At BYC

Milky way

My kids lining up for flag raising.

Recess time!

Rychelle came to visit from Yap!

The cool ring around the sun!

My adorable class

At PPR, the nicest resort in Palau

Waiting to do gymnastics at the creativity fair!

Me and Yoonyung, one of my favorite Kinders!

The Nechasar waterfalls

Jeanine's birthday

Janelle's sister's christening

In Legaspi, Philippines

The rest of what you missed

So a few more things to catch up on...
1.Eulla's birthday and the baby christening. When we got back from break, Jeanine told me that we had been invited to the christening of one of her kid's baby sister. Confusing, I know. So we got all dressed up on Sunday and walked to the Catholic Church. The service wasn't over yet, so we sat in and heard what the priest had to say. Then we went into the back room for the christening. It was cool that we were invited, because it was just us and the closest family. It was interesting to see because I'd never been to a christening before. After that, we were invited to the club that their family owns to celebrate Eulla's (the older sister) birthday. It was so fun! They even had a roasted pig and some intense Palauan food. We got to talk to Eulla and all her friends and played with the kids too. It was nice to get to hang out with people out of school settings.
2. We celebrated Victor, Jeanine, and my birthday over the last few months. For Victor's birthday we went to Little Italy and ate some amazing food. It was delicious! Then we came back to SDA and watched a movie. For Jeanine's birthday we went to Kramers and got sea food. They had a live band randomly that night so we got to hear them and they were actually pretty good! For my 20th birthday we went back to Kramers and had a Foosball tournament. We all got to play and it was super fun. Then we came back and watched a movie and ran around in the dark. I also got some pretty cool packages from home, as well as other people. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but thank you SO MUCH to everyone who sent me Christmas packages. I got around 25, and they were all SO amazing!
3. One Sunday our host families took us to the waterfalls in Nechasar! We took a huge bus with all the faculty and our families, but when we got there the hill was so steep that we had to park in the middle of the road! Then we hiked up a hill, down a path, up some rocks, down a ravine, and a whole bunch of other ways to get to the waterfall. When we got there it was worth it though! The waterfall was beautiful! It poured down into pools which ran down the rocks into other smaller waterfalls. The water was freezing too! We took so many pictures, and I even jumped off the side. It was a cool experience to bond with new people and get to hang out with our host families.
4. One Saturday Joy (one of the teachers here) asked me if we wanted to come to Nechasar church and help with the program. It was a long ride to get there, but her husband came and picked us up. On the way we discovered that he is the pastor! The church only had about 10 members, but they were all friendly and welcoming. We had Sabbath School outside and church we were barefoot in an open room! After church he took us on a driving tour of the state of Nechasar and then back to the waterfalls! This time it was with the church on Saturday, so we weren't really supposed to swim. We did, however, wade in the water and lay in the shallow part. Then we sang songs and talked about nature and heaven and a lot of other things. It was peaceful and it was fun to meet all the church members from another church.
5. Since Rebecca and Daniel came in December we've been preparing for BYC (Balau Youth Conference). We had several meetings a week trying to plan the whole weekend. I was in charge of registration and photography, but there were about 30 people involved all in all. Finally it was the weekend of BYC. I'm sure a lot of people were stressed because this is what we had been planning for and no one really knew what to expect. The new pastor (who came in a few weeks before) we going to speak and we had a lot planned. People came and stayed at PMA for the weekend for seminars and workshops and other things like that. Friday went great and I got everyone registered. We had an evening meeting and it POURED rain. It's funny because our theme was "Pray for rain" and it rained every day. Saturday we had church and it rained again. The President of Palau came and translated for church though, which was really cool! Saturday night we played capture the flag in the dark after the evening meeting. Sunday was workshops all day until the evening, but then we had a meeting. Six people got baptized! It was so amazing! Even Carl spontaneously decided to get baptized too. I know it really impacted people and it was a great event, with more than 200 people showing up. It's something that we started this year, in hopes that it will become and annual event.
6. One Saturday we decided to go camping in Baubledop. We drove the van out to the beach and brought our hammocks and everything. It was really fun, we made a campfire and ate on the beach. We set our hammocks up under a little hut and everything was perfect. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. It POURED rain all night. My hammock is full of holes, so I didn't have much protection. I ended up sleeping in the van, but forgot to close the window so it rained on me all night. I didn't get much sleep, but it was still fun to get to be in nature and hang out.
7.Last Thursday was Youth Day here in Palau and so we got the day off of school! All the SM's plus Myrrah (a teacher at PCC) went to PPR. It's the nicest resort in Palau and it really expensive to get in. Once you're inside, it looks like you are in Hawaii or somewhere other than Palau. It has white beaches, clear blue water, tons of lawn chairs set up, a nice pool, and hammocks to lay in. We got to swim in the ocean out to these cool floating docks to sun tan. We also went in the pool and lounged around on the beach. Jeanine and I hiked out to the end of the island and the view was beautiful. At sunset we swam back out to the floating pier and watched the sun set. Then we ate dinner at the restaurant and some other people from PCC joined us. It was such a great relaxing day!
8. I know it sounds like all we do is have fun, but that isn't true at all. We're always involved in something, weather it be BYC, church events, or school events. Just yesterday we had our school creativity fair. My kids and I have been trying to get ready for that for the past month, and it finally all came together. They made dioramas of under the sea to display at our booth, and we also put together a gymnastics routine. I worked with Joy's class, 3B to get them ready. They did cute little flips and pyramids and other things to "Eye of the Tiger". I was kind of worried about it because we didn't have much time to practice, but last night it went perfectly! They were all ready to go. The rest of the fair was great, except the kids kept putting me in jail a million times. There were lots of other booths and I got to socialize with a lot of people I normally don't get to see. The best part of the talent show was when a cute little girl, Alexa, sang L.O.V.E. with her dad playing the guitar. She was just amazing!
9. We just got finished with our last PTC (Parent-Teacher Conference). It was great! I heard that people are usually worried about that, but mine always go so well. The parents always have great things to say about me, and I always have great things to tell them about their kids. It's nice to have that communication to let them know how their kids are doing.
10. A few nights ago all the teacher were invited to go to Airai View Hotel for the birthday of the Ambassador of Taiwan's son. He's new to PMA and let us all come for free. Even though just a few of us ended up going, it was so much fun! I'd never been there before and there are two water slides for the guests to use and they were awesome! Even though now I'm covered with bruises, it was fun getting to know all the Chinese dorm students better. We got into a water fight and in the end we shoved them down the slide like 50 times. Bonding...
11. I found out that my roof leaks. Every time that it rains here in Palau, there is a giant puddle of water on my floor. I nearly slipped to my death a few days ago because apparently there's a hole now! I have buckets full of water that I get to dump out. It's an experience at least I suppose
12. Something new that happened was that last week I couldn't breathe. I was sitting out at recess and suddenly I just couldn't breathe. I couldn't see straight, it was hot, and I kept hyperventilating. They rushed me to the ER and I got diagnosed with dehydration. They put me on an IV drip which took forever and then I could go back to school. It was kind of scary, but at least I'm drinking more water now.

