Pep Rally, Fagasa, Miss Productive, and Hot

Friday... pep rally day... knew coming in that the students would be rather hyper, so I didn't plan on getting much done. Decided to use some review games in my Junior classes. Some went better than others, but the day was flying by regardless. Spoke to my seniors about the powerpoints they had sort of been working on the past few days. Lots of problems with them, so guess I need to lay out my expectations better next time and provide them some more guidance and help with the program. Oh well, wasn't going to know until I tried.

One uh... let's say interesting... thing that happened Friday was connected to these crowbar-like pieces of metal I have found students with before, which I always confiscate and dispose of, but I kept wondering where they were coming from. Got my answer. Students break these arms off the desks, and voila there you have it. "Really?" was my first thought. Oye. So this first photo shows one that was broken off in my classroom today. Not one of my good desks to begin with but still not good.

This is what it was like before it was wiggled off, another not so good desk.

No 6th and 7th period as expected, so after lunch and a bit of grading I headed to the gym for our lovely pep rally. Class cheer competitions today. Each class got up on stage, did their thing, and had a teacher mascot with them. Here you see one of our vocational teachers dressed up as a warrior, a traditional warrior. Only 1 hour and 15 minutes on the pep rally today, lots of energy from the students.

In addition to the cheers they had been practicing all week (all of which were creative plays off of some popular songs, by the way), each class made some banners. Here you can see some from the Senior class, and in the middle is one of my students helping hold one up.

The senior clss bringing in their mascot, one of the business teachers.

Then, these super creative boys choreographed a dance again for us. They did a montage of songs last pep rally, and this time the montage took us through some classic songs throughout history including YMCA, Cotton Eye Joe, the Chicken Dance, etc... They're pretty talented, you gott admit.

We left right after the pep rally. Yeah, we left early, and it felt good. Hannah and I stopped for some soft serve ice cream, and then stopped at another store to think about something to make for dinner. Grabbed some Ragu to make some pasta we had back at the house and grabbed a bottle of wine.  I also bought a big case of milk as we weren't horribly far away from the bus stop, but boy was it hot out Friday. The two guys who fix air conditioners - Nick and Eddie - waved and then gave us a ride home. Boy, glad to see them. Sweating up a storm in my Husker puletasi. haha

Hannah and I decided we were gonna do dinner and a movie. Yep, a date with my good friend. I cooked us some pasta with red sauce and melted cheese, with a side of veggies, and a cinnamon roll (found some nice ones at one of the little Korean markets). Lit a candle for our little romantic dinner next to our bottle of Moscato and played some Debussy (classical music) on the piano. Had quite the ambiance going on. hahaha Good times. Gotta love a romantic evening :) Hope you all are keeping up. It was fun but still simple enough. Then, we watched Mulan. Yay for a classic Disney movie. Brings a person back. Had a really good night of sleep after that even with the heavy rain that fell throughout the night.

Woke up Saturday morning and got on the bus at 7:30 just like we planned and headed into Tafuna for breakfast at Mom's Place. Slipped and almost fell on my butt on some water shortly after getting off the bus. That was a doozy and just made me laugh. haha Gonna be a good day. Saw our Florida friends there as they were just finishing up before heading out to work this Saturday. My french toast hit the spot before catching a bus into town to run a few errands including the bank and post office. The trees on the mountain were extra beautiful today. I was all smiles on our way into town and singing along with the music on the bus. Already was having a good day and knew it would just continue to do that despite my slip early on.

My backpack with a waterproof liner my dad sent is here, which will make me feel safer with my laptop all the time in this "fine" rainy season. Met up with Raina, our fellow volunteer and friend who lives in a small village on the northside in Fagasa Bay. Beth, a volunteer and friend who teaches in Utulei, joined us on this little visit out to Fagasa. Got a ride in the back of Raina's landlord's truck, we got to see her house, her classroom, walked the whole bay, and walked up the hill by her house for a great view. This was the first visitors Raina had out in Fagasa, so she was excited.

Here's a photo of the four of us in Raina's cool classroom:

See that red roof, that's where Raina lives. Raina is from Hawaii, originally.

Here's one of the churches in the village:

This is THE view from just up the hill by their house:

This is just looking out toward the ocean:

This is looking back into Fagasa bay from up the hill by the house:

Got a ride back into town around 2pm, stopped at Beth's house to grab some mail for the roommates before grabbing the best ice cream on island and then taking the bus home. Good ole Samu Ice Cream Shop at the gas station. HOMEMADE ice cream. I had Snickers flavor on this beautiful Saturday. Yummm. Nice cool off after the warm early afternoon out in Fagasa.

Then, I was Miss Productive back at the apartment for a while. I organized the shelves in my bedroom, scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen (all while jamming out to some tunes), worked out, and destroyed a yellow wasp nest. I had put together that these yellow wasps must have an est under one of the chairs on our porch, and I was correct. Took care of that problem for now. Hopefully they don't come back, I tried my best to scare them off and confuse them. Show them they really are not welcome right there. I like sitting in that chair in the morning and do not appreciate being stung on my ankles. haha

Productive, right? :) I also did a little reading, uploaded some photos, wrote some stuff for the blog, did some stumbling on the Internet, and finally just sat and relaxed for a while. Put on some music and then just sat in my hammock for a while singing along before calling it a night. Another Saturday adventure for the books :)

My little camera finally bit the dust. I've had it for about three-four years, so it was bound to happen. It's been through a lot with me , so I found a new and hope to have it within a few weeks. Reasonable price, too. So, I may be lacking in the photos these next couple of weeks as I don't lug around my big Nikon all of the time.

Not much to talk about from Sunday. I did not really sleep much Saturday night; my brain just wouldn't shut off, and I couldn't get to sleep for a while and then woke up several times. Felt a nap coming on some time on Sunday. Then, I was just hot beyond belief in addition to a headache (kin of want to blame the headache on all the cleaning yesterday ha). I quite honestly felt feverish and laid in my bed sweating. ugh. It was definitely stuffy in our house, and I just wanted a nap. Not fun to sort of doze off and then just wake up with beads of sweat. Too much detail? haha Just giving you the reality. Not all pockets of sunshine, but life is good.

Got my lesson plan forms filled out for the week, watched some Gilmore Girls, and dozed off and on and think I even got a good 2 hours in at one point. Felt better after that. As it began to pour pretty well outside, I went and sat in my hammock. Nice way to cool off after feeling so hot all day without even doing anything. Finishing my night by continuing the Gilmore Girls marathon and then hitting the hay early tonight, hopefully. Haven't been letting my brain think much today, and now as finish writing this at 7:20pm, it is raining again. Hope you all have a good week.