Today was the 13th Sabbath of the month. Until today, I had no idea that this was a special Sabbath, but apparently it's communion. After sabbath school with over 30 people in a giant, noisy circle, we headed up and found out about communion. Jeanine and I decided to try something new and sit up on the balcony, which we found to be really quiet and had a great view. The songs and prayer and all of the other rituals were the same, but when it came time for the sermon, it was short! He probably only talked for about 20 minutes and then we separated for the foot washing. Jeanine, Tami, and I all switched around and it was a really nice experience. We had a nice prayer afterwards and a big hug! Then we went back upstairs for the bread and grape juice, which was also a really nice experience. Ben introduced us to a man who he'd met during foot washing that had never been to an Adventist church before. Ben opened his Bible and showed the man why we did foot washing and why we ate and drank in church. The man was really nice and seemed really interested.
After church, there was a huge potluck. It was extra big because there were so many more people at church today than usual, but I'm not sure why. We had all sorts of good things like guava and tuna, rice noodles, lumpia, and egg patties. It was definitely the best potluck since we've been here! After we went back for a bit before prison ministries. I got to skype my family and it really lifted my mood. I was so happy to get to talk to them and see how they were doing. Then we headed down to the prison and got there just in time. We greeted the prisoners and sang some beautiful songs that they picked. Then Meskit talked about ants and being spiritually dead and I learned a lot. After it was over, we got to talk to the prisoners again before we headed back to our apartment.
We waited around for a while and then decided to go out to Rock Island Cafe for dinner with the boys. Getting there was an adventure. After they came here to get us, they couldn't get the van started again. They tried letting it coast down a hill, but it just wouldn't start. Then it started shooting off bright yellow flames right under my feet! There were sparks flying everywhere and little shots of fire randomly mixed in. After kicking the engine fore 10 more minutes, it finally started and got us there. We had a nice dinner, though Victor and Austin watched ESPN most of the time. Fortunately Chris was there to talk to, and it was a lot of fun! (Mrs. Tan, if you're reading this, Chris is sorry he doesn't give you more information. He wants you to know that he wishes you were here and he'll try to post more) After a delicious dinner, we got to relax in our apartment and have some good talks. It was a really nice day, only highlighted by the fact that my dad will be here in only 5 days! I am so excited, and everyone here knows it! During potluck I talked to Nelson about where he will stay, and found out that he's staying in the clinic behind the school. I just can't wait to show him Palau and do stuff with him. I want to go kayaking, scuba diving, and to the rock islands, and so much more. Sorry for telling you again, but I'm so excited!
Before I left California, my parents wrote about 20 Bible verses on index cards and hid them all around my stuff. Today during church, I took them out and copied them down into my Bible. They are such good verses that are really going to help me while I'm here. It's nice to know that the Bible has encouragement for when I am lonely or sad or discouraged. Oh, and a miracle happened today! Last week I asked all of my kids what SDA meant. I wanted to know who even knew what our church believed. A few kids knew, the daughter of one of the teachers, the daughter of the head elder, and the son of another elder. The rest just stared blankly and didn't answer. I asked them how many of them were SDA, and only 6 or so raised their hand. I found out that most were either Catholic or didn't go to church. I challenged them to come to our SDA church and told them that I'd love to see them. After I was done, when they went back to normal classwork, I stopped at Krystal's desk. I didn't plan to talk to her, but she was the closest person to me and I was impressed to talk to her. I asked her why she didn't come to church and told her that I missed her every Sabbath. She told me that she didn't have time and that her mom was always too tired to take her. I told her that I would love to see her if she ever could come by. Today, as I was walking out of the youth sabbath school, I passed the kids class. A waving Krystal stood behind the glass, smiling like crazy. It made me so happy to see her and she even stayed for church! If that's not God working, I don't know what is.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Only in Palau
(This is the second time I wrote this post. The first time it all got deleted, causing me to write a less interesting and much shorter blog. I apologize in advance, because this isn't what I wanted this to say. I'll try to remember as much as possible) Only in Palau could I have a day like today. It's unfortunate that life is so spectacular sometimes that putting it into words only ruins it. I will absolutely do my best to tell you why today was so incredibly fantastic, but as a side note, it was really indescribable. We started off the day with worship like every other Friday. It was particularly emotional and Betty, who was in charge, started crying while reading the story. First period bible, almost every kid got 100% on their memory verse and everyone got over 60% on their english test which was next. Then during math all the kids worked quietly and helped each other, and the most stubborn troublemaker in my class, Makani, gave me a hug! Recess was fun and I gave them piggy back rides and played tag too. Then after during science we learned about reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. We were putting different animals into categories and Mairee came up and asked "What category is a bird in?". I laughed so hard because she was serious. When I asked her what she though, she said, "Is a bird a mammal?". How do these kids not assume that a bird is in the BIRD category! Then we cleaned up the classroom and had library for the rest of the day.
