Property, Guest, and Packed

A few times the big rock I use to hold my door open during the day has mysteriously gone missing. Most of the time I can find it over this little wall in front of my classroom, but one day a few weeks ago it was nowhere to be found. A few of my students went on a search and found an even bigger one for me. It hasn't gone missing yet. Knock on wood. I had some trash bags also disappear from my room the other day. Finally, as for my little science words collage we put together with photos from our project back toward the beginning of the school year... I finally took them all down and gave the photos that were left to the students. People drew on some, tore some apart, took some down completely, and are constantly messing with it. I was really proud of that project, too; so, it was sad to take it down, but I'm tired of picking up the pieces day after day. Lack of respect for property... you've heard my two cents on that many times this year.

On a more positive note, the bell has actually been ringing closer to real time - not 5 minutes slow anymore. Some times it's even spot on. Still a little variable since it is not automatic, but it's nice to not always have to think about it being 5 minutes off from my watch all the time like it has been all school year. It will be nice if it stays that way for the remainder of the year.

Wednesday we had a guest speaker - Brandon Smart, who has been living here for 3 years, while his twin brother has been here for 7 (They are actually members of a triplet. Their sister lives back in Nashville, TN.) Brandon talked a little about his education - first degree in marketing and has a degree in Education, where he holds a Master's. He taught stateside for 7 years, taught a few years down here, and now works full time with the non-profit organization Field House 100, which helps recruit and send student athletes off to college. It was cool to hear him talk about that. It is cool what they do, and a few of us also think it would be interesting to see a similar push for pure academics. He did emphasize throughout his presentation how important education is. He would not have done a lot of the things he has in his life without his degrees.

He also shared with us some experiences working with the Republican party, a little about Nashville, and a trip in New Zealand while doing some recruiting there. Check out their website if you're curious about the non-profit. http://fh100recruiting.com/2012/06/20/field-house-100-continues-to-make-positive-headway-locally/  I could also tell he was a teacher, and it was cool to see him doing his thing. He's quite the talker and a businessman. He reminds me of my Uncle Ron. I was so thankful and appreciative of Brandon for giving up a day of his busy schedule to share with my students.

I also learned some cool statistics about American Samoa in terms of politics and finances. One cool thing about having these guest speakers come in as I learn even more right along with my students. I have a feeling not so many of them realize that and take some of it for granted. I listen to the speaker 6 different times during the day, and I hardly ever find myself wandering. The presentation seems to be a bit different each time. That's how it goes being a high school teacher. My lesson is never exactly the same for each class. It's fun to watch how it changes throughout the day.

Thursday, I had the students work on some thank you notes for our guest speaker. Then, we watched part of the movie The Impossible about a tsunami. Appropriate for all of my classes. We will discuss it a bit, and I may put a question on the mid-term about it. I think many of them think that video days are free days. Not the case. I show videos with purpose.

Heading home right after school on Thursday to finish packing up (practically done already) and then it's moving day. I'm taking the day off work Friday, and I am not sure how quickly Internet will be set up at our new place. Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Dogs in the AM and a Swift Kick

Forgot to write about the dogs on my last post. So with this new early morning workout routine... While we are still in Pava'ia'i I don't want to wake my roommates up, so I've been using a friend's garage as my exercise space in the morning.

Wednesday morning, just a little barking from some dogs. I had a feeling that they might be a little jumpier early in the morning, especially while it was still dark and they couldn't really see me. Thursday morning, a few were laying in the middle of the road I was walking on, sort of sat up, looked, barked a little, and then they let me walk by.

Friday morning, two dogs laying there again, and this time one of them decided he really didn't like me walking by. Started barking up a storm. "Here we go...", I thought. The barking alerted his friends at the house, "Ah crap, here they all come." I started yelling "Halu," which means stop in Samoan. One got aggressively close to me, and they couldn't see me pretending to pick up a rock. (Usually they turn around and run when you just act like you are grabbing a rock.) I started kicking my foot, he backed a little, but kept coming in. I kicked him good in the face, and that made them all turn around and squeal. Situation handled. Nothing like kicking a vicious dog at 4:45am to get your adrenaline running before a workout. I would never even think about kicking a dog back home, but I had nothing else left to do. It was that or maybe get bitten.

Now, Monday morning four of them were laying in the middle of the road. "Seriously, guys." I had a rock in my hand ready to go this time. Pretty sure I could tell which one it was I had to kick, as he jumped back right away. The others started barking. I think they may have remembered me. I threw the rock, and all but one scattered. One thought he was going to be a jerk, so I yelled and lunged forward. He ran off after that. Crisis averted this morning. Darn dogs aren't going to stop me from getting my exercise complete. Last week I should have to deal with them, as we should be moving later this week.

By the way, at first I couldn't remember which foot I used. Think I've decided it was my left foot, as the top of it is sore, and I don't remember dropping anything on it. Must have been that swift kick. Oye. Sore foot is better than a bite for sure :-)

Well, that was a little different from most stories I have told so far. The sad dog situation of Samoa. One of those realities I have seen and it is hitting me more and more as I am here. Nothing I can't handle, but it's one problem I don't really foresee ever been fixed. I'm usually pretty optimistic, but I feel sorry for some of these dogs. One of these days I may take some photos so you can see how gross and unkept some of them are. Others are still just obnoxious, like the one who decided he needed a kick in the face to know he shouldn't mess with this girl.

A Little Work and A Lot of Bumming

After that long and chaotic post last time around, this one is going to be rather short and sweet. I quite honestly was a bum most of the weekend, so not much to talk about.

Friday morning Hannah and sat at McDonald's for a while again before heading to school. Might officially be another one of our things. I enjoy a small coffee and she a small Coke. We usually have everything ready to go for Friday, and we enjoy some early morning fun chat before hitting work for the day.

Friday I brought some videos I found online from some educational shows I used to watch with my brother. For my juniors, I found an episode of The Magic School Bus. That's right! It was awesome. We learned about the solar system, and most of my students were pretty attentive the whole time. For my seniors, I had a few episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy. This gave all my students some perspective on how shows designed for younger students can still be beneficial for us in high school while we learn a bit more about how things work in the world - including how we learn.

I babysat for Pastor Scot and Miss Katie Friday night as they attended the church's couples dinner. They took the newborn baby - Andrew Paul, who was born two Wednesdays ago. I stayed at their home with Jeffrey and Jenna. We had a nice time together again. They were good almost the entire time again, which was surprising. It was cute to watch them watch the baby before he left with the parents. We ate some leftover pizza, drew some pictures, watched some Veggie Tales, and then the last 50 minutes I let them play with my hair. They had so much fun making it softer by simply running their fingers through it. They kept at it for 50 minutes, seriously. I couldn't believe it kept the two of them occupied for that long. They were still at it when mom and dad walked in the door.

Saturday morning I walked 30 minutes to the community college, where a Zumbathon for the ROTC was taking place. I walked back home, too, which was uphill coming back. haha Was nice to walk. Then, Hannah and I caught a ride to Sualua's for our Saturday breakfast. Two iced teas, my short stack of pancakes, Hannah's fried potatoes, two sides of fruit, and good conversation for an hour or so. A nice regular thing of ours.

