Seattle

In July, I spent a week in Seattle attending a conference as part of my training to become a certified Literacy Coach. It was a wonderful week; I am part of such a wonderful group of teachers and every time we meet together I feel like I learn so much from them! We were also privileged to meet several authors in the field of literacy and literacy coaching and to talk to them and question them about their literacy areas/ literacy practices. I learned so much that week and each conference leaves me feeling re-energized and raring to go!

While I was in Seattle, I managed to meet up with a couple of dragon boat teams and practice with them so that I wouldn't be too out of shape when I returned to Dubai to train with my dragon boat team. It was so cool to paddle on Lake Washington with Mount Rainier looming overhead. I felt so at peace there with the mountains, the greenery, the water all surrounding me. One thing the teams did is that they would stop half way through and let team members jump in the water for a quick swim to cool down; I couldn't even imagine doing that-- the water was freezing and was the overall temperature out on the lake! The guys would get back in the boat and I swear I could hear their teeth chattering the whole way back, but I guess it was something they enjoyed doing.