When I see little black bugs crawling all over the water seal toilet, I freak out.
I often amuse my host family by freaking out over the
various insects that like to invade my space (or my chocolate). You would think that after being here for
over a year I would be used to them by now.
Not quite. But I am well equipped
with a can of Raid to go after the little buggers.
 |
| Behold the toilet |
When I see my fellow PCVs all together in the same place, I
freak out.
M77’s Mid Service Training was held at the eco-friendly
Village Hotel. I slept on a water bed
under a mosquito net, housed in a thatched-roof bungalow. Volunteers from all over the Caroline Islands came back to rainy Pohnpei to reflect on
the first year of service and prepare for the next. Our training encompassed a variety of
subjects, including sexual assault and intervention, communication, and
content-based teaching. More important
than the training though, was the time in which we all bonded over our crazy experiences
navigating through Micronesian and Palauan culture. I am honored to serve with this incredible
group of people.
 |
| Coming in after the midnight flight |
When I watch my students flawlessly perform their skits, I
freak out.
This quarter has kept me and my students very busy. My freshmen practiced subject-verb agreement,
learned vocabulary words, read Micronesian legends, wrote about personal
memories in their journals, and created and executed skits based on both topics
I gave them and topics of their own choosing.
I was stunned at how well my students did in acting out their completely
English, completely memorized skits. My
goal was to give these students confidence in their ability to communicate in
English, and I think together we accomplished this.
My juniors embarked on reading adventures with Island of the Blue Dolphins, Call It Courage, and The Pearl. Thanks so much again to my family and friends
who sent me copies – they were much appreciated and fully used. They also learned vocabulary words, wrote
essays about different prompts, journaled about future dreams, and faced off in
engaging debates.
 |
| Some of my freshmen girls |
Not in a bad way, mind you.
My time in Pohnpei, especially at my site, has been absolutely wonderful
(if you can’t tell from my previous entries, hehe). I can only hope that I’ve given a little
something in return for all that’s been given to me. However, I know that without the support of
everyone back home I would not have been successful here. I can’t wait to see you all (especially my
newest family member) but don’t freak out if I start acting a bit strange!
 |
| Season’s Greetings from Pohnpei |
Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all!!
ReplyDeleteParental units can't help but beam with pride, our hearts pounding wildly, on realizing and watching how our "little" Janelle has grown,agonized,matured, SMILED!!! and what she has become ( and still evolving to be ..) since starting her Peace Corps Experience . We give glory and thanks to God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all His wonderful blessings!!!!
SEE YOU SOON!!!
Good morning how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favour:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Micronesia? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Micronesia in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and a original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com, where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely