Happy Holidays from Chuuk

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and that it's not too cold where you are, especially on the East Coast. I know it's been a while since I've updated this blog so that's why I'm doing it now.

My Christmas here was very special, mainly because I got to spend it with my real mom who decided to spend the holidays with me here in Chuuk. When she arrived on Christmas Eve, we went straight to my island. We went to Catholic mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Her favorite part was the children singing Christmas carols in Chuukese. We spent the rest of Christmas day with my host family. My baby sister got real hot during church so my host mom had to go back home early. My mom, being the health professional that she is, was concerned and advised my host mom to take her temperature which was 39.1 C. She massaged the infant's body with coconut oil which cooled her skin. My host mom gave her infant daughter some coconut water to drink and nursed her until she was rehydrated. She was back to normal the next morning.

That wasn't the only thing my mom did to make a difference. She happened to bring many different reading glasses of various strengths. Everyone on my island thought my host grandmother was blind because she's not able to read but she can still see well enough to get around. Anyways, my mom had her try on all the glasses she brought. She tried on one pair (size 2) that she was able to read small print with. The next thing I knew, she was reading the Bible out loud in Chuukese. Wow! All she needed were a pair of reading glasses. What a remarkable discovery. So that solved that problem.

It has been a little over a year since I arrived in Chuuk and a lot has happened. I feel that I have changed for the better. I learned that I have resilience, having bounced back from some tough situations. I have surprised myself by the high level of competency I have in speaking the Chuukese language. I feel that I am fluent and am able to have a decent conversation with just about anyone. I am being able to predict how people will react to certain things I do and say that us Americans easily take for granted. In other words before I didn't know enough of the language and culture in order to predict peoples' reactions to my actions and words. I also learned how well I can adapt to different situations easily and quickly. This journey has not been easy but I am glad that I took it on because I am growing and learning so much about the world around me and about life in general than I ever could in the States. I am so thankful that my mom came here to witness my life here since it will be easier for me to share my experience with her when I return back to the States.

Since I've been here, I've always thought teaching has been one of my biggest challenges. For one, I don't have a required counterpart since my principal from last year went back to school to finish her bachelor's degree. My counterpart from last year is the acting principal this year and has no time to really assist me in the classroom since he is either teaching himself or attending principal workshops/meetings. I find it difficult to stick with the curriculum because I either don't know how to teach the material effectively or because the standards are over the heads of my students. I try to teach them things I think they should know and then move up from there. Discipline is still a struggle and it's hard for me to be consistent, maybe because I sometimes don't follow through on the consequences of my students' behavior. Another thing I need to work on is speaking more English and less Chuukese in my classes. My principal tells me to only speak English but I think it is pretty impossible, especially with my 5th grade. I mix English and Chuukese. I want to find and make more activities that get them excited to speak English in class. If anyone has any suggestions, please email me or comment on the blog.

Well I have to go now because the woman at the front desk of the hotel I'm staying at is leaving. Tomorrow is my birthday and I plan on going diving, I will write another update tomorrow.