Basically laid around the rest of the day minus getting my Insanity workout in for the day. We caught up on The Big Bang Theory, and I tried catching up on How I Met Your Mother - one episode behind. I also decided to watch two Batman movies - The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. This was my first time watching the second one. My brother is a big fan of these movies. My dad is also a Batman fan.

Speaking of Dad... I called him first thing when I woke up Sunday morning for a surprise phone call to wish him a Happy Birthday. Headed to church, and then spent the rest of my weekend laying around again doing some reading, watching some movies, and being a bum. My movie choices on Friday included Raise Your Voice and Coraline. I finished reading a book called The Shack, which Granny B had sent me for Christmas. It was a nice read and had me thinking about some things. It is a fiction book, but offers some cool theological insight. I also did a little coloring in a book Grandpa and Grandma Wingert had sent for Christmas. Thank you for those.

That's my short post about a little work and a lot of bumming. Have a great week!

One Chaos of a Post

Be prepared for a post that goes all over the place. I wrote different pieces of it on different days as ideas were fresh in my head, and then things simply seemed chaotic on Thursday. So here's one chaos of a post. I can't be 100% organized all of the time. haha

Tuesday was going just fine until 1st period. Not one of my finer moments. They would not be quiet for anything as a whole. Sure, some quiet kids, but I was there. We were not getting anywhere with the lesson, so I stopped, we tried to discuss why it was so hard for them to be respectful sometimes. I was only asking them to be quiet and follow along for 15 mins. Lots of science. I filled out my first referral form for a student, which I had to give to the counselor. She was directly rude as I was simply answering a question of hers, and then would giggle when I was calling other students out, she then laughed when I moved to her desk. Said either you go to the chair now or you're going to the office. She waited to long, so office it was. At this point, I didn't want to walk her to the office, so I just turned in the paperwork after the bell rang. Got the students sort of going on their assignment, not many did it I'm sure. Anyways, like I said not one of my finer moments but had a smile on my face when they left and some apologized. Did my Insanity, went to Zumba, and then had some time to do some reading for fun and relaxing before heading to bed.

I decided that I was going to wake up at 4:45am on Wednesday to do my hour Insanity workout before getting ready for school. I had plans to join Erica and Teru (Zumba instructors) for a Cross Fit workout after Zumba Wednesday. I decided I wouldn't want to triple it up all after school, so finish one in the morning.

Also, after seeing how that went, I figured it might not be such a bad idea to make that my regular routine. Insanity in the morning, and then Zumba or another workout after school. Why make this routine? Well, some days I do miss having a little extra time at night while there is still sunlight to read on the porch, and that's not really possible doing Insanity after Zumba. Also, I know that it will not always work out in my life to exercise in the afternoon. Other responsibilities may come up, and it is nice to always know if you do it first thing in the morning you won't miss out on it later.

I've never really thought of myself as much of an early morning exercise kind of girl. I usually struggle to make my muscles move so quickly that early. My brain is good, but my muscles are slacking. Not the case Wednesday morning. Perhaps because I was so motivated to do it. I woke up before the alarm, crawled out of bed when it sounded, brushed my teeth, and got the hour workout in. Good feeling actually. I think I can handle doing this in the morning regularly. Went to bed a little earlier, so I still had plenty of sleep.

Insanity Wednesday morning was the start of great day as a teacher, and a great day in general. First period was pretty well-behaved. Might help that it was their first class rather than their last class of the day, and maybe some of what was said yesterday sunk in. Second period ran smoothly, as well. Had to send a few students to the time-out chair during third period. Fourth period even earned 5 mins. free time at the end and actually remained in their seats until the bell rang. Finally, sixth period went off without a hitch.

We were discussing the difference between weather and climate in Earth Science. Simple notes with some nice diagrams, a little discussion, and an application assignment. I'm trying to get better about helping them apply the information we learn. I remember thinking in science classes how I sometimes felt I was just learning a bunch of information to learn the information. Here is how you can use the information - much more helpful, practical, and applicable.

After a good Zumba workout Wednesday afternoon, I joined my instructors and a few others for a Crossfit workout at the Army Reserve. Showed up to find we were exercising in the parking lot. I was the only palagi minus the leader, and he had 10 exercises scheduled for the workout that night: crunches, push-ups, jogging, lunges, handstand push-ups, water can presses, wall sits, pull-ups, tire and tire flips. I was just as bad as I remember at pull-ups. Haven't tried doing one of those since we took the President's fitness test with Mr. Mimmick in (maybe) 6th grade P.E. Oye. I'm in decent shape, but my arms are still mighty puny. haha

The tire flips were fun to do. For some reason I felt pretty cool flipping a tractor tire over and over, lifting form the knees. We rotated in groups of 4. Even though we didn't all know each other, the group was good about encouraging one another and pushing. Each exercise station was done for 1 minute with little breaks in between as we rotated.

After the 10 exercise circuit, we set up for Tabata abs. Erica had mentioned this to me when she invited me to join them for the Crossfit after Zumba. 8 rounds of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between. I was doing pretty good until round 5, but kept going as best I could. Worked a different part of my abs, which was good. Most of these exercises I could have done at home, minus the tire flips, pull-ups, and the Tabata abs we did require a partner. It was good to change it up a bit. My stamina for the jogging portion and wall sit is so much better than it used to be.

Woke up feeling a little sore from some of it Thursday morning, but that means I was working muscles I haven't in a while. Woke up right away when my alarm sounded at 4:45am and got the Max Recovery workout on my Insanity schedule. Definitely could feel the muscles working. Reminder when I say recovery, that simply means it's a break from the cardio, but we're still exercising muscles. I was yawning throughout my workout, maybe as I fall asleep quite when I wanted to, but I'm adjusting. I still made it through the whole workout, got ready for school, and even had time for a cup of hot tea before heading out.

So, our regular bus driver was running a little later the past few days, and I had a feeling he might again. Yeah, time kept passing, and we ended up getting on the red Tafuna bus that circles around 6:55 or 7ish. Start of a weird morning. Got to school and it seemed a little quieter than usual, as Wednesday had, which I noted. Hmmm... not sure why. The streets also seemed rather quiet - not as many cars as usual out and about yet. Finished some lesson stuff when I got to school finally at 7:25 and grabbed breakfast at 8. On my way back to my classroom, I noticed a circle of boys that seemed to be arguing a bit with security right there calling someone else on her walkie talkie. Hmmm... Then, apparently the bell rang at 8:10. 8:10, why? Oh because there are some fights going on. One of my good students told me he saw a bunch of cops when he made it to school. There have been more fights again recently. I still didn't start my material until 8:30, as my students started trickling in and were remaining quiet. I was so confused because I didn't hear the bell ring at all. I was also told that some students were throwing rocks at a bus the day before. The principal came over the PA and said something about how expulsion was going to happen, which I also read in our daily bulletin for the past few days. Fighting on and off campus. Tafuna is starting to live up to its reputation again it seems.

During 2nd period, I ended up filling out my 2nd referral for the week. Oye. As the students were working, next thing I know one of them is across the room shoving another one and not letting go. She did not stop when I asked, and I had to push her off. She went back to her desk, finally. I came over asking what was going on, and she did not respond and blatantly ignored me. Mumbled that the other student said something bad about her. I asked her to tell me more because that behavior is not acceptable in my classroom. Continued to ignore me. I continued that she needed to tell me exactly what was said or I was writing her a referral. Stared down with an attitude, and I said, "Alright, that's it." Filled out my second referral for the year and the week, actually. Following through, though. I hope that the other students are taking note how I'm continuing to follow through and am not putting up with some crap anymore. Just not worth my effort some days.

