"Dear Lord, for Thy goodness we thank Thee..."

Here’s my week in review:

This week has been pretty good overall, besides the disruptive students.
Sunday we drove down the Ebeye causeway to get to Shell Island. It was really pretty! It was nice to get away from all of the buildings on Ebeye. We mostly did snorkeling and it was cool to see the fish and coral. We also got to try out the SCUBA equipment. Most of the SMs want to get certified, so it was fun to try it out. I definitely need more practice...
I went with Megan and Landon on Tuesday to see if there were any fruits or vegetables left at the stand on Kwajalein. There wasn’t much to choose from when we got there, but we did get an onion and a couple tomatoes. I must say we were disappointed to have taken 1 ½ hours just to come back with an onion and two tomatoes. It was nice to get off the island for a little bit, though (and go to another island… go figure!).
I got to talk to my mom on the phone this week! I was very excited. I was chatting with her on Skype, and then she called the school so I talked to her for a few minutes. It was nice to hear a voice from home. I was pretty homesick last week, but this week has been a lot better.
On Wednesday, we went home after school and staff meeting and fixed some supper. Lorraine came back to the apartment late, bearing… fruit!!!!! We asked wear she got the full bag of fruits. She said the school had received a delivery of overstock fruits from Kwajalein. The rest of us got ready quickly and headed to the school (also to be there for prayer meeting at 6:30). We went into the school office and there were boxes and boxes of fruit to choose from. Each of us took a bag and filled it with wonderful pears, apples, and grapefruit (if one was so inclined…). We grabbed an extra piece of fruit to eat before the prayer meeting. I was definitely a happy person! (Fresh fruit on Ebeye is expensive and usually not very good quality unless a new shipment has come recently.)
Yesterday, Megan made apple crisp in a Bundt pan (all we had!)!!!! It was SOOOOO amazing! We contributed some of our apples from the school to the creation. It was a wonderful treat! We also had rice and lentils for supper. We will probably be eating rice and lentils more often since they are cheaper and fill you up. Also, it is easier to cook for a group (4 girls + Landon). Splitting a $4-5 meal? That’s pretty good, I’d say!
We got the second half of our monthly stipend yesterday. They pay us twice a month, which is nice so we can’t spend it all! (What we would spend it on, I am not sure…) We get a little more money for our stipend here because everything is so expensive. Yes, cereal is expensive in the U.S., but it’s not $7. But that is mostly the sugary cereals. We have been pretty happy with Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Chex, and vanilla soymilk. (They don’t sell much milk here because the power can be inconsistent. Sour milk == yuck!)
Today, Sabbath, we had church potluck. WOW!! There was a TON of food for the potluck. You grab a Styrofoam plate, serve up rice from one of the big containers, and move on down the line. There were 7 or 8 dishes with chicken in various forms, salad (yay veggies!), corn on the cob, tofu rice topping, pancit (Filipino dish with rice noodles, some veggies, and whatever else you want), and amazing desserts. They even had cinnamon rolls! To drink they had water and Cola for the adults and some Capri Suns for the kids. I ate waaaay too much! Good stuff, though.
Another blessing this week was the electricity. We had pretty consistent power to run the air conditioner at the apartment, flush toilets, cook on the stove, keep the fridge cold, use the rice cooker, use the internet, and take showers. I definitely took electricity for granted at home. Here, if the power is out, it’s more of an inconvenience than anything. Sure it get’s hot, but if you can open the windows and get a breeze blowing through, it is not too bad.
I was thinking about the water situation here, too. We collect the rain water to use for showers and sometimes cooking. To help conserve the fresh water, we don’t leave the showers on when we are lathering. I didn’t think about it when I was at home because there is seemingly endless water. The more I think about it here, though, the more I realize we could save a lot of money on water bills if people would only have the water on when they rinsed off! (I’m thinking more for the colleges, where there are so many people taking showers in the dorms.) Maybe it’s not just water we waste. I think we get so used to abundance in every facet of our lives that we squander our resources. Time, electricity, books, food—the list goes on and on. I really hope I will remember to appreciate what I have when I go home.
So that’s my week in review (and other randomness). Hope you had a good week too!
Please keep me in your prayers. God bless!

Students...

I think a lot of the teachers (including me) are frustrated with at least a few students in every class. They just don’t want to listen! It is pretty discouraging to watch students putting their heads on the desks and setting their feet on desks and other chairs. Constantly telling them to sit up and move their feet gets really annoying! They don’t understand that if they will only do well in high school, they could go to college and do something better with their lives. As teachers, we can only tell them about what it is like to go to college and have jobs. They have no concept of the work world or anything outside of this little island other than what they see on the internet or hear from us.
There are some bright spots in the classes, though. Some students talk about going to college after they graduate. I know of several seniors that would like to go, but I don’t think they know where yet. One senior, Peterson, wants to go to Southern next year. There are two SM’s here that go to Southern (one of them teaches high school English) that he can talk to about registration and such. It is so encouraging to see that students want to continue their education!

