Greetings!
Saturday came and went but with no mail. What a sad day it was! That's not to say I didn't have mail it's just that my mail didn't make it on the plane.
Today I went with Bona to some church event that I don't quite understand but this is what I saw. About 12 women came & brought some food. After almost an hour of talking they started to divide the food. Keep in mind that I thought we were definitely waiting for people by the amount of food that was there but oh was I wrong. I imagine the hour of chatting was everyone catching up with the most recent gossip before they began the feast. We had chicken, fish, donuts, rice, rice balls. and coconuts. I was really excited to have chicken because I do love chicken & haven't had any for quite a while, but what a different experience eating chicken in Kaben is from in Utah. First, they, of course, serve whole chickens, then they chop the chicken in half and leave it up to you to decide what to eat. Let me say, I have always been served to much food, and a half of a chicken is too much food alone, not to mention everything else they gave me. So I picked at my chicken & ate a good amount of the breast & decided I better eat some of the other food as well. The ladies are very good at getting every last bit of meat off those bones. I was amazed. I moved on to my rice ball which I liked except it was very sweet. The rice tasted like rice & the coconut like coconut so no surprises there. Also, of course I liked the donuts! :) They dip their donuts in water, tea, or coffee (whichever one they are drinking at the time) and I can't get myself to try that one. Maybe in 7 months. The bwiro, now that was an adventure. It's made from old, dried breadfruit, then wrapped in pandarus leaves and cooked on coals. It comes out as a pseudo pudding but with a more solid consistency. It was weird and I wasn't the biggest fan, but oh well. This entire meal was eaten on the ground under some coconut trees, on lids to pans & with our hands! I was given enough food to feed me for 4 days so I took my leftovers to my neighbors so they could enjoy! Now I have about 2 more hours till I go to church again & nothing to do. I even did my lesson plans yesterday so I can't even do those! I guess I'll read.
love Heidi
Friday, October 30, 2009
sorry for the long delay to update blog
Hi Everyone
I didn't realize that I hadn't posted her letters that we got on the 7th of Oct. I will update the blog with that info first, and then we got mail on the 26th of Oct.
I didn't realize that I hadn't posted her letters that we got on the 7th of Oct. I will update the blog with that info first, and then we got mail on the 26th of Oct.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
An email Heidi was able to send Friday Sept 25
Just thought I would share this email with everyone. It made me very sad to read and to know she hasn't got mail for 4 weeks.
Hi mom! These very nice yachtys stopped at Kaben and I'm on their yacht right now getting to say hi so don't reply to this cause they will be long gone from Kaben. Things are good here. I've had some REALLY hard days, but also some great ones. No planes or boats for 4 weeks has been tough but I should be sending my mail tomorrow on a plane. I miss everyone so much! Life here is hard but I'm surviving. I'm being taken care of so don't worry about that! I think about home all the time and miss it desperately but sometimes I get so wrapped up in this wonderful place that I forget I'm homesick. Those are the best days. Keep in mind when you read my mail that I usually write on bad days.
Today was a good day though! I got to eat chocolate chip cookies, drink clean, cold water, have bread with jam, and I'm getting ready to eat dinner on the yacht. We are having corn on the cob and sausage! I'm mostly just excited about the corn on the cob, oh and green beans!!! I can't wait to here from everyone and I can't wait for you to get my mail. I've definitely started my countdown and look forward to coming home already!
I also got to talk to Cornelia on the radio for the first time in 4 weeks today. It was the best treat and it was a reminder that I have friends out there to support me! It's been hard not having anyone to talk to.
Hi mom! These very nice yachtys stopped at Kaben and I'm on their yacht right now getting to say hi so don't reply to this cause they will be long gone from Kaben. Things are good here. I've had some REALLY hard days, but also some great ones. No planes or boats for 4 weeks has been tough but I should be sending my mail tomorrow on a plane. I miss everyone so much! Life here is hard but I'm surviving. I'm being taken care of so don't worry about that! I think about home all the time and miss it desperately but sometimes I get so wrapped up in this wonderful place that I forget I'm homesick. Those are the best days. Keep in mind when you read my mail that I usually write on bad days.
Today was a good day though! I got to eat chocolate chip cookies, drink clean, cold water, have bread with jam, and I'm getting ready to eat dinner on the yacht. We are having corn on the cob and sausage! I'm mostly just excited about the corn on the cob, oh and green beans!!! I can't wait to here from everyone and I can't wait for you to get my mail. I've definitely started my countdown and look forward to coming home already!
I also got to talk to Cornelia on the radio for the first time in 4 weeks today. It was the best treat and it was a reminder that I have friends out there to support me! It's been hard not having anyone to talk to.
Yokwe everyone!
This letter is dated Sept 3.
I have finished my first week of school which totaled one whole day! I feel like a true teacher from the islands; instead of an apple on my desk, I have a coconut! I am teaching English Language Arts and my current schedule goes like this:
8:30-9:15 ELA 7,8
9:15-10:00 ELA 6
10:00-10:45 ELA 4,5
10:45-11:00 RECESS! :)
11:00-11:45 ELA 8
11:45-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:45 ELA 7
1:45-2:30 ELA 6
2:30-3:15 ELA 5
I like my schedule well enough. It will be hard having to teach most of my students twice a day but I'll figure out a good system. The kids are really cute and excited to be at school so it helps the environment in the classroom. now keep in mind that there are only 2 teachers currently on Kaben (myself and Tortius, the Principal's husband) so not every student has class yet. most of the younger kids don't have class but you better believe they had pencils in hand & a few even had backpacks in tow & they sat outside the classroom all day & looked at books. Too cute!!
