It is strange to think that everyone at home is having their Thanksgiving dinner right about....now. And it is weird to think that I would be in Georgia celebrating and feasting on deliciousness with my family! But although I miss the great food, I have so much to be thankful for here!
Wednesday night we had our own Thanksgiving dinner (since the power was out on Thursday). It was so delicious. We pushed all the tables together in the library and my housemate Alise made a lot of the food. UHHHH it was soo good!!
Yesterday we had our "fun day" or picnic with the kids. 4th-8th grades went to the beach by the airport. I had so much fun playing in the water with all the kids. It's nice to interact with them and NOT be in the classroom. I got burnt on my face but that's ok.
Today we're packing up to go camping on an outer island. Hopefully it doesn't rain! It's going to be nice to get away from campus for awhile. Speaking of which the second group of us is about to leave soon. More about this weekend later! :)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Invisible Battle
I forgot to mention in my last blog that I went muu muu shopping! Last Friday me and Alise went to New Hope where they sell muu muus for $6.50. We both got 2 for ourselves. I never thought I'd be so excited about a muu muu! They are actually quite comfortable and very practical for the hot weather here. I'm going to upload pictures soon so I'll try to include some of us rockin the muu muu.
Last Saturday night Dennis (who runs the wellness center) invited us over for a free dinner. It was sooo good! There were different soups and homemade bread and of course the amazing chocolate frozen bananas. He was gonna let us watch a movie but it took awhile to download and get setup so we ended up playing a bunch of goofy games. AND we weighed ourselves....this is the most I've ever weighed in my entire life! Hopefully the most I ever will too....man I'm glad it's volleyball season.
Speaking of which we had our first "practice." But grades 5-12 all met so it was a bit crowded. We just wanted to see who would show up and practice a few drills. I'm pretty excited about my girls. They're pretty good so I don't have to worry about teaching basic skills. I feel a little bit of pressure though because they've won the last 3 or 4 years or something crazy! I'm coaching with Ben though so it's gonna be fun for sure.
This past Tuesday was Presidents' Day here which means NO SCHOOL! Oh it was amazing. We woke up early for breakfast then came back and went to bed. I leisurely finished all my school stuff, and then it was pouring in the afternoon and we went and played in the rain. Too bad we can't have every Tuesday off. They are seriously the hardest day of the week for me...I don't know what it is.
The craziness started on Thursday. Our power went out which meant no electricity for the fan I finally got in my classroom (oh yeah!), or for cooking on the stove at lunch. There was also no water which meant no showers and no flushing the toilet. YIKES! (haha I'm not sure which was worse for us.) Anyway it kind of sucked at first, but then the guys couldn't get on their computers or play video games, so they hung out with us all night! We made a fire and people made food over it. We decided to do pancakes lol. All we had to put on them was jelly though.
After I had gotten into bed I heard people talking excitedly outside. Of course I had to know what was going on. Apparently there was a prison break on the island (there's a prison here?) and 12 guys got out. By this time all but 3 were rounded up. I wasn't too scared because I feel safe here on campus, but HAHAHA Zac was definitely scared. He is so funny. Him and Rob "patrolled" with a baseball bat and fishing spear. Much of it was for our entertainment, but they claimed the next morning that they actually got up every 30 minutes to check. LOL
The next morning we headed to the wellness center for breakfast. That's when we heard the tragic news. Dennis had gotten word that a girl from Southern---Kirsten Wolcott---had been killed on the island of Yap. I honestly am not exactly sure where that is in relation to here, but it hit home because that's still in Micronesia, and she was one of our own. I was completely in shock. I still don't think I've wrapped my mind around it. It's so surreal. I've heard that she was raped and stabbed to death. Why? We can never know. But I just trust that God sees the big picture when we cannot. He would never want something like this to happen. But we live in a sinful world, and the devil is out to get us in any way he can. And he knows all our weaknesses. This is why it is so SO important that we continually strengthen our connection with God through prayer. The invisible battle---the Great Controversy---is as real as ever, and it is so dangerous when we forget about it. We live thinking this world is our home and shove the knowledge of Jesus' soon return in the back of our minds. I know I've been guilty of that. This is why we MUST continue to pray. Pray for ourselves and for each other. And live every day as if Jesus was coming back. Because He is!!
Last Saturday night Dennis (who runs the wellness center) invited us over for a free dinner. It was sooo good! There were different soups and homemade bread and of course the amazing chocolate frozen bananas. He was gonna let us watch a movie but it took awhile to download and get setup so we ended up playing a bunch of goofy games. AND we weighed ourselves....this is the most I've ever weighed in my entire life! Hopefully the most I ever will too....man I'm glad it's volleyball season.
Speaking of which we had our first "practice." But grades 5-12 all met so it was a bit crowded. We just wanted to see who would show up and practice a few drills. I'm pretty excited about my girls. They're pretty good so I don't have to worry about teaching basic skills. I feel a little bit of pressure though because they've won the last 3 or 4 years or something crazy! I'm coaching with Ben though so it's gonna be fun for sure.