So now you're caught up with what's been going on. We have one week left and then we have spring break! We're planning to go camping, diving, and then Jesse and Rychelle come from Yap! It's sad that we're so close to the end of our time here. I feel like now things are going to go by so fast because we want them to go slow. There are still so many things that I want to do here, but I don't know if I can accomplish them all. I already miss my kids, but I'm still teaching them! I just love them so much-more every day. They really are the sweetest kids ever. They are all so helpful and loving and adorable. I know I'm going to miss them a lot.

I'm back (Manila)

It's been forever. It's not that I don't want to write, it's that I'm so busy! At first I just had so much to do, then it was because I was so far behind that I didn't even think that I could catch up. But there are 56 days left until summer, so I might as well try to catch you all up. I am so happy here. It's been a transforming experience. So many things about me have changed and so many things here in Palau have changed. Yesterday a girl contacted me and asked about Palau, since she's coming here as an SM next year, and I realized how far I've come. I remember being her, not knowing what was waiting for me here in Palau. I remember getting on Facebook and trying to talk to the SM's here to figure out what was waiting for me. And now I'm that person. I'm the one that has the experience and can explain what it's like. It's hard to grasp even, what a long year this has been. Even though now it's flying by, it feels like I've lived here for years. This is my place. The people know me, the kids love me, I know where everything is, and I'm comfortable here. I wish that I had the words to explain the difference in me, but I can't. So here are something that I should catch you up on.
Before this, my last post was right before I went to Manila. That was one of the best trips I've ever been on! We got there at midnight and said goodbye to Kofi, a guy who traveled on the plane with Austin and I. Then we walk outside and are instantly surrounded by a million sounds, colors, and lights. Compared to Palau, it was like night and day. I nearly had a heart attack as we tried to fight through the crowd to get outside. It was intense reverse culture-shock. The daughter of the principal here was waiting to pick us up and take us to our hotel in downtown Manila. I'm not going to lie, even though the hotel was pretty nice, we were in a sketchy downtown sort of area, sorry mom! Even though by then it was 2 am, we had to figure out how to exchange money because we needed to pay to get into the hotel. We walked around and asked people, and we finally found a hotel that would do it for 44 pesos a dollar. When we finally got that all figured out around 4 am, we got to sleep! The reason it took so long is because they didn't have enough money in the hotel and had to call in an armed guard to open the vault. So anyway, the next morning we had to wake up early and take a taxi to the airport to catch our flight to Legaspi. When we finally got to Legaspi, we had to take a 2 hour taxi ride to Donsol, which is the little town that has the whale sharks. I was so tired after the plane ride and taxi ride that all I wanted to do was eat dinner and sit on the beach, so that is what we did. The next morning was Christmas! We slept in and then ate lunch at the resort. Then we decided to go into the town of Donsol and explore. We look into the little shops and walk around the food vendors, but then Austin finds this game. All of the locals are around this metal board. It is divided in little squares and they are colored red and white, every other one. The point of the game is to throw two ping pong balls into a funnel and then the balls land in these squares. People bet on red or white, and pay as much as they want. If they win, they get double their bet back. If they lose, they get nothing. Even though women aren't aloud to play, all the Filipino men said I could sit at the table and be good luck (haha). So they made me kiss the ping pong balls before they threw them (ew! I probably got some sort of disease). Anyway, it was SO FUN! Apparently I'm a lucky charm, because Austin won a ton of money, like 3000 pesos! It was cool to hang out with the people, and I even got to take a picture with a super old lady. When that was over we went to the visitors center and registered for whale sharking and something called a firefly tour. We got to talking to some people there and they brought us food. It was some good soup, until the guys told me that it was made of cow bone marrow...mmm...Then we took a trike back. A trike is like a teeny carriage that is pulled by a guy peddling a bike. It was sure a new experience, and a cool way to see Donsol. The next day we had to get up SUPER early to go whale sharking! They told us that we get to be out for four hours and if we don't see a whale shark then we still have to go back in. Apparently it was off season and they