After almost three months of no breaks, we finally have some mini vacations! Lots of them actually. Last weekend was a four day weekend, and we have the next two fridays of for various FSM holidays. It was so nice to finally have a break! Sunday we went to help the seniors clean the trail again. Their weren't very many of them there but we got a lot done anyways. We ended up hiking the entire trail with our machetes clearing as we went. That is a mile and a half walk barefoot. The weather started really hot, about 89 degrees with 77% humidity, and then it started to pour on us! We have come to notice that whenever it gets really hot it is guaranteed to pour rain within the next hour and then clear off again. By the time we were done we were soaked to the bone and covered in dirt. But it was fun! I love doing stuff with the students outside of school. Monday we went to the beach! It has been so long since we have had a break at the beach so we were all really excited. We drove 15 minutes to John's beach and headed out with our snorkels. The tide was out again so we were able to walk all the way to the coral. I will never get used to how amazing the nature is out there. I see something new everytime! This time a HUGE puffer fish surprised me. It was a good foot and a half long and really big around. I didn't know they could get that big! Despite my liberal and repeated use of sunscreen, I got burnt. I guess that's not that bad considering in almost three months of living in the tropics I've only been burnt twice, I just have to use sunscreen like lotion every day!
Tuesday we started school again, and that came with some struggles. The kids weren't very focused after a nice break and honestly I wasn't either! It's weird how just a couple days extra away from something can make it so hard to get started again. I've discovered I need help teaching geometry. That is my biggest prayer request for school right now. I know algebra really well. It doesn't matter what question they ask I feel completely confident finding what they did wrong or explaining it from a different angle. Geometry though.. I understand geometry, but I haven't taken as many classes of it so explaining it is a whole new problem. Unlike algebra, I have a hard time figuring out new ways to teach it because I don't know it forward and backwards like the other math classes. Anyways, that's what I'm working on this weekend. The juniors are having a really hard time grasping how to make a proof, and I'm not sure how else to teach it. But I'm not going to move on until they get it. I'm going to find some new ways to go about teaching it before Monday. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I am always open to hearing them!
The end of the school week was one of the best days since being here. We had an all school United Nations Day celebration on Friday. Each class chose a country to represent. We had presentations for each class, costumes, food, and decorations in the classroom. Their was a big parade of the countries, parents came, and every class presented on stage. It was so much fun! The seniors chose Samoa! We all dressed up, and they made leis in the morning. It's so cool to watch them make leis. It is really intricate. They braid grass together arranging the flowers in the braid. We had coconut limbs lining the walls, a huge constructions paper flag for Samoa, and lots of local food. For presentation they did the Samoan fire dance! They did so well, I was amazed. Five of them learned the hula dance that goes in the backround and perfomed it on stage, while two of the guys perfomed with the fire sticks. They take really long sticks with fire on both ends and twirl them around realy fast, throw them in the air, under their legs, you get the idea. I was a little nervous to let them use fire, but they did so well! All the classes did amazing. The kindergarten was adorable dressed in traditional Yapese clothes. Second grade did a cute Italian folk dance, third grade sang O Canada, fifth grade did a hawaiian dance, sixth grade danced the salsa! I was amazed by how well they all did, especially at the salsa! Seventh grade represented America, one of the students dressed up as Obama and delivered his state of the union address, it was cute! Eight grade did a skit they created about Greek mythology, it was really funny. Ninth grade did India and tenth grade Ireland; they didn't get quite as in to it, but I think they will next year seeing how much fun all the classes had. I was amazed by the juniors! They represented a small island I have never heard of. They got the whole class, 19 of them, doing a traditional hula dance. They were so good! The kids took my camera and I found all sorts of fun pictures on it at the end of the day. Everyone really enjoyed the event. I loved seeing all the students get excited and so involved with something. On a side note, only in Yap would their be moms coming to watch topless and it's no big deal. That is still kind of weird to get used to!
Despite all of these good things, we can still see the devil working hard to take us down. Yap really needs your prayers right now. We have lost Andrea for the next couple months. She is recovering well in Guam, but they are sending her back to the states until January. They said the danger is too high, she can't afford to be bit with a dengue carrying mosquito, so she can't come back until the rainy season is over. We are praying that no one else will get sick. We barely have enough staff to keep going. If someone is sick, we literally have no one to sub classes. The island is having an outbreak of dengue right now. Their have been over 100 cases of it. They have told us certain times to avoid being outside with the bugs. We are wearing bug spray all the time, and they are making some sort of mosquito repelant by burning coconut husks; but it is really hard to avoid mosquitos. We are praying for God's protection on this one.
Mangil e Sabado! I'm not sure if I spelled that right... but that is Yapese for Happy Sabbath! :)
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
A Walk in the Rain
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!
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!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Patience
I've never really thought of myself as particularly impatient, but it seems God decided I needed more patience. Everything here is a test or lesson on patience. I'm reminded of this as I try to type this blog. I pulled up the internet and waited 5 minutes for it to load the page, it wouldn't load so I tried a different browser. After refreshing the page 10 times I finally got to this page. This isn't an unusual thing, anything on the internet, especially skype, takes lots of patience. Going anywhere teaches patience too, due to island time. If you don't know what island time is it goes like this. If they honk the horn for us to get in the car for church at 8:30 we probably won't be leaving until at least 9. If we are supposed to have a meeting at 9, it probably won't start until 10 or 10:30. The only thing that opporates on "American Time" is school; the greatest test of patience of them all. After explaining the same problem on the board thuroughly over half the class will individually ask me to explain it again. Asking once for the freshmen to take a seat never works, and no matter how many reminders I give their is always someone who claims I never mentioned a test today. I speak and no one listens so I have to explain the same thing over and over again. Those of you reading this who are parents or teachers are probably laughing at me thinking, "Get used to it". These things have been building my patience for the last 10 weeks, but something new was added this week; patience with God.
Sometimes it seems perfectly clear what God wants for us. It's like it's lined up and everything is falling into place perfectly. Other times it seems impossible to figure out what He wants and where we are supposed to be. Even more confusing though is when it seems like you are doing exactly what He wants but you get shot down. That's what happened to Pam today. Pam is like family now. We have been living on Yap together for over 2 months. We share a room so we end up talking way too long every school night. Pam has to go home. She broke the news to us today and we all were crying within the next minute. Just like the rest of us, Pam loves it here. She loves the school, her 3rd grade kids, the church, and the island in general. She can't recover properly though, she is getting worse and the doctors here aren't qualified to figure out why. She leaves in two days and everyone is going to miss her. We haven't stopped praying though. The side of me that still needs more patience wants to know what's taking God so long. Why not just heal her? She is here where He sent her trying to do the job He sent her to do. Why not just heal her and let her stay? But, the other side that has been learning patience is beginning to see that things aren't always that easy. Sometimes you have to wait. More then anything we want Pam to stay. We will keep praying for a miracle; but I think this is one of those times we have to trust God. Even though it's not working out the way Pam hoped, He is in control and I know He has a plan; we just can't see it right now.
Back tracking a bit, this week went pretty good. I got up early Sunday to go barefoot through the jungle clearing a trail with machetes with my seniors. It's a class funraiser for them and turned out to be lots of fun! Using a machete is much harder then it looks though, "Ms! Swing it as hard as you can!". The school week was busy as it was the last week of the quarter. We had to have finals at the end of the week. Everyday their were numerous students making up tests, trying to make up work, and freaking out about the final. We enjoyed a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving in honor of Pam and Sophie on Monday. Come Tuesday Andrea was sick. It seems like the flu at first, but now we know it is Dengue fever. She really needs prayers for recovery! This meant we were short staffed again. We were all switching tasks and covering classes throughout the week. Everyone was relieved to make it to Friday. I was completely shocked to recieve every single final project in the sophomore class. I don't think I've ever gotten the same assignment from the whole class before! I had them create their own country for Geography, they did a really good job and I have a huge stack of new, funny, countries in my room. The seniors turned in their music projects as well. I put them in groups and had them put a song together and record it. I wasn't expecting much but they spent their lunch times for two weeks putting it together, way more then I asked them to do. They sound amazing! One of the groups even wrote their own song! I love seeing them get excited about something, I really want to do more with the things that really interest them.
I realize I haven't said much about the church in a while. The church keeps us just about as busy as the school. We plan and run vespers every friday night as well as the juniors/youth sabbath school before church. Sabbath school used to be really small, but today we had 16 kids! Eight of which where high schoolers who aren't members of the church. It is so exciting to see them coming to church :). We are involved in all sorts of other aspects of the church as well. At home you are usually asked to do something for church. Someone will call and request for you to do special music in three weeks or to lead worship, not here. Here you just find your name in the bulletin, it's always a surprise!Children story, praise team, special music, prayer, scripture reading, chorister; you name it, we do it. Not all of them every week though, they try to alternate. Today I was the pianist again, always an intersting experience. I think I'm finally figuring when I'm supposed to play everything! The big event with the church starts tonight. We will be having a 3 WEEK evangelistic meeting at both the church and the school. We are helping with both locations so we have a schedule alternating our jobs. I am not really sure how we are going to do the meetings, finish first quarter grades, plan and grade for school, and have a work bee for the school this Sunday... but I've seen God work out harder circumstances since we've been here so here it goes!
Prayer requests this week: Pam (of course), leaving is going to be one of the hardest things she's ever had to do. We are praying for healing for her, she has been sick way too long. For Andrea, Dengue fever can be really bad. We are praying she will be able to recover and the mosquitos won't spread it to the rest of us.
Sometimes it seems perfectly clear what God wants for us. It's like it's lined up and everything is falling into place perfectly. Other times it seems impossible to figure out what He wants and where we are supposed to be. Even more confusing though is when it seems like you are doing exactly what He wants but you get shot down. That's what happened to Pam today. Pam is like family now. We have been living on Yap together for over 2 months. We share a room so we end up talking way too long every school night. Pam has to go home. She broke the news to us today and we all were crying within the next minute. Just like the rest of us, Pam loves it here. She loves the school, her 3rd grade kids, the church, and the island in general. She can't recover properly though, she is getting worse and the doctors here aren't qualified to figure out why. She leaves in two days and everyone is going to miss her. We haven't stopped praying though. The side of me that still needs more patience wants to know what's taking God so long. Why not just heal her? She is here where He sent her trying to do the job He sent her to do. Why not just heal her and let her stay? But, the other side that has been learning patience is beginning to see that things aren't always that easy. Sometimes you have to wait. More then anything we want Pam to stay. We will keep praying for a miracle; but I think this is one of those times we have to trust God. Even though it's not working out the way Pam hoped, He is in control and I know He has a plan; we just can't see it right now.
