Sometimes I like to walk slowly in the pouring rain and let it completely soak me. I don't know what is so therapeutic about it. Maybe it's the feeling of doing the exact opposite of what's expected. Instead of running through and avoiding the water I'm standing directly under it and letting it drench me. I don't shield myself with an umbrella or hide out until it's gone, I just walk straight through it. I feel like this week we were all walking in the rain. Problem after problem kept falling on us; but we didn't hide from them, or try to run through them, we just went along with it. The first couple days of the week were the hardest. Pam was packing and getting prepared to leave, we were all grading and trying to prepare to quarter grades, and no one was getting to sleep before midnight. The evangelistic meetings had just started too, so every night at 7 we walked to the chapel to lead music, prayer, or simply welcome the villagers. Tuesday night was hot and busy like the rest of the week but it had an even heavier cloud hanging over it. At midnight we all loaded the van and took Andrea and Pamela to the airport. Pamela was completely covered in leis. Their were at least three on her head, five around her neck, and more she was given in her suit case. We took pictures and put off leaving as long as possible. We finally had to say good bye, it was really hard; but the good news is we found out their is a very good chance she will return early next year! Natalie from Walla Walla is coming to fill her spot for a couple months but then she has to go and if Pamela is recovered she will come back! That made goodbye a little easier. We said goodbye to Andrea too but she will be back soon! She just needed to go to Guam to help her recover from dengue fever. On our way back from the airport, we left around 1:30 am, we were exhausted. Halfway back our car suddenly stopped. We were stranded. In the middle of a village, in the middle of the night, with no way to contact anyone. It was really scary! But we prayed and within 20 minutes the other school van behind us drove by and saw us. We were so relieved! School the next day was long though. I had 4 hours of sleep, a really sore throat, 5 classes of loud teenagers to teach. It had a bleak start, but in the end I started to see the upside to walking in the rain. You get to jump in the puddles! I know, a really weird comparison, but what I mean is no matter how hard things get their is always some point that you begin to see the blessing from it. Wednesday I was blessed by my students efforts to help me out. "Ms. voice hurts! Be quiet and listen to her!" "We can lead worship Ms, you can just sit" and "It's ok with us if you don't feel like talking about math today". Ok, maybe the last one wasn't trying to help me out, but it did make me smile. Thursday brought the biggest blessing of them all. Just the thought of it still makes me smile. If you rewind back to my birthday you might recall my class didn't really do anything special for me. I was kind of bummed but I got over it. Thursday, a month after my birthday, I was headed to close the room up for lunch when one of the senior girls asked "Ms. could you just stay down here for lunch?" I really wanted to eat but they begged me to go get Coby, the puppy, and come back. When I came back they stopped me before the door, blind folded me, and lead me in to the classroom. They walked me up to the desk and took off the blind fold. In front of me was a bright yellow cake that read "Ms. Rychelle you are 10 stars in our hearts" :). You see, I have a star system on the chalk board. When they do a good job cleaning, or they are exceptionally quiet during a lecture, or somehow behave well as a class, I give them a star. 10 stars = me making them a treat and a movie or game day. They handed me a belated birthday card they had all signed and a box of chocolates. They weren't prepared for my birthday when it actually happened, and they wanted to do it right, so they just decided to do it later lol. "This way it was more of a surprise!" :). It completely made my week. I loved reading their notes they wrote to me and seeing how excited they were to surprise me. I just love my seniors!
The rest of the week went quickly. We finally finished report cards and had parent teacher conferences. It went a lot better then I would have expected and it was nice to talk to their parents. I'm really excited to be in a new quarter. I learned SO much from last quarter and I know I can do a much better job as a teacher this quarter. We are enjoying our first break from school now. A four day weekend thanks to United Nations Day! It feels good to relax. I was surprised to be the pianist again at church, that always has rough patches but I am learning. We still have the meeting going too, and I am going to help the seniors clean the trail again Sunday. Life is never boring here!
Daily things that make me smile:
1) It's 85 degrees out with 70% humidity and their are 6 kids in my class wearing sweatshirts and beanies.
2) Kids wear socks with sandals all the time, apparently it's "cool" here. Haha...
3) I made the sophomores biscuits and gravy since we just finished studying the U.S. They thought it was the weirdest meal they had ever seen.
4) It's not that weird for a kid to forget to put shoes on to come to school, or to accidentally leave their shoes at school.
5) The item I have to confiscate the most is a ukelele.
6) We don't have an actual bell. It's this giant metal thing that whoever is in the office has to hit really hard throughout the day. So, our classes get out at random times because they tend to forget to ring it.
7) I have to write a list of students missing from my class on the chalkboard so when we switch classes the other teachers know who should be there. The kids keep writing in Coby, our puppy, as missing ever since I brought him to class.
8) The little first grader that insists on helping me carry my things even if it means he follows me carrying my water bottle.
9) The excuses I hear for why they don't have their homework or why they need to change seats. "Ms. I'm so hot, I really need to sit over their!" "You are sitting directly beneath the fan where you are right now...."
10) I honestly can't think of a 10th thing right now but I just couldn't leave it at 9. Have a nice week!
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