After school I had an amazing conversation with Carl about home and people and I was just so happy to have another real conversation besides "Miss Chelsea, can I spit?" and "Miss Chelsea, Shayne is singing, Max hit my eye, or Laurie is looking at my paper". Not that those things aren't fun, but adult conversation is amazing. We went to lunch with Vanessa, the girl visiting from Germany, and got some really good iced coffee. Jeanine had to leave to do make up diving, so Tami and I decided to take the bus to PMA to go spearfishing. We ran up to our apartment as fast as possible, threw on the first thing we saw, and rand to catch the bus. Once we got to PMA, we started on the most ridiculous adventure I could imagine.
First, Victor, Austin, Tami, and I slid down the muddy hill to the chicken farm near PMA. The smell of chicken poop, corn, and blood was especially strong today as we tried not to breathe while looking for the canoe that is down there. The stones on the hill leading us there were so slippery that we had to take off our flip flops in order not to tumble down the hill. Once we found the canoe, before we could even pick it up, Victor spotted two GIANT spiders inside. One was bigger then my hand! I have never seen such a huge spider in my entire life, but I didn't scream as loud as you would imagine. Just a small gasp before sliding away as fast as my legs would carry me. As the boys picked up the canoe, I literally saw one of them jump a foot onto a nearby log. We carried the canoe uphill in calf deep water and mud to where the path led to the river. While we were walking, it started raining which made us feel even more adventurous. Tami and I left our shoes back at the chicken farm because they were too slippery to walk in and kept getting stuck in the mud, but as we started down the path to the river, we realized that it was COVERED in hundreds of thorns. In just two or three steps, there were probably six hundred tiny burrs in my feet, legs, and hands. Luckily, she only took one step and ran back to get our shoes. Once we finally could move again (ignoring the painful thorns embedded in our feet) we tumbled down a muddy bank into the canoe. Trying not to tip it, Tami and I got into the middle and the boys paddled. It was like we were in the Amazon river! There were so many trees and vines hanging down, not to mention the crocodile nests lining the river. We paddled down and finally made it to open water. The, it started raining. Never in my life have I experienced rain that hard. We couldn't see or move the boat, because even paddling fast we were blown back. Victor was in the water looking for a place to spearfish so Austin and I had to paddle through the hurricane. We saw an island in the distance, so Victor got back in and we tried to find our way there. When we finally made it, we tied our boat up to the rock and the boys went spearfishing. We couldn't get out because the whole island is literally just a giant, extremely sharp rock, covered in trees. Sitting down, water was up to our hips, so we started scooping it out with our hands. Once they got back, we all swam around for a while until the rain finally died down. We decided to leave because we didn't want to run the chance of getting stuck out there after dark. It was already 4:30 and we didn't want to have to spend the night on the island. That would just be AWFUL. We started paddling back and the rain started coming down again. When we got back to the channel that led to PMA, we noticed two things. Not only was the water a very muddy brown, but it had risen a lot! This meant that the current was 10x stronger. Every five or six paddles would only bring us another two or three feet up the river. After a while of getting hit by branches and pelted with rain, everyone started getting annoyed. Because the water was so high, the channel was much smaller. The current made us drift from side to side, so as soon as we got hit with the branches on the right, we'd get hit with the branches on the left too. Finally, the boys got so mad that they decided to switch positions in the canoe. Unfortunately, the picked a time when we were almost tipping over and going under low branches at the same time. This caused Austin to fall, which made me get smashed into the side of the canoe. It's going to bruise. When we finally made it back to PMA, everyone was pretty happy to be back. Even though it was crazy, dangerous, and really cold, I had such a good time! It was such and adventure and so much fun! After hiking up the steep, muddy, incline, we finally made it back to the road. On the way we saw a decomposing crocodile skull and some chicken feet-not comforting.
