If Trust Was a Cliff

December 24, 2013 11:53 PM
Christmas Eve

The tide was coming in.  The sky was so dark that I could only hear the large surf way out on the edge of the reef.  My bare toes subconsciously curled into the wet sand, waves lapping around my ankles with the ebb and flow of the reef current.  I could hear a choir singing from the church down the road, their voices bouncing off nothing but the surface of the vast Pacific Ocean spread out before me and shooting off into the star-speckled night sky.

For some reason I felt it appropriate in the moment to sing "Silent Night".  Because it really was.  It really was the quietest Christmas Eve I have ever spent in my life.

Usually, I would be surrounded by the whole Davis family, taking a picture around the tree with our santa hats on.  Then we would find out spots on the couches in the living room and get comfortable.  Zach would be doing cartwheels with excitement, Mom is bringing out sparkling cider, and Dad is getting his bible out to read the traditional Christmas story to the family before opening gifts.  The wood stove is burning hot, keeping the Davis home warm from the dark, snowy eve outside.

The warm, salty breeze hits my cheeks, flowing mysteriously over the dark surface of the sea.

I am a long ways from home.

I remember talking to multiple SMs before I left to Kosrae.  Almost every single one, without fail, would mention something about being lonely on Christmas.

You will have a great experience!  I mean, there is always culture shock and Christmas time is pretty hard, but other than that it is such a blessing.

Don't worry, we send lots of packages around Christmas time!  We know that is usually the hardest time for SMs.

I remember when I went as an SM.  It was a life changing experience.  I learned so much and I changed in so many ways.  The first week or so will be hard, and so will Christmas.  But after that you won't want to leave!

I stood there in the quiet of the night, quite aware that I was alone on Christmas, standing on the shores of a tiny island in the very middle of the tropical Pacific Ocean.  But somehow, I felt okay.  It gave me a chance to think.  I remember back in August when I arrived.  I remember praying like I have never prayed before for strength to make it through, strength to do what I thought I could NOT do.  I knew I didn't have it in me, and that my strength was held in the arms of God where is is most valuable.  And the strange thing was, He never just handed it to me.  He seemed to ration it out, giving me JUST enough to make it through day by day.  I never had a moment where I thought "Man, this is easy!  Thanks God for the jumpstart, but I think I can take it from here!"


 If trust was a cliff, he kept me far enough out on the ledge to where I couldn't quite get my own footing without hanging on to Him.


And through some of the hardest spiritual moments in my life I find myself standing on the shores of His ocean, realizing that I had just conquered half of what seemed so brutally impossible that moment I started teaching on August 26.

We still have worries. We have current frustrations about certain things and obstacles to overcome, and I was tempted to send up another prayer to "complain" to God again about all these things.  But maybe there was some Christmas magic in the air, because when I moved my lips to pray, all that came out was:

"Thank you, God.  Thank you for carrying me this far.  Merry Christmas, God."


 I took one last look at the sea, drew a deep breath, and walked back down the muddy road to my bed.

Merry Christmas from the tropics,

River

Stuff My Students Say, Vol. 1

For the occasion of the rigorous test week,  I have started the process of documenting interesting answers on some of my student's assignments and tests.  Here is Volume 1.



1.  The Big French Giant.  He is known to come in the night and beat you with a baguette.

2.  An example of a physical change:  A baby destroyed a roller coaster.  In the process of marking him off, I realized that it actually was an accurate example of a physical change.

3.  I have some talented, trilingual students.

4.  The mental picture I got with this one was marvelous.

5.  I was lucky enough to get a bonus cloud with a smoking meatball flying from the sky.

6.  Nelly learning her lesson.

7.  I am still trying to decipher this one.

8.  Another "BFG" gem.

9.  Mitchigo rocking the first question on her science test.

10.  Apparently a physical change is not desirable.

11.  A day late and a dollar short, I might say.

12.  I am thoroughly moved by the deep and philisophical answer that was written for this question.

13.  And finally we discover that according to Kosrae, Canada is a just a big, cold state.

Tests from the tropics,


-River

The Hilarious Bathroom

The scene was perfect.

Church had ended, and the remnants of lunch still sat on the table.  The rain fell uncharacteristically softly on the palm fronds and banana leaves outside, making the cool air slowly breeze through our open window.  I sat with a freshly-brewed cup of coffee on our couch under the illumination of the christmas lights that hang over our window.  Picking up Stella, I begin to pluck out a hymn on the humidity-worn strings.  It was peaceful.  

Too peaceful.

knock.

knock knock.

knockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknock.

"Come in!" I gambled.

in peers a set of 3rd grader eyes.  Then another set beneath those.  Then two more.

All of a sudden, a tumbling wad of my students comes streaming through our doorway with almost enough inertia to shift the earth off its axis a few degrees.

