Parent Teacher Conferences, Evangelism Meetings

Hello once again. I believe in my last e-mail I said we would be going to a waterfall that afternoon. My plans slightly changed. I went up and changed for the waterfall, but I went with a group to pass out fliers for our upcoming evangelism meetings. We walked from store to store and even went to some of the residential areas. We would walk up and ask if we could put up a flyer on the their doors, windows, etc. As opposed to America (where one would get more no's than yes's), we were only refused at one place. And when we passed out fliers, most people said thank you. Some even said, "I'll be there." Wow...an actual commitment was made. We were so excited about inviting people to come to the evangelism meetings that we decided to stay back (we being Melissa, Tiffany, and I) from the waterfall trip to invite more people. We really enjoyed meeting the community members. I even ended up at some of my student's homes. The evangelism meetings start tomorrow. Mr. Van Arsdale (one of the SM's fathers) is now here to give the series. It lasts for 2 weeks and occurs every night. I will be helping with music. I'm playing my mandolin for song service. Jonathan is playing the base, Joey is playing the guitar, and Tiffany will be singing...as soon as she is over her laryngitis and pharyngitis. Yes, she has both. Poor girl. We had originally planned to go to ANT (an outer island about 2 hours away) for the weekend because it's a holiday weekend. But after some thinking and talking about it, the Sm's decided to stay back to support the meetings. We hope to go to ANT sometime soon. But I know the pastor is very grateful that the SM's are wanting to be involved.
Right now I'm in classroom 2 waiting for parents to come in for questions about their students 1st Quarter grades. Yes, parent teacher conferences. If I recall correctly, my sister said about 1 parent would come. We'll see.
I started teaching my new classes. I teach the same things in the morning (Earth Science and Social Studies). In the afternoon I teach PE for 5th period. And I then have 6th period for a prep period. And I teach English to all the English challenged students for 7th period. Most of them can read. But about 2 or 3 of them HARDLY speak english. So it's been challenging, but it is so much more rewarding than teaching geography. So I'm very grateful for the change. The students are nice, but maybe it's that 2 week grace period of having a new teacher. I'll keep a positive attitude for now. :) It's been really nice to not have the 8th grade for 6th and 7th period. Now I can enjoy them in the morning when they are still good and not deal with them when they're bad.
In the mornings I have been praying for my students. They have started to open up even more for prayer requests during worship. I'm excited that they have started to participate in worship.
The other night I had a really good conversation with a friend about giving everything to God and the challenges that went along with it. I believe God has been working on my heart and attitude since I've been here. Sometimes when I feel like saying something rude I will pray and do something opposite, like give a hug instead. It has really helped. I let God handle it and try to make the best of every situation. One of my good friends asked me if I could feel the way God was changing me. I told her no. But I'm glad she asked me, because I began searching. She told me that she hadn't felt it at first either, but just believe that God was doing it. You know who you are...thank you for talking with me. I began to think about it and believe it. And God has been working.
I just talked with a parent. Yay! But it was not a parent of a problem student. So I just smiled and said her kids were doing well. She already knew that by seeing the report card. Calvin came in and said "These are the teachers that gave me A's." Heh heh....Calvin. Have I talked about Calvin? He's a self appointed teacher's pet and is completely adorable. He tries his best to be a gentleman. The student on my pictures page that is singing as he erases Erin Acosta's chalk board is Calvin. All of the teachers love him. Well, Erin Acosta is reading a book to me and I'm having a hard time multitasking (writing and listening). Talk to you all later. Love you and thank you for your prayers.