hadn't seen one in a while, so I didn't get my hopes up. So we drive around for two hours and just enjoy the breeze and the water. The boat is really small, but a super cool sail boat. Just as were thinking of heading back, the guide sees one in the water. Now, I thought we'd just stop to get into the water, but no. He screams at us to hurry and jump off the boat right now! We yank on our fins and hop off the speeding boat into the freezing water. I thought I would get hypothermia! I literally landed on top of the whale shark when I jump. They only surface for a few minutes at a time, so we had to be fast. It was AMAZING! The whale shark was about 8 meters long...so like 25 feet. I landed right by its eye which was as big as my fist! They swim super fast, so I could barely keep up. I got to see its giant fin and spots, and its tail even almost hit me! It was as big as a bus! We got back out and a few seconds later there was another one! So we got right back in the water. It was just phenomenal to be that close. Then we headed back to shore. We found out later on that day that we were the only people to see whale sharks all day! What a blessing. After that we walked back to our resort so we got to see the rice fields and other cool parts of Donsol. When it got dark, a tiny boat that looked like a canoe came and picked us up for the firefly tour. They took us down this canal that was lined by trees. Those trees were filled with fireflies. The sky was totally bright and lit up by the fireflies! They were beautiful to see, except a lady kept taking pictures which kind of ruined the beauty. It was still suck a cool experience. After that we went back and the hotel staff gave everyone staying there free food for Christmas! It was fun to meet the other people staying there. There was a couple from Germany, a guy from Italy working in Africa, and a couple from the Czech Republic. Apparently Austin speaks German, so it was fun getting to know them. The next day we took a van with the Czech people and Italian guy to the airport. We were heading back to Manila, the Italian guy was going to Cebu, and the Czech people were going to Thailand. So as we're getting ready to fly back to Manila, we find out our flight is cancelled! In fact, all flights are cancelled because of the weather. They don't give us our money back, but instead want to give us a new ticket. The next flight to Manila is two days later, and that is just way too long. So we decided to switch our flight to Manila out of Naga, a city that is about four hours away, to leave the next morning. The problem is that we had to get to Naga and figure out something to do until 7 am the next morning. So we decided to get a van and drive with those people to Naga. On the way we got to see a cool volcano, but the drive ended up taking about 8 hours, instead of 4. When we finally got there we had to look for a hotel, but then we got to go to the mall! It had been such a long time since I'd seen anything even close to a mall, so it was pretty intense. The next morning we had to get up early to catch our flight back to Manila, but when we got to the airport our flight was delayed. We FINALLY got on a plane and got back to Manila. We dropped our stuff off at our same hotel we stayed in before and went to a GIANT outdoor market. It was full of thousands of booths selling everything you could imagine. It was Sunday, so there was also a Catholic Church having mass. There were so many people crowding and pushing to touch a statue of Jesus. There were about 2000 or more people pushing into the cathedral. After shopping we took a taxi to Hard Rock Cafe. It was crazy, because I felt just like I was back in the States. It made me miss home a lot! The next day we went to the Mall of Asia, the biggest mall in Asia (if you couldn't tell). You had to take a tram to get from one building of the mall to the next. There was an Ice Skating rink, bowling alley, and even the biggest IMAX in the world there. The next day was new years eve, so we decided to go back to the outdoor market. I bought some cool stuff for my family and got fresh Lumpia! Then that night we went back to the Hard Rock Cafe, then after back to our hotel. The people there were eating food in the lobby so we got to hang out with them. All day people were setting off fireworks, and the closer it got to midnight, the more and more we heard. At 11:30 we went outside and walked around the streets with hundreds of other people. There were so many fireworks and people screaming. There was even a guy doing motorcycle tricks. Then everyone started counting down 5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10,9,8 and then 3,2,1! It was wild. After that there was a guy with us who cooked us some pansit and we talked to him. It was really a different experience! The next 3 or 4 days we just toured around Manila, looking at cool sights, going to the mall, and relaxing a lot. It was such a fun trip, and just the break I needed from school!

Merry Christmas!

Ants and sillybandz...

