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")