الربيع

Yes it's officially Spring and strawberries are all over the markets...going going going gone at 120 Algerian Dinars a kilo. That's more or less $1/lb. :) I'm also noticing more wildflower patches here and there in the green spots sprinkled all over the urban landscape. I'll bet it's blissful in the country and thus, I am planning to foray into the Kabylie area soon.
The change of season has brought more sunshine, yet the temperatures can still be a bit cool. I'm still wearing my jacket. There's also a new batch of migratory birds that can be seen and heard at all hours day and night. Swallows from what I can tell, but then I again, I aint no ornithologist, so dont quote me on that.

I spent Spring Break in Spain, which was simply maravilloso. I wont go into details since Spain gets alot of airplay already and there's a wealth of info/pics/movies etc. available. Heck, you probably know some Spaniards.
The last two weeks have been nice here and I've started to make some informal polls while doing the attendance sheets. Normally, I pass the sign-in sheet around and students write their name and there's a space for them to acknowledge their productivity (homework). I decided to change it up some, when a while back one student wrote in that homework spot: "I stayed home and watched the Africa Cup."
Azzouni (left) teaches Spanish at the University of Algiers and in his spare time supports a local cycling team.

Inspired to do something different, yet still in English, I tried out changing the question from being about homework to "What did you eat for lunch?" The Earl of Sandwich was on to something, because that garnered the larger percentage of responses. Pizza wasn't far behind and then came a smorgasbord of Algerian items like...bouzalouf (the bbq'd or stewed head of cow/lamb), dawara (tripe stew), couscous, garantita (a baguette sandwich of oven-warmed hummous), and loubia (beans).

Bouzalouf!!!

Then on another day I tried out "Favorite TV show". Again a variety of responses: Dr. Phil, Oprah, Al-Jazeera Sport +1, MBC 2, Real Madrid TV, Manchester TV, Supernanny, Pimp My Ride, Prison Break (very popular here and alot of girls like some guy on there....dont ask me, I've never seen that show), Grey's Anatomy, Friends, Charmed, documentary shows, the Tyra Show, On A Pas Tout Dit, 24, Tom and Jerry (!!!!lol), Melody (Arabic MTV), Emirates News, Hope and Faith, Syria, Abu Dhabi, Lost.

Today's topic "Favorite Song in English": The Real Love (?), Blowing in the Wind (yeah!), Going to Dubai (???), "You Dont Care About Us" (Michael Jackson), "My dream is to become a teacher in English" (sic) lol, "Listen to Your Heart", "Love Comes Again", "So, Sorry", "I'm Sorry", "Nevermind" (Kurt Cobain lives!), "Everything I do, I do it for you" (Bryan Adams), "Listen to Your Heart" (DHT ???).

Yesterday, Fulbrighter Dr. Elizabeth Bishop and I were invited by Coach Mokrane of the Chebab Riyada Hussein Dey Young Women's basketball team to attend their game against Staoueli. Hussein Dey is a district of the capitol and Staoueli is a town just outside of Algiers. It was a pretty cool to see some athletic competition and the ladies really gave it their all.

That's about it from here, Peace Out!