Looking back

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.

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?"

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.

the Terminator doesn't cry...

Ok this is probably going to sound a lot like my last blog…but not much is going on these days…

I am just wiped out today. I really really can’t complain about my kids in comparison to the 7th graders…or a lot of other classes probably. But today they were really rowdy. And I am just so emotionally drained. I have grading to do but I have no mental energy! I hate yelling at them, but sometimes that is really the ONLY thing that will get their attention. Anyway, despite an occasional bad day (or bad month? lol) it’s still a good time.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a half day, and then no school on Friday (for Nuclear Day), but apparently Lenney JUST found out it is celebrated on Monday instead…so now we’re having school Friday and not Monday and everyone’s lesson plans are all messed up. Oh island culture…you get me every time. For example, we went to the coaches’ meeting for the tournaments, but the guy was drunk so we rescheduled it. Then he was “tired” so they put it off again. Then they had it without us. Haha…whatever!!

Tomorrow we’re having the SA banquet at MIR. Should be fun. It’s on the rarest of occasions that we dress up and try to look half decent…then Friday we’re hiking to Kalalan to camp for the weekend. I’m not much of a camping girl…hopefully I can pack light enough and survive. Haha nah I’ll be fine. It will be nice to have NO Marshallese people watching us live, or students for that matter! Totally free to be. Next weekend we’re going to Arno to camp…so two weeks from now I’m gonna be pretty pooped. Too bad our Spring break is so late! (April 5-9 WHY!??)

We have been taking some hilarious videos of ourselves in the apartment lately. (Well it’s funny to us at least…lol.) Basically just random videos of what we normally do. I have a feeling I will cherish these videos in a few months when we’re all split up and Majuro seems like a faraway dream.

I only have 10.5 more weeks of school left! It seems long but it is really not enough time. I would like to request that anyone reading this please pray for my 22 students. I’m 100% convinced they are the greatest kids in the whole world! Today one asked me if I was going to cry when I leave…hah…silly kid. Of course not.

Mundane Mondays

Yesterday marked 3 months till I fly away...

This month has been a bit of a drag. I love my students more and more every day, but I'm getting a little sick of being in the same place with the same people doing the same thing every day. I really don't have anything to complain about...but I sure do feel like it a lot! But whenever I sit down and actually think about being back in the States I realize I'm going to miss this a lot. So I really am enjoying the rest of my time here.

For Valentine's Day each of the girls drew one of the boys' names, and we asked them to be our valentine. Since Ben is a nerd I made him a quiz and the last question was: "Will you be my valentine?" haha He was really excited and to my surprise picked me up and swung me around. We all dressed up and went out for dinner. Sadly we wanted to go to the Stonehouse or Monica's but they were both closed. So we went to MIR. But it was still fun.

Other than that it's been the same old same old. February is a pretty bland month. Although the next 2 weekends we're planning on camping. And this Thursday is the SA banquet...we'll see how that goes. Hopefully the volleyball and basketball tournaments will start soon. It was supposed to have started by now, but island time interferes once again...

So January was here and gone like good food around here...and now it's February. I had heard these months are the roughest, but last month was great I thought! Well this week could definitely change my mind. I thought the fact that my students and I were more comfortable with each other would make things easier...but now it's starting to go the other way. They're still a great class, just way more rambunctious now. Sigh...as long as I get my sleep I can handle it. :)

A lot of stuff has been starting up recently. The SMs run Friday night vespers at the church here, but we wanted to do a little something geared more toward the students. So we have a program called "Impact" that will hopefully draw a few students in. Pathfinders is also going now. I was never a Pathfinder so this is my chance! haha...It's funny I have no clue how to march. I really like having a chance to interact with my students outside of class too. They're so funny I just love them.

A couple days ago we met with coaches from other schools about the upcoming basketball and volleyball tournaments. SDA (girls' volleyball) has won the past few years so I feel pretty confident. We solidified the team, and today we scrimmaged Co-op (school next door) and beat them! It's so fun interacting with the girls and watching them play. They're so good!

Upcoming events: spelling bee against Co-op next Friday. My students are really smart so I can't wait to go watch them! And the end of this month is the SA Valentine's banquet. We've decided (the teachers) to draw names out of a hat and pair up. It should be fun!

