Its been an adventure

Graduation weekend and my time in Chuuk seems like such a long time ago now, but there is one final chapter from this story that I still have to write, so ergo - here we go!
One thing that is incredible about Chuuk SDA School is now the teachers can come together and make things happen. At the beginning of the year I was absolutely terrified when I learned that I would be the one to plan the entire graduation for my high school seniors. I thought to myself: This is too much! I don't know how to plan something this big! And, more than once: I have NO idea what I'm doing. But over time, as I continued to try to figure out exactly what to do, I was blown away by the support system that I had - the teachers that I had been learning to work with.
They knew what to do, who to talk to, and how to make a program that would go smoothly. And though I was still overly stressed and worried way too much, their confidence and knowledge inspired me to get things done. The initial 8th grade adviser and I had decided to combine the 8th grade and 12th grade graduation as an experiment this year, and so I had the opportunity to have somebody else to work with and shoulder the weight.
So here's to you, my fellow SDA teachers and SM's: You all are the best - I couldn't have done it without you! Thanks for being a constant inspiration for me!

A few 8th graders

My seniors <3

Graduation went well. There were the expected hiccups and ultra-late arrivals, but everybody got diplomas and random awards, and so I'd say it was a roaring success. We were able to come up with some of our own awards, and so I gave out quite a few, including a Gentleman's Award and a Miss Congeniality Award. Fun stuff, that! One thing that was great about planning a graduation was that I finally figured out how to correctly spell and pronounce Baccalaureate!
The small successes, haha!

Anyways, the teachers, my seniors, some church members, and the local workers all came together to give the church a new coat of paint, weave ferns and make flower decorations, and finalize speeches. Public speaking isn't many people's good friend, and I'm proud of the many students who gave their speeches during graduation - thanks for making eye contact! :) Soon enough, the graduates had moved their tassels, the reception was finished, and I was free to spend the last few hours of my birthday in bliss.

Last view of Chuuk

The next week was spent cleaning and organizing my teaching materials, heading to Lei-Side for a last hurrah, and packing up to go HOME! On May 29 I headed over to Kosrae for a few last days of island life, and then on June 1 we said our final goodbyes and were on our way home - back to dry heat, Wal-mart, and an endless supply of vegetables.
There was a part of me that thought that I might get some sleep during the 24 hour trip home, but that wasn't to be the case! As the island hopper made its way from Pohnpei to Honolulu, more and more SM's climbed aboard, and it was great to be able to start exchanging stories. We reached Hawaii, and my layover was spent going through customs, collecting my luggage, and checking everything back in again. On the flight from Honolulu though, we ran into a tiny hiccup. About an hour into the flight a voice came over the speakers asking if there was a paramedic or doctor on-board, and if they could identify themselves. A middle-aged gentleman seemed to be having difficulty breathing, and we ended up turning the plane around and heading back to Hawaii. We taxied to the gate, and after another 45 minutes or so we were back in the air. Most of the SM's I talked to during that time also took it in stride - the "it's chill" attitude was still very present. Thankfully, I wasn't met with any difficulties with catching my flight, and was even able to grab a bite to eat before climbing aboard the tiny plane on my last leg to home.

And... It's so GOOD to be home! A few close friends from WWU and my church had come to meet me at the airport, and that was so exciting. :) In Kosrae the girls and some local ladies had made some breadfruit chips, so I was able to share those with everybody and get some great reactions, haha!
The last few weeks I've spent catching up with friends and family, and doing so many of the things that I had so missed! Being jet lagged lasted for a bit over a week and I'm still getting cold in air conditioning... but I've had VEGETABLES and more salads in these two weeks than I had in the 10 months that I was gone.
Though my time in Chuuk was challenging, it was so rewarding as well! I'm glad that I went, and I pray that many more students are inspired to go to the islands next year - since they are in desperate need of teachers. (hint, hint.)

So here I am, at the end of my journey - and it's been an adventure. I am so thankful for all who have supported me throughout this past year in your prayers, or by sending me packages or words of encouragement.

