Sri Lankan Guest of Honor

I recently had the privilege of being invited to attend a debate competition held at the Sri Lankan International School here in Riyadh and act as an official judge. I went with the activities director from my school. We left our campus first thing in the morning and arrived at the Sri Lankan school about 30 minutes later. The school has about 700 students ranging from grades K-12 and is segregated into a boys section and a girls section. As our driver pulled up to the front of the boys school, we noticed a stream of female students and teachers walking over from the girls school. This debate, it turns out, was to be the main event in a multi-act annual literary festival and was to be attended by all students from Grade 3 and up.

My colleague and I were greeted at the door by the school’s superintendent and brought directly to his office where we chatted about his school and their recent athletic and academic awards. Competition, ceremony and recognition, he explained to us, are extremely important to their school community. The event was also to be attended by the Sri Lankan ambassador, the guest of honor. When the ambassador arrived, he was greeted to warm applause and presented with a flower necklace. Having received no information prior to the event and not having a ton of experience with official debate rules, I was a little nervous to see what a big deal this event was to be.

The acts began at about 9:30 in the morning and did not conclude until after 1:00. Students performed cultural dances and musical numbers, comedy acts and sketches, all with a focus on showcasing their understanding of and the nuances of the English language as well as their own native tongues. It seemed that each grade level had some sort of performance so that in effect, the entire school was represented in the fair.

The venue was what had once been the paved plot between two of the school buildings that had been covered with a corrugated metal roof and made into a gymnasium. An elevated wooden stage was constructed in the front and rows of chairs with an aisle dividing the boys section from the girls section filled two thirds of the floor. I got to sit in the front row of the girls section with the other female teachers and occasionally looked back to smile at the tiny little 3rd grade girls whispering and giggling in the row behind mine - all of them wearing in cultural dress and adorned with flowers and even lipstick on a few.

When it was time for the main event, my colleague and I were each handed a manila folder with an official scoring sheet and the lead English teacher explained to us the format. Each team was made up of four students - mixed grades - one girl on each team. There was a team captain whose job it was to go first, then a rebuttal given by the opposing captain, then the first team’s second member, followed by the opposing team’s second member, and so on and so forth until a final closing argument at the end. There was strict 4 minute speaking time for each member. The students had only been assigned the topic the week before and had just a few days to research, prepare their arguments and collect supporting evidence. The topic was “Global Warming is Not a Crisis.” Points were to be awarded for criteria such as as argument, presentation, clarity, delivery, rebuttal, and spontaneity (being able to think on the spot).

The debate began and my partner and rapidly scribbled notes into our folders. Every single student spoke with a passion and fervor that I have not seen in some time. Their command of English vocabulary, clarity of argument and confidence, eye contact and body language was exceptional - all of this, mind you, performed in their second or third language! The performance was beyond impressive and my partner and I could barely keep up with scoring, so enthralled were we in the debate.

When the debate had concluded, the student audience cheered and chanted their favored house name (this school runs on the house system, so imagine Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff). Students held homemade signs and banners touting the colors of the two house names. As my partner and I were going over our notes, I heard my name called over the speaker - I was being asked to say a few words about the performance without revealing the winner. Cue internal screaming! I was NOT prepared for this in the least and was already sweating trying to figure out the complex scoring rubric. Mercifully, the high school principal noticed my discomfort and bought me a few more minutes while I hastily scratched some speaking points onto the pack of my scoring folder. Then, with what I hope was not a noticeably shaky voice, I congratulated both teams on the amount of preparation and commitment they showed today, the confidence and passion with which they spoke and the generosity of the school for entrusting me with the honor of judging such a high profile event. The audience clapped and I happily sat back down.

