Alli!
I am recovering from a cold right now. I had to miss school for the first time on Friday. I started losing my voice on Thursday, so my friend Caitlin had to take over my class after recess and it got worse so she subbed for me on Friday while I stayed home and rested. When she got home from school, she told me that one of my students, Odanges, started crying in class because she thought I went back to America. That broke my heart. It made me think about the day I leave, which is not for another 9 months, but that day is gonna be so hard! Today, during class, she drew a broken heart on the board and said that was her heart when I wasn't there and she said that she couldn't do the monkey bars when I wasn't there because she's only strong when I am there. It was so cute, but so sad. I was so excited to be back with my students today, I missed them. They were really noisy though, so I'm kind of losing my voice again. I'm hoping I'll be okay to teach tomorrow.
Last weekend we went on a staff retreat to an island called Ngemelis. Oh man, it was beautiful! On the boat ride there, I saw every shade of blue in the water. It was a very bumpy boat ride, and I felt nauseous at one point, but I was just focused on the beauty of everything around me. When we got to the island, I couldn't believe I was actually there. The sand was white, and course, which kind of hurt my feet, but I didn’t care. Everywhere I looked I saw sand dollars! I collected a lot of them, of course. We slept in hammocks the two nights we were there. I put my hammock between two coconut trees above the sand. At night time the waves came out below my hammock. The sound of the waves were so loud at night, but they put me to sleep. The first night, I woke up in the middle of the night and the moon was so big and bright it lit up the water and it was wonderful. I also woke up when the sun was rising and the sky was a neon orange color that I had never seen before. After breakfast, my friend Alexis and I put a tarp out on the shore and read our bibles for a while. It was so nice. Saturday afternoon we walked to another island through the water when the tide was low. At the top of the island there was an old police station, which we climbed a lot of stairs to get to, but the view was worth it. We left the island on Sunday afternoon. The first stop we made was the big drop off. The waves were very strong and I was scared, so I decided to use a life jacket. I put it on and jumped into the water. I depended on the waves to push me to the drop off. I had tried swimming, but got nowhere. I was hoping to see a shark and a sea turtle, but I didn’t, unfortunately. I saw the most fish I had ever seen and there were so many different kinds! It was awesome! We were only there for a little while because we had somewhere else to go, Jellyfish Lake! I was SO excited! I was so happy when I saw my first jellyfish. The farther I swam out, the more jellyfish there were. I was in awe. They are such beautiful creatures! It felt like a dream. One of them actually stung me above my lip. It didn’t really hurt, but I felt it. It reminded me of the scene in Finding Nemo where Dory says, “I shall call you Squishy and you shall be mine” then she touches the jellyfish and it stings her lol I was so sad when it was time to leave.
The next day, Monday, we didn't have school. Labor day is observed here, too! We went to our first birthday party that day. The house it was at has the ocean right behind it. You can jump into the ocean from the balcony, which many of us did. They also had a trampoline in the water, which was really cool! They have a fruit here called rombutan (I have no idea how to spell it), which is red and has spikes around it. You crack it open and there’s something that looks like an eyeball in there, which is what you eat. It looks weird, but it’s really good! I don’t even know how many I ate at the party lol We all had a great time! The next day we had school and I was exhausted from the weekend, but I was excited to be with my students again. On Wednesday it was our principal's birthday. We are so blessed to have such an awesome principle! He's not just our principal, but our friend, too. We didn't do anything big for him that day because we were going to throw a party for him the next night. I had my students make birthday cards for him on Wednesday, they were so cute:) On Wednesday night, we all showed up at his house with cupcakes and just hung out. On Thursday night, we threw a surprise party for him and watched his favorite movie, Nacho Libre lol it was fun! but I ate too much!
On Saturday we went to a different church, which I really liked. It was a really small church, unlike the one we usually go to. At this church we take off our shoes and leave them at the entrance. There isn't really any youth at this church; it's mostly older people and some children. They were all so kind and welcoming. At this church they have the sermon first, then Sabbath school after, which was weird, but I liked it. After Sabbath school we had potluck. The food was so good! I loved this church because it was surrounded by trees and you could see the ocean from the window. On Sunday we began our first diving certification class. When I got to Palau I was debating whether I should dive or not because it's pretty expensive and I'm kind of scared, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't do it, so I decided to do it. We were in class from 8 am until about 4 pm! We went over a lot of information! Next Sunday we are going to get in the water and practice some of the stuff we learned. I'm a little nervous, but excited! I can't wait for our first dive!
As much as I love it here, I still get homesick. I miss some things I never thought I would! I miss my family, my friends, and Johans SO much! This is harder than I thought, but "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
I hope you are all doing well!
