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.

As promised, some pictures

The ladies after Feast of the Assumption Mass on Tol (l-r, Jessica, Caroline, Megan, Stephanie). Note the beautiful marmars (flowers around neck and head)

The guys minus Matt, who was working on a speech (l-r, me, Tyler, Sammy)

A picture of the hill road we take down from Xavier to Saramen. Forgot to take some of the actual road at sea level.

The field via roof view, with the water in front. The island in the very back ground is a marker for the lagoon. Past the lagoon the water is a bit choppier.

There, some pictures.

DON'T PANIC!

(shout out to whoever can name the piece of literature I just quoted for the title of this post)

But really, don't panic. I'm ok. In fact, you probably don't even need to panic right now. Until you hear this (sorry mom):
Apparently I have developed an allergy to something. Not sure what yet. But yesterday morning I woke up with some hives, which got worse last night (even though I was taking some benedryl). Went to the clinic today downtown and they told me to take loratadine (ie claritin). Believe it or not, it is working, I just have to take multiple doses in the day. We'll try to figure out what the allergen is once the hives go away (I may post a picture or two once they're loaded)...can we say "community builder?" We'll have an epi-pen and a benedryl injection ready "just in case" the reaction is bigger than the one I had. Hopefully they won't be necessary.
The ride to the clinic was pretty fun, I always enjoy riding in the back of a truck or flatbed and just letting the wind hit me and feel like an adventurer (Indiana Jones, perhaps). Even when broken out in hives, it's awesome feeling.

School is officially starting in less than a week, more of the students are on campus and I'm starting to learn some of their names and just chatting wtih them. Hopefully they don't think I'm a total nut case from this allergy stuff (and hopefully they don't use it against me if they find out what it is!).

Yesterday I watched A Clockwork Orange, crazy movie to get you thinking about morality/free will. We're in the process of transferring all our VHS movies on campus onto DVDs so that they're easier to skip through and watch with students (well, when they can be watched with students, Clockwork would definitely not be one of them!).

Again, don't panic. It's rarely necessary. Just keep remembering to breathe.

Editors note morning after this post: Even though I was taking loratadine even over the night (when I woke up and checked my watch it was time for another!), I still broke out again -- the hives were almost completely gone by the time I went to bed. So, Joan (the infirmarian) and I believe it to be the laundry detergent. We'll be trying out a new one once someone can go downtown to buy some and then we'll try it out. If it's not that, it might be the bed.

Shingles!

No, not the disease, a cat! He roams around campus a bit, no he is not anyone's pet (actually, there is no concept of pet on the islands...people may keep dogs, pigs, cats, etc around for whatever they may be needed for but "most" -- meaning not all islanders -- have no issue with killing it if necessary). For the second time in as many weeks, Shingles has used my bed as a bathroom. I would classify this as infinitely more annoying than the spiders I've been finding (and killing if they're not in a web) in my room. The other day he also had a rat that he had killed and was sitting on some clothing with it.
So now I need to be more careful about closing doors and making sure I'm not followed in by Shingles.

In other news, school starts in 8 days or so (Sept 1)! Our class schedules are being smoothed out, but right now it's looking solid. Once the students are all here (they're already beginning to trickle in), I'll most likely not be posting as much due to slower internet (or my posts will be shorter, who knows). Just a heads up so that I don't upset anyone by unresponsiveness. Also, well aware that I haven't posted pictures, I keep forgetting to bring my camera into the computer room with me. Sorry.
Song of the Moment (courtesy of Robin, an Australian Volunteer, and Sam, an Independent): Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Tol

Greetings back at Xavier.
This post is dedicated to the past 72 hours...
We left Saramen around 2:30 with Fr. Fernando on Friday towards Tol, an island a few miles away from Weno, to stay at Assumption Parish. Saturday was the Feast of the Assumption, which meant a big shin-dig was in store, and was the reason we (JVs) were invited.

The boat ride was fun, to say the least. It started raining as we were walking to the dock, and the waves were fantastic. Needless to say, we were all soaked when we got off the boat. Once we arrived to the island area, we were surrounded by beautiful mangrove trees, which Tol apparently has a LOT of (thanks Matt). When we docked, we were greeted by singing children and given mar mars (I'll post pictures soon!), I was lucky enough to get decked out in the most extravagent, which also, unfortunately, fell apart the easiest. We were shown to our rooms, and given showers. This was the first time I ever bucket showered, and, to be honest, it was amazing. Anywho, after we all finished showering, we got fed, which was a feast in itself (again, picture to come). Apparently, it is tradition on the islands that visitors always eat first. This may sound like the normal "serve guests first," except it is to the extreme. Our hosts wouldn't eat anything until we were finished. It was a bit awkward, to say the least. After dinner, we began "taking part" (ie, watching) the ceremonies which had begun. We were warned that the singing and speeches may go on till 1 or 2 AM. We showed up to the church late (we lost track of time), and were sitting outside. As people were exiting, thanks to Tyler, we realized we were all in the way and wanted to go to the other side of the river. We moved and followed. When we arrived to the classroom we would be in (fitting about 100, I think), we were offered chairs and got to witness some talks, as well as a lot of singing. It was fun. It ended at about 9. We went back to our rooms, talked, and played a game of Mafia and eventually hit the sack.