I did a little lesson on one way of taking notes to all my classes today - the outline style. I picked a chapter in the textbook, and did the first topic of the first section with them, explaining my thought process and how the notes were organized. I explained I wanted to make sure I was introducing them to some different ways of taking notes, as it is a good skill to have and can simply help with your thought processes and organization. Then, I let them continue working on the chapter individually. Many chose to sit there and not really do it as I imagined, but I've learned that I can't keep them all on task all the time. They want to make that choice, then they have also chosen to have a lower grade.

Started doing this on my white board for my first couple classes, but I finally gave up on my white board as my markers are pretty dried out. I decided I don't feel like buying new ones. Not really worth it at this point when I have plenty of chalk and I don't do that much writing anymore, thanks to the lovely projector. I type most things and display it. During lunch, some boys helped me turn all my desks around so they were all facing the chalkboard again. Plus, I decided it was about time to change up the classroom a bit anyway.

I would walk around every now and then as they working, but I also got some grading and lesson prep done at my desk as they worked. Fourth period seemed to be doing pretty well overall, but then at at the end of fourth period I have a student pointing out to me that someone broke the wood part off a desk. Grrr. I noticed it was looking flimsy in the morning, but why would one just pull it off? Seriously?! It is also virtually impossible for me to watch all 40 students every minute of every class period. That's ludicrous, so I didn't actually catch anyone doing it as it usually goes. This lack of respect for property really bugs me sometimes. I've said that before. These desks are rather sad to begin with, but then some decide it's okay or funny to make them even worse. I got rid of the wood piece and decided this could be my new timeout chair. Is what it is. If I find students continue to break them, then we are sitting on the floor for the rest of the semester. I hope this day doesn't come, but I will follow through if necessary.

This was the desk I had been using as the timeout chair before, which happens to be rather sad looking. It did have a back at the beginning of the year. Really, students? Really? They are desks. What did they ever do to you besides let you sit on them rather than the floor? Enough on that rant.

My 2nd to last class of the day comes in and are jabbering about how we aren't having 1st period, and I ask why would we not. They replied because of the fight, maybe. What? Well, then getting closer to the bell ringing we starting having some announcements over the phone talking about things after school. After school? Maybe they are dropping the last class of the day. At this point, I'm alright with that. That class doesn't always go so well. haha Then, there we had it... the bell rang three times signaling the end of the school day rather than two for the end of a period. Then, an announcement comes over saying we released early because some teachers had a workshop. I'm telling you, just all part of the chaos that is Tafuna High School.

Some of my students and a few of their friends came by shortly there after for some yoga. We got a nice little session in, and I decided we should take a picture as I had my camera with me. The two on the left and the one on the far right are in my Marine Science class. The one on the right is also the student that joined me for Zumba last week. All part of our little unofficial yoga club. There are some others who have been in before.

While we were doing the cobra pose, I found myself looking at this cool frame. My photographer's eye found a good one. I've been wanting some creative shots of my classroom, but I never thought about noticing one while I was down in cobra position. haha When I say I my photographer's eye I am referring to how I often feel like I am constantly walking around with a picture frame as I look. Thanks to it, I captured this photo toward the end of my chaotic Thursday.

This one isn't quite as cool, but I still like the idea of feeling like it is taken from the perspective of a student sitting in a desk. Especially, at this transition of back to the chalkboard phase.

Forgot to mention my roommates and I had a meeting with our Field Direcor, as she had been looking at moving us to different units. Yes, we only have about 3 months left, but for many reasons it was looking like a good idea. Got a message about 3:15, that I needed to come sign some paperwork for the new place either Thursday or Friday. I said I'd head over right away as I had time for Zumba. That meant walking about 20-25 mins in the 90 degree sun today. Warm one today and I was dripping some sweat when I got there. Should be moving by March 1st, and we will be closer to school. I can probably even walk the whole way in about 30-35 mins, which is exciting! More details on that as it unfolds and takes place.

As I was walking to the gym for Zumba class after signing some paperwork, I sweated even more. I walked past a few guys, and they both said "hot today, huh?" haha yeah. Guess that means you aren't missing the beads of sweat that are dripping off my face and the pool forming on my shirt. haha Decently sweaty before Zumba started. Great workout, though! Extra sweaty thanks to the heat, and I could really feel my abs after that Tabata workout at Crossfit. I also could still feel some of my other sore muscles. Good sore. Like I mentioned above, that means I hit some areas that haven't been working as much lately. Cousin Nina gave me a ride home, as she made it for class again. We are planning on attending a Zumbathon Saturday morning. 2 hours of Zumba starting at 6:30,  here we come. I haven't been to a Zumbathon since that first one I attended.

Hope you're head didn't spin too much as you jumped around this chaos of a post. Have a great weekend, everyone! I've heard lots about the snow around home. Funny to think about snow when I'm sweating. haha Lots of love to you all.

Mount 'Alava :-)

Within the National Park of American Samoa Day Hikes brochure, you find the Mount 'Alava Adventure Trail listed as a challenging trail. It reads:

"This challenging loop trail takes you along ridgelines with views of the north and central parts of the national park and island. Hike up and down "ladders" or steps with ropes for balance. There are a total of 56 ladders and 783 steps! The trail leads to the Mount 'Alava Summit, returning down another steep section of trail to Vatia Village, and loops back along the road to the trailhead."

This was the planned adventure with 5 of my fellow volunteers for our President's Day Holiday - climbing 1600 feet. :-) The 5 of us met up at Matai Restaurant in Fagatago for breakfast before our hike. Then, we hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck part of the way. Started walking up the mountain toward Vatia and hitched another ride all the way down into the village, where our hike began.

I think we ended up hiking up the "down" part of the loop it mentions. So, we did not hit all 56 ladders and 783 steps, as we decided to take the other trail available along the ridge to the Fagasa Pass, which doesn't have the big change in elevation. We might do the whole adventure loop another time. We decided it might be easier to hitch out of that side and decided we could swim in Vatia another day. It sure was muddy on that side, though. Gradual descent, more like a tunnel walking through trees with minimal view points along the way, and it was a road workers use to the top where there are some cell towers. We actually saw some guys working at the top. Anyways...

Here is an example of one of the "ladders" the brochure is talking about. Some aren't quite so vertical and more of a slope - some up and some down. We definitely worked our calves on the first stretch of the trail before hitting the "ladders" and steps. It didn't end up seeming as strenous to me as I imagined, but it was a really great hike! I found myself thinking, "Thank you Shaun T for all those mountain climbers preparing me for this." haha

Here is a nice view of Pola Island off toward the right side of this photo, through the mountains. I hiked up through those mountains once with a group down toward Pola Island. Vatia Bay is in the bottom right hand corner.

Once you reach the summit, you find yourself at a little fale. We took a group photo after our successful climb up the Adventure Trail. Check.

There is a little visitors' book sitting in this fale, where we all signed on a page together. One of the guys wrote, "While you hike the mountain, battle the mountain with your body. Battle your mind with your mind." Cool quote.

