (the last one got a bit destroyed from some overenthusiastic play last semester). I really believe that the ambience of the classroom will make a huge difference and really portray to the students the idea of theater.

I am also trying to reach out to local theater companies to see if they would like to collaborate with me and TYO. I hope to bring my students on a field trip to see a professional play and even to have a troupe come to TYO to do a workshop. And there is the slightest possibility that I may even help to facilitate an international theater group in coming to Nablus to perform and/or do a workshop. More on this as it develops!

In teaching the moms dance here, I have realized how much I enjoy dancing and teaching dance and I want to try and expand that to a forum where I could essentially just do that... most of the moms are looking for a workout rather than an art form. So, I have run it by the powers that be here at TYO that I would like to offer a hip hop dance class to the young ladies of Nablus who might be interested. Given scheduling conflicts and priority classes, that has yet to be arranged, but fingers crossed than within a few weeks I will be popping and locking in Palestine! (I like that... Pop and Lock Palestine... hmmm....)

In addition to the above (woo! i am a busy girl!) I have been accepted to participate in a new grant project here at TYO called the United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations. Along with the two new interns that we will receive in a couple of weeks, I will be working with Palestinian volunteers to create a multimedia guide to life and culture in Nablus. I am extremely excited about this project and you can read more about it here.

I think that that just about wraps up my plans for this semester here in Nablus. If you stuck with me this far, thanks! You are a serious trooper. :)