There's only one thing left to say: Kinisou chapur. Thank-you very much to the islands that gave me a new perspective, taught me so much about life and how to be strong, gave me the courage to depend on others, and gave me the faith to put my trust in the God that never fails me.

Dancing down the homestretch

Seniors: Annette, Sharlyn, and Minako

Although my days as a student missionary in Chuuk are winding down, these last few days have felt like anything but that. The list of details for graduation that Russell (the 8^th grade advisor) and I have to make sure are in place keeps getting longer, and every other hour my emotions swing from being confident that this graduation will go off without a hitch, to the other extreme – that one too many things will go wrong and I’ll just end up being embarrassed. There are certificates to be printed, gowns to be ironed, and reception tickets to be finalized by the parents. Communication in Chuuk has something to be desired; when I call a student’s house I rarely get an answer, and I wonder if a few of the parents have even received one letter that I've sent home this year. Ergo, my frazzled emotions… recently I've felt like I’m not good enough for the job – and that I’m not doing enough.

His power is made perfect in weakness – 2 Corinthians 12:9

I have that verse written in the front of my Bible, a constant reminder that I’m just a prayer away from Someone who can work through my weaknesses and shortcomings. I’m a firm believer that God has his hand in everything we do, and so many times He has worked despite my lack of qualifications; He’s helped a program or class run smoothly, brought a surprising answer to a prayer, and given me strength to face each new day.

There've been times this year when things have been bleak. I've been lonely, frustrated, and more lost then I’d like to admit. But He’s been there, helping me along the way and exposing me to the flaws in my character. From that, I've been able to grow in my faith, make ‘adjustments as needed,’ and learned to trust in His plans.

More and more my thoughts are turning to home. Excited doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about being back in Washington again in a couple weeks! I can’t wait to…

be reunited with friends and family

I'll miss seeing neat ocean critters,
like this cute puffer fish

eat fresh raspberries, cherries, and strawberries

exchange stories late into the night

have a destination when I go running

hear my favorite pastors preach

drive on smooth roads

eat pie at midnight at Sheri’s

have movie nights

take hot showers

smell sagebrush and pine trees

eat vegetables. lots of veggies

be back on the other side of the desk

go on dates

hear new music

go backpacking

Chuuk has been… in a word, different. An adventure for sure – this island’s culture and this school are vastly unlike anything else I've experienced, and so many times we have just had to glance at each other and say: “This is Chuuk.” I know that this year has shaped me, and though many times I've questioned the wisdom of God calling me from Kosrae to Chuuk, I know that I've been blessed by taking that leap of faith and trusting Him to catch me.

The days on the calendar are being crossed off and as our commencement ceremony on May 26^th gets closer and closer, I’m looking forward to calling out my senior’s names as they walk across the stage and receive their diplomas, and I just hope that I’ll be able to keep my emotions in check. They just look so good in their caps and gowns! I’m proud of my seniors for the things that they have accomplished in the last 12 years, and for the goals and dreams that I pray they’ll achieve. My time with these ten teenagers and the rest of the students here has been brief, but I know I’ll soon miss them and their diverse personalities: Minako's steadiness, Defitson's quirky humor, and Sheila’s loyalty.

Defitson, Jake, Madision, Alberton,
Praise, and Motoky

The people I've met here are lovely, and I’m going to miss…

the giving nature of the Chuukese

island sunsets

my sweet Filipino roommates

having a beach right down the street

the fourth graders

massages with my roommate

fresh coconuts

the hormonal weather

hearing “What’s happeninggg? What are you doinggg?”

I won’t miss those huge brown spiders. They’re scary. And fast. That’s a terrible combination.

Through all the good days, and despite the exhausting days, spending a year as an SM was one of the best decisions I've made, and I’d encourage those of you who are thinking about it to just do it! Go!

