Jail... Um... Yeah... and a Confession

Jail. You heard me right. I went to jail. More on that after I tell you about the rest of my week.

Monday morning back to work we went. Waiting on the road and decided to stick our hitchiker thumbs out, scoring us a ride with a nice guy headed our way. He chatted a little and was nice. Had a little assembly to start the school day where the principal spoke a bit on nearing the end of the school year and recognizing some accomplishments students have made. With that, all class periods were shortened by 5 minutes. Monday's lesson in my classroom included the students writing about their reflections on their current grades, going over our schedule for the week, discussing my plans for the rest of the semester, and sharing some photos and stories from my spring break. Went well and rather quickly, as it was the end of the day before I knew it. On the way home, the guy that gave us a ride home from the Koko Bean a little over a week ago saw us and gave us a lift home.

I did my laundry after coming home, decided to do my Cardio Abs before dinner, enjoyed me a good book, and called it a night. I have set a goal to do the Cardio Abs workout every day this month with Insanity. It is on the schedule a few times throughout the month, but I figure I will wake up at 5am anyways. The workouts in month 1 are not as long as month two, plus I could burn a bit more in that area. Extra challenge I feel good about for now.

Tuesday and Thursday morning caught a ride in with one of the VPs at our school. Perfectly convenient. I asked if he would drop me off Thursday to grab a coffee on our way in and I'd walk from there, but he proceeded to wait for me. Really nice of him. Getting back into the swing of catching rides, I am :-) Rode home with my Zumba instructors after class Tuesday and another ride in Wednesday morning.

Tuesday - Hannah was sick, up all night, cold, and didn't really say anything, but I could tell she was off Tuesday morning. Then, she told me she felt really crappy. I told her she should go back home, but she figured she could make a half day as we had a guest coming in the afternoon. At first I sort of mentioned I could take her classes for her. Definitely cover her attendance in the afternoon and she leave at lunch. Wanted to offer all day - knew I could handle her first two classes, but that 6th period... last time we had the two of them together I could not handle them all. After sitting in my room a bit, I decided, "Nope. She really needs to go home, curl up, and get some sleep." I walked up there and said "You're going home. I'll take all your classes."

They were all pretty good, too. I was hoping it would work out okay today. Nice reading comprehension activity I had planned for my first class that her class partook in just fine. Next one was my prep period, but hers was a small class of girls and one boy. I gave them my SERVE volunteering speech, which they enjoyed and remained attentive. Then, 6th period I did my SERVE presentation, as well. Most remained quiet. They did not punish me for volunteering to sub for them. :-) Then, Pastor Scot made it in the afternoon to share a message with our afternoon classes as our guest speaker for the week. Most of them gave him full attention, as I had hoped.

Great time having fun back at in Zumba class with both instructors both there. Pulled out some routines we hadn't done in a while, and I was having a really good time. Good ole Zumba :-) Erica's husband, Nate, is back from some army training, and he told me that he heard I'm quite the fitness freak now. haha 

Had my little dinner, did a few things on my computer, and read a few more chapters in a book. The latest release by Cassandra Clare. I actually pre-ordered this so it would get here ASAP (cause I'm a bit of a nerd sometimes). I know I mentioned reading her books in my blog last time I was in one. I love her work. I'm trying to not read it too fast. I know I will reread the whole series at some point, perhaps even this summer. The first book she wrote has even been made into a movie and is being released in theaters this coming August - The City of Bones.

Hannah stayed home again Wednesday as she still wasn't feeling the greatest, and I told the principal and the department head, so a substitue schedule went up for her classes. I told her I'd make sure it was taken care of so she could take care of herself. Wednesday was another great day in the classroom of Miss Boschen. Time to revisit goals. I shared the results of my SMART goal about fitness with my students by having them read my blog post about it as a class. I figured this would introduce them to a new way of introducing information, see some things I write about my experiences here, and see where I'm at with my goal. Successful :-)

I am so glad they enjoyed it. I love sharing about it. Talking about exercise gives me endorphins, too. haha Oye, maybe I'm a little too crazy. Maybe Nate was write saying fitness freak. Or did he say enthusiast? Hmmm. Either way. I also asked them to reflect on their goal progress and the remainder of our quarter. A different way of looking at the goal and lesson, and I think it worked out well. Nice to still have some new things to try although my time with them is winding down. It was also fun to read some of their responses. Some think it would be cool to start a blog and had no idea I did it. Some want to try Insanity. Some want to try to be healthier. Some are amazed at the weight I've lost. Few think it was boring. haha

Came home after Zumba and church on Wednesday, where I found people with similar illness symptoms as Hannah. Sure sounds like the flu bug is around. Hoping my healthy living prevents me from catching it too bad. Can't really say I've been sick since before Christmas, and those were just colds. I haven't been sick to a point where I had no appetite or couldn't really do much other than lay around. Thankful for that. No one likes to be sick. Hannah bucked it up and came to school Thursday as we had parent teacher conferences. Still has some recuperating to do, but now there is a three-day weekend ahead of us, so she should be better.

Pastor came back to speak with our morning classes on Thursday, which was a short day for students as they were released after two periods and lunch. Funny how he noticed the students are more well-behaved in the morning. He said he can't believe how we do this for 6 classes every day. He liked coming in for just two or three in one day. "Tiring," he said. haha :-)

Got to try one Samoan food, taro, prepared a little differently at lunch. I'm not quite sure how it was prepared, but I liked it a little better than the other version I've seen. I asked a student to make sure it was taro. Indeed. Then, a few of my awesome students - some of the truly awesome ones - helped me make my room look as nice as it could get by sweeping and straightening up the desks before they left. It's always nice to not have to do that all by myself. Plus, they told me, "You're the teacher. You're not supposed to do that anyway." I appreciate their help, and their basic awesomeness. They are part of what makes teaching fun and rewarding. (I've touched on this before in posts.)

