Dear family and friends,
Pwapwan Kristmas! Merry Christmas in Chuukese!!! Things are going well in Chuuk. The first semester is almost over…well, it is over, but I have a lot of grading left to do which is no fun!!! There have been some really great parts of Christmas here, such as a wonderful Christmas play with plenty of Christmas carols, time to relax, and a staff Christmas party at Truk Stop Hotel (one of the hotels Mom and Dad will probably stay at while visiting). I do feel at home here in the way that I could easily be fine here for a while if I could come home for holidays…it’s just become home as SLU did, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Freeburg. I guess I have many homes all around the world now, yet during Christmas, the one I want to be at is in Freeburg with family. Don’t get me wrong, in two years, I will appreciate Christmas so much more and love being with family even more than I did in the past. I probably even miss Christmas in Chuuk!!! Lol. I find it funny how wherever one is, they want to be in another place. This is something I realize, yet struggle to change.
Regardless, Christmas has had some of the great things here that there are at home, like carols, greetings, togetherness, and all that.
Wow, I have so much to say that if I said it all this would be all over the place…Lets stick with Christmas. So, this week we’re having a Christmas party for some of the volunteers with a potluck dinner and such, and then we’re probably going to go to Xavier for Christmas Eve and Day. Xavier is kinda like our extended family. We love them and see them sometimes, spend holidays with them…lol.
Ok, well, I don’t think this is my best post ever, but someone else wants to use the computer, so I’m just going to end, knowing this is unedited babble. Miss you and love you all!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Chuuk!
Also, check out the SCA blog, scathesedays.blogspot.com
and FSMs main page, www.micsem.org
www.chhukreform.org - a website keeping up with what's going on in Chuuk for those interested
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
A Long One...Just Micro Stuff (get it? small stuff!!!)
Ron Annim folks!!! So I haven’t given a good updated in a while, so this could be long. At times it doesn’t seem necessary because just as all of you, I’m going through day to day life at a full time job, just in another country. Sure, it’s hotter hear, and things are different in some ways, but daily everything is the same. I’m getting used to it. Sweating is just how the body works these days, and I don’t even really notice that I’m sweating at times. I can now tell what hot and cold days are here…today was hotter than normal as was yesterday. It’s kinda funny to be able to notice when it’s hotter than hot here.
Teaching has been a continuous struggle and joy. I feel constantly disrespected which is a really hard thing for me because I continuously try to respect others and remember to give them dignity, yet I ask a class to do something and they ignore me, or just walk out of the class, so I don’t really get to teach anything. Sometimes I wonder why I even try to do fun things with them or make good lesson plans because they just treat me like shit. It can be really hard because individually they are all great kids with awesome hearts. That’s where I find my joy most of the time. Yet, having students gather their things and walk out of class, make vulgar signs to one another and simply ignore me gets tiring. It’s so hard to try every day just to be taken for granted and disrespected. I think sometimes the way the students treat me makes me hyper sensitive at home and more easily irritated by little things which is not fair to the people I live with. Although teaching can be pressing at times, there truly is joy.
I find so much joy in the students too. Yesterday after school I was laughing with a group of students trying to learn Chuukese (really just how to say “you smell bad”) and then walked with some of those students to the youth center today. It’s really wonderful to see the students take me under their wings and help me out, and then laugh together. I fell into a mud puddle today (sorta-really just tried to walk around it and ended up loosing my balance and splashing mud all over myself from stepping right in the middle). They then took me to the Laundromat to wash my feet off before going to the youth center. Therefore, there are plenty of really wonderful, sweet, and respectful students. Sadly, they don’t get to learn as much as they could if the rest of their class and other classes with wonderful students like them behaved.
Another student joy is seeing through some of the bad behavior. Regardless of how frustrated I get with some students, I still know they are good and have reasons for their actions. The reasons may not be good, but they are in high school. Sure, I get pissed, but some of them that are super frustrating have huge huge hearts. I just have to find a way to let them see their hearts and their potentials. When I am unable to do that, I again get a little frustrated, but remember that good things don’t happen overnight.