God Bless,
Erin

The Joy of the islands

Hello everyone,
Well, I don't even know where or when I last wrote. I'm guessing it was right when I returned from joy island. Did I tell you about that? If not, then good. If so, then you have to read it again. Bwa ha ha. J/k. Anyways, we took a trip to an island. This island is special, because you have to time it just right to get there, because the tide will go out and you won't be able to reach it. Evidentally last year the group tried to go to the island and they ended up pushing all evening and didn't arrive until the next day. We were more fortunate. We only had to push the boat a short ways. But it was still and adventure having all the SM's out pushing the boat through the shallow water. Our puppy, Match (which means stinky) came with us. He's getting so big now. He actually belongs to Arbee...but he's basically our dog, because he hangs out on our porch and enjoys to spread our trash all over. Anyways, back to joy island. I'm glad I ate dinner on the way to the island, because we were tired when we arrived. And it was dark. So I found some trees to set my hammock up on. The island smelled bad from rotton coconut milk...but it was still nice to just get out to camp. We always need a chance to slow down. "Island time" is somewhat of a myth...so far. I got into my hammock and was stuck like glue. Even though the other SM's were up and about I was so tired. Nelita and David Crawford were up building a rain shelter. Some of the other sm's were preparing dinner. Others were just talking. But I was enjoying just laying in my hammock in solitude. It was refreshing. When I was just comfortable enough to drift off to sleep Match came over to my hammock. He was pawing at me and started to bite my hammock until I let him up with me. He smelled so bad...wet, dirty dog that has probably been playing with rotton coconuts. But I enjoyed his company anyways. We snuggled a bit, until his puppiness got to him and he had to check out the action around the camp. So he stayed around long enough to make me smell like him. Then once I was drifting off to sleep again he was back. Wanting back in my hammock. And being the soft heart that I am I let him in. I don't know how long it was before I drifted to sleep. But fortunately some of the SM's heard from Mr. B that it would probably rain, so they set up a tarp. About 2:00 in the morning about 25 SM's were crammed underneath the tarp on a single cement slab. We tried to sleep, but we were crammed in like sardines. We ended up just laying wherever we could. It was a fun bonding experience though. In the morning I went snorkeling. I saw some squid which was exciting. And when I was in the boat I saw a lot of sting rays. But I didn't see one while snorkeling. I rode the waves a bit, but decided to go in when the current became strong and I became tired. So I went back, ate lunch...and yes, I slept more. As bonding as our experience was, you can't get a very good night's sleep piled on top of 3 other people. I went home on the early boat, because I felt so exhausted. I returned home and slept all afternoon, got up for about 2 hours, and then went back to sleep for the night. It was wonderful to catch up on so much sleep. The following week wasn't too stressful, so I was grateful about that.
Last Friday (not yesterday) we went on the elementary school picnic. I was with the 7th and 8th graders. But technically I was only in charge of the 8th graders since I'm their sponsor. We went to Nett Point, which is a dock that you can jump off of and swim. It's salt water. The students felt that it was highly necessary to throw all of the teachers off the dock into the water. So I didn't last that long dry. I was thrown in probably about 4 or 5 times. I would pull myself out of the water, think I was in the clear, turn around to see Chris, followed by 5 other 7th graders screaming, "Get Miss Abston." At about that time it's over for me. Fortunately I wore sunblock on that day, because everyone, even the locals burned. I didn't know the locals would burn. But this past week I had many students with pealing faces. And this was quite embarrasing for them because they're not accustomed to burning and such. I had one student ask me if she would stay white if all her brown skin pealed off. I ensured her that in a couple weeks she'd be back to normal. She was feeling so self conscious that the next day she didn't come to school. I think it's the age group. They are very worried about what others think of them. My 8th graders...the jewels they are, decided that since it wasn't a required school day, that they wouldn't come along. So I only had 10 come from the class of 25. Yet they still showed up in a truck, one chewing betal nut...arg. They weren't under school control, but I was upset that they showed up because they were all running around by themselves...who knows if they're parents know...or even care. But Mrs. Villiegas made sure to encourage me and told me to just worry about the ones that were with the school. Nothing big came from it, but I feel like Mr. B should make a rule that it's either required to be with the school, or not show up where the school is. Something to that effect.
Last Sabbath afternoon we went on a hike to Sohkez Mountain where we were able to see some old Japanese guns from WWII. Since this isn't the states, there aren't ropes or anything restricting you from looking at everything. So we took pictures on them and stuff. They are huge. Some are become overgrown and rusting. It was a nice little hike. Then we hiked to the top of Sohkez mountain where the tower is...not sure what the tower is for. Perhaps it's for telephone. We climbed up on top of the tower house onto the roof and looked at the beautiful view. We took pictures. It was a lot of fun. We could see in the distance that the rain was coming...and coming fast. So we decided that we should head back down. It's funny, cause here you actually see the rain sweeping towards you. That evening we all went to Mr. B's to celebrate Erin Ferguson's birthday. Then I went to bed. On Sunday morning Joey, Melissa, Erin Acosta, Tiffany, and I went to the Village (a restaurant) and had blueberry pancakes. It was good, but sometimes they will serve banana macadamian nut pancakes which are much better!
This last week was finals week. So I administered the tests to my students. 2 of my students...which just happened to be D students didn't even show up for the test because they were sick. So I gave one an incomplete and the other I just gave the D. Hopefully they will take school more seriously next quarter. I'm happy to say that most of my students have A's, B's, and C's. It makes me sad when they get lower...but in all reality it's because they're not doing their part. I'm available after school every day. They don't come to get help.
Mr. B will be teaching my geography class next quarter and I will take his English course. I didn't want him to do that even though I was having a hard time teaching geography. The reason is because he will have to give up his free period. And I will take it. It's not good for him. And I just feel guilty. But when Mr. B decided he is going to help he jumps in full force. He's already teaching full time as well as running the school. I suppose with 6th period I might either be his assistant, start working on the Christmas program (which I'm hoping to help with or even lead), or take Mrs. McGuire's American Literature class. Whatever happens I'll let you know. I tried to tell Mr. B I could just keep the class. But since he saw me a little distressed one day he feels the need to help. I feel bad. :( Oh well. He seems to think that it will be good for me to teach the English class because they will be able to hear me pronouce the words instead of him. These will be all the high school students who really really struggle with English. So it will essentially be ESL.
I've been conditioning my junior varsity team for playing. A lot of them don't show that they are committed. They want to just come to practice when we are playing in the gym. They will soon find out that the ones that play the games will be the committed ones...not necessarily the big ones, or the talented ones. One kid said, "Miss, you should let me play on the team." I told him no because we already had the team. Then he said, "But Miss, you're going to make SDA lose." I just looked at him and almost laughed. I told him that being a team was more important and that I wouldn't want someone on my team that had that kind of attitude. They don't understand being a team yet. They only understand winning. I have about 5 committed players...which is just enough for me. After we ran them hard up and down a steap hill for practice, Tiffany and I took some of them to get ice cream for a reward. They worked hard. It was nice to talk with some of them on another level outside school. We have also been ending practice with prayer and worship as a team. It's been great. I finally got a prayer request that the student had to be a little bit vulnerable to request. I was very excited and the whole team was very supportive. I'm excited about that. So please pray for CJ and his family. They are having a bit of trouble.
Well, today I think that the group is going to the waterfall with the big jump. I'm not sure I'm going to go. This is the same waterfall that I cut my foot walking too. It was fun, but I'm not much for jumping. Maybe I'll do it by the end of the year.
Well, I'm sure I forgot a million things to say, but I suppose that is better for your time. This has already reached the lengthy stage. Take care. I am praying for all of you. Thank you for your prayers. God bless.

