I think it is safe to say this has been one of the busiest weeks for me thus far. From catching up on grading, and baking everyday, to organizing and running the k-12 Christmas program. This week has been amazing at some points and terrible at others. We had to say goodbye to Natalie, putting us back to three in our apartment. We took Natalie and Jesse to the airport Tuesday night, so we weren't back to the school until 2am. Providing four hours of sleep before an all day Christmas party with the students. No one wants to read a sob story though so I'll stick to the good parts of the week!
Everyday I was busy preparing something for the Charity Program and baking. I sang with the Juniors and Seniors. On Tuesday they all sat around the keyboard with me and begged to learn new Christmas songs. Considering they didn't even know "The Christmas Song" it wasn't a hard task! The freshmen and sophomore girls helped me wrap gifts for the program. I made Christmas cookies for all the high schoolers and I was shocked to find out they had never had them before! They said "Ms. we've only seen them in the movies!". I almost lost my voice on Tuesday trying to arrange all grades for the Nativity practiced. The simplest thing I could think of to involve the whole school was a nativity. A couple students from each grade were involved and the rest sang carols. It was chaotic! But it paid off, the program went wonderfully! It had awkward pauses, off key singing, and microphones that wouldn't work right; but those aren't exactly the things that make a school program good. I'd say from the beaming smiles from the kids and parents, it was a success :). After the program my senior girls came running to me begging me to come to pizza with them and convince one of the girls moms to let her go. Lots of these girls have made mistakes, who hasn't? The thing is, in Yap, one slip up and they are locked down until they graduate. This girl made a mistake two years ago, but they still don't trust anything she says and they won't let her go and do anything. "Ms. we just want a girls night with pizza can you please convince my mom?!" So I did, her mom was quite intimidating, but after promising Sophie, Sabrina, and I would be there with them and we would give her a ride home, we headed to the Manta Ray with my senior girls. It was a little weird at first, I don't think they knew what to think about their teachers outside of school. It turned out to be really fun! They found out teachers can just be normal people and we had lots of fun just talking with them.
I think the highlight of my week came from one of the junior girls. She has been talking to me a lot lately about all sorts of things. She came in during the Christmas party on Wednesday as i was struggling to stay awake and exhausted from constantly turning down the music. She said "Ms. are you OK?" and sat down and talked for the next 2 hours. She told me about her life, it hasn't been an easy one. I taught her a couple games and then school was out. She is a great leader in her class and she loves music. I spent a while working on the song "What Child is This" with her so she could sing the first verse as a solo at the program. She was so excited and she just loved singing at the program. I told her good job after the program and she ran up and gave me a big hug. That hug easily was the best part of my week. :)
This Christmas isn't like any other I've experienced. It's void of family, cold weather, and every tradition I'm used to. The post office closed early so I didn't get my boxes from home. So it's also void of gifts and notes from close friends and family. Their is no fireplace to read next to and it's generally too hot to drink hot chocolate. All of these things made me a little depressed yesterday. It just didn't seem like Christmas, my favorite holiday! But now it's Christmas eve, I realized this morning I have a lot to be thankful for so I should stop moping. We went caroling at the hospital after church today, now we are going to enjoy a group dinner, watch "It's a Wonderful Life", and exchange presents for each other. First thing Christmas morning we will be singing at the prison. It may not be my ideal Christmas with all my traditions and cold weather; but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad Christmas. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas wherever you are. Merry Christmas!
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