In addition to joys and frustrations of school, nature can take hold of ones heart, mind and spirit. Daily I see coconut trees with delicious coconut water, drinkable right out of the coconuts, and sunsets over the ocean (along with rusted roofs and dirt roads). Sometimes that is overlooked by the off putting glaring men, mud puddles, and trash, but recently we got to see simple beauty. Last weekend We got to go to an island named Pisar, which means moving sand. Pisar is a tiny island near where the open ocean waves break on the reefs. The sand made island was filled with tropical plants, coconut trees, and surrounded by clear, blue-green ocean water. There were only three house-like buildings on the island, and 2 men that keep the island. We could see the water from one side of the island to the other. The only obstructions were the tropical plants and trees, but generally we could see through them. Walking around the island took about a total of 15 mins. We were even able to walk from island to island because of reefs and “moving sand” that when the tide moved it made the water shallow enough to walk on. We saw an eel, stingrays, jelly fish, and plenty reef fish while snorkeling over the variety of living reefs. At night we would only hear the waves crashing on the reefs. AMAZING!!!! That’s all I can say. I can’t wait to go back. I think we’re supposed to go back from Christmas and re-orientation/dis-orientation over the summer-and I promise, if anyone visits, they will be going to that island if resources allow!!! So, that weekend was a much needed refresher! It did make coming back to school a little hard on Monday, but I also found I had more patience to calmly deal with school stressors.
I also enjoy playing with my host siblings when they come to school with my host mom/co-worker. I have 3 sisters who attend SCA, a couple others who I don’t know well yet, and some little ones. The little ones include a baby boy at the perfect age to interact…a crawler! and a 6 year old wild child boy, and a 9 year old goofy girl!!! Today I got to play with them in the office after school.
So, to sum this all up, I’ve been living daily life-work stressors and joys along with a few new places. Of corse I miss home. I haven’t been too homesick recently until today (probably why I’m writing this) because of not being able to support people in times of struggles and joys and hearing of community mates who have hard situations at home too. I think missing out on the big things can be the hardest because I’m not there to just be with people along the way. So, on that note, please pray for one of my friends mother’s who has cancer and her family, another friends cousin who is having issues with health (organ failure), a community mate’s friend who recently lost her father, and other prayers for my family of course (mom keeps telling me how much she misses me and needs to hear my voice more-someone get her drunk!!! Jk ). So, goodbye from my tropical island in the middle of the pacific that I’m learning to love more and more each day.
Sorry it’s so long this time!!!
Peace, Love, and Coconuts,
Teacher Jessica
Teaching has been a continuous struggle and joy. I feel constantly disrespected which is a really hard thing for me because I continuously try to respect others and remember to give them dignity, yet I ask a class to do something and they ignore me, or just walk out of the class, so I don’t really get to teach anything. Sometimes I wonder why I even try to do fun things with them or make good lesson plans because they just treat me like shit. It can be really hard because individually they are all great kids with awesome hearts. That’s where I find my joy most of the time. Yet, having students gather their things and walk out of class, make vulgar signs to one another and simply ignore me gets tiring. It’s so hard to try every day just to be taken for granted and disrespected. I think sometimes the way the students treat me makes me hyper sensitive at home and more easily irritated by little things which is not fair to the people I live with. Although teaching can be pressing at times, there truly is joy.
I find so much joy in the students too. Yesterday after school I was laughing with a group of students trying to learn Chuukese (really just how to say “you smell bad”) and then walked with some of those students to the youth center today. It’s really wonderful to see the students take me under their wings and help me out, and then laugh together. I fell into a mud puddle today (sorta-really just tried to walk around it and ended up loosing my balance and splashing mud all over myself from stepping right in the middle). They then took me to the Laundromat to wash my feet off before going to the youth center. Therefore, there are plenty of really wonderful, sweet, and respectful students. Sadly, they don’t get to learn as much as they could if the rest of their class and other classes with wonderful students like them behaved.
Another student joy is seeing through some of the bad behavior. Regardless of how frustrated I get with some students, I still know they are good and have reasons for their actions. The reasons may not be good, but they are in high school. Sure, I get pissed, but some of them that are super frustrating have huge huge hearts. I just have to find a way to let them see their hearts and their potentials. When I am unable to do that, I again get a little frustrated, but remember that good things don’t happen overnight.
