Paradise

Saturday is always sunny here. I'm not quite sure why, but the sun is always shining as we leave our apartment to head over to the church. Church this week was extra long. It was the last day of the prayer meetings, and the sermon was all about health. It was interesting, for the first hour. The second 45 minutes was very long and I just wanted to go eat! Once church was over, I realized that I was supposed to skype my parents in only 10 minutes. Luckily, Jeanine brought me back some food from potluck.

I'm so happy that I got to talk to my parents. After that we played games and relaxed until sundown. Then we started cooking! We were invited to go to a celebratory harvest party and a lady's house, so we had to make something to bring. Though I'm a HORRIBLE cook, we made some delicious mashed potatoes with onions. Once we got to her house, we found out that there was no power. Apparently the generator had blown up, leaving Airai with no power and a small fire. So, we headed back to Eunices house (which is literally across the hall from our apartment). It was so much fun talking to the ladies and other girl sm's. It was nice just finally getting a girls night and some great food! We had green beans, potatoes, and some sort of squash casserole, plus apple crisp and pumpkin pie! Oh yea, and everyone loved our potatoes, so MOM I CAN COOK! Just needed to throw that out there.

This morning we woke up early, me at 5 and Tami at 8, and went to Surangles. We bought stuff to make lasagna and other stuff. We're trying to cook now. Hopefully it lasts longer than the puppy did. I'm also getting ready for my mom to come visit! I'm so happy that she'll be here for Thanksgiving. It will make it feel so much more like home.

It's funny, because most SM's that have been here in the past say time goes by so slow at the beginning. Not for me. These past 3 months, plus some, have flown by. Even though I miss home like crazy, I will want time to slow down. I want this year to last as long as possible! I love being here and I love everything about Palau. I will be SO SAD when this year is over. It hurts to even think about it. On the other side, I can't WAIT to leave for Christmas break. I will be so nice to just have a break from school forget grades. But how much can I really complain? I'm in paradise.

On to the child of the day...This is Ichiro Matsutaro. This is his second year in 2nd grade, and he's doing so much better this time. He has the most beautiful handwriting and is one of the most creative kids in my class. He started this year telling me, "I don't know how to read". Two days ago, he read a paragraph in class. Sometimes I hesitate to call on him because I don't want him to feel bad, but he was great! He also did a whole math page on his own with no help! I was so proud of him, and he was so proud of himself. It was such a great feeling. Anyway, he is really funny and does this thing where he pretends not to understand me and then laughs with such a goofy grin on his face. He was the only kid who's parents didn't show up at our parent-teacher conferences. I gave him his grades in class and you should have seen his face light up. He's never gotten grades like this before!