This past Tuesday was Presidents' Day here which means NO SCHOOL! Oh it was amazing. We woke up early for breakfast then came back and went to bed. I leisurely finished all my school stuff, and then it was pouring in the afternoon and we went and played in the rain. Too bad we can't have every Tuesday off. They are seriously the hardest day of the week for me...I don't know what it is.
The craziness started on Thursday. Our power went out which meant no electricity for the fan I finally got in my classroom (oh yeah!), or for cooking on the stove at lunch. There was also no water which meant no showers and no flushing the toilet. YIKES! (haha I'm not sure which was worse for us.) Anyway it kind of sucked at first, but then the guys couldn't get on their computers or play video games, so they hung out with us all night! We made a fire and people made food over it. We decided to do pancakes lol. All we had to put on them was jelly though.
After I had gotten into bed I heard people talking excitedly outside. Of course I had to know what was going on. Apparently there was a prison break on the island (there's a prison here?) and 12 guys got out. By this time all but 3 were rounded up. I wasn't too scared because I feel safe here on campus, but HAHAHA Zac was definitely scared. He is so funny. Him and Rob "patrolled" with a baseball bat and fishing spear. Much of it was for our entertainment, but they claimed the next morning that they actually got up every 30 minutes to check. LOL
The next morning we headed to the wellness center for breakfast. That's when we heard the tragic news. Dennis had gotten word that a girl from Southern---Kirsten Wolcott---had been killed on the island of Yap. I honestly am not exactly sure where that is in relation to here, but it hit home because that's still in Micronesia, and she was one of our own. I was completely in shock. I still don't think I've wrapped my mind around it. It's so surreal. I've heard that she was raped and stabbed to death. Why? We can never know. But I just trust that God sees the big picture when we cannot. He would never want something like this to happen. But we live in a sinful world, and the devil is out to get us in any way he can. And he knows all our weaknesses. This is why it is so SO important that we continually strengthen our connection with God through prayer. The invisible battle---the Great Controversy---is as real as ever, and it is so dangerous when we forget about it. We live thinking this world is our home and shove the knowledge of Jesus' soon return in the back of our minds. I know I've been guilty of that. This is why we MUST continue to pray. Pray for ourselves and for each other. And live every day as if Jesus was coming back. Because He is!!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
late night swim
Every Wednesday night a group of us drive to Rita which is about 10 minutes away. We go to Angie's house (a lady who goes to our church) which has AC and is always so nice and clean. Kids come and we sing songs with them and then we always act out a story for them. Me and Rob have become the weekly story tellers. Sometimes I think it's more entertaining for us than the kids! Last week we did Esther, and this week we did Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Of course we put our own little touch on the stories...like Esther won a baking contest to become queen. :)
Last Friday night was pretty exciting. There are some crazy guys here and after vespers we were all out looking at the moon over the water. A couple of them came out in their boxers. We had a good laugh. Then 3 of them climbed down the rocks and went swimming...leaving their underwear on the rocks. HA! A bunch of us went and grabbed them and ran away. HAHAHAHAHAHA Stupid boys....luckily this is a trashy island. They grabbed random bowls, plastic, rocks, etc. to cover themselves as they ran back to their apartment. Who could blame them though. The guys in that apartment had a terrible day the Wednesday before. First they had money stolen out of all of their wallets in their apartment during school. Then they went surfing and screwed up their boards because the waves were so huge...
Monday this week my computer arrived! I was so happy. It took exactly 2 weeks from the day I sent it till the day it returned. Now I'm super paranoid about it. haha This week was week of prayer. On Tuesday morning when we went to the chapel it was sunny. Then it got cloudy. Then it started raining. But my class had the closing song so I didn't want to run out. As we're singing it starts POURING! I wasn't worried about my apartment because we closed the windows. But all 4 windows in my classroom were wide open and the rain was coming down at the perfect slant. Lenney held the school in the chapel while it continued to downpour, but I knew the longer I waited the wetter my classroom was getting. I ran outside and my contacts blew back in my head from the wind. My shoes flew off but I left them behind and kept running. I was SOAKED! I stormed into my classroom and it looked like someone was spraying a hose in the window. There were puddles on the desks, benches and the floor. And the textbooks were completely drenched. Luckily the library was free so we could have class in there. I didn't even consider changing. It felt so good to not be sweaty for once.
We've started a Friday morning tradition where we walk to the wellness center before morning worship to eat breakfast. It is so good and so healthy! It's only $4 too. Mmm they have oatmeal with bananas and pancakes. I've gotten so used to eating my pancakes with honey. Then after chapel we walk there again to buy frozen bananas (covered in chocolate and peanut butter and nuts on a stick).
We played volleyball a couple more times this week. I love it! It feels so good to be playing something. I feel more confident about coaching the girls now. Me and Ben are going to start tryouts next week. It's going to be interesting.
Pray for us and our principal! He is not really a good principal lol. He is so frustrating. It's ok though I love the group of SMs that are here.
