the "downcline"

Time is like sand in an hourglass right now. As more and more sand disappears it seems to slip away faster and faster! I'm not taking any moment for granted, with my kids, with the other SMs, or looking at the OCEAN! Since I'm leaving early I've got to get ahead of the game and get everything done before I go...and then leave my kids in the hands of someone ELSE! But it's ok. I've done the best I can teaching this year and I think that's all God asks of us. I hope that somehow amidst all the frustrating lessons, discipline, occasional yelling, sweatiness and lack of resources that my kids have learned something, but more importantly learned something about Jesus from me! Even though I'm now on the "downcline" as Jon said (haha Jon), me and the other teachers can still definitely use your prayers!

I believe this verse is just as applicable as it was 9 months ago:

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“ Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8

Rong Rong

After our last camping trip...heading out to a new, unknown island was a little scary. But we were ready to get away from Majuro for awhile and just chill. As far as we knew it wasn't going to rain, but you never know here! So we brought a tarp anyway and hoped for the best.

We left Wednesday around noon and drove the 45 minutes or so to Laura (the other end of the island) to catch our boat. It was cloudy when we loaded everything on the tiny boat, and the water was SUPER choppy as we sped across the lagoon. At first it was kind of fun! We were all sitting on the edge of the boat holding on for dear life, feeling like we were on a roller coaster surging up and down. Then the driver told us to sit down and then it just pounded our butts to bits and we couldn't even see the waves lol...

We made it to the island, but we were suddenly unhappy when we saw a school building! We thought it would be a deserted island where we could do whatever we wanted, get away from students and not have to worry about people watching us. But we ended up staying, and it was definitely for the better. There was a little inlet off the lagoon on the beach we camped on and the water was so calm, and so beautiful! I have never seen so many brilliant shades of turquoise and blue. And amazingly we didn't see hardly any people the whole time. Maybe a boat or two but that was about it.

If you can imagine an ideal camping trip with perfect weather, squishy white sand, amazing snorkelling, ocean breeze, etc, etc, this was it! 5 of us girls went so we decided to set up our own girls' camp. I had to hack down a huge branch with a machete so we could set the tarp up. Wow that was hard. After the tarp was up it was basically relaxing and hanging out for 2 days. We played in the water a lot, snorkelled some (it was amazing!), slept in without a care in the world, played silly games, and stayed up late talking and looking at the stars. I don't think I've ever seen so many stars peppering the sky. It was incredible! There was also an old rusty fishing ship that was washed up a little ways off shore on the ocean side. We hiked over there, trudged through the current and climbed a rope up over the side. It was so fun to explore! We climbed down into this lower room where the waves would burst in like a huge blowhole.

We laid out and got lots of sun. I think most of us burned a little...especially Kara! But that's normal. Of course it's always nice to come home and take a shower, but most of us really didn't want to leave! I guess it makes for a boring story, but that is by far the best camping experience I think I've ever had! :)

spring break!

I love spring break. I get to sleep in, read all I want and relax and enjoy the island. Sunday several of us went sailing! I've never been before so it was quite the adventure. Three boats were racing so we hopped aboard and learned the basics. The couple actually live on their boat...which I could NEVER do. And they have a cat which is interesting since cats don't like water. The woman was British-Australian and her husband is American. It was nice to meet some new people that aren't Marshallese. We kept the lead for most of the race but lost at the very end. It was lots of fun though! I even got to drive afterwards. I felt very pirateish. They were very generous and served us food afterward on their boat. My legs got burnt, but it was otherwise very relaxing.

Our internet has been out the last couple of days (I think because we're working on switching over to fiber optic). Anyway, even though it sucks having no internet, that's when the boys start getting creative and entertaining since they have nothing else to do without their computers. We had girls' movie night with some of the girls who live nearby, and as we walked them home we saw the boys doing something mischievous in the maintenance shed. We came back and spied on them (in true Alias fashion since we've been watching that...) and deduced they were trying to be Spartans by the assortment of brooms, ropes, makeshift capes, half-naked bodies and lots of manly grunts we saw and heard. But it gets even better. They left, so we snuck around to peek around the corner and saw them sparring with sticks, broom handles, etc. outside the av room by the library. We thought maybe they were filming a movie or choreographing so they could film it...but no they were just fighting. That's what boys do I guess. We came out to watch...and decided hey! why not! Let's be Spartan women! So we scrounged up whatever we could in the av room, most of us wrapping up in random dirty sheets we found lying around and grabbing anything that could be a weapon. Then we went out and fought and took silly pictures. What great times...

The internet has still been out so right now I'm at the resort. Don't worry I'm still alive! Tomorrow we're going on a camping trip to a new island...Rong Rong I think. Should be good times. I figure nothing can be worse than our last trip right? :)

worshiPPed

Last week was "education week" here in Majuro. We found out pretty last minute...and even now that it's over I'm still wondering what the point was. It was definitely more uneducational if anything. We were supposed to plan "educational" activities each afternoon that didn't involve going to school. So we watched a movie one day, picked up trash another and tried to have a spelling bee lol. This week's schedule has been off too with a spelling bee Wednesday,** parent-teacher conferences yesterday (my last ones EVER!) and NO SCHOOL today. It's nice not being in class but I'm really trying to teach my kids as much as possible before I leave!

I found out about the spelling bee with Assumption (Catholic school) on Monday so I practiced with my kids on Monday and Tuesday. I really wanted them to do good since they lost last time against Co-op. Katrina helped me out and we did goofy accents (trying to help them learn to decipher what the actual word is since Lenney is TERRIBLE at pronouncing them! Just think "satisfying" with a Jamaican accent...) Of course we started late and went past 3pm, but my kids won! I was so proud of them. I cracked up when Sherina spelled "worshipped" and Tim started giggling because she said "pp." Oh Tim...

Last Saturday night was Nimrod's concert to raise money for the seniors. I played "the Prayer" with Rob which went ok...but I don't think the violins were heard very well. Plus the lighting was terrible so someone was holding a flashlight to the music from behind us! Nimrod didn't give me music for my solo (with Ronnie on keyboard) until right before the concert. I tried to play through it once but the time signature and key signature were all wrong so I just tried to figure out the rhythm in my head with the notes I had. I really didn't want to do it, but I did it anyway and at one point I was just trying to make it up in my head. AHHH! But it's island style...that's how everything is. At one point the power went out so Zac and Rob randomly sang Amazing Grace in the dark haha...that was interesting. Overall I think it went well...a little long but that's to be expected.

Last Friday Charlotte came to visit! I was worried she wouldn't have a good time, but she actually loves it here. And even though we've still had school (and PTCs) it's been a pretty eventful week. The HS boys' basketball team made it to the championship which is exciting. I bought two more muu muus (which I probably don't need...but they're cheap so why not), and we've been to the bridge and out to eat. And it's officially SPRING BREAK! Not sure what's in store for next week but it's gonna be awesome!

stalker

So a couple weekends ago I had a stalker. They showed up Saturday morning, afternoon and night as well as Sunday. I didn't know how to get rid of them! Ok so it wasn't a creepy stalker. It was a freshman named Hemlen from the volleyball team. Apparently she really looks up to me. I was super excited because she came to church for the first time! I went and sat with her and her baby sister. That's when I found out her tragic story. Her mom died (either in childbirth or soon after) so she is basically Kala's mom. She calls her mommy. What a huge responsibility for a freshman in high school! After church she sort of invited herself over to our apartment. So I let her come over (even though we don't usually have students over) and we entertained her sister for quite awhile. Mid-afternoon I felt bad, but I didn't want her to stay all day. So I told her I had to take a nap (which I did!!). She showed up that night for our church bonfire. I tried to get her to roast marshamallows with me haha, but she's really shy. She tried to come over to our apartment again, but I felt I needed to draw the line somewhere. I have to recharge my batteries away from students! She showed up again on Sunday but I had a lot of work to do. It served as a reminder to me as to how much of an influence I really have here! Even students I would least expect, such as Hemlen, are watching me. What a huge responsibility! This is why it's so important to make sure I am filled with God's love for these kids. I have such a great opportunity to influence them.