A nice view of Fagasa Bay on the Northside from the top of the Summit. This is ridge that we walked back down. The less eventful side to climb or hike.

Structures at the summit that I was having fun taking some photos of in addition to my landscape shots.

This is Pago Pago Harbor, and it was really cool to see it from this perspective. You can see how they filled in part of the harbor with dirt making those fields you see.

I liked this photo I took of my friends looking out from the viewpoint.

That is Matafoa in the background, and we are discussing hiking up that one one of these days. It's the more picturesque mountain to view. Maybe I'll get to see what it's like from up there.

I kept playing around again with some photos while we chilled and chatted at the summit.

We took a no-smile group photo at the summit. By 2pm we had hiked a 1600 foot mountain over 7 miles in about 4 hours. Yeah, we did :-) Pictured from L-R: Sam, Dan, Melanie, Jill, Josh, and yours truly.

When we came off the ridge in the Fagasa Pass, a pickup came by, backed up, and offered us a ride down the mountain to Pago Pago. Then, we hitched a ride in a van to Gatavai for homemade ice cream at Samu's. This isn't the greatest photo, but the tallest point in the background is the Mount 'Alava Summit. Our hike began on the backside of the mountain, where we climbed mostly straight up the Adventure Trail and then down along that ridge to the left. My idea was to show you my little treat of almond coffee crunch ice cream after the adventure and accomplishment for the day that you see in the background.

This was a real hike, and I am glad I went. A good group of people, and a great experience. I also felt like I was in pretty decent shape. Sweated up a storm as it is humid, as did everyone else on our way up, but didn't find myself strongly short of breath much. Kept a going and enjoyed every minute of it.

Back to work I go tomorrow. By the way, one of my friends counted, and I officially have only 14 weeks before I make a flight to Nebraska. Just 14 weeks. That means only 14 more Saturdays for out and about day adventures. Wow. Here's to making the most out of the time I have here before who knows what else - teaching, community work, fun, and otherwise. Have a nice week everyone.

Friendly Weekend, Sweat Hazard, and a Little Theology

So I made a tiny batch of peanut butter no-bake cookies Thursday night for Pati, our bus driver in the morning. Just a little gift to say thanks for always waiting for us and being so nice. Then, he's not there Friday morning. Of course, the day I make the cookies we have to take the next Tafuna bus. There is regular #2, the red bus. Haha Guess I'm saving the cookies for Monday. They're more like sticky cookie balls this time.

Didn't really have prep to do on Friday, so Hannah and I got off at McDonald's, where I bought a small coffee for a $1, and she enjoyed a small Coke. We do this every now and then in the morning if we don't have much to do or don't feel like sitting in our classrooms for the 45 minutes before breakfast. We both are still early risers and like our blue bus with Pati, so that's why we still go when we do. Our roommates catch another bus about 25 minutes after we do, and he's started to wait for them, too. Pretty cool how that's been working out for all of us. Had a nice char discussing possible plans for the summer and next steps in life.

With the end of "Spirit Week" for Valentine's Day, an MTV showdown took place in the afternoon. Dropped 1.5 periods at the end of the school day. The seniors actually didn't win this time, and the junior class well deserved the title this time. Can't always let the seniors win just because they are seniors. It was ridiculous dancing on stage again, but mostly well choreographed. Entertaining surely, and the students are quite talented and creative.

Matane and a few other girls came into my room after the showdown to do some yoga with me. Before I knew it, we had been doing it for almost 40 minutes already. Nina called and said the Zumba class she was going to take me to was cancelled and wanted to know if I would like to join her at the gym for 30 minutes. I passed and got started on my Insanity workout for the day in my classroom before walking home, but we made plans to meet up to hang out Friday night. I told Matane Insanity was intense, and she started doing the warm-up, and she learned what it is I've been doing for the past 6 weeks. "You go girl," she said. haha Then, we walked to the bus and headed home together.

Showered up, Nina picked me up around 7:45 for our little girls' night, and the plans were to hop around a little and chill at a few different places while we chatted . We ran into a teacher from ASCC that Nina had taken a class with. He was very friendly, had some cool stories, chatted about James Bond a bit, and I ended up asking him if he would be interested in being a guest speaker some time in my classes. He said he would love to, and I now have his e-mail. I was quite excited about meeting somebody randomly like this, who would make a great guest speaker in the series Hannah and I have. I met some of Nina's other friends along the way, including the lady who made the canvases Hannah and I received for Christmas, and a few of our fellow Zumba goers were out, as well. One of them noted how it was interesting to see each other in regular clothes, not our workout clothes. haha

I had a good time with Nina (pretty much my Samaon cousin). It was fun to hang out with her again outside of her house and be out with a Samoan friend. Pretty sure I was the only palagi at the last place we visited, and when I usually go out there's at least 5 of us, so that was fun :-)

For Saturday morning Hannah and I had plans to enjoy a breakfast at Sualua's as we had not been there for about three weeks, and it's sort of our place. I ordered the short stack of pancakes with a side of fruit. A guy stopped at our table asking if we were WorldTeach, and we said yes. He said thank you for what we do. He was sitting with his wife at a nearby table, and after a while he chatte dus up a bit asking where we are from and such. He proceeded to say that he and his wife teach at Pava'ia'i Elementary School. They've wanted to get some WorldTeach in there. That reminded me that Hannah had met the principal of that school randomly once, and he mentioned how he tried to ask the DOE for some WorldTeach at his school, which has not been acted upon yet.

Anyways, when the couple got up to leave they stopped by our table, shook our hands, and said they paid for our breakfast. A thanking smile immediately appeared on my face. How nice of them. There are some really kind people out there, and this was so unexpected. I asked for their names- Taro and Sina. Maybe we will bump into them again. Random acts of kindess can make a person's day. Hannah and I proceeded t sit in the restaurant for a couple of hours enjoying our iced tea and chatting, chatting, chatting. That's what we do when we are Sualua's.

I took a little nap after my Insanity workout, watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory with Hannah, and then I came up with the idea to watch a movie and make some root beer floats. Hannah ended up choosing Grease, which went perfectly with our root beer floats. Yum. Can't even remember the last time I had one of those. Why did we not make them sooner? Probably because I try to avoid soda for the most part. haha Great movie choice, as well. We were singing along and making comments. Good girls' night with Grease, root beer floats, and our bums on a couch.

I had an interesting thought on Saturday. Well, actually this thought has come up before but kept forgetting to write it down. Many times when I workout my t-shirt and pants are drenched in sweat. If only I sweat pure water, then I'd have a nice little system going, catching my own "rain water". haha. Also, I find myself sliding around in my sweat some times when I do Insanity. Bit of a "sweat hazard". I wonder why Shaun T and his friends aren't sliding all over that gym floor? Is it because they are not exercising in Samoan humidity? Oh well, I'm careful and have a towel handy the whole time. These comments may gross some of you out, but I thought they were both entertaining. Pure water sweat and a sweating hazard. haha :) One of these days I'll stop talking about exercise so much.... maybe...

Got my double dose of church in on Sunday with relaxation in between. When Pastor asked us Sunday night if anyone had something to be thankful for or a passage to share, I finally raised my hand. I said I am thankful and blessed to be able to serve by serving others. That's what brought me to American Samoa as a volunteer teacher. One of my favorite passages comes from Matthew 25. I only read verse 40 aloud, as the passage is a little long, but "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye a have done it unto one of the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it unto me."