Erin Abston

Bake Sale, Fishing, Rats and More

I'm so sorry I haven't written in a long time. Wow...I can't even remember what I wrote last time. Better check. Ok...I ended off about a month ago. Lol. Well, since then we have been doing mainly school, school, and more school. My 8th graders are warming up to me more...or maybe it's me warming up to them. But they still get out of hand now and then. I don't think many of them understand what it means to respect your teachers, parents, etc. They say things that I am amazed they have the nerve to say. But I can tell they don't mean harm by it. They just don't understand. I had an 8th grade bake sale today to raise money. We made about $135 net profit. It was fun. The students swarm up to the table and you can't seem to pass out the goods fast enough. You'll have one kid on the right telling you they want ice cream as another kid puts money in your hand and tells you their order. It was fun though. I've been holding my kids after school to make up backwork. Mr. B doesn't want us to let any kid fall into a D or F position because they are still in elementary. So all of us teachers are trying to find ways to get the grades up for the students who don't turn in assignments. It's a little bit annoying, because we can't necessarily hold a student after school, because we don't have our own homeroom. So we have to tell the student to come after school. If they don't then we can't do much about them getting their work done. So I need to start making more parent phone calls. I have one student, Monica, who pretty much defiantly doesn't show up. And she knows her phone isn't working. So I think I'm going to make a home visit with Mr. B. :) I'll bet she'll love that. So some of my students grades have been going up, but some have a long way to go. I'm learning a lot as a teacher too. I finally have a grader, so I can spend more time doing other things than just grade. But I still feel swamped with papers. Especially since they've been turning in backwork. Hopefully it will all settle down soon.