A praise to God---we got hundreds and hundreds of new textbooks and hundreds of other new books for the library! Way too many for us to handle so it's definitely a miracle. I know a lot of the teachers didn't even have textbooks for some subjects (especially lower grades) so we're pretty thankful.

I might be starting up violin lessons soon with one of my students. I can hear the squeaks already....ahh! lol But I'm actually excited about it! If only my violin would get here. And who can complain about a little extra spending money...

The days are slow but the weeks fly by...

It just blows my mind how fast the weeks are going! Only one week left in January...I can definitely see my relationship with my students changing. Now that we're comfortable with each other and know what to expect from the other, classwork seems to go smoother and I find myself laughing with them a lot more.

I could definitely see Satan at work on our campus this week. Monday morning we received news that one of the sophomores had drowned the previous week. I didn't actually know who he was, but it was still tragic news! Apparently he had gone on an outer island fishing trip with a couple of his friends. I don't know if they got caught in a storm or what but their boat got destroyed by waves, and then they got swept out to sea for 3 days holding on to debris. I guess on the third day Marsh Marsh just put his head down and died before they washed up on shore and were rescued.
A couple days later one of Kara's kids (Ryan) came in in the morning talking excitedly to his classmates and pointing to a bruise on his arm. He said Satan had come into his room the night before and pulled back his covers and attacked him! He said he had big horns and then he followed him to school. Kara said she felt like there was a presence in the room like a pressure on her chest. Of course the other 2nd graders were scared so she reassured them that they could pray in the name of Jesus and it would scare Satan away.
If you could please keep Marsh Marsh's mother and two friends and Kara's student Ryan in your prayers they really need it.

Last Sabbath we met 2 doctors that are here from the states to do training at the hospital. Dr. Hewes is a radiologist and Dr. Price is a sonography professor at Kettering. We went and heard a couple of their lectures. Then on Thursday Jon and I went during my PE/recess to try and see a lung biopsy. But of course...island time prevented it. But they did show us some ultrasound (kinda boring). As we're walking into this tiny room poor Jon trips over the cord to the machine and yanks it out of the socket! HAHAHAHA! They had to restart and everything...luckily it wasn't an actual patient.

I'm off to work!

Answers to prayer

Friday afternoon I had the best of intentions to finish my grading so I would have a more relaxing Sunday to look forward to. Unfortunately things did not go according to plan. There are 3 particular items that I have mentioned in my prayers recently. Friday God showed me clearly that He is indeed listening!

First of all, our dryer broke so for the past week or two we've been hanging all our laundry up in our rooms with clothespins. Then Lenney announces that we can't afford to use any more water so we can't use the washer either. This means group trip to the Good Earth laundromat. After paying for our laundry, he drops us off at EZ Price on his way to the post office (we were in desperate need of toilet paper!) We quickly gathered our groceries and proceeded to sit outside waiting for him...for about 40ish minutes. (Plus I had just downed a frappucino and was in dire need of a bathroom!) We consoled ourselves with thoughts of the backseat being filled with packages from home. Finally he arrives...with not a package in sight. "Lenney what took you so long?" we annoyingly ask. "Oh...I got distracted." What?? How do you get distracted at the P.O. for 30 minutes? Well that was my first lesson in patience for the day.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I was thinking about the fruits of the Spirit and how they come in sequence: love, joy, peace, patience... I had prayed that God would help me work on my patience. How better than to give me opportunity to practice it!

We arrived at Payless and I desperately walked as fast as I could (I was beyond the point of being able to run) to the bathroom. We picked up a couple things and then I headed to the bank to deposit a check. Surprisingly the line only went to the door (as opposed to previous days when it wrapped around the whole inside in snakelike fashion). So I figured today was as good a day as any to get it over with. So I waited...and waited...and waited...and waited for probably another 40 minutes. The realization that God was using this silly bank line to teach me a lesson hit me in that little Bank of Guam. Was I just another frustrated customer? (Or more like frustrated American customer? - The Marshallese are used to it haha). Or was I someone who people noticed waiting patiently?