Back tracking a bit, this week went pretty good. I got up early Sunday to go barefoot through the jungle clearing a trail with machetes with my seniors. It's a class funraiser for them and turned out to be lots of fun! Using a machete is much harder then it looks though, "Ms! Swing it as hard as you can!". The school week was busy as it was the last week of the quarter. We had to have finals at the end of the week. Everyday their were numerous students making up tests, trying to make up work, and freaking out about the final. We enjoyed a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving in honor of Pam and Sophie on Monday. Come Tuesday Andrea was sick. It seems like the flu at first, but now we know it is Dengue fever. She really needs prayers for recovery! This meant we were short staffed again. We were all switching tasks and covering classes throughout the week. Everyone was relieved to make it to Friday. I was completely shocked to recieve every single final project in the sophomore class. I don't think I've ever gotten the same assignment from the whole class before! I had them create their own country for Geography, they did a really good job and I have a huge stack of new, funny, countries in my room. The seniors turned in their music projects as well. I put them in groups and had them put a song together and record it. I wasn't expecting much but they spent their lunch times for two weeks putting it together, way more then I asked them to do. They sound amazing! One of the groups even wrote their own song! I love seeing them get excited about something, I really want to do more with the things that really interest them.
I realize I haven't said much about the church in a while. The church keeps us just about as busy as the school. We plan and run vespers every friday night as well as the juniors/youth sabbath school before church. Sabbath school used to be really small, but today we had 16 kids! Eight of which where high schoolers who aren't members of the church. It is so exciting to see them coming to church :). We are involved in all sorts of other aspects of the church as well. At home you are usually asked to do something for church. Someone will call and request for you to do special music in three weeks or to lead worship, not here. Here you just find your name in the bulletin, it's always a surprise!Children story, praise team, special music, prayer, scripture reading, chorister; you name it, we do it. Not all of them every week though, they try to alternate. Today I was the pianist again, always an intersting experience. I think I'm finally figuring when I'm supposed to play everything! The big event with the church starts tonight. We will be having a 3 WEEK evangelistic meeting at both the church and the school. We are helping with both locations so we have a schedule alternating our jobs. I am not really sure how we are going to do the meetings, finish first quarter grades, plan and grade for school, and have a work bee for the school this Sunday... but I've seen God work out harder circumstances since we've been here so here it goes!
Prayer requests this week: Pam (of course), leaving is going to be one of the hardest things she's ever had to do. We are praying for healing for her, she has been sick way too long. For Andrea, Dengue fever can be really bad. We are praying she will be able to recover and the mosquitos won't spread it to the rest of us.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Shaken
Week 9 has been a very diverse week. It started with the excitement of picking up Pam and Andrea from the aiport! We were so excited to see them again! We really missed them, the apartment seemed empty without Pam. They brought us a bag of taco bell too! I have never in my life been so excited to eat a taco bell burrito. Sad news followed quickly though, Pam isn't actually recovered. She is doing a little better but still has a long ways to go. They ended up finding three infections! One from knicking other organs when they took out her appendix, and one from meds they gave her that should no longer be in use. The third one was not their fault, but suffice to say we are all hoping to avoid a confrontation with Yap Memorial Hospital; or as google fondly names it "Yap Murder Hospital". She seems to have improved a bit this week though. Please keep her in your prayers!
Monday was Andreas birthday so we worked all day to give her a surprise party. A rather difficult task considering she lives in the apartment right next to us, but we attempted anyways. We had each apartment make a funny video for her and compiled them together. It was a lot of fun! She really enjoyed it. Everyone stayed in our apartment to watch Megamind. We used a school projector to watch it on our wall, not a bad substitute for a TV :).
Though we haven't had as many challenges with students coming drunk this week, a new challenge came. I had 4 girls completely skip the second half of the day. It was the 4 students who really couldn't afford to miss any more then they already had. It was so frustrating! I'm doing all I can to try and help these girls graduate, but it's like they aren't even trying. They had to be suspended the next day making them miss even more school. I was able to talk with each one the next day though, I hope it helped. I really want them to understand how important it is to come and keep up with the class in order to graduate high school. The day wasn't all bad though. At one point I turned around in Micronesia History to see one of the boys wearing the girls uniform skirt! I couldn't help but laugh and ask, "What are you doing?!" he replied, "Oh! Sorry Ms.!" and proceded to tuck in his shirt as required for the boys uniform. It doesn't matter how tired I am, or how low my patience is drained, they always do something that just makes me smile and forget the bad parts of the day.