So here's a bit of what's been happening lately:

First, Joanne LaFever came (the educational something or other from GMM) to "evaluate" us. But she basically just visited our classrooms, then had a meeting with us about our attendance books. Plus we were given forms to evaluate Lenney. I tried not to slaughter him too bad. But he definitely has some areas to improve on!

Alise's armpit was swelling up really bad after we got back from Kalalan. It was really gross...and painful apparently. She was walking around like a muscle man because it hurt to put her arms down. It was oozing in her sleep too because one of her kids ran into her and popped it. ahahahaha! Anyway last week I went with her to a clinic with a filipino doctor that I didn't even know existed. He gave her antibiotics and she's good to go now.

We've been practicing (me and Alise, or me and Rob, or all three of us) for the concert next week. We haven't officially practiced our other songs yet so I hope it goes well. I'm super excited about playing!! I love my violin. It's funny because this weekend at the Pathfinder campout the kids were "oohing and aahing" over it and freaking out because they touched it. ahahaha

Speaking of the Pathfinder camping trip it was this last weekend on campus. Katrina decided to do a test run here and see how it went. Overall it went well. But there were rough patches. It rained a couple times, but the kids had tents. We had a lot of fun with them by the fire, playing games, etc. One girl threw up in her tent (gross! thanks a lot Marshallese diet!), and of course it was extremely exhausting, but definitely a good time! I love interacting with my kids outside of school. It's just more fun and relaxed. The kids also freaked out when they saw me in glasses. I guess I looked really different...they discovered I'm a "four eyes" haha.

I had a lot of fun skyping Southern during vespers! It was so great to see so many friends and get to share a little of our experience with the student body.

Sadly we lost our volleyball game on Monday so that puts us out of the tournament. We played a really good time and it was a close game. If it wasn't for that last game we'd still be in it for sure! Oh well. Ben and I did what we could. Maybe next year girls!

Tomorrow is 2 months till my departure. It's going so fast!!

lesson learned

Honestly I am ever so thankful I'm not teaching high school. I just don't think I could handle it. I can be patient with kids who are still learning, but with high school students? I am not patient. They know better. We hardly get any girls on the team to show up for volleyball practices. Fine. But really? You can't even show up on time to a tournament game!? UGHHH! I was so mad but I held it in till now. Our game was at 5:30pm so we told the girls to be there at 5:00pm and have a white shirt. How hard is it to find a white shirt. Especially when you know a week in advance with plenty of reminders. So it's 5:15pm and we still only have 5 girls. Ben and I assume we're going to forfeit. The team we played was supposedly our biggest competition (we're the best team on the island). The girls that were there were running around and on their cell phones and didn't have their shirts on. I needed them to be there to write everyone's number on their back and more importantly warm up! The ceiling is really low in our gym and the game ball is nicer, so we needed to practice serves, setting, etc. Anyway, we finally have one or two more girls walk in at 5 minutes till game time. Wow. I could not believe it. These girls have had the trophy the last 3 years or something, and I really think they feel that they just deserve it. So I scribbled numbers on their backs and scrambled to put a lineup on the roster. I felt like an idiot. haha...oh it's not even funny. The other team had sweet jerseys, had already warmed up and had it all together. We put 6 girls on the court in random order, and none of them were our star players. They got creamed 25-7 or something ridiculous. It was a total embarrassment. We didn't even bother using a timeout on them. They needed some sort of a wake up call! Somebody had said something about lighting a fire under their butt...but they would definitely just turn around and roast marshmallows on it. Anyway, 4 or 5 seniors casually walk in and start bossing US around telling us what numbers they are and where they want to play. Puuhhlease. Sometimes I want to take this island culture by the neck and shake it a little. ahaha So we were a little behind in the second game, but they pulled it together and won. I felt better but I was so irritated I didn't feel much like congratulating them. But I held it in and behaved like a coach should. It's best of 3 games (third only goes to 15), so the girls got serious by this point. The other team was good, but we should have easily taken the first two sets. They played well, the game was neck and neck, but we lost. One of our best players showed up during the last game and just watched. It felt like a slap in the face. I wanted the girls to win soo bad, and I'd like to think that maybe they learned a lesson. But it doesn't seem that they're into learning lessons...hah! (In more ways than one!)