When we got back to PMA, the fun still wasn't over. First, Tami and I decided to play catch with M&M's. She kept throwing them and trying to get them in my mouth. After a few tries, she threw one up in the air and I ran to catch it. It smacked me in the tooth and chipped a piece off! Luckily you can't see it, but on the back of my front right tooth, there is a piece missing! After that we decided to go inside, even though we were still wet. Sadly, we didn't know that Ben had just put clorox all over the floor. We slipped and slid and almost fell tons of times, causing us to laugh. The laughing made us unstable which made us slip, which made us laugh again. It was a vicious cycle. After Tami fell and cut her knee, we decided to stop and just sit on the couch. Tami went to the bathroom to clean her knee, and Austin was in the kitchen making rice. He started to tell me about how one day someone was going to fall and actually get hurt. He walked over, carrying his rice, and just as he was telling me about how dangerous it is, we had a Funniest Home Video moment. Simultaneously, his foot slipped, his face looked terrified, the bowl of rice flew out of his hand, the rice flew out of the bowl, and he landed hard on his back. I wanted to ask him if he was okay, but I couldn't stop laughing. Even 5 hours later, I still giggle at how ridiculous that moment was. I finally could calm down enough to help him, but it was so funny! I felt bad because he got the wind knocked out of him and a few bruises, but he couldn't have had better timing!
After that they took us back to our apartment. We sat down and made dinner and got to talking. Two hours later, we were interrupted by a blood curdling scream. (We had the best talk! I am so thankful that I have such a good roommates and that we get along to well) We thought it was the TV next door, but it was so loud that we went out to investigate. We found out that there was a group of about 15 people across the street, screaming at cars as they pass by through a megaphone. Two ladies approached us, and we found out that they were from the Pentecostal church. They told us all about their services while some of the men shouted their testimonies at the passing cars. This really got me thinking about Adventism and what I'm doing. I mean, I think that yelling at cars through a megaphone is not only annoying, but also pretty useless. No one was stopping, no one cared. But still, they are doing so much more for their church than I am doing for mine. These people are so on fire, so moved by God that they will tell anyone who will listen about what He's done in their lives. They told me that God told them to preach tonight, even though it was pouring rain. You know what? God told me to write this blog tonight, even though I was really frustrated that it all got deleted. After I wrote it the first time, I felt so happy and full of joy because it was full of praises to God. After seeing it was deleted, I just wanted to forget the whole thing and go to bed. Anyway, it made me think about how I should be like them. God calls us to preach the good news to all the world, but do Adventists do that? We sit in our cubicles, on our couches, or in our pews and go on with our lives. Sometimes we say "God bless you" or "I'm praying for you", but are those ever to people who don't know who God is? I feel like we stay in our circle of Christians, when what we're supposed to do is tell the people who don't know. Even here in Palau, we are around church members and board members and people who already know who God is. I want to be able to share God with the people who aren't already aware of how amazing He is. I was talking to a friend this week who is an atheist, and it was really interesting to hear his point of view. He told me what he doesn't like about religion, and I explained that religion is different than God. It honestly made me realize that the whole point of being a Christian is to spread God's love. Without love, we can't be the mirror image of God.
Whether it's back in the States, here in Palau, or anywhere else, sharing God has to be a conscious choice. At first when I got here, I just expected my relationship with God to get stronger. I didn't think I'd have to work on it but I just assumed being here would change me. Even though this isn't the case, asking Him to change things makes a huge difference. There are so many things that God has done here already, and I'm hoping that He'll keep using me to tell people who know nothing about Him who he is. What has God done, you ask? God has turned me into a teacher. God has given me an amazing support group. God has given me strength. God has taught me many lessons thorough my kids. God helped me grow up. God has given me the opportunity to be patient. God blessed me with this amazing experience. God knocked on the door. And what have I done? I opened it.
After school I had an amazing conversation with Carl about home and people and I was just so happy to have another real conversation besides "Miss Chelsea, can I spit?" and "Miss Chelsea, Shayne is singing, Max hit my eye, or Laurie is looking at my paper". Not that those things aren't fun, but adult conversation is amazing. We went to lunch with Vanessa, the girl visiting from Germany, and got some really good iced coffee. Jeanine had to leave to do make up diving, so Tami and I decided to take the bus to PMA to go spearfishing. We ran up to our apartment as fast as possible, threw on the first thing we saw, and rand to catch the bus. Once we got to PMA, we started on the most ridiculous adventure I could imagine.