Wednesday brought boxes! I have never been so excited to recieve a box before. Every time is more exciting then christmas and your birthday put together. Each time we get something in a shipment you can hear all four of us scream and race towards the packages. The highlights were the extra math curriculum my parents bought for me and the peanut butter M&M's; my all time favorite candy! I'm really excited for the math books, I got full solutions manuals and worksheet books for all my classes. The extra resouces will be so helpful! It is really tiring to create math problems every night.
The most exciting day of the week came on Thursday; and it wasn't just because I got all the seniors singing "Let Us Come Together" with handmotions during devotions :). At 5:37 pm Yap became the epicenter of a 5.8 earthquake! We had just gotten back from our town trip and we were unloading all our groceries. All of a sudden everything began to shake, the deck from our apartment was swaying back and forth and those indoors watched many of our things falling off the shelves. I've been in earthquakes before, bigger ones even, but the fact that we are on a 4 by 16 mile island make it a whole lot scarier. It didn't last too long though, and it definitely added excitement to our day! Four aftershocks followed it all the way through Friday morning.
Life continued despite the unsteady ground. Friday morning wasn't a normal school day for me. The seniors needed to take a college placement test at the College of Micronesia in the morning. Not all of them could get rides back to the school after the test. So I drove to the test to meet them there with Lorraine. We got them into the right room and then left to run errands for the school while they were tested. It's kind of fun driving in Yap, no matter where we are driving it feels like we are on backroads. We got back in time to pick up three of the students who needed a ride. They were quick to ask, "Ms. you have a license!?" and shout "We're gonna die!" as I drove away :). It was really reassuring to hear them say "Ms. the math part was easy, it was mostly about quadratics like you just taught us". I've been wondering recently if I'm actually helping them understand the things they need to know. It was really reassuring to see that God is definitley guiding what I teach and helping me to teach them what they need to know.
The grand finale to our week came in the package of a puppy we have named Coby. One of the third graders brought him in to Sophie and said that if we didn't take him they would have to put him on the street like the rest of the litter. He was tiny and adorable and so pathetic looking! So... we obviously adopted him! The campus already has a couple resident dogs so one more doesn't really make a difference. It's just more work for us, especially right now. He is so tiny, sick, and coated in fleas. We have tried everything to clean him and get him nourished. He already looks a little better. I think he will make a wonderful addition to our apartment :).
Even with all the random things making each day unique here in Yap, I've started to notice my new habits. I don't like habits. Some habits are good, and make life easier. But lots of habits just stop you from really thinking about what you are doing. I don't want worship or devotional time to become habit. I don't want teaching to become habit. I want to really be thinking about them and completely involved in them every time; not just floating through it becomes I've done it so many times. That is my challenge for this next week, starting tomorrow. We have this habit of sitting together in the same pew every Sabbath. So tomorrow I think I'll try and sit somewhere else, next to some members or visitors and make myself try something new. I was really excited to see some of my students at church last week, hopefully I will see them again!
(I apologize for the disorganized thoughts above. I have so much to share and so little brain power left to share it!)
Monday was Andreas birthday so we worked all day to give her a surprise party. A rather difficult task considering she lives in the apartment right next to us, but we attempted anyways. We had each apartment make a funny video for her and compiled them together. It was a lot of fun! She really enjoyed it. Everyone stayed in our apartment to watch Megamind. We used a school projector to watch it on our wall, not a bad substitute for a TV :).
Though we haven't had as many challenges with students coming drunk this week, a new challenge came. I had 4 girls completely skip the second half of the day. It was the 4 students who really couldn't afford to miss any more then they already had. It was so frustrating! I'm doing all I can to try and help these girls graduate, but it's like they aren't even trying. They had to be suspended the next day making them miss even more school. I was able to talk with each one the next day though, I hope it helped. I really want them to understand how important it is to come and keep up with the class in order to graduate high school. The day wasn't all bad though. At one point I turned around in Micronesia History to see one of the boys wearing the girls uniform skirt! I couldn't help but laugh and ask, "What are you doing?!" he replied, "Oh! Sorry Ms.!" and proceded to tuck in his shirt as required for the boys uniform. It doesn't matter how tired I am, or how low my patience is drained, they always do something that just makes me smile and forget the bad parts of the day.
Wednesday brought boxes! I have never been so excited to recieve a box before. Every time is more exciting then christmas and your birthday put together. Each time we get something in a shipment you can hear all four of us scream and race towards the packages. The highlights were the extra math curriculum my parents bought for me and the peanut butter M&M's; my all time favorite candy! I'm really excited for the math books, I got full solutions manuals and worksheet books for all my classes. The extra resouces will be so helpful! It is really tiring to create math problems every night.
The most exciting day of the week came on Thursday; and it wasn't just because I got all the seniors singing "Let Us Come Together" with handmotions during devotions :). At 5:37 pm Yap became the epicenter of a 5.8 earthquake! We had just gotten back from our town trip and we were unloading all our groceries. All of a sudden everything began to shake, the deck from our apartment was swaying back and forth and those indoors watched many of our things falling off the shelves. I've been in earthquakes before, bigger ones even, but the fact that we are on a 4 by 16 mile island make it a whole lot scarier. It didn't last too long though, and it definitely added excitement to our day! Four aftershocks followed it all the way through Friday morning.