I hate ants. I think they are now one of my biggest fears. Last night, I stupidly left cookies out on the table in Tami and my room. Between the window and the cookies, sat my laptop. Of course, the ants coming from the window COULD have gone around, but no. They marched straight through my computer and to the cookies and back. Almost 24 hours later, there are thousands of ants still inhabiting my computer. I set it in a box for 20 minutes, and when I came back it was full of ants. I am covered by ant bites and can't believe how many thousands are in my computer. Hopefully I get them out before they do any damage...but how much damage can ants do..right? On the plus side, it's 9 pm and we still have power! That's a nice change from the power being off 8-12 every night for the past two months.
I know I should write more, but it's really just the same thing every day. Though I still like being here, its becoming tedious and repetitive. Its funny because today I was reading my journal (that I kept for like a month when I first got here) and I used to think everything was new and exciting. I guess its because it was. I remember thinking that lesson plans would be so hard and teaching would be hard too, but that's the easiest part of being here in Palau. The thing they don't warn you about is boredom. They don't tell you that a small thing like ants and destroy your day or not being home for Christmas will make such a big impact. I just wish I could be at home sometimes, but I know that wouldn't make me happy. Being here makes me happy. It just takes a little reminding. The kids make it all worth it. Whether its kindergartners swarming me at recess, first grade asking for piggy back rides, hugs from third graders, boy talk with sixth graders, or just my own kids telling me they love me, I love them all!
Today I was in such a bad mood, and just kept trying to get the ants out of my computer while the kids were doing their work. Shayne kept asking the same question over and over and over after I answered every time she asked. Right when I was about to snap, I went back to my desk and sat down. A second later I feel a tap on my shoulder and Daichi is standing there holding a sillyband in the shape of a heart. He just puts it in my hand and walks away. It was funny how something so insignificant could make my day so much better.

13 days and counting

This year is full of new experiences. So far in the past 5 months:

1. I wrote out 16 science tests today, by hand, because the copy machine has been broken for a few weeks.


2. I haven't had power in the evenings for more than two months.


3. I kissed a jellyfish.


4. I've learned to scuba dive, and now it's one of my favorite things.


5. I've taught someone something that they'll remember forever.


6. Complete strangers turned into best friends.


7. I have seen myself change lives.


8. I have been completely alone.


9. Been close enough to a water snake to lick it.


10. Slept all night outside in a hammock in the rain.


11. Swam with the sharks


12. I've drank coconut juice out of a fresh coconut.


13. Eaten the brain, eyeball, and liver of a fish we just caught.


14. Achieved inner peace and contentment.


15. Realized that I love kids.


16. And soon, hopefully touch a shark!

In just 13 days I'm leaving for Manila in the Philippines! I am so excited to get to have the experience of seeing a new country and take a little break from school. There is a tiny island called Donsol off the coast of the Philippines which is home to the whale shark. The biggest shark on record, these giant animals only eat krill! So of course, I have to swim with them. The best part is that if the sharks let you, you can even touch or RIDE them! How amazing is that? That list of the new experiences I've had is so small but it's fun to think of all the new things I've done. I'm sure that in another 5 months, the list will be tripled, if not more. I can't wait!

Catch up

Due to the lack of motivation, you can obviously tell that it's been a while since I've blogged. In part with the lack of power in the evenings, I've actually just been busy with teaching and other reoccurring things. I really should keep up the habit though, and I'm sure you avid readers are waiting for another post, so here it goes. It might be a tad choppy and long, so this is my apology in advance.

1. Today, as per our agreement, I subbed Jeanine's kindergarten and she taught my kids math. All was going smoothly until Kai dropped Gian Gabriel's toy car down into the rain gutter. All 9 kinders gathered around and deliberated on how to get it out. I brought out a long stick, and Kai came up with the brilliant idea of hitting it down the gutter and trying to push it out the other end. Inch by inch, minute by minute he struggled to push it closer and closer toward the hole. Finally his hard work paid off, and the toy car was free! The other kinders cheered and hugged Kai like he'd just won the Olympics, and all he could do was scream "yea!".

2. At one of our weekly visits to Emimalei I decided to order something different from the menu. No, this is not the interesting part, in case you were wondering. The next day after eating there, I woke up and couldn't open my eye! It was completely swollen shut and the other eye was half closed. I talked to the principal and he told me to take the day off. The next day it was even worse, so he took me to the hospital where they diagnosed me with an insect bite. Though the clinic is a nice facility, they actually had no idea what they were talking about. I was prescribed zyrtec and later found out that I had an allergic reaction. Apparently my vegetables were cooked in sea food, and never trying it before, I didn't know I was allergic. Eventually the swelling went down, and I returned to school with one eye closed and one eye open.

3. Ichiro, one of the boys previously mentioned when I did special blogs on my children, got 100% on his spelling test. This is most likely the only 100% he's ever received and he couldn't believe his eyes when I handed back his test. I was so proud of him! After going back to my desk, I saw him excitedly show Mizora. Instead of showing off her perfect score as well, she gave him a huge smile, high five, and said "great job!". I was so touched that even though she could have told him that she gets 100% every week, she didn't. She just enjoyed his happiness with him.

4. I know we're not supposed to have favorite children, but I do. Among those adorable few, is Makani. He is always leading the class and is pretty much the most adorable kid I have ever seen. He used to have a little mohawk, but sadly that's gone now. Anyway, last week in our spelling test I saw him throw a note. Of course, I had to go get it and see what it said. "What's the answer to number 1?" it said. I was livid! Of course I dragged him out the door and right to the principals. We didn't get that far though. As soon as we got outside the door he sat down and said "teacher, I'm so sorry. I didn't know the answer so I needed help". I knew he was wrong, he knew he was wrong, but I just couldn't send him to the office. I used that opportunity to explain to him what grace was, and how God gave us grace when he died on the cross. Then I explained how I was giving him grace too.

5. There are two new SM's here from Germany. They're already a couple, but because they're not married they have to live separate. That means that the girl, Rebecca, will be moving in with us. In case you didn't know, we live in a shoebox. There isn't enough room to stretch in our rooms, let alone walk around. But, because they don't have another place, she moved into Tami's bedroom. Of course, this meant that Tami moved into mine with me. Needless to say it's very cramped and full, but it should be a fun adventure for both of us.

