Halloween Party

Sabbath was Halloween so we decided to have a Halloween/Birthday Party because Katrina was turning 20 years old. It was the most fun Saturday night we have had on this island.

Before hand I was sitting on the rocks talking to this local guy. He was really cool and it seems like it's the first time I've connected with a local who is my age since I've been here. Most of them have kids and a family (which don't always come together) and have to be so much older. This guy was probably 19 or 20, but he had graduated from high school. He told me all about his home island and how he grew up in Rita with gangs. One guy he knew got killed in a gang fight when someone knocked him down and then dropped a large rock on his head. Crazy stuff.

I was talking with this guy when Rob and Ben came out trying to figure something out for costumes for the party. Rob was wanting a grass skirt. The local guy said he knew how to make one. He tore a branch off a tree and wrapped it around and there there was the grass skirt. Ben grabbed one and Rob and Ben were primitive Marshallese in grass skirts.

Katrina came out wearing giant pink glasses and a transformers t-shirt, she was a nerd. Charity came out with face paint and a jersey as a football player. Mitch couldn't figure out what to do. I suggested him mess his hair up and carry a bottle in a bag as a wino. He came out with nothing and I ask him why. He said he didn't want to put out that image. Cameron came out in a giant afro wig. Shari was an angel with wings and pink and purple hair. Zac was a gangster rapper with a huge chain on his neck, grill made with tinfoil, jersey, and ipod speakers blairing rap music. Tony painted his face into a skull and wore a torn, black and white shirt. Finally, I borrowed a Moomoo from one of the girls, strapped a pillow to my butt, and stuffed clothes in my shirt for breasts.

With all these crazy characters we went wild. Ben and Rob danced around the fire yelling primitive grunts and noises. They played hot potato with a coal until in flew off into the rocks. Tony and Zac danced to Zac's ipod and I jumped in there and danced the girl parts with my huge pillow booty. They turned on Baby's Got Back and I was dancing while they smacked my butt and pointed. Right in the middle of that I looked up and the principal, Lenny, was there. He didn't seem to mind, but it was a crazy time for him to show up. Katrina loved grabbing my "boobs" and the girls couldn't stop laughing at my costume.

Then the girls got the cake and started singing Happy Birthday to Katrina. Someone grabbed some cake and started putting it on Katrina's face. She put cake on their face and it got wild again with everyone running around. We got out the pinyada and Katrina wacked at it with a blindfold until it burst and the candy came out. We told scary stories for awhile until everyone got throughly freaked out so we said a prayer and we felt better. Zac admitted to thinking about Halloween and demon possession right before leaving the AV Room one night. It was late and he was alone. He got outside and got scared so he ran all the way back to his apartment. It was kinda funny to think of him running across campus because he was scared.

After that we all jumped in the ocean. The tide was low and it was a moonlit night. We swam in the tidal pools for awhile and then took showers. After that some of us played games in the AV Room until late. It was the best Saturday night so far.

Parent Teacher Conferences

I haven't written in my blog for awhile because not a lot has happened. Thursday was report card day and parent teacher conferences. It went surprisingly well. We didn't expect many people to show up, but more than half the parents in most classes came.

We got off school at noon so we would have time to get ready. It was nice to have a half-day and the kids enjoyed it too. After school we had a few hours to relax and ready everything. At 4 pm the parents started showing up. Since Marshallese time is considerably laid back, I was surprised when two parents showed up 10-15 minutes after. It was really nice to spend some time talking with them. One of my kids is "special" and I found out it is because he had some high fevers when he was little and the doctors said it messed up a nerve in his brain or something. It was nice to spend some time talking with the parents. They spoke much better English than I thought they would.

The three hours actually went by a lot more quickly than I thought they would. It was partially due to the fact we were watching a movie when the parents weren't there. I had two students helping me out with checking off parents. The principal told us to do that, but next time I won't bother. It was just as easy for me to do it myself. All in all it went really well and I had 14 kids parents represented out of 21. One or two came for two kids, so it was 12 or 13 parents.

Stressful Week, Oct. 16th

Today is the last day of the first quarter. I can't believe I am 25% through the year. It has flown by. This week was very, very, busy due to a ton of tests. We are all trying to get the last stuff in before the deadline. Sunday and next week we'll have to grade everything and get the grades done. I'm a little nervous, but I think they students should do ok with their grade. I calculated Bible and only one guy is failing who has been here the whole time. It 100% his fault. On the bright side, he has started trying of late and got a couple Cs on tests, which is a huge improvement from the 20% stuff he used to come in with. I still have one guy that get's those grades. Today he got 3 out of 24 points on a test. The other problem is he has missed weeks of class. Honestly, he doesn't learn much more in class than if he sits at home. He just sits and stares into space or sleeps in my class. I try not to let him do that.