Two weekends ago I went on my first overnight fishing trip. It was so great! At first we went line fishing. We dragged fishing line behind our boat and looked for flocks of birds. There are usually tuna fish where the birds are. In fact you'll see them jumping in the water. It's great. So we dragged the line through the tuna, but were unsuccessful in many bites. We found one school of tuna that did bite, but unfortunately the sharks ate the fish before we could pull them in. One shark was on the surface feeding. So we decided to go watch it. We got right up to it as he snatched a tuna from the surface. He swam under our boat and went down to in the ocean. I was really excited because I saw my first shark. He was probably about 3.5 ft. Once it got dark we went to an outer island and built a fire and cooked supper. We waited there until the tide was where we wanted it. Then we went spear fishing. However, I was still a little spooked from seeing the shark earlier that day, so I stayed in the boat this time. And well, my fears were realized when the guys said there were about 5 sharks following them around. The guys decided that they wanted to spear one of the sharks. So 3 of them speared it...twice. It got really mad, opened it's mouth, and went at one of the SM guys. Another SM had him backed up and shot the shark mid attack. That scared the shark off, but they thought Arby was a gonner for a little bit. I was on the boat and I heard them yelling. They weren't far from the boat. We knew something big was happening. We can be happy that God protected them. They ended their spear fishing shortly after that. Then we went bottom fishing. Keep in mind it's about 2:00 am now. I slept for a bit. Erin Acosta was with me on the trip. Melissa and Tiffany didn't come. So Erin and I star gazed and drifted off to sleep on the bow of the boat around 3:00 or 4:00. We woke up shortly before sunrise. Mr. B had started line fishing again. But this time we weren't going for tuna. We cought several baracuda. Wow they have big teeth! Then we headed back to the school. We made it back just before noon. I didn't sunburn very bad because I was really careful about putting sunblock on. It's really easy to burn here if you're not careful.

Last weekend we went to another waterfall. We drove about and hour to get to the hike. Then we hiked about 20 minutes or so. It was a very beautiful waterfall. I wore shoes because last time I went on a hike in flip flops I cut my foot. By the end of the hike my shoes were very wet and muddy. But I think it was worth it. Jonathan, Mr. Johnson's (the treasurer of the school) nephew, also wore shoes. So at first we were trying to take them off and on, off and on when we crossed the river. We were way behind the others. At the end we were walking through the water, in the mud, etc. We laughed about it later. But we never admitted shoes were a bad idea! I cleaned the shoes when I got back, because they are my only tennis shoes to jog, play basketball, hike, etc. Multi-purpose. :) Some of the sm's jumped off a spot on the waterfall. I got some really neat pictures. I didn't jump. Not this time. :) When I got back that evening some of the sm's went out to eat, but I went to play basketball. It was fun to play with some of the youth. Everytime I scored on one of the guys they would all laugh at the guy I scored against. Probably because I'm a girl.

On Sunday we mainly clean our house (everything with bleach!) and get class stuff planned. So as usual that's what we did. This month my duty is to clean the bathroom. Next month I'll get to do something new. :)

Well, just when we thought our rat troubles were over we started to smell a foul smell in the closet. I immediately said, check the sticky trap. Tiffany, doubting my impulse, checked with caution...followed by a loud screech. And Melissa, always being the curious one, had to check. Erin and I avoided the situation, because we could smell it from where we were and didn't want to be any closer. It was of course a dead rat. We're still wimps. We called for help and Arby came to throw it away. We haven't seen one since then though.

Well, spiritually...it's getting better in my classes. Now and then when I ask for prayer requests instead of getting a blank stare I may get a hand that requests something like grades, the weekend, etc. But it's improvement! I don't care if it's deep! It's SOMETHING. Plus, they are starting to walk into the classroom respectfully if they come late and I've started worship over. I know it's just little things, but it means a lot to me. I only have one 8th grader that goes to the church. I have no idea where each of the other students are spiritually. Please pray that God uses me to reach them any way I can.

