That was the caption on a student's shirt the other day -- a shirt that featured a roll of toilet paper. Teaching is going well! The students are hilarious but respectful and love being asked what they think, so things look good. Stories soon.
Someone made the irrefutable point the other day that if I'm to blog about all the free time I have here, I should spend some time blogging about what it's like here. So... here is what things are like.
Tuesday.
5:28 am -- Anticipate alarm going off in two minutes as your room lights up as the sun rises over the ocean between palm fronds right outside the window. Wish for 20/20 vision. Turn off the fan so that a. you have more incentive to get out of bed and b. the cold shower becomes more attractive.
5:30 -- Alarm goes off. Roosters are crowing. Silence the alarm. Roosters keep crowing. Wonder why they're still crowing -- you've already gotten out of bed. Realize they are roosters, not alarm clocks. Wander outside to plug in the water pump. The water pump is surrounded by a dozen or so hand-sized spiders keeping vigil from their webs. Almost appreciate your lack of 20/20 vision. Grab the section of PVC pipe on the ground to poke at the spider sitting on the plug, watch it scurry away. Plug in the water pump.
Shower, etc.
6-6:30ish -- Bike to school. Spend the first mile on a causeway with the Pacific sunrise to your right and the mountains to your left. Slow down, think about how beautiful it is, think about how you should take a photo except that you're on a bike but someday you'll take a photo. Turn left at the end of the causeway as you make your way into Tofol, the capital. Start to watch out for dogs. Turn the music up on your ipod because the dog barks are actually much scarier than the dogs themselves. Say hi to your students waiting for their bus. Keep going as you remember that this part always takes longer than you think it does. Bike past several small food kiosks and bakeries as they open for the day. Make sure that the music on your ipod isn't so loud that you can't hear cars passing you.
7-7:30ish -- Arrive at the high school! Lock up your bike, walk (gingerly; it's been raining all night and everything is slippery) up to your classroom on the third floor. This is particularly exciting because it is the only third floor on the island. The principal calls it "the sky." Only juniors and seniors have class on the third floor because it is too dangerous for the younger students to be up there. Go over the lesson plan for the day. Try to switch on the lights and fan, but realize there is no power just yet. Pull a skirt on over your pants, because women have to teach in skirts. Take your time walking back downstairs, cross a muddy field of high grass to the big plastic water catchman behind the high school. Pass by a series of catchmen attached to the high school that are unsafe for drinking (see postscript), say hi to whomever, go back to your classroom, wait for your students.
8:30 -- Students walk in, class begins, huzzah, etc. They sit there and learn things, maybe, and then leave.
1:40 -- School's out. Decide to search for papaya. Bike away from home for a while. Stop at a few stores. Ask for papaya. No papaya. Keep going. "Oh, you just missed one!" you are told. But this particular store owner grabs a big stick and crosses the street to his house, jabs at a papaya tree for a while, then hands you the fallen papaya (hooray!). He then tells informs you that you are obliged to keep shopping at his store, which is fine. Bike back valiant with papaya in tow.
2:30 -- Realize you are home and the day is done and it is 2:30. A good time to relax. Take a cold shower.
3:15 -- All done relaxing. Ride your bike to the super beautiful beach three miles north of your house. Plan to watch the sunset there and bike back.
3:50 -- Rainstorm. Which you should have anticipated, because it hasn't rained yet today. Also because of the clouds. Take shelter under a thatched roof by the beach. Wait for the rain to subside. Bike back. Savor the feeling of being cold.
4:30 -- Arrive back home. Cold shower. Read. Think about lesson planning for the next day, before realizing that you've already finished planning for the week. Write some letters. Think about the feasibility of having someone mail you vacuum-packed cheddar. Think about all the other things you'd like people to mail you. Stare out at the ocean.
5 -- Take a walk.
6 -- Spend a surprising amount of time watching the puppy chase a frog around your backyard. Play volleyball with the neighbors' kids. Think about dinner. Waste time online.
7 -- Dinner. Unplug the water pump, say goodnight to the spiders.
7:05 -- Skype, read, clean, etc.
8-9ish -- Go to bed
2 am -- Be woken up by the loudest thunder you've ever heard. Feel momentarily homesick. Attempt to switch on the lights. Realize the power is out. Resort to your flashlight. Realize there isn't much to look at. Fall back asleep, listening to the pounding of coconuts falling off their trees.
Wednesday
6 -- Wake up. Still raining. No power, no shower. Be glad that at least you don't have to plug in the water pump today. Start to walk to school. Think about how you should ask someone to mail you a rain jacket. Get offered a ride when you're halfway across the causeway. Engage in small talk with the benevolent driver. Comment on his flawless English. Learn that he lived in New York for ten years while he was the ambassador to the United Nations. Well, that is cool.
6:30 -- Get dropped off at school. Sit around and read for the next two hours.
8:30 -- Five out of 25 students show up to first period. The others are on the bus that is late. Give them a task to fill the time until the rest of the students show up at 9. Class is over at 9:15. Realize you forgot to change out of your pants. Oh well.
1:40 -- Walk over to the "electricity building" to buy "cash power" -- kilowatt hours for your house. Pass by the police station on your left and notice they've trimmed the grass outside their building to read KOSRAE POLICE STATION. Think about how this is an impressive task, given that there are only four police officers on the island, the chief of which is named Robin Hood, which shouldn't have anything to do with their landscaping abilities, but is a good fact nonetheless. Get cash power. Linger because the building is excellently air conditioned. Leave reluctantly.
2:20 -- You are still not home because you don't have your bike, although it is not raining anymore. Hear a truck slow down as it passes you and the driver yells, "Hey Sammy, want a ride?" (Your name can't be Sam here because Sam is a boy's name and a last name but not a girl's name. Samia is complicated, but Sammy is ok.) It is Nixon, the papaya man. Jump in the back of his pick-up truck (be thankful for pants). Ride home in style.
2:45 -- You're home, etc. Do what you did yesterday. Bake some cookies. Go on a rampage and kill some mosquitoes. Read, write, walk around, bike around, do yoga, take some cold showers, etc., etc., etc.
ps. a funny story about water (mom you can now stop reading):
The principal of the school is named Talutson Isaac. He is an excellent person, and always in the best of spirits. On the first day of school, he announced to us that the water in the catchmen was unsafe to drink, but not to worry: his brother, Isaac Isaac, is an excellent contamination specialist who would soon restore the integrity of the water.
Yesterday, my roommate Ben ran into said Isaac Isaac.
"Ben, nice to meet you. Do you know..... Rick?" Isaac asks. Rick is our field director here.
"Yes."
"Do you live with him?"
"No."
"Do you talk with him?"
"Sometimes."
"When you talk with him, tell him..... His water is very bad."
"Ok."
"Very, very bad. Not safe to drink."
"Ok."
"Soooo much E. Coli!" (said with the same sort of surprise satisfaction you would use to talk about the "sooo many stars" you saw on a particularly cloudless night, or the "sooo many people" who wished you happy birthday. sort of like that)
Actually, Ben hasn't told Rick yet. I should probably go do that.
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