Chaos Ball

We  officially invented a new sport.

Its called "Chaos Ball".  

All you have to do is combine my 3rd & 4th class and Ryan's 5th & 6th class for P.E. and play kickball.  What follows?

Yep.  Chaos.  

The kids don't know that its chaos.  They think it is the greatest thing on Planet Kosrae.  So we did it a second time today, and only had three crying kids this time.  After a few bandaids and lots of lectures, the bus finally appears around the corner and balls come flying from every direction towards me.  

"Here teecha!"

A moment with the catch of the evening.

"Here is your volleyball teecha!"

"Here is your football!"

"Teecha!  Here is your basketball!"

After sprouting three more arms to catch these flying objects, the kids pack themselves into the little yellow bus while I shake off a few more stragglers.

"Teecha!  My lunchbox is in the classroom!"

"Teecha quick!  Guess what? I studied my spelling words!"

"Teecha!  Swing me with your arm!"  

After many hearty goodbyes, fist bumps, and don't-forget-your-spelling-test-tomorrow's, all of a sudden the school yard is silent.  A bird chirps in the distance.  You can hear a wave crash past the road.  The branches in the mango tree above rustle in the breeze.  Sweet silence, but honestly it wouldn't be the same without the collective "jubilee" of children (also known as a "mess"or "tangle" of children).  As much as teaching wears me out, I really do love these kids.

Family dinner night

On another note, unfortunately there is negative tension arising between me and the other two SM's.  Before coming as a student missionary, I knew that there would be times that we would not all get along.  As much as we thought we would all be compatible together, we have come across a major barrier that is making it hard to be a working team here on Kosrae.  We are all aware of the situation, but it is hard to fix because of the collective stubbornness between all of us. 

"What was that, River?"

"I'm going to put it in a bag."

"Did you say, 'bag'?  don't you mean 'bag'?" Tyler asks.

"Yeah!  Its not 'bag'.  You say it like 'bag'!" Ryan chirps in.

"What??  Nobody says it like that."

"Everyone does!  Its 'bag'!"

"No!  'Bag' sounds nasty and harsh.  'Bag' is nice and musical," I retort.

"'Bag' is how everyone says it.  'Bag' isn't even a word.  Look up the pronunciation!"

"It's 'bag'."

"No, its 'bag'."

"Bag."

"Bag."

It's two against one.  I will not lose this battle.  

I wish I got notes like this from all my students.

We have been having more frequent power outages.  Last night our whole section of the island went out into pitch blackness.  In moments like this you realize how much light pollution we don't have, hundreds of miles away from anything but ocean.   Tyler and I instantly grabbed out headlamps and ran outside to see what the island looked like in its purest, dark form.  We went and sat on the rocks by the ocean and looked at the stars and dark waves crashing beyond the reef.  It only took about 4 minutes to realize how much of a black blob we were in the middle of the dark Pacific Ocean at that moment, and for a giant land crab to come and attack my flip flop in the blackness. We got the jitters and went back to the school.  

We were informed about an interesting event happening in January.

"We are going to tear down your apartment in January and rebuild it," the pastor states.

Oh, cool.  Awesome.  

"It will take about 4 months to build, and you can all help after school!  But in the meantime, we will have to find a way to build you a shelter to live in until spring when it is done."

For about 2.65 seconds, we were bummed about our home being torn to the ground.  Then our male "fort-building in the backyard" and "Swiss Family Robinson" instincts set in.  We could build the coolest fort on the edge of the jungle to live in with the torn up scraps from the building!  Who needs a sink anyways?  Things are going to get interesting come January, but it definitely will be an adventure. 

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.  Good luck to all you Walla Walla peeps starting school, including my sister Sisi as a freshman.  Keep her under control!  When winter quarter comes, we will try our best to post as many pictures of the beach as possible.  

Peace from the tropicals,

-River