I was running with Melissa. But unfortunately she sprained her ankle, so my running has not been happening. But I've been working out with Erin doing push-ups, sit-ups, wall-sits, etc. It still doesn't seem to be enough though! I need to keep up with all the food. We cook and bake so much! The "Pohnpei weight" is catching up. They always say the girls gain and the guys lose. We wanted to fight it...but most of us are roped in. The good news is people say they lose it again. So we're not too concerned.

Well, for your sake I will let you go. If you've made it this far in my e-mail, then congrats to you. Take care and God bless. I miss and love you all.

-Erin

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

BD's, Black Coral, Spear Fishing, School, Welcome Party

Well, it's been a while since I've written. It seems like forever. We haven't seen a rat in over a week. We killed 3. We hope that's the end of it. Last week there were 4 birthdays here. Albert Benjamin (the principles son and one of my students) had his birthday first. Then Mandy, the vice principle's daughter. Then another Mandy, an SM. And me. So we had a big meal at Mr. B's house to celebrate the birthday's. Mr. B felt kind of bad that we had to do a mass celebration instead of one at a time. But none of us minded. It was fun. We ate lots of food. I was so full. My apartment took rice and homemade flour tortillas. But there was a lot of other food; fish, fried bananas, cornbread, cake, noodles, etc. A few days later Tiffany threw a surprise birthday party for me. It was really sweet. But I feel kind of bad cause I was a little rude to her when she was trying to get me out of the house. I was behind on my grading and recording, so I was determined to get that done. And if any of you know how I am when I set my mind to something then you know that I had focused and dedicated my entire birthday evening to that. Tiffany's first attempt to get me out of the house (so they could decorate) failed. She wanted to get me in another room. She used the excuse, "Erin, I'll help you clean your room." I told her that the grading was more important but she could clean my room if she wanted. Lol. Then she tried to convince me that it would be more comfortable for me to grade in the workroom cause it had AC. But my papers were all out and organized around me. I wasn't about to move. By now I was wondering why she hadn't taken the hint that I wasn't going anywhere. Then she tried a point that is always my weakness. She asked if I would go play basketball cause the gym was open. I told her that I would go when I was finished. So she sat down and started to help me grade. Lol. Two other SM girls came and said Mr. B wanted to see me. But I took it as not an immediate need, so I decided to go after I finished. Finally they got me out of the house. One of Mr. B's daughters called up to the apartment and said, "Are you coming?" I was confused as to what she was talking about. They pretended like I knew that I was supposed to go out to eat with the Benjamins. And they were all waiting in the car for me. So I decided I should probably go. So very confused, I dressed into something nicer and went to the truck. Mr. B kept snickering the whole night. But he likes to do that. So I still didn't think much of it. And then he joked about my roomates having something for me when I got back. So finally by the time the surprise came I was suspicious...but it took me long enough. The party was fun. Erin and Melissa made DELICIOUS brownies. And Tiffany and some other teachers had their students make cards for me. They are so sweet. Even though the kids don't know me they say how wonderful I am. I thought that was cute. And the SM's signed the tablecloth with notes to me. It was really nice of everyone. But unfortunately I had to stay up late again to finish my stuff that I was so determined to do. Oh well...but it was worth it. The students were also very kind to me on my birthday. Calvin, one of my seventh graders bought me a fish burger. I'm still trying to break into eating fish...but I can't ever make it past a few bites. Some other students were giving me money. I was trying to tell them not too, but they insisted that it was Pohnpei tradition. So I made about $4.00...which I put into a student fund where I may buy them cookies or something.
Last weekend was really incredible. We went to Black Coral island. The snorkling was great. I saw angel fish, clown fish (living in an annenamie like in Finding Nemo!) a stingray, an eel, and the scary one was a lion fish. Don't go too close to those! I saw parrot fish and other things. It was great. No sharks though. A lot of people saw sharks...cause they were there...but I never saw one. I was disappointed. I was most facinated with the clown fish, because he wasn't afraid of me. I would swim towards him and he would just sink into the annenamie. But once he started to swim towards me in an aggressive manner...I saw his jaws...he's got teeth. Never would have known. He was certainly guarding his territory. He was blue, brown, and a little orange...so he's in the same family as nemo...but not exactly the same.
I also went spear fishing. One thing I never knew from linds was that spear fishing is often done at night. So we got our dive flashlights and spears and bags. I was a bagger. Meaning someone spears the fish and the bagger holds the fish. Talk about feeling like live bait! Evidentally sometimes the sharks will come and try to steal your fish...so you have to poke them with the spear...but I didn't have the spear. So I stayed very close to my fishing partner, Matt Witzel. It was during spear fishing that we spotted the lion fish. But still no sharks. I still had the adrenaline though swimming through that dark water with fish in a bag. Ooh...fun stuff.
I was one of the only sm's that didn't sunburn. I was happy about that. It's easy to burn here. After the weekend we headed back to start school again.
So school...heh heh. It's going well. The students are starting to push their limits even more. I'm still going through a lot of demerit slips. Somehow my reputation went from the strict teacher to the nice teacher. The other teachers that weren't disciplining laid down the law...and laid it down hard. The kids still respect me...hey! I see my first cockroach in the house! Maybe that's a bonus for no rats! Ok...back to the subject. Most of the kids respect me. But some are really bad. And from what I hear that's how they treat their parents. So it will be a year long battle. Almost all the teachers agree that the 8th graders are a handeful. So please continue to send your prayers. They are still needed. I felt a little irritable today cause the kids were not respectful at all during my morning worships and during chapel. They don't listen to me in the morning when I do worship. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. So I tried music...it was a nice solo. It's so hard with those 8th graders. God is going to have to reach them, cause I can't do it alone.
Last night was the enfamous freshman party. Some of you may have heard about it from lindsey. This is the party where the guys like to dress up like girls and they do a beauty pagent. It was definitely special...um...yeah. Some of those guys can strut better than I can. It was a lot of fun. There were some games played and some music and dancing acts performed. The students really enjoy it and it's a good time to get to know your students outside of the classroom. I took video, so maybe some of you will get a chance to see this crazy event.
Today I'm quizing the 8th graders on US geography. That's during 6th and 7th period...which is coming up soon. So I should probably conclude this e-mail. I hope you are all having a wonderful time in the states. You are missed. Love you all.

