6:00 AM – I wake up, take a shower (in the “shower house” if we have running water that particular day, otherwise in the river), and eat breakfast (usually rice and fish).
7:30 AM – I get a ride to school with six of my host siblings (all six of them squeeze into the back seat – they’re little… and Pohnpei doesn’t really have any safety laws). My village is the farthest from the school, so it’s about an hour-long walk. I wouldn’t mind the walk except it’s hilly and like 100 degrees here. I’m very fortunate to have a ride everyday, because most of the kids from my village have to walk.
8-9:15 – 6th grade Language Arts class! I have 39 adorable 6th graders. Most of them really struggle with basic reading comprehension, so we’re working at a very low level. We do lots of goofy stuff like reading aloud in silly voices and playing Simon Says. It’s a very giggly class!
9:15-10:30 – 7th grade Language Arts class. This is my most challenging class. The textbook is way too difficult for their level, and there aren’t many other resources to substitute readings. Behavior is also an issue – I just can’t control those kids! On bad days, I’m almost in tears after trying to maintain control of the class for over an hour.
10:45-12 – 8th grade Language Arts class. This is always a fun class to teach because the kids always surprise me with their creativity and humorous approaches to assignments. They struggle with English like the rest of the students, but sometimes they just blow me away on their writing assignments.
Afternoon – I grade papers, plan lessons, organize the makeshift library, and goof off with the first and second graders (they only have school until noon, but the teachers’ children don’t have anywhere to go except my classroom).
3:30-5ish – I go home whenever I can find a ride.
Evenings – Life is very chill. I try to convince my family to let me help with chores, but I’m still not doing as much to help out as I’d like. I read, do crossword puzzles, play with my host nieces and nephews, “chat” with the family (they say something to me and I don’t understand it, so I respond with broken Pohnpeian that they don’t understand, and repeat – you can imagine the depth of our conversations, ha ha). On Tuesdays and Thursdays I meet up with Tracy for Pohnpei language tutoring.
10 – Bedtime!
Weekends are really long. I go swimming, do my laundry, visit our family members throughout the village, etc. I meet up with the other Peace Corps volunteers the last weekend of every month, and two weeks ago I hung out with the World Teach volunteers. On Sundays we go to church (one weekend I unwittingly ended up at a 5-hour church service – not fun! But usually church is only one hour, thankfully) and usually go play bingo at a fundraiser in the afternoons. Pohnpeians love Bingo! It’s a good way to practice the numbers in Pohnpeian :)
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| Sporting our Sunday best |
By the way, I did some investigating about my host family tree, and I officially have 64 members of my family. No wonder I can’t remember everybody! My place in the family also makes me a great-aunt!
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| My fabulous nohno |
