There's a turkey on the table

The tables were spread from side to side with food, our taste buds were anxious, and we were all ready for the short Thanksgiving program to be over so we could eat.
Then, the power went out. Not missing a beat, the song continued as the local workers pulled out their flashlights and flicked them on. And for those few seconds, it was dark and peaceful with "Give Thanks" echoing around the 2nd grade classroom as the baby tsunami winds blew the curtains into the room. But, soon the generators were kicked on and we were able to view the food sitting tantalizing on the table. This is actually the first time that I've been to a thanksgiving meal that had a turkey sitting in the middle of the table, not Tofurky... I put my vegetarian ways behind me for a couple bites, and then picked them up again. Meat hasn't won me over yet.
After a long dry spell, we've finally had rain - and we've had it in abundance! Puddles are once again everywhere, and we're able to sleep decently at night without feeling like we were suffocating.
It was thanksgiving over here yesterday, and so while millions of people on the other side of the International Date Line ate dainty portions in order to successfully consume mass quantities of edible substances the next day, we were busy cutting the pumpkin pies and pulling the casseroles and turkeys out of the oven.
I'm eternally thankful for my family and friends, but there are some simple things that I think deserve some special mention. Some of them are from home, and some are from here:
This thanksgiving (and every other day), I'm thankful for:

• Lactose pills 
• That there aren't rats living in my bed, like there are in the couch
• Nice smelling liquid laundry detergent, this powder stuff doesn't do squat
• ASWWU sunglasses that came just in time
• Having a resort nearby with coconut trees that are the perfect distance apart for hammocking
• Hard drives that are indestructible! 
• Containers of quick oats that are not filled with cobwebs and dead bugs (eww!!)
• Football
• How the humidity doesn't dry out my skin here
• Rice and veggies, this is such a staple here, and I know I'll never tire of it
• Teeth!
• Science equipement, toys, coloring pages, and the people who've spent their time and money to send them to me
• Cats that don't have diseases
• My Nalgene
• Students who turn their homework in on time
• Students who do their homework
• Glacier lakes in the beautiful PNW
• A chance to see the world through new eyes
• That I get to see my family soon (come quickly, Christmas!)
• Being able to sit outside on the stairs and look up at the stars, breathe in the island air, and be reminded how blessed I am

There's so much more to be thankful for, but I shalln't keep you! ;) Happy Thanksgiving!

A post about death

I teach 4^th grade science right after lunch, and these kids love to help me carry all my stuff to their classroom. “All my stuff” is usually just my backpack, which they will practically tear off me if given the permission and wear proudly into the classroom like a fabric Metal of Honor. As soon as I emerge from our apartment I am greeted by two or three of my students, ready to get me into the classroom (if only my other classes were so excited to have class/learn! High schoolers…). Cecelia takes my water bottle, Rhynner will grab onto my arm saying, “I’m an arm-hugger!” and Cody will flank my other side, his arm draped around me as he just about corrals me into their classroom.

These kids are some of my favorites. They are interested in what I have to teach them, and are quick to settle down when I need some more order in the classroom. While not the perfect class, these nine fourth graders are pretty close.

This fateful day was like any other. I was escorted to their classroom where I turned to the left and headed to the high school building, followed by a string of students who had yelled “ME!” to the call of “Who wants to come help me?” We paraded up the stairs and then through the 9^th grade class into the 10^th grade classroom, where my laptop and speakers remained from the Biology class I taught before lunch. I handed my backpack to one student, a notebook to another, and speakers to the next, fully intending to finish watching Tarzan.

Then, one of them grabbed my laptop and before I could tell her to put it into the case and wait for me, she had disappeared out of the room. I quickly grabbed the case and headed out with two of my other students, slightly worried.

Crash!

I instantly knew that my student had just taken this opportunity to unintentionally experiment with whether gravity still worked or not. Turns out, it did. We got down to their classroom and I apprehensively opened my laptop to be greeted by an unhappy image of white, black, and small sections of patterns of various purple hues. A bad case of an internally cracked screen.

