The School Fair

Well the day finally arrived! The school fair! Jenna flew out of the house at 8 in the morning to practice and get ready. We arrived at the school around 11 to see the fair.

First they had the national anthem, then a reading from the Quran. Then a boring speach from the principal. Some more singing, more singing, more singing, and more singing - all accompanied by accordians. (I didn't think they made those anymore). Then a group of dancers came out of older girls. The song they danced to was long, oh so long. And loud, oh so loud. I got some kleenex and wadded it up and stuffed it in my ears.

Finally, out came Jenna's group. The whole dance seemed to last only moments - I guess because the other group picked the longest Arabic song they could find, so it seemed like Jenna's group took lots less time. The girls all looked cute, and they were so serious about it all. Of course getting a good picture of it was difficult because all these idiotic mothers ran out with their cell phones to take pictures and blocked everyone's view. I was polite and only took pictures from my seat.

After all the singing and dancing was over, we visited the display part of the fair. They had it organized into sections - art, science, history, math, etc. Very typical, and in typical Libyan fashion it was obvious that most of the work was either done by the parents or some other adult. Actually I heard the ladies talking and saying that there are artists who will do the artwork for a fee and put the kids names on it for these fairs. The competition is so great. I looked around and only paid attention to the artwork and projects that were obviously done by the kids.

Survived it! - Another years fair is out of the way!

Jenna's big day - she has been practicing her dancing for about a month. We couldn't get her to settle down and go to sleep last night, she was soooo excited! 

This little girl was standing at the entrance to the fair where the book for signitures was - all dressed in traditional Libyan costume. She was so sweet. 

Jenna - backstage. 

It always seemd like Jenna was on the other side of the group. She's way in the back - dancing her heart out! 

All lined up!  

Jenna (top left corner) and her classmates that danced with her, and teachers.