It's been a long, long time since my last update, and for that, I apologize. After I went to Lebanon (another entry coming on that trip within a few weeks), life just hasn't let up. Our assistant principal left, the government inspection team visited (which required a lot of preparation), one of my English department colleagues left, and... well, suffice to say there's been a lot of drama in the school and in the department that, without giving any details, has been particularly taxing on myself and many of my colleagues. It hasn't all been bad, though.
I got to go on two field trips within a week of each other, both to dramatic performances at the Madinat Jumeirah Theatre, a rather nice and somewhat 'Desert Elegance'-themed theatre. With my Grade 9 students, I saw The Woman in Black, a low-key psychological horror production based on the 1986 ghost novel of the same name. It was well done, but I was too busy laughing at the screams of my students to get scared myself (yes, I'm evil). The second production was The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), which I went to see the following week with my Grade 10's. I own the DVD of the original troupe performing the play at the Criterion Theatre in London (the play being the longest-running comedy in modern London history), and I watch it religiously. The production I saw (done by a different troupe) was decidedly less impressive. My primary complaints were that the original was delightfully deadpan and the actors were very endearing as characters. Not so in this version: the whole thing was very hammed up, a lot of the key lines (yes, I was quoting along in my head) were missing or changed, and the actors just didn't do it for me. Regardless, it was a fun little production (and I saw it for free!).
I also got to meet Bill Clinton. He was speaking at the American University in Dubai (the father of one of my students is the president of the university) and some of my colleagues and myself got to go see him speak. Afterwards, I joined the throng on the floor and shook his hand as he made the rounds. Kinda cool. So now I've met both Jimmy Carter (about ten years ago at his Sunday School class in Plains, Georgia) and Bill Clinton. I've just got to meet the Bushes (George Sr. & Jr.), and I'll have met all of the living former U.S. Presidents. Not a top priority, but whatever. I take life as it comes.
Some promising news on the publishing front: the two top agents I've submitted to thus far have taken an interest in my novel. They love the story and have commended me on many of the novel's aspects, but have some reservations in a few regards (the pacing at the beginning is a bit slow to take off, for one). Today begins our Eid holiday (a Muslim holiday which, this year, happens to be right before the UAE National Day holidays, so we get ten days off from work). I'm not travelling anywhere big (going to Europe over the Christmas holidays will take care of my travel bug), so I'm going to be working hard on the novel's revision, hoping to send a final version out to agents come mid-January. So stay posted on that matter. Believe me, when things really get poppin' there, I'll be quick to post about them here.
Out of time for now, but thanks for stopping by, and rest assured, info on my Lebanon trip is forthcoming. Cheers!
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