Unfortunately I wasn't able to adjust to the food and water nearly as easily as the time. As soon as I got to the island I lost all of my appetite to eat for some reason. The first three days I had a lot of trouble eating a full meal and was skipping meals sometimes because I just couldn't eat anything. The fourth day I woke up and wasn't feeling well at all. My stomach was hurting from not eating but yet I still didn't have an appetite at all. It was Monday so I went to the school to observe my class and see the school. When I was done I went to try to get something to eat but I couldn't get myself to eat it. I was so frustrated with everything because I hadn't eaten much of anything for 4 days and I still couldn't even get something to go down even trying to force myself. I went home and really had a breakdown about why things were so hard. I was so frustrated and was scared about my health and about the fact that I hadn't found anything appetizing on the island. Things just didn't taste good and were not appetizing in any way. I really started worrying about how I was going to make it 2 years when I was having so much trouble after 4 days. Day 5 hit and I decided to stay home because I wasn't feeling good still and my body was starting to feel the effects of not eating. Then all of a sudden it hit and I started getting really sick. I was getting sick all day and night. Day 6 came and I was in the same situation, I was constantly trying to drink water and gatorade because I couldn't keep any food down. I was so blessed by the missionary staying in the room next store to me who kept bringing me more water and gatorade and trying to bring me some foods I could eat. On day 7 I was still in the same situation and things weren't getting much better. I started taking medicine that was supposed to help with the things that I could have that were making me sick. I started trying to think positive and hoping that things were going to be over soon. I was also starting to wonder how my body was still functioning with out food for a week. I knew God was taking care of me and things were at least going to get better. On day 8, which was my fourth day of not leaving my bed or bathroom, I was starting to worry about myself because it seemed like it was a lot longer than it should be and I had lost probably over ten pounds and I could start to really see it and feel it. At the same time though my mood really started to change from what it was before. Two days before I was questioning if I was strong enough to do this, but by now I had gotten to the point of believing that if I could make it out of this than there was nothing that I couldn't do. Day 9 hit and I was still getting sick here and there but I started feeling a lot better. It may have just been the medicine, I'm not sure, but I started to have some energy and didn't feel near as sick. I started to try to eat some little things like granola bars to try to get some food in me. By night time I was out of my room and standing outside. It felt so good to be out and feel the air. I was so tired of being stuck in my room. I was able to hang out and talk to people that night and tings were looking up. Day 10 came, which was Sunday. I went to breakfast with one of the missionaries and was so happy to be able to eat a whole pancake. I was feeling so much better and surprisingly had so much energy. I hung out that day and relaxed but still had some energy stored up. I didn't have lunch, but I was able to eat a meal for dinner and was so happy to have 2 meals in the same day because it was more than I had had in the last week. I was also blessed that there wasn't school on Monday, so I had another day to rest and recover and prepare to start teaching on Tuesday.
I had hoped to be able to observe the school and my classes a little bit to help me see what I was doing and who I was teaching. Unfortunately that didn't really happen much because I was sick. So Tuesday I was starting to teach a 2nd grade class English and Science and a 5th grade class Math and Science. The school had to move some of the teachers around because they were short a teacher so that's why I was placed with 2 different classes. I had my lessons planned for what I was planning on doing but in reality knew that I had no clue what to expect. Amazingly though, things went really well and I was able to fit right in and start teaching what I wanted to teach. I have a partner teacher with me for my second grade class to be able to help translate and handle different language barriers that come up. She has been a huge help for me as a lot of my second graders are still trying to grasp English and have trouble understanding some of what I am trying to get across.
My fifth grade class I teach by myself with out a partner teacher because the Filipino teacher for 5th grade has to go over to the 6th grade class. It works out alright though because the 5th grade class is at a much higher level and I am able to work with them without communication problems. I hope to have a picture of my 5th grade class up to once I can get someone to take a picture for me.
I have taught for a week now and things are going really well. My second graders are pretty crazy but they are so much fun. They are full of so much joy and happiness. They have so much energy and get so excited about things. It has been fun to introduce a lot of interactive activities in class to get them involved and excited about learning. We are also working at the school on trying to get the classes more organized and structured. Trying to have the students act and behave how they should in a classroom. That has been a big focus with my second graders.
My fifth grade class has been a lot of fun to teach. They are so well behaved and have a desire to learn. They make it so easy on me to be able to teach. I am able to teach them and challenge them with new ways of learning and interacting in class. I really enjoy working with them and being able to help students who so eagerly want to learn.
I was also able to go to 2 feedings this week. Every Tuesday we have a feeding in the neighborhood behind the Jungle Barn where I am staying. We had a feeding on Tuesday and it was a lot of fun to be a part of. We lead the kids in songs and games, read stories to them, do arts or crafts, and then feed them dinner as well. The kids have a great time and it's a lot of fun being able to hang out with them and build relationships with them since they are our neighbors.
