Ramadan comes to Starbucks...and Great Gatsby

So...Ramadan has been going on for the past few weeks. This means that Muslims wake up EARLY, like at 4 a.m. to eat and drink like crazy, because they're not allowed to eat, drink, or swallow their saliva while it's light out. Which means they don't eat and drink again until 5:30 p.m. Which means some of my poor kids have chapped lips and fall asleep in class. :(
Ramadan also means that restaurants in the mall hang curtains on their windows until 5:30. This is to be respectful for the Muslims who can't eat until then, which I think is actually a considerate gesture.
I've enjoyed having almost total, complete reign of Starbucks until 5:30! Haha! It really is great because it's so quiet. After 5:30, for just this month, Starbucks will give you a drink for half price if you bring in your own mug.
Life is good!
When I was standing in line there last week, I was browsing the mugs they had for sale. I picked up one because I thought the design was cute. Then I looked at the price tag, which was NOT cute, and put the mug back.
Later, I looked at my caramel macchiato paper cup and noticed it was the same design as the mug for sale...and I noticed that it was in honor of Ramadan. Ha!

Here's the special Ramadan cup:

See the moon? The moon and three stars represent something in Islam, so that's why they're the symbols for the religion. Also, see the little mosque at the bottom of the cup? Haha!
The cup currently serves as an alternate pen holder on my desk at school.

Last Thursday night, two of the other 11th grade English teachers who teach English for the Diploma Programme held a Great Gatsby party in the gym for their students, because they're getting ready to read the book with them. (I don't teach DP English right now, but I probably will next year, so I'll probably do this next year, too.) The 11th grade students in the other classes were invited to come to the party as guests, as well as the other English teachers. :)

As an introduction to the novel, each student in the DP class was supposed to research a famous American from that time period and act as him/her for the evening. There were two sets of characters because there are two different classes studying the novel.

We had a poetry reading by Edna St. Vincent Millay; a performance by Charlie Chaplin (but my photos were blurry); mob fights between the Al Capones and their posses; feminist remarks by the Katherine Hepburns; and speeches given by the Woodrow Wilsons, including the "Fourteen Points" speech. Yes, ALLLLL 14 of the points... :-P

The students were in charge of organizing the dinner for the evening, so we had a meal catered. (American food! Yesssss! No fried rice!)

At the end of the evening, the kids learned how to dance the Charleston. They didn't do it slow enough for a certain English teacher to keep up, so a certain English teacher decided to go home and go to sleep early. :-P

Here are some photos I took that actually turned out to be decent...

Fabio watches Andre play the piano. (Andre was acting as some famous piano player, but I'd never heard the name before and consequently forgot it.)

These ladies are Ghinna and Friska (a.k.a. Edna St. Vincent Millay).

I love Ghinna's dress!

Here are Deviana, Calista (a.k.a. Katherine Hepburn), Frida (a.k.a. one of Al Capone's mob members), Abel (the other Katherine Hepburn), Rully, and Hezkiel (a.k.a. Henry Ford).

(I'm not totally sure about Abel's interpretation of Katherine Hepburn...I'm quite sure that outfit would NOT have been worn in the '20s, but oh well!)

Here are Ryan, Haidar (a.k.a. one of the two Al Capones of the evening) and Ian (who got into a fight with the other Al Capone). The mobsters did a great job as the Al Capones' bodyguards; every time an Al needed to get up and go do something, his posse of five or six mobsters in black sunglasses and suits would surround him and strut their stuff slowly around the gym. It was cute. :)

This Thursday is when we will celebrate Indonesia Day again, but in the gym and in costumes. I'll definitely take some photos.

I'm currently in the process of creating my spare bedroom into an Alia-proof art studio. It's a challenge. When I've finished, I'll post some updated photos of my house on here, because it's changed pretty drastically since a year ago.

Also, this week is a full week of school, but next week is only a half-week of school because we'll get a week-and-a-half off for Idul Fitri break (the end of Ramadan). I'm going to the beach again with most of the other expats for the first few days of break, so I'll definitely take photos of that time.