In addition to joys and frustrations of school, nature can take hold of ones heart, mind and spirit. Daily I see coconut trees with delicious coconut water, drinkable right out of the coconuts, and sunsets over the ocean (along with rusted roofs and dirt roads). Sometimes that is overlooked by the off putting glaring men, mud puddles, and trash, but recently we got to see simple beauty. Last weekend We got to go to an island named Pisar, which means moving sand. Pisar is a tiny island near where the open ocean waves break on the reefs. The sand made island was filled with tropical plants, coconut trees, and surrounded by clear, blue-green ocean water. There were only three house-like buildings on the island, and 2 men that keep the island. We could see the water from one side of the island to the other. The only obstructions were the tropical plants and trees, but generally we could see through them. Walking around the island took about a total of 15 mins. We were even able to walk from island to island because of reefs and “moving sand” that when the tide moved it made the water shallow enough to walk on. We saw an eel, stingrays, jelly fish, and plenty reef fish while snorkeling over the variety of living reefs. At night we would only hear the waves crashing on the reefs. AMAZING!!!! That’s all I can say. I can’t wait to go back. I think we’re supposed to go back from Christmas and re-orientation/dis-orientation over the summer-and I promise, if anyone visits, they will be going to that island if resources allow!!! So, that weekend was a much needed refresher! It did make coming back to school a little hard on Monday, but I also found I had more patience to calmly deal with school stressors.
I also enjoy playing with my host siblings when they come to school with my host mom/co-worker. I have 3 sisters who attend SCA, a couple others who I don’t know well yet, and some little ones. The little ones include a baby boy at the perfect age to interact…a crawler! and a 6 year old wild child boy, and a 9 year old goofy girl!!! Today I got to play with them in the office after school.
So, to sum this all up, I’ve been living daily life-work stressors and joys along with a few new places. Of corse I miss home. I haven’t been too homesick recently until today (probably why I’m writing this) because of not being able to support people in times of struggles and joys and hearing of community mates who have hard situations at home too. I think missing out on the big things can be the hardest because I’m not there to just be with people along the way. So, on that note, please pray for one of my friends mother’s who has cancer and her family, another friends cousin who is having issues with health (organ failure), a community mate’s friend who recently lost her father, and other prayers for my family of course (mom keeps telling me how much she misses me and needs to hear my voice more-someone get her drunk!!! Jk ). So, goodbye from my tropical island in the middle of the pacific that I’m learning to love more and more each day.
Sorry it’s so long this time!!!
Peace, Love, and Coconuts,
Teacher Jessica
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Things that happen in Micronesia!!!
“It’s Lard!!!” Hearing that was the second time I realized I cannot identify food in Micronesia!!! One of the first nights I was making dinner I decided to make breakfast for dinner. I thought this was a wonderful idea when I found bacon! I was so excited because I had not seen bacon on the island until that night. I opened the bacon and it wasn’t in the bacon strips, but I just thought that was a difference in Micronesian bacon. I cut it in chunks and started to fry it, it didn’t look or smell like bacon. When I put it on the table, my community member asked “is that lard?” To my confusion, I said, oh, no, it’s just some kind of pork. He replied, “No Jess. It’s lard!” So, I made lard for dinner!!!
Additionally, a couple days ago one of the women in the office told me some horrifying news! Ha-ha. So we were having a moment where I was telling her how sweet and loving she is and then I gave her a hug. She was sitting down and I was standing when this happened. I went outside to throw my trash away and then came back into the main office. She had lotion out and gave me some. Jokingly I asked her if I smelled and that’s why she was giving me lotion. She said “no, yes, no” and I asked “Which is it,” Meaning, yes or no. Then she pointed to her vagina to tell me that my vag smelled bad!!! I later found out she was joking but I was so scared I smelled like vag all day long!!! It took me a couple of days to find out she was joking.
Then, for the second time since coming to Chuuk I woke up with a swollen upper lip. Some bug tends to bite me while I’m sleeping. I’m going on a swollen lip once a month at the moment. The first night I was in Chuuk I woke up with a lip that looked like I got the crap kicked out of me, and it happened again. But hey, waking up the first morning with a swollen lip was much better than the following 3 days having horrible stomach pains and everything that goes with it (I’ll spare you, but I’m sure you all can imagine). We claim the second years poisoned us so things would just get better the longer we’re here…which they have.
