Spotlight on Students

I am daily impressed by my students!  I think they are just fantastic.  They probably have no idea how much joy I experience from working with them.  Many times they are the highlight of my day.  So I just have to share them with you and tell you about the work we've been doing lately. 

I'll start off with my BU098 Business Math classes.  The latest unit has really opened up a lot of opportunities for real life application.  We've been doing things like writing checks, making deposits, reconciling bank statements, calculating gross earnings and deductions, and sales & property taxes.  I hope I've sufficiently put a healthy fear in them of credit cards and debt.  One day we turned our class into 4 stores - a clothing store, food stand, fruit stand, and toy store.  Students were split into consumers and store owners.  The consumers got to practice buying with a credit card and keeping records of their spending.  The store owners got to practice keeping good records of their sales and returns so that they could calculate their credit card deposits.  It was great fun for me to watch it all unfold.  They're quite hilarious.  Here they are in action:

Busy store making lots of sales.

Elwina being quite the sales person of their tasty food.

Everybody wants some fruit!

Decisions, decisions.

Keep good records girls!

Ioanis, in the red, is always smiling and laughing. 
It's contagious!

Lucia cleverly turned her calculator into the credit card
machine.  I loved it!

Never too busy working to throw up the peace sign :)

Tiffany really got into it.  I could always hear her saying,
"Credit card please!"  and then she would end with
"Thanks and have a nice day!"

I also want to show off my MS099 Intermediate Algebra class.  They work so hard and produce some of the nicest work I've seen.  We meet everyday, so I spend the most time with them.  I've been so impressed with how much they have been able to learn so far.  This week we were graphing functions.  After learning how to graph linear, quadratic, and absolute value functions, I broke them up into groups to practice each.  They work so well together.   May I reiterate that I love working with older students; they know how to delegate and share responsibilities.  Amazing!

These girls are always great!

Super nice work!

I think the girls did all the work while Ander watched.

Guy group showin' how it's done!

These are the results!!!!

Sweene, Robinson, Saileen

Janet, Jaylynn, Maryjane

Ander, Erica-Lynn, Evangelina, Vrancine

Meriel, Kathy, Stacy Ann

Daryl, Mavrick, Karson

Jennifer, Myoleen, Jeneassa

Restlyn, Amanda, Barnabas

Yes, after 7 weeks I do know everyone's name (in this class at least).  ;)  Getting them to take a picture is so difficult; they would be so embarrassed to know that you're seeing these.  But how could I not show them off?!

I know almost all of my posts are about the beautiful sights and adventures on the island.  But really these guys are the reason I'm here.  They're the ones that I'm excited to get to school every day and work with.  God sent me here to work with them.  He loves them so much, and he has given me a love for them as well.  I only hope that I can give them a little glimpse of how wonderfully made they are so that they can reach their full potential!

5 Minutes of Pohnpei

This doesn't give you a full view of life in Pohnpei, but at least it gives you a little glimpse.  Note the first song from the Talent Show.  It is a song called "Why" by a Zambian singer named Mampi.  It must be the most popular song in Pohnpei.  I hear it ALL the time - when I wake up in the morning, outside my office, on my way to class, walking home from school, when I'm trying to go to sleep.  I think you get my point.  No day is complete without hearing "Why, why..."  I'll admit it's quite a catchy song, but any song can be worn out when played too many times. :)  I hope you enjoy a few of the sights and sounds of Pohnpei!

Liberation Day & Other Festivities

It seems like I have recently attended a lot festivities.  A couple of weeks ago I got to attend the celebration ceremonies of Pohnpei's Liberation Day.  It is celebrating the liberation from Japan.  September 12th was just the opening ceremonies, since the holiday is celebrated over a 2 week period with many different games.  Teams from around the island come together to compete in baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, fishing, and track and field.  It was quite fun to see all the teams filing onto the field like a mini-olympics; each region of Pohnpei wearing their colors and carrying their flag. 

Pohnpei is really good about making banners for everything.
I really appreciate them because it lets me know what's going on.

Speeches were made by important people.

Madolenihmw

Uh

Kitti (obviously)

Nett

Kolonia

These little guys were adorable!  I wish I had a video of
them warming up with the team.  Precious!

Pingelap - one of outer islands of Pohnpei

Raising of the flags and singing of the national anthem

 It was another one of those cool experiences to get to be a part of. We stuck around for a bit to catch the beginning of a little league baseball game.  Then as we were leaving Lori spotted something a little out of place...

Colorado?  How did that get here?

Last weekend Kate's neighbor just decided that he wanted to have a BBQ for us.  We of course said we would be ok with that.  Little did we know that he would BBQ up a feast.  So yummy!

 2 grilled fish, pounds of grilled chicken, hamburgers, and all the sides to go with.  This was the first night I decided to try sashimi.  The verdict - I like it!  And Kate is so good to us...she made brownies and apple pie!  People are so generous!  He did this just because he felt like doing it for us.