Lenney had already taken the other girls back while I waited in line. When I finally finished he came back to pick me up. As we rode home we talked a little bit. I realized this was a great opportunity for me to show interest in his life. So I asked him a few questions about what he had done and where he'd been and what some of his plans were for the future. As we arrived at the school he pulled around to our apartments and turned the van off. Talking to Lenney isn't my favorite activity, but I felt like maybe he needed someone to talk to. So we just chatted about the school, about soccer and whatever else came to mind for about 30-40ish minutes. I'm sure he must get lonely sometimes! And although he can be extremely ridiculous and super frustrating, I had prayed that God would help me to reach out to him somehow.

Later, I was wandering around in the house getting some food. I saw Lauren sitting on the couch writing. Someone had mentioned to me earlier that she had gotten upset in the AV room. She seemed a little down so I walked over to her and asked if she was alright. She started crying. She explained what was going on and I realized that this was the opportunity I had been praying for! I knew Lauren had been struggling but I just didn't know how to help her. I told God I needed him to show me how to reach out, and He did. She laid it all out and we talked about how to fix the problem. I think things will be looking up for her!

When I look back on what I saw as a "wasted" afternoon, I see that God used that time to reveal Himself in my life. Even when we don't notice it or aren't looking for it God is working in our lives and fulfilling His plans for us. He wants to give us good things because we are His children!

How time flies...

It is quickly becoming the middle of January, and as I revel in my exciting island experiences I realize I haven't shared in awhile! Of course my Christmas break bliss ended all too quickly. Although I did go to Enemanit again (complete island paradise for a day) and get to experience an excellent Japanese restaurant. We rarely slept before 3am, mainly because the boys from Woja were visiting and we were squeezing all the time out of them that we could. We're attempting to buy them tickets here for spring break!

New Year's was quite exciting! The street was closed off for the bloc party. There were booths everywhere with food, food, food, toys, toys, toys and several music groups with one big band. We traipsed among the throngs of Marshallese (many on their way to being quite drunk) and checked out the booths. We had about 3 hours to kill so we discovered bright little huts behind Tide Table overlooking the lagoon and settled there for awhile. Finally it was time for the countdown. As we crescendoed to "Happy New Year!" we realized we were in the minority in our unbridled excitement. Apparently the Marshallese don't care too much for the holiday...either that or the alcohol was impairing their judgment. The latter more likely! We had been told to expect fireworks, but I suppose a few flares will do.

I will honestly admit that I was dreading the return to my classroom. I stalled in the library as long as I could the first day back (well even longer than usual...haha). But as soon as I saw my kids I instantly realized why I do what I do. It's not for myself, but for God and for them and I love them dearly! The week back was a blur of finalizing grades and marking report cards. Tomorrow we get the lovely task of sitting in our classrooms from 4-7pm waiting for parents to show for parent-teacher conferences. At least I know what to expect this time!

High school volleyball has been a learning experience. Ben and I finally had enough girls show up to form a team today. Hopefully we can set up a scrimmage for next week. We honestly didn't know if we'd be able to make a team. And now they're pestering us about uniforms...

Kara's sister Kaylie left just hours ago after her month-long visit. I feel like she became one of us in such a short time. It made me think about how I will be leaving in.....4 months and 7 days! I am trying to take it all in while I still have it.

Christmas Day Dumps

Christmas Eve was very exciting. We woke up and had very chocolatey pancakes and then the girls took me on a tour of the school. Then we went to the airport to pick up Brian! After knowing each other almost all our lives and going to school K-12 together, I never would have guessed that Pohnpei would be our next reunion! It was sort of like a class reunion since Corey and Charlotte are there too. It wasn't even weird to see him; it was like no time had passed at all. Too bad we only had about 24 hours together!

That night we went to the Spanish wall to see a youth group from Guam perform. We couldn't find a driver, so poor Brian had to drive the truck there. And he was so tired!! Besides stalling out several times in front of telecom (I think the brake was on) he did a good job. We went back and had a Christmas Eve party at Corey's apt. (the lions' den). We had dinner and a gift exchange. Then we watched Home Alone.

Christmas morning I popped out of bed really early (rare occurrence for me, even on Christmas). I had a very bittersweet feeling. I was excited it was Christmas, but sad to leave Pohnpei, but also happy to see my Majuro family, but sad about flying by myself. Anyway they took me to eat breakfast at the Village. It was so pretty. I miss those mountains a lot. We played up and down the river (or pirate's bridge) which made me pretty happy. Then we drove back, I packed up and we went to the airport to check in. I was planning on coming back to the school and chilling for a little bit only to find my plane was 30 MINUTES EARLY. What the junk! Of course my plane would be late arriving and early leaving. So we sped back so I could say goodbye to everyone. Then we came back to the airport and I was the last one on the plane...I think I barely made it.