It’s going to be a shock to jump back into my busy American life, but I’ll be bringing home my ukulele, probably some stowaway cockroaches and ants, and a lifetimes worth of stories and memories from these ten short months to tide me over. I know that when things get hectic and I long for the slow lifestyle of these islands, I’ll be able to close my eyes and smell the salt of the ocean, feel the sand between my toes, hear my students singing, and recall my time in the tropics as the chorus of my mind sings “You did it, well done.”

I'll treasure every memory I have
with these wonderful girls!

I had three spiders that lived inches away
from my head as I slept for most of the
year, but this guy freaks me out...

Making pyramids
during Bible Retreat.

Little extra protein

When I first got to Kosrae, I had an unfortunate experience with finding bugs in my oatmeal. Tiny brown things, barely noticeable, but enough to make me just toss the meal away and look for other options.
My how things have changed.
A couple days ago I decided to have oatmeal for breakfast, and after pouring some into a bowl I realized that once again I had company. The little bugs ran around my oats, only halfheartedly looking for a place to hid and doubting that I would proceed with my meal... but they should have known better. Because things like that don't bother me anymore, and what's a little extra protein?

Think I might have oatmeal again today.

A storm with a name

4/3/15

Typhoon!!! I've always wondered what it would be like to experience a storm so big it deserved a name, and now I can say that I have. Chuuk had been experiencing a bit of a dry spell when the principal came to our door late Saturday night and told us that there had been a typhoon warning put out. With a growing tropical storm headed my way, I began to feel a bit nervous… images of the destruction caused by different typhoons and hurricanes filled my mind as I tried to get to sleep.

During the night the winds of Typhoon Maysak grew stronger and stronger, buffeting the windows and howling through the trees, and sleep didn't come easily. A gray sunrise welcomed in the next morning, and it felt like the morning of doomsday – there was that feeling of the peace before the storm in the eerie wind. Kind of creepy! The power was out, along with the internet, and so we pulled out the propane stoves for breakfast as the winds grew ever stronger. 

It was about 11 o’clock when the main force of the typhoon arrived, and for a bit it was exciting. Some of us gathered up on the porch of our apartment to document the adventure. Before the internet went out, I had read online that the winds of Maysak were expected to reach speeds of 74 MPH, and I didn't doubt that possibility. The winds threw the raindrops into our eyes, and bits of broken leaves and coconut fronds flew through the air. The rain fell in torrents, and quickly overcame the draining system. Parts of the school property were soon flooded and filthy water poured into the lower classrooms. Some of our neighbors came over to wait out the storm in one of the classrooms, since their home wasn't very storm-worthy, which is the case with most of the homes here. Mecha and I headed over to the high school building to get a different view, and before she made the dash up the stairs to join me there was the sound of crashing and scraping and a couple screams as she narrowly dodged a flying piece of roofing as long as a middle school student. These typhoon winds were no joke! The storm became a little less exciting then. At the corner of the building is where the full force of the winds could be felt, and so I was only there for a little bit, but it was SO strong! My voice was futile against the winds, and my clothes were plastered to my skin. Coconut trees bent almost in half, rooftops were torn from houses, and the waves were all white-capped. I noticed that the Odyssey, a luxury diving ship, had be moved from Blue Lagoon in hopes to protect it but was being tossed like a toy boat in the waves. Later I learned that it and four other large ships had been wrecked during the typhoon. I could see the gusts of wind, and quickly headed back to the guy’s apartment where all the teachers were joining together for songs and prayer.

The worst of the typhoon lasted until around 6 o’clock that night, and we worried for our neighbors, Yap, and the Philippines as Typhoon Maysak continued on its way there, pulling up more water and gaining strength. But the storm wasn't over, and rain and fierce winds continued to buffet Chuuk for the next couple days. There were five fatalities, and the destruction was awful. I made it to town on Thursday, and it was still a mess – many houses were roofless, some even completely demolished, and trash was everywhere. On Paata, one of the outer islands, there was only one house that remained standing. The power lines and poles that the construction workers had been putting in were floored, and we still don’t have internet or power on this side of the island, so we've been using a generator to for a couple hours at mealtime. Which sort of fulfills my curiosity about what it’d be like to experience a long power outage; except for we have a generator so this doesn't really count. These last couple days we haven’t been doing a lot after cleaning up the school campus, and we ended up having a week-long spring break (though it would have been nicer to have a break without so much heartache and destruction).