First, Victor, Austin, Tami, and I slid down the muddy hill to the chicken farm near PMA. The smell of chicken poop, corn, and blood was especially strong today as we tried not to breathe while looking for the canoe that is down there. The stones on the hill leading us there were so slippery that we had to take off our flip flops in order not to tumble down the hill. Once we found the canoe, before we could even pick it up, Victor spotted two GIANT spiders inside. One was bigger then my hand! I have never seen such a huge spider in my entire life, but I didn't scream as loud as you would imagine. Just a small gasp before sliding away as fast as my legs would carry me. As the boys picked up the canoe, I literally saw one of them jump a foot onto a nearby log. We carried the canoe uphill in calf deep water and mud to where the path led to the river. While we were walking, it started raining which made us feel even more adventurous. Tami and I left our shoes back at the chicken farm because they were too slippery to walk in and kept getting stuck in the mud, but as we started down the path to the river, we realized that it was COVERED in hundreds of thorns. In just two or three steps, there were probably six hundred tiny burrs in my feet, legs, and hands. Luckily, she only took one step and ran back to get our shoes. Once we finally could move again (ignoring the painful thorns embedded in our feet) we tumbled down a muddy bank into the canoe. Trying not to tip it, Tami and I got into the middle and the boys paddled. It was like we were in the Amazon river! There were so many trees and vines hanging down, not to mention the crocodile nests lining the river. We paddled down and finally made it to open water. The, it started raining. Never in my life have I experienced rain that hard. We couldn't see or move the boat, because even paddling fast we were blown back. Victor was in the water looking for a place to spearfish so Austin and I had to paddle through the hurricane. We saw an island in the distance, so Victor got back in and we tried to find our way there. When we finally made it, we tied our boat up to the rock and the boys went spearfishing. We couldn't get out because the whole island is literally just a giant, extremely sharp rock, covered in trees. Sitting down, water was up to our hips, so we started scooping it out with our hands. Once they got back, we all swam around for a while until the rain finally died down. We decided to leave because we didn't want to run the chance of getting stuck out there after dark. It was already 4:30 and we didn't want to have to spend the night on the island. That would just be AWFUL. We started paddling back and the rain started coming down again. When we got back to the channel that led to PMA, we noticed two things. Not only was the water a very muddy brown, but it had risen a lot! This meant that the current was 10x stronger. Every five or six paddles would only bring us another two or three feet up the river. After a while of getting hit by branches and pelted with rain, everyone started getting annoyed. Because the water was so high, the channel was much smaller. The current made us drift from side to side, so as soon as we got hit with the branches on the right, we'd get hit with the branches on the left too. Finally, the boys got so mad that they decided to switch positions in the canoe. Unfortunately, the picked a time when we were almost tipping over and going under low branches at the same time. This caused Austin to fall, which made me get smashed into the side of the canoe. It's going to bruise. When we finally made it back to PMA, everyone was pretty happy to be back. Even though it was crazy, dangerous, and really cold, I had such a good time! It was such and adventure and so much fun! After hiking up the steep, muddy, incline, we finally made it back to the road. On the way we saw a decomposing crocodile skull and some chicken feet-not comforting.
When we got back to PMA, the fun still wasn't over. First, Tami and I decided to play catch with M&M's. She kept throwing them and trying to get them in my mouth. After a few tries, she threw one up in the air and I ran to catch it. It smacked me in the tooth and chipped a piece off! Luckily you can't see it, but on the back of my front right tooth, there is a piece missing! After that we decided to go inside, even though we were still wet. Sadly, we didn't know that Ben had just put clorox all over the floor. We slipped and slid and almost fell tons of times, causing us to laugh. The laughing made us unstable which made us slip, which made us laugh again. It was a vicious cycle. After Tami fell and cut her knee, we decided to stop and just sit on the couch. Tami went to the bathroom to clean her knee, and Austin was in the kitchen making rice. He started to tell me about how one day someone was going to fall and actually get hurt. He walked over, carrying his rice, and just as he was telling me about how dangerous it is, we had a Funniest Home Video moment. Simultaneously, his foot slipped, his face looked terrified, the bowl of rice flew out of his hand, the rice flew out of the bowl, and he landed hard on his back. I wanted to ask him if he was okay, but I couldn't stop laughing. Even 5 hours later, I still giggle at how ridiculous that moment was. I finally could calm down enough to help him, but it was so funny! I felt bad because he got the wind knocked out of him and a few bruises, but he couldn't have had better timing!
