And so it continues

We went snorkeling again today! I saw an eel!!! It was scary and looked like it wanted to hurt me so I swam away. No turtles this time, but it was still great nonetheless!!! Snorkeling really is great! I usually only see the ocean as a whole, I never get to explore the underworld! It's fantastic! 

Last night we took a trip to the Polynesian Culture Center where we were able to observe and participate in different Polynesian cultures! It was really fun! I learned about different rituals they partake in, different dances, games, and songs they have. We also went to a luau which was so much fun! There was delicious food amongst the gross raw fish that I stayed away from... bleh! Then we were able to watch a show with the different dances of 6 tribes! At the end were the fire twirlers which was just absolutely amazing! 

This place has a lot of cats! I'd take one home if I could. :( OOO! And Mongoose! They're adorable little creatures. Tonight I sat and watched the sunset on the rocks where the water was crashing. That is until the tide started to come in and the wave almost crashed into me... haha But it was still great. 

Still working on the tan. My tummy refuses to tan, but I will succeed! It's taken me till about yesterday afternoon to actually RELAX!!! Now I have to leave soon and switch back to normal right away. We'll see how that goes. 

OK LOST TIME!!!! YESSSSS I'm excited to watch since I've driven around the island, I want to see if I recognize anything! yippy!!

Hawaii Day 4!

Lots of fun things have happened! yippy! 

Yesterday we went snorkeling where we saw really cool fish AND a sea turtle!!! It was so cool! Except for the part where I swallowed a mouthful of sea water. bleh... We went to this shindig at the place we're staying had a Mai Tie party where we got to have a mini luau right here! And we were able to watch the dudes climb up a palm tree which was pretty cool. And of course... worked on getting more tan! yay! We ended the night on the beach with our feet in the ocean, the sounds of waves in our ears, and the bright stars above. *sigh* Absolutely blissful. 

Today we spent the day driving around the island. It's BEAUTIFUL! It's moments like this where I just can't believe how beautiful God made this place for us to enjoy and how thankful I am to have a break from the normal desert and change into this paradise! Pictures can't describe how awesome it was. Word can't describe how beautiful it was. We were also able to find the LOST fuselage.... only, it was covered with a tarp. :( BUT at least I was able to see it. We also stopped at this cliff place where the waves were crazy and slamming into the rocks. It was totally dangerous to climb down and get closer, so of course I had to. It was amazing; crashing waves are probably one of the coolest things to just sit and watch. I could have stayed there all day. But alas, I could not. So we kept driving and were suppose to go snorkeling in this really neat place and just or luck it was CLOSED on Tuesday. poop. In the morning we went to the Dole Plantation which was so much fun!!! We had a tour of where they grow the produce, and then got to roam around the gardens with the amazing flowers they have here. They're gorgeous!! 

That's all for now, tomorrow should be fun. We're going to the Polynesian Culture Center for the BIG luau! 

I'm in Hawaii!

Many things have happened lately that I haven't gotten around to post. One being the end of student teaching and the beginning of the new teaching position, another being graduation from UNLV, and the 3rd is my trip to Hawaii. But luckily, I'm sitting on the balcony of our PENTHOUSE on the top floor of this ocean view room staring at the stars above, the waves crashing, and the endlessness of blackness out into the ocean. It's more than I could ever ask for. 

Yesterday morning we arrived on the wonderful and beautiful island of O'ahu! It's so amazing here! And I can't help think about LOST when I look at the mountains covered in green and wonder if I've seen those same mountains on the show. Yes... that's right, that's one thing I haven't been able to get over is that I'm WHERE they film LOST! 

So far we've worked on our tans, floated in the ocean, watched the beautiful sunset and finally... RELAXED! We also were able to check out the Pearl Harbor memorial center. That was just astonishing. I don't know why I didn't put 2 and 2 together that the Arizona battleship is still in the water. I always wondered why they had the white thingy there. DUH! But it was just one of those moments where you don't know whether to be excited or sad. But we ended up doing both. I'll be putting up pictures for everyone to enjoy later, but for now I need a shower!

The most important thing I've learned so far... life is too short to be moody and angry over stupid things. :) The end. 

Hopefully I've have some moments through out the week to share more. YAY!!!

Only 4 days left

It's a sure thing that I will be teaching Writing from May 12th to July 17th to the same group of 5th graders I am with now. Today I walked into my teacher's classroom and she just started with the questions... "What do you think you want to do for procedures?" "How are you going to decorate?" "Do you have any lesson plans yet?" and so on a so forth. I guess I was just excited to have a good paying job again that I failed to think about the most important things. So that's what I started thinking about today.

Along with that... my teacher tells me that she thinks it'd be a fun surprise to NOT tell them that I'm going to teach them and I should just show up on Monday ready to teach. She thinks this would be a great pick me up for them considering all that's been going on latley. I understand... but then again... all day today kids were remembering that this is my last week and that I'd "be gone" next week. So they're going to have to be sad first before it gets better. We shall see how this all ends up! And they keep telling me to just be prepared because kids can be a little resilient at first with change but they'll come around. I'm not TOO much of a change... but still.

This also presents the problem of I can't really do much in the class I'll be in. And I can't do much decorating because then they'll know I'm going to be there!!! So I have all these ideas that I'm working on but can't start till FRIDAY! But I did in fact start cleaning and organizing because the room is a MESS! And I can't work like that. So here are the 2 cupboards I cleaned out today!

Before:
After:

Really... I'm going to be ready for my first year of teaching because of all this that's happening!

Upbeats and Beatdowns

This week has been interesting. On Tuesday... well it was my 22nd birthday. When I went to school the happy go lucky day I thought I would have, turned out to be the total opposite. The principal called all the teacher it to tell us that one of our 5th grade teachers was in a car crash on April 12th and has been in the hospital every sense and is not coming back this year. So the teachers didn’t handle it very well and we spent the morning worrying about how the kids would take it. The principal kept the news for so long because she wanted to wait till testing was over to tell the kids so they weren’t thinking about it. Anyway, when we did tell the kids they freaked out and broke down hysterically. It’s was the most depressing thing ever. I can’t explain how it feels to watch half of the kids you teach shaking because they’re crying so much and just full of worry, fear, and sadness! And all I could do was hold strong and pretend like I wasn't sad for the sake of the 170 students. It was a messy day.

Two days have gone by and kids have started asking who's going to be the new teacher. And all the other 5th grade teachers have apparently been planning that the day after I'm done student teaching I will step in for the rest of the year and teach Writing. Oh great... writing. The one subject I really suck at. But at least I have the support of 4 other great teachers to help me get through this.

I thought student teaching was suppose to be easier than this. AND less emotional! My teacher I'm with tells me my first year is going to be a breeze because of everything I've had to deal with this semester. Jeez And here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.