It has taken over two years and I wondered if I would ever make it to dive number 50, but I made it!!! My 50th dive was at a place called Troy's Coral Head in the middle of the Kwaj Lagoon. Troy's is known for having an abundance of sharks in a variety of species. On this particular day the sharks only numbered about 8, but there were gray reef, white tip, and a nurse shark. The white tips were resting in the sand and just chillin' like some villains.
The best part of the dive was a beautiful medium-sized sea turtle just snacking away on some coral. We were able to get just a couple feet away and watched him for about 10 minutes as he kept munching and every so often he would look up and check us out. I was in awe of his beauty and just couldn't take me eyes off him. What a spectacular sight it was!?! I feel so blessed to have been able to witness this creature in his natural habitat.
I have tried not to post too many dive posts, but already know that next week will be another dive related experience. On Sunday, I will be diving on Roi-Namur and seeing my first airplane (hopefully many) ever at the Airplane Graveyard up there. Thrilled can't describe how I feel about my dives this coming weekend.
This past week I also hit 30.5 years of life. I didn't celebrate my half birthday, but had quite an enjoyable night nonetheless. My 30th year of life is proving to be quite an amazing year and I am loving every minute of it. If 30 is this great, I can't wait to see what 31 brings!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Week 25: Cheesecake and New Friends (September 19-25)
Early in the week there was a dinner party to celebrate some dear friends who are moving far, far away to California. I jumped at the chance to make a yummy dessert that would be gluten free and a big hit with all. After looking at bunches of recipes, I settled on a cheesecake with a macadamia nut crust. It was scrumptious and many went back for seconds. I never realized how easy it was to make a cheesecake and can see myself making them for many other dinners and celebrations in the future. I have a couple tweaks to make, but over all would change very little.
This week I also flew to Roi for a W&D Girl's Night with KC, LC, and MJ. We flew up Saturday after work and returned late Sunday afternoon. It is funny how I build expectations and thoughts of how things will go in my head and then it is all thrown out the window and my expectations are exceeded. Us 4 girls, we like to think that we are an entertaining and fun bunch and that was confirmed this weekend. We started playing some card games and before we knew it had 4 new freinds from Roi that joined us for the fun and ended up in mass quantities of booze flowing. I know that you are thinking, wait didn't you and KC decided to go dry for 30 days, well we modified it to only cover Kwaj. We figured that since it was our challenge we could change the terms:) Well the night ended with me hanging out with one of our new friends for 12 hours. It has been a long time since I talked that long to someone that I just met, and it felt good to let the guard down, well not all the way down, but just a little.
This week I also flew to Roi for a W&D Girl's Night with KC, LC, and MJ. We flew up Saturday after work and returned late Sunday afternoon. It is funny how I build expectations and thoughts of how things will go in my head and then it is all thrown out the window and my expectations are exceeded. Us 4 girls, we like to think that we are an entertaining and fun bunch and that was confirmed this weekend. We started playing some card games and before we knew it had 4 new freinds from Roi that joined us for the fun and ended up in mass quantities of booze flowing. I know that you are thinking, wait didn't you and KC decided to go dry for 30 days, well we modified it to only cover Kwaj. We figured that since it was our challenge we could change the terms:) Well the night ended with me hanging out with one of our new friends for 12 hours. It has been a long time since I talked that long to someone that I just met, and it felt good to let the guard down, well not all the way down, but just a little.
Week 24: Coming in Second Place (Sept 12-18)
This week, was my first sailboat race, start to finish. I had tried to race earlier in the year, but the sail tore and we had to drop out. I was very excited to be on the second place boat out of 6 total boats. The sailing was slow and the winds were near dead, but we managed to pull it together and get across the finish line. In addition to just being on the boat, I had an active role in helping to pull and tighten lines and did more than I have ever done before to help out.
I was also given the honor of being at the helm and steering the boat for a little while. It made me realize how sensitive the boat is. The slightest little movement of the helm resulted in big movements of the boat. I can't wait for the next race!
I was also given the honor of being at the helm and steering the boat for a little while. It made me realize how sensitive the boat is. The slightest little movement of the helm resulted in big movements of the boat. I can't wait for the next race!
