Preparing for class

Yesterday I went to work to talk to my boss. Finally I got the books we'll use in my next class. Oh boy, am I nervous or what? This will be the first time I teach Spanish to a whole class. So far I've only done private classes or small groups and without following a special book or predetermined plan. This time everything will be different.

My boss thinks I will have about 8 or 9 students in my class and they will probably know a little Spanish, enough to make simple phrases but that's it. So I just can't base my classes on conversation, I need to work on all the language skills. Besides, each lesson will be 2 hours long and 5 days a week, so it's going to be HARD work to plan my classes! But such a great experience for me. If I do good at this one, I know I'm a great teacher and then going back to school will be worthwhile. But if I fail - is there any use going back to university for 5 years, spending thousands of euros and not having any free time for myself? Well, I guess there is, because I really do want to become a teacher and every step on the way will be a useful experience, one way or another.

I will read through the books tonight, to get an idea of what I'm supposed to teach my students. And then I'll have to begin to plan the classes for the first week and look for more exercises and stuff.

I'm so terribly nervous and at the same time I'm thrilled! It feels like a new beginning.

BTW, I might not update my blog as much as I usually do next week, I guess I'll be pretty busy with my classes and going to the beach with my boys. I just hope I can throw in some yoga time for myself because I really, really do need my yoga now. I'm so glad I found yoga and made it part of my life.

Wordless Wednesday - Zarqa

I took this photo in February when I visited Zarqa, a tiny village in the mountains very close to where I live.

Eat right and lose weight

I just came across a great website, My Fitness Pal, which is a free on line calorie counter and fitness site. The timing could not have been better, after my post about losing weight after giving birth which I wrote this morning. Losing weight after having a baby can be a problem for many new moms, because the whole life has just been turned upside down and the baby takes almost every minute of the day. There just isn't any "mom time" to exercise or energy to start a diet. But My Fitness Pal takes care of that, because it’s a free calorie counter and it works with every diet you can imagine.

After I had my second son I lost my pregnancy weight in a few months and went back to my before-pregnancy weight. But since I have always been a bit big I decided I wanted to lose a few extra pounds (well, I wanted to get rid of 30 pounds to be exact). And I did, thanks to a program very similar to My Fitness Pal which took care of the calorie counting so I didn’t have to worry about that part. And the best part - the program teaches you the nutritional contents of what you are eating, and consequently, how you can make better food choices. I just can't get any better than that, can it? And yes, it's F R E E E....

Arabic Music - Cheb Mami

I know that Arabic artists aren't all that famous outside the Arab speaking world and that really is a pity, because there are many, many great Arabic artists who really deserve to get more fame. And since I'm a music freak and I LOVE Arabic music I just have to share some of my favorite songs with you.

Today I want to introduce you to CHEB MAMI (real name Ahmed Khelifati Mohamed), an Algerian raï singer born in 1966. Raï is a very popular music style in North Africa and France today and the songs are sung in a mix of Arabic, French and Berber. Visit Mami's official website.

First of all, this is a great song by Cheb Mamy. The song is called "Douhi Aliya" and was released as part of the soundtrack for the French/Arabic film "100% Arabic". A great movie!!!! It also featured Cheb Khaled, my all time favorit Arabic artist.



Sting is an artist who knows how to appreciate good music, no matter the origin. Here's Sting singing a duet with Cheb Mami.



Samira Said is a Moroccan singer who is very famos in the Arabic world. Here's one of my favourite songs, a duet with Cheb Mami.



Cheb Mami also sang a duet with Italian singer Zucchero (Remember him???) and here's the result:

Mommy Talk 3

July 2: How hard was it for you to lose your pregnancy weight and keep it off?

I got really HUGE during my pregnancies. When I was pregnant with B I gained over 35 kgs (about 70 pounds I think, please correct me if I'm wrong) and since he was so sick I could not go to the gym or anything. His defenses were so low so for many, many months I could only meet my friends outdoors so we used to talk long walks while we were talking. That way I lost my pregnancy weight in about a year and I stayed atthe same weight as before getting pregnant.

When I was pregnant with G I "only" gained 27 kgs (about 50 pounds) and I lost that weight in less than 10 months and I kept on losing weight, due to the special diet I had to be on because of G:s food allergies. I breastfed him until he was about 2½ years old and during that time I didn't have any milk products, soy or candy. Wohoo, that is really a great diet if you want to lose weight! *lol*