Life continued despite the unsteady ground. Friday morning wasn't a normal school day for me. The seniors needed to take a college placement test at the College of Micronesia in the morning. Not all of them could get rides back to the school after the test. So I drove to the test to meet them there with Lorraine. We got them into the right room and then left to run errands for the school while they were tested. It's kind of fun driving in Yap, no matter where we are driving it feels like we are on backroads. We got back in time to pick up three of the students who needed a ride. They were quick to ask, "Ms. you have a license!?" and shout "We're gonna die!" as I drove away :). It was really reassuring to hear them say "Ms. the math part was easy, it was mostly about quadratics like you just taught us". I've been wondering recently if I'm actually helping them understand the things they need to know. It was really reassuring to see that God is definitley guiding what I teach and helping me to teach them what they need to know.
The grand finale to our week came in the package of a puppy we have named Coby. One of the third graders brought him in to Sophie and said that if we didn't take him they would have to put him on the street like the rest of the litter. He was tiny and adorable and so pathetic looking! So... we obviously adopted him! The campus already has a couple resident dogs so one more doesn't really make a difference. It's just more work for us, especially right now. He is so tiny, sick, and coated in fleas. We have tried everything to clean him and get him nourished. He already looks a little better. I think he will make a wonderful addition to our apartment :).
Even with all the random things making each day unique here in Yap, I've started to notice my new habits. I don't like habits. Some habits are good, and make life easier. But lots of habits just stop you from really thinking about what you are doing. I don't want worship or devotional time to become habit. I don't want teaching to become habit. I want to really be thinking about them and completely involved in them every time; not just floating through it becomes I've done it so many times. That is my challenge for this next week, starting tomorrow. We have this habit of sitting together in the same pew every Sabbath. So tomorrow I think I'll try and sit somewhere else, next to some members or visitors and make myself try something new. I was really excited to see some of my students at church last week, hopefully I will see them again!
(I apologize for the disorganized thoughts above. I have so much to share and so little brain power left to share it!)
Friday, September 30, 2011
Still
This week was particularly exhausting. Maybe it's because we are nearing the end of the quarter, their is always so much to do! It's hard to believe we have been here two months already! Despite the exhaustion, a lot of fun memories were formed this week and I saw a lot of blessings. I was sure Monday was going to be a terrible day. Sunday night we had a meeting with all the high school teachers and they announced we had to do a thorough check for all prohibited substances on Monday. Problems with drugs and drinking are much worse here then in the states. Yes teens in the states have huge issues with those things but here, well, it's almost encouraged. Drinking is a normal past times and it seems that lots of the parents just let their kids drink, even on school nights sometimes. Drugs are pretty easy to come by, especially marijuana. The biggest problem is beetle nut. Beetle nut is grown here on the island, the nut itself really isn't that bad. The problem is what they put in it. I don't understand entirely what is in it but they mix it with some stimulants its seems, some tobacco, and they chew it, all the time. Your cashier chews it, the bank teller, every person walking on the street, and the grade school kid sitting on the curb. It's completely normal, they have baskets they carry around to hold it. It turns their mouth and teeth a bright red, and most of the people have been chewing it since they were kids. Anyhow, none of these are allowed at the school. They said we had to do a complete check of all the bags and each individual in our first period. They said the kids would try to be sneaky and get things past you. I was so scared! I didn't know how I was going to do the check by myself in a room of 20 juniors, my first class on Monday. I don't really know what lots of the stuff I'm looking for even looks like! We all prayed together in the morning and as I was waiting in my room for my students one dropped off an anonymous note that read "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7. The verse was perfect, it was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes. I knew I could give up my fears and my nerves to God, He cares about these kids even more than I do. During the bag check I saw that God really did have it under control. They obeyed me and didn't cause problems during the check, they separated and cooperated, they even made me laugh; "Ms, are you going to take our chocolates?". I was so relieved not to find anything this time aside from a prescription that wasn't checked in at the office. I know I will end up finding something sometime this year, but God was gracious enough to let that wait for another time!
Looking back, their were a lot of highlights this week. The seniors lead chapel on Monday and it went great! I played the keyboard with them and they did a skit. Their own version of David and Goliath. It was hilarious! On Tuesday two of my seniors stayed after school until 5 to work as TA's for me. It was wonderful! They helped me catch up on a lot of grading and it was nice to get to just talk with them. They would ask me the most random questions, "Ms. when do you want to get married?". I started teaching the sophomores about the U.S. in geography and they had some of the funniest questions. They wanted to know where Hollywood was, if Everest was in the U.S., did it snow in Miami, do we say "a" or is that in Canada, and have I ever talked to someone with a southern accent. Those are just a few samples, they are so curious about the U.S; and everywhere else in the world for that matter! I guess I would be too if I had lived on a small island my whole life.