Week 23: Going Overboard (Sept 5-11)
I have been back on Kwaj for about a month and am looking back realizing how much I have overindulged since returning. I normally pride myself of maintaining a sense of composure and control, but with the ups and downs of the last month I have allowed myself to imbibe more than I would normally allow and even drinking on school nights. Well Saturday of this week there was a band at the Vet's Hall, one of two bars on island, and I ended up there with a crowd of friends. Throughout the evening they slowly trickled away, but I stayed on and hung out with the parents of several students. We danced, we drank, I even got a proposal from a Coast Guard fella just passing through. I was ready to go and then someone suggested that we head to the Snake Pit (the other bar on island). The night ended with me and 5 elementary school parents with a round of drinks and shots in front of us. I could only hang with them until about 2am and then ended up leaving them all still at the bar drinking away.
The next day I spent a fair amount of time pondering this scenario and how it would likely never happen anywhere else the world. I think back and can't picture myself in a Fort Collins bar with parents and drinks abounding. I think that is one of the reasons I LOVE life out here; it all overlaps and I have some of the strongest teacher-parent relationships because I am also friends with them.
I will say that the weekend led to a decision to go dry for 30 days. My friend KC and I have challenged each other to not drink for 30 days. I will keep you posted on my progress!
The next day I spent a fair amount of time pondering this scenario and how it would likely never happen anywhere else the world. I think back and can't picture myself in a Fort Collins bar with parents and drinks abounding. I think that is one of the reasons I LOVE life out here; it all overlaps and I have some of the strongest teacher-parent relationships because I am also friends with them.
I will say that the weekend led to a decision to go dry for 30 days. My friend KC and I have challenged each other to not drink for 30 days. I will keep you posted on my progress!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Week 22 (the encore): Ripped at the Seams (Aug 29 - Sept 4)
This week was a lot of justing getting back into the swing of school. It was the first full week back (last week was only 3 days with students) and it exhausted me!! I have spent endless amounts of time planning meaningful, useful computer lessons and I keep hoping that my students will find them exciting and useful. This is life at its current state, but has nothing to due with my new expereince for the week.
One night this week a friend showed up with stitches that he was suppose to go to the hospital to get out, but he forgot. He asked if anyone could remove them and I willingly volunteered. He had about 8 stitchs on his calf and using a pocketknife and tweezers carefully cut the knots of the end and unthreaded it. I was quite impressed by how easy it was and in the future would consider removing my own stitches if I ever need them. The procedure was pretty minor, other than when the patient screamed(jokingly) as I pulled up the first knot to cut it. I think I had a look of terror on my face and so he didn't do that again, although if he had I might have stabbed him and given him reason for a few more stitches.
One night this week a friend showed up with stitches that he was suppose to go to the hospital to get out, but he forgot. He asked if anyone could remove them and I willingly volunteered. He had about 8 stitchs on his calf and using a pocketknife and tweezers carefully cut the knots of the end and unthreaded it. I was quite impressed by how easy it was and in the future would consider removing my own stitches if I ever need them. The procedure was pretty minor, other than when the patient screamed(jokingly) as I pulled up the first knot to cut it. I think I had a look of terror on my face and so he didn't do that again, although if he had I might have stabbed him and given him reason for a few more stitches.
Week 22: Jobwa Stick Dancing and Giant Clams (August 29-Sept 4)
Giant Clams!! I am officially part of a weekly dive group and excited that I can rely on them to take me to places that I have never dove before. I am closing in on 50 dives. One would think I should have more after 2 years out here:(, but it isn't always easy to get into a regular dive group. I am glad that I have my 3 buddies and this week they took me to a coral head near Victor Buoy, it is a location known for its giant clams. We saw several that were 4+ feet across. They are just amazing creatures and I can never get enough of the brilliant colors they display as they are resting open waiting for a chance snack. (Just so you know, I can't pass up going by any size clam with out trying to make it snap shut, the same goes for getting Christmas Tree Worms to suck in to their holes!)
The island was blessed this week with the performance of the Marshallese Jobwa Stick Dance. The Jobwa Stick Dance can only be performed with the permission of the high chief. The local king, Imata(?) Kabua, gave permission for the performance to happen here on Kwaj. It was an amazing site to see these young men performing and young women chanting, while sticks were flying up on stage.
Here is some background info from Yokwe Online
As told by Iroij (Chief) Michael Kabua to Jan Waddell, Hourglass Reporter
Jobwa Stick Dance started in Ujae Atoll and it is a very old story. A man went to sleep and slept for a very long time. He had no food or water.