It was really hard leaving. And since I was early returning to Majuro no one was at the airport to pick me up for awhile. I just sat by myself trying to be happy. I knew I shouldn't be down or complain since I did get to go somewhere and everyone else didn't. But it was hard! I was actually depressed for a couple of days. It was probably a combination of feeling weird since I wasn't home for Christmas, the weather is very Julyish, travelling makes you tired, and I had a lot of fun/freedom in Pohnpei. Plus I didn't feel trapped there! But it was definitely worth it all. I had an amazing time.

We came back around vespers time, then afterwards Alise took me to Lenney's to get Christmas dinner leftovers. I had been expecting a Christmas package from home, only to find it wasn't there. Then yesterday I found out it had been here all along but Jhan Dale FORGOT TO TELL ME. warrarrr! But getting that package really made my day. :)

Saturday afternoon there was a "concert" at the church where anyone from the church could come and do a musical number. The girls suckered me into singing "My Grown Up Christmas List" again. I wasn't too thrilled. But a girl had a little violin there that I got to play! I'm hoping to get mine from home somehow. We'll see what happens.

Break has been really nice. I've been staying up late, sleeping in and just chilling doing things I don't usually have a lot of time for like reading, journaling, uploading pictures, etc. Sunday we went to Enemanit for the day and just played. We dove around the ship again and played on the floating dock. Several of the guys decided to hike/island hop to Kalalan...the girls and other guys decided against it. It just didn't seem fun to hike all that way in the hot sun and possibly get stuck on a different island because of high tide, darkness, etc. We relaxed and watched movies here.

Today we were going to rent golf carts and drive down to Laura, but they only have 2 and one was broken. :( So we decided against it since we wouldn't all be able to go otherwise. But Christmas break is still great and going way to fast! :)

Pohnpei

Last Friday after school it hadn't really hit me that it was break. Or that I was going to be on a plane headed for Pohnpei the next morning. Friday afternoon I did some laundry and very nicoleishly waited until the next morning (and the last minute) to pack my things. A lot of the other SMs came to see Rob and I off. We checked in, went through security and boarded the plane in the rain. We sat on the plane for a LONG time. We were late so we had to let a couple of planes go before us. I wondered if I was ever really going to get off the island...

Then we took off! The plane stopped in Kwajalein then Kosrae and finally Pohnpei. We were about an hour and a half late so I felt bad that Charlotte and Corey and everyone had to wait so long. I wore a muu muu because everyone in Majuro wears them and they are super comfortable. But nobody wears them here! Instead they wear their skirts up by their armpits like dresses. It's so weird. lol It's funny what becomes "normal" after several months of living somewhere. We drove to the school in the back of their red fire truck in the rain! It was so incredible to see mountains!!

Saturday night we went to a basketball game and then a birthday party at Coco Marina. There are a lot more white people here than in Majuro. And the SMs here can wear pants, shorts and/or tanktops out! It felt really strange at first. They can also drive the school vehicles and take the boat out whenever. The apartments are also bigger and a lot more spread out than on our campus. We're pretty contained at school, but there's a lot more to do here.

Sunday started out with a bang. Sam, an older maintenance man, fell off the roof he was working on. He didn't fall all the way to the ground but it was still 10 feet or so. He hit his head and was knocked unconscious for a little bit. They took him to the hospital in the back of a truck. So we all went to see the hospital and be there for his wife. I think he is ok, but the next day they flew him to Guam to make sure it wasn't too serious. Later on me, Charlotte and Katie went to Cliff Rainbow for dinner and got fried ice cream! Mmm

Monday Corey and Charlotte took me shopping everywhere. We went to Kapinga Village and Grace’s bakery. Late in the afternoon we went and climbed Sokehs ridge and watched the sunset. It was so beautiful! It’s such a nice change to be able to actually climb something besides the bridge in Majuro lol. (Sadly it’s the highest point). On the way home we got coconut pops or “ice pahr.” They need to start making those in Majuro I decided.