I took my guilt-stricken student outside, told her that she needed to be more careful with other people’s stuff, and then gave her a hug. The poor girl, she felt down-right awful! I grabbed some paper and some crayons, passed them out and told my VERY quiet class to just “Draw Thanksgiving pictures to make me happy.” Then, honestly, I just sat behind the teacher’s desk and stared at the wall.

It was all very terrible.

But it gets better! As the class period drew to a close I received cards covered with “I love you,” “Happy Thanksgiving!” and "Sorry 'so-and-so' broke your computer." There were green trees, hearts, and hand turkeys. Tahina wrote me the following note, and I giggled over trying to decipher it: “Your so good wet us I am sorry and I love your class in sciencn and I no now.” That girl.

And the laptop is fine, none of the memory was lost, and I’m able to use a monitor to complete my grades and write this post. I still have all my pictures, stories, and movies!!

So, all’s well that ends well.

Not so for all members of this next tale.

You probably have heard many stories about the vile cockroaches that a student missionary is sure to meet during their year of service. And at Chuuk we have seen our share of these terrible fends. I’ve seen enough of them to last me the rest of my life: their brown exoskeletons that refuse to be squished, their tiny heads with disgusting little mandibles that move back and forth and can make you squirm just by that movement, and the way they scuttle under the refrigerator just to watch you and giggle to themselves. I don’t like these creatures.

When the power goes off in the evenings, I don’t like venturing into the kitchen because I know what I’ll find. A rat running for cover under our sink, and at least one inch-and-a-half cockroach running around the room, across the table, and on the walls. Opening the cupboard that one night a while ago was a huge mistake. I was greeted with about ten little cockroaches, screaming “Run away!!” into the humid night air.

Some SM's like to play cockroach-hockey, using brooms to slap the things against the wall and then preferably out of the house, some catch them in cups and throw them out the door, and others will throw textbooks onto them in an attempt to stun them for easy removal. But I can’t run the risk of having the cockroach I have just risked life and limb to catch returning into our apartment, so I try to get rid of them using another method.

We have freezers for reasons.

And one of those reasons is for killing cockroaches. I’m pretty sure if you were to read the owner’s manual there would be a whole section concerning the proper etiquette for freezing cockroaches. Just sayin’.

And on the plus side, there’s no guts! Just run around trying to put the plastic container over them without accidently separating the head partially from the body (which results in awkward twitching... and what do you mean it sounds like I’m speaking from experience?!), slide a magazine gingerly between the floor and the roach, and then just stick them in the freezer! They’ll be ready to be taken out in a couple hours and slid into the trash without a fuss.

Anyways, now you know.

It’s almost Thanksgiving, we have an all-day party on Wednesday, get Thursday and Friday off, and I couldn’t be more excited! Thanks for your love, support, and prayers, and eat a piece of pie for me.

That high school life

Our principal, Walter John, assigns us short paragraphs to write about the going-ons at Chuuk SDA School. So I thought that a compilation of these would give you some good snapshots of what that high school life is like here outside of teaching.
So, here we go.

High School Picnic 

What was supposed to be a “Welcome Freshman!” picnic held at the beginning of the year turned into a “Well it’s the second quarter, let’s have a party!” picnic. The high school students headed over to Anna’s Resort on October 31 to enjoy fellowship and the uniqueness of Chuuk. After being let into the resort by the super tight security the group had a short worship and then the students were free to do whatever their hearts desired – within reason. Food was quickly prepared and fun was had. The resort is on the other side of Weno and consists of two concrete pools with a bit of grime and rainwater at the bottom, a dirty pool with some depressed sea turtles, a bunch of coconut trees, a random house, and many coconut palm-covered huts lining the main paths along the two short peninsulas. The day was spent kayaking around the coast, jumping into the ocean, bumping a volleyball around, and for one of the people there more than the others – getting burned. 