Erin Abston (a.k.a "Miss")

Wild 7th Graders, Rats, Cleaning

Things are still going well. The 7th graders were a little wild today. They are usually pretty good. I didn't send as many out with demerits though. Maybe I need to. I don't like to, but I probably need to. It's been a hard day for me cause I'm sick. I've been missing sleep cause I'll always end up doing something unexpected at night. Such as last night. I was on my way to go out and exercise. I went in to Tiffany's room to get the basketball and the rat was there. So we chased it for a bit. It went into our game closet. We discovered that he had made a huge mess. So we spent the next 3 hours cleaning it out, bleaching it, bleaching the things in it, and setting a trap. I didn't get my grading done and I wasn't very well prepared for classes today. But I had to go to bed cause I could tell I was getting sick. So today I was sick and unprepared. Oh well. I guess I'll have days like this. We got the rat though. So we've killed 3 rats. I hope that's the end of them. But for some odd reason it's hard to believe that. We got the most recent rat with a sticky trap. We made one of the guys kill it for us. Thank goodness guys don't mind as much. He ended up drowning. Well, I have to prepare for 6th and 7th period. Take care.

Erin

Mr Rat's Brother, Sohkehs Rock, Ocean View, Address

Well, the first week went ok. But I can tell my students may prove to be a challenge now and then. I'm considered one of the "strict" teachers. But I don't let it get to me. Cause my sister warned me many times to be firm. And Mr. B backs me up 100%. I have some trouble makers. Most of them are in the 8th grade. They're a handful. And I'm their sponsor. :) So that should be interesting. I'm also teaching 7th grade, which is the class that Katie Craig had when she was here. People will ask me if I'm lindsey's sister. I'll say yes. They're say, "She has a really nice voice." I smile and says, yes she does.

