Hello all. Well its that time again where I tell you more about my stories and experiences in Pohnpei. So we better get to this.
Last weekend we went to an outter island called Black Coral. This island was just a piece of jungle land that you could walk around in probably 2 minutes and it had no electricity. As the little fishing boat with 20 people on it pulled up to the shore, the owner came out to welcome us. This man was seriously the guy from "Cast Away" long beard and all. But of course Pohnpeian. I knew we were in for the rough island experience that I had longed for and boy did I get it.
We chose our hammock location right away. I so wisely put mine over the ocean. There happened to be a tree on the island and a tree in the ocean that I could connect too. Although, it was pretty amazing swinging over the ocean when the rain came my other friends and I didn't last too long and moved into a little hut. The next day started off interesting to say the least and I am pretty sure I have experienced something that you have not(don't be jealous). so here it goes.
I was oh so innocently walking over to the ocean with my snorkeling gear when two of the other student missionary boys call me over. They tell me that whistling into a crab shell will make the crab come out a little bit. I try it and the little crab peeks out despite my poor whistling skills. The boys then tell me I should let the crab tickle my lip because it feels funny. I would like to insert here that this is when I had poor judgment and writing this makes me feel like the smartest person in the world(hmm...). Anyways, I put the crab up to my lip and let it tickle me. This is where things get a little fuzzy. I think they told me to do it again and somehow the little crab was back up to my lip and he decided to clamp on to it. It hurt and I naturally said ow. They thought I was kidding. I wished I was. So they began trying to get the little crab to release itself from my lip. This crab was determined and would not let go. Every time they went to tug it off the little guy pinched me even harder. There may have been tears rolling down my face, but I could not stop laughing. I mean come on who gets a crab stuck to their lips? Some of the staff came over to see what this commotion was about and Archie pulled out his knife and after sometime succeeded in cutting the crab legs off. The boys felt really bad about my puffy lip, but I just thought it was hilarious. I have the crab shell for keepsake.
Thats not where the story ends. This next story was a bit more scary and not so funny. After removing the crab off my lips I eventually made it to the water ready to snorkel. The reef was beautiful and had lots of fish with vibrant colors. The other student missionaries had seen sharks in this area and I was determined to find one myself. I set off snorkeling around the island with two other guys with the quest to find a shark. We made it to the other side of the island and still had seen no shark. Then another guy showed up and said he just saw a few in the direction we had come from. So we all agreed to turn back and I was exhausted anyways. The boys took off pretty fast and I had intended too but I just was so tired. I began swimming and realized that I was not going anywhere. I was right before the big waves were breaking and all the swaying started to make me sea sick. I looked to the boys and they were way ahead of me. I began to get nervous. Here I was in the ocean with big waves breaking and I had no energy to do anything about it. Now you might wonder why I didn't just ride the waves in? The island side I was on had only coral to get through the shallow waters and that stuff hurts. I tried to remain calm but the ocean is not really my comfort zone. Luckily, one of the guys noticed I was missing and came back. He tried helping me but I must say I was in a bad mood and I suddenly was determined to get on land even if I had to go through the sharp coral. I started to take the waves in and the poor guy had to follow. Oh boy, it was so scary to look behind me and see a huge wave beginning to break and look in front of me and see a huge piece of coral. The wave would push me around and I would do my best to dodge the coral. Somehow we made it in with limited cuts. Once we got on the mangrove shore I sat down for awhile because I still felt sick. I was not quite up to the adventure of finding a way to our island(we landed on a different island right across from the one we were camping on). After about 10 minutes 2 other guys showed up and the same thing happened to them. I was so happy to make the party of two a party of four and I found the drive to start making our way back. We were walking through this jungle land when we met up with a lot of other guys that were out looking for me. I guess the principal noticed that I was gone and wanted them to go find me. I was so happy to make it back to camp. I was gone for 2 hours. They told me it was a really bad rip current and then it all made since. Anywho, I didn't go back in the ocean after that.
Woo so those our my "Cast Away" stories. I'm not quite sure I would last that long on an island by myself. I'll catch you guys up on classroom stuff later because that was longer than I had anticipated. I hope you all are well and thank you so much for reading. It really does mean so much.
