Cast Away

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!

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.

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 :)

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring...

Oh hello, this song is constantly playing in my head because it rains quite often here. More correctly, it pours quite often here. But I love it because it brings the blazing temperature down a notch and for a moment I feel somewhat cool.

Today is Sunday here. A day for organizing, planning, and high hopes for a new week. Last week was rough. If you could take a peek in Ms. Williams classroom you might see the boys constantly at their friends desks, you might see the students mimicking every word I say, you might see hands lifted high with students shouting out, “teacher, teacher, I need help” (I’ve tried to tell them that the purpose of hands raised is so that they will be quiet). You might see me standing with my face to the chalkboard trying to cool down. Yes, classroom 16, you might make me a little crazy.

Thoughts have been flying around in my head like, “Am I really the best person to be teaching you?” “How will I ever teach you how to read if you won’t listen?” “Am I an awful person because my students can make me so angry?” I know, I know. These are little 7 and 8 year olds with cute little faces and innocent actions. That’s what I thought too but apparently they have the ability to make you feel angry, frustrated, and totally worn out.

They also have the ability to make you feel a deep love in your heart for them, deeper than I have ever known. This love comes from your troublesome child giving you a hug as they leave the classroom to go home, this love comes from the little girls drawing me pictures to hang on my wall, this love comes from them shouting out praise songs to Jesus. This loves comes from the God who placed me here with the purpose to love them. And in between loving them He also wants me to teach them.

The other student missionaries here have really helped me stay positive. We have grading parties with each other and that has become a time to swap stories of how we survive in our classrooms. I find myself cracking up at everybody’s stories because they are so similar to mine. Example: “ Sometimes I just go sit at my desk and make the students come up to me but then there are like 16 students surrounding my desk and I realize that was a bad idea…but I get to sit so whatever.” Oh my, how I laugh. I love these fellow workers with me. They are goofy and so encouraging.

When I am not teaching here, the group likes to have food parties. We have had pancake parties, frappacino parties, and fish parties. They are so much fun and the food is delicious. Seriously, we have some good food. There are quite a few of us SM’s all cramped into the boys little surf shack apartment but its great times.

I will forever say I am blessed to be here and have this experience. I find myself appreciating the beauty of this Island a lot. It really is gorgeous with the tall greener than green mountains and the rain clouds hovering them and with the splashes of red, pink, and orange flowers that cover these jungle trees. I wish you all could be here.

Thank you for reading and for your prayers. I love you all!

Happily ever after 10 months...or maybe just day.

Hi Y'all! How is everyone doing? I hope everything is well back in the States. I must admit I feel very out of the loop on what is happening in the world. But, I do have lots to tell about my first days of teaching. So let's get to it!

Monday was my last day to get ready for school. My last day to decorate and my last day to lesson plan. As the day faded away my nerves set in. I spent the day in my classroom and at 9p.m some of us walked down the street to get ice cream (which has become a routine that I love). All of us kept mentioning how nervous and unprepared we were. What better way to calm down than eating an ice cream cone?

When we got back on campus a truck was leaving to go to the hospital. The niece of our principal had lost a lot of blood and needed some desperately. They asked those of us who didn't know our blood type to hop in and go get it tested. So even though I still had MUCH to prepare for the next day I felt the urge to go help. 

The truck was speeding down the pot-holed filled roads and at first all I could think about was how if we crashed my life would be over. Then I thought about the urgency the driver felt to get there quickly and I realized that this little girl needed us to fill her up with more life and soon. I prayed the whole rest of the way that one of us would have this girl's blood type. It turned out that three of the guy's did and they were able to give blood. 

That night I learned two things. I learned that I have O positive blood(do I trust the results of this hospital though? questionable) and I learned I am in Pohnpei for a bigger purpose than teaching. I am here to love and care for all the people here. I was so nervous for my first day of teaching, but my God is the same God that chose Moses, a nervous speaker, to lead the Israelites home. Going to the hospital the night before school turned out to be exactly what I needed. By the way, my friends Lindsey, Cierra, and I stayed in our classrooms until 2a.m preparing for school. Woohoo thank you to my adrenaline rush.  

So that brings us to the first day of school! Oh boy, I was more nervous than I anticipated. I saw my students and parents lined up at my door and stood from a distance just watching and breathing. Right when I got to my classroom teacher Ms. Williams kicked in and the nerves flew out the door. I had so much fun meeting the students and singing with them! I was laughing in the middle of the songs from excitement. About 30 minutes later though I ran out of things to do! I quickly realized that I had a lot to teach. These second graders are probably more on a kindergarten/ 1st grade level. I made it through the day by improvising(yay heads-up seven-up). I was really pumped to get back in there the next day and review our procedures, rules, and teach happily ever after for 10 months. 