Finished up work on Thursday with 3 hours sitting in my classroom for parent-teacher conferences. I saw a total of 6 parents this time around. Sounds pretty usual around here. I talked with one other science teacher afterward, and she said she actually had 16 this year but all years before only had seen about 4 by the time we finished at 4pm.

4pm... That was when I went to jail.

Jail? Jail? Jail?! Whatever for?

Well, once a month some people from the church I have been going to do some jail ministry at the men's jail on island. I have been wanting to go check it out, and this Thursday was the day. I was not arrested. Shame on any of you who thought such things. haha The church van picked me up after school, and to the correctional facility we went. Walked up, they opened the gate, and we went straight back to the church building. Can't say I've ever been in a jail before, but I thought at least they may ask me for some I.D. or what I was doing there in a normal situation. Anyways, I said to one of the boys as we walked in, "I have a feeling they don't see many palagi (white) ladies walking through here." "Yeah. They probably think you're an angel." Oh boy. We helped lead some songs in English, all I know very well from church. Then, the sermon was done almost all in Samoan by Richard, our preacher in training. Nice little service. There were about 17 inmates in attendance. From Vai O Le Ola (the church I've been attending) came Pastor, Richard, myself, and 9 of the youth. Finally, the inmates shook almost all of our hands as they left.

The compound had different housing units (all Samoan fale style), barbed wire rings above the tall fence, clothes hanging out to dry, guys lifting weights, a basketball hoop, and men that waved as we left. The women's facility is right next door, but Pastor said there are only about 5 women in there. The juvenille facility is not too far away but not the same place. There ya have it, my visit to the jail of American Samoa for about an hour. Once again, I don't really have anything to compare to. Some of the boys joked they would protect me as we walked out. Haha, thanks. I wasn't nervous or anything walking through.

I hope that this title really caught some of your attention! I was trying to have some fun with it.

Sidenote: You may have noticed in my fitness post that some people other than my friends and family have stumbled upon my blog and began following it. Another story for you - Just last week, I received an email from a lady who was looking at taking a government job here, found my blog, said she learned a lot from it, and wanted to know if I could answer a few other questions about living here. We've exchanged a few e-mails since. I am more than happy to provide any insight I can. How did she find my blog? She told me she was searching laundromats and American Samoa. Oye, don't think I write the word laundromat that many times, but Google it and my does indeed show up. Perhaps my recent story about "swimming" home from the laundromat. haha Or simply because I use the words "American Samoa" so much. Hard not to. It's cool how people are learning about life here, not just my life in particular. I told my students all about this and how people are learning about their island via my blog, which they thought was cool.

Another sidenote: I've been really into coffee lately. Not just having it with my Saturday breakfasts instead of iced tea sometimes, and a few of the mornings chilling at McDonald's, but now I actually purchased myself an itty bitty container of instant coffee, and I've been enjoying a cup almost every night after I shower. Straight up black coffee. It warms me up after the coolness of the shower and is pleasant as I read a book, work on lessons, or simply am relaxing. Also makes me feel sophisticated ;-) Instant coffee isn't too bad. Although, I am looking forward to having my coffee maker back on the mainland to use whenever I am in a coffee mood. Mmm. The instant will suffice for now at home. Here it be:

Finally, confession time... I ate a little more for lunch than usual, especially since I honestly wasn't feeling that hungry for whatever reason. Yet, I decided to eat a fair amount as it was a little earlier than usual, and I wanted to make sure I made it through the day as I had no snacks on hand and knew I wouldn't make it home til about 6pm. Well... I could feel I had overeaten all day.... but then, I kept thinking about ice cream all afternoon... 

So... "Why, not?" I asked myself. I'm eating some of the most recent ice cream cake I put together and had waiting in the freezer. "I probably won't eat any more for the night," I thought. That led to two pieces (both pretty small, though). Oh man, did I feel a little miserable after letting that sit for a bit. I let my taste buds get the better of me. 

I did not want to fall asleep feeling like that, and I still had plenty of time. Decided I would sweat it up for about 35 minutes. Not punishing myself for eating something I knew better than to (although, I don't make habits of such things anymore), but I knew I would feel better afterward. Oh yes, good decision! I could feel that ice cream fighting for a little while in my stomach, but man it turned into sweat mania in the garage as I pounded through the Pure Cardio workout. Just what I needed. I almost forgot how the warm-ups in Month 1 of Insanity made you move so much quicker. Sure, maybe not as strengthy but moving!

I'm still dripping as I type this, which leads me to my final thought for this post. If you walked into my garage these days, you might easily guess that I am back at it with Insanity after two weeks off. It sure smells like it, anyways. Eeewww... I know I know... but, also HILARIOUS and EXCITING. I could feel all impurities leaving my body as my sweat rolled off my face, soaked up my shirt, and pooled the floor. Maybe I even washed out any tinges of the flu bug I may have in my system considering all the sickies I've been around the past few days. 

Can you tell I wrote these last few paragraphs immediately after finishing my workout? I mean don't I just sound super happy, full of endorphins, and obnoxious? hahahaha Okay, maybe now. Hope you all have a nice Easter weekend. Until next time. Much love :-)