After that they took us back to our apartment. We sat down and made dinner and got to talking. Two hours later, we were interrupted by a blood curdling scream. (We had the best talk! I am so thankful that I have such a good roommates and that we get along to well) We thought it was the TV next door, but it was so loud that we went out to investigate. We found out that there was a group of about 15 people across the street, screaming at cars as they pass by through a megaphone. Two ladies approached us, and we found out that they were from the Pentecostal church. They told us all about their services while some of the men shouted their testimonies at the passing cars. This really got me thinking about Adventism and what I'm doing. I mean, I think that yelling at cars through a megaphone is not only annoying, but also pretty useless. No one was stopping, no one cared. But still, they are doing so much more for their church than I am doing for mine. These people are so on fire, so moved by God that they will tell anyone who will listen about what He's done in their lives. They told me that God told them to preach tonight, even though it was pouring rain. You know what? God told me to write this blog tonight, even though I was really frustrated that it all got deleted. After I wrote it the first time, I felt so happy and full of joy because it was full of praises to God. After seeing it was deleted, I just wanted to forget the whole thing and go to bed. Anyway, it made me think about how I should be like them. God calls us to preach the good news to all the world, but do Adventists do that? We sit in our cubicles, on our couches, or in our pews and go on with our lives. Sometimes we say "God bless you" or "I'm praying for you", but are those ever to people who don't know who God is? I feel like we stay in our circle of Christians, when what we're supposed to do is tell the people who don't know. Even here in Palau, we are around church members and board members and people who already know who God is. I want to be able to share God with the people who aren't already aware of how amazing He is. I was talking to a friend this week who is an atheist, and it was really interesting to hear his point of view. He told me what he doesn't like about religion, and I explained that religion is different than God. It honestly made me realize that the whole point of being a Christian is to spread God's love. Without love, we can't be the mirror image of God.
Whether it's back in the States, here in Palau, or anywhere else, sharing God has to be a conscious choice. At first when I got here, I just expected my relationship with God to get stronger. I didn't think I'd have to work on it but I just assumed being here would change me. Even though this isn't the case, asking Him to change things makes a huge difference. There are so many things that God has done here already, and I'm hoping that He'll keep using me to tell people who know nothing about Him who he is. What has God done, you ask? God has turned me into a teacher. God has given me an amazing support group. God has given me strength. God has taught me many lessons thorough my kids. God helped me grow up. God has given me the opportunity to be patient. God blessed me with this amazing experience. God knocked on the door. And what have I done? I opened it.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Day 53, 20:12 pm
A day can be so bad, but still have so many amazing moments. It's like snapshots in a scary movie. It's possible that you are terrified, but if you take a picture, it looks like the girl is smiling and giving a high five when she's really screaming and shielding her face from a monster. My kids are so amazing one day and the next they make me want to go crazy...it's possible that I already am. Everything is so good, but sometimes they just won't listen to what I say.
The amazing snapshots of the day:
1. I taught them De-bug. When someone is bothering you 1) Ignore 2) Move away 3) Ask friendly 4) Ask firmly 5) Tell teacher. After the day was over, at least two kids told me that they "ignored" and it worked! Then right before they left, I asked them what's the first step if someone is bothering them. Max was like, "just follow the bug"! It was adorable and I had to laugh at how cute he was.
2. Were learning about rules and laws in Social and so today we played red light, green light. Then we played simon says and did relays to see how they "learn the rules". I told them to get in a pair with a girl if they were a boy and a boy if they were a girl...yea. Good try. They were like "ewwwwwwwwww no!". It was quite funny. Then I taught them "under" tag, where to unfreeze someone you had to slide under their legs. They loved it! Even after when I gave them free time they kept playing, until one bigger kid fell and sat on a small kid. It was so funny, but that was the end of that.
3. After school today, sitting in my apartment, the rain got so loud that it drowned out my music when it was turned up all the way. I heard Tami calling me from downstairs to come out and enjoy. I literally dropped everything (sorry people I was skyping and chatting with) and ran downstairs. The rain was pounding so hard that I couldn't see. We slipped down the road and past all the kids that were still at school. We splashed in puddles and sprayed the kids with water. Down near the gym, a huge pool was forming and we splashed in that too. Then one of the kids found a huge crab hiding in the water and tried to throw it at us. That quickly ended our fun and we ran back home as the rain stopped.
4. We went to watch the SDA team play basketball against PPR and the game was so close. All game we were on the edge of our seats as the score went from 21-29, 30-33, 50-48, and finally 68-72. Our guys won in the last 30 seconds with lots of trick shots and 3 pointers by Chris. It was lots of fun screaming and cheering on our team, especially because they needed it.
The bad moments of the day just fade to grey when I think of all these things. One sad thing about watching them play basketball was that it really made me miss playing. Thinking of all the good times, like when I scored 21 out of the 32 points in one game, or when we only made 3 points in a whole game and everyone-even the opposite team's fans- cheered as I made my shots. That just starts a chain reaction that gets me thinking about friends and other good times which makes me miss home a lot. I'm not going to lie, it's getting harder and harder to be here-especially seeing everyone go back to Walla Walla without me. I hate thinking about them moving on while I'm still "stuck in the past". Being here really just feels like a pause on life, and I want it to be the same as I left it when I get back. I know that's not fair and I know it's not going to happen, but I wish it would! I just don't like the thought of being forgotten. On the upside, I've been able to skype a lot of my friends and feel somewhat connected. I know when school starts everyone will be busy, but I'll just be the same. Part of the package deal I guess. I still wouldn't trade one single moment of this, even the water itch. This experience is so much more then I expected, and it's only been 53 days! Also, small note, I know how to say "I love you" in German now. If only the pictures would load, you'd know why I love this place so much! Now that I think about it, I guess today wasn't really a horror movie after all.
