School Prep

This morning we all woke up at around seven- thirty and started making breakfast for the day. Virginia came out of her room all panicked and goes get ready were supposed to be at the school. We were unaware that we were supposed to be at the school at 7:30 this morning and quickly got ready and packed our bags for the day. When we go outside one of the teachers was in the principals truck waiting to give us a ride. When we got to the school the principal apologized for failing to inform that we were supposed to be there at 7:30. She informed us that we had a staff meeting at 9:30 but we should start cleaning our rooms.

After opening the door to my classroom I realized that cleaning this would be quite a project. Most of the teachers had already cleaned their rooms because they had all week to do it. We also had very limited cleaning supplies. I had a bottle pine-sol and a stack of paper towels. The room was pretty dirty but slowly but surely it was getting cleaner. We met some missionaries our age on the island yesterday and they stopped by to help us clean. They were very helpful and it was nice to talk to people our age.

Our teachers meeting only took a couple of minutes but it was very informational. We got our class schedules and a list of students that we would be having for the year. I had a little bit of a panic attack when receiving my schedule because it said Samoan Studies. I was like how the heck am I supposed to teach Samoan Studies if I can’t even speak the language? The principal then stated that a teacher would come in during that period and we would have a prep. After that first shock I continued reading to find out I will be teaching music and health. I have no experience in teaching these subjects but I will give it my best effort! We also received our school supplies for the year. Due to limited funding we did not receive an abundance of items. We got a stack of colored paper, 5 sheets of tag board, couple highlighters and markers. I am going to have to get creative with the supplies that I have received.

In the afternoon I continued working on the classroom and hanging a few items on the wall to make it feel more like a classroom. After getting overwhelmed with everything I have to complete before Monday morning I decided I need to go for a run. I found a pretty cool trail to run on. It has a small side walk that you can follow that goes right next the ocean. After a little while it winds into the mountains where you are just surrounded by palm trees. It is very pretty and I have to run the trail twice in order to make the run long enough. The island is so small that it is hard to find a running path that is long enough! Never in my life did I think that I would have that problem. Nor did I ever think that my first teaching job would be a school located on Remote Island in the middle of the pacific.

Our nights at home here are a little different to the typical twenty two year old. By around nine at night we all head to bed for the day because we are so tired. I am lucky that both Virginia and Dana like reading just as much as I do. We spend most nights just listening to the ocean waves crash and reading our books. We plan on having a book exchange once we finish all our books so that way we don’t run out!

With Love,

Abby