And, the finale!!! I really really needed to do laundry so I was wearing that green skirt we have had for a long time. It is really big on me though but, I figured what the heck, my hips are bigger than my waist so all is fine. So I wore it around the school, upstairs and downstairs. My friend Grace came over and we were walking out to the STUCO car wash together. We were right in front of the side doors of the church (there was a wedding going on) when 4 guys around my age walked by. They said “Waioo” which means wow, or an expression of happiness here. I looked toward them but not too directly because I knew they were cat calling. When I turned back forward I felt something at my ankles and looked down. There I saw my green skirt!!! OMG!!! I assume that’s why the guys were yelling…and in front of the wedding!!! WOW!
Additionally, a couple days ago one of the women in the office told me some horrifying news! Ha-ha. So we were having a moment where I was telling her how sweet and loving she is and then I gave her a hug. She was sitting down and I was standing when this happened. I went outside to throw my trash away and then came back into the main office. She had lotion out and gave me some. Jokingly I asked her if I smelled and that’s why she was giving me lotion. She said “no, yes, no” and I asked “Which is it,” Meaning, yes or no. Then she pointed to her vagina to tell me that my vag smelled bad!!! I later found out she was joking but I was so scared I smelled like vag all day long!!! It took me a couple of days to find out she was joking.
Then, for the second time since coming to Chuuk I woke up with a swollen upper lip. Some bug tends to bite me while I’m sleeping. I’m going on a swollen lip once a month at the moment. The first night I was in Chuuk I woke up with a lip that looked like I got the crap kicked out of me, and it happened again. But hey, waking up the first morning with a swollen lip was much better than the following 3 days having horrible stomach pains and everything that goes with it (I’ll spare you, but I’m sure you all can imagine). We claim the second years poisoned us so things would just get better the longer we’re here…which they have.
And, the finale!!! I really really needed to do laundry so I was wearing that green skirt we have had for a long time. It is really big on me though but, I figured what the heck, my hips are bigger than my waist so all is fine. So I wore it around the school, upstairs and downstairs. My friend Grace came over and we were walking out to the STUCO car wash together. We were right in front of the side doors of the church (there was a wedding going on) when 4 guys around my age walked by. They said “Waioo” which means wow, or an expression of happiness here. I looked toward them but not too directly because I knew they were cat calling. When I turned back forward I felt something at my ankles and looked down. There I saw my green skirt!!! OMG!!! I assume that’s why the guys were yelling…and in front of the wedding!!! WOW!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
quick update
Everything is going well here in Chuuk. There isn't much to report at the moment. This weekend I have been grading a ton. It took me 45 mins to grade 5 tests, and i had to grade 40+. Tomorrow I have to get 105 grades together!!! Last time I put 100 together in two days...so it's a crazy weekend but as soon as the weekend is over all will be good!!!
I have gotten a few packages the last couple of weeks which was exciting!!! Thank you to those of you who sent them. I always feel super loved when i get packages and know all the time put into it from people who love me!
um, really that's about it. I sent my first student to the office for taking 25 mins to get a tardy pass and finding him standing outside the office shooting the shit with another student. It happens. Welp, that's about all. Like i said, nothing exciting is going on right now. I miss ya'll yet i'm getting more and more adjusted here.
Peace, Love, and Cold Coconuts!!! (We finally got a freezer!!!!!!)
Jessica
Oh, and sorry ya'll are getting cold...i have been sweating ALL day!!
I have gotten a few packages the last couple of weeks which was exciting!!! Thank you to those of you who sent them. I always feel super loved when i get packages and know all the time put into it from people who love me!
um, really that's about it. I sent my first student to the office for taking 25 mins to get a tardy pass and finding him standing outside the office shooting the shit with another student. It happens. Welp, that's about all. Like i said, nothing exciting is going on right now. I miss ya'll yet i'm getting more and more adjusted here.
Peace, Love, and Cold Coconuts!!! (We finally got a freezer!!!!!!)
Jessica
Oh, and sorry ya'll are getting cold...i have been sweating ALL day!!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Student Esssay on the Problems in Chuuk
This is an essay from one of my students, Parky. I asked the students to write a 5 sentence paragraph about the problems in Chuuk because we are working on paragraphs, and she handed me a 5 paragraph essay. SWEET! I thought I would share it with ya’ll because this is some information on the problems in Chuuk, from a Chuukese lady. I was very proud when she gave me this, especially because not only is it a whole essay, but each paragraph flows so well! It is all her words other than some small editing, but not much at all. I changed position of a word here or changed an ending but it is almost completely her words-from a non-native English speaker…and let me tell you, Chuukese is a far different language than English!