Pastor's message was about giving up our lives by wanting whatever God wants for us. I am here to serve others. Not sure where that calling will lead me next yet, but I know I am where I should be right now. Here's my little theology spout for the day. Not very often I put these thoughts up on the blog. Why do I volunteer? I feel like it is one of my purposes in life - to give much of my time for others.

On the way home Pastor was asking me what I'm doing next, and I said I'm not sure yet; it isn't clear to me. I am patient and know one of these days I will know again. Fun part about life.  He also mentioned that I am the first WorldTeach to be so involved at his church. Some came regularly on Sunday morning, but that was it in the past. I think might miss me a bit from the way he was talking today.

Critters, Slightly Disappointed, Sorta Sad Story, My Principal, and Exercise Buddies

Critters: Before I talk about school I thought it would be fun and worldly to mention some of the critter encounters that happen regularly here. I've mentioned some before but decided a little summary would be nice. First, cockroaches in the bathroom. At least twice a week, I see a cockroach in the bathroom, usually climbing around the sink. I will more often see them in the middle of the night than during the day. There is always evidence that they are around as they leave little surprises around the sink basin and in the drawers. I don't try to smash them. Did a few times back at the beginning, but more always come back. It's normal to have cockroaches in the bathroom. Finally grossed me out one day when I found a cockroach present on the handle of my toothbrush. I've also seen one gnawing on my roommate's toothpaste and toothbrush before. Let's just say I've been keeping my toothbrush and toothpaste in a closed container for quite a while now in the drawer. haha

Second, there are little geckos all the time around the porch and sometimes even in my room. These remind me that I live in the rainforest, which is pretty cool. It was so cool for me to see them around when I spent time in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador the summer after my freshman year of college.

Third, so many frogs around. Not just hopping frogs on the road (mostly seen toward evening) but flattened out frogs all over the roads. Who needs skunks, opossums, and raccoons when you have flattened frogs on the road.

Fourth, we have spiders. Spiders in almsot every corner of the house with their webs set up to catch some food. They aren't really bothersome. One day I was taking my laundry off the clothesline and I felt something on my back. Then, here he comes around and over my shoulder. I just gently brushed him off and thought that was a little odd, but not really that odd.

Finally, ants. Ants, ants, and more ants. No matter how often I clean the kitchen counter there are ants crawling around. Not monstrous groups of them, just a few here and there, unless someone seriously leaves a big mess; then, you find a nice little line of them. There are ants crawling on my walls in my classroom, there are ants around the produce stands, and I often find ants crawling on me, who I simply grab or brush off and move on.

The little critters don't really bother me. They just are. We live together. 

Slightly disappointed: On my last post I talked about how I thought my lesson on water went well while working through a children's education book. I was looking forward to seeing what the students came up with for their homework. I had already predicted I would be lucky if half of them did it, but I didn't quite expect it to be this bad. Out of all 80 students I assigned only FIVE were turned in on time. One turned in a day late. I really appreciated those who put the time into the fun little project. There were some really nice ones, and each one was different. Not much I can do about the fact that no one else cared enough to even try, even when I gave the option to turn it in a day late for half credit. The rest are receiving zeros, and there is no making it up. Their choice. Have to learn some hard lessons some times.

I asked our principal to come in and speak with Hannah's and my classes to share her experience, and she only ended up making it for one. A meeting came up, which I had been prepared for. I had a feeling it might be difficult to keep her all morning. Anyways, her talk was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it, and the students all seemed pretty attentive... granted this was the principal in front of them. She told us things many people don't know about her and was very real with the kids. I went and talked to her during lunch and said how great I thought it was. She also thanked me for having her. She taught for a while before becoming principal, and it was cool to see her in front of the class doing her thing. She lived in Washington D.C 3rd-6th grade, was part of the first graduating class of a private school on island, has 14 siblings, is currently working on her Ph.D., and really cares about her family, life, and job. I love hearing people's stories, and it was fun to get to know my principal better. I really hope the students took some of what she said to heart. She is a great example and leader.

Sidenote: Being a teacher now myself makes me appreciate my own teachers even more than I did before. Teaching can be a tough job, and it can also be very rewarding. I am serving, and serving is my thing. Even if some students irritate me, disappoint me, or are driving me bonkers when they leave my classroom I have a smile on my face and say have a great day. Leading by example is a powerful form of leading although results are not always immediate.

Sorta Sad Story: I have this one senior student who played on the football team. He was one of the first players I met that hung out in my room that first day of school. He's a really nice kid, with a good heart, tries really hard in my class, does all his work, and is always thanking me. Back in November he talked to me a little about college, and I tried to get him to think about where he wants to go and how we should start applying then and do some research. Especially to get scholarships, those applications are early. We sent a few emails, but then he never really showed up to work on any of it.

His English writing skills aren't too good, he doesn't know much about the computer, and pokes on the keyboard. Lacking in some what I considered to be basic skills for school. I really wish I could help more. Now this week, he comes to me again about college. I've tried telling him before that I think with his current ACT and SAT scores and skill base that starting at community college might be a good option and much cheaper. Many schools don't really hand out scholarships anymore, but he is talking with his counselor and some others that might be able to help. He came back into my room after school to send an email (email which I helped him set up back in November), to one of the football coaches here that helps boys get to college on athletic scholarships through his Field House 100 project. It saddened me to watch him struggle to put complete sentences together and type so slow. I feel so nervous about sending him to college before he is truly ready, but I cannot make him fully ready in the 3 months I have left. I told him I will continue to be here for advice and try to help as I can. I might see if I can find some keyboarding activities to help him with those skills. He thinks it's amazing how quickly I type. We are going to wait and see what the football coach has to say, and we may come back to working on community college. I really want to help, but I have to hold his hand through so much of the process. He doesn't know where to start with the emails he writes, things to search online, and I'm not sure he fully grasps how college is going to be different. I told him I am trying to be real with him and as honest as possible. I want to help, and I can a little, but I can't wave my magic wand and have him in college in a day. I'm still voting for community college first. We shall see what happens.

Exercise buddies: My senior student Matane made it to Zumba class all three days this week, TWTh. I'm enjoying having that extra one in, although it felt a bit weird this week. I told her we could do some yoga in my classroom first after school, and then a few of her friends joined us as well. They proceeded to ask if I would be doing it tomorrow. Also, Nina (from our Samoan family) had said she might join me for Zumba sometime last time we were at their house. I told her at the beginning of the week how we had three classes a week now rather than just two at the same price. She was sick earlier this week, but made it Thursday. She gave Matane and I a ride home, and then said she could pick me up for the free Zumba class she knew about at ASCC. She had mentioned it one other time and sounds like it is with Teru, one of the instructors for the class I regularly attend. So, I'll be off to that tomorrow. I have some exercise buddies :-)

Hope you all have a nice weekend! I plan on enjoying breakfast at my favorite little cafe followed by soaking up some sun on the Westside on Saturday. Then, weather permitting, I will be doing a bigger hike on Monday (President's Day Holiday) with a few of my fellow volunteers. Three day weekends are always nice from time to time - for both students and teachers. :-)

Subbing, Children's Books, and Exercise

Some days subbing is irritating and other days it goes really smoothly. Feel like I've been subbing a lot again lately. I don't mind it so much when they give me a little heads up about it. When a teacher is gone here, that means the other teachers in that department lose their prep periods and are assigned to watch over the classes. Monday, I had no idea I would be subbing. Finished my normally last class of the day and was getting ready to do a few things for the next day, when a class just showed up during my prep period. "Alrighty then, have a seat and write your name on the attendance sheet." Not the first time this has happened. Other days my department head will tell me first thing in the morning, some times at lunch, and some days not at all. Life is full of surprises.