The amazing snapshots of the day:
1. I taught them De-bug. When someone is bothering you 1) Ignore 2) Move away 3) Ask friendly 4) Ask firmly 5) Tell teacher. After the day was over, at least two kids told me that they "ignored" and it worked! Then right before they left, I asked them what's the first step if someone is bothering them. Max was like, "just follow the bug"! It was adorable and I had to laugh at how cute he was.
2. Were learning about rules and laws in Social and so today we played red light, green light. Then we played simon says and did relays to see how they "learn the rules". I told them to get in a pair with a girl if they were a boy and a boy if they were a girl...yea. Good try. They were like "ewwwwwwwwww no!". It was quite funny. Then I taught them "under" tag, where to unfreeze someone you had to slide under their legs. They loved it! Even after when I gave them free time they kept playing, until one bigger kid fell and sat on a small kid. It was so funny, but that was the end of that.
3. After school today, sitting in my apartment, the rain got so loud that it drowned out my music when it was turned up all the way. I heard Tami calling me from downstairs to come out and enjoy. I literally dropped everything (sorry people I was skyping and chatting with) and ran downstairs. The rain was pounding so hard that I couldn't see. We slipped down the road and past all the kids that were still at school. We splashed in puddles and sprayed the kids with water. Down near the gym, a huge pool was forming and we splashed in that too. Then one of the kids found a huge crab hiding in the water and tried to throw it at us. That quickly ended our fun and we ran back home as the rain stopped.
4. We went to watch the SDA team play basketball against PPR and the game was so close. All game we were on the edge of our seats as the score went from 21-29, 30-33, 50-48, and finally 68-72. Our guys won in the last 30 seconds with lots of trick shots and 3 pointers by Chris. It was lots of fun screaming and cheering on our team, especially because they needed it.
The bad moments of the day just fade to grey when I think of all these things. One sad thing about watching them play basketball was that it really made me miss playing. Thinking of all the good times, like when I scored 21 out of the 32 points in one game, or when we only made 3 points in a whole game and everyone-even the opposite team's fans- cheered as I made my shots. That just starts a chain reaction that gets me thinking about friends and other good times which makes me miss home a lot. I'm not going to lie, it's getting harder and harder to be here-especially seeing everyone go back to Walla Walla without me. I hate thinking about them moving on while I'm still "stuck in the past". Being here really just feels like a pause on life, and I want it to be the same as I left it when I get back. I know that's not fair and I know it's not going to happen, but I wish it would! I just don't like the thought of being forgotten. On the upside, I've been able to skype a lot of my friends and feel somewhat connected. I know when school starts everyone will be busy, but I'll just be the same. Part of the package deal I guess. I still wouldn't trade one single moment of this, even the water itch. This experience is so much more then I expected, and it's only been 53 days! Also, small note, I know how to say "I love you" in German now. If only the pictures would load, you'd know why I love this place so much! Now that I think about it, I guess today wasn't really a horror movie after all.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Certified!
Today was truly spectacular, and it's only 5 pm. That's saying something! I was roused out of bed at 7 am because I overslept and quickly had to grab a bathing suit, towel, and sunscreen to head off diving! We got down to Sam's and after getting together our diving stuff, headed off to the first spot. I was the only one left who had to do confined water III so Kostas took me down alone while the other's got to snorkel. We practiced taking off mask underwater, taking off gear, taking off weight belt, and then all of those again at the surface. When I was done all of that, the other three got in the water so we could do our next skills. It's funny how we started off with 9 divers, and today we were down to 4. Anyway, we learned navigation and buoyancy and other fun things for a while, and then we went swimming around the bay for open water II and saw a barracuda. I thought it was a shark, so when it swam close to me I just eyeballed it and didn't move at all. Everyone was practicing controlled emergency ascent one at a time, and while we were waiting we saw a very scary, very long, black and white sea snake. It didn't bother me so much when it was on the bottom, but then it started swimming up to the surface. It was just swimming and skimming the surface, which made my heart pound because it was almost right above me. After I decided that it wouldn't bother me, I went back to looking around. Seconds later, the sea snake shot down, speeding just inches from my face. I literally could have stuck out my tongue and touched him. Of course, that just terrified me and gave Chris, Victor, and Carl a chance to laugh at me for being "such a girl". IT WAS A GIANT SEA SNAKE THAT ALMOST CAME DOWN ON MY HEAD! I think that is a legit reason to freak out!