4/6/2015

We had our first day back today, and with no surprise many of the students didn't show up. Many of their homes have suffered a lot of damage, and they stayed behind to help rebuild or watch younger siblings. A couple days after Maysak went through principal told us that there was a tsunami warning that had been put out, but that warning was retracted (Actually the exact wording he received was that the tsunami had been 'canceled,' which I didn't know was a thing, haha)... and the another typhoon they were saying might come hasn't, so we're thankful for that! 

So anyways, that’s just a little bit of what Typhoon Maysak was like, and I’d like to ask for your continued prayers for all the people affected by the storm. And hey, now I can say that I have gone through a typhoon, and survived!!

3.14

To make today wonderful (and to celebrate pi day), we had pumpkin pie for breakfast.

Win. 

Now you know, so make your day awesome and go get some pie. :)

Unwelcome shower buddy

There are a lot of random critters that I'm learning to tolerate living with while in Chuuk... like rats, cockroaches, termites, and a couple armies of ants. The termites burrow around and leave their little "turdlets" in the corners and all over the floor, which then stick to our shoes and get carried around the apartment. The potential colony queens come in mad rushes and fill the air and cover the counters with their annoying little bodies. They flock in droves to the light bulbs in the bathroom, and if they hit the light they are stunned and drop down onto you - and dive bombing termites isn't a pleasant experience. Also, they are very delicate and weak (their wings seem to fall off if you just look at them), and if they get caught in a drop of water they instantly are stuck and will give up all hope.

you chose this path

The cockroaches are like that too... we've found that the most effective roach trap is to just leave a dish out to soak and those suicidal little fiends will just jump right in!

Rats live in our walls and in the roof, and we can hear them running around there and through our dishes at night. We removed the disgusting couch that was in our apartment and found inside that a rat had gone through our trash and taken the nastiest stuff back to his nest. Eww! And there's also a nice family of rat living in the high school building. I wish they would leave. They ate my  chemistry class's paper mache models of the cell and I'm still bitter.

But the most recent critter that I've come in contact with was one of the worst. For me at least. I was minding my own business in the cold shower when a centipede decided to come join me, and it was more than half way up my leg when I finally felt its grabby little appendages. EEP! I did a jump-twist and flung the offender onto the floor. It was as long as my pinky and its black body twisted and contorted in the water as it tried to climb the wall... I stayed as far as I could in our tiny shower. I really don't like centipedes. Maybe it's the multitude of tiny legs that throws me off, or the freaky way they walk though dirt, or their unnerving butt antennae, whatever it is, ICK I don't like those things, and eww nasty GROSS it was on me. Anyways, I didn't want to squish him and get all those leg pieces all over, so I turned on the water and pushed him over to the drain with a soap dish (sorry Mecha!!), and it committed suicide all by itself. Ha. But I did spend the rest of my shower worrying that he would somehow crawl back up the drain and exact revenge. I don't feel bad. Not in the very least. Mawahaha!

Light

I had to stop teaching 4th grade science a couple weeks ago.

And it's sad, and partially my fault. I wanted to teach fewer science classes so I could concentrate more on the remaining classes, so the principal gave that class to one of the new teachers and gave me an English class. But I wasn't expecting to lose that class. I love those kids! They keep coming up to me, asking when I'm going to come back and why I had to leave - and it's breaking my heart. Sometimes I'll wander into their classroom at random times of the day, and other times when I walk by I have to look the other way because I miss them all so much. One thing that never failed to brighten my day was that class after lunch - these 4th graders have a thirst for knowledge that wakes me up, and that I hope stays with them all through the rest of their schooling.
I miss walking into their classroom to find that they've arranged themselves into a pyramid, which is threatening to collapse because of their body-shaking laughter.
I miss when they beg for me to sing the Star-spangled Banner, and tell me to just close my eyes and pretend that I'm in CenturyLink Field. Like that makes singing in front of people any easier.
I miss when they try to convince me that Gina is absent when really she's hiding in a cupboard again - or under a blanket on the filing cabinet... the twinkle in their eyes always gives them away.
It's amazing how much space in my heart this class has taken.

