Island Love: 2012

This first semester has not been easy. Teaching is a difficult job! I have SO much more appreciation and love for all the teachers I have had in the past thanks to this experience. Teachers are angels.
I did survive the first semester, though!!! And I am having a rewarding moment right now, so I decided to put it in my blog before the moment trails off into my past. :) I had some kids who did not perform well on their finals, but I had a lot who did!!!!! I also did a teaching unit on J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye with one of my sections of seniors. Their final was a big scrapbook that included illustrations, pictures, and lots of extra effort as well as a character analysis, symbol analysis, research paper on J.D. Salinger, direct quotations, MLA format (hard concept to teach these kids), and one other writing on anything from the novel that they wanted to write about. I was so worried that the kids wouldn't step up to the plate. I didn't really know what I would get as I watched them procrastinate and listen to J-Boog's "No Other Love" song instead of read and write about Holden Caulfield and Pency Prep!!! I was pleasantly surprised, though! Their scrapbooks were BEAUTIFUL!!!! They were well-written, creative, and fun to grade! :) I feel like if you expect a lot, you will get a lot. If you say, "Ugh, these kids have terrible English skills and never behave; they are all going to fail!!!" Then guess what? That is what you will get. So expect a lot. What's the worst that could happen? Of course not all of them gave me their best effort, but I got at least some (the majority!) of them caring about education, learning, and enjoying ENGLISH!!! That is success. And for this one moment I am just going to sit back and be proud and content. :)

Here are some of my students' final Catcher in the Rye scrapbook projects. I feel like a proud parent!!!!! :)

I like this cover a lot. "If a body meet a body comin through the rye..." If you have read the novel, you will understand!

On this day of class I had my shirt on backwards for the entire day, in front of about 90 students. OI! I don't think it was super noticeable, but there were definitely tag stitches in the front, not the back...

I also want to share one of my freshman's journal entries. I have been grading so many essays, exams, and journal entries the past few weeks that I almost sped through this entry, but I am so glad that I didn't. It made me feel really great. It is the small things that matter. <3 He was definitely giving more credit than I deserve, but it was very thoughtful of him. He is the same kid who once compared me to an ugly, mangy, hairless, homeless, injured, white stray dog that resides at Young Mart in Utulei. We were discussing the stray dog problem on island as I was trying to teach them how to write an argument essay. I asked them if they had seen this sad dog at the Young Mart, and this kid said, "YES! Teacher!!! He looks like you!! He has no hair and is all WHITE!!!!!!!!" lol.... :)

Journal #27 topic: What are you really “passionate” about?

"I am very passionate about a loving, humble and a fun teacher, “Jessica Ploen.” It’s because even though we are rowdy in the class, she always has a nice way of calming us down! When we ask her for help, she is always there to fill in the hole. This is the best teacher I ever had! She also plans educational activities yet fun for us to easily learn. She is also there to pick up those who are slacking and get him/her back on the track with everyone else! I just wish we could take her as a teacher for all periods! We are also not afraid of asking her because she always have that loving smile that shows how lovely she is. This must be the best of the best world teacher anyone could get! I know that she tries to put up with us because of our attitude and I don’t like it when we give her a hard time. I know that we think that she has all of the finest qualities a teacher should have but it doesn’t mean we should take advantage of it. Also, I had never seen her so mad for which most of my teachers are at most times! In all of the billions of teachers of the world, the number one of all is Jessica Ploen from Iowa without a doubt!!!"

Christmas Assembly!!!

Beautiful!!!

Who says Christmas trees have to be pine trees? My neighbors decorated this palm tree, and it is pretty sweet! The picture doesn't do it justice. My good camera broke. :( I dropped it in the ocean... so I just have my not-so- good camera left... which is better than nothing!!!

I took a trip to the outer islands of American Samoa over Thanksgiving break, and it was such a wonderful adventure! I can hardly express how amazing it was to be in this remote paradise with other wonderful volunteers celebrating a holiday. I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

There are three inhabited islands that make up the wonderful area of MANU'A. The islands are Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u. Getting out there was no easy task. The small Inter Island plane that goes out to Ta'u was down for about a month in October but got back up and running just in time! There is no set schedule for the plane, as is par for the course here in American Samoa. Schedules don't mean much even if they are "set." The boat goes out there maybe once every two weeks, but it is on no real schedule either and can be a difficult 8 hour ride from what I hear. Nonetheless, six of us Tutuila volunteers were incredibly persistent and determined, and it paid off! By some small miracle we made it out there to see the ten incredible, amazing, wonderful volunteers of Manu'a!!!

I was trying to think of a word to describe my stay in Manu'a. The best that I could come up with was REFRESHING. It is a very quiet and remote but gorgeous destination. It truly is paradise. It isn't completely untouched, but it is the purest place I have ever visited. I absolutely loved it. I did not brush my hair (forgot a hairbrush), use internet, pick up my cell phone, shave my legs (sorry, tmi), or think about work for five lovely, amaaaaaazing days. Instead, I sat on the beach with the refreshing ocean breeze in my hair and the sun on my skin and read a great book! It was so refreshing. I wish everyone could experience something like this.

So excited that we somehow managed to find a way to Manu'a!

Pago Pago Harbor in Tutuila from the plane

Aunu'u - This is a small island at the far east end of Tutuila. I have students who take a boat from there to Tutuila then a bus to Faga'itua each morning for school. I have also hiked around the entire island. It is beautiful!