Rejoining my colleague, we realized we had quite the task ahead of us. Without a true grading scale we just had to decide on a number for each student on each criteria (1-5, 1-7, 1-10) etc. Though we were in agreement that there was a clear winner. We finished up our scoring and with much pomp and ceremony, our folders were collected by the principal and handed to the two-person accounting department seated on the sidelines whose job it was to tally and verify our scores. The anticipation in the gym was palpable. The high school principal fed off of this excitement and really drew out the announcing of the winners. We were not prepared for what happened next. Screams. Literal screams of joy, surprise, outrage and various other emotions filled the gym. Out of nowhere a giant flag of the winning house produced itself from the crowd and was being waved up and down the aisles. High-fives, embraces, claps on the back were awarded to the winning team while the losing team crumbled into a heap of tears and sobbing as they attempted to comfort one another.

The winning team, we had judged, was the team who argued that global warming was in fact, NOT a crisis. And while I personally disagree with that statement, I could not deny that their team had collected more evidence, better evidence, and had presented their claims in a more effective way.
As the celebration continued, the principal and superintendent escorted my colleague and I back to the administration offices where we enjoyed a little banquet together consisting of salads and fried spring rolls and a delicious fluffy vanilla cake with pink icing. And as if this wasn’t enough, we were then presented with award plaques commemorating the date of the event and our participation as judges. The treatment we received was just over the top and incredibly kind and generous and I was so impressed with the prestige and formality with which this event was held, as well as the incredible school spirit around the entire competition.

I look forward to our continuing partnership with this school, especially when we will welcome them to our campus in February for a community-building day.

Winter Break: Turkey and Greece

After a long first semester this year full of ups and downs and stresses, triumphs, and milestones, this past few weeks finally yielded a long Winter Break. We had two weeks off for the winter holiday this year and we really wanted to try to get to see some family for Christmas. The trip to the US is too expensive and too prohibitive for us traveling with a one year old, so Shannon’s family graciously agreed to meet us somewhere in Europe for the holiday. After some discussion, we ended up settling on meeting up in Greece. It was supposed to be one of the warmer options in Europe during winter, and cheaper options, and it afforded everyone in the family with a reasonably priced plane ticket and direct flights.

While booking, Shannon and I discovered that we would have to make a layover somewhere so we decided to make that layover Istanbul. Instead of a few hours we opted for about four or five days in Turkey. What a good decision that was. We left a few days after our break started and got a direct flight to Istanbul. When we arrived, it was immediately clear that the city was one of the most unique and beautiful we had been to. It is such a blend of Asian, European, Christian, Greek, Muslim, Ottoman, and many other cultural influences. Mosques next to churches next to restaurants next to shops and such a unique blend of eclectic influences made Istanbul, in my estimation, a true melting pot. In my perspective, Istanbul was able to take all of the culture that encompassed it and blend it together to create something wholly unique and special.

The food was amazing. We live in the Middle East so we are quite familiar with some of the flavors
of the region including grape leaves, kebab, zataar, various teas and coffees and such, but each of these had its own variation that made it uniquely Turkish. I think we ate some variation of kebab for nearly every meal we had. We also made sure to load up on Turkish delight, baklava, and various other sweets along the way.

We stayed in an apartment in the Sisli area, which was close to a lot of cool restaurants and walking areas, but far enough away from the old town district that we didn’t have to contend much with traffic or loud noises. The apartment we stayed in was perfect for the baby as the owner lives in the US and has children of her own. So everything was soft surfaced, carpeted, minimal corner exposure, and all of the other things important to people in our walk of life. It even came with a crib, high chair, and a toy chest that H really loved. His newly developed walking skills were put to the test as he ran up and down the hallways throughout the week. Nights were filled with the quiet comforts of an early bedtime for the baby and some Netflix on the couch for us.

On our first full day in Istanbul, we arranged for a private walking tour of some of the main sights.
We saw the Hippodrome, various Greek spoils of war, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, and the Hagia Sophia. Each place had a huge line, which we were able to conveniently jump in front of due to the baby being with us, and some light, cold rain. Harris especially loved the Blue Mosque where he walked around on the carpet and wandered from person to person admiring the architecture. After seeing those sights, we stopped for a Turkish coffee and then went to the Grand Bazaar, which was utterly overwhelming. We didn’t even see a fraction of the entirety of the place but the various colors, smells, sounds, and shimmering lights of lamps and goods was incredible. We made sure to buy way too much Turkish delight, some pomegranate tea, and went back to the apartment for some afternoon naps.