“Essay-What are some problems in Chuuk?”
There are many problems that occur in Chuuk, but I would like to talk about some of them. Here are some problems that I want to talk about; pollution, population, and drinking alcohol.
Pollution is one of the problems in Chuuk. The ocean is polluted by the sewer, disposable things such as plastics, aluminum, and transportation stuff. The land is polluted by human beings and also from the island power, oil, diesel, and any fuels. Therefore, pollution is hand-made.
Population is the biggest problem in Chuuk. Chuuk is the smallest state among the states but it is extremely more populated than the other states in FSM. As we know, if there is a populated area, so there will also be more problems occurring. We need more land for our people but there is no such land that can be given out because of not having enough land and having too many people.
Drinking alcohol is also a problem in Chuuk. In Chuuk, adults think that drinking alcohol is a way to show that they are strong and broad men. They think of themselves as great and think that they can control everything. In this way, this situation can cause fighting. The fighting can cause death or many other harmful events.
We all learned that population, pollution, and drinking alcohol are just some problems in Chuuk. Besides these problems, there are a lot of other problems in Chuuk that frequently occur every year. Therefore, pollution, population, and drinking alcohol are just some of the problems in Chuuk.
Also, on a more personal note, I am doing fine. Teaching is going…I love it some days and hate it others as many jobs people do. We were not damaged by any tropical storms in the Pacific, and only have normal rain. The rain cools life for an hour or so and then it’s hot as hell again!!! We had a good conversation last night in community which made me feel better about life here. Yea, that’s all I have for now. It’s just daily grind of life and work in another country right now.
Peace, Love and COCONUTS!!!
Jessica
“Essay-What are some problems in Chuuk?”
There are many problems that occur in Chuuk, but I would like to talk about some of them. Here are some problems that I want to talk about; pollution, population, and drinking alcohol.
Pollution is one of the problems in Chuuk. The ocean is polluted by the sewer, disposable things such as plastics, aluminum, and transportation stuff. The land is polluted by human beings and also from the island power, oil, diesel, and any fuels. Therefore, pollution is hand-made.
Population is the biggest problem in Chuuk. Chuuk is the smallest state among the states but it is extremely more populated than the other states in FSM. As we know, if there is a populated area, so there will also be more problems occurring. We need more land for our people but there is no such land that can be given out because of not having enough land and having too many people.
Drinking alcohol is also a problem in Chuuk. In Chuuk, adults think that drinking alcohol is a way to show that they are strong and broad men. They think of themselves as great and think that they can control everything. In this way, this situation can cause fighting. The fighting can cause death or many other harmful events.
We all learned that population, pollution, and drinking alcohol are just some problems in Chuuk. Besides these problems, there are a lot of other problems in Chuuk that frequently occur every year. Therefore, pollution, population, and drinking alcohol are just some of the problems in Chuuk.
Also, on a more personal note, I am doing fine. Teaching is going…I love it some days and hate it others as many jobs people do. We were not damaged by any tropical storms in the Pacific, and only have normal rain. The rain cools life for an hour or so and then it’s hot as hell again!!! We had a good conversation last night in community which made me feel better about life here. Yea, that’s all I have for now. It’s just daily grind of life and work in another country right now.
Peace, Love and COCONUTS!!!
Jessica
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A Taste of Life in Micronesia
The ocean is beautiful from the roof, as is the sunset that overlooks the ocean. If you look straight out from the roof that’s what you see, but usually there is a ship blocking the view. There are always other buildings in the view with rusted roofs. Looking down there are dirt roads and small houses. It seems already to be a place of complete paradox. There is incredible beauty and also ugliness. I don’t even know how to describe this place…It’s not the island paradise everyone thought I was going to, yet I do not see blatant poverty or life to be too hard to get through here. There is nothing to do though. That’s for sure. The students will even admit that. Either we hang out and talk inside, or we hang out and talk outside. Those are our options. So we watch movies on laptops, talk, and lay on the roof looking at the stars, water, and sunsets.
