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| Starla, she loves playing with the pink ball (but not very good at sharing it!) |
They say that 2 months is about
when homesickness really starts to hit. Man is it true. I feel like everyone is
hitting a rough patch right now. Time is starting to slow down, teaching is
getting more into routine but still drains us SMs of all our energy. School has
started for both Southern and Walla Walla University and we can’t help but feel
left out. All of our friends are studying for classes, hanging out with friends
in the coolness of fall, and going on about their daily student lives while
we’re stuck on a small island, sweating constantly and teaching children who
never seem to understand. Since our friends are busy at home, we can’t help but
feel a little forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind as is the saying. The first
month and a half that we were here, we felt that time was just flying by and we
would going back home quicker than the blink of an eye. Definitely not true
anymore. Time is moving slower than molasses. I keep thinking Christmas is
right around the corner, but it’s still more than 2 months away! There is the realization that I am here for yet another 8 months. It feels like an eternity quite frankly. I also wonder
why God sent me here sometimes. Especially when I am sweating profusely while
teaching, or when I am taking a freezing cold shower in the mornings, or when I
find that a ton of the things in my desk has been chewed to shreds by my dear
friend, the rat. I just don’t know why God sent me here yet, but I am praying
that He shows me soon because I could really use the encouragement.
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| Taking turns playing with Alyanna's toy at recess! |
I feel like I am making no
progress with my children. Some kids STILL don’t know their alphabet and it
makes it 10x harder to do the worksheets altogether as a class. It doesn’t help
that English is not their primary language and their parents don’t work with
them at home. On Tuesday, I felt like I was doing really really well with my
kids in class. They were answering all the questions, they were doing well on
their worksheets, and then after PE, it was all gone. Truthfully, I’m not sure
how I have so much patience. It must definitely be a God thing because I get so
frustrated with these children. Sometimes I just want to duck tape them to
their chairs so they will just sit and listen to me! As my dear friend Roy over
here would say, “Serenity now!” One of my high school students, is really needing to
practice typing if he wants to get a good grade for my computer class. So I
stayed in the computer lab after school and let him practice. He’s doing a lot
better and I’m really happy for that!
Wednesday started off alright. I
received my new textbooks for math and for reading from Mr. Johnson and was
really excited to use them! The math books are pretty good, but as for reading,
they are never going to work. My poor children hardly know their alphabets,
much less how to read books that should really be for the 1st
graders here! The students are taking their finals this week and you can
practically feel the stress in the air. Strangely enough, I’d rather be one of
the students right now. I don’t like being the teacher. Sure, it’s less work
during this time, but I actually miss studying. I’m glad my sister is sending
me one of my social work textbooks to read!
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| The joys of a simple balloon. |
Now none of the elementary
teachers like using the bathrooms in their classrooms. They’re smelly, dark,
full of bugs, and mine has a hole that gives entrance to the horrid destroyer
rat. After my classes were out and I was ready to go to boy’s PE, I went and
used the restroom in my classroom. Ready to leave, I tried to open the door. It
wouldn’t budge. I thought “Well maybe someone is playing a joke on me and is
holding the door shut on the other side.” Nope. A moment of panic set into me
as I pulled and pulled on the stupid door, desperate to get out of the stinky,
spider filled room. I was afraid that the rat would suddenly decide that it was
a good idea to come through the hole at that time. I kept pulling on the door,
my panic rising when I realize: “Oh. I accidently turned the lock when I pulled
the door shut.” Oops. Well that was my adrenaline rush of the day. That night,
Danny had our Wednesday night prayer meeting in the hut. He did a really great
job! The SMs living with Kat came by for it too and I got to talk to them for a
little while afterwards. Afterwards, I graded papers in the upper boys’
apartment while Roy and Ellie attempted to bake cookies for an officers
fundraiser tomorrow. The oven is very terrible though so everything was getting
burned. So they moved over to Ellie’s apartment to bake the rest.
Please pray for us over here.
Homesickness, loneliness, and stress is slowly wearing us down. And please
continue to pray for Riley as he is still trying to recover at home.
Feel free to write me or mail me a
package or something! J
My address is:
PO Box 518
Kolonia, Pohnpei FSM 96941
Or Facebook message me too, that’s fine. Love you all!
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