March Madness             March 12, 2003

It's raining!!! Yes, I know--that's something people usually don't get excited about around here, but right now, that is really good news. I guess every five years or something they get a drought around here, so they're apparently due for one this year (El Nino they call it--weather change) and it hasn't rained much in a while! Today it has been raining all day though, and I'm very glad. Monday I guess the big people decided to turn off the water to conserve some of it (kind of without warning!)--so Monday afternoon the water suddenly got shut off, and it didn't come on again until late that night. I was waiting for it to come on earlier in the evening after coming back from aerobics, so when the pipes started banging and the water started coming, I immediately jumped in the shower! Well, I got the shampoo in my hair...and then it shut off... for several hours! My roommates went and collected water from the tank by the shop and brought a bucket of it up to me--so I could finish my "shower." That was fun and interesting. All of us SM's were not excited about the prospect of that going on for the remaining two months of our stay here (though it does give you a real missionary feeling!), but so far it hasn't been turned off again, and the rain is a good sign. Pray that it doesn't stop again!

This week is the last week of this quarter. Wow. One more to go! And it's going to be a shorter one with spring break, the school fair, report card day, and one or two holidays thrown in there. That will be great for us teachers--having four day weeks, can't complain! School is going pretty well. My new student from Guam, Jamie, has left and won't be returning apparently. He never did his work and was getting into trouble for just not doing what he was supposed to, so I'm not exactly sorry to see him go. I do hope that he figures his life out sometime though... I got another new student this week though! From a Baptist school near here. His name is Sama and he's pretty big for a 7th grader! So far he is doing well--following directions and turning in assignments, so I'm glad to have him. My student that left for Hawaii way back before Christmas should be coming back any day now. Can't wait to see her, she's such a sweety. So it'll be back to 23 students--it's been quite an experience going back and forth with everyone. So much for consistency. Hey, it's Pohnpei.

Shayna Clifford, Brad's sister, left this last Saturday after spending about 12 days with us. It was really nice having her here so I was pretty sad to see her leave. And watching her get on the airplane made me a little homesick... planes just tend to do that to me! I would gladly have gotten on that one and headed home with her, but it's not much longer here, and it's not that it's been bad or anything--just being away from home, friends, and family for such a long time takes its toll! I have to resist the urge to count the days and weeks every morning I get up and every night before I go to bed. It's hard to explain to people why I'm so eager to go--they always ask why? Don't you like it here? And I do! I love it here, this island is beautiful and the people are great, but you just can't beat home sweet home and all the familiar things that you're used to... Guess I'm realizing how "Americanized" I really am! I think I will definitely appreciate things a lot more when I get home--like cereal that is less than $6, fresh fruit and vegetables whenever I want them, taco bell, dairy queen (ha ha), carpeting, air conditioning, my car, etc. Mr. Benjamin kind of got us all thinking the other day in our staff meeting when he was talking about how little time we have left--he was saying that in just a couple of months we could go back to our fancy cars and our cell phones and forget all about Pohnpei... Ouch... He was just trying to motivate us to keep going and do the best we can do, and not to give up on things because it was the end, but I sat there and thought about that for a minute. I will get to go back to all that's normal to me, and who knows when I will get back out here. I just have to keep going and give it all I've got. It's very hard when I'm so tired of teaching. My kids just have to keep reminding me of how much I'm going to miss them, and then I shake my head, put a smile on my face, and put some energy back into my job.

This last Sabbath was potluck at the Kolonia church--yum! Having Shayna here for it was pretty funny. She sat there looking at all the food covering about three or four tables and then looked at me for help. She was supposed to go first as a guest, but she was a little scared about all the strange food, so she wanted me to tell her what was good. I just laughed and then pointed out some of the dishes that we all like a lot--roti, some fried fish, banana pancakes, noodles with egg and small veggies, pineapple, etc. She managed. What really cracked me up was that later that day, after eating a big plate, she commented that our potlucks were "bigger than Thanksgiving dinner at home!!" And I guess it's true! Food is pretty important to these people, so any time there's a party, potluck, or funeral (those are big here) there is food aplenty. Maybe that's why all the girls that come out here gain weight?! :OP

Sunday was spent doing spring cleaning in our apartments! Wow, I haven't done that such serious cleaning in a while. We spent a good 5 hours scrubbing cupboards, dusting furniture, washing showers, cleaning out drawers, and scrubbing the main floor on our hands and knees with bleach and water! This place needed a good cleaning and it looks great now, but it was a pretty big chore. They want everything really clean for the evaluation team that is coming in April, so we might even have to clean again before they get here. Argh.

Well I have a couple of pictures that I wanted to send. While Shayna was here a group of us climbed up Sokehs Rock to watch the sun set. Sokehs is a pretty good hike, so we were pretty tired and all when we got back down (we had to hike down in the dark--it was a little bit treacherous but nobody got hurt)--we took a group shot at the base before we started and when we were done. The one here is before we started. Brad is on the left, Shayna on the right, then Drew, and Albert. Picture two is of the sun as it was going down--it was really pretty just shining through the clouds. I'm sending two other pictures in another email--sorry, I just can't send files that are that big at one time, so I have to spread them out.

Well it's about time I started heading for bed. Please keep me and this school in your prayers!

In His service,

Lindsey

P.S. Two more pictures from Sokehs!

One is of the airport right after the sun was setting, and the second one is of our group at the base again after the climb!

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