I am sick once again. I am not sure I slept at all last night so wish me luck in the classroom today. Poor kids. I love you all and comment if you wish!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Sticky notes and tropical settings
Hiya friends, family, and fellow blog readers. It has been a little while since I last posted so lets get to this.
The past couple days I have been sick(the little ones are always sick) and I must say Ms. Williams probably would not have received teacher of the week award(if there was such an award). There was a lot of sitting on desks, blowing into tissues, and sneezing like no other. I guess if the kiddos come to school sick and try to learn, I should try to teach my best sick. Anyways, the week is wrapping up and I am recovering from this nasty little cold of mine.
Today I had teacher/parent conferences. Honestly, I was not expecting any of the parents to come but to my surprise I had 4 out 17 parents come. Success!(This may have a hint of sarcasm) They were all parents of my A students too. I did have to tell one mom that I caught her son cheating off my teacher edition book today and made him write "I will not cheat" 50 times. That was fun. As I was sitting in my classroom talking to my students' parents I kept thinking how it is so weird to be on the teacher side of the desk. Being a teacher still hasn't fully hit me yet. I have students and they come to me expecting me to teach them and they have parents that trust me, a 20 year old, to do that too. Why would they do that?
Can I just say that I love my kids. I really do. Every morning after I get out of staff worship and walk to the office some of my students run up to me and say, "Ms. Williams" with a big smile on their face. It melts my heart. Sometimes it surprises me that they like me because I am not there friend in the classroom. Today I had like 7 of my students hiding behind the office wall getting ready to scare me. I knew they were all there though(teachers are licensed ninjas) when I walked by them they were all shouting, "busted, we got busted" and then they took off running to the classroom. They make me laugh.
Classroom 16 can get crazy sometimes and there are moments that I just sit at my desk and breathe. One stressful day I took out my sticky notes and started making a list of all the positive things going on in the classroom. Doing this really helped me focus on happy things and not let the stress make me turn into the grinch. This is what I saw. I saw Jackie Hope playing teacher at the board and giggling the cutest, darn giggle you could ever hear. This little girl has the cutest personality and cheeks that you just want to pinch all the time. I saw Ryan and Mekyva playing hangman with our spelling words. I saw Sophia fixing a fallen poster. There is something about Sophia that is so soothing to me. She always knows how to make me calm. I saw Kavika at his desk and when he realized I was watching him he gave me a mischievous smile. I wish you could meet all my students.
As for life outside of the classroom, Pohnpei just keeps getting better. Last weekend I went out to P-pass with the surfers(it is known for being one of the best surf spots in the world). I am still not sure why because the reef is literally right below the waves so if you fall you get banged up. But what do I know. The waves were depressingly small for the surfers but I had fun in my floaty just floating in the line up with them. Yeah, there were like 9 surfers and one floater. It was awesome though to be in the ocean with the sight of pure blue water and an jungle island behind you. We were out there for around 5 hours and it rained so hard at one point that the island was not visible at all.
You know how you see pretty pictures of islands and tropical settings on calenders and different places? I see those pictures sometimes here and I feel like I live in that really pretty picture. The beauty overwhelms me. I am just so blessed to live on this beautiful, slow-paced island. I want you all to experience this so badly. I want you to see, smell, and taste everything here. I hope that my writing has helped you get a little glimpse of the beauty. I have too many stories to put on here but I would love to tell you about everything someday. If you want to know anything in particular feel free to ask!
Shout out to Carmen and David from my church back home. I received two lovely packages filled up with more teaching supplies I could ever hope for. My students and myself thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Also to my wonderful parents who have sent me so many wonderful things. You guys are the best.
So this where I say goodnight for myself and good morning to you all. Thanks for reading. I miss you all and I will talk to you soon!
Much love from Pohnpei.
P.S- We are camping on an outter island this weekend. It is about to get Cast Away status over here. More to come on that later.