OFU and OLOSEGA!!!

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but there is a bridge that connects Ofu to Olosega.

Mike pointed to the floor of the plane, and this is what I saw. I thought it was smoke!! But it was just clouds coming I guess. Phew!

Madeline and Jessie's house in Fitiuta!!!!

What did you notice about all three of these houses? They each have two front doors!!! They lead to the exact same place. There is no wall or anything separating them. Why? No one knows. :) Not all but most of the houses in Fitiuta are built like this. Jessie and Madeline live there and still aren't sure why this is the case. I asked my students if they knew, and they had no idea. It is a wonderful mystery!

Taking a picture of Mike taking a picture!

No one could tell my what the purpose of this incline on the side of the mountain is for either....?

Hermit crab! :)

Each of the three villages in Ta'u (the island I stayed on in Manu'a) have huge, beautiful churches! Jessie and Madeline often times go to church three times a week.

This is how we roll. Thank goodness for truck beds! :) Without them I would rarely ever get to my destination.

Jason's English classroom!!! Six of the twelve teachers at Manu'a h.s. are palagi (white) from what I understand.

Manu'a h.s.

They have a nice gym but no competition. They are the only high school on the island, and it would be incredibly difficult for them to try to travel to Tutuila to compete, so they have no organized sports... :-/

The boxes represent the entire staff! It is kind of like the high school I went to. It may actually be slightly bigger. I think it has about 80 students, and I believe that Walnut High School had just under that when I graduated.

Garrett's backyard!!!!! SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!!!! :)

That is Olosega in the background!

Just chillin' in paradise on Thanksgiving! :)

beauty...

sunset

REUNITED with WONDERFULLLLLLLLL PEOPLE!

Up high! Down low. Too slow...

She was using my camera to take pictures but then got in trouble and had to give it back.

Special, SPECIAL thanks to my dear sister for sending me Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix. It was SOOOOO good!!!

I went to one of the most remote places on earth, and what did I make sure to bring with me??? Items to bake SWEETS of course!!! If you know me, you know I will find a way to bake sweets no matter the circumstances. :D It was so worth it! I had to bake the cake in a loaf pan because that was the only pan we had. It took longer because I could only do one batch at a time. I had to make a few improvisations, but it worked out well!

The finished product! Messy but good! I even brought chocolate chips with me, which are expensive and hard to come by at times. They were necessary, though! :)

Deciding our Thanksgiving Plan of Action!

I love this picture!

Jacquie and her potato buds!!! :)

I also brought a 13.5 lb turkey with me in my suitcase all the way from KS Mart in Tafuna, Tutuila to Faleasao, Manu'a. This was my first time making a turkey. It turned out pretty well, though. I was impressed, and it was really nice to enjoy it with everyone!!! Mike did a wonderful job carving the turkey as well!! The whole meal was a true team effort.

WHOOOOOO THANKSGIVING SUPPER!!!!

On this trip I realized how incredibly lucky I am to be doing what I am doing with such SMART, CARING, and ABSOLUTELY AMAZING people. I truly admire all the volunteers out here and feel so blessed to be surrounded by them. <3

This was one of my favorite moments of the trip... enjoying food with great people is what I was raised to do. :D

Pretty impressive plate of Thanksgiving food for being so far from so much... :)

This is how I feel about my life right now: half of me is my normal palagi self (my left half clearly), and half of me is a bright pink Samoan flower. haha

Off to the Ta'u wharf. Ta'u is the name of the island but also the name of one of the villages.
Ta'u, Ta'u, Manu'a, American Samoa, Polynesia

Faleasao from above.. Diana, Jacquie, and Jason live at the opposite end in a LOVELY little house right by the ocean. We celebrated Thanksgiving at their place.

<3 <3 <3

Mike's impressive dive!

Karla's SUPER impressive and graceful descent into the ocean!

And then there's me....

Thanks for the awesome nail polish, sister!!!!!! :D

Untouched.

I like this picture a lot.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNSET I HAVE EVER SEEN........ except an Iowa sunset over an open cornfield of course.

IN LOVE

The next day we went on a hike to Secret Beach with the amazing Jason as our wonderful guide!!

THIS is how I spent my Black Friday..... Oi, I'm already worried about adjusting back to life in the states..... it's still a long ways off, but my life here is very different from what it was in Omaha...

Getting ready for the Siva dance!!! (sorryyyy my finger got in the way)

I really like this puletasi pic!!! :D Thanks to Jacquie for letting me wear her lovely puletasi to the SIVA!!! I don't have more pictures of the siva, but it was a really great time spent dancing with lots of energetic little ones, and Diana was the hit of the party! She can do a siva dance like a true Samoan!!!

A true island boy!

Do you see the boat distance.....?

All the kids in this village were really cute and fun! This is all I really remember, though, "HEY! WHAT'S YOUR NAME????" (even after I had told them maybe 50 times what my name was. I didn't mind, though; they were so cute, and I loved talking to them.) At the siva dance about three of the girls told me that they knew I was a Samoan, not a palagi!! I asked them how they knew this? (I have gotten darker here, but I didn't realize I was Samoan already!) They just pointed to my lips. I guess I have Samoan lips??? lol

I was impressed with how long his eyelashes are! :) I wish I had them to protect my eyes from the sun!

THE BOAT IS COMING!!!!! The boat only comes about every two weeks at the most to bring supplies, so it is a BIG deal when it can be spotted off in the distance!!