My days are missing a bit of light.

Part III - Bring it on

Sharlyn, Sterah

If there’s one thing that these kids are passionate about, it’s sports. Basketball, volleyball, even table tennis, if it's happening they'll live and breathe it. Which brings me to the last part of the ‘Busiest week of the year thus far’: Sport’s Day! Now, this day was crazy. We had three to four things going on at once – ranging from basketball to flour-blowing, from eating contests to chess.

All the students were divided into four different groups: red, yellow, green, and blue. The older grades did more of the major games like volleyball and basketball, and the younger grades had the minor games covered. One of the minor games was a paper blowing game; now at first this didn’t sound too complicated to me, but blowing a flower along a rough string is harder when your mouth is filled with chocolate wafer crumbs… it was hilarious watching the little kids stuff their faces and then try to blow, little crumbs were flying all over!

I feel like I just said this, but the great morning weather didn’t last long, and soon it was raining. The field they were playing volleyball in was soaked, but of course that didn’t stop the games. Janet played the part of the DJ while Jules stood on the ladder in the rain, blowing the whistle and calling points. The field was quickly muddy and the students were slipping and sliding like crazy all over. Praise ran went up for a spike, slipped, and landed in a puddle. Motoky almost did the splits. There was so much laughter and screaming.

Another of the minor games was a ‘Eat what you get’ game, in which 10 kids from each of the teams lined up and picked something out of a bag and had to eat it – we had everything from Chuukese snack bags to dehydrated blueberries. I really wanted to put in a thing of garlic, but that would have been too cruel… and so the worse thing for these kids to eat was the healthy stuff. You should have seen the kid’s faces when they got the carrots. Because of the rain I had to have the game in the 2^nd grade classroom, and that was an unfortunate change of events. They got in there and the noise volume was equivalent to a plane taking off. Kiana took a textbook and slammed it against a desk, and that finally got everybody quiet – for ten seconds, and then they were screaming again. When I finally gave the instructions, made sure there were ten kids in each row and yelled “GO!” the noise was even more incredible. And so were the manners (which is to be expected for an eating contest, anything else would be pathetic). Popcorn flew through the air, pieces of ripped paper were everywhere, and blueberries fell and left streaks of purple on the tile floor. When one of the teams finished, I couldn’t have heard myself yell even if I had the desire to. I walked out of that room with my ears ringing. Another game was the flour blowing, and I wasn’t in the room for that one, but all the kids came out with very white faces at the end of it, so it must have been entertaining.

We had a few track and field events, and the locals gathered around to watch the kids as they sprinted barefoot down the road. But the best part by far was when we got everybody together to play tug-of-war. That was chaos! It was a struggle to get the red marker in the middle of the field, and then when one team won the kids kept slipping all over, and pushing each other and kicking water up. But even through all the craziness it will remain oddly as one of my fondest memories. I guess I like mud.

But anyways, that was kind of what my last few days have been like. I’d love to say I've been able to relax for an extended period of time, but who am I kidding?

I’m a teacher.

Part II - So you think you can science?

litmus paper

Egg Drop!

The 7th graders made
straw bridges

Our Math/Science Fair was the second part of the ‘Busiest week of the year thus far.’

We definitely over-planned activities, but that was quite all right. The day started off with me giving a rousing morning worship talk – and by talk I mean yell. I know how Mr. O felt when he was trying to talk over all us kids at TCJA from kindergarten to tenth grade during assembly, it’s so annoying when the kids aren't listening to you at all and they’re all talking in Chuukese. Oh, wait a minute, that sounds like a few of the classes I teach.