The past couple days I have been sick(the little ones are always sick) and I must say Ms. Williams probably would not have received teacher of the week award(if there was such an award). There was a lot of sitting on desks, blowing into tissues, and sneezing like no other. I guess if the kiddos come to school sick and try to learn, I should try to teach my best sick. Anyways, the week is wrapping up and I am recovering from this nasty little cold of mine.
Today I had teacher/parent conferences. Honestly, I was not expecting any of the parents to come but to my surprise I had 4 out 17 parents come. Success!(This may have a hint of sarcasm) They were all parents of my A students too. I did have to tell one mom that I caught her son cheating off my teacher edition book today and made him write "I will not cheat" 50 times. That was fun. As I was sitting in my classroom talking to my students' parents I kept thinking how it is so weird to be on the teacher side of the desk. Being a teacher still hasn't fully hit me yet. I have students and they come to me expecting me to teach them and they have parents that trust me, a 20 year old, to do that too. Why would they do that?
Can I just say that I love my kids. I really do. Every morning after I get out of staff worship and walk to the office some of my students run up to me and say, "Ms. Williams" with a big smile on their face. It melts my heart. Sometimes it surprises me that they like me because I am not there friend in the classroom. Today I had like 7 of my students hiding behind the office wall getting ready to scare me. I knew they were all there though(teachers are licensed ninjas) when I walked by them they were all shouting, "busted, we got busted" and then they took off running to the classroom. They make me laugh.
Classroom 16 can get crazy sometimes and there are moments that I just sit at my desk and breathe. One stressful day I took out my sticky notes and started making a list of all the positive things going on in the classroom. Doing this really helped me focus on happy things and not let the stress make me turn into the grinch. This is what I saw. I saw Jackie Hope playing teacher at the board and giggling the cutest, darn giggle you could ever hear. This little girl has the cutest personality and cheeks that you just want to pinch all the time. I saw Ryan and Mekyva playing hangman with our spelling words. I saw Sophia fixing a fallen poster. There is something about Sophia that is so soothing to me. She always knows how to make me calm. I saw Kavika at his desk and when he realized I was watching him he gave me a mischievous smile. I wish you could meet all my students.
As for life outside of the classroom, Pohnpei just keeps getting better. Last weekend I went out to P-pass with the surfers(it is known for being one of the best surf spots in the world). I am still not sure why because the reef is literally right below the waves so if you fall you get banged up. But what do I know. The waves were depressingly small for the surfers but I had fun in my floaty just floating in the line up with them. Yeah, there were like 9 surfers and one floater. It was awesome though to be in the ocean with the sight of pure blue water and an jungle island behind you. We were out there for around 5 hours and it rained so hard at one point that the island was not visible at all.
You know how you see pretty pictures of islands and tropical settings on calenders and different places? I see those pictures sometimes here and I feel like I live in that really pretty picture. The beauty overwhelms me. I am just so blessed to live on this beautiful, slow-paced island. I want you all to experience this so badly. I want you to see, smell, and taste everything here. I hope that my writing has helped you get a little glimpse of the beauty. I have too many stories to put on here but I would love to tell you about everything someday. If you want to know anything in particular feel free to ask!
Shout out to Carmen and David from my church back home. I received two lovely packages filled up with more teaching supplies I could ever hope for. My students and myself thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Also to my wonderful parents who have sent me so many wonderful things. You guys are the best.
So this where I say goodnight for myself and good morning to you all. Thanks for reading. I miss you all and I will talk to you soon!
Much love from Pohnpei.
P.S- We are camping on an outter island this weekend. It is about to get Cast Away status over here. More to come on that later.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Bundles of joy, oodles of pain.
Hi everybody! I am happy to write to you all again and I hope all is well with you.
I can proudly say that Tuesday and Thursday I had successful days in the classroom (Wednesday I might have wanted to scream into a pillow). I was able to keep my kids silent (most of the time) and I think I might have actually taught them something. Score. There may of even been a moment where I thought I could do this as a profession, it passed quickly though.