I told them to pose "lady-like"

"Teecha! I saw you at church!"

"Teecha let me play your guitar."

"Why you already eat? Wheee."

"You come, what? Did you already taking...how."

In the midst of trying to decipher the last phrase, I counted over half my girls and some of Tyler's.  But someone essential to this pack of girls was missing.  And then as if on que, Pertha looks out the window.  

"Mitchigo is coming!  Quick, hide!"

The pack of girls turns into a flurry, and they are trying to find a place for all nine of them to hide so they can surprise her. 

our humble lavatory 

"Quick, the bathroom!" I suggest.

They all change course and head towards the bathroom door.  All of a sudden, every single girl loses it.   Awee is rolling on the ground laughing, and Vilana and Kokok can't even speak they are laughing so hard.  Apparently, our bathroom is hilarious.  I peer inside, half expecting to see maybe a pair of underwear or something on the floor.  But nope, its just a bathroom.  Perhaps it was the thought that it was their teacher's bathroom that was unbearable to them.  They pack like sardines into the little space, and Mitchigo shuffles into our apartment.  Then the floodgates of children broke loose from the bathroom and she was engulfed in the chaos of her classmates.

Nelly learning to listen to the teacher

These kids are awesome.  They seem to hold a mysterious energy deep inside which allows them to play kickball at any hour of the day or speak at full volume exactly within the boundaries of school hours.  But one of the joys of being a 3rd and 4th grade teacher is that I can do whatever I want, and it is instantly cool.  They have yet to reach the "too cool" stage, and the phrase "Easy-peasy-lemon- squeezy" is still almost too much fun for them to handle.

There are also major perks to being a teacher on a tropical island.  For example:  Yesterday, we were just about to start math.  I was feeling a little sick, and definitely not in the mood to teach two levels of math.  The kids were restless and obviously not in the mood either.  Finally I just stopped.

"Raise your hand if you are in the mood to do math today."

No hands.  

"Raise your hands if you are NOT in the mood for math today."

This time I raised my hand with all 15 of my kids.  

"Lets go find cool shells on the beach!" I pronounce.  

A shrill exclamation followed, peaking at an unreached decibel.  We marched down to the ocean, and spent the period finding shells to put in our classroom.  The sun sparkled on the water, and the warm, salty sea breeze felt good on the skin. 

"You are the best teacher!" Natalie announced as she scooped up a cowry shell from the seagrass.  

This is the first time I have heard this.  Obviously it must take "not teaching" to be the best teacher, but it felt good to hear.  Teachers often end up being the bad guys by always just disciplining and giving out homework, and I know I have done my fair share of this to my kids.  So hearing this genuine phrase from one of them gives me hope that maybe I am doing something right.  I haven't become the bad guy yet, and hopefully I never do.  

One last mysterious characteristic about my students:

Every week, we have a list of 15 spelling words.  I also have what I call the "Word of the Week", which is a usually a ridiculously hard word that I write up on the board.  Its always fun, because its a big anticipation at the start of the week to see what the new word will be.  A drumroll always occurs, and the word is displayed at the top of the board.  Indubitably, quagmire, cumbersome, mitochondria, pneumonia, to name a few examples.  The best part is that they all OBSESS over the Word of the Week.  I see it written on English papers, binders, desks, science tests, posters, you name it.  And then on friday, the Word of the Week becomes the bonus question on the spelling test.  

I graded an unbelievable spelling test last week.

Here is what it looked like. (from a student who obviously put no effort into studying her words)

1.  Sledaabe

2.  Basketad

3.  Sheef

4.  Tubseck

5.  Sois

6.  Ddab

7.  Aftebrb

8.  (blank)

9.  (blank)

10. Awkleeg

Bonus: Pneumonia

You can spell "pneumonia" but you can't spell "breeze?"  My mind was blown by the sheer power of the Word of the Week.  The mysteries of my kids continue to astonish me.

All is well on the equator.  We were blessed with so many care packages containing Thanksgiving goods that we were able to make a feast for the pastor and his family to enjoy with us!  A real American dinner with all the fixings made it feel like home, even if it was referred to as "heavy American food" affectionally by the locals.  We found a potential christmas tree (A palm sprouting out of a coconut) and plan to set it up soon.  Also, I stepped on a stingray while wading in murky water after sunset and didn't get stung, so I'm pretty stoked on that.  

Christmas has this way of looming dark on the holiday horizon when you are far away from home.  Thankfully, we have a string of christmas lights and a holiday music sampler that can fill our little tropical home with christmas cheer, and that saves plenty of room for simply appreciating the little things that we may otherwise pass by during the holiday season.  

Peace and goodwill from the tropics, 

River