What It's Like Right Now
Sometimes as I go through my days I think, “I should write a blog about this.” It happens a lot, but then the event gets lost in many other events, and by the time I have a chance to write, I don’t know what to choose. Should I write about my $4.00 visit to the hospital to get cough medicine? Should I write about our unforgettable church service, when we invited our students to church, and they filled it up, along with their parents a few weeks ago? Should I write about the really hard days and the really good days that combine to make one week? Or maybe how I went out to eat this morning at a cool restaurant that overlooked a little bay in Colonia. I could talk about how we have a few visitors from Southern for a couple weeks, and how one of them is working on a book about Kirsten. Yes, all this and much more have been a part of my recent history.
But I think I’ll say a few words about what it’s like to be winding down the school year. It makes me look at everything and everyone differently. The fact that I have to flush the toilet twice EVERY time almost isn’t annoying, and I am kind of fond of the old frying pan that doesn’t have a handle. The heat is semi-bearable during the day, and at night the breezes are heavenly. The stars twinkle brighter, the sunsets and sunrises more brilliant, and the flowers that kids bring me every day are more stunning. Taro is tolerable, bananas are still delicious, and coconuts make me smile when the boys deliver one they’ve harvested each evening. My students…well, they have their good days and bad days still, but their personalities are richer, and their smiles sweeter. Their laughter is funnier, and their conflicts seem less serious. Their stories are more interesting, and their pictures and gifts that they give me make me happier. Conversations with my fellow SM teacher friends are more meaningful, our prayers more sincere for each other. The times we share are more memorable, and there is a little bit of sadness in our voices when we talk about leaving soon. There is excitement too, but not without a little sigh, and a little turning around to see how far we’ve come.
That’s pretty much what it’s like, I guess.
But I think I’ll say a few words about what it’s like to be winding down the school year. It makes me look at everything and everyone differently. The fact that I have to flush the toilet twice EVERY time almost isn’t annoying, and I am kind of fond of the old frying pan that doesn’t have a handle. The heat is semi-bearable during the day, and at night the breezes are heavenly. The stars twinkle brighter, the sunsets and sunrises more brilliant, and the flowers that kids bring me every day are more stunning. Taro is tolerable, bananas are still delicious, and coconuts make me smile when the boys deliver one they’ve harvested each evening. My students…well, they have their good days and bad days still, but their personalities are richer, and their smiles sweeter. Their laughter is funnier, and their conflicts seem less serious. Their stories are more interesting, and their pictures and gifts that they give me make me happier. Conversations with my fellow SM teacher friends are more meaningful, our prayers more sincere for each other. The times we share are more memorable, and there is a little bit of sadness in our voices when we talk about leaving soon. There is excitement too, but not without a little sigh, and a little turning around to see how far we’ve come.
That’s pretty much what it’s like, I guess.
Wow, these months have gone fast. It seems like only yesterday we were walking the Greenway and talking about your decision to go to Yap. I am so proud of you! I would love to talk to the kids ten or fifteen years from now, to see what a difference your being with them these months made in their lives.
ReplyDelete(BTW, your postcard just arrived last week. Did you really send it in February?!?)
Thanks, Cathy. It does seem like it has gone really fast. I wrote your postcard in Feb. but didn't sent it til recently. :) Sorry about that, but glad you finally got it!
ReplyDeletebeautiful!
ReplyDelete