Teaching has been quite the adventure. Teaching my native language is so hard because it just sounds natural to me. I have had to relearn so much English grammar and continue to do so. Lesson planning and grading also is very time consuming and sometimes hard because I have to learn it before I teach it. Sometimes…ok most of the time, I’m really unorganized and don’t know what the heck is going on. I feel like my students can tell. Then there is discipline…I am a huge pushover and everyone knows it after that have known me for any time at all, so the students know. And if I’m not being a pushover, then I’m a bitch. I’m not stern…sometimes I just don’t care to enforce rules. If I don’t think the rule is super important, I don’t pick that battle. For example, I’ll let the girls know they’re supposed to have their hair braided, but I warn them to do it before their next class starts because I don’t really care what their hair looks like. Some things really bother me though…like students being tardy in the morning. I cannot start class on time, or if I do they just miss half of the class. I feel like it’s really disrespectful. I also love students to have fun, but when fun means they don’t listen to me, it’s really frustrating. The great things about teaching though are when students really want to learn and ask questions to better understand. I actually really love questions even though I’m always scared I won’t know the answer. I also love that some students really want to go to college. I’ve been asked by a student to help him with college. That gets me so excited. Even the small moments I share with students are great. They are a lot of fun, especially outside of the classroom. Inside the classroom is a whole other setting which is more difficult to handle.
Here is where it gets funny. I have already learned my first lesson…things do not work out the way you think they might they will in Chuuk. We went one weekend with no power because someone in the office did not pay the power bill. We were the only people around us without power. We cooked in the dark, ate in the dark, and did dishes in the dark. Then there are things like getting a refrigerator and fans replaced. Things that in the states would happen right away, have not happened for over a month because we can’t get answers or people to come to the bank to get money out with us during bank hours-because they are also working while the bank is open. So you learn to be patient…or in my case, remind myself that’s something I need to keep working on.
Additionally…cooking…oh cooking. So I learned I’m not a great cook. I don’t know what goes together without a recipe, and well, here I cannot identify food. Haha. So here’s the story. We only have a 2 burner stove top and a toaster oven to cook with. When the power is out the toaster oven does not work. One night I decided to make spaghetti which tasted decent, but I bought bread to make garlic bread. That was the first time I couldn’t ID food here, because the bread was cinnamon bread…so we had desert. Then the second and even better time…I figured I’d make breakfast for dinner…eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes, and fruit, bought all the food and started cooking. The bacon was not cut in strips like we have it so I had to cut it myself, but I didn’t do strips, but small chunks. Fine. Whatever. Then I started cooking it. Welp, it just didn’t smell or look right, so I tasted it and decided I bought some kind of pork…cooked it anyways. When I put it on the table that night, my community mate Matt said “Lard?” and I told him I didn’t know what it was but I thought it was bacon. He replies, “No. It is lard. You bought lard.” And so we ate lard for dinner, and fed the rest to the cats. Oops.
Other parts of Micronesia include: It’s f-ing hot! As aforementioned, we do not have fans yet, so I sleep on the floor and do work on my floor because it’s a little cooler on the tile, yet sometimes I find I have ants all over me because they are EVERYWHERE!!! Then, there are cockroaches. Those things charge!! They run towards you while you’re laying on the floor. I’ve learned to jump up so fast to get out of their path or to get them to change paths…yuck! And termites…So much termite dust. IT’s everywhere. Anywhere there is wood, there is termite dust on the floor underneath. It’s so hard to keep things clean with dust falling from everywhere! And finally, mold. I think my favorite pillow is molding because it’s so humid, and everyone is always sweating, so if it is occupied, it’s getting wet with sweat. If it is not in use, too much of it is wet to dry, especially with the humidity. So things mold…a lot. And that is a taste of life in Micronesia. There will be more to come!
Peace, Love and Coconuts!