Watching a play by the 6th grade

Madison and Defitson
working on their Rube
Goldberg project

Some seniors and their project

As island life would have it, after the kids did a math game that Alfred had made it began to rain… good thing we’re all used to it! We then had all the groups go around to eight different stations, and I was in charge of two presentations. So I spent that hour running back and forth between those two classrooms making sure that they were both running smoothly. Thank goodness for solid students who keep things going! For the biology presentation the 10^th grade girls told the rest of the students a few things about different endangered animals, and they fixed up the microscope with a couple slides – “Anybody want to see blood?!” I have a few hand-held microscopes that are great at looking at shirts, flowers, and bugs with, and so the kids enjoyed looking through those. Ants are pretty cool, as I know my brother would agree! For the other presentation I had the 9^th and 11^th graders join together, and we showed off models of atoms out of paper mache, and then we talked a bit about pH and how to use litmus paper to figure out if a substance was acidic or basic. And the kids were super excited to stick those tiny pieces of paper in the vinegar, soap, and lemon juice and be able to tell me what the pH was. I love how excited these kids can get! Some of the other stations were a homemade ice-cream station, a design-an-animal station, and an ecosystem station.

For the week before the fair the seniors had been working on constructing some Rube Goldberg machines, which they showed off in front of the rest of the school. The machine was supposed to pop a balloon, and two of the three machines were successful under pressure. The last thing that we did that day was an egg drop. We divided them all back up into the groups, gave them a bagful of random things and told them to have at it. We must have a school full of potential engineers, because I think only one of the contraptions didn't work…It was a crazy day, but successful. 

Part I - Always in my heart

My cool roommates

This is the first installment of what I’d like to call the ‘Busiest week of the year thus far.’ It so happened that we all had the brilliant idea to have all the programs in February… we have the High School Valentine’s Banquet last Saturday night, Math/Science Fair on Thursday, and then Sport’s Day on Friday. BUT! On the plus side, it’s all over now, so I can finally think about Graduation plans again. Anyways, here’s Part 1: Our Valentine’s Day Banquet.

Some of the lovely high schoolers

The banquet was on Valentine’s Day - aww, so sweet. The theme was “Always in my heart” and there were love songs in the air and hearts and balloons hanging from the ceiling at the restaurant we held the banquet at. In the typical island fashion, when I said it was supposed to start at 6:00, that means ‘start getting ready to leave at 6:00’, so we didn't make it there until 7:30 or so. Thankfully, the rest of the students also run on island time,  and there were only a few students that beat us there. The evening went well, and I was constantly running around trying to make sure this were going smoothly and that everybody had food. We brought cupcakes and toppings, (Jerom tried to walk away with the whole tube of chocolate frosting twice), and we made a photo booth with various props that was a huge hit. After eating we managed to wrangle up the kids together for some games. It can take a while to get these kids excited about something other than taking selfies and just chilling with their tunes, but when they’re finally into it, there is no calming them down – even if it is just a Valentine’s Day version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey…

Minako

The first game we played was something called Shoe Story, which is when one partner goes out into the hall and the other partner puts one shoe in the middle of the room. When I yell “Go!” the partners in the hall had to rush back into the room, find their partner’s shoe, and put it on them. The last pair finished would have to do a quick dance just for funsies. Before the game started, one of the sophomores, Josh, asked me if any of the games would be embarrassing, and I told him that I doubted it, and the he would be fine. Unfortunately he and Minako where the last pair finished, and the rest of the students started whooping and hollering for them to go dance… and he was out the door and halfway down the stairs when I caught up to him. But since it wouldn’t be good for him to not show up to school on Monday, we quickly found a replacement – Felipe, our newest teacher who had just arrived the day before. He took Minako for a quick spin around the room, and our shy student was saved. The evening ended off with us announcing all the various titles and such that the students had won, and there were way more than I imagined there being. We had the typical King and Queen, and then a bunch more, like Face of the Night, Prince, Princess, Best in Gown, and a few others.