6. The power situation. First, let me say that we have full water back which is such a blessing. Unfortunately, we have no power in the evenings and at random times during the school day. It was supposed to be fixed in the middle of November, but we found out yesterday that it might not be fixed until next March. Sleeping without aircon and showering in the dark isn't so bad, and is actually starting to become a habit. The only problem is that I can't talk to anyone back home anymore because that was our skyping time. It's sad, but on the other hand, it does get me to go to bed early!

7. Speaking of family, my mom was here last week! We just had the best most amazing time. I wish that I could write and explain every detail, but I'll just have to give you the basics. She got here at 2 am, so we had to wait around at PMA from 2 pm to 2 am on Friday because the boys are the only ones with a car and Austin offered to pick her up. After a long day of waiting, she finally arrived. We took her back and showed her our apartment and after talking for another two hours, went to sleep! The next day was Saturday so we went to church and potluck. On Sunday we went to Sams and she took a refresher dive to practice. We got to go all around the dock and it was lots of fun. We saw tons of fish, and even a three foot giant shrimp! Monday and Tuesday she came to school with me! I took advantage of her superior teaching skills and kindly let her teach my class. Luckily, she loved it. We did tons of Thanksgiving crafts with the kids and they learned a lot of phonics and spelling. Then on Wednesday we had our own little Thanksgiving party. In the morning Austin's class came in and we made home made playdough for them. Then we made cornucopias and dressed up as pilgrims and indians. At lunch, everyone brought in food for our huge feast! It was so fun to see them all dressed up in their cute little outfits. After lunch we had an indian vs. pilgrim war which they absolutely loved! Thursday was our actual Thanksgiving, and we were invited to eat dinner on the roof of Surangles (the biggest store in Palau) with the Whipps family. Before that we went to the Dropoff and swam in their amazing pool for free! Oh! I almost forgot. I got my hair cut. It is completely the shortest it's ever been, and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. It is much lighter, but I think it'll have to grow on me. (hehe, get it) Anyway, after swimming we came back, got ready, and headed over to Surangles. The view from the top is AMAZING! You can see so much of Palau, and we even watched the sunset! They gave us such a huge feast of food and it was so fun hanging out all together. Afterwards we watched a movie on Surangles life and how he made Surangle's. Friday, Jeanine, Tami, my mom, and I went on a jellyfish lake tour! We started off going to an amazing snorkeling spot where we fed the fish. Then we went to jellyfish lake and my mom just freaked out. She loved it, and even kissed a jellyfish! Then we went to another spot where we went snorkeling again. My mom said it was the most beautiful place she ever saw in the whole world, even more than the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. I'm not sure if I agree, but it WAS pretty spectacular. Then we ended the day by going to milky way and putting the sulfury sand all over our bodies! Saturday we went to church, and originally planned to have a picnic. We went to PMA so the boys could join too, but forgot that the boys don't have power from 2-6 pm, so we were stuck with cold Thanksgiving leftovers. We still had lots of fun getting coconuts and talking until sunset. There are supposed to be three coconut sticks, but Victor broke all of them trying to get my mom coconuts. Of course she gets the idea to stand on his shoulders and try to reach the top. It actually worked, and we all enjoyed coconuts! Sunday was the last day that my mom was here, so of course we had to go to the rock islands! All the SM's got up early and we went scuba diving! Because my mom was flying that night, she snorkeled with Tami. It was amazing! We saw SO many fish and amazing coral. We even saw some spotted manta rays, turtles, and some big sharks! I was kind of behind the group, and as I was swimming I saw a sleeping shark in the sand. He was probably about 8 feet long and even had a barracuda sleeping beside him. I, being me, tried to sneak as close to him as I could without waking him up. FAIL. When I got about 12 feet away, he opened his eyes and looked at me. I don't even know how scared I was at that moment, but I didn't moved a muscle. He started rising off the ocean floor and began swimming away. Then, he turned back around and starting swimming towards me. I swam away SO fast. It wasn't until after that I realized that I actually wasn't left all alone, but that Austin was behind me watching. As I swam away from that shark, I noticed another one above me. After that, I hurried to catch up with the group. At the second place we dove, everything went great and the diving was amazing. When I got back up, I got to hear a story from my mom about her and Tami snorkeling. Apparently they didn't notice a shark that was 3 feet away from them until he was almost under them. My mom of course freaked out and hid behind Tami, but they just swam around and eventually it went away. Unlucky day with sharks I guess. That night all of our Palauan host families threw a dinner for us and then I had to say bye to my mom as she headed back home. I feel so blessed that she got a chance to come and meet everyone here (they loved her) and see Palau. Palau is really one of those places that you can try to explain, but it'll never come across right. No one will ever understand how beautiful it is here and how amazing my kids are. It's a privilege that my mom could come and see it all. It's great that I can now talk to both my parents about Palau and they will have an idea what I'm talking about.