I completely understand how prep period is a privilege (and a bit of a luxury),  and no such thing exists for elementary teachers. I have no problem giving up that work time for students, but it would be helpful for the subbing system to be a bit more structured here in my opinion.

Often times subbing as a teacher here means "babysitting" for the class period. Most of the other teachers would tell you the same thing. That's what they expect you to do. Give the students some busy work or let them chat or whatever with the 50 minutes of their day. That's probably what irritates, more so saddens, me about it. When I think back to where I subbed for one class two weeks straight, we didn't particularly do Life Science study. I gave them some lessons I prepared for other classes or simply gave them work time some days. A lot of students are losing structured instruction time that they truly need. I also know that some subs just let the class out and don't even keep them in the classroom. You can tell that the students are used to these things based on how they handle themselves. Like I said, it saddens me to witness.

I try to do my best when I am thrown with a class I substitute for during my prep period. Tuesday, I asked them all to do a little assignment for me similar to what I was assigning my own classes but gave them the topic of Life Science. Only a handful of them actually worked on it, as I'm sure they figured that I wasn't actually their teacher and it wouldn't be affecting their grade. On the one hand, I understand their point of view. On the other hand, I would probably do it anyway for something to do rather than just sitting there. Although, I guess I wasn't the most social person in high school. haha Wow how times have changed. I'm still a bit introverted, but I am much more of a people person these days. Weird to think about.

On Tuesday I actually the group of students I spent two weeks with back when their teacher was having her baby. They're a good group of kids, so I really don't mind subbing for them. More well behaved than some of my own classes. haha There's also that one other class I subbed for about a week and a half or so straight. Oye.

I decided on Tuesday that I wanted to try a little different approach to note-taking with my Junior classes. I found a nice little educational book made for kids called "Our Water, Our Life." It presented some facts about water in the world, pollution, and how we can keep our water clean. This was the topic I had decided on for the week, and I thought it might be helpful for my students to see the information simplified in this form and fun. They struggle a bit with knowing how to shorten up things I say or display in a powerpoint to simplified yet informational notes for themselves. I explained at the beginning that they would have a homework assignment to make their own little book, so I would expect to see some of the facts in there. As we read through the book, we discussed of the layout, pictures, comedy, way of presenting the information, and the facts themselves. I will be curious to see how some turn out for Wednesday. I have a feeling probably half of them will not do it, but that's the way it goes. I also have a feeling some will truly take this little assignment to heart and do a good job. I noticed a handful of them enjoying it as we went through the story together.

It's also funny to watch how every day is different as a teacher. One day 6th period makes me want to just throw some notes on the board and say teach yourself, and other days they are quiet, follow along, and enjoy the topic. Some days 2nd period is as attentive as possible, asking great questions, and then the next half of them are falling asleep. All part of the job, I guess. Keeps things interesting. Subbing was not so fun Monday, but then Tuesday it was rather smooth like I said.

No matter what, I feel like most of my days as a teacher have been going by quickly. I can't really think of a day that felt like the longest day ever. Even the ones where my kids were obnoxious, wouldn't listen to a single thing I said, or made me feel highly unappreciated. Each and every work day is over before I know it; then, I'm at home exercising, reading, researching on the Internet, and relaxing for the night. That's a good sign that I do enjoy my job some, eh? Since the days go by quickly. You've all heard me say this before, "Every day is a good day." I do mean it. Hard to believe in less than a week that I will have officially lived here for 7 whole months.

One of my senior students really enjoyed the Yoga lesson I gave one day, and she told me how she went home and did it. She's also mentioned she wanted to exercise more, so I asked if she was interested in joining me for Zumba. She came along with me Tuesday. It wore her out, but we were having fun. I told her it would get easier. I've been doing it since September. I went home and got my Insanity workout in for the day, and I will admit my body is a bit tired today. All is well, though. These max workouts sure do include a lot of push-ups, which have never been my forte. Oh well, feeling good. Two days into Month two of Insanity while I keep up with my Zumba 3 days a week, and looks like I have myself a Zumba buddy for a while anyways.

Did my laundry after Insanity, a shower, and a little dinner. Then it was already 8pm. As I went to cross of my workout for the day on my calendar, I realized I hadn't walked up and down the hill yet. I told myself I would do it every day this week after that nice hike with Jess on the East side. I have plans to do a little bigger hike up Mt. Alava on what they call the "Adventure Trail" with some fellow volunteers on President's Day. Trying to make sure my calves are slightly prepared for it. I'm definitely in good shape with all the exercise I do, but I know it takes different muscles and conditioning to hike up a mountain than it does to Zumba or do Insanity. So, before I crossed my workout for the day off, I went up the hill and back down. That's my exercise spiel for the day. haha

Kindergarten and Weekend in Fagaitua

I had decided earlier in the week it was about time to revisit a few ground rules in my classroom. I decided to present them in a way that might enlighten a few students more how fortunate we were to have some of the things that we do and why I was here with them. I decided I would discuss with them some pet peeves. As I was preparing a few things Friday morning, I decided it might be interesting to make them all sit on the floor like they were in Kindergarten and have a time-out chair in the back of the room. They all definitely don't enjoy sitting on the floor. I explained, "Well, if we continue to move the desks out of their rows, break them, and draw on them, we will sit on the floor for the rest of the semester." The time-out chair will remain in the back of the room until further notice. If you are being disruptive, I ask you to go sit there, and you go right away you only have to serve one minute. If you argue, your time goes up. I sent three students back there during 1st period and one during 6th period - both of my tougher classes. I felt pretty good about how things went. I know most of them will forget everything by Monday; yet, a few take note of what I say and the good kids appreciate it. I called this Friday Kindergarten day in a sense.

As I was heading straight for the weekend after school, I had my camera with me - first time in a long time had it made a trip to school. I took a few photos my classroom and classroom tools. I've been thinking about doing that for a while. I realized almost every single day I use both my red pen and my pencil with my gradebook.

One of my students who just signed to play football at UNLV (University Nevada Las Vegas) with a football scholarship has been off-island for a few weeks taking care of some stuff with college, and he brought me back some chocolates from Hawaii. Good stuff, but Miss Boschen doesn't need a whole box of chocolates. Okay, maybe every now and then. haha. Malo is a defensive player, and I have several photos of him playing. He's been a pretty good student - doing much more of his work this semester than he did last semester. I am excited for him, and I hope he does well.

Dropped off my application at the Boys and Girls Club after school on Friday, and then grabbed a bus with my roommate Hannah to head to town to grab the East side bus to visit our friend and fellow volunteer Jess in the village of Fagaitua. Jess is from a small town of about 900 people in Iowa and went to college at Creighton, so she and I have some similarities - upbringing and personality wise.