All week the surf has been really small and choppy. On top of that, the tides have been off for us to go out. Suddenly, on Thursday it was firing again. I looked out at 2:00, an hour before school is over, and one teacher and one sub/maintenance guy are already out there. I had to stay with my kids because that day Katrina didn't give art because she was busy covering for one of the guys out surfing. It was killing me until I could finally get out there.

I paddled out and got really lucky with a lull right when I went out. The sets were HUGE and barreling nicely. I have two pictures on Facebook that show how big the waves and tubes were that day. It was crazy. I only took off on one wave. I stayed too high because Dameon was right there and I didn't want to hit him. Later he said he was waiting to see what I would do and told me to come right for him next time. He's really good at duck diving. I didn't even think about who was there, I was just trying to survive. I made it a little ways and got pitched over the lip, went down almost to the reef, and tumbled in the "washing machine." Fortunately, it was really deep and I didn't hit the reef, but I got held down about 20 seconds. Despite all this, I the sickest surfing picture of my life. It's on Facebook. Right now it's my background for my computer. Everytime I look at it I have to stop and just shake my head. It's clear the wave is double over head, or about 12 feet tall, and I'm under the lip, but really high. So sick.

This morning I brought my computer to class and showed all my kids the pictures. They were super stoked about it. After the three tests today, we opened the letters from my mother's 6th grade class. They liked them a lot and wrote some letters back. That was really cool. It's so nice to have Friday and after that Sabbath.

It's a Miracle! Oct. 8th

Ben found my camera today! After a week bouncing around on the reef it was still there! Cameron, Ben and I prayed about it and I really believe it is a miracle we found it. On the downside, it doesn't seem to work to take pictures. The lens cover doesn't want to open. Still, all is not lost. First, we have a good battery and 8 gig micro SD card in it that are just fine. Plus, I've heard that the company will replace it if there is water damage. It's great we were able to find it.

Today was an epic surf day. The waves ranged from head and a half to a couple triple overhead sets. That's 15 foot faces. Dameon dropped in one one of those. I couldn't believe my eyes. Everyone was duck diving to try not to get sucked up and he's going the other way trying to catch it. Dameon got several epic rides. I posted a picture of him in a tube on facebook. It's amazing. I've pulled into those a bunch of times, but have only gotten to ride in it once. You have to be in the right place at the right time and be pretty good to stay in it. He's got his hand stuck in the wave to slow him down so he can stay in the tube and not ride out of it. That picture was from the day we lost the camera, a week ago.

Today I made some sweet drops and pulls into some really clean, overhead waves. It was really nice. I also went over the falls on one that was probably double overhead. I don't know how I didn't hit the reef because I was riding the lip down without my board. God protected me. When I popped up from that wave Dameon was trying to drop in on a wave. He was way late and got pitched from the lip. He almost landed on top of me. I duck dived deep. It was all I could do. I rarely get pitched because I err on the cautious side and pull out if I don't think I can make the drop. From a surfer point of view, I need to start trying those hard drops. On the other hand, Dameon and Cameron hit the reef all the time pulling into those late waves and I kinda like staying off it. Cameron broke the tip of his board today. It is still attached, but it's really flappy. It's going to be a hard repair. It's a mess. He got caught in white wash. That same thing happened to me today and I barely held onto my board. The nose of mine hit the reef but it only nicked it. I'll put some reson on that and it'll be fine.

Crazy day, Sept 7

Today was Wednesday so we went to chapel as usual. Right before chapel their were passing around schedules for the high school. The only time it effects me is PE. I was talking it over with the Sub for 7th grade and we realized we couldn't take PE at 10:30 like we usually do on Wednesday. They changed the schedule around and we'd go right after chapel. I was a little frustrated because they keep changing things around. I'd just gotten it worked out to look after 7th grade from 10:30 to 11 along with my kids so Jon and Cameron wouldn't have a gap and leave 7th grade without someone to look after them. That didn't appear to be a problem today. I guess the change in schedule worked that out.