I have also been thinking about the age of the students I am teaching. They really aren’t much younger than I am! My brother, Nathan, is only 2 ½ years younger than me and will be graduating from high school in May. I am teaching students that are my brother’s age!! That might be one of my problems. Sure, I am older and have college experience, but I am not that much older. At least I am taller than a lot of the students here. Maybe I should start wearing my glasses in class too. That might make me look more teacher-ish. (You know, the pose with the glasses on the end of the nose, looking down at a disruptive student.) Maybe not. :)

Things I have learned so far...

1. Power is a privilege, NOT a right.
2. Fresh water (and drinking water) is a luxury.
3. You can kill big roaches with flip-flops.
4. When it rains it pours, literally.
5. Little geckos on the wall are “cute”.
6. JJJ (Triple J) isn’t Burger King, but it’s still pretty good.
7. Teachers talk about their students with other teachers. (Who knew?)
8. It’s hard to teach students who don’t really care if they pass high school, much less go to college.
9. Fresh fruits and vegetables are like gold!
10. Food costs twice as much here.
11. Rain can come through the ceiling during a rainstorm, even if there is a floor above you.
12. Rain makes everyone antsy.
13. “I want to go back to Union again…” (I miss it SOOO much!)
14. Most students at the school can sing and harmonize very well—they sound amazing!!
15. Sending emails and MySpace messages between people just isn’t the same as seeing them. L
16. Air Conditioning is a HUGE blessing, but so is a good ocean breeze on a really hot day.
17. To have a textbook for a class: good. To have a teacher’s manual: great. To have enough textbooks for students: amazing. To have a teacher’s manual and enough books for students: priceless. (Appreciate what you have!)
18. The taxis (small trucks) that drive around the island only go clockwise.
19. Kids that live a few blocks away from school will take a taxi to school. (Now that’s lazy.)
20. Cold showers are somewhat refreshing.
21. I REALLY miss my family and friends at home.

Food and funerals

The high school teachers are invited to funerals their students have in their families. The funeral I went to was to support a junior student of mine, Quinton, whose cousin had committed suicide. I went with Ashlee, Jordan, Allan, Ryan (the principal), and Jhan Dale. Several students from the school came too. We waited across the street from the house for Quinton to take us inside. We took off our flip-flops in front of the open door. In the middle of the living room was an open casket. The opening was facing away from the door, so I never looked in the casket. We sat on woven mats and waited for someone to talk. Ryan spoke for a short time and then we sang “Meet me in Heaven”. Ryan said a prayer and then each of us got up and put a dollar on top of the casket to help pay for food (It’s customary for families to serve food to the funeral guests and the guests give money). When we walked outside, a woman handed us a doughnut and Navy crackers wrapped in napkins. She also gave us a Styrofoam cup with rice, coconut milk, chicken soup, and some chicken meat. I talked to Jhan Dale and Ryan about the funerals on Ebeye and they said that some people go to funerals just to get food. Isn’t that terrible?
That was the shortest funeral I have ever been to. It was interesting to see how the Marshallese do funerals. I was told that there would be more funerals during the year, so I guess this is the account of my first, and not last, Marshallese funeral.

I'm in Ebeye!

Hello everyone! I wanted to tell you all that I made it! Today is Sunday, and it's almost 4 pm here.
I am at the school using the internet. We are having a school work day and I spent almost 2 hours scraping the walls so they could paint in the 4th grade room. I am pretty dirty, with old paint dust all over me.I can't really explain what it's like here. I don't know if I really have time to do that in this email. I will send pictures sometime. Right now I am on one of the school's computers, trying to get out a few emails.
I won't have my own classroom specifically here, but I will be the Junior class sponsor. I was talking to Ryan Ybanez's (ee-BAHN-yez) (the principal) brother, Jhan Dale (John Dale), and he said that he would let me teach a couple math classes and take a couple of my Bible classes. I will most likely be teaching Algebra 1. I think that would be kinda fun.
I really want to send you pictures! I have pictures on facebook right now of Hawaii. I don't know the address though. I will find it.Yesterday we had church and then went back to the apartments for lunch, had a little nap, two more SMs from Canada came (Megan and Landon), went to the hospital to sing for the patients, went to AY (Adventist Youth), and then went to a store with fast food. I had a chicken sandwich, lemon lime soda, and curly fries. They really like chicken over here. lol
We started a Roach Count on our fridge this week. It was a suggestion of Jhan Dale. It's attached to the fridge with a smiley face magnet. How ironic. :) Right now we have 3 kills. One is hiding in the drawers under the sink somewhere. We can't add it to our Count until it's dead. That's what we decided. :)
Well, I better go. I hope you are all having a wonderful day! Sunday will be a good day for you. Believe me, I'm there. :)

Almost time to go

I've been packing today and I went to get some information about Bible curriculum. It's hard to believe that I am leaving so soon!

Here's the address of the school I'm going to, in case you want to send me a letter:

P.O. Box 5070
Ebeye, MH 96970

I'm having a family get-together tonight, church and seeing a few people tomorrow, and then fly to Hawaii Sunday at 7:00 am. Bright and early! If you want to call me, I should have phone service in Hawaii for three days and then I fly to Ebeye.

That's all for now.