Has it really been 1 month since I have last written to you all? wow time sure does fly. I hope you all are happy and well. Lets get to this bloggin!
As of the lates, I have been feeling like I am never, ever going to get off this island. I am tired. I am an 80 year old trapped inside a 21 year old body. Dramatic much? Yeah, I guess. They work us hard over here. I had my first dream about going home last night. I even put away a few things in my suitcase. I get butterflies and spurts of excitement when I think about flying away. My naturally bubbly self has been overcome by tiredness. I am usually a positive person that focuses on pretty, happy things. Lately, it takes too much energy that I don't have to do that.
Luckily, I remember that I am tremendously blessed. I am in a beautiful place and I have made lifelong friends. I love my 17 headaches of children. I do. My friend here says I glow when I am with them. I like that because my heart glows too. So even with all the drama of administration and 20 college students that see each other every day, I live in a beautiful place with beautiful people. God has given me challenges and blessings at the same time. God gave me both.
I missed writing you guys in February. Being that Pohnpei doesn't get on the news often, I am guessing you missed hearing that we were in a drought for a week in February. Yep, the second rainiest place on earth was in a drought. Pohnpei relies heavily on the rainfall. We didn't get rain for one week which means no water pressure. No showers, no doing dishes, no flushing the toilet. I was roughin it up by taking bucket showers and letting my pile of dishes just build up. In the States, schools have snow days. In Pohnpei, schools have drought days. School on Valentines Day was cancelled due to the fact that we couldn't flush our toilets. What teacher wants to deal with kids who have to go but cannot? Not this one:)
I went camping on an outer island the other weekend. This island had nothing manmade on it. It was small, filled with palm trees and dropping coconuts. The water was crystal clear. We sang songs around the campfire and slept in the jungle. My friends and I snorkeled to a beachy island that was neighbors with our camp. I always seem to miss seeing the sharks and string rays, but other people saw them. I laid out under the sun, got burnt from the sun, and then laid under it some more. My favorite memory from this camping trip was paddle boarding. Sunday morning I woke up early to watch the sunrise while most everyone else slept in. The ocean was mysteriously calm, so my friend and I took out the boards. We paddled a ways away and laid out on the boards. The sun was still rising, the water was warm and clear, and the main island looked giant and beautiful from my board. It was one of those peaceful moments that you have with just you and the sea. Sometimes I feel far away from American life, but being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean definitely has a good life as well.
3 more months to go on this big, gorgeous island. 3 more months with the kiddos. 3 more months of endless hugs and back rubs from them. 3 more months of spontaneous moments in the classroom. 3 more months of being a teacher, mom, and friend to classroom 16. 3 more months, but a lifetime to cherish them.
Thank you for your love and prayers. It means the world.
Island love.
Hey Y'all! It's that time where I write to you again and tell you about my Pohnpei adventures. I hope all is going well for you guys wherever you may be. Please get comfy and enjoy!
January has been a great start to the year. I began teaching again, knowing that I am more than half way done. 4 more months people! This makes me think about going home and what that is going to be like. It also makes me think about leaving my kids. I feel a lot more confident this quarter in the classroom. I have my crazy, wacky, animated teaching style down. It is so much fun trying to explain what words like "compare" mean, but what is even more fun than that is hearing a child say, "oh I get it now!" The best.
This week I had a great "Jesus moment" at Bible time. I told them the parable of the lost sheep. I had them close their eyes and imagine 5 sheep, 30 sheep, 60 sheep, 100 SHEEP, and then I told them that God knows every person, loves every person. It was a special, quiet, focused moment(these moments are hard to get sometimes). Then after praying little, smiley Norman raises his hand and said, "teacher when we were praying I imagined 100 sheep." These kids are killing me with their cute faces and happy comments. I love them.