The very next night I got to go to a 1st birthday party.  The pastors at my church have an adorable little girl who just turned 1.  The 1st birthday is a big deal in Pohnpei, so the congregation made sure it was done right.  Complete with a pig and tables upon tables full of food.  It was unreal!

This may look like a ton in itself, but there are
more tables at the back of the room, more on the side,
and more outside.

I quickly learned that you have to be really good at stacking a plate.  You pile on as much as you possibly can.  Then you go back at the end to pile it up again and take it home.  It's way more food than could ever be consumed at the feast, but that's what they're going for.  It all gets taken home - on plates, in huge containers, in bags, in whatever you can use to carry food.  I learned that next time I need to bring a container for the take-home food.  It was a delicious spread of many different local foods - bananas, yam, taro, breadfruit all cooked in a variety of ways, pig, chicken, deserts.  You just wanted to try it all!  And again, I'm blown away by the generosity of people.  They give so much.

The kids all got to play a game at the end and win prizes.

I was told that Pohnpei does not have their own way of saying "Happy Birthday", nor do they have their own song.  So "we stole yours" is what I was told. :)

One final bit that I just thought was funny.  You have to be sure to always keep a little extra cash on hand because you never know when you might walk up the ATM and this is what you find:

Hmm...I wonder where it went?

Happy Fall to all of you living in a place with seasons.  As it begins to cool off for you, my weather hasn't changed a bit!  Still very warm with a daily chance of rain :)

Nahlap Island Resort

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, this past weekend was a 3 day weekend for us as Pohnpei celebrated it's Liberation Day.  We took advantage of the extra day to take a little trip out to a nearby island called Nahlap.  A wonderful family has turned it into Nahlap Island Resort.  It's quite easy and cheap to take a short boat ride out, hang out on the island, and even stay the night.  It's complete with huts, running water, bathroom, shower, fun water activities, cooking areas, and so much more.  Check it out...

My little home for the night - Hut #1

 I began with a venture around the island just to check it all out and this is what I found.

The island has its very own chapel.  So cute!

Beautiful views of Pohnpei plus we found coconuts to drink!

There's something wonderful about ocean waves

After seeing all the sites it was time to hit the water.

But first I had to drink my coconut water!

Yes, there is slide!  It is made out of a huge PVC pipe.  It
was great!

The current was pretty strong at that time, so the pipe
ring was great to rest on.

Attractive right?! :)

The weather was pretty rainy and gray the first day, so snorkeling wasn't the best.  But just wait!

That night we built a fire to cook on.  I love campfire food!  It's a little more difficult to build a fire on a very humid, wet island, but luckily Laurel was quite skilled.  And it's great that coconut husks are very good fire starters.

We have made fire!

I finally got to cook my own breadfruit!  I was so excited!

Hobo packets!!!  Never fail to be delicious!

I took a break from the fire to check out the gorgeous sunset

I think the family stays here.  I just thought it looked really cool
with the sunset lighting.

Surreal!

Mike caught me having a little too much fun with the machete :)

 

Packets done - Mike's happy...

and I think Joseph is quite satisfied as well!

The night was another dream come true...I slept in a hammock on the porch of an island hut right on the ocean.  Set aside the fact that it sounded like a tsunami crashing into our hut every minute or so and waking up to bugs biting me and it was quite ideal.  Haha!  The crashing waves seriously kept us from sleeping much and I had to reapply bug spray a couple of times, but it was still pretty fun to sleep in a hammock.  It's definitely the way to go on the island.

I started off day 2 with another little venture around the island.

Crabs were scurrying everywhere as I walked through the
mangroves.

 

Love my roomie!

Then I got to eat breakfast on the beach...my very own breadfruit cooked on the fire.

I did a good job!

This is pure happiness!

The day was already great, but then came more swimming and snorkeling.  Day 2 was way sunnier and no strong current.  That meant amazing snorkeling!!!  Again, God is such an artist and amazing Creator!

So many blue starfish!

Nemo!

I feel like I'm living in Finding Nemo

 

These long sword-looking fish were everywhere that day.
Quite interesting little creatures.

 

I don't think I'll ever cease to be amazed by all the colors you see on the fish.  Absolutely awesome!  There is not pictorial documentation, but a reef shark swam right in front of me.  I didn't even freak out.  He was just really cool!

And no ideal island day would be complete without...

Mangoes!!!!!!!!!!!

Here you have the Dois Mango - it was my first time to try it.
I'm a fan; tart on the outside, sweet in the middle.

 Oh, Nahlap also has the cutest dog I've seen in all of Pohnpei.

He's kind of like a Buddy!

Obviously I had a great weekend and loved the little island resort.  I'll definitely be returning.   While out there Psalm 19 really came to life to me:

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

Staring out at the vast ocean, it seems like Pohnpei could be the end of the world.  And God's glory is declared through all of creation around me.  How awesome!

I will! :)