This is the part in my story where happily ever after turned into lets just make it through the day and I'll be happy. The next two days were rough. I have 15 students and the boys outnumber the girls. I have a few mischievous boys, one in particular, that keeps me on my feet all day. It goes like this, "boys, get in your seat. Go to your seat...go change your card and SIT DOWN." Yes, sometimes I don't like the teacher Ms. Williams. I just want to hang out with cute kids but that just can't happen on the teacher side. 

So yeah, it was a lot of repeating myself, getting discouraged after assessing them in different subjects, and and getting my serious face perfected. But, then there was the playing freeze tag with them at recess, and singing at the top of our lungs in class so that the whole school could hear, and pictures of me drawn, and laughter filling the classroom. I love each one of my kids, even the troublemakers. I love this opportunity. I love the friends I have made here. I love sitting in everyones apartment grading papers. I love riding in the back of trucks looking up at the stars. I love rope swinging into the ocean. I love that I have accepted that my classroom is being shared with a frog family. I love feeling God's presence when we sing to Him. 

Woo this got long! If you finished reading this I thank you. I still have so many other stories but I have to save some for when I get back too. Your support and prayers mean the world to me. I love you all and comment if you wish. It makes me really happy. 

Much love. 

When I grow up I want to be...

Kaselehlie or hello my blog family! I hope you are all doing wonderfully. This week has been full of lesson planning and cleaning out my classroom for me. I just wanted to share some thoughts that have been on my mind.

When I was little I had two dream jobs when I grew up. I wanted to be a cashier and I wanted to be a teacher. I took these goals seriously. Every time we brought groceries home I would take them out of the bag, scan them on my fake cash register, and bag them again. (Thanks for letting me do this mom!)

 I recently realized that I got both of my wishes and God used them together. Last summer I got a job at a clothing store. This was my first "real" job and I absolutely loved it. I saved up my money and left it sitting in my bank account for the school year. I then got the call to be a student missionary and that led me to teaching. How do these two things go together you might wonder? That money that I had made from my previous summer helped me buy school supplies for my future students that I had no idea about at the time. I love God's bigger picture.

I really haven't done too much other than prepare for the school year this week. I did make some delicious banana bread with some friends. Found my first cockroach in the bathroom(I knew that day would come), went running on the banged up track, and caught a frog.

Thank you for reading! I'll be sure to put up some more pictures and stories soon.

Love you all!

Alas we meet!

Hello family and friends and anyone else that might be reading this little blog of mine. I hope all is well in the States! I made it to Pohnpei so lets get this blog going!

Yesterday I left Hawaii at 6:30a.m and we stopped on two islands before landing on Pohnpei. Let me tell you Pohnpei is HUGE compared to Majuro and Kwajalein. Flying into to Pohnpei was the prettiest sight I have seen. We landed and were greeted with pretty head lei's made by the local ladies from our school.

When we arrived on campus we chose our apartments. I walked around the campus a bit and saw my second grade classroom. oh boy I am excited to get in there and teach! Everything is greener than you can imagine and wetter than you probably want to imagine. The humidity just does a whole body slam with you.

View from my apartment

The school provided us with a delicious dinner of fish, rice, curries, and all the fruit you can think of. YUM. After that we quickly loaded up the two school trucks to go jump in a river and cool off. Let me pause here and talk about these trucks. They are so much fun! They have long tailgates so pretty much everyone sits in the back. Imagine the breeze blowing through your hair, you are bouncing around from the rough roads, and the green trees with vibrant colors of flowers are being passed by. I wish you all could experience this! (one of them is also a yellow stick shift so I won't miss my truck back home too terribly).

I love this baby!

The river had a gorgeous, powerful waterfall. You know the infomercials with that small pool that sends out water and keeps you swimming in place? well thats what this reminded me of. The waterfall was so strong that you really had to swim hard to get up under it. But I did and it was kinda awesome.

I so wish you all could see Pohnpei in person! It is just a beautiful island with beautiful people living on it. I cannot believe this is where I will be living for the next 10 months! God has blessed me in so many ways already. I am anxious to start teaching and meet all of the kids. Thank you for your prayers and stop in to say hello if you wish :)


Much love.