Friday, June 17th - It's time to go!!!

One more week before we come home. We are really looking forward to it. Summer will be short and busy, but it's still going to be nice!!

As for here, it's time to go. Everything is breaking down or running out! Our personal laptop crashed about two weeks ago, but I was able to recuperate all the data and info that I needed from it. Gone are the programs that were added after we bought it (we'd have to reinstall everything) and the web addresses and passwords that were in our favorites. It partly explains why I haven't posted in a bit; couldn't access our account on Blogger (who remembers a password that you never use!).

We have an external hard drive that doesn't respond to computers as well as it should; most of the time, it's not recognized by either of both out laptops. It takes about 10 - 20 minutes (multilple tries) before it comes to life. That's the hard drive where all our TV shows from home and movies are stored, so if it doesn't work, we're pretty limited in what we watch on TV.

And then, our monthly Internet package came to an end on Thursday. We don't really want to renew it for a month knowing that we'll be here for just one week, so now we are using hotspots on our phones to access Internet.

And finally, last night, our stove/oven ran out of propane. The tank is empty! What else will come up in the next few days, ... not sure; but for now, all the signs are saying "Go home!!!", which is what we will do!

Work at school is fine, for one of us. The math department is busy whereas grade 4's, ... well, they keep busy .. ish. All our papers are in order for a return here next year; our work visas have been approved and we have our residency cards valid for the next two years. We will be back in Muscat on August 15th; like I said, summer will be short.

Sorry, no pictures on this post, You would have seen one with a "wind chill" of 47 degrees, and another one where it just felt like 52 degrees! Can't wait to come home and hear people say it's hot at 28 degrees!! What a refreshing thought!

We'll be in Canada on Friday, June 24th. Hope to see most of you during our stay. This is the last post of school year 2015-2016. Thanks for reading; I hope we can keep you informed as best as we can.
Till next time (to be continued next year)

Richard and Jacqui

Monday, June 6th - the countdown is on!!!

Not much happening on this side of the pond. Grade 4 students practically stopped coming to school last Sunday, (May 29th) and we have been in exams since May 26th. The past week has basically been spent supervising or marking exams, or trying to keep busy, depending on which one of us you think of (I must admit that Jacqui did help us mark exams, and it was very much appreciated!!!).
We have started the procedure to get our work visa renewed for next year, as we are planning on coming back for one more year in Muscat.

Ramadan is starting tomorrow. It is a holy month for Muslims, where they fast during the day, from sunrise to sunset (no food, no water, no nothing). This means that all the food courts, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.. are closed until at least 6 or 7 at night. No coffees at Tim's or Starbucks, ... everything is closed. It makes it very different when we drive around town! But at sundown, watch out; people come out in full force to fill restaurants and coffee shops. It is neat to see! Ramadan also affects our working hours. We go from 7:30 to 1 for this week and then from 8:30 to 1 for the next two weeks. And then we are done!

We will be back in Canada on June 24th, and will spend time in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area, as well as travel to Ottawa to see Julie and Dave, in their new place (they moved June 1st, on her birthday!), and then spend some time on the French River with Rich and Jackie (hopefully Nic can join us), and also go for a short stint in Saskatoon to visit Vincent, who's there for the summer, working in a lab for his Masters. We are looking forward to it! Hopefully we will have a chance to see most of you in the next few months.