Adventures in Sleeplessness

So Thursday night the High School "Girls on Campus" organisation hosted a Girls-Only Lock In. I was given an invitation by some of the girls to be a chaperone - I really wasn't that excited to do it, so I sort of waited on replying to the advisor. Then she sent out an email beseeching chaperonage help and I began to think - How can I expect other teachers to support the events I put on if I don't support their efforts? So I said I would help - and that I would stay all night. Then I promptly forgot.

My friend's birthday was on Thursday, and in honor of her a group of us were going to Hard Rock Cafe - the time to meet: 8:00PM. I thought - Hmm....loud music and people smoking and imbibing alcohol; not really my scene....but it's a birthday - she only has one a year - and so I agreed to go.

Then I received a reminder email about the Lock In - Oh, No!! Two events at the same time! So I arranged to arrive at the lock in a bit late, and hoped that everyone else would be on time to the party.

They weren't. We all got lost. The Hard Rock Cafe here is easy to see, not so easy to actually get to. And, Dubai being Dubai, once you've passed it, there's no good way to turn around to go back to it. Everyone, including the birthday girl, was late. Well, I was on time, but that's beside the point. So, my birthday friend arrived at 8:30. I had to leave by 9. The wait for a table was going to be an hour. It was decided (not by me) to wait in the bar area - have a beverage and order an appetizer. Just as the appetizer came it was time for me to leave (and everyone else had not yet arrived).

So. With some qualms (of the "What have I gotten myself into?" variety) I head toward school. To my surprise, the night was actually quite a lot of fun. There was food - and by food I mean FOOD - for munching, or as the girls said "pigging out - there're no boys!". There were games and activities planned for the night - they brought in a self defense specialist to work with the girls. Now, I was thinking that this would be a speaker with practical tips - if you must walk to your car in a parking lot alone after dark, have your keys splayed through your fingers, etc - but this guy was more of a trainer. He taught the girls to jab, cross, bob, kick and sidekick. Oh, and how to punch someone when they're lying on the ground. The girls worked out for about an hour. At 11:00PM. And were still hyper after. It was a lot of fun for me and the other adults there to watch - some girls were very coordinated and others, well, weren't. After the session was over, one of the girls made the remark "I always thought we weren't supposed to kick someone when he's down!" and another girl replied "You don't. You punch him!" It was pretty funny - the girls were all very good natured about being taught how to beat someone up.

There were three activities that I really enjoyed. The first was a get to know you type thing, called "The Way the Wind Blows". It's similar to the game "Do you love your neighbor", without some of the snarky things that can go along with that. Everyone sits in a circle, with one person standing in the middle. This person says "I'm Amy, and I live in Dubai". If this applies to anyone else in the circle, they have to stand up and find a new chair. There was mass hilarity at times - people gunning for the same chair, silly comments made from the center - and general good will abounded.

The next activity that I thought was fabulous was a warm-fuzzy type thing. Since girls can often be really mean and talk about each other behind their backs, this was a Write Behind Your Back thing. Everyone received a piece of paper tied with a ribbon which hung from our necks on our backs. Then, people would stand behind each other and write a complimentary statement about that person. What resulted were somewhat convoluted trains of girls writing on each others' backs - trains that were ever evolving as one girl finished and went to write on another.

The third activity involved 5 minutes and 7 rolls of toilet paper. The girls were divided into 4 groups and given the instructions to choose one girl as the model, then construct a wedding gown for her entirely out of toilet paper. Their creations were quite ingenious, and provided much amusement to the judges who were watching.

The final event of the night was watching a movie in the auditorium - the girls spread out their pillows and blankets and hunkered down. Thankfully, most of them fell asleep during the movie, with the rest soon after it ended (this was at 4:35AM). I dozed on and off for about 2 hours, but I was really done with lying on the floor by 7. I really wished that I had brought my air mattress. The event was supposed to be finished at 9, so when no one else was up by 8, I thought it was time to initiate the wake up call. Donuts were served, and the clean up process was begun. I had to leave in order to have time to shower, get ready and read through the Sunday School lesson one more time before church.

This experience was very reminiscent of my senior year of college - working nights and functioning during the day - I am ashamed to admit it, but I was not terribly attentive during Sacrament meeting. (Okay, so I'm not always very attentive, but at least I don't normally fall asleep when someone's speaking!) Sunday School was an interesting adventure - the youth class didn't have a teacher that day, so they were invited in with us. Boy, was there a different atmosphere in the room! There are 3 boys that are samrt alecks - they seemed to feed off each other and urge each other on to more and more witty comments. Now, I was tired, and had dealt with the exact same type of children the entire week. This did not make my church going experience any happier - especially as I had to go into teacher mode and regulate their behavior. According to one of the young women in attendance, they were tame that day. Yikes! This was brought to the attention of some of the parents, who brought it to the attention of the other parents, and it was understood that there would be many talkings to given that night.

Church ended at 2:15. I had now been awake since 6:00AM the previous morning. And I was not done yet. A very kind sister had invited me over for dinner, and I was happy to go. I was working on my 32 wind or so, and felt fine. Dinner was delightful, but right about 4:30, it was time for me to leave. The drive home worried me somewhat - sleeping behind the wheel being frowned on and all. I made it home by 5. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I knew that if I went to sleep then I'd be up at 3. This did not fill me with joy, so I did everything I could to stay awake. This lasted until 6, when I gave up. I was too tired. I went to bed, full well knowing that an early rise was in store.

I slept until 8. It felt good. Really, really good! I made pancakes for breakfast (yum - pancakes!) and then had to get ready to go to rehearsal. Yes, folks, that's right. Not only did I spend Thursday night with teenagers, I taught them in Sunday school, had dinner with another, then had to attend a rehearsal populated entirely by - you guessed it! - teenagers! In a way, I felt like Miss Hannigan from "Annie" - "Teenagers, Teenagers, everywhere I look I can see them. Teenagers, teenagers, night and day I eat, sleep and breathe them". But such is the life of a teacher, right?

Rehearsal went well. (I was in charge). We got a huge number out of the way (and when I say we, I mean I). The latest development in the musical saga is the director wanting me to be backstage and sing during the show. Not going to happen. The conversation was actually pretty funny - she telling me how much they needed me to sing, how the kids couldn't do it without me, and me saying "I'm not going to be backstage". I want to watch the show. I want to see the fruits of my labors. If the kids can't do it without me, we shouldn't be doing the show. The director keeps saying she's being realistic whenever she says the kids can't do it, or they have no talent. I think she's being pessimistic, not realistic.

This is an interesting dichotomy, don't you think? I objected, and still object to doing this show, but since I have to be involved with it, by jingo it's going to be the best that it possibly can be. I taught the kids the music - the harmonies, too - and it's now up to them.

It will all be over in 25 days.

Last night, since I was delightfully refreshed (I didn't yawn once all day!) of course I couldn't go to sleep. So, as I lay in bed, I kept going over the song and choreography we'd done, making revisions. Worrying about my master's project - I have to choose a different thing, since obtaining copyright permission to adapt the book I chose will be difficult (the author died in May, and the publisher responsible for the book is out of business). So, my mind kept racing and racing and racing. I finally fell asleep some time after 1AM, and when my alarm went off this morning I really had to think about why I was getting up so early. I finally figured it out, though, and got out of bed and came to school. And here I am, typing in my blog, avoiding the grades that I need to input since the quarter ends on Thursday. Which I really should do. So I will.