Friday, today, was my favorite day. We had lessons on leadership in the senior class for their pathfinder time. I had them do the human knot and several other games to demonstrate how someone has to step up and lead in order for them to work as a team. They had so much fun! We talked about leadership and some challenges leaders have. Particularly we talked about how a good leader deals with people causing problems in a group. I had them create skits to demonstrate how they would work with the person. They were so funny! I should have recorded them! I didn't think they would be able to finish one because everyone was laughing so hard! Maybe I should work with them on their acting skills :). We ended the day working with the 2nd and 3rd grade. They came into the senior room and had music class lead by a few of the seniors. My favorite part was when I came in and saw everyone singing Father Abraham. Even my seniors were doing the hand motions, I can't think of a better ending to the week.
Their were a lot of rough patches too. We had two students suspended for coming to school drunk. It breaks my heart to see what these kids do to themselves. It doesn't just affect a few of the students, but every single one of them. All of them are in some way surrounded by drugs and alcohol. Some of my students were asking me about it this week, "Ms. why don't you drink?". I talked to them about it for a while, but I feel so helpless. I have math class with them and Micronesia history, but how can I help them with the things that are really important? Things like their spiritual lives and all the messed up situations this life throws them into. I guess that stuff will come, but it's so hard to be patient. I can see so many ways they are hurting or confused and I want to help them.
I've had one song going through my head most of this week. It's called "Still". I had never heard the song until I came here. The chorus goes like this, "When the ocean's rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm, you are king of all over the earth, I will be still and know you are God". I love those words, they are so perfect for me right now. Most days seem like a storm at some point, some more then others. I love the picture of soaring above it with God. No matter how messed up things may seem some days, I can be calm and be still just knowing that God has it all under control.
-If you have been praying for Pamela, thank you! After two weeks in Guam she is returning tomorrow night, recovered and doing well! :)
A few facts about Yap....
1) Take off your shoes before entering any building; grocery store, house, church, pretty much everywhere.
2) In Yapese culture it is very offensive for woman to show their thighs, but the top.. the top doesn't matter, at all.
3) Both men and woman carry baskets around. If you enter a village and you aren't carrying a basket you must carry a branch to show that you come in peace.
4) A person should never be taller then a village chief, in some outer islands this means crawling into a room.
5) People spit all the time. I have at least 2 kids in each class ask to go spit every period.
6) Most Yapese don't know how to use a tissue, so i also have several kids every class asking to go outside to blow their nose. It's so gross...
7) Head leis are very intricate and worn most of the time. Not just by girls either, the men almost wear them more and are just as proficient at making them. Flowers are for everyone in Yap.
8) No one has seen a biscuit before, they didn't know how to eat them when I brought them to potluck.
9) It's really rare to find something at the grocery store that isn't already past it's expiration date. Turns out you can eat pretty much anything months after that date has passed.
10) A machete is a completely normal thing to carry around, bring to school, or take in the car with you. I mean, you never know when you will need to crack open a coconut.
Looking back, their were a lot of highlights this week. The seniors lead chapel on Monday and it went great! I played the keyboard with them and they did a skit. Their own version of David and Goliath. It was hilarious! On Tuesday two of my seniors stayed after school until 5 to work as TA's for me. It was wonderful! They helped me catch up on a lot of grading and it was nice to get to just talk with them. They would ask me the most random questions, "Ms. when do you want to get married?". I started teaching the sophomores about the U.S. in geography and they had some of the funniest questions. They wanted to know where Hollywood was, if Everest was in the U.S., did it snow in Miami, do we say "a" or is that in Canada, and have I ever talked to someone with a southern accent. Those are just a few samples, they are so curious about the U.S; and everywhere else in the world for that matter! I guess I would be too if I had lived on a small island my whole life.
Friday, today, was my favorite day. We had lessons on leadership in the senior class for their pathfinder time. I had them do the human knot and several other games to demonstrate how someone has to step up and lead in order for them to work as a team. They had so much fun! We talked about leadership and some challenges leaders have. Particularly we talked about how a good leader deals with people causing problems in a group. I had them create skits to demonstrate how they would work with the person. They were so funny! I should have recorded them! I didn't think they would be able to finish one because everyone was laughing so hard! Maybe I should work with them on their acting skills :). We ended the day working with the 2nd and 3rd grade. They came into the senior room and had music class lead by a few of the seniors. My favorite part was when I came in and saw everyone singing Father Abraham. Even my seniors were doing the hand motions, I can't think of a better ending to the week.
Their were a lot of rough patches too. We had two students suspended for coming to school drunk. It breaks my heart to see what these kids do to themselves. It doesn't just affect a few of the students, but every single one of them. All of them are in some way surrounded by drugs and alcohol. Some of my students were asking me about it this week, "Ms. why don't you drink?". I talked to them about it for a while, but I feel so helpless. I have math class with them and Micronesia history, but how can I help them with the things that are really important? Things like their spiritual lives and all the messed up situations this life throws them into. I guess that stuff will come, but it's so hard to be patient. I can see so many ways they are hurting or confused and I want to help them.
I've had one song going through my head most of this week. It's called "Still". I had never heard the song until I came here. The chorus goes like this, "When the ocean's rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm, you are king of all over the earth, I will be still and know you are God". I love those words, they are so perfect for me right now. Most days seem like a storm at some point, some more then others. I love the picture of soaring above it with God. No matter how messed up things may seem some days, I can be calm and be still just knowing that God has it all under control.
