Back By Popular Demand

The Outrigger Hotel is one of two tourist oriented hotels on the island. This is the hotel where I previously wrote about the all-you-can-eat buffet. A wonderful place. In the back of the hotel they have a retaining wall that, depending on the tide, creates between a 7 - 15 foot drop down into the ocean. On weekends I head over alone or with friends for a little play time. Jumping is not only fun, but every time I jump off I feel like it makes up a little bit for the Boundary Waters Cliff Jumping Incident of 2006. Oh, a little bit of added danger: on more than one occasion I have seen a sting ray swimming in this same area. Ahhh! Crocodile Hunter!

Marshall Islands Club is one of my favorite places to relax when I am in town for the weekend. In this picture I am sitting with Robyee and Tim watching an amazing game of shuffleboard. Yes, shuffleboard. This particular establishment not only has delicious pizza but shuffleboard! It is also the only restaurant that I have found that is located on ocean side of the island which adds a wonderful view and cool breeze to the list of things I love about MIC.

This amazing little man is Joraur. He is in my first grade class and also lives about a half mile from me. He is very smart and always wanting to learn. this picture is taken in the library where I also work. He came in during recess to read with me. I had a ton of work today, but who can so no to a child who wants to read!

I will post more pictures, but it takes forever and I don't have time right now. The Taiwanese Farming Project here gave away fresh produce this weekend. I am heading over to make grilled eggplant sandwiches with Robyee. Yummy!

I miss you all and will post again soon.

Internet Karma

I am learning a lot while living on my sliver of land in the Pacific. One of the things that I am learning is that Karma is no joke. For example, last week I wrote an email from the comfort of my own home saying how I did not like having Internet in my house. It took away from my experience. The next day Karma came a-knocking. No more Internet at my house. I now can only check my email once a week or so. Dag-nabit. I am sorry Internet, please forgive me. I am weak. I need you. (Maybe it will work when I get home.)

Today is Thursday and I am in town for a long weekend. Tomorrow is Manit Day and there is no school. Manit Day is a celebration of the Marshallese Culture. I am going to the Alele Museum in the morning to watch the celebrations. If all goes the way I plan I will take pictures and do another post this weekend.

My life has completely normalized. My days come and go with very little excitement.

PS I got my first letter today. From Mary Darling. Thanks Mary you made my day. As for the rest of you, please stare at the floor and think about what bad friends you are. Did you not read the part about Karma?

PPS I tried to post a few pictures with cute stories all about them, but the stupid computer keeps deleting them. Arg. I will try again tomorrow.

A Ramble About the Weekend

I quick status update. Another half day today at school. The good teacher part of me hates half days. The slacker part of me ardors them. Today, I adore them. I am a very tired from a long weekend of fun. Greg, who is a mix of Zach and Andy, came in from Arno to submit his law school applications. It was wonderful to see him, because like Andy I feel amazingly comfortable talking to him and like Zach his wit and willingness to point out any mistake I make or character flaw keeps me entertained and on my toes.

Friday night I was able to get a cheeseburger with condiments. Real condiments. This almost brought me to tears I was so excited. Saturday I met Dan for breakfast at DAR. Then Dan helped me shop for a bike. I am hoping that owning a bike will let me feel less isolated out here in Woja. I am going for my first ride tonight and I will update you all on how it goes. Then Saturday night we all met at the local dock for the weigh in, because a couple friends had been out fishing. If you catch a Marlin over 750 pound you win $10,000! They did not catch the record breaking fish, but did provide us with a wonderful dinner. After dinner we all went out for drinks and dancing! It was a lovely time.

The best part of the weekend was Sunday. Greg and I woke up early and headed to the local hotel where they have a $15 all you can eat brunch. Spending $15 is so much money here, but it looked so good. It was. Greg and I ate, and occasionally talked, for hours. Cheesecake, pie, pancakes, made to order omelets and pasta, french fries, salads.... did I mention cheesecake? It was the greatest meal of my life. The best part was that I ate so much I was not hungry for the next 24 hours which made it not so pricey.