Defitson

Class of 2015!

On a different subject, I've found that I don't really enjoy working in groups sometimes, especially if I have to be the leader. The whole delegating tasks to people is something that I need to work on. I get caught up in everything that needs to be done and get so stressed that I forget that I can ask people to help me, and I can forget to inform people about what is going on. When things need to happen there is a big part of me that wants to do everything myself, because I’m scared that it won’t get done otherwise or that I personally won’t like how it was done (which is silly); and then there is the part of me that just wants to be the group member who just glues the information on the poster and then pays for the celebratory ice-cream. But I’m learning to be a little more trusting and am practicing the art of accepting it when things aren’t done my way. Life can be difficult in Chuuk, and teaching with so few materials is rough, but I know that being in Chuuk is equipping me for the rest of my life, and that’s worth any difficulty.

Eye for an eye

We went to a funeral the other day of a teenager who had gone to the SDA School his freshman year and then gone to Chuuk High. I had heard about his death earlier that week, but hadn't known the connections he had with my students. But that day they met me as I was heading for class and asked if they could go to the funeral. So we quickly informed the principal and the teachers, and then the high school students clambered onto our rickety blue flatbed.

Chuuk can be a violent place and for whatever reason this boy had done something to upset somebody, who had retaliated by stabbing him and slashing his face. He had died soon after because of his injuries. In Chuuk the saying an “eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” is taken quite literally – sometimes to the extreme. 

Unfortunately that had been the case with this young man. On the way to the funeral I asked Minako, one of my seniors, about the boy who had died. He was a senior at Chuuk High, and she remembered him as being a good-humored guy who was a very fast runner.

We got close to where the funeral was, so the truck pulled over and we all got out. Then we walked in a single file line over to the home – boys in the front, girls in the back. When you go to a funeral in Chuuk you’re supposed to each bring a dollar to give to the family to help cover the expenses. Kind of like when you bring a dish to a family in mourning while in the States.

The line of students started to go into and out of the door; I moved forward, shaking the hands of a few men of the family who greeted us at the door. The room seemed to be divided in two – men on one side, women and children on the other. The coffin was in the middle of the room and a picture of the young man was to the right with a basket full of dollar bills. It was open, which surprised me. The teen was wearing sunglasses, a beanie, and a bandanna covered his mouth and neck; the only part of his face that was showing was his nose, hiding the wounds he had received. Pain and grief was written on the faces of the people in the room, and shock still was evident in multiple pairs of eyes. I wished to stop and sit with the family for a bit, to express my sympathy, but the moving stream of students pulled me back out of the house into the sunlight.

Bake/Snack Sale for the graduating classes

The family provides all the guests with a small take-out meal and bottled water, so I took that and we headed back to the school. Funerals are bigger than weddings; when somebody dies all the family will go back to Chuuk to be together, whether they come from one of the surrounding islands, Guam, or even the States. There have been multiple deaths and injuries that I've heard of while I've been here, which just goes to show what a messed-up world we live in… and makes me long for heaven.

Things have been pretty busy around here. We had parent teacher conferences the other day, which consists of me sitting in my classroom for the majority of the day with the fans on as I swat at mosquitoes and wait for the occasional Chuukese parent/guardian to venture into the high school building to get their student’s grades. We exchange pleasantries; I give them the grades and explain why the Accounting grade is still nonexistent, and then we talk about any places their student needs improvement in. Most of the people who come only speak halting English, so I do the best I can.

I've been busy with graduation plans, Valentine’s Day banquet plans, Math/Science Fair plans, fundraisers, lesson plans, grading, and trying to find time to enjoy living on an island. Recently Jules and I kayaked over to the Mormon church, which took a good hour, and I invested in a $10 bag of frozen peaches and made crisp.

My students and I have reached the mid-year slump, and I’d really appreciate your prayers and encouragement more than ever right now. Each Skype call and note I receive completely makes my day, and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. 

And might I just add - Senioritis, my friends. It’s a plague!