Well, Mr. Rat #1 died. But his brother is still hanging around. I'm wondering how many more there are. Mr. Rat's brother isn't as much of a pest. But I'm a little mad at one of them...cause they nibbled on my camera case. Oh well. I knew all my belongings would be in peril here.

I'm loving it here! Last Sabbath we went on a hike to a waterfall. I think I told you about that. Yesterday we went to Sohkehs Rock. It was a huge climb, but it was fun. We were all sweaty and tired by the end of that. When we returned the SM's went to play basketball and volleyball at the gym with the youth of the church. That was fun.

Oh, we had a potluck with the SM's yesterday. It was pretty good. We all brought different foods. I made some pinto beans and tiffany baked some banana bread and some whole wheat cinnamon bread. It was good. We have been in the kitchen a lot. Erin Acosta, one of my housemates, is the queen of tortilla making! They are so yummy! I was so scared I would have to go without mexican food this year. But we had it for 3 meals last week...and we had breakfast burritos. Yummy!

Last week I went to Ocean View. It's a hotel that has a restaurant in it. I was talked into getting a fish burger. I tried a few bites, but was dissapointed. It just tasted like grease to me. So I still haven't been converted to fish eating. Give me a few more months. We'll see. Still seems fishy to me.

Well, we cleaned out the apartment today and helped pick up trash around the school. The kids trash it a lot. Well, sorry this is short, but I have some stuff to do. I stay really busy trying to keep up with grading and preparing my lessons. Thank you to all my teachers who worked so hard for me to get a good education. You are are saints. God bless you all.

Take care,
Erin Abston

P.O. Box 518
Kolonia, Pohnpei 96941
FSM

(691) 320-1715

Some people have asked what we could use here. So here's the list:

long shorts (prefer mens basketball shorts)
Things that we can get here, but are expensive include any shower products or cleaning supplies. So if you want to throw it in, it would be helpful.
Water Socks (womens 6 1/2-7)
Vegefood (any kind...but I love fri chick, vegeburger, and linkets).
Dried Fruit
Canned Fruit and Vege's
Popcorn Kernals

Hope this is helpful to those who asked. Thanks!

Flight, Twin Falls, Church, Big Waterfall, Mr. Rat

Hello Friends and Family,

I'm now in Pohnpei. I arrived on Thursday, August 11. The flight was long. I flew to Honolulu and stayed the night there. I took the bus down to Waikiki and walked the shops and the beach for a little while. It's not quite as fun by yourself. Then I bought a piece of cheesecake at the cheesecake factory. Then I headed on the long bus ride back to my place. I went to sleep and got up at 4:15 Hawaii time. Our flight took us from Honolulu, to Majuro, Kwajulane, Kosrae, and then finally to Pohnpei. Majuro was a lot smaller than I imagined it would be. The island is shaped like a cheerio. It was water in the middle of it. It's not a perfect circle, but I'm trying to give the effect. Therefore you don't have much space from water point to waterpoint. It's very small and flat as well. Kwajalane was similar to Majuro. You could see Ebeye from the plane. It's about a mile long and less than that wide. And it's incredibly populated. I can't even imagine living there for a year. When we flew into Kosrae I became encouraged. It was beautiful. It's mountainous and green. I arrived in Pohnpei around 2:10 pm. When I stepped off the plane I expected to be hit by a heat wave, but it was a fairly cool day. I felt the heat the next day though. The pastor from Guam was on my plane. The pastor from Pohnpei was there to pick us up. But we had to wait for Mr. B to help with the luggage. One I arrived at the apartments I barely had time to do anything (I didn't even unpack) before we left for one of the waterfalls. The waterfall was so beautiful. It had a jumping rock that was fun as well. I was even able to climb up behind the waterfall and dive through it. It was incredible. That evening I went looking to get my books, but we could only find student versions of my two history courses. The next day I received my Science book on the way to teach science class. That was interesting. So they got another easy break for that day. I'm hoping to have my syllabus out to them by tomorrow. In case you don't know, I'm not teaching HS science anymore. I'm teaching 7th and 8th History and 8th Science. I'm happy with it even though it wasn't my first choice. I think it will be fun. Science is Period 1 and 2. 3 and 4 is 7th Social Studies. And then chapel (Friday's only). Then I had a free period. But it wasn't really free cause I was frantically trying to do things that the other teachers had a week to do before classes started. Then for the last two periods of the day I had 8th grade History. The kids were good. But everyone warns that they are good the first couple weeks. They test your limits and then figure out how far they can go. So we'll see.