On My Way Up!

A quick update on how I am doing. I am not at school again today. Feeling much better than I did yesterday, but wanted to give myself one more day. I have been spending the day enjoying a Gatorade (a very special treat), working on monotonous school tasks, and sleeping.

I just had a little mini breakdown. I think it was because I am sick and tired. I don't know. I went to go make lunch and found that my cupboard had been taken over by bugs. They are inside everything except for the cans. What is harder still is that I wonder if I should be wasteful and throw it all out or try and rinse it off, cook it, and deal with it. My new plan is to wait a bit, clean the cupboard, and keep everything in the fridge where there are very few bugs.

So in the middle of my breakdown I notice the computer that is in the corner of the room. I have seen it a million times, but this time decided to turn it on and see if it has Internet. The story is spoiled because you are reading an Internet blog and I am sure you can guess how the story ends. I HAVE INTERNET IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who would have thought in the middle of the Pacific there is Internet in my home! When I log on I am able to ready an email from my mom and check my Blogger messages. There was one from my Uncle Oak. It made my day. I can already feel the day turning around. Still, all of this emotional craziness has made me very tired. I am off to read and fall asleep before dealing with the bugs.

Not so Bueno

Today is Monday and I am not at work, again. This is my second Monday in three weeks that I have missed due to being sick. I hope it stops. I feel like crap due to being sick and feeling like a slacker.

I came into town today because my throat is very sore and I just feel generally bad. I also thought I could really get my moneys worth by talking to the doctor about this thing that I have stuck in the bottom of my foot and the weird lump in my armpit.

1. The Throat: A virus. Sleep, drink water, deal with it.
2. The Foot Thing: Maybe it was a splinter, but last night when I jabbed at it with tweezers I caused it to become infected. Antibiotics.
3. Lump in My Armpit: ??? Maybe a boil. Yuck. Maybe something else. The doctor is pretty sure that the foot meds will clear up the lump. If not... we will try again.

I am off to bed. I feel horrible. For the first time since I arrived I really want to be home. I hate being alone and sick.

Welcome US Navy

Today I am feeling very "un-bloggish." I do want to update you on a few key events. I have decided to let the pictures speak 1,000 words, so that I only have to speak (write) a few.

The US Navy just left yesterday after a 10 day visit in the RMI working on humanitarian projects. They came with doctors, vets, and general navy men to work on fixing up schools. I did not have a lot of contact with the Navy out in Woja, but when I came to town it was terribly overwhelming to see all the white skin. While I am sure they did a lot of good and needed some good R and R off the ship they were also incredibly embarrassing. Going to a local pub last weekend felt like I was a Kam's. They was excessive drinking and cursing, and just generally lack of cultural sensitivity. But, again, I am sure they made a very positive impact on the schools and other efforts. They also helped the economy and I spoke more Marshallese than I ever have to try and make myself seem more "local." Speaking all that Marshallese allowed me to meet my first Marshallese friend Mercy!

This is me, Dan, and Darren at dinner the night I just spoke of. A pretty eventful night. We went to dinner and then to the end of summer concert. It was outdoors and fantastic. My friend Ben joined in and played with a local band as the opening act. I loved the outdoor music and danced the night away! It was great fun!

This is the hotel security guard that was working at the outdoor concert. I love him. While dancing in my calm and gracefully way my camera fell out of my backpack. (Shocking!) The next day I looked all over before running into this man. He had found my camera later that night, had a friend take a picture of him, and then held onto it to give back to me!

The most wonderful part of this country is that everything comes back to you. Laura, a wonderful Aussie, lost her water bottle at the Australian Navy dock and a week later it showed up at the post office where she found it. Is this island not perfect for me?!

An Overdue Update

Now that I have moved to Woja accessing the Internet has become increasingly default. I am not sure if it will remain this way throughout the year, but as things are now I will only be able to check my e-mail and update the blog once a week or so. I am hoping, however, that when I do update the blog it will have such abundant wit, information, and pictures that I will leave you satisfied for the whole week.