We got to PE and Zac, the Coach, was out sick so we had Dameon. We start into stretches and everything is fine. Then he starts to have them play soccer. The girls instantly run over to me and start getting all excited. I realize they are used to having a free day on Wednesday because we usually don't have a teacher. Thursday is free day. They are used to having two free days per week. I tell them that Dameon is the coach and they have to do what he says. I figure it'll be good for them to play something other than volleyball and basketball for a bit. The boys play first and it goes ok. They play a little handball because everyone out here disregards the rules of a sport and just does what they want. One kid from 7th grade spent the whole time running around the gym because he stayed in trouble with Dameon. When it was the girls turn they get out there and immediately start playing volleyball on the soccer court when Dameon throws it up to start the game. This pisses him off so he yells a bit and starts making them run laps. They get mad and start making a huge amount of noise and doing as little running as possible. The next class comes in early when the whole place is pandemonium. Boys are playing basketball, girls are running in circles, and there is no order at all. Dameon lines the guys up and us teachers take them off. He keeps the girls another 10 minutes and runs them about 20 laps around the gym. At one point two girls threw a cone up into the basketball hoop and got it stuck there. Dameon handed out a bunch of punishments and let them go.

On the way back to my class they were really angry and didn't want to do anything I said. I realized the whole day would be hell if I didn't gain control, and fast. When I got everyone in, I got everyone quiet and started into my talk. I told them, "I'm really disappointed in the way you girls acted this morning. I expected you to be much more mature than that." I used a real subdued voice and conveyed disappointment rather than anger. I knew that Dameon had been yelling at them all morning and if I yelled it would just make my day that much harder. I finished off by telling them I had a movie to watch for Social Studies, but if they didn't change the way they had been acting that I was going to call that off. They shaped right up. I had no problems with them after that.

In the afternoon we did speeches. I'm trying to get them used to speaking English clearly so that people can understand. Some of them were very hard to understand, but they made a real effort and I think it was a success. The girls did their speeches on how to cook various stuff. Several of them brought food to demonstrate and we all ate cake and donuts. Not a healthy time, but we had fun. It took the edge off their dislike for getting up in front of people and giving speeches.

Even though this day started out with the most chaos I've seen since I've been here, it ended quite well. In music class we sang Making Melodies. I was going to sit and just watch, but my girls called me out. Even though they were kidding and didn't think I'd do it, I stood up and did the motions because they asked me to and they loved it.

My Students, Oct 6th, 2009

I just wanted to share a little story about my students. They made me so happy. On Friday we had chapel. Rudy and the 9th grade lead out in it. They had a skit in which these freshman act like teachers. The crowd has to guess which teacher it is. They did things like saying "This is awesome" and everyone knew that was Rob because he says that all the time. Nicole's was particularly embarrassing because this girl walks by and everyone whistles at her. Nicole is known as the "hot" teacher. Then this kid goes walking by with this slouchy walk with his head down. I had already been tipped off that they were making fun of me, so I figured it was me. A bunch of the kids go, "That's him!" and point at me because they don't know my name. None of the teachers know where they got that slouchy walk from, but somehow they think it is how I walk. I was a little puzzled, but it didn't bother me too much.

Today, Monday, I was talking to one of the other teachers. They said that after chapel some of the 8th grade girls were crying. They asked them, "Why are you crying?" and the 8th graders responded that they were crying because they felt bad for Mr. Brannaka because people were making fun of him. They said, "He should be allowed to go home." The teachers asked, "You mean the kids should be sent home for making fun of him?" "No," They responded, "He should be allowed to go home so he can be happy."It really touched me that my kids care about me that much. The other teachers were like, "I wish my kids would cry for me. They must really like you." My girls are really sweet and I've been able to connect with them. I'm so glad I got 8th grade. Even though some of them cause trouble sometimes and I have to stay on top of them about being quiet and being on time, I feel like I must be making a difference if I've been able to connect with them like that. It's very encouraging.

Friday, Oct. 2

I had a good week, but there were some complications. On one hand, I got to go surfing almost every day and got some sweet rides there. Today I did a floater and an off the lip turn. The waves were smaller, but big enough to get some good speed. Once in awhile a huge set would come in. I pulled into one of those big ones going left. I made a sweet drop grabbing rail, stood up a little and went down the line. Right before it closed out I went over the back, hitting the lip. I didn't have enough speed and the timing was off to get air, but it was a sweet ride anyway. When I started I'd say the wave was overhead. Most of the way it was at least shoulder high. I'm working on my backhand style and it's starting to get better. I can feel my skill both ways improving and that's a good feeling. The complications I talked about is that Ben was using my camera to take surfing pics in the ocean yesterday like he always does. He loves doing that and he's getting really good at taking sweet pics. When he decided to go in he stuffed the camera in his pocket and body surfed in. When he got there it was missing. We thought we could find it because the reef has so many pockets and holes we figured it was trapped someplace or the string caught on some coral. We've been out 3 times with no luck. We're starting to loose hope. He offered to pay for it if we can't find it. We're both sick about loosing it. I used it all the time. Last week we went to Laura and I got some nice pics of that. I'm going to miss it until we can replace it.