Last Friday night was pretty exciting. There are some crazy guys here and after vespers we were all out looking at the moon over the water. A couple of them came out in their boxers. We had a good laugh. Then 3 of them climbed down the rocks and went swimming...leaving their underwear on the rocks. HA! A bunch of us went and grabbed them and ran away. HAHAHAHAHAHA Stupid boys....luckily this is a trashy island. They grabbed random bowls, plastic, rocks, etc. to cover themselves as they ran back to their apartment. Who could blame them though. The guys in that apartment had a terrible day the Wednesday before. First they had money stolen out of all of their wallets in their apartment during school. Then they went surfing and screwed up their boards because the waves were so huge...
Monday this week my computer arrived! I was so happy. It took exactly 2 weeks from the day I sent it till the day it returned. Now I'm super paranoid about it. haha This week was week of prayer. On Tuesday morning when we went to the chapel it was sunny. Then it got cloudy. Then it started raining. But my class had the closing song so I didn't want to run out. As we're singing it starts POURING! I wasn't worried about my apartment because we closed the windows. But all 4 windows in my classroom were wide open and the rain was coming down at the perfect slant. Lenney held the school in the chapel while it continued to downpour, but I knew the longer I waited the wetter my classroom was getting. I ran outside and my contacts blew back in my head from the wind. My shoes flew off but I left them behind and kept running. I was SOAKED! I stormed into my classroom and it looked like someone was spraying a hose in the window. There were puddles on the desks, benches and the floor. And the textbooks were completely drenched. Luckily the library was free so we could have class in there. I didn't even consider changing. It felt so good to not be sweaty for once.
We've started a Friday morning tradition where we walk to the wellness center before morning worship to eat breakfast. It is so good and so healthy! It's only $4 too. Mmm they have oatmeal with bananas and pancakes. I've gotten so used to eating my pancakes with honey. Then after chapel we walk there again to buy frozen bananas (covered in chocolate and peanut butter and nuts on a stick).
We played volleyball a couple more times this week. I love it! It feels so good to be playing something. I feel more confident about coaching the girls now. Me and Ben are going to start tryouts next week. It's going to be interesting.
Pray for us and our principal! He is not really a good principal lol. He is so frustrating. It's ok though I love the group of SMs that are here.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Parent-Teacher Conferences....ooh boy
To my plethora of faithful readers --- my apologies for being so inconsistent with my posts! I would like to attribute the unfaithfulness of this past week to my unfortunate state of computerlessness. Yes as you know I cracked my lovely computer screen, so I mailed it home on the 25th. I found out from my mom that it is fixed and on its way back now! I can NOT wait for our reunion!
So I love fast card games, which makes me sad that I have waited over 20 years to discover Dutch Blitz! Now I want to play all the time. Lucky for me there are other people here who love it too. (Note to my family: Can you believe there's a GUY here who is really good?? hahaha) This note has nothing to do with island life really...it's just something fun I've been doing recently.
I am now certified to scuba dive! I passed the written test last week, and just yesterday me and my totally AWESOME scuba buddy, Katrina, went out on our own with Rob and Jon. It was not the best for visibility, but it was one of the funnest dives I've gone on. It was definitely scary at first being out on our own, but it was so exciting too! We went down into a ship...it was scary at first but really cool.
Wow...parent teacher conferences. A new experience for a student turned teacher without any training! Our principal said maybe only 5 or 6 parents would show. Yeah right! I went 17 for 22! At least I wasn't bored though. We had a half day so we got out at 12pm. Then we were in our classrooms from 4-7pm. I felt a little intimidated because I didn't know how the parents would react to grades (or to me). Some just wanted to pick up the report card, others had some advice on how I should teach. But overall it went well! I was excited because I felt like I would be able to understand my kids more once I met their parents. If that isn't the truth!
So...I really can't believe it's November already. It's been almost 3 months. It feels like I've been here much longer than that and known these people a lifetime. The church choir has grown in number due to increasing SM participation. (Not me of course! Come on guys...) But almost ALL the SMs are in it now. They sound much better I'll admit! lol
This last Sabbath I started reading Redeeming Love. Oh it's such a good book! I used to read all the time and this is the first book I've really read for enjoyment in years I think. I can hardly put it down. It's a novel about the story of Hosea. So incredible.
Saturday night was Halloween and also Katrina's birthday. I do have pictures but I'll have to wait till my computer comes back to post on facebook. We had a bonfire/costume party. It was pretty rad. We had a cat pinata (get it?) and ended up in a frosting fight so we all got in the water and swam some. Then we sat around outside telling scary stories, some real some not.
This week our principal has been gone to the outer islands. Party! No but seriously our morning meetings have been so much more concise and to the point. It's amazing!
I've gotten more exercise this week! I feel so inactive here. Monday it was rainy and after school we went to the bridge. We played off the pier in a whirlpool. It was crazy! Then we jumped off the bridge several times. Last night a bunch of us played volleyball! You get REALLY sweaty here...but I loved every second of it. We played like 7 games and if it had eaten supper I would have played ALL night!
Anyway things are going great! :) Thanks for all your prayers everyone.
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