Rania's First Grade Class Project

On Friday, April 5th, Rania's 1st grade class had a 9:00 a.m. "Presentation" on a project each of the 17 kids had been working on for several months. Rania's project was on Orcas, and had a nice formal "table of contents" on the first printed page, followed by the sheet that's pictured ("Diet").

In the picture at the top of this blog, all the kids were in a group singing enthusiastically a song that proclaimed that "Everyday is Earth Day Around Here."

The picture below was taken by the father of Daniel, a student in Rania's class who came from Russia three years ago. - rw

Easter Dinner in KL

As custom dictated, Nancy created another one of her "Easter bunny cakes" for dessert after our Easter Sunday dinner. Needless to say, it was enjoyed by all. And, the ham dinner itself included hash brown potato casserole, green peas, relishes, fresh fruit salad and rolls. -rw

Spring Break 2013 at Port Dickson

On the Monday of Easter Week Tracy drove us all (except for Doug who was at a tech-conference in Bali) down to a nice beach resort-hotel in Port Dickson, where we stayed for three nights. The hotel had a huge swimming pool -- with very warm water -- and several nice restaurants to choose from in regard to evening meals. (Nancy had bought all kinds of "lunch stuff" at the grocery store prior to the trip down.) Reeve and I played ping-pong, pool and foosball -- with Reeve consistently besting-me in the latter two games. - rw

Nancy in Manila

Due to a unique selection process Doug and I both ended up serving on the same accreditation team for Brent International School in Manila. Doug served for The Council of International Schools (CIS)and I served for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). We spent a week in Manila, Philippines but only saw the school and our hotel. It was a privilege to serve with a panel of outstanding educators from international schools from around the world. - Nancy

March 1st at Melawati - Rania's program

At 8:30 a.m. on the first of March, all of Rania's first-graders (pictured) presented "Habitat Habitat" -- a series of well-rehearsed songs + some equally impressive descriptions by the kids about what they were learning in Science. (Rania is the one in the back row, just to the right of the director!)The kids presented four diverse habitats on the planet -- the "peace garden" at ISKL, the African deserts, the Arctic environment, and the tropical rain forest. In the picture just above, Rania was one of three students who made a portion of their presentation. It was fun being there, and I was definitely impressed by the quality of the program! - rw

A Postscript on Toledo, Spain ...

While staying at the Hotel Cicneros we were told by the owner that a "private" (available only to hotel customers) museum was downstairs in a basement-like area that had been excavated over a 10-year period in order to reveal the masonry of an 11th century dwelling. Not only was I encouraged to be photographed "in costume," but we were able to see all kinds of memorabilia from times past, including many ancient swords. The picture below displays the "signature" of the mason who built the 11th-century wall, now exposed in the museum. (By the way, Nancy is barely visible on the 3rd floor balcony [far left] in the picture at the top.) -rw

Our Last Morning in Spain (Toledo)

On our last morning in Spain we had an 8:30 a.m. breakfast provided by the hotel and then were ready to tour the cathedral when it opened at 10. The cathedral was built in stages -- originally on the site of a Muslim mosque. It was spectacular, to say the least. Actually, one of the most impressive things about our tour was visiting a side chapel that would rival an art gallery anywhere. It had El Greco's originals of the 12 apostles (St. Paul pictured).

(It was really amazing to be able to walk around this room and marvel at the paintings displayed.) Another room contained "The Bible of St. Louis," dating from about 1230 A.D. It was presented to the Cathedral in Toledo and was intricate in detail and color.

We had obtained audio guides for the tour and thus were able to move from "number-to-number," listening to the descriptions provided. Cardinal Cisneros presided over something of a "remodel" of the Cathedral and was responsible for some of the most expensive and elaborate decor. Below are photos taken of the ceiling detail and the altar area.

All in all, we really appreciated the chance to tour one more European cathedral! As with many of the other cathedrals we visited, the rose window was worth more than a cursory gaze. -rw