As he slept, he started to dream, and a group of nonieap, which are spirits you can’t see but can hear, came to the man and showed him the Jobwa Stick Dance.
The man woke, and when the people asked why he had slept so long, he told them about his dream and taught them the dance the nonieaps had shown him.
When the men were performing the dance, a Dri ikjiet, which is a good spirit that lives under the ground, came up from a well.
He was a very handsome man.
The women, whose job it was to beat the drums for the Jobwa and chant, stopped paying attention to their drums and chants and started to pay attention to the Dri ikjiet.
When the women started to pay attention to the Dri ikjiet, their drumming and chanting became very bad, or dubwebie, which means their beat was wrong.
The Iroij became very angry that the women were paying attention to the Dri ikjiet and not to their drumming and chanting.
The Dri ikjiet was also paying a lot of attention to the women, which also made the Iroij angry.
The Iroij wanted to get rid of the Dri ikjiet, so he spoke with the Jobwa dancers and told them at the end of the dance, instead of holding their sticks to the sky to hold their sticks to the ground.
When the Dri ikjiet was dancing with the Jobwa stick dancers, he held his stick to the sky when all the other men held their sticks to the ground.
This gave the Iroij a reason to kill the Dri ikjiet.
The island was blessed this week with the performance of the Marshallese Jobwa Stick Dance. The Jobwa Stick Dance can only be performed with the permission of the high chief. The local king, Imata(?) Kabua, gave permission for the performance to happen here on Kwaj. It was an amazing site to see these young men performing and young women chanting, while sticks were flying up on stage.
Here is some background info from Yokwe Online
As told by Iroij (Chief) Michael Kabua to Jan Waddell, Hourglass Reporter
Jobwa Stick Dance started in Ujae Atoll and it is a very old story. A man went to sleep and slept for a very long time. He had no food or water.
As he slept, he started to dream, and a group of nonieap, which are spirits you can’t see but can hear, came to the man and showed him the Jobwa Stick Dance.
The man woke, and when the people asked why he had slept so long, he told them about his dream and taught them the dance the nonieaps had shown him.
When the men were performing the dance, a Dri ikjiet, which is a good spirit that lives under the ground, came up from a well.
He was a very handsome man.
The women, whose job it was to beat the drums for the Jobwa and chant, stopped paying attention to their drums and chants and started to pay attention to the Dri ikjiet.
When the women started to pay attention to the Dri ikjiet, their drumming and chanting became very bad, or dubwebie, which means their beat was wrong.
The Iroij became very angry that the women were paying attention to the Dri ikjiet and not to their drumming and chanting.
The Dri ikjiet was also paying a lot of attention to the women, which also made the Iroij angry.
The Iroij wanted to get rid of the Dri ikjiet, so he spoke with the Jobwa dancers and told them at the end of the dance, instead of holding their sticks to the sky to hold their sticks to the ground.
When the Dri ikjiet was dancing with the Jobwa stick dancers, he held his stick to the sky when all the other men held their sticks to the ground.
This gave the Iroij a reason to kill the Dri ikjiet.
Week 21: Changes, Changes (August 22-28)
I like change, I like change a lot. I like time to process change, I like LOTS of time to process change.
This week was a tough week for my school, 5 days before school began 5 teachers (about 20% of the staff) were laid off due to islandwide budget cuts. My heart breaks for the loss of these teachers and the impact this is having on thier lives. If I were in the shoes, I would be at a loss for what my next step would be. The 5 teachers that were impacted have had thier worlds turned upside down and are slowly beginning to put the pieces of thier lives back together.
This has left the rest of the staff reeling and at the same jumping into action to get ready for the school year. My school admin in light of the need to cut $$ moved people to new jobs, myself being one of them. After 8 years of teaching third grade, I am now a halftime computer teacher and halftime third grade teacher. While I have a wide personal knowledge of computers and technology (see last week's post), I have NEVER taught computers before. The learning curve is proving to be big and time consuming. Planning for computers is eating up huge amounts of time before, during, and after school, with a side of evenings. I know that it will get easier, but I am still processing that I am not a full time third grade teacher with a class of my own and at the same time working out how I am going to manage this new role. I know that I will be successful and it will be a good year, but it takes me time to accept things.