-If you have been praying for Pamela, thank you! After two weeks in Guam she is returning tomorrow night, recovered and doing well! :)
A few facts about Yap....
1) Take off your shoes before entering any building; grocery store, house, church, pretty much everywhere.
2) In Yapese culture it is very offensive for woman to show their thighs, but the top.. the top doesn't matter, at all.
3) Both men and woman carry baskets around. If you enter a village and you aren't carrying a basket you must carry a branch to show that you come in peace.
4) A person should never be taller then a village chief, in some outer islands this means crawling into a room.
5) People spit all the time. I have at least 2 kids in each class ask to go spit every period.
6) Most Yapese don't know how to use a tissue, so i also have several kids every class asking to go outside to blow their nose. It's so gross...
7) Head leis are very intricate and worn most of the time. Not just by girls either, the men almost wear them more and are just as proficient at making them. Flowers are for everyone in Yap.
8) No one has seen a biscuit before, they didn't know how to eat them when I brought them to potluck.
9) It's really rare to find something at the grocery store that isn't already past it's expiration date. Turns out you can eat pretty much anything months after that date has passed.
10) A machete is a completely normal thing to carry around, bring to school, or take in the car with you. I mean, you never know when you will need to crack open a coconut.
Friday, September 23, 2011
A Teachers Work is Never Done
Another busy week is over, they go by so fast! I can't believe we are already over half way through the first quarter. The week started wonderfully, with my birthday! I was not really excited to have my birthday on a Monday initially. I figured it would just kind of disappear into a long school day. This misconception went away before school even started. As soon as students began arriving I constantly heard "Happy Birthday Ms. Rychelle!" and one of my freshmen ran up to me and gave me an outer island head lei. Mondays always start with flag raising so k-12 grade line up in front of the flag poles. The entire school sang happy birthday to me and then the kids started singing "How old are you now.." nice try! They still don't get to know that little fact. Some of them were guessing 23 or 24... yes! I have fooled some of them! I received a few more head leis so I switched them out throughout the day. Every class I went to I was immediately met by birthday greetings and new renditions of the happy birthday song, including a rap from one of my seniors. As school ended I was handed a pile of birthday cards from the 2nd grade. They were so cute! They said "Happy Birthday Teacher Rychelle" and had all sorts of interesting art. Monday evening we went out to eat to celebrate. We went to the Manta Ray Bay restaurant. It is in a ship floating in the water, the restaurant is actually outside at the top. It was so nice to take a break from cooking and try out something new. My 20th birthday will not be forgotten. :)
The days of the week all seem to blend together. I brought out the schools long lost collection of graphing calculators and spent a day teaching the seniors how to use them. I had them race to make a smiley face. I worked on graphs and number lines with the sophomores and freshmen outside with side walk chalk. It worked really well! It is a bit of a struggle to keep all of them focused outside but they were all a lot more involved then in the classroom. I had them draw a giant graph on the basketball quart, and they were all begging for me to call on them to stand at a point. I tutored middle school math during my old PE time, it was fun to work one on one. On Thursday I convinced my seniors for a short while I could speak Yapese! It was hilarious, one of my students said something and I thought I heard it in English so I responded, correctly! I guess it must have been the intonation she said it in or something, I had no idea she had said it in Yapese. They all had the most shocked and confused looks on their faces, so funny. Later that day they came running up to me excited. I decorated the entire senior room black and yellow, it didn't take them long to figure out my favorite color. They said "Ms! Guess what colors we chose for our graduation gowns! Black and yellow!" :). Later that day we went to town and our van decided to act up. It just wouldn't start after our second stop in town. So all of us were out pushing it trying to get it going again, a funny sight I'm sure. Whenever something like that happens their are always a lot of students who know about it the next day. We kind of stand out, and everyone knows we are the teachers. News just travels fast in a small island I guess! They finally got it started and said we couldn't shut it off or we might not be able to get back. So, they had to fill it up with gas while it was running! It was pretty scary, I've always heard that is a terrible idea, so we stood as far away as we could!
Another crazy week draws to a close. It dumped rain all day today, which always makes for an interesting school day. My desk was completely soaked and everything on it. My students helped me move it to the other side of the room. They practiced their skit for chapel Monday. They are doing their own version of David and Goliath, quite entertaining! They taught me a new song on the guitar and I made peanut butter cookies for them. The cookies turned out to be a big hit! All 40 of them disappeared in less then 5 minutes! Sometimes throughout the day it just seems like chaos, but it always seems to come together. This week I understand the saying, "A teachers work is never done". It seems like no matter how much I do, their is more that needs to be done. More I want to teach them, more to plan, more to grade. It feels like their is always too much to cram in to such a small amount of time. At the end of the day I just have to step back and take a breath and look at my day. I can see the places God carried me through and the things that I need to work on. I see all the work I have to do and things I want to teach my students. Most importantly I see the moments that make everything else fade away. The times my students thank God for sending their teachers in prayer and ask for our safety; the things they say and do that make teaching the best way I could imagine spending my time. I don't think I'll ever really "finish" my work this year. I will probably always feel like their is more to do, but that is okay. I pray that God will help all of us as we influence and educate our students. These kids deserve the best, and more then anything I want to help them. I want to show them Christ's love and help them learn all they need to succeed at whatever it is they dream of doing.
