Heads Up

In case you were worried, no, none of the natural disasters taking place are anywhere near me. Thankfully, the Pacific Ocean is very large and, if a tsunami or something were to come in our direction, the water gets really shallow in random places within the lagoon, plus I'm on one of the highest points of this island. So please, if you were worrying, don't. :)

A better blog post to come. The power is probably going to turn off in a few minutes (it has been turning off at this time for the past couple of days).

It's been (over) one week!

...since our first day of school. Wow. So much to say, but so much beyond words! In just this one week I've experienced many ups and downs, joys, frustrations, sorrows, etc. that come with teaching. It's quite the roller coaster. One thing I realized this morning is that I need to be more firm and sure of myself in my morality class. Not that I am not right now, but I have been unsure how to handle the "touchy" topics we will be discussing in the class -- i.e. drinking and sex. I think being up front may be the best way to go The other day we did an activity and the class seemed a bit divided on those and more than a few issues. Hopefully it will make for good discussion and good reflection (my hope is that the class not only teaches them about moral theology but also how to think critically and prepare them for college, they are seniors in high school afterall!).
In other news, in case I haven't shared this already on here, I' ve been named "one" of the moderators for Campus Ministry. Currently, we are still awaiting the other Jesuit scholastic to arrive to teach and also help with CM, but his work papers haven't been pushed through yet. Right now, Steph is helping me out with it for the time being (helping meaning meaning completely guiding me). So far we're just trying to figure out who the student leaders are! Most of my job as CM moderator will be planning the service projects for the Fresh, Sophs, and Juniors, as well as planning out the Junior retreat and the Fresh and Soph days of prayer. It should be great and keep me busy enough, although I'm also thinking and praying about whether or not to suggest to our future "team" the idea of adding Bible study to the mix (currently one of the Austrailian volunteers, Robin, is doing this on his own. So making it part of CM would help to "institutionalize" it in the XHS community).

With sad news, I regret to say that I will bot be able to Skype as often due to a broken head set. I'll try to borrow others' when I can. Sorry for the bit of sad news.

Thank you to those who have sent actual letters. It's always wonderful to receive something in the mail! A lot of people have been getting packages, but I feel like letters are just as awesome because then I get to write back, sweet! If you would ever like to send a letter, but don't have my address, feel free to e-mail me.