And even though I was frustrated out of my mind, I realized the analogy God was trying to show me. I have done the same thing those girls did, and yet on a much higher scale. God didn't just come to teach me science or spelling for a year, but he came for 33 years and gave his life for me. And not just so I could win a silly volleyball game, but so I could have eternal life with Him! And I'm not just some random student he's come to know and love, but He created me and knew me before I was born! He is trying so hard to win my heart and help me to understand, but I'm so stubborn and stuck in my ways. I show up to the game late (if I even come at all), don't bring my uniform, and try to tell Him what to do. How frustrating! Yet He continues to forgive me every day when I mess up and gives me a second chance.

I'll give those girls a second chance. But more important than winning, I only hope they can see how hard I'm trying and how much I care about them!! And I know that's all God wants too.

Crazy Camping esCapades!

Friday afternoon we packed up and headed to the boat that was to take us to Eneco. We arrived and hiked to the end of the island to check the tide. It was still a little high, but a few of us decided to go on to the next island anyway. Everyone else stayed behind to wait for it to go down. We reached the first island right as the sun was going down. The others were pretty far behind, so the five of us decided to hike on to the next island. By this time we decided to go ahead and hike the 6 or so miles to Kalalan all in one shot. We stopped once for a little break and hiked the rest by moonlight.

It was pretty incredible watching the waves crashing so close by and then fizzling out into tiny waves at our ankles. At one point it got really slippery, I’m really surprised nobody fell. The last small stretch was the worst with lots of rocks and pointy coral, but we finally made it to the sand. My feet hurt SO bad from my dinky little water shoes, so I took them off. That was a mistake…I kicked a rock with my super long toe halfway to the campsite. I didn’t think it was too bad, but after the fire was going I saw my toenail was hanging off. It was still attached at the bottom so I had to rip it off…not too bad, but it definitely had sand all in it. Thankfully Alise brought socks so I was able to clean it and cover it the first night.

We hung our hammocks and went to sleep, exhausted from the hike (me at least). We were rudely awakened by rain, so we jumped up, ripped our hammock down and huddled together under the tree. It soon passed so we went for round 2. Around 5:30am it came again. All we could do was stand, holding our hammocks, praying for the rain to stop…haha oh good times. Then it stopped and we slept till morning.

Saturday we made a fire, ate oatmeal and hoped that the others would be coming soon, especially since between the 5 of us we didn’t have a machete and the boys hadn’t brought much water since they had planned on drinking coconuts all weekend. Then it started downpouring. We tried to stay dry, but it showed no sign of letting up anytime soon, so we embraced it. Ben and Mitch went and started building a sandcastle in the rain. We walked to the other end of the island to see if we saw anyone coming yet, but no one was in sight. The sand on Kalalan is beautiful so we stopped for a little rock free swim! There was also a huge boat washed up on shore which was interesting.

It rained off and on throughout the day, but thankfully every time we went to eat it was dry. We built a fire which survived after getting doused 3 times by high tide. Eventually we built a sand wall around it which helped I think. During dry spells we read and just relaxed. There wasn’t really anywhere to sit so we stood a lot. Jon found a couple of coconuts that him and Ben husked on a sharp branch sticking out of a tree. Ben almost impaled himself with the branch when he missed once…lol.

We decided it might be a good idea to try and build a shelter before more rain came. Why didn’t we check the weather!? And when did this suddenly become an episode of Survivor Majuro!!?? Anyway, we started ripping palm branches off trees. It was kind of difficult. A random Marshallese man who lived on the island came by with a machete and helped us chop down branches and arrange them into a shelter. We felt pretty accomplished. Then Jon almost fell into the toilet hole since he broke the seat when he sat down. AHHAHAHAHA!