My new experience for the week is teaching computers to grades K-6.
This week was a tough week for my school, 5 days before school began 5 teachers (about 20% of the staff) were laid off due to islandwide budget cuts. My heart breaks for the loss of these teachers and the impact this is having on thier lives. If I were in the shoes, I would be at a loss for what my next step would be. The 5 teachers that were impacted have had thier worlds turned upside down and are slowly beginning to put the pieces of thier lives back together.
This has left the rest of the staff reeling and at the same jumping into action to get ready for the school year. My school admin in light of the need to cut $$ moved people to new jobs, myself being one of them. After 8 years of teaching third grade, I am now a halftime computer teacher and halftime third grade teacher. While I have a wide personal knowledge of computers and technology (see last week's post), I have NEVER taught computers before. The learning curve is proving to be big and time consuming. Planning for computers is eating up huge amounts of time before, during, and after school, with a side of evenings. I know that it will get easier, but I am still processing that I am not a full time third grade teacher with a class of my own and at the same time working out how I am going to manage this new role. I know that I will be successful and it will be a good year, but it takes me time to accept things.
My new experience for the week is teaching computers to grades K-6.
Week 20: A Master at One Thing or Another (August 15-21)
In 2005 I completed my first Master's degree in Educational Technology. It was a natural fit for me and I often found myself a little bored in my classes because I would have a similar or even a couple times, deeper knowledge of computers than my instructors. I remember in my very first Master's class in 2003, every student had to pick a feature in Word and "teach" it to the class. I remember classmates doing stupid simple things like bullets and how to save a template, well I taught the class how to use the track feature to show changes. The professor had never seen this before and was amazed, he asked for my notes so that he could add teaching this tool to his future classes. I should have known at that point that I would have to push to challenge myself. I am not trying to be up on my high and mighty horse, but trying to make a point that the last time I went to school, it was a breeze.
Now it is 2010 and I have taken some classes over the past years, but decided that I should take credits and have them count towards another degree. This week I completed the first class in my second Master's degree. I am pursuing a degree in Teacher Leadership in the hopes that it will help me to get a job as a district professional development coordinator in the future. I have always had a passion for helping teachers make positive changes that will positively impact students and look forward to doing this full time someday.
Oh yeah, I did well in the class, A's on all but one assignment!
Now it is 2010 and I have taken some classes over the past years, but decided that I should take credits and have them count towards another degree. This week I completed the first class in my second Master's degree. I am pursuing a degree in Teacher Leadership in the hopes that it will help me to get a job as a district professional development coordinator in the future. I have always had a passion for helping teachers make positive changes that will positively impact students and look forward to doing this full time someday.
Oh yeah, I did well in the class, A's on all but one assignment!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week 19: Hot Red Convertible and a Cool Green Flash (August 8-14)
I am only a month delinquent in trying to update. My goal is to catch up on the last month of blogging in the next few days:)
In early August, as I was flying back to Kwaj after 8 weeks in the states I made a 2 day stop on Oahu with my dear friend K. I made the executive decision to rent a fun convertible for us to drive around the island. We spent a day exploring the Halona Blowhole, hiking the Makapu'u Lighthouse and lounging on the beach on the North Shore. I only managed to get us lost a few times and loved the feeling of the sun on my head, the wind in my hair and the music blaring as we cruised our way around the island.
I arrived back on Kwaj on Saturday the 14th and promptly headed to dinner at a friends boat shack to catch up and enjoy friends. I was blessed with the amazing sight of my first green flash. It is quite spectacular and took my breath away!!
In early August, as I was flying back to Kwaj after 8 weeks in the states I made a 2 day stop on Oahu with my dear friend K. I made the executive decision to rent a fun convertible for us to drive around the island. We spent a day exploring the Halona Blowhole, hiking the Makapu'u Lighthouse and lounging on the beach on the North Shore. I only managed to get us lost a few times and loved the feeling of the sun on my head, the wind in my hair and the music blaring as we cruised our way around the island.
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| We had a fun red Mustang Convertible, sadly the only picture I managed to take was when we turned the car in at the airport and I wanted to document the lack of damage on it. |
I arrived back on Kwaj on Saturday the 14th and promptly headed to dinner at a friends boat shack to catch up and enjoy friends. I was blessed with the amazing sight of my first green flash. It is quite spectacular and took my breath away!!
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