Someone special to me once told me, "stay young as long as you can!"

February 17^th, 2013:

             “The best feeling of happiness is when you’ve made somebody else happy.”

            Another Peace Corps Volunteer just shared her story of how she rides her bike to elementary schools in her community and sings with the youngsters. Spreading music, spreading laughs, spreading love, she wrote beautifully about how she missed spending time with young children (pre-school age) so she took on a new challenge to add something to her life that satisfied her desire. This got me thinking.

            When I first received my assignment to work with high school students I was completely bummed. However, determined to start my journey on a positive note with a jump of enthusiasm in my step, I brain washed myself into thinking that it was not going to be that bad working with high school students. Thinking of my own high school experience, this exercise to create positive thoughts almost failed. But, something, some spark told me that working with high school students here in the Philippines might be different. Being different is part of my way of life so I was not afraid anymore. Rather than being afraid of changing hormones, afraid of “I am a bad ass high school student” mischief, I just kept walking.

            Walking quickly turned into laughing and singing and dancing and an experience that closely resembled my memories of elementary school, not high school. I don’t know why but I do know. You have read my stories; many of my favorite moments (aka the ones I write about) embrace a touch of silliness. When my students are feeling sleepy, we sing. When it is a holiday, we make a huge mess in our classroom and take funny pictures. When it is time to be serious and learn, we pack up our giggles and open our minds.

            Then I thought about when I was emailing Betty Halliwell from Books for Peace. I requested children’s book for my high school students. Seems odd. But, to a 13-year-old who has never seen a book filled with glossy imaginative characters and places, children’s books might be awesome. My hypothesis was correct. After receiving our second box of books, after creating a mini-library in our English room, it did not take my students long to surround the shelves. As 10 of them crowded around I Spy… I smiled knowing that they did think it was remarkable. Now, there is always a student sitting crisscross apple sauce in the corner of our book nook, gripping a book as if the dazzling pictures were coming to life.

            So, much like my fellow Peace Corps friend is making her elementary kiddos smile with songs and silliness, I feel proud knowing that I am too. My kids may not wear size 1 shoes or beginning to learn the alphabet, but they do enjoy playing. Maybe we all need to play a little more. Whoever your kids may be, get out and play. My kids may not be kids at all but they sure act like they are sometimes. I just used this quote, “Youth is wasted on the young.” Well, I am glad to say that those words do not describe my environment. 

We work together.

We jump.

We always try our best.

We read.

Happy Valentine's Day. We take funny pictures.

I walked into my classroom one day to find this. 

My Valentine's Day gift

We make our classroom a mess.

Reasons #one thousand something why I love my Valentine.

Maybe I Really Am Crazy

^{February 2nd, 2013:} 

Initially I was going to copy my sister’s idea of jotting some highlights from the previous year. However, after writing for a little while I realized that my successes do not paint pretty pictures in the life of imagination as well as weddings and babies do. Stories about killing my first cockroach, eating ants and sea urchin, and successfully learning how to flush the toilet after going #2 will surely not make readers say, “Aw.”

Seven months. Seven months. Seven months. Seven months are the two words that rapidly flash in my mind when I think about the future. At month 14, the finish line was far. At month 16, the finish line was far. At month 19 the finish line was far. At month 20, the finish line is a few steps away. This is what it feels like (really similar to the thought pattern I had when I ran a marathon). When I studied abroad for 6 months I was saying, “Holy cow I am going to be away for so long, 6 months, omg…, can I do it?” Now my heart is beating fast thinking about how short of a time frame I have left. February I will see hearts. March I will see balloons and graduation, and probably tears. April and May I will see sports equipment. June and July I will see Joe and more tears. That’s it!

What’s happening now? The new sports equipment marked a new bullet point on the list of Sports Club Accomplishments. Before school and during recess students are now able to check out equipment. The empty spaces of school campus are now filled with students, some shooting hoops, some volleying in a small circle, and some spread out allowing themselves to let the Frisbee sore as far as possible. One teacher said to me, “Ma’am, it is so great because my students who were late for first period after lunch are now rushing back to school early so they can play!” One student said to me, “Ma’am I am meeting with Emmerson (the captain of the Frisbee team) after school so he can teach me a new way to throw the Frisbee.” I am positive Emmerson’s activity could be categorized as youth volunteerism. Guess that is a new bullet point too. The members of sports club are now voluntarily allotting time in their day so that they can teach others about what they have learned from sports club. My counterpart said to me, “Ma’am Gina, I really see it now, I really see the benefits of Sports Club. I am going to make sure this continues after you leave.”

I have a student named Dale (pseudonym is used). You can find him in the crowd because he is the only boy with curly hair. His hair is short enough so that you can see the curl but it does not quite curl into a ringlet. He sits with his hands freely crossed in his lap, with his eyes constantly watching whoever is talking. His presence is a bit mysterious. He is eager to learn but not aggressive. Whenever he is called on his answer includes one word only. When we are doing assignments in class he can commonly by found working strongly with another student who helps him translate his Tagalog words. Yesterday, the students had to present their work individually. The day prior they listened to a description of a place, a seashore, and they had to draw what they saw in their imagination. It was Dale’s turn. He did not appear as nervous as normal; there was even a bounce in his step as he took center stage. His drawing looked effortlessly perfect. He lived near the sea and was familiar with what it looked like. He even added his own fishing boat to the drawing (even though that was not in the given description). He spoke about his drawing with confidence and then sat down with a smirk on his faced that silently screamed, “I am so proud.” As he left class that day I applauded him for his presentation and drawing. Later on, I used thumb tacks to display it on our student output bulletin. This morning, he smiled at me like he always does but he added, “Good Morning Ma’am.” I have a feeling we might hear more from Dale in English class.

As I am writing this I can see gusts of sand whirling by outside like mini tornados. I have been searching for the best way to express what is happening in my mind right now, and I consider the weather today perfect. It appears calm to the lazy observer (an acquaintance) but to the keen observer (immediate family/ best friend) there is a lot more going on than whatever originally catches the eye. I feel calm. I am running down the home stretch in my service. I have some upcoming events that I am really excited about. But, then there are the sand storms. The bursts of, “I need to do this and this and this and this before I go,” and “Wow, this happened at home, what am I going to do when I can’t run back the Philippines?” and, “I need to do more planning NOW.” Then, another short wave of calmness sets in as I drink a beer with my best friend. Next, the leaves start to dance and another sand storm is rapidly approaching, “Did I forget to do something? Am I going to regret not doing something?” The top sensation that helps me tackle my sand storm of emotions is success. In the past 575 days, a lot has gone wrong but a lot has also gone right. Many things have challenged me and many things have come with ease. A second has made me smile and a second has made me cry. Some ideas have been hidden as deep as possible and some ideas continue to glow. I guess a calm day with a few sand tornadoes is better than a hurricane.

Currently on my list of things to do: 1) Help Mrs. Valdez get books for her own school. She and her husband are the owners of a private high school in my community. She is a student teacher at my school right now and has been secretly watching me work with the new books at our school. She finally got the courage to speak with me about how I might be able to help her and her school too. I have the e-mails sent and books should be on the boat next week! Let the magic begin. 2) I am busy getting the logistics put together for our Just Try It! Summer Sports Camp. 3) Keep trying new work-outs as I have already started to research about competing in a half iron man. Maybe I really am crazy. 

Our Christmas Cards made it to our new friends in America!