Let us begin.

I have just completed my second week of teaching at Ajeltake Elementary School. I am teaching 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 6^th, and 8^th grades. Now, I originally requested in my WorldTeach paperwork to teach younger students. I thought, “Heck. Little kids are cute and I know that I am smarter than them. How hard can it be?” Why did no one tell me that small children are idiots?! They cannot reason. They cannot sit still. They have no empathy. I hate them. I was scheduled to teach 1^st – 3^rd in a row for an hour each. After the second day I told my principal that 20 minutes in 1^st and 2^nd grade was all that I was physically and mentally able to do. (I always go over time, but at least this way I have an out.) Apparently he had met these kids and quickly agreed. My schedule is now as follows:

8:15 – 8:35 1^st Grade

9:15 – 9:35 2^nd Grade

10:30 – 11:30 3^rd Grade

11:30 – 12:30 Lunch

12:30 – 1:15 Prep

1:15 – 2:00 8^th Grade

2:00 – 2:45 6^th Grade

I realize that there are a few breaks in my schedule. I plan to use the extra time to pull out students from my classes to work with them if they need some one-on-one assistance. I would also like to contribute a little of my time to assisting the special education teacher in any way that I can. (Interesting Fact: His position is paid for by IDEA) The development of the special education is proving to be a very interesting facet of working in the RMI. (I would love to discuss this further if anyone is interested)

I will talk in more detail about what I am doing in each class in more detail as the year progresses. For now I will just briefly explain my thoughts on what I am going to do in each class. I feel that all of the classes are missing the basics. They seem to be lacking knowledge of letter sounds (phonics) and how letter sounds allow readers to decode and writers to spell. I am treating 2^nd grade as a accelerated version of 1^st grade, and essentially planning the same series of lessons for both classes. Currently we are reviewing letter names and correct letter formation. We are going slow and also focusing on basic classroom procedures and phrases. (There is an added level of difficulty because I do not speak much Marshallese and they speak little to no English) After the students master the letter names we will move into phonics. (I think.)

In 3^rd grade we are starting with phonics and building words using work families. This group of students is going to be really wonderful to work with. They are funny and truly seem motivated to be at school!

In 6^th and 8^th grade we are currently reviewing basic grammar and parts of speech. I have lots of ideas for both of these classes. I would like to have them journaling everyday. I think that this is a good way to differentiate instruction of the many different ability levels. I also would like to get them excited about reading. This will be hard because of my lack of resources. And like every other class think that phonics will need to be incorporated into class as well.

As for my home life. Some of you have heard that I was thrown a bit of a curve ball when I found out how far it is from my school and that my host family does not actually live there. After two weeks I love it. Transportation to school is a bit annoying, but it is making my more flexible and able to adapt to new situations. There is not much to say about the house. When I get home I am really tired. I go for a jog and try to avoid the crazy dogs. My host mom bought me Cinnamon Toast Crunch and I almost cried I was so happy. Thats about it.

I love and miss you all. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

p.s. I have not heard anything from Ben, Jacob, David, and Zack. Could someone pass on my blog information to them and send me a mailing address for one of them. Thanks.

Outside of Ajeltake Elementary School. I wanted to get a better pictures, but as you can see when I pulled out the camera kids came running. They were fighting over who was closet to the camera, so I had to put it away.

My desk. My area consists of the table and two drawers in the filing cabinet. The rest of the space is the library. I hope to use some of my time to clean this area out and organize it. I have heard in the past every volunteer has tried this and it never lasts. The wonderful home of Nika and Danny Wise. (aka where I live)
The porch where I spend a lot of time rearranging mosquito coils to try and minimize the number of bites I get while eating, lesson planning, or reading. My Room. There is a living room area where the rugs is. It really acts as a storage room for all of the stuff I have somehow accumulated in the last 6 weeks. Then, as you can see, my bed. And the door in the back of the room leads to the bathroom.