Tuesday me and Charlotte went with the guys to Palikir. They went surfing and I tried my hand at spear fishing with Corey. Not exactly my talent but it was fun trying! We saw a little reef shark too. After awhile the fins were hurting so I hopped on a board with Andrew and we paddled out to get a closer view while the guys surfed. It was a good day and very clear. Hence why Charlotte and I got burnt! :( That made for a rough sleeping situation last night. Lol After several hours we went back and ate at Ocean View overlooking Sokehs rock, the bay area with boats, etc. We had coconuts with straws in them. So good! Then they cut them open and we ate the meat inside. Later Charlotte and I walked with Alex to this little pier so he could take pictures. It started raining so we climbed over the fence into this abandoned restaurant over the water. It was really cool.

Today we went shopping for a little bit and got gifts for our white elephant get together tomorrow. Then we went to Twin Falls, but it was too dangerous to jump. It’s ok though. I still swam some and took pictures. Now we’re just chillin and might watch a movie later.

I can’t believe it’s the eve of Christmas Eve! I’m enjoying this break soo much. I’m so relaxed and haven’t really thought about school or stressed about anything. As much as I miss Majuro and everyone back at home I don’t think I’m ready to go back. I just want to chill here for awhile. ☺ But I sure miss my Majuro family! They’re the best!

It has been awhile since I updated, but the end of the year gets crazy! It just blows my mind that Christmas break started 3 wonderful hours ago, and I am now halfway done. I have to pack up soon since my flight to Pohnpei leaves in the morning. I suppose the anticipation of break has made this by far the LONGEST week of the semester, even though we've only had 3 full days of school. Monday we spent all day practicing for the program (read on), and today was just a party day. Thursday I had 4 final tests for my kids - Bible, math, science and English. I haven't graded them yet, but I felt a sense of accomplishment making and giving those to them. Hopefully they passed! lol

I do love the holiday season though. I had a lot of fun shopping for things to send to my family, and to give to my kids as well. We've also put up lights in our apartment and outside on the railing. They give it such a cozy, homey feel! And we have a few small Christmas trees and a wreath. And of course Christmas music playing constantly. We also decided to rearrange the furniture in our kitchen/living area. It's such a nice change! It almost feels like a whole new apartment. After being in the same routine for awhile it's nice to do little things to make it less monotonous.

Well a few weekends ago we decided to have a swing dancing party. Everybody dressed up and we went upstairs in the high school English classroom. It was so fun! I really wish we would do things like that more often. (Rather than sitting around in the av room on our computers.) No one really knew how to swing dance....lol so that made for good entertainment. But it was fun anyway, plus we had some great music going.

Our principal had some meetings in Guam recently, and we got word that there is a Taco Bell there! Obviously we were drooling at even the mention of the place. So we sent him our orders. WOW! Best cold 7-layers I've ever had! And I fried up a cheesy rice and bean burrito the next day.

Last weekend we had our Christmas programs. The high school was sort of a flop because none of them really cared. The stage we created for them was pretty awesome though. I almost got dragged into playing a few fill-in parts, but luckily the girls showed up 45 minutes late to take them back. I was already in costume and everything! Monday night we were able to get the ICC (government building) for the K-6 program. And as Lenney would say, "It was rockin'!" The kids did a FANTASTIC job. Kudos to Kat and Shari especially for pulling it all together. It took a lot of work but it was all worth it in the end. (And endless hours of Dr. Newheart songs stuck in my head.)

Today after our parties we had chapel (like usual) to close the day. Earlier this week the other SM girls decided they wanted to sing "My Grown Up Christmas List" as a special treat for chapel. And they wanted ALL the girls to be involved. I'm not a huge fan of getting up front in the first place, but singing? Definitely opposed! But I agreed since I didn't want to be the annoying one who didn't get involved. Then Char starts dishing out solos to everyone. HAHAHA! I refused. Then I decided I needed to do it for Jesus. So I agreed and very fearfully overcame one of my biggest fears. During the performance the kids were screaming so loud you could hardly hear us anyway! lol But I was really glad I did it.

Well now I gotta pack for my trip in the morning...you know me. I'll probably end up doing most of it in the morning anyway. Happy Holidays everyone!! :)

La La Land

It's Sabbath afternoon. Boy do I LOVE Sabbath! Well here's news about the last week and a half.