Anyway, after we did controlled emergency ascent, we took a small break and ate lunch with all the snorkelers. In case I didn't mention, there is a past SM here from 3 years ago and her friend as well. They are both from Germany and are very nice and friendly. They came along with us on the boat today and Vanessa, the past SM, even went scuba diving. After lunch, Kostas took us out to the complete middle of the ocean to our last open water dive! The spot he took us to was a beautiful Japanese cargo ship that was covered with coral and fish. We saw a lion fish which was fantastic! It was really neat getting to see the wreck, and do our deepest dive ever- 65 feet! It was so much fun and after about an hour under the water, we went back up to the top and were officially certified! It is such a great feeling to know that I have this new, and amazing, skill. When we got back to the dock, a bunch of us signed up to do advanced diving, which includes things like wreck diving, cave diving, night diving, and lots of other things we could do.
When we got home, Tami and I went out to eat because Jeanine still wasn't feeling well. There was the cutest dog by the Burger House and I just couldn't help but share my burger and scratch his cute little ears. After that we explored the WCTC, which is like a big shopping center that we'd never been in. We found that they have TONS of food, a lot of it American. Some stuff is even cheaper! I bought some blueberry muffins (oops, we don't have a muffin tin) and aloe juice. Sounds interesting right? But oh my goodness, aloe is DELICIOUS! I'm going to try to ship some home, but who knows how that will work. Hopefully I can find aloe when I get back to the US, but if not, I'll drink plenty here!
Anyway, after we did controlled emergency ascent, we took a small break and ate lunch with all the snorkelers. In case I didn't mention, there is a past SM here from 3 years ago and her friend as well. They are both from Germany and are very nice and friendly. They came along with us on the boat today and Vanessa, the past SM, even went scuba diving. After lunch, Kostas took us out to the complete middle of the ocean to our last open water dive! The spot he took us to was a beautiful Japanese cargo ship that was covered with coral and fish. We saw a lion fish which was fantastic! It was really neat getting to see the wreck, and do our deepest dive ever- 65 feet! It was so much fun and after about an hour under the water, we went back up to the top and were officially certified! It is such a great feeling to know that I have this new, and amazing, skill. When we got back to the dock, a bunch of us signed up to do advanced diving, which includes things like wreck diving, cave diving, night diving, and lots of other things we could do.
When we got home, Tami and I went out to eat because Jeanine still wasn't feeling well. There was the cutest dog by the Burger House and I just couldn't help but share my burger and scratch his cute little ears. After that we explored the WCTC, which is like a big shopping center that we'd never been in. We found that they have TONS of food, a lot of it American. Some stuff is even cheaper! I bought some blueberry muffins (oops, we don't have a muffin tin) and aloe juice. Sounds interesting right? But oh my goodness, aloe is DELICIOUS! I'm going to try to ship some home, but who knows how that will work. Hopefully I can find aloe when I get back to the US, but if not, I'll drink plenty here!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Austin's birthday
Why is it that every time we finally have peace, something new has to happen? I suppose that's the mantra of all student missionaries, but it's just so true. Of course, like all days when things are out of the ordinary, the day started as any other. Oh wait, minus the part that I couldn't sleep and woke up at 6 am. I've been doing that a lot lately. All last week I set my alarm to wake up for school at 6:45, but instead I'd wake up just before 6 every day. Annoying! Anyway, on the upside I had a lot of time to get ready for church. We headed off to church at 9 and went through the same routine of Sabbath school as last week. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but during our lesson Jeanine said that she was really tired and needed to go home to sleep. We proceeded with church and delicious potluck. One of the 3rd graders who absolutely loves me came and sat by me. She is just so cute, but she had a cold and kept coughing on me. Worth it though! After potluck we headed home and found Jeanine asleep. I thought I would finally get to skype my family, but after only a few minutes of talking to Janelle, Jeanine knocked on my door. She was so pale and looked awful. She told me that she didn't feel good. I went out to the kitchen with her and got her some water and a cool cloth. Suddenly, she started shaking and moaning. She told me that she couldn't feel here fingers and her whole body was tingling. She also said that her vision was going black. I ran back to the church to find Jesse and Hayley so they could help! She felt so awful that we rushed her to the ER (in the back of a pick up in the rain) and after a unneeded hour and a half wait, she could finally see the doctor. By that time she was feeling a lot better, and the verdict was that she had heat exhaustion. They gave her some pills and sent her back home. She went straight to sleep, and because it was Austin's birthday today, Tami and I got ready to go out to eat. Right before we were about to leave, Jeanine went back into a tailspin of sickness. I ran to Surangles and got her gatorade, apple juice, and water, in hopes that it would make her feel better.