8. Last, but not least, Christmas vacation. While my mom was visiting here we worked it out so that I can spend Christmas vacation in Manila! I am so excited to get to travel to a new place, and there are so many fun things to do there. Were starting off the coast of the Philippines on an island called Donsol. It is renown for being the only place in the world where you can swim with whale sharks! I told everyone back home that before this year was over, I was going to pet a shark. Now, I get to live that dream, and I might even get to ride one! You see, whale sharks are the biggest type of shark, but they only eat krill and other plankton. It's pretty much my goal in life right now, so I'm so excited! Another thing we'll get to do is take a firefly tour. There is an underground cave full of millions of fireflies that we can boat through and enjoy. It sounds magical to me. It's also one of the only places in the world with a volcano with a perfect cone shape. If I'm lucky, I'll get to ride a donkey up to the top and see the view from up there!

Headed to the hospital again...

The hospital and I are getting to be quite close. Today when I woke up, my eyes were swollen shut and my lips were swollen and covered with tons of red bumps. Initially I planned to go to school like normal, but once Tami saw me she convinced me to skip. When she went down to let Jesse know, he told her that they were going to take me to the ER. To pass the time I looked up my symptoms online and am pretty sure that it's an allergic reaction of some sort. The only thing I can think of is the water. Last night when I went to get some water out of my water bottle, I noticed that the bottom of my water bottle was covered in dirt. I'm the only one who drinks tap water, and just keep refilling the same water bottle over and over. Anyway, I found out that the dirt was actually on the INSIDE of my bottle and it was just settling from the water down to the bottom...mmmm. So here I am now, waiting to go to the ER yet again. Sometimes I feel so pathetic here, like my body can't take the things I want it to. All I want to do is be healthy so I can teach, especially this week because it's almost Thanksgiving and my mom is coming!

Real missionary

I feel like I'm a real missionary. Living around a power and water schedule helps me empathize with people who never have water or power. We wake up and try to get ready, no power. When we get home we try to make dinner, no water. At night we try to skype, no power. It's rather annoying, but it could be worse! At least we have power most of the school day, so that means AC! Oh bummer, no water after school, guess we have to go out for lunch!
In other exciting news, Jeanine has started teaching my least favorite class, math. She only has a half day because it's kindergarten and she really wants the chance to actually teach kids things. From the few times I've subbed for her, I can completely understand how she would be frustrated. They just can't have coherent conversations like my 2nd graders can. So, it worked out that she would love to teach my math. That is such a blessing because, though I don't mind, I really don't know how to be so creative when teaching math. In most other classes I can teach them the material in at least two or three ways, but not math.
Though I'm still in love with teaching, it's really wearing me out. I start the day off so happy and excited to see my kids. They've even started lining up in front of my door in the morning, and I never told them to do that! By mid-morning I'm usually toning down my hyperness, and by lunch I'm just normal. After lunch, their antics begin getting slightly annoying, and I don't like that feeling. Things that would normally not even get my attention start to drive me crazy. I hope that it's just this week, because I haven't been getting much sleep. Hopefully I'll be back to my chipper self soon.
I wish more things would happen. I want more pictures of things and more things to write about, but honestly there isn't much to do. We do have a list though, of everything we want to do before we leave Palau. That should be fun to work on! I'm also trying to plan something for Thanksgiving for my kids. Today I asked them if they knew the story of Thanksgiving, and none of them did! I told them all about the pilgrims and indians and the first Thanksgiving. I also started planning a Thanksgiving meal for them, and also a battle, where some of them are indians and some are pilgrims. It should be a blast!

If you're wondering where I've gone...

So things got interesting after 1 pm. Last night one of the generators in Airai blew up somehow. Apparently there was a huge fire and all of Airai lost power. To try to put out the fire, the firemen depleted the water supply here in Palau, resulting in no more water coming out of the sinks. This means no flushing the toilet, no taking showers, and no washing dishes. By morning we thought it would all be back to normal, but unfortunately the water was still all gone. At around 1 pm today we lost our power. Because Airai has no power, the government decided that Koror could share their generator with them so we can both have power. This is a problem that can only be fixed by a new generator, so for at least another month we will share with Airai. That means that from 8 am-2 pm Koror has power, 2 pm-8 pm Airai has power, and so on. It should be interesting to have no power from 2pm-8pm, because that's when we do our cooking and other important things. Today we literally just sat around and stared at the ceiling. We also got to take a nice walk in nature and there was even a breeze! It's just so bizarre that a whole island can literally use up all their water source on putting out a fire, or lose power for a month. Needless to say, life is always an adventure.

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!

Starting the weekend!

This is Kylie Whipps. She is the first kid in my class that I met in Palau. The first Sabbath here I helped her pass out forks during potluck, and I never knew she was in my class! She is so sweet and completely hyper. Her Grandparents own Surangles, the biggest store here in Palau, and her parents own Mason, a part of Surangles. She reminds me so much of my sister Janelle. Her desk looks like a bomb blew up and scattered her stuff everywhere, and even though I make her clean it at least 8 times a day, the next minute it's totally messy again. She is really loving and runs and jumps on me any time she sees me, no matter where we are. "Teacher, can you help me" is her favorite thing to say, but I don't mind.

Today was randomly different than most Fridays. Instead of teaching 2nd grade, I switched Jeanine and taught Kindergarten. It was her idea, because she wanted to have kids that actually listened to her. Great... It was quite fun actually. Though now I know I'll never be a Kindergarten teacher, it was still fun to get to play with the adorable kids. We started with Bible, and just drew rainbows! Then we did a page in reading where we learned that G is a the beginning of goat, gate, and green. For math we practiced counting 1,2,3,4, and 5 objects. Then it was snack time! After that came recess and my 2nd grade was out there. They all ran up to me and told me how much they missed me. It was cute! After recess we went back in and learned the letter T for phonics and drew pictures of more things. It was fun, even though they were not the best listeners, but at least I got some nice cereal for snack.

