It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky.
Behind me is God and before me is God, and I have no fears.
Helen Keller
I'm exhausted today, but for a very, very good reason. Yesterday, the four of us, our friend Kevin from Micronesian Seminar, and eleven volunteers from World Teach, went on a seven-waterfall hike. Did I say Kepirohi Falls was amazing? Multiply that by seven... then, add the wonder of jumping off of each fall and swimming in the pools at the bottom, subtract the feeling of being clean, and divide by two tennis shoes soaked in mud. (Don't forget to use the order of operations! Can you tell I've already taught 14 math classes this week?) The result is one amazing day, plenty scrapes and gashes, and the feeling of being totally wiped out. From when we started at 9am, until we finished around 5pm, it was a great day. I never realized how much I love hiking until I had been here. It'll be hard to match this back home!
It was a great way to wrap up this week, too - my first week as Ms. Cocco, the math / world history / budgeting teacher of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School. Yes, I did say that I would be teaching theology in my last entry.. but that changed a couple of days before classes began, and I'm now teaching world history. Luckily, it is the one class I feel like I have a pretty decent book for. In it are quite a few teaching tips, activities, discussion points, etc. We might just have a good time with it! Budgeting is okay.. it's all sort of a big foreign concept to my students, though, since none of them have part time jobs and many of their parents don't see regular incomes, much less paychecks, checkbooks, bank accounts, etc. But I only have six juniors that I'm teaching it to, so we make it work. Small class sizes are a blessing.
Math is a different story.. I'm teaching four classes (one to each grade) out of two separate textbooks, neither of which include any of the resources that would be immensely helpful. It's hard to make math interesting - actually, I'm finding myself pretty boring. So basically, class has been consisting of me writing on the board, begging for volunteers (I forgot how reluctant high school students can be to act like they like learning - and/or their teachers!) to answer questions, then asking desperately, "Does this make any sense at all?!" only to be met by blank stares. Next week, I am going to start issuing official apology letters to every teacher or professor I have ever had for the blank stares that graced my face, I'm sure, a number of times. There is nothing worse as a teacher, I've discovered so far, to have no idea what your students are thinking. They could just be bored, or they could be plotting where and how to murder me after school. I haven't a clue.
That said, they have all discovered how young I am (especially the girls), and seem to think it's pretty great to have a teacher who's only a few years older than them. I've already had a lot of 'big sister' moments with the vocational girls (sophomores, juniors, and seniors), and even a couple with the Catholic high school girls/guys (freshmen). I've been complimented on my outfits, asked if I would let someone do my hair, etc. I'm doing everything I can to stay on their good side - hopefully that won't backfire - by smiling, trying to crack jokes that no one laughs at, not overloading with homework, etc. I did have some success the other day with my freshmen - I was telling them how to remember the order of operations (PEMDAS) with the old 'Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally" neumonic device, but of course, was met with blank stares that seemed to say, "I don't have an Aunt Sally. I don't even know anyone named Sally. What are you talking about?" so instead, I made one up on the spot, hoping it would get a laugh. I told them about where we live, and about the pigs that live outside my bedroom window. PEMDAS, I told them, for me, means Pigs Exude (the) Most Disgusting, Awful Sounds. Since some of them also have pigs on their property, I got some smiles and even a couple of laughs. And then were ELATED when I told them they would be eligible for one bonus point if they came up with a creative PEMDAS of their own. I hope nothing too offensive pops up..
I feel much better about teaching now that I've actually started. Not that that means lesson planning has been easy at ALL. Actually, I find it to be the most difficult part. Mostly, because I don't want to do it. It feels like homework, and I do not like homework. The other teachers have been amazingly helpful, though. We all get along great and have so much fun each day making language mistakes (we are American, Filipino, Spanish, Chuukese, and Pohnpeian - and there are only 9 of us!), teasing one another, sharing food at lunch. It has been a lot of fun.
By the way, here's a recent picture of me - I may look a little different, but don't be alarmed..
Cocco Tuna, sometimes shorted to Tuna and then elongated to Big Tuna, is the nickname I've earned while here - courtesy of my community mate Luke and the makers of Coco Tuna, a brand they have on the island. I act like it annoys me, but deep down, I think it's hilarious. Our community as a whole is great - I really look forward to coming home to them each day. It's nice to know the World Teach volunteers now, too, although they're more spread out across the island, and it'll be great to meet the Peace Corps volunteers when they get here, too
Other than teaching and the hike this weekend, things have been pretty relaxed. I stayed at a home in the south part of the island last weekend, with a Catholic deacon and his family. It was interesting to get another new perspective on how Pohnpeians live. Things were different in terms of what they have and we (the JVI community) have, and it was interesting to think about priorities, and how my American perspective makes these things look very different. One activity I found really interesting was washing clothes / bathing in the river. Many people were at the river to wash clothes, or swim in the nearby natural pool. The oldest girl of my homestay family washed most of the clothes for her family, on a flat rock, beating them with a wooden paddle. After washing clothes, it was time to bathe. Wearing only our skirts pulled up so they covered our chests as well, we washed our hair and bodies - about ten of us - while people were swimming maybe 20 feet away. No one really noticed since it is natural for them, but I felt pretty self conscious. It felt to me like the Garden of Eden -- women letting down their hair and bathing all together. It was a really beautiful experience. We put on dry skirts and hung out in them for the rest of the night - worn kind of like a strapless dress. Mass the next morning was great -- I absolutely love Pohnpeian singing. It is usually acapella, and everyone sings with, it seems, all of their lung power.
The other exciting piece of news I have is that we may be starting up some Pohnpei Fair Trade! A village close to our home, Kapinga, has some really wonderful artisans who make jewelry, carvings, and weavings, and I've been talking with someone who may be interested in getting this off of the ground. Talk about putting my skill set to work! I've been thinking nonstop about it - applying with Fair Trade Federation, talking to Revive or Ten Thousand Villages, maybe World Next Door shop, to see if we can get some of their beautiful products in stores around Cleveland. We'll see how it goes.
I was hoping to get some real pictures up today, but I'm sort of - well, completely - relying on Philip since he's the one with the sicktight, waterproof, hi-def, and a bunch of other words I don't really know, camera that takes awesome pictures. So I'm patiently waiting.. but I will definitely get some up of myself and my community soon, hopefully on Facebook, too. Get ready to see pictures of absolute beauty! - oh, and some great pictures of Pohnpei, too. :)
Thank you to all who have been so supportive in the past four weeks! I have been almost overwhelmed with letters, emails, and even a couple of care packages (thank you, Anne and Aunt Laura! :) with words of wisdom, support, prayer, and love. Being away from home, especially right now, has been really hard, but those things help immensely. Thank you, thank you. I love and miss all of you. Love to Punta Gorda, Belize City, and Chuuk, too! And Tanzania, Nicaragua, Peru, and Chile! I miss all of you!