The days of the week all seem to blend together. I brought out the schools long lost collection of graphing calculators and spent a day teaching the seniors how to use them. I had them race to make a smiley face. I worked on graphs and number lines with the sophomores and freshmen outside with side walk chalk. It worked really well! It is a bit of a struggle to keep all of them focused outside but they were all a lot more involved then in the classroom. I had them draw a giant graph on the basketball quart, and they were all begging for me to call on them to stand at a point. I tutored middle school math during my old PE time, it was fun to work one on one. On Thursday I convinced my seniors for a short while I could speak Yapese! It was hilarious, one of my students said something and I thought I heard it in English so I responded, correctly! I guess it must have been the intonation she said it in or something, I had no idea she had said it in Yapese. They all had the most shocked and confused looks on their faces, so funny. Later that day they came running up to me excited. I decorated the entire senior room black and yellow, it didn't take them long to figure out my favorite color. They said "Ms! Guess what colors we chose for our graduation gowns! Black and yellow!" :). Later that day we went to town and our van decided to act up. It just wouldn't start after our second stop in town. So all of us were out pushing it trying to get it going again, a funny sight I'm sure. Whenever something like that happens their are always a lot of students who know about it the next day. We kind of stand out, and everyone knows we are the teachers. News just travels fast in a small island I guess! They finally got it started and said we couldn't shut it off or we might not be able to get back. So, they had to fill it up with gas while it was running! It was pretty scary, I've always heard that is a terrible idea, so we stood as far away as we could!
Another crazy week draws to a close. It dumped rain all day today, which always makes for an interesting school day. My desk was completely soaked and everything on it. My students helped me move it to the other side of the room. They practiced their skit for chapel Monday. They are doing their own version of David and Goliath, quite entertaining! They taught me a new song on the guitar and I made peanut butter cookies for them. The cookies turned out to be a big hit! All 40 of them disappeared in less then 5 minutes! Sometimes throughout the day it just seems like chaos, but it always seems to come together. This week I understand the saying, "A teachers work is never done". It seems like no matter how much I do, their is more that needs to be done. More I want to teach them, more to plan, more to grade. It feels like their is always too much to cram in to such a small amount of time. At the end of the day I just have to step back and take a breath and look at my day. I can see the places God carried me through and the things that I need to work on. I see all the work I have to do and things I want to teach my students. Most importantly I see the moments that make everything else fade away. The times my students thank God for sending their teachers in prayer and ask for our safety; the things they say and do that make teaching the best way I could imagine spending my time. I don't think I'll ever really "finish" my work this year. I will probably always feel like their is more to do, but that is okay. I pray that God will help all of us as we influence and educate our students. These kids deserve the best, and more then anything I want to help them. I want to show them Christ's love and help them learn all they need to succeed at whatever it is they dream of doing.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Capsised
The weekends always seem to fly by! I can't believe it is already Sunday evening. I know the weekend is supposed to be our time to rest, but I think I am more exhausted then when it started! Saturday night we stayed up really really late. Not to watch a movie or talk, but to go to the airport. Sadly Pamela had to fly to Guam. Her flight didn't leave until 4 am, so we decided to stay up and go with her to the airport. Andrea went with her to Guam, hopefully she is recieving better treatment there. On the bright side, they are bringing back a huge collection of taco bell for us to freeze upon their return :). After sleeping in a bit, we headed to the beach this morning. We went to a new beach, a "resort" actually. It was so pretty! They had a little outdoor restaurant there, so we all enjoyed lunch first. They sang happy birthday to me, an early celebration since my actual birthday is tomorrow, a school day. Then we headed for the beach! Their was a rope swing hanging over the water. Everyone at home is always warning to be careful not to stand under coconut trees, but the swing was hung from a coconut tree. It really is quite impossible around here to avoid being directly underneath one. After a while we headed out to snorkel! The swim was a little rougher then usual due to the rain that was pouring all morning, but we made it. The fish were huge! Much bigger then the last snorkeling adventures. They were still colorful, striped, and beautiful. We saw a puffer fish peak out from one of the rocks. I don't think I could ever grow tired of seeing all the beauty under the surface. After a while some of the other missionaries brought a kayak out to where we were and said we could take it out to the breakers if we wanted to. So, Sabrina and I loaded on and headed out further. After a while we began to notice we were getting deeper and deeper in the water.. the kayak was sinking! Sabrina went off the side, we got her back up only to have the entire kayak flip a few minutes later! Our snorkeling gear went flying off! We were dieing laughing, until we realized we couldn't find our snorkels and masks! We retrieved our flippers and the paddle, but the snorkels had disappeared. We tried to look around but it was really deep. We finally got the kayak flipped but we couldn't get back on. We saw Mr. Raian swimming towards us, he said their was a sting ray circling us! We became a little panicked... apparently it got really close to us, but we never saw it. Back at shore we collected some shells and found tons of crabs. By 5 it was time to head back, we have lots to prepare for school. I'm so glad we had a chance to finally take a good break at the beach! It was quite the adventure we won't forget anytime soon :).
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