As you probably could guess, as the only pale person in attendance, I was said "one." It seems that no matter how much sunscreen I apply the sun always gets the last laugh. There are abandoned ships all around Chuuk, and I was able to go snorkel around one that was there. I scratched myself on the ship and spent a couple seconds worrying about sharks and manta rays but then decided they couldn't hurt me. After that I kind of just spent two hours in a hammock, swaying to the sound of the wind in the coconut leaves and Chuukese voices.

Iowa Testing 

From September 22-26 grades 3-12 at the Chuuk SDA School underwent a week of repetitive, scholastic, and energy-draining tests called the Iowa Tests. The Iowa tests are based out of the University of Iowa in the United States, and since the school is now under the North American Division its students are required to take the same tests that students in the States are taking. The Iowa tests are annual tests that are meant to show administrators where their students are academically compared to the national norm and how well their students can fill in bubbles using a number 2 pencil. Tests were taken in the morning and then classes resumed as usual in the afternoon; this week proved to be an excellent time for the staff to exercise their flexibility. The students took tests that included, but were not limited to: Computation, Vocabulary, Science, and Math. 

For once, I was able to be the person who got to say: "Please read the directions silently while I read them aloud." Yippee!

IOM Conference 

On September 11 and 12, the senior class at Chuuk SDA School took a couple days off their usual Physics and Bible classes to attend a different sort of class – a two-day conference held by the International Organization for Migration at their office. The meetings covered many topics about life and culture in Guam or the United States, and presentations ranged everywhere from how much to tip at a restaurant to how to prepare for an interview. The time proved to be very informative to anybody who had not traveled out of Chuuk. The students were in meetings from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm, and were given a lovely hour lunch break. This conference gave time for the students to talk to people who have been to or are from the United States and to ask any questions they wanted to in a relaxed setting. As an added benefit we finished the material around 1:00 pm on the second day and were able to leave early.

Since I am American and ergo all-knowledgeable about American culture, I was volunteered to present that part of the material. Fun stuff like: 'what to do when you first meet somebody' and 'don't spit' stuff.

Seniors’ Car Wash  

Class of 2015

Occasionally a car needs to be washed, and one of the ways to fix that problem is to go outside during one of Chuuk’s many rainstorms and use a rag to clean the gray dirt off of the lower part of your vehicle. Or, the other way is to benefit a good cause and pay a bunch of teens one dollar to wash your car for you. The senior class picked this method as one of their ways to raise money for graduation; on October 3^rd we stocked up on laundry soap and kitchen sponges and headed into town to get some money. A few of the students stood by the road with their handheld signs and yelled “Car Wash!” over and over again, and when a driver made the excellent decision to get his ride squeaky-clean the rest of the students were quick to pounce on the vehicle and give it the royal treatment. Chuukese music played from one of the student’s cars, a potluck lunch was shared by all, and the students were able to raise around $80 to put towards graduation costs.

This was actually a lot of fun! I learned how to say car wash in Chuukese, I don't know the exact spelling but it's pronounced duh-duh terack-tuh. And I may be saying it wrong because Minako keeps asking me to say it for her weeks after the car wash and she laughs every time. Also, a couple of my senior guys write their own music and record it on CD's, and they sound really good! I just have to convince them to sing for graduation...

So that's a little taste of what being in high school is like in Chuuk, at least the mostly non-academic part of it. Teaching high school is drastically different than teaching elementary school. Back in Kosrae and in my fourth grade science class here my students are climbing on top of their desks when they know the answer to a question or when they want to tell me what sort of thing they did last weekend.

Me and LaLa, the locals are so used to
the salinity that they can just open
their eyes underwater...
Me? Not so much

But high school has proven to be a little more difficult to get the students engaged and excited about learning. The students in my other five classes - which include the eighth grade science and the four high school science classes - are largely unmotivated and are constantly asking me if they can just take a nap or watch a movie. Umm... NO. I know that copying notes from a green chalkboard isn't even close to the Top-Billion-Fun-Things-To-Do-Ever List, but is it too much for you to quietly write down the notes so we can get to some fun stuff?
Thank you so much to everybody who has sent me encouragement, things for the kids, and science materials. You are making my day and a difference!