Sorry for the super long post, again! Thank you for taking the time to read it<3
-Jessica
I am recovering from a cold right now. I had to miss school for the first time on Friday. I started losing my voice on Thursday, so my friend Caitlin had to take over my class after recess and it got worse so she subbed for me on Friday while I stayed home and rested. When she got home from school, she told me that one of my students, Odanges, started crying in class because she thought I went back to America. That broke my heart. It made me think about the day I leave, which is not for another 9 months, but that day is gonna be so hard! Today, during class, she drew a broken heart on the board and said that was her heart when I wasn't there and she said that she couldn't do the monkey bars when I wasn't there because she's only strong when I am there. It was so cute, but so sad. I was so excited to be back with my students today, I missed them. They were really noisy though, so I'm kind of losing my voice again. I'm hoping I'll be okay to teach tomorrow.
Last weekend we went on a staff retreat to an island called Ngemelis. Oh man, it was beautiful! On the boat ride there, I saw every shade of blue in the water. It was a very bumpy boat ride, and I felt nauseous at one point, but I was just focused on the beauty of everything around me. When we got to the island, I couldn't believe I was actually there. The sand was white, and course, which kind of hurt my feet, but I didn’t care. Everywhere I looked I saw sand dollars! I collected a lot of them, of course. We slept in hammocks the two nights we were there. I put my hammock between two coconut trees above the sand. At night time the waves came out below my hammock. The sound of the waves were so loud at night, but they put me to sleep. The first night, I woke up in the middle of the night and the moon was so big and bright it lit up the water and it was wonderful. I also woke up when the sun was rising and the sky was a neon orange color that I had never seen before. After breakfast, my friend Alexis and I put a tarp out on the shore and read our bibles for a while. It was so nice. Saturday afternoon we walked to another island through the water when the tide was low. At the top of the island there was an old police station, which we climbed a lot of stairs to get to, but the view was worth it. We left the island on Sunday afternoon. The first stop we made was the big drop off. The waves were very strong and I was scared, so I decided to use a life jacket. I put it on and jumped into the water. I depended on the waves to push me to the drop off. I had tried swimming, but got nowhere. I was hoping to see a shark and a sea turtle, but I didn’t, unfortunately. I saw the most fish I had ever seen and there were so many different kinds! It was awesome! We were only there for a little while because we had somewhere else to go, Jellyfish Lake! I was SO excited! I was so happy when I saw my first jellyfish. The farther I swam out, the more jellyfish there were. I was in awe. They are such beautiful creatures! It felt like a dream. One of them actually stung me above my lip. It didn’t really hurt, but I felt it. It reminded me of the scene in Finding Nemo where Dory says, “I shall call you Squishy and you shall be mine” then she touches the jellyfish and it stings her lol I was so sad when it was time to leave.
The next day, Monday, we didn't have school. Labor day is observed here, too! We went to our first birthday party that day. The house it was at has the ocean right behind it. You can jump into the ocean from the balcony, which many of us did. They also had a trampoline in the water, which was really cool! They have a fruit here called rombutan (I have no idea how to spell it), which is red and has spikes around it. You crack it open and there’s something that looks like an eyeball in there, which is what you eat. It looks weird, but it’s really good! I don’t even know how many I ate at the party lol We all had a great time! The next day we had school and I was exhausted from the weekend, but I was excited to be with my students again. On Wednesday it was our principal's birthday. We are so blessed to have such an awesome principle! He's not just our principal, but our friend, too. We didn't do anything big for him that day because we were going to throw a party for him the next night. I had my students make birthday cards for him on Wednesday, they were so cute:) On Wednesday night, we all showed up at his house with cupcakes and just hung out. On Thursday night, we threw a surprise party for him and watched his favorite movie, Nacho Libre lol it was fun! but I ate too much!
On Saturday we went to a different church, which I really liked. It was a really small church, unlike the one we usually go to. At this church we take off our shoes and leave them at the entrance. There isn't really any youth at this church; it's mostly older people and some children. They were all so kind and welcoming. At this church they have the sermon first, then Sabbath school after, which was weird, but I liked it. After Sabbath school we had potluck. The food was so good! I loved this church because it was surrounded by trees and you could see the ocean from the window. On Sunday we began our first diving certification class. When I got to Palau I was debating whether I should dive or not because it's pretty expensive and I'm kind of scared, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't do it, so I decided to do it. We were in class from 8 am until about 4 pm! We went over a lot of information! Next Sunday we are going to get in the water and practice some of the stuff we learned. I'm a little nervous, but excited! I can't wait for our first dive!
As much as I love it here, I still get homesick. I miss some things I never thought I would! I miss my family, my friends, and Johans SO much! This is harder than I thought, but "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
I hope you are all doing well!
Sorry for the super long post, again! Thank you for taking the time to read it<3
-Jessica