Last Thursday we had our "fun day" or picnic for the kids. Grades 4-8 went to the beach by the airport. It was really nice to interact with my students outside the classroom setting. I mean obviously I love them so much already, but this was even MORE FUN! I had girls from all grades hanging on me basically all day. And I got a little sunburnt but it was well worth it. You can't even really understand how much the kids can grow on you until you experience it yourself. It's so incredible!

Friday we took 2 boat trips to Callalan (sp?) which is an outer island owned by Dennis the wellness center guy. I think it's the second to last in the chain. Anyway we didn't get there till late afternoon (of course...island time). And we had to go in this little tiny boat that went so slow. It took about an hour. But we got there and it was so beautiful! Beach....mmm I wish we had beach at the school. But still I can't complain---the ocean is right there lol. To our dismay we discovered 2 high school students somehow came along. So all the teachers went down the beach in this big tree where we all hung our hammocks. It was pretty sweet. The stars were so brilliant and it was so peaceful by the water. Boy am I going to miss that!

We were all a little concerned since Lenney had told us we couldn't swim on Sabbath. But Sabbath morning I woke up to Lenney making a lot of noise and pointing toward the water. What the junk? Hahaha There were sharks in the shallows and he was telling the guys to jump in after them. I guess that solved the swimming issue. (Oh yeah the girls all got to wear tank tops and short shorts. It was AWESOME!) A couple of the guys had built a hut in the woods and they decided they wanted to play capture the flag that night. Well....I was defending our flag when I saw someone in the shadows. (We played by moonlight.) It ended up being Zac and I chased him down the beach. Apparently he didn't see this palm tree that was laying across the beach. He hit it full speed at hip level and flipped over it onto his back. Poor guy! HAHAHAHA It was really hilarious looking but he actually hurt himself pretty bad. He could barely walk and was in so much pain. Then he's been sick all this week with congestion, occasional fever. And early this morning (3AMish) he went to the hospital with a fever over 105! So pray that he kicks this thing.

Sunday morning I heard was the best time to go snorkeling (and supposedly it's better than Jeh). So me and Jon decided to check it out. It was so beautiful and clear! Then we tried to get back and it was extremely shallow and full of color. Quite treacherous! Hahaha Jon was scooting on his butt for the longest time. We broke off so many coral and scratched ourselves. I was so glad to reach the beach. Then later in the day when we were waiting for the boat me and Katrina decided to blow up Dennis's little two-person tube. There was also a kayak so we decided to tie it to the kayak and have Tony pull us. He pulled us quite a ways out and it was a lot of fun. Then we got stuck in between currents and couldn't get back lol. I had put 50 spf on twice but I felt my shoulder burning. It was funny for awhile...then it got annoying. The kayak kept filling up with water LOL so we were all trying to take turns emptying it and paddling back. Poor Katrina got knocked out by a big wave! Finally Alise came to our rescue bringing me my water shoes so we could walk it back together (because it was shallow enough to touch between waves but was covered in sharp coral). I was even more happy to reach shore this time! We felt like such idiots out there HAHAHA.

That night when we got back we all showered, did our hair and went out to eat. I think that's the longest I've gone without showering. 3 days! It was pretty awesome. We went to Tide Table and there was a REAL Christmas tree! We all took pictures by it :)

This week I didn't get a lot of work done. I was tired from the weekend, plus we had Friday off (Gospel Day or something...) so we all just kind of lazed through the week. I think I've kind of checked out for Christmas break already.

Our coordinator from Southern came Monday night and left on Wednesday. It was nice to see a familiar face and have some encouragement from SAU. She took us out to eat Tuesday at MIR and we just talked. It was fun. We continue to remember the Wolcott family here, and also hope that other students aren't discouraged from being future SMs after this whole experience.

It was super nice to have the day off yesterday. We went to the wellness center for breakfast. Then I did a tiny bit of grading. But I was sooo tired. Most people weren't very motivated to do anything. But I did get all my Christmas shopping for my family done! It was a lot of fun actually. :) Tonight we're going to have a swing dancing party in the art/music room. Should be good times! Well I'm off to write some letters. Happy Sabbath everyone.

1 John 4:4

Island Thanksgiving

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! :)