February

February has come and gone, and time is flying on our little island. The weeks seem to pass so quickly, and the weekends go even quicker.
February was a very eventful month here. It has been full of sickness in the younger grades. First and second grade were hit hard. 3 of 5 teachers went down, including myself, and all of my kids have been out at some point over the last two weeks. I am still missing some this week, and I am hoping they return soon. It will be nice to have all the students back again. Some of them were sick for so long I forgot they were in my class.
I have been helping prepare 7 6th-8th graders for the National Spelling Bee. The Bee took place last Saturday night, and I was as nervous as the students were. Spelling Bees are surprisingly intense. I was proud of all of the students. They surpassed my expectations. Michael, an 8th grader, actually took second place. This qualifies him to represent Palau along with the first place winner in the Guam Spelling Bee. The winner of that Bee goes to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. I've been told that SDA made it to D.C. in years past. How cool would that be?
We are in the midst of furious preparations for the annual Creativity Fair. The fair takes place on March 11 and is the biggest school event next to the Christmas play. 2A is teaming up with Miss Dinah and 3A to do a skit about visiting the countries of the world. It will hopefully be slightly funny, and if nothing else highly informative. All the practice has the extra bonus of less grading and lesson planning.
My girls have become even more affectionate this past month. They love clinging to me and playing with my hair. They think is so pretty because it's 'gold'. I'm not sure what they see in it myself, since I rarely think about my hair other than washing it and throwing it into a ponytail. It is too hot to leave it down and too humid to try anything. Despite the heat and humidity, I usually have one of them hugging me while I grade their papers or watch them for recess. There is something very comforting about a little body hugging you.
My boys have become anything but affectionate, trying to assert their independence I guess. The phase is about finished now, but for awhile I was at my wit's end with all the 'you can't make me' attitudes.
We acquired a PE teacher, Coach Geoff (Jeff). We are all so excited to have a PE teacher again. The extra 30 minutes are so nice. And he has a lot more energy to put into each class then us after teaching the kids all day.
We have started doing vespers together as SMs every Friday night. It is awesome to meet with all the teachers, especially since we never see the teachers at PMA. The last Friday night was the girl's turn to make supper. We cooked up a ton of soup, and ate almost all of it. We chopped for over an hour, but it was well worth it.
I've been able to get out a lot this month despite getting sick. I went diving again and had a good time. I was also able to go on a day trip to the neighboring island of Kayangel. Its small, it took about an hour and a half to walk around. About 80 people live there, and it is so quiet and peaceful. One of the islanders 'invited us in' to his open-air shelter and gave us orange coconuts to eat. Coconut water is apparently great for curing headaches and replenishing nutrients, much like Gatorade actually. I don't know the truth of this statement though, since I can't stand the taste of coconut water. The orange coconut water was better, but most of the water is kind of bitter.
February was a hard month for the SMs. We are starting to get homesick, and our spirits are flagging. Luckily spring break is coming up, and I am excited that my parents are going to be able to come. It will be so nice to have them here. Spring Break come soon!