Well I’m finally in my new home, and trying to get all my stuff settled while wondering why I didn’t pack about 3 more fans. Yup, pretty warm here.
It’s actually not that bad outside half the time, but wow, inside we are
really warm if we’re moving around. And unpacking is definitely requiring
too much moving without air-conditioning. The trip was long, but the stopover
in Hawaii for orientation was a nice break. Meeting all the other student
missionaries was really fun, and getting to see some of Hawaii was great.
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There are 18 of us here on Pohnpei, seven girls and eleven guys. I’m staying in an apartment with three other girls: Melissa Harley, April West, and Lorena Salto. Lorena is from Southwestern, and the other two are from Southern.
The apartments aren’t too bad, though I’m not sure how they stay together in this tropical climate!! Already some cardboard items of mine are pretty soft, and I’m wondering if I shouldn’t put everything in a Ziploc bag!
It’s taking a long time to move in, since I brought and sent a lot of stuff, but I’m very glad for all of it even if it did take a lot of effort to get it here (thanks Mom!). We’ve been to town a couple of times to get groceries and set up our internet/phone accounts here. It’s so funny to ride down the road in the back of little trucks, and they aren’t like American trucks - one is actually a little fire truck (I’ll have to send a picture) and the other is a little blue truck. No way to describe them, but the fun thing is that the steering wheels are on the right side! I’m going to get my Pohnpeiian license so I can drive I think.
Groceries (and everything for that matter) are really expensive here, and produce is kind of hard to get. But they have little bananas that are amazing! The other three girls in my apartment and I are just going to split food costs and buy stuff for everyone, because it’s easier to get stuff in bulk than for just one person. Rice is a staple of course, and fish is big, so I guess I’m going to have to get used to eating that. I’ve been told that elementary teachers get to eat lunch for free with the students though, so that’s really nice to hear. One less meal to have to worry about!
The classrooms here are small, and have the bare necessities in them, but they’re usable and with a little cleaning and decorating will be ok. My class of 7th grade is getting split into two, and shared with another teacher. Guess that’ll make it easier on me, because 30-35 kids sounded a little daunting. I think I’ll have about 18-20 now. I’m excited to begin, but a little scared as well. I think we’re going to split up the teaching and do half for one class and the same half for the other; so I’ll be teaching English, math, and spelling for both classes while he’ll do history, science, and bible, and we’ll both do reading in our individual classrooms. We’re just going to switch back and forth. It means only half the lesson plans it normally would be for each of us, so it sounds like a good plan to me.
It is so beautiful here it’s unbelievable. Tall mountains, lush foliage, and pretty ocean around us (though not directly by us). Flying in and then driving through for the first time I think my mouth was open and !oh wow! was repeated quite frequently. Our campus is in the middle of tropical forest, and I think the population of frogs on Pohnpei resides on the front lawn! They’re poisonous to touch though; they secrete a substance that can make you sick, so I guess we’ll just be looking at them.
We had a birthday supper over at our principal’s house the other night, and the food was amazing. The table was just stacked—it was sort of a potluck with a couple of other families on the campus as well. I had some new dishes (tried to experiment on everything I could!) and was stuffed when I left. So far the food is good! We also had a welcome potluck at the church and got 'adopted families.' Mine is a couple who live in the next village over I think, and they have four grown children, two of which are in the states and two here somewhere. The husband teaches at a public school around here. They are very sweet people and I’m happy to have them when I need a little family time. :O) We all got beautiful hair wreaths and lai’s made of flowers and things. More pictures! Our principal is really nice, and I’m glad to be working under him. His family is wonderful too. His youngest son, Albert, has taught me how to count to 20 in Pohnpeiian (it’s really hard!) and how to say Happy Sabbath, goodnight, goodmorning, and such. This is definitely going to be harder to learn than Spanish.
Well so far I’ve gotten my classroom all painted, swept once, the desks cleaned out, my desk cleaned out, a few posters hung, and some of the bulletin boards done, but I have a lot still to do it seems and will have to sweep again. It’s taken a few days just to accomplish that much, and I have a blister to show for it, but it’s slowly getting there and I think it’ll look good when I’m done. And the kids come this next Thursday! So remember me especially in prayer that day (which will be Wednesday for you).
Sabbath we took the bus here and packed in for a trip around the island. Three hours later, we got back. Didn’t realize this island was that big!! We had some paved roads and some gravel/dirt roads with little bridges barely as wide as the bus, so it was an interesting experience. Lots of little shacks all along the road in the jungle. I’m not sure how people live this way, their houses are so dirty and small. Mostly just made out of tin. And it’s been raining like crazy here. I guess we’re getting the outside edges of a typhoon that’s hitting the Philippines. Lots of wind along with the rain. I’m ready for some sunshine, even if it does mean it’s hotter.
Well, I hope you all are doing well! I miss everyone already. Please keep in touch! I love getting letters and emails (and packages!!), and will be able to write quite frequently I think once we get everything hooked up. I’ve got more cleaning and decorating to work on, so it’s off to my classroom. God bless and take care!
Love in Christ,
Lindsey
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