After school we went to Emimalei to eat as per our tradition, but I just got some coffee. Trying to save money for Manila and all that. We came back and cleaned our apartment. After we were finally all done, we were about to relax when we noticed that our apartment smelled HORRID. Remember our short stint with a puppy? [Note:Well, I don't remember what I wrote on here before, but Austin gave me the puppy I wanted and I was super happy. After having him (his name was Dozer) for about three days, he had peed everywhere, destroyed tons of stuff, and cried all night. He also started getting violent (Rottweiler) and it just was not as fun as we thought it would be. He even chewed my computer power cord. After the three days I decided that Austin could have him back] Anyway, when the puppy peed all over the place, I used an old shirt to clean it all up. Then I put it in the wash pile to be cleaned later on, and didn't think about it again. Apparently today, Jeanine used that shirt to mop the floor. Our apartment was covered in puppy pee! So then we had to go to the school, get a mop, and clean it all again. It was quite the inconvenience, but at least our apartment is clean!

After that we decided we really needed a reward, so we went down the massage place and got massages! It was such a nice Friday treat and felt so good! It was pretty cheap too. Compared to the $150 I paid for one this summer, it was the best deal ever. Then we bought some ingredients for potatoes, because the lady that took us to yoga invited us to a harvest party tomorrow night. That should be something else fun to do!

Jeanine and I were talking last night and we decided we need to do more things here. We made a list of things we need to do before we leave, like invite over our host families, go to all the churches in Palau, and visit Peliliu. Its fun to plan things that we want to do so they can actually happen.

dao shi shi, shao shi shi

I am turning into my mother. I would just like to proclaim to the world that I am now realizing how similar we are, specifically because I am teaching. I call my kids sweetie like her. The kids from 6th grade come to talk to me about "life" and "love advice". It's just ridiculous how similar we are without me trying in the least. Fortunately, she is a fantastic teacher and amazing person, so I'm doing pretty well. Just thought I'd share with the world my current realizations.

On another topic, my class was in charge of chapel today which went really well. We sang Blind man, This Little Light of Mine, Jesus Lover of my Soul, and Jesus Love is Bubbling Over. At first we were supposed to do a skit. It was all about this class that gets an assignment. They are supposed to draw a picture of someone they hate and then pin it to the board. Then they got to throw darts at it and try to mess up the picture. In the end, the teacher takes away the pictures of the people the kids hate, and there is a picture of Jesus underneath. The skit was too short so I asked Mesikt, an elder in the church, to come speak for our chapel. Once he got up to speak, the first story that he told was about darts, and throwing them at people he hated. I was so surprised! He didn't know anything about what we were planning to do, but still delivered the same message. When I told him, tears came to his eyes as he noted its importance. There must have been someone there today that needed to hear the message about being nice and not hating others.

The rest of the day went on as normal, but after school we went to yoga for the first time! I assumed that it would be really easy, but it was a bit more difficult then I expected. It was fun to get out and do something active instead of just sitting around. As soon as we got back we got ready for our Micronesia:All the Islands of the Sea meetings. We went and sang and it was really fun!

So, I've decided to steal from one of my good friends Beth, and do a blog on every one of my kids. This is Mandy Kuo! She is the sweetest, most adorable 2nd grader on the face of the Earth. I love her with my whole heart! Every day she clings to me and hugs me and kisses me any asks for "piggy rides" or "huggy rides". She just loves me so much, and it's so fun to run around with her on my back. She is also extremely smart! She always gets the answers the first time and usually gets 100%. She sits quietly in class and gets along great with the other kids. She taught me "dao shi shi, shao shi shi" (except its written WAY differently)in Taiwanese, which means "big gorilla, small gorilla". RANDOM! Today one of my kids brought a fake spider left over from Halloween to school, and they tried to scare her with it. The first two times it didn't work, but the third time she scream and it scared her so much that she started to cry. It was so sad, but still extremely cute.

Mom's coming, mom's coming, mom's coming!

