10 months ago I knew I wanted to be a student missionary...but I didn't know where I was going. Then 2 weeks before the island SMs flew to Hawaii last August I was accepted to teach 6th grade in Majuro. Little did I know what was ahead of me! But I was ready for anything. And now almost 300 days and one school year later, here I am about to leave in less than one week!
I've experienced a new culture, close living quarters with a bunch of other random college students, camping trips both good and bad, dealt with a challenging principal, hot weather, few resources, power outages, no water, wearing skirts ALL the time, expensive food, expensive internet, a small paycheck, bucket of rust van for transportation, cockroaches, etc. and the list goes on. And in one week when I'm back in America these memories of Majuro will gradually fade away. But what will stay with me forever is the relationships I have with the students here and the other SMs. I'll never forget sleeping to the ocean at night, laughing hysterically with my kids, all the dumb stuff we did as SMs that only we can understand, and the satisfaction of knowing that I've done the best I can here and God used that to touch people here in Majuro.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sweet dreams
So this past week we've been practicing at the ECC (gym "downtown") for the Spring program. We sent notes home with the kids telling them to meet us there in the morning (otherwise we'd have to walk them all down there since we have no bus...and that is NOT fun!) So we practiced all morning which was tiring but successful. For some reason we were having classes after lunch and I was tired so I decided to lay down for a few minutes. Bad idea. I woke up with 15 minutes left and decided to set my alarm so I could sleep 5 more minutes. Well...it went off but I went back to sleep...and woke up 30 minutes late to class! I bolted out the door still groggy from the nap. Alise ran into me saying Mr. Grant was looking for me. That's just lovely I thought. Well I didn't see him, but I did discover he had let all my kids into the classroom WITHOUT me. That seemed sort of irresponsible to me, but my kids are great and actually cleaned in my absence. They asked where I was...some wondered if I had been crying (sleep marks on my face lol). I just told them I fell asleep. My kids don't really care. It took a few minutes to pull myself together. Later in the afternoon I gave them a pretty genius writing assignment: Please write one paragraph. "What would you do if your teacher overslept and didn't come to school?"
Friday, April 23, 2010
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
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
Saturday, April 10, 2010
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! :)
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! :)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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? :)
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? :)
Friday, April 2, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
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!!
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!!
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