We also feed at one of the Ati villages on the other island on Fridays. They put up a school in the village and are able to feed the students lunch every day, which is awesome because lunch isn't always available to a lot of them. We went Friday after school and brought a lot of spaghetti to feed them dinner. We spent the afternoon hanging out with the kids and some of the women from the village cooked the spaghetti. I was a human jungle gym all afternoon and definitely got my workout for the week as all the kids wanted to be lifted up and spun around and climb on my back, and just about anything they could think of.
Because I'm new to the island I've been taken around the island a lot and got to see and experience some of the cool things around the island. Dan Beaver took me to a fish spa, although he didn't tell me where we were going. We walked in and there were boxes of water full of different size fish. I thought it was pretty fancy but I still didn't know what it was. So we took our shoes off and I realized oh were going to put our feet in there. My first thought was I wonder if those fish bite, but then I thought well obvoiusly they don't bite or else people wouldn't stick their feet in there. When I got closer I saw 2 rock things on the bottom where your feet would be so I thought oh it must be a foot massage and they have fish swimming around too, fancy fancy. Well I stuck my feet in and within 3 seconds I had 100 fish nibbling on me. It was definitely a scary feeling at first because I definitely wasn't thinking they were going to be doing that, but then scary quickly turned into ticklish. It was a really weird feeling. After a couple minutes the ticklish factor wore off and it became somewhat relaxing I guess. Overall it was worth it because now I can say I had hundreds of fish eating the dead flesh off of my feet, I don't know when that would come up in conversation but who knows.
I also went to the mini zoo on Mt. Luho, which is basically like one of the highest hills on the island. That was pretty fun. The zoo was kind of sketchy though. They had an eagle which would com sit on your shoulder which was really awesome, except for when you try to get him to go off and he doesn't want to, but still pretty cool. They had a big sign that said Tasmanian Devil and I got really excited, until I saw the small print (a relative). It was like a weasel or something, not nearly as cool as a tasmanian devil. They had a bunch of crazy little monkeys around, who look cute, until you get close to them.
There were some more animals like kingfishers and bearcats, which were actually pretty cool to see, and also a snake which I think may have possibly been dead. But it was a fun time none the less and the best part was the view point from on top of the hill.
The biggest problem is when the storms get really bad. We are in the middle of a typhoon right now and it is doing a lot of damage. Part of the roof of the jungle barn where I am staying flew off and there's not much they can do to fix it until the storm stops because the wind is too strong to get on the roof. They tried tarping it but it's not exactly waterproof. The storm got so bad today that they cancelled school. I'm really hoping the typhoon clears up so that we can fix the roof and we can get school started back up again.
It is really easy to take pretty pictures and put them up here. There are a lot of beautiful things on the island. It is a lot harder to take pictures of the things that aren't so pretty. There is so much poverty here and in the Ati villages. There are so many things that go on that no one takes pictures of, so no one knows about, but that doesn't mean they aren't still happening. The organization here is doing so much work on so many different levels and in so many different places. People's lives are being changed because of what is happening through this mission organization. The biggest reason I felt like this is where I should be is because I could see how much was going on here and how much they were able to help people. It wasn't just a place to come and teach but a place to come make a difference in people's lives. The support that has gotten me here has been so impactful already and will continue to make a difference in so many people's lives. So many things are being done all because of the support that comes in from people. Thank you so much for all your support, and it truly is making an impact.
Prayer requests:
- The weather. We are in the middle of a typhoon and it has blown part of the roof off of the place I'm living, and has caused the school to cancel class today and possibly even more if the storm doesn't get better. Also there are so many people here that don't live in places nearly as safe and weatherproof as I do. These storms are so hard on so many people because of their housing, or their lack of housing.
- A few of my students really struggle with their English, and therefore have a hard time with most subjects. One of my fifth graders doesn't understand English at all really. He has a hard time in class because I don't have a translator in that class and because my other students at are such a high level. He really struggles in math though which is tough because that's usually the subject the students who don't have great English skills still do well in. He doesn't get the basic concepts of it and that makes it really tough. I spend a huge amount of time working with him one on one but it hasn't helped his performance. I am trying to get him a Filipino tutor who he can understand and can focus on getting him to learn the basics of what we're doing. I also have a second grade student who I'm pretty certain has dyslexia. That makes it so much harder for him to learn a second language and so I'm hoping to be able to help him with that.
- I am looking for an apartment to move into and am searching for the best place. I ma trying to find something close by the school and the jungle barn so that i can still be close to everything. I am also trying to find somewhere in a safe neighborhood that I feel safe in and comfortable having all of my possessions in. I have looked at a couple places that look pretty good but are a little bit more money than I had hoped for. So I have one that is on the top of the list that is close to the jungle barn and close to the school, in a safe looking apartment complex for a price that is a little bit less. I'm continuing to look around to find the best possible place though.