My 8th graders are better at English than I anticipated & I'm excited to work with them. My 6th and 7th graders won't be too bad either, but my 4th and 5th will be quite the challenge because they don't understand me/English! I'll figure it out.
Today for lunch I had rice & tuna and what a treat it was to not have to pick my meat off a bone! Granted the fresh fish tastes better but the presentation of the tuna was appreciated today.
I've found that bugs don't really bother me much anymore. I mean I'm not a fan but I don't react to them anymore. It was too much energy and work to react; now I just ignore them or kill them. Honestly, though there aren't many bugs here. Just flies, ants, a few spiders, mosquitoes, & cockroaches. Not to bad.
The little girls who live by me have started have started picking through my hair looking for lice. They seem quite disappointed every time because they don't find any!
Well, it's Thursday afternoon and I am being rushed off to church. Why didn't I think I know we went to church on Thursday? Don't worry, we go on Wednesdays, Thursdays and twice on Sundays! Good thing the meetings are short, maybe 30 minutes or so!
Much love, Island Girl
I have finished my first week of school which totaled one whole day! I feel like a true teacher from the islands; instead of an apple on my desk, I have a coconut! I am teaching English Language Arts and my current schedule goes like this:
8:30-9:15 ELA 7,8
9:15-10:00 ELA 6
10:00-10:45 ELA 4,5
10:45-11:00 RECESS! :)
11:00-11:45 ELA 8
11:45-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:45 ELA 7
1:45-2:30 ELA 6
2:30-3:15 ELA 5
I like my schedule well enough. It will be hard having to teach most of my students twice a day but I'll figure out a good system. The kids are really cute and excited to be at school so it helps the environment in the classroom. now keep in mind that there are only 2 teachers currently on Kaben (myself and Tortius, the Principal's husband) so not every student has class yet. most of the younger kids don't have class but you better believe they had pencils in hand & a few even had backpacks in tow & they sat outside the classroom all day & looked at books. Too cute!!
My 8th graders are better at English than I anticipated & I'm excited to work with them. My 6th and 7th graders won't be too bad either, but my 4th and 5th will be quite the challenge because they don't understand me/English! I'll figure it out.
Today for lunch I had rice & tuna and what a treat it was to not have to pick my meat off a bone! Granted the fresh fish tastes better but the presentation of the tuna was appreciated today.
I've found that bugs don't really bother me much anymore. I mean I'm not a fan but I don't react to them anymore. It was too much energy and work to react; now I just ignore them or kill them. Honestly, though there aren't many bugs here. Just flies, ants, a few spiders, mosquitoes, & cockroaches. Not to bad.
The little girls who live by me have started have started picking through my hair looking for lice. They seem quite disappointed every time because they don't find any!
Well, it's Thursday afternoon and I am being rushed off to church. Why didn't I think I know we went to church on Thursday? Don't worry, we go on Wednesdays, Thursdays and twice on Sundays! Good thing the meetings are short, maybe 30 minutes or so!
Much love, Island Girl
More from the letters
We haven't got any letters from Heidi since the ones that are dated Sept. 3. Here is some more for those letters.
She writes...here comes the biggest surprise of all. The food is delicious! I've yet to be given anything I didn't like. It took me a day or 2 to fully appreciate coconut milk but after 4 unappreciated coconuts and one very thirsty day, I finally drank a full coconut AND thought it was delicious! :) The good news is, there are plenty of coconuts as long as I can find someone to climb the tree to get it down-maybe I'll learn how to climb them. The fish is delicious as well, but I did have to have to get used to being given the whole fish ( much like the chicken on the cruise except head, eyes, fins, everything is there!!) I had to be shown how to eat it, but now I love it! I hope I get fish everyday now (although I know I won't, but someone in my family is good at fishing so I should get it often). Although the food is good, I don't usually eat as much as I'd like because they have a very different culture about eating. The adults eat first and the kids eat what's left. It is hard to watch but it's life here so I try to stop eating when it looks like there isn't going to be enough food and if I'm still hungry I grab a granola bar before I go to sleep. It works.
My neighbors are really nice. One of them, Boona, is helping me with my Marshallese (she speaks very limited English) and is an all around kind person who looks after me. The other neighbor is quiet but her kids are plenty loud. they come talk to me all the time & laugh when I don't understand. They frequently say, "konke ribelle" which means "because she's American." I catch that every time it's said. At least they understand!
She writes...here comes the biggest surprise of all. The food is delicious! I've yet to be given anything I didn't like. It took me a day or 2 to fully appreciate coconut milk but after 4 unappreciated coconuts and one very thirsty day, I finally drank a full coconut AND thought it was delicious! :) The good news is, there are plenty of coconuts as long as I can find someone to climb the tree to get it down-maybe I'll learn how to climb them. The fish is delicious as well, but I did have to have to get used to being given the whole fish ( much like the chicken on the cruise except head, eyes, fins, everything is there!!) I had to be shown how to eat it, but now I love it! I hope I get fish everyday now (although I know I won't, but someone in my family is good at fishing so I should get it often). Although the food is good, I don't usually eat as much as I'd like because they have a very different culture about eating. The adults eat first and the kids eat what's left. It is hard to watch but it's life here so I try to stop eating when it looks like there isn't going to be enough food and if I'm still hungry I grab a granola bar before I go to sleep. It works.
My neighbors are really nice. One of them, Boona, is helping me with my Marshallese (she speaks very limited English) and is an all around kind person who looks after me. The other neighbor is quiet but her kids are plenty loud. they come talk to me all the time & laugh when I don't understand. They frequently say, "konke ribelle" which means "because she's American." I catch that every time it's said. At least they understand!
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