About an hour on the road total, but we also had to sit at the bus station for a while before grabbing an East Side bus. I have been through her village before, but I was looking forward to seeing a few of the nearby villages and being a way from the more populated side of the island for a few days. Jessica does not have Internet at her house, and I was looking forward to a little relaxing and adventure.

We ended up walking a few villages over to have some homemade pizza at this little pizzeria. This was one thing Hannah and I had been hoping to do as we had seen the place before as we passed through a few other times.

Delicious!

The owners even chatted us up. Below I have a photo of Mary. She and her husband Terry just moved back from California not too long ago to help out with her dad, and they decided to open up a pizzeria. She explained how she makes the dough homemade and uses olive oil - the real thing. It was so much fun to hear her share her story. She even let me take a few photos of the place and posed in one for me. I didn't want to forget meeting her. Sweet lady. I think it might be on my list to make a trip back out there at least one more time for some more pizza before the end of the school year.

Jess lives with one other volunteer teacher, our friend Mike, but he spends most of this weekends in the Tafuna area. He likes to return to "civilization" on the weekends. They have an actual house with a real living room, a dining room table, and a full kitchen. I had the privilege of sleeping on this beautiful couch. Better than the mattress I sleep on back on my apartment floor. Slept really well.

Woke up a few hours before our hostess did, but since this couch was so comfy I was able to lay there the whole time and even dozed back off. Not very often I do that anymore. As I had talked to Jessica earlier in the week, she said she had lots of coffee, and she made a pot in the morning. Fun to share a cup of coffee in the morning. Well, we had separate cups I'm sure you understand. haha She also had some beautiful bananas that her neighbors had brought over and a few papaya, so I had delightful amounts of both of those before the weekend was over.

I asked if she would take us over to the village of Salelei, which is up over the mountain from where she lives. A while back I had read a blog post she wrote about it, and it made me want to visit. Also turned out to be a really nice hike.

This is a view of Fagaitua Bay, where Jess lives, from near the top of the mountain.

Went up the mountain (not quite the top), and then down to Salelei.

The high talking chief of the village came out and introduced himself to us and said if we had any problems or needed anything to let him know otherwise to enjoy ourselves. Really nice of him. We walked along the beach, enjoyed a snack lunch, and sat there for a while before heading back up the mountain.

I loved the clouds in the background of the ocean on this particular Saturday. I took several photos, but posted a select few on my blog. I caught a nice shot of a flying fox, although a ways away still, while taking some landscape shots on our way back to the top of the mountain.

Jess and I then walked further up to the highest point heading toward the village of Masefou before heading back down to Fagaitua. She spends most of her time by herself on this side of the island, so it was cool to spend some time with her. An enjoyable hiking adventure for the day. I haven't been out climbing over a mountain in the sun for a while; it was fun and a nice workout. Spent around 3 hours total walking up and over the mountain side.

Here is a photo of Hannah, Jess, and I in her house.

One cool thing I experienced out there was the collection and consumption of rainwater. Here is the rain barrel, with a cloth over the top to filter out some things. Tasted a little different from the tap water I drink back on the Westside.

After our out and about Saturday, we grabbed some ice cream from the store, chatted a while, and then watched Tangled and went to bed. The sun wore us out. There were some beautiful sunset colors in the sky as we walked to the store.

Had coffee again in the morning and then some friends from church that live in a neighboring village picked Hannah and I up, as I had planned. Very thankful for them, as this allowed us to spend the whole day Saturday with Jess in Fagaitua. I might head back out her way again. I enjoyed it out there. I'm really glad we made this weekend trip finally happen. Almost a weird feeling coming back to the apartment.

Timely Thoughts and Good News

This post is a bit all over the place, but I enjoyed writing it.

Some days I wonder what it would be like to teach in a high school back in the States. Would my perception of some of the behavior here be different? What about if I had been a lazy or bad student in high school? Would that change some of my perceptions? Do I view some things as common sense because my brain automatically thinks of them that way? Or are some of my students truly lacking in some of it? Through discussions with some of my fellow volunteers it would appear that this is an interesting situation down here.

What has me thinking about this you ask... Well, we really only have a little over 3.5 months left of the school year, so I am really starting to feel the downhill slide. I will be finished with the Insanity program in one month, administer some mid-terms, go on spring break, finish a few more months (a shorter quarter than this current one, give finals, and then be on a plane back to Nebraska to be back in time for my cousin's wedding. Wowza.

Quick sidestory: I am officially at the halfway mark for the 9-week Insanity program. Month one complete, on recovery week (which still involves exercising, just not so intense), and then month two starts up which is harder than the first. I am mighty determined. No reason I won't complete it, and then I will continue to exercise regularly til the day I fly home and continue wherever I am.

I revisited the SMART goals with my students that we set first week of the semester. I brought back up my example of completing the Insanity program for the health of my mind and body in addition to my regular exercise routine. Then, I had them reflect on progress they have made with their goals or if they need to adjust. We will revisit them again at the completion of my Insanity program, and then probably again at the end of the semester. Nice update on a life skill lesson on Thursday.

Back to all my thoughts and questions in the first paragraph... Students were really getting on my nerves on Tuesday. We were finishing up some notes that we had started on Monday. This is not the first time I have given a lecture and asked them to take notes. It was their grade for the day, and it's usually pretty obvious that you should take some notes if the teacher puts in an effort to write some things on the board or display them on the projector. Or so I thought... I don't remember sitting in class and having classmates constantly ask "Do we need to copy that down?"

I kept telling them listen to what I have to say about the slide before you start copying every single word down. I've tried to set examples before on some good note-taking skills, but it doesn't appear that they have sank in with everyone. No, you don't need to copy it all down. Yes, you should take some notes. It's how you will study for the exams. Some of my teachers didn't even have powerpoints like this; we had to just listen to them and take notes.

Do I just not remember students being like that when I was in high school? Did I not notice it because I just took the notes and kept busy?

Also, how hard is it to grasp the concept that we shouldn't move desks. The thoughts didn't even cross our minds back in high school. The desks were where they were unless the teacher asked us to move them for a particular activity. Sure, I understand the fans blow better in certain areas of my room, but come on you can sit here for 50 minutes and be okay. It's not that hot out. haha We actually have good air flow in my room.

That reminds me. I don't think these kids are ever happy with the weather. Either it's too hot or it's cold. There is no look how nice it is out today. Seriously, you've been living here all your life you should be used to the heat by now. Yes, I get it that even a barely cool day seems cold to you because it is always hot, but no matter what the weather is doing we are still having class and working. Not very often do we just take breaks. There is always something to do with a purpose.

I am making some generalizations here. There are students who do listen to me, I can see they are making connections, and I am making progress with some. Some days it may not seem like much, but I do know I making a difference in some of their lives if not all of them in some way. Simply being something different and just being here.

I feel really good about the guest speaker/different perspectives series that Hannah and I have been working together on. A good number of students seem to be enjoying the things I have been sharing and our guests. They are being introduced to so many different ideas, while we still get through some of the material we need to throughout the week on whatever level we happen to be at. This week, I gave a little Yoga presentation to a few of the classes as our guest speaker was only available after 11. Some of the students really enjoyed it and wanted to do more. It also simply introduced them to something different. Then, for the other classes we had a friend of ours we me on island who worked for company IT for a while and now does some teaching and independent work. Something different again for them.

