Well the day has finally come (or is coming). I will be leaving on December 12 for Satawan! My host father is in Weno and has arranged for me to take the FSM Coast Guard Patrol Boat with him out to the Mortlocks. The ride will thus be faster and smoother than if I were taking one of the smaller fishing boats. Praise God!
At the present time, I am running around town buying supplies to take out, sending emails, sending mail, writing this blog, etc. The immediacy of this has given me a sudden burst of excitement about getting out there, but I am trying to pace myself because once on-island, things will be much s l o w e r...
Mortlocks HS, where I will teach, has sadly not begun their school year yet. The Chuuk Dept of Education's shipment of food was postponed to Satawan (for various reasons...) which delayed their start. Because students come to the HS from each of the several Mortlocks Islands, they have to stay with host families while they attend school. Part of the deal is that the state will provide lunchs to remove a burden from the families. No lunches = No school.
Thankfully, the HS just got solar panels which will allow for night classes. This, in addition to Saturday classes, will hopefully get us caught up and salvage some of the summer. We'll see!
I will be back in Weno in March for an in-service training of all volunteers for a few days. At that time, I will be able to give many updates about my first 2.5 months there. To everyone who has posted comments: thank you so much for you thoughts and prayers and well-wishes: I wish there were some way I could hit "reply" to your posts. I go with your support behind me!
PEACE and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Alex
13 comments:
You go Alex! We're praying for you and love you and know you'll do great things and meet even greater people!
Carl and Anna Stroud Gladstone!
Merry Christmas! Go forth and make disciples of all nations. You are the man Alex, talk soon buddy. Grace and peace.
- Seph
good luck man. I don't really accept the whole "there's no internet where I'll be" excuse for you not blogging and updating us all. You're smart, make some internet. Macgyver could do it.
Try not to get too impatient with the kids, that wasn't always your strong suit. I don't know how chuuk kids are but they probably are a lot better behaved then American/Swartz Creek kids so that'll probably help. And for Goodness sake if you see an exposed electrical wire, no matter how tempting it may be to do it, do not step on it. Especially in bare feet. (but especially Bart)
And as always... watch out for Polar Bears.
word verification: hailfol.
first half is obviously just hail but I'm not sure if the second half is pronounced fall or fole. all I know is whoever this fol guy is you should probably steer clear.
alright, Good luck, have a great time, spread some Word, go with God, we're all praying for you, etc...etc...etc...
Alex, I feel like it's goodby all over again! I'm looking forward to your blog in March. Have a wonderful Christmas and God Bless you in all you do! love, Terry
I thank God for you. I checked in again and he assures me (again) he knows the Mortlock islands like the back of his hand...something about having created them himself...I don't know...but you're in His hands and they are good ones!
You have been blessed to be a blessing. (Genesis 12:1).
We love you
Pat and Lu
I think Keith is right about the internet. If you just applied yourself I'm sure you could come up with something. Ginger and Marianne took turns riding the bike that powered the Professor's coconut radio. So make some friends!!
Terry's right. This is like goodbye all over again. Would you just hurry up and come home!
We love you,
Mom and Dad
oh my god please come back online. my last words to you can't be 'do you concentrate better with the tv on or off'
Kidding, you've swum shark island, you can make internet AND take over the federated states of micronesia!! (which, by the way, were an option in my grad school apps for my address - i really wanted to select it)
Miss you!
I promise not to get married. I love you.
Marc and Alex Fighting A Bee Or: Why I Miss Alex
Alex: Sequester it, sequester it!
Marc: Wait, have you tried imposing economic sanctions?
Alex: There will be heavy tariffs on all of your honeys!
ran anim, alex!
we wish the best. enjoy the islands and the people.
check www.micsem.org, there is a wealth of info on there about the islands.
Peace and merry christmas!
I MISSSSSSS YOUUUUU.
You still haven't made your own internet?
This is getting ridiculous, Alex. You need to get on that. I expect you to have an internet connection that you made using leaves and dead ants by tomorrow. And a new blog entry updating us with how you're doing by the day after that. Even though the fact that you have no internet means that you're not seeing this comment giving you a deadline of when you need to have a homemade internet connection.
No excuses.
the word verification for this is winter. Yeah I have no idea how I could turn that into a word. I'm not a miracle worker ok? get off my back!
Post a Comment