Yesterday, Saturday, we had our first church service in the Kolonia church. Evidentally they were at another church the week before. But that was before I was here. The pastor from Guam did a 3 sermon talk on financial success secrets, such as managing your money, saving, tithe, etc. After church we had potluck. Everyone brought out a ton of fun. I had to pick and choose since I'm a vegetarian. However, I did try a piece of the Parrot Fish. I think it was Parrot fish. I'm not sure. It had a very strange texture. It was chewy and fluffy. It's hard for me to explain. One piece was enough for me. It was kind of tasteless and just kind of grossed me out anyways. Maybe later this year I will write you and be saying how much I love the fish. But not yet. The best thing at the potluck was the pinaple and banana bread. Oh, and the homemade bread! At the potluck I chose my Pohnpeian family. This is something they do for the SM's. It's like we're adopted for a year by one of the church members. My ladies name is Erina. I wasn't able to meet her though. She wasn't there. So maybe next week. They put a flower wreathe (I don't know what it's called here) on my head and pinned a corsage to my shirt. Then we went back for another financial talk. We finally left the church around 4:00.

When we returned we changed into swimming attire and left for another waterfall. It was a long drive in the back of our firetruck (which is what we drive around). It started to rain. So we stood, holding onto the back of the truck, dodging banana's and palm branches on our way. It started to rain. The drops of water hit our face. While some girls were ducking to try to avoid as many raindrops as they could, I was standing soaking it all in...literally. I love it here. We went on a long hike to get to the waterfall. I saw a waterbuffalo on the way. The hike was muddy because it had just rained. I was only in flipflops and so it made it a very difficult and slow walk for me. On my way down I managed to cut a gash in my heal. Fortunately for me it was mostly the callus that was cut. But it hurt cleaning it. The waterfall had a 40 ft cliff jump. I didn't do it. I jumped from a lower spot. But a lot of people did do it. We swam for a little bit, but couldn't stay long since we didn't leave until after 4:00. When we returned I had my apartment mates (Melissa, Tiffany, and Erin) help clean out the wound. I would hold one of their hands as the other tried to distract me. And one, Melissa, tried to clean it out. But everytime she started, I flinched. So she would stop. She couldn't bear to hurt me. So she went and got John, one of the SM's. He came and cleaned it out. Then he cut off the flap of skin with his knife. We put some antibiotic ointment on it and put a bandaid on to keep it clean. Once that adventure was done I decided I was really hungry. I wanted to have a piece of toast with my lentils that I cooked the day before. So I pulled out the drawer under the stove and our little friend was there. Yes...our little friend, Mr. Rat. He has been a constant menace. He has chewed several things. I ate a hole in Tiffany's backpack. He also likes underware. We will find underware in holes in the house cause he dragged them there. He's eaten two of Tiffany's underware. He also stored food that he found in tiffany's clothes drawer. Poor girl. He also ate her vitamins. So when I told her I saw the rat she ran over to the oven drawer saying "I'm going to kill it!" She stuck the broom into the drawer and scared him out. He went running across the counter. She didn't see him. But the other three of us started screaming and jumped up on the couches and chairs. She responded by screaming and jumping on a chair as well. She still says she didn't see him. Well, Joey, one of the SM guys came over to help us kill it. I've found that many guys enjoy to hunt and kill rodents. I don't know why. But I'm extremely grateful for the effort. But this rat is smart. He sets off the rat trap first, without getting caught. Then he eats what's on the trap. Joey has tried multiple ways. We have rat poison, but we're hesitant to use it cause we don't want him to die in some place we can't get too and have him stink up the apartment. At night you can hear him...or other rats...running in the cealing. Yuck. We haven't caught him yet. But I'll let you know when we do. Our efforts so far have been in vain.

Well, I should get started on my syllabus and lesson plans. I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll talk to you soon. God bless.

Erin Abston