Closure

	This blog was an attempt to log my experiences in Syria and Palestine both as a language learner and teacher. My apologies for the formatting fails, I was still getting to grips with the format here on blogger. This is now a 'dead' blog but feel free to search through it and read my experiences. I still get notifications of comments, so will respond in due course.

What I am doing....

So, I'm back and sat down in Hastings trying to get on with my MA dissertation.
Here's a mind map showing, approximately, where I think I am going, currently.
I am gonna write some more about being in the Arab Spring/summer/autumn/winter/spring/summer soon, was a pretty odd time.  

Storyteller@weekends

The other day i posted one of these shots on facebook. Hundreds (not literally) of people liked it. I am sure that if I had put up some pictures of the workshops i do with teachers there would have been less likes :)

There's something intrinsically wonderful about reading stories to kids in a red tent. These kids, from Ramallah schools, were really lovely, well behaved and great listeners (as you can see below). About 200 kids turned up to listen to 3 stories read by a number of tellers. The stories were told in fairly quick succession with a little pre & post story work. Then, the kids went off to do an hour's worth of activities which linked to the stories. My story 'Our House' linked to an activity where kids decorated a house.

 It was another great event (three of four for this year), I love them, and I will retain a very strong positive memory of times in my wonderful red tent!  The photos are from the first and second of six tellings I did on that day. Each time my confidence grew, and I experimented more. In the last one we all sat around the outside of the mats, together making Our House.

Holliday, A. Foster, A. Unger, J, Molinari, J. Russell, E. (2012) Inter Culturality Ideology, Critical Discourse, EAP, Prezi and a BBQ in Palestine