Teacher: 0 Question Mark: 1

“Ok.  So let’s look at this.  We need a punctuation mark at the end of this sentence.  What do you think we would use?”

I received a blank stare in return. 

“Ok, Mitchigo.  Lets look closer.  Is this sentence asking a question?”

She thought for what seemed like months.  “No,” she answered.

I shifted.  “Actually, yes.  Yes it is.  Its asking a question.  So what punctuation mark would we use?  We have four options up there on the board.”

She looked at me with another deep, soul-crushing blank stare. 

“Don’t look at me, look at the board.  Would we use an apostrophe?”

“Yes.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  I could feel my blood vessels tightening. 

“No, you wouldn’t.  Those are to show possession, not to end a sentence.  Can you think of what you might use that ends a question?”

Another long, blank stare.  Finally she uttered, “exclamation point.”

My eye twitched.

“Alright Mitchigo, what if we used a question mark?  Would a question mark work?”

She shook her head. 

“Are you sure?  Would it make sense for a QUESTION mark to go at the end of a QUESTION?”  I could feel my body quivering as I tried to stay calm. 

Blank stare.

Writing Thank-You's for the books from Mom!

I have a new appreciation for teachers everywhere.  My class of 15 students are giving me a run for my money.  From the moment the bus comes to dump them all off at the school to the moment they all magically disappear in the same bus at 3:00 pm, they are a test of strength and character and common 4^th grade knowledge.  As routine goes, I leave our apartment above the school at 8:00, carrying a full Nalgene, my bible, my music journal, and a tangerine.  I make the short journey down the stairs into a sea of children, praying silently for strength and for the wisdom to be the teacher that I am most definitely not.  The bell rings, and the chaos begins.  The echoic classroom makes my 15 pupils sound like 150 as Nelly begins to yell “Teecha!  Are we playing spelling basketball today??” and as Holter is dust-mopping his body on the floor, and as Awee is using her scissors to cut up a flower into tiny pieces on the ground. 

I think that God only gives me just enough strength to teach exactly one day at a time.  When school gets out and I sit back at my desk, I am done.  But somehow I get through another day, and then another, and then another.  Maybe this is to teach me trust, the trust I will ultimately need to make it through the good times and bad times during the 9 months on this island of Kosrae.

Lesson plans for days

Ryan was a bit disappointed that I had to use the directions on the back of the spaghetti pack the other night.  Cooking is still survival, but we are learning.  Fried rice is becoming a staple, because we know how to run a rice cooker, put rice in a pan, and turn a dial.  Just recently we added some revolutionary lettuce and basil!  The Pastor will sometimes stop in and watch intently as we try and cook.  After my first egg rolled off the counter, I looked sheepishly at the pastor as I fetched another egg from the fridge.

“Just pour some kerosene around it and light it!” He suggested. 

We shared a laugh, which was a good distraction from my searing pan burning the rice.  We need a mom.

Freezing bananas

Fried rice is getting better...

Tonight our sink decided to join the cult of mysterium, just like our phone did.  Because of heavy rain all day, our sink and toilet water have a nice brown silt quality to them.  While washing dishes in the brackish water tonight, the faucet mysteriously stopped giving water.  This is extra mysterious when the water supply is gravity fed from a river up the mountain.  I backed away from the sink and sat on the couch for a while, talking about something probably super useless with Ryan and Tyler when all of a sudden the sink sputtered to life in the corner, merrily pouring water from its faucet.  “What is this witchcraft?” someone muttered.  In fact, just this moment as I am writing this I heard a strange sputter from the bathroom (A place where sputters aren’t usually good), and Ryan exclaiming some mild words of disgust directed towards the sink.

Finally the whole trio is here!  Tyler arrived neat and clean with a fragrant flower necklace, greeted by his fellow SM’s wearing sweaty tank tops, straw hats, and four days of beard.  His class of fourteen 1^st and 2^nd graders will also be a doozy.  Right now he is sitting at the table, eating out of the rice cooker and struggling about what he should call his blog. 

Tyler arrives! 

Peace from the tropics, and thanks for the care packages Mom and Haley!

-River

Tons of rain today