I have to admit, as I find myself on this downhill ride I do have days where I find myself saying that this full-time classroom teaching is starting to wear me out. As I was finishing up my time at Morningside I had a feeling I might hop around a bit with service and jobs for a while. I really want to help people in different ways in different places. Ever since my presentation about SERVE and volunteering last week, I have become more excited again about what life may have in store for me next. I'm thankful for my time of service here in American Samoa and am trying to finish strong these last few months - touch a few more lives if I can, share some more experiences, introduce them to several ideas, make them think, and help some of them find excitement in whatever it may be. I get so excited when I talk about service.

I've been thinking about doing a little extra volunteering somewhere down here in addition to being a full-time volunteer, since I am rather passionate about volunteering. At my WorldTeach mid-service I learned more about the Boys and Girls Club of American Samoa and thought that might be a good thing to look into. I did some reading on their website finally this week and then headed over there after school on Thursday to get some more information and see if I could help out. Met the director, was given a tour by one of the mentors, and was given a form to fill out. This is an after school program for students, where they spend time working on homework with tutors, have some technology enrichment, and recreation. I'm turning in my paperwork tomorrow and see if they'll let me help out and be a little flexible with coming in to help when I can. Hope I can make it work. Why I am making myself more busy you ask? Just my nature I suppose. I'm used to having lots of things to do, but if I enjoy doing it - no problemo.  :)

Made it to Zumba class after that. Paid my $20 fee for the month. You know at first I contemplated not giving up $20 and forgoing Zumba, but I decided I do enjoy it and it adds a bit to my exercise routines for the week. Good news! Not only do I get Zumba twice a week now, but three times a week with that monthly fee. Yay! More bang for my buck. Peteru and Erica decided to add an extra class in during the week. I was beyond excited when I heard this.

Came home after that and completed my Insanity workout for the day. I decided to do the one for tomorrow, too, as I will not be coming home after school. I thought about trying to do it in the morning, but not really my thing and I didn't want to accidentally wake anyone up before they were ready.

Why am I not coming back home after school on Friday? Hannah and I are heading to visit our friend and fellow volunteer Jessica Plon who lives on the East side of the island in Fagitua. We've been talking about visiting her for months, and we're making it happen this weekend. I've been through her village before and stopped at the house once, but I am looking forward to seeing around the area  some more, taking some photos, and just hanging out. I already have my stuff for the weekend packed and ready to go.

Lastly, I did not have to pay for a bus home at all this week. School bus Monday, friend that came to speak on Wednesday but saw us on Tuesday, fellow Samoan teacher Wednesday  and trusty Zumba instructor on Thursday. Even got a free ride in the morning on Thursday with a lady that lives across the street from us. She took us to the Tafuna intersection, but it was a really nice morning to walk to school. No pounding sun and heat. We even decided to sit and chill at McDonald's for a bit while I enjoyed a coffee and Hannah a soda. Both of us were ready to go for class, so might as well not chill in our classrooms for once early in the morning.

Hope you all enjoyed my random thoughts and have a splendid weekend!

Saturday and Sunday

Friday came and went pretty quickly. I went through some news articles with my students relating to the upcoming topic for the new week. I also got some good feedback on my presentation about SERVE and volunteering. It seems that many of our students didn't really understand what it meant to be a volunteer and why people do it. Definitely made me feel better about my week. I really enjoyed giving that presentation to the 100 or so students that day.

That night after my double workout, I decided I felt like a little movie. One of my students leant me Pitch Perfect, and it was pretty good. I had heard a few friends talk about it. I recommend it if you like movies with some singing in them. Hannah and I discussed some ideas for a Saturday outing Friday night, and we decided if it wasn't raining we would head East to relax after our long week.

I slept in Saturday morning, which doesn't happen often. I didn't wake up until 8am. How exciting! haha We grabbed a bus into town to eat some breakfast at Matai restaurant. I usually have pancakes there, but I was feeling oatmeal today. Yummy oatmeal with a giant glass of iced tea. Then, we grabbed an Eastside bus heading to Tisa's Barefoot Bar and Grill, one of the few places on island where bikinis and showing skin are socially acceptable. Seeing as how I did not bring my bikini, I went with my new dress I picked up in Apia, Samoa. We each had one of Candyman's specialty pina coladas, sat, chilled, and chatted for a few hours. Nice and relaxing and a good change of scenery. Also wasn't too bright out, which was nice.

We hitched a ride back into town as buses on the East side aren't very frequent. Then, we took a bus back to our humble abode in Pava'ia'i, where I completed month #1 of the Insanity program after an additional workout beforehand. Good feeling. One month in. Next week is "recovery week" focusing on some core cardio and balance. I will still be doing Zumba and some other exercises like I did throughout Month 1. Hard to believe I'm already done with Month 1.

After I came home from church on Sunday, Louisa came over and picked Hannah and I up to join them for the Superbowl, as she had invited us over. This is our Samoan family that we spent Christmas with. We had a nice and relaxing fiesta. She fried her own nacho chips from tortillas as she couldn't find nacho chips at the store, which made for some delightful nachos. mmm. She also made this casserole with beans instead of meat for me. Her aunt had made the casserole earlier that week - cheese, sauce, corn,b black beans, tomatoes, and hamburger. She decided to try it with refried beans instead of meat. How thoughtful. Good stuff. Also a nice cheese and cracker tray and relish tray with grapes. I haven't had good grapes in a few months, so that was exciting.

I even made some no-bake cookies to take along. It was the first time for all of them, and they thought they were good. They thought it was odd that there are cookies that don't requie baking. haha. Baking isn't my speciality, so this is a good option for me. I'm glad they enjoyed them. I didn't even have to bring any back home with me.

Only 6 of us in the house (Louisa, Tasi, Ioane, Nina, Hannah, and me), so it was a nice little family gathering. The guys shouted at the TV minimally, and I wouldn't even call it shouting. Well... maybe Tasi did a few times, but he was funny about it. It's just fun to go sit on their real couch and hang out for the afternoon, chat a little, and just relax. I'm really thankful for meeting them and being welcomed into their home.

Oh, I also noticed they had a scale at their house, and I figured I'd take the chance and see about how much weight I have really lost with my regular exercise and fairly healthy eating since moving down here. Looks like it may be close to 20 pounds if I remember my approximate weight before leaving correctly. I seriously had no intention of losing any weight, but I am really happy with the toned and healthy me. I feel much more sustainable in my eating habits in addition to my exercise this time around, too.

Been exercising almost every day for the past 5.5 months. Insanity month #2 coming up, a few more months on island with my exercise routines, and then keeping up with regular exercise no matter where I live next. Exercise has become part of my life, and I like being healthy. Knowing approximately how much weight I've lost gives me one more reason to keep the exercise up. I plan on looking more like the girl you can see in the photo at Tisa's than the girl that got on a plane for a tiny island back in July. Enough about my health kick for a while. Health kicks are fun, though!

Made it back to the apartment around 5:30 after the football game, relaxed a bit, got an hour of exercise in, and then sat down to catch up on some emails and my blog. Hope you all have a good week and enjoyed your weekend whatever you may have been doing!

Even on a tiny island in the South Pacific I can enjoy some American traditions like the Superbowl - not that I found the game too horribly exciting this time, not really cheering for either team, but just being with friends and enjoying it together was a good time for me.