The next day was Christmas morning, so we took it slow to start. Shannon had arranged for a fancy Christmas lunch at the Four Seasons but we ended up scrapping that plan to go and do our own city exploring. We ended up going to a few restaurants and walking around the city for a few hours. Harris made a few friends along the way. It’s amazing how friendly and kind everyone was. The younger adult Turkish men were especially friendly with Harris, which was somewhat unexpected. He managed to bring out the cooing playful side in various bartenders, waiters, and passers by.

Our last full day was occupied by some more city wandering. We tried to visit the old town area again and continue our exploring put we were put off by some rain and cold and ended up mostly staying inside that day. All in all, we had very high expectations for Turkey and they were all exceeded. The people were friendly. The food was amazing. Travel was easy and affordable. But most importantly the culture was something to truly behold.


After we were done with our trip to Turkey, we made our way to Athens. When we got there, we took a taxi to our apartment. We had booked a giant penthouse suite in Athens that was big enough to accommodate us, Shannon’s parents, her sisters, and her sister’s boyfriend. So 7 adults and one baby total. The place was pretty big and had huge windows providing a fantastic panorama of the city. There was ample space for everyone and it was close to a variety of amenities we needed. The only problem is that everything was sharp rocks, slate, glass, and cold. So the place would have been ideal for an aesthetically minded traveler, but traveling with a baby, and having just recently left the most perfectly baby friendly place possible left Shannon and I, a little disappointed with the apartment. We settled in and did a little exploring the first day, including a nice trip to a restaurant that we had a nice lunch at.

The next day, the rest of the squad arrived. It was fantastic to have Harris be able to see and play with some of his family members, and obviously it was great for us to spend time with them as well. He was showered with love, and Christmas gifts and toys (thank goodness) and we spent the rest of the day in the apartment.

The next morning, we went out to a tour that we arranged to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. The weather was a little chilly and wet but we went out resolute to take on the day in our winter gear. We started at the museum and got the intro from our guide. Then Harris decided it was going to soon be time for his nap so we pivoted to the Acropolis visit hoping to see it before I had to leave early. Alas reader, we did not. We got about halfway up the hill when he decided he was done for the day and I went back to the apartment to get him settled. The rest of the family was able to venture up to the top and take some great photos though and explored the museum as well. There were nothing but rave reviews about our tour guide, and I resolved to check it out on my own in due time. That evening, we went out to a fantastic restaurant with a view of the Acropolis and took in some more Greek culture. My in-laws were kind enough to stay home with the baby while we ate.

That night and the next day were a little tough as Harris decided that these were the three to four days
that he wanted to pop out 4 new teeth. So there’s that. There was some crying, poor sleeping, and some general moody baby behavior. On one hand I feel a little bad that his carrying on kind of threw a wrench in the relaxed mood of the family hang-out. On the other hand, we would have gone out of our minds without the family support we got, so I guess these are just the things you deal with when you go on vacation with a baby.

The following day, the in-laws ventured out to the town of Nafplion for a tour of the port city, the streets, restaurants and sights. We decided to stay back because of the unpredictable nature of Harris’ mood at the time. However, we were able to make it up to the Acropolis on our own since he was feeling much better that day. We heard the tour guide for that day, and Nafplion as a whole were fantastic.

That night was New Year’s Eve and Shannon’s parents were gracious in staying home with the baby while we went out to eat with the sisters and Mike. We enjoyed another nice night out but due to our previous nights’ poor sleep we came back early and rang in the New Year with aforementioned teething, sleep deprived baby.

The rest of our trip was filled with some lazy days around the apartment, playing with Harris, family time, some more fantastic meals, and exploring the city of Athens. Our winter break was cold, wet, and full of trials, but was adventurous and we had a fantastic time. I am grateful for the opportunity to have had some time off of work, some time with family, and to have explored the great cities of Istanbul and Athens.