Affirming my choice to be happy, I got a package today! I've been waiting for the package Redwood sent me for a few weeks now and it's finally here! I was surprised how quickly it brought me to tears just knowing that people put together a box for me, and it was so much better after I opened it! There was a tape recorder with the Redwood kids singing Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and America the Beautiful. There was also a DVD with a video of them and I got to see my sister! That was quite exciting! Just hearing them talk brought me back to the feeling that I was home. I also got some amazing food and cool stuff that my kids will love. It's just what I needed after a long, rainy day.
Though were not doing a skit, my kids and I practiced singing today because they have chapel on Wednesday. After Bible I attempted to teach them counting money in math, but some kids really can't see that a quarter and nickel are NOT the same size! After Math they had Palauan so I got a break! After running up to the apartment to grab breakfast, I just sat in the gym and stared out at the kids playing. They are all so happy and stress free. I really love the kids here. Every time they see me they scream "Hi Miss Chelsea!" or run to give me a hug. Weather it's a kindergartner, 3rd grader, or even an 8th grader, they still make time to say hi and give you a smile. After that my kids came out of Palauan and they had recess and PE. For once, no one got hurt in kickball! One boy cried, but you can't win them all. After PE, I realized that unfortunately, my AC was not working today. Luckily, it was what the kids consider a "cold day". They all came to school in heavy jackets and boots. There was MAYBE a light breeze and it was a rainy 80 degrees. I laughed to think of what they would do in Washington. The other annoying thing about the rain is that my roof leaks right over my desk! Too bad today the grades folder was in that spot...oh well. At least it wasn't my computer. Anyway, we started phonics in a AC-less classroom and then spelling. Lunch time! The best time of the day! Not really...but I got a nice hot pocket from my Palauan mom and my kids didn't spill any food! Did I ever mention that I got two new kids? Daichi and Ivan came last week, and so far so good, so that's a blessing!
After lunch I gave them a quick recess before starting social studies where we drew pictures of animals in the forest. Then we did reading and dreaded skilpack. I only gave them one page today, but it still took them 20 minutes. Then they had their last recess to get all their energy out! Some girls from 2B came over and we had piggy back time! Then we went in and did handwriting, and a long language assignment! They complained, but they all got it done and did it's correctly. I had them read science in their heads and quizzed them before they could clean up to go home. Then I went into the gym to do PE for Tami's 6th grade class. They didn't want to play soccer, but eventually started playing after I promised free time later. A few of them just came and sat beside me and we talked about life and stuff that I could never talk to my 7 year olds about. It was really fun and they even asked me to be their teacher! I think it was a joke...
As I write this all it seems like my day was so short, but it was not at all. Even though I enjoy what I'm doing, it still does not go by as quickly as I would like. On the up side, the package came and I even cooked myself dinner. Usually I just have some crackers or juice, but today I made ramen. Don't laugh. I know it sounds weak, but I cut up meat and mixed it in and vegetables too. It was quite scrumptious. MOM, I ATE A VITAMIN. Just letting you know. Oh, another thing I'm excited for: my mom is coming here in 18 days! That is my fuel right now. Mom'scomingMom'scomingMom'scoming!

Visiting the capital

The fish Ben and Austin caught

Cha Cha...

Finally getting some pictures to upload!

yes, that's the real color of the water


my little angels :]

At the Milky Way :]

Legit face when a crab pinched me

Jellyfish Lake is amazing

Where your treasure lies

Once again my doubts and fears are short lived. How could anyone be unhappy in Palau? I've come to the realization that my kids need me. Parent teacher conferences went so well and it was really helpful to hear all about my kid's backgrounds. I loved meeting their parents and hearing their thoughts. I even got a "thank-you" for being such a good teaching. It's nice to be appreciated. I've also realized what amazing friends I really do have. Though I'm not there with them this year, they make an effort to keep in touch and it honestly makes me happy. I'm having this amazing experience that's changing my life, and I know that it's meant to be. I feel that I am here for a reason, even if it's not what I wanted. I know why I'm here. God wants me to change someones life, but it might be someone who is SMing here instead of someone who was already here. It's funny how sometimes our purpose is right in front of us, and we try to force something that isn't right for us.
I've always been the kind of person who likes to know what's coming in the future. At this point, being a missionary is the greatest satisfaction with life I've ever had. I really love having this chance to do something for someone other than myself. I love getting to know new people that made the same decision as me. I love walking down the street and waving to people because the whole island knows me. I love jumping into the water in 90 degree weather and feeling the same temperature. Things work out. If I had never come here I wouldn't know how much I love education. I wouldn't have realized how much my view on America could change. Just living with two Europeans for a year has totally flipped my view on American and how other view us. It really changes priorities and I can see what has value and what is supposed to have value. People. Experiences. Lives. Those things are important.

Alone in this fight with herself...

It's funny how sometimes you can feel completely right, like you're doing what you are meant to and other times it seems like making all the wrong decisions led to this place where you shouldn't be. I know that I need to be here in Palau. I've known since Sophomore year of high school, when I told my dad one day I'd go to Palau, that eventually I'd end up here. But as a missionary? What am I doing here? How is my small contribution doing anything at all for the people who live in Palau.
I'm being torn into. I have exactly half of me that has a sickening, sinking feeling that I made all the wrong decision. Maybe I shouldn't have broken up with my boyfriend. Maybe I shouldn't have taken a year off of school to come to a place that doesn't really need me. Maybe all my friends already forgot who I am. Maybe life goes on, weather or not I'm there. I feel so invisible. My sister turned 18 and I missed it. My friends are making new friends and I'm sure that I am just a lingering thought of the past. My life last year was perfect. I had great jobs, great friends, great boyfriend, and a great track for a great career. Now what do I have? I have 16 wide-eyed 2nd graders, the expectation of perfection, and uncertainty. Why did I give up my old life for this?
"Alone in this fight with herself, with the fears whispering If she stands, she'll fall down". This is what just played through my computer. I am battling myself because the other side of me is wrapped up in Palau. I am completely in love with everything about it. This is my home. I love the people, I love the weather, I love the island. As I told my dad when he came to visit, I feel that Palau is a little closer to Heaven than the rest of the world. Not literally, but there are so few distractions and so much more time for God. That also means that there is a lot more time alone with yourself.
I feel like I'm not doing enough. Should I be giving Bible studies? Should I volunteer to feed the poor? Why don't I feel like someones only hope for salvation? Why don't I feel like I'm needed?