Jessica
Teaching has been quite the adventure. Teaching my native language is so hard because it just sounds natural to me. I have had to relearn so much English grammar and continue to do so. Lesson planning and grading also is very time consuming and sometimes hard because I have to learn it before I teach it. Sometimes…ok most of the time, I’m really unorganized and don’t know what the heck is going on. I feel like my students can tell. Then there is discipline…I am a huge pushover and everyone knows it after that have known me for any time at all, so the students know. And if I’m not being a pushover, then I’m a bitch. I’m not stern…sometimes I just don’t care to enforce rules. If I don’t think the rule is super important, I don’t pick that battle. For example, I’ll let the girls know they’re supposed to have their hair braided, but I warn them to do it before their next class starts because I don’t really care what their hair looks like. Some things really bother me though…like students being tardy in the morning. I cannot start class on time, or if I do they just miss half of the class. I feel like it’s really disrespectful. I also love students to have fun, but when fun means they don’t listen to me, it’s really frustrating. The great things about teaching though are when students really want to learn and ask questions to better understand. I actually really love questions even though I’m always scared I won’t know the answer. I also love that some students really want to go to college. I’ve been asked by a student to help him with college. That gets me so excited. Even the small moments I share with students are great. They are a lot of fun, especially outside of the classroom. Inside the classroom is a whole other setting which is more difficult to handle.
Here is where it gets funny. I have already learned my first lesson…things do not work out the way you think they might they will in Chuuk. We went one weekend with no power because someone in the office did not pay the power bill. We were the only people around us without power. We cooked in the dark, ate in the dark, and did dishes in the dark. Then there are things like getting a refrigerator and fans replaced. Things that in the states would happen right away, have not happened for over a month because we can’t get answers or people to come to the bank to get money out with us during bank hours-because they are also working while the bank is open. So you learn to be patient…or in my case, remind myself that’s something I need to keep working on.
Additionally…cooking…oh cooking. So I learned I’m not a great cook. I don’t know what goes together without a recipe, and well, here I cannot identify food. Haha. So here’s the story. We only have a 2 burner stove top and a toaster oven to cook with. When the power is out the toaster oven does not work. One night I decided to make spaghetti which tasted decent, but I bought bread to make garlic bread. That was the first time I couldn’t ID food here, because the bread was cinnamon bread…so we had desert. Then the second and even better time…I figured I’d make breakfast for dinner…eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes, and fruit, bought all the food and started cooking. The bacon was not cut in strips like we have it so I had to cut it myself, but I didn’t do strips, but small chunks. Fine. Whatever. Then I started cooking it. Welp, it just didn’t smell or look right, so I tasted it and decided I bought some kind of pork…cooked it anyways. When I put it on the table that night, my community mate Matt said “Lard?” and I told him I didn’t know what it was but I thought it was bacon. He replies, “No. It is lard. You bought lard.” And so we ate lard for dinner, and fed the rest to the cats. Oops.
Other parts of Micronesia include: It’s f-ing hot! As aforementioned, we do not have fans yet, so I sleep on the floor and do work on my floor because it’s a little cooler on the tile, yet sometimes I find I have ants all over me because they are EVERYWHERE!!! Then, there are cockroaches. Those things charge!! They run towards you while you’re laying on the floor. I’ve learned to jump up so fast to get out of their path or to get them to change paths…yuck! And termites…So much termite dust. IT’s everywhere. Anywhere there is wood, there is termite dust on the floor underneath. It’s so hard to keep things clean with dust falling from everywhere! And finally, mold. I think my favorite pillow is molding because it’s so humid, and everyone is always sweating, so if it is occupied, it’s getting wet with sweat. If it is not in use, too much of it is wet to dry, especially with the humidity. So things mold…a lot. And that is a taste of life in Micronesia. There will be more to come!
Peace, Love and Coconuts!