Saturday
We woke up and after showering were treated to a huge breakfast consisting of what we would probably consider lunch or dinner foods, as well as some "normal" breakfast foods (cereal). Then we headed to Mass, which was, again, beautiful, although I have found it hard to pay attention when everything is in Chuukese. We sat in the back and as the Liturgy began we were offered chairs to sit in (there are no pews in the church, everyone was sitting on the ground, like in the classroom). Afterwards we sat and talked with ourselves and some of the kids. Lots of laughing, lots of fun. More food at luch, with singing, followed by listening to people speak and hearing songs. Matt got to speak on behalf of us, thankfully we didn't have to sing! After the fun, we headed back to Weno. Our boat ride back to Weno was smoother and quicker this time around. However, our fun had not ended.
We unfortunately missed the bus that had picked up Lydia (US independent volunteer) and the three returning Austrailian volunteers from the air port, so we waited at Saramen for the truck. I had forgotten to mention that we returned with a LOT of food from Tol. The truck eventually arrived as the sun was setting (circa 6 pm) and we began our journey, with about 9 people in the back of the truck plus our bags and the food. One minute in we get a flat tire, which was changed in less than 8 minutes. Half way to Xavier, the engine overheated, which was easily fixed. To our "delight," once we jumped back in it was discovered that the battery/engine wasn't "connecting", so, with a few locals from the houses around us, we pushed the truck up and down the road until it started. I have to admit, it was actually really fun. As we continued our trip, we found out that our driver was having difficulty seeing in the dark without any headlights, so we fished for a few headamps in our backpacks and eventually got light. It was quite the sight! To top it off, due to the flat, we all moved to one side, thankfully, as on one sharp turn on the hill to Xavier there was definitely some tipping action! We got to Xavier though, safe and sound, and were able to successfully which Tomi a happy birthday (there was a cake being held in the truck), and we also got to meet our two new American independent volunteers as well as the Austrailians (who have already been here a while, they leave in Nov/Dec and will be replaced by some more via some post high school volunteer program).

Today has been much more relaxing, and the day is actually almost over (ok, not really, but the power has been working since last night, and I'm worried it'll go out soon as I post this). Kiniso chapur! Thanks for reading :)

Tiro

or "excuse me." This was a phrase I got to repeat many times times today as we walked through the properties of about half a dozen families during a four hour hike back to Xavier from Saramen (and that was the short walk! The other direction is 6 miles but we usually drive it). We walked through road, jungle, and sparse trail. Other than complete exhaustion and being a bit thirsty, we all felt it was a worthwhile event, although maybe not something to do every day.

Anyways, I wanted to spend this post to just write a bit on how the Chuukese deal with land on Weno. Hopefully I have most of my information correct, although I haven't been here long this has been a topic brought up on multiple occasions during stage two orientation and something most of may find interesting.

In short: all the land is owned by someone.

In long: you cannot walk anywhere, even on a road, you are walking on someone's property. There is no "public land" so to speak. For the most part, this does not create much of an issue, particularly on well traveled roads. Right now, as construction begins soon with the roads though, people may try to prevent construction -- for whatever reason -- as eminent domain (while existing) is not something looked highly on. Land is sacred and owned by families. When traveling on back roads, like today, we had to ask permission to walk through and thankfully many of the people, mainly because it was the only road, were willing to let us through. It is still polite and courteous to say "Tiro" profusely as well as "Kiniso chapur" (thank you very much...I hope I spelled it right!). Some people may ask for money to pass (it used to be food, but money has become more valuable). If a person wants to take a coconut or piece of fruit from a tree, it would be very impolite to take it without asking the owner (which may require talking to a number of people to find the owner). Usually, though, most of this isn't an issue. Anyways, all this to say, if you find yourself in Chuuk, always be nice and curteous, remember that the land you walk on is not your own.

In other news...tomorrow we are going to Tol and coming back Saturday evening. Faculty meetings start on Monday, and I officially know what I'll be teaching (Soph. English, Jun. Lit., Sen. Religion -- I may have gotten the Soph and Jun classes mixed up though). Things are picking up, hurrah!

Peace!

Good day!

or ran annim, as is said here in Chuuk. The first full day is almost complete and it has been quite a full trip since leaving from John Carroll U on Monday morning! To keep my thoughts on the flight simple and straightforward, I'm REALLY glad I don't need to make that flight again for another two years.

It has been amazing and beautiful so far. The island is absolutely beautiful, although yesterday we had rain so it was difficult to get a good view. Today though...gorgeous. We've been trying some foods prepared by the two generous second years still on the island and we've been slowly getting into our stage two orientation. Last night we all slept at Saramen and we arrived at Xavier a few hours ago on a fun but bumpy ride in the back of a flatbed truck. It gets dark at about 6:30 (conversely, the sun rises at about the same time in the morning), so I haven't actually seen the campus much yet, but from what I can gather, everything is wonderful. This morning I got to wake up to roosters crowing by a neighbors yard. It was awesome...it actually got louder as the sun came out more. Sort of like those gradual alarms.

Just so you all know, the internet is just as slow as I was thinking it would be, so it is more than a little difficult to get onto the blog, facebook, and e-mail. So please please please be patient.

Peace to you all.

(ps, I have no clue what time it is for you all, but it's 9:45 pm here, so please excuse bad grammar, spelling, incoherence, etc).