After all of that happened, all the SM's but Hayley and Jeanine headed to the dropoff to eat, as is our new tradition. Even though it was pouring rain, it was still a lot of fun to eat, talk, and just hang out. At the end we I really wanted to jump in this pool nearby, and so did everyone else, but at the last minute they all chickened out and so I decided I wouldn't do it alone. Maybe next time...When we got back to SDA we went up to Hayley and Jesse's apartment and ate amazing chocolate cake that Carl baked! It was so fun! When we got back up to the apartment, Jeanine was asleep. Just a few minutes later she was back in the bathroom throwing up. I don't know what will happen to her or what's even wrong, but I'm praying that she'll get better soon. It's sad that she has to miss our last diving lesson tomorrow, but it will be even more sad if she has to miss school because of it.
On a happier note, as I just said, our last diving lesson is tomorrow! After that, we'll be certified! Last time we didn't get to do it because of planning, but we saw Kostas tonight at the dropoff and he's ready for us at 7:30 am tomorrow! I'm just happy that I'm getting certified before my dad comes, so we can scuba together!
After all of that happened, all the SM's but Hayley and Jeanine headed to the dropoff to eat, as is our new tradition. Even though it was pouring rain, it was still a lot of fun to eat, talk, and just hang out. At the end we I really wanted to jump in this pool nearby, and so did everyone else, but at the last minute they all chickened out and so I decided I wouldn't do it alone. Maybe next time...When we got back to SDA we went up to Hayley and Jesse's apartment and ate amazing chocolate cake that Carl baked! It was so fun! When we got back up to the apartment, Jeanine was asleep. Just a few minutes later she was back in the bathroom throwing up. I don't know what will happen to her or what's even wrong, but I'm praying that she'll get better soon. It's sad that she has to miss our last diving lesson tomorrow, but it will be even more sad if she has to miss school because of it.
On a happier note, as I just said, our last diving lesson is tomorrow! After that, we'll be certified! Last time we didn't get to do it because of planning, but we saw Kostas tonight at the dropoff and he's ready for us at 7:30 am tomorrow! I'm just happy that I'm getting certified before my dad comes, so we can scuba together!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Treasure
Today was the best Friday of the year! I went to school early to hide the clues for my kids scavenger hunt and prepare for worship. After I gave worships in staff meeting, I started getting ready for class. Our day started off with Bible workbook, which is so easy and everyone was quiet! Then we did only 8 math problems which most kids understood. After we did English, which was writing paragraphs so most kids were annoyed, but it used up a lot of time and they all did pretty good after the initial grumbling. Then we went to recess and I hid the rest of the clues for the scavenger hunt. Afterwards they were anxious to go, but I made them clean the whole classroom, that means desks (inside and out), the floors, and all the games and puzzles in the back. Then, I gave them the first clue of their treasure hunt. It brought them upstairs to Miss Joy's classroom where she gave them another clue. Then to Miss Tami's room, the library, the flagpole, the music room, Mr. Ben, and Miss Dina. Finally, Miss Dina gave them a clue that led them back to me. When they got back to me, I gave them a puzzle to solve that said "Go ask Mr. Austin". They all rushed to his room and tackled him, waiting for their treasure. Once they were all quietly seated at their desks, I opened up the bag and gave them all brownies! I even had some left over for Austins kids too. I would have had more, but last night Tami, Jeanine, and I had to eat the ones that were falling apart...hard life :]. My kids were so hyper and happy and it was fun to watch them work together to find the clues. We ended the day with story time and then I send them home. My Palauan family invited me to lunch at the Taj, which was delicious! We went through the buffet and it was really fun to talk to them about Palau. Uchel (pronounced U-el. Did you know the ch sound is silent in Palauan?) owns a travel agency so he helped me find out touristy things to do with my dad and mom when they come here! Then we went to the office and I talked to an agent about planning spring break and getting a few countries in on the way home in May. It was lots of fun and I got to talk to the whole family and meet his brother which was nice. Then I headed back to the apartment. When I got back, no one was there, so I decided to skype my best friend Njeri. Four hours later, it was a weight off my shoulders having much needed conversation. It is so much fun to hear about what is going on back home and let people know all my adventures here!
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