Jessica
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Hello,
So I’ve started work. I am officially Teacher Jessica or just Teacher. My community is now full so we started our weekly schedule. Sunday nights we have spirituality night, Thursday nights we have community night, Wednesday nights I cook for everyone and over the weekends we rotate cleaning…because our apartment is NOT clean! So this week is the first week of the full schedule and I’m ready for a break…and it’s only Wednesday. I have gotten through the first three days of teaching though. The first two days went well. I was able to do the same thing each day with all the classes because we have block schedule. The first two days with each class I gave them information on the class and myself and then had them write about what respect means to them. Then I broke them into groups to talk about respect and come up with three words to put on the board. We did that and I tried to get each of the groups to tell us why they picked the words but getting them to talk was like pulling teeth. Chukese students are very shy and don’t like to talk much. At least not the first day of class. It went decent though. I was able to get the point across that I expect respect in the classroom and will also do my best to be respectful to them. If we finished with that discussion I had them write about themselves, but I don’t know all the 105 names so I don’t know what face told me what…oops. I also had them make name signs for their desks but they didn’t have them today when I was in the room…arg. We’re going to have to work on that or I’ll never learn the names. I did the same thing yesterday with the sophomores and then crashed and slept longer than I was supposed to, so planning my lesson for today happened late at night and early this morning. We reviewed past present and future verbs, which i think was a super boring review for some. I have soooo much to teach myself about English before I continue to teach it, so tonight, before or after cooking dinner, I’m going to work my butt off to plan for tomorrow and learn what it is that I am planning. I also have papers to finish grading before planning my two lessons….Being a teacher is soooooooooo much work, and 1.5 hour lessons are a long time to speak and teach. Public speaking here I come!!! Woosh! I get so thirsty. Yesterday and today though I made my classes scream after I made a fool of myself screaming. I want them to openly talk in class. I want to have fun in class. As long as they are being respectful and paying attention when we are leaning, I want the application to be fun…and that takes some energy!!! I think I got my workout already for the day! My students all seem great too. They all have minor English mistakes, but in general their English is pretty good. I really think if they all work they can go to college. I hope if they want to, they know they can. I would love to help them get into college too. I feel so old though that I could be writing letters of recommendation for some of the students I have now. Crazy!!! I have a full time job teaching and I can write letters of rec.??? WHOA! Welp, that’s all for now. I hope everyone is doing well. I love receiving e-mails so feel free to send some. Also, if you remember anything great a teacher did to teach you English grammar, please let me know. I have to learn grammar and be able to explain it, yet make it fun…so feel free to help!
Peace and Love,
Jessica
So I’ve started work. I am officially Teacher Jessica or just Teacher. My community is now full so we started our weekly schedule. Sunday nights we have spirituality night, Thursday nights we have community night, Wednesday nights I cook for everyone and over the weekends we rotate cleaning…because our apartment is NOT clean! So this week is the first week of the full schedule and I’m ready for a break…and it’s only Wednesday. I have gotten through the first three days of teaching though. The first two days went well. I was able to do the same thing each day with all the classes because we have block schedule. The first two days with each class I gave them information on the class and myself and then had them write about what respect means to them. Then I broke them into groups to talk about respect and come up with three words to put on the board. We did that and I tried to get each of the groups to tell us why they picked the words but getting them to talk was like pulling teeth. Chukese students are very shy and don’t like to talk much. At least not the first day of class. It went decent though. I was able to get the point across that I expect respect in the classroom and will also do my best to be respectful to them. If we finished with that discussion I had them write about themselves, but I don’t know all the 105 names so I don’t know what face told me what…oops. I also had them make name signs for their desks but they didn’t have them today when I was in the room…arg. We’re going to have to work on that or I’ll never learn the names. I did the same thing yesterday with the sophomores and then crashed and slept longer than I was supposed to, so planning my lesson for today happened late at night and early this morning. We reviewed past present and future verbs, which i think was a super boring review for some. I have soooo much to teach myself about English before I continue to teach it, so tonight, before or after cooking dinner, I’m going to work my butt off to plan for tomorrow and learn what it is that I am planning. I also have papers to finish grading before planning my two lessons….Being a teacher is soooooooooo much work, and 1.5 hour lessons are a long time to speak and teach. Public speaking here I come!!! Woosh! I get so thirsty. Yesterday and today though I made my classes scream after I made a fool of myself screaming. I want them to openly talk in class. I want to have fun in class. As long as they are being respectful and paying attention when we are leaning, I want the application to be fun…and that takes some energy!!! I think I got my workout already for the day! My students all seem great too. They all have minor English mistakes, but in general their English is pretty good. I really think if they all work they can go to college. I hope if they want to, they know they can. I would love to help them get into college too. I feel so old though that I could be writing letters of recommendation for some of the students I have now. Crazy!!! I have a full time job teaching and I can write letters of rec.??? WHOA! Welp, that’s all for now. I hope everyone is doing well. I love receiving e-mails so feel free to send some. Also, if you remember anything great a teacher did to teach you English grammar, please let me know. I have to learn grammar and be able to explain it, yet make it fun…so feel free to help!
Peace and Love,
Jessica
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