On Saturdays we will occasionally do an outreach ministry. This month we went to the hospital to sing. It is easy to sing in a big group, split up and pray, then move on and not realize that you are a blessing these people. On this particular Sabbath we were singing and a lady came up to us and put lotion on each of us. This is very meaningful in Pohnpei. It is a way of humbling themselves and saying thank you. It reminded me that God uses us even when we are unaware of it sometimes. Yesterday, we went to a village to sing and color with children. I was singing "Father Abraham" with the children and they were cracking up. Big, hardy, joyful laughter! I have sang this song countless times since being here, but yesterday I could not be more happier singing it with kids who were having so much fun.
As of the lates, I have been cooking. No, not just macaroni & cheese. Actual, healthy cooking! (See mom, I told you there was hope for me one day) My friend and I have been making scrumptious meals such as eggplant, salads, homemade bread, and stirfry. It has been so much fun to turn the music on and loose myself in cooking and the occasional smoke. One challenging thing on this island has been eating healthy. The first couple of months my diet consisted of pop-tarts, mac & cheese and pancakes. Woo. Finally, after 5 months I have learned how to eat right here. Anyways, I can probably make you something special and delicious when I get back. Just ask;)
Well folks, not too much else has been happening. I think about you all often and I am so happy to have friends and family who support me. It means the world. I love you all!
Island love.
Hey to all of you! We are now living in 2013. CRAZY.
It has been a little while since I have caught you all up on life on the island. I hope you all are comfy cozy because I have some stories to share.
Lets start off with the last week of school before Christmas break. This week was full of adrenaline and sleeping pills for me. I had so many last minute things to do for the Charlie Brown Christmas play and I was pretty stressed out. Luckily, Mrs. Airens, my teaching aid, took charge of my class so that I could run around and do all my director duties. I was in and out of my classroom, decorating the gym, rehearsing with the actors, and figuring out lights and sound. WHEW. Just thinking about it makes me wonder how I managed to stay sane. I had lifesaver friends to help me out. Play rehearsal was rough. Getting the choir off and on the stage and telling my actors when to go on stage was quite the chore. The play day came and I tried my best to remain calm. Now I know all of you are wondering how it went right?!...everything went wrong!
No, I am totally kidding. It could not have gone more perfectly and smoothly. The actors did great and had fun on stage. The different choirs transitioned on and off stage quickly and sang loudly. There was one moment where we realized our charlie brown christmas tree was missing and we had to make another one real fast. I could not believe how perfectly the program went. I wish you all could have been there. You would have seen one proud director. Thank you for all you best wishes!!
Christmas break was a nice, long, slow, relaxing, boring, fun, adventurous break. My body went into shut down mode for the first couple of days. Going from insanely busy to nothing to do at all meant it was time to sleep. So I did. The first week I explored downtown Kolonia. You can probably do it in 30 minutes but somehow we dragged it out. Our surfers went surfing a lot. Campus was extra quiet. At times it was a bit lonely and other times it was exciting. On actual Christmas day I was a bit down. I skyped my folks and may have teared up on them. Luckily, they were there to encourage me and remind me on why I am here. Christmas dinner was a different story and I don't think I have ever eaten so much in one day. We went two dinners and it is extremely disrespectful to not load up your plate. Boy was I glad to be wearing a loose skirt;)
New years eve is where it is at over here! Nothing starts happening until midnight. At 12:00 we dropped our own created ball off the balcony. It was decked out in christmas lights. Who needs New Yorks when we can make our own? Then, we jumped into our trucks; drove around town throwing water balloons at people and banging on our metal drum. Yes, this is what everyone does for 2 hours. I came back drenched.
Today was my first day back teaching. I was beyond excited to see my children again and hear about their break. Although break was much needed, I didn't feel very needed without the kiddos. I am very happy to be back with them. 5 months down, 5 more to go.
I wish you all the happiest start to 2013. Leave a comment if you wish. I love you all!!
Love from Pohnpei.
P.S. Thank you for all the packages. I received Christmas cards that are now hanging on my fridge, supplies and goodies for the kids, and yummy food. Your unceasing thoughts and support will always warm my heart.