I see crazy things being a teacher in the classroom people. Crazy, mostly inappropriate things. I have students coming up to me with mouths full of rice trying to tell me why another student is misbehaving. I tell kids to go change their card for cussing if they messed up a problem. I also walked into the bathroom to find a little boys pants and underwear on the floor. I don't even want to know what that was about. And sometimes I just let stuff go and laugh because I would explode if I had to deal with every single case.
My heart just goes out to my little bundles of joy and oodles pain(lets be honest). Today, I had one of my little girls bring me flowers that she had picked from her house. I also witnessed a "cha-ching" moment for one of my little boys that struggles with math. I read with groups of four while the other students read independently. By the way, I have pretty much mastered the whole watch everyone while reading a book thing. I now know why they say moms have eyes in the back of their heads. Teachers do too.
Besides being a teacher, I am also going to be a certified scuba diver pretty soon! Oh boy am I excited. I went on my first dive last Sunday and I feel in love. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. There's just so much equipment and gadgets of sorts its intimidating. But going 70 ft under water is way too cool. The place we dived didn't really have anything to cool to see( I know, hard to believe with being on an island and everything) but it was a secluded place perfect for learning.
I am getting into my routine here. It's a good thing and a bad thing. I know what to expect but now the "honeymoon" phase is over. I love Monday and Thursday shopping days because it is a chance to get off campus and see different people. Speaking of seeing people, I think I know what it feels like to live in a small town. I am starting to recognize a lot of the people that I see at the stores here. I made friends with an older hippy fellow. Him and his wife left America on a sailboat not sure where they were headed and they ended up here. So cool. I really do enjoy the people here.
There are still so many stories to share but I am happy to share this much with you. I want to give a big shout out to my mom and the Berrios'! Thank you for your packages. I loved them. It seriously feels like Christmas when packages are delivered here and food is much appreciated. Please comment if you wish, if not, thanks for reading and I hope you are making time for adventures in America or wherever you are.
Much love from Pohnpei :)
I can proudly say that Tuesday and Thursday I had successful days in the classroom (Wednesday I might have wanted to scream into a pillow). I was able to keep my kids silent (most of the time) and I think I might have actually taught them something. Score. There may of even been a moment where I thought I could do this as a profession, it passed quickly though.
I see crazy things being a teacher in the classroom people. Crazy, mostly inappropriate things. I have students coming up to me with mouths full of rice trying to tell me why another student is misbehaving. I tell kids to go change their card for cussing if they messed up a problem. I also walked into the bathroom to find a little boys pants and underwear on the floor. I don't even want to know what that was about. And sometimes I just let stuff go and laugh because I would explode if I had to deal with every single case.
My heart just goes out to my little bundles of joy and oodles pain(lets be honest). Today, I had one of my little girls bring me flowers that she had picked from her house. I also witnessed a "cha-ching" moment for one of my little boys that struggles with math. I read with groups of four while the other students read independently. By the way, I have pretty much mastered the whole watch everyone while reading a book thing. I now know why they say moms have eyes in the back of their heads. Teachers do too.
Besides being a teacher, I am also going to be a certified scuba diver pretty soon! Oh boy am I excited. I went on my first dive last Sunday and I feel in love. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. There's just so much equipment and gadgets of sorts its intimidating. But going 70 ft under water is way too cool. The place we dived didn't really have anything to cool to see( I know, hard to believe with being on an island and everything) but it was a secluded place perfect for learning.
I am getting into my routine here. It's a good thing and a bad thing. I know what to expect but now the "honeymoon" phase is over. I love Monday and Thursday shopping days because it is a chance to get off campus and see different people. Speaking of seeing people, I think I know what it feels like to live in a small town. I am starting to recognize a lot of the people that I see at the stores here. I made friends with an older hippy fellow. Him and his wife left America on a sailboat not sure where they were headed and they ended up here. So cool. I really do enjoy the people here.
There are still so many stories to share but I am happy to share this much with you. I want to give a big shout out to my mom and the Berrios'! Thank you for your packages. I loved them. It seriously feels like Christmas when packages are delivered here and food is much appreciated. Please comment if you wish, if not, thanks for reading and I hope you are making time for adventures in America or wherever you are.
Much love from Pohnpei :)
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