After nightfall Jon and Ben hiked down the beach to where some locals live to get water from their rain catchment. They came back with a tarp the man had given them. Apparently he knows Dennis who owns the part of the island we were staying on. So we set that up on top of the palm branches. We knew the tide would be even higher than the night before so we built a huge wall around our tree so Alise and our stuff wouldn’t get wet in the night (she doesn’t have a hammock).

Soon we saw 3 silhouettes walking down the beach. It turned out to be Michael, Damo and Rob. They had walked from the other camp to make sure we would all be heading back Sunday. (Some were going to stay till Monday.) Since the group had been separated and the rain had ruined plans, we all agreed that was the best idea. They also informed us the others also had bad blisters so they stopped on an island that happened to be full of pigs haha! Some of them had also gotten stung by jellyfish on the way. Michael stayed the night with us, and Damo and Rob headed back to be with the other girls.

We settled into our hammocks, only to be woken up by big drops. Rain had come again. It was 1am. We huddled under the shelter which seemed to be doing its job. Then it let up. We went back to bed only to be downpoured on an hour later (2am). We crowded under the shelter. It was a long-winded rain so we sat down and huddled together. This went on for an hour and a half. The shelter had drips. Most of us were soaked at one point or another. At 3:30am we decided our best bet was to try and find shelter with the locals. At a brief reprieve we rushed through the woods. Somehow a couple of men were awake and offered us their room. We crashed on the hardwood floor. Never have I been so thankful to sleep on the floor…We were wet and cold, but oh so thankful. He gave us all the sheets and blankets he had. I shivered most of the night, but at least we were in a dry place.

We woke up and headed back to camp to pack up and head out. We were pretty tired from the night’s events, but ready to get back. I felt bad for Jon and Alise who were both rubbed raw with terrible blisters from their sandals. Luckily my toe had started healing a little bit. I had counted on my pack being a little lighter, but with all my wet clothes it seemed to be about the same.

We conquered the hike back in 2 hours with daylight and an extra low tide helping us out. There were lots of little eels and red-eyed crabs threatening to pinch me on the way. I got used to it…but did jump pretty high when one eel swam right into my foot! I felt so victorious when we finally reached the shore of Eneco. Damo was there and immediately informed us of a tsunami warning for an hour later! Ironically we had been hypothesizing what we would do if a tsunami hit Kalalan while we were there.

We met up with the rest of the group. It had been a fun getaway, but it was nice to be reunited with everyone. That’s the longest we’ve ever been apart besides Christmas break! We found out the tsunami that hit Hawaii was only 1 meter so we weren’t worried. We had to wait about 3.5 hours for the boat to come. We read and slept most of the time. It had been an exhausting trip. My shoes pretty much destroyed so I threw them away and wore my flip flops home.

Boy were we glad to get back. But the joy was only an instant. The bottom bars on our window were ripped off and both front windows were open. Kara and Alise’s room was one huge puddle and everything was soaked. Somehow their window was slightly cracked open. Then all the girls in our apartment except me discovered all their cash had been stolen. I only had $5 anyway….but my stuff had still been rummaged through. It was creepy to think someone had been in there! They didn’t steal any electronics, although Alise’s computer had gotten wet from the rain. We think it was a student since the school knew we were going to be gone this weekend. No one ever wants to have a break-in, but even less so after an extremely long trip like ours!

But we were thankful there hadn’t been more damage. We cleaned up, showered and headed out to eat to celebrate surviving Kalalan! For some dumb reason we decided to walk to Payless to get ice cream afterwards. Not a few of us were limping with blisters, sore muscles, etc. Haha what a sight we must’ve been.

All in all I think I would do it again. It was a growing experience. And even though all this seemingly “bad” stuff happened, I could still see God at work in the random Marshallese guy, the locals that took us in, and also in the other SMs as we came together to survive the elements. Everyone had a great attitude about everything that happened, and I can definitely say I couldn’t choose a better group of people to share my experiences with.

Psalm 91: 1-7, 10-12 – He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. (haha that’s me!)

Psalm 93:4 – The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.

Psalm 121:3, 5-8 - He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.