Ngchesar Waterfall

The school staff had a trip to this waterfall. It was super fun. Our dog Daisy really enjoyed climbing around the rocks and swimming in the water. We went on a walk down the stream with Victor and his puppy Neveah.
Enjoy some pictures.

Daisy Pearl: our cutie puppy pie

Hello to all,

Latest news: DOG!!!!

The latest news is true. We have a dog. Not only a dog, but a sweetie pie puppy! We named her Daisy Pearl (she is all white, except for black ears and a spotted nose) She actually was named Sheba for a day, but my Korean students laughed at me. Apparently, Sheba is very close to a terrible Korean cuss word. I liked Sheba because it means, “Renowned for her beauty.” I think she is very beautiful and found it fitting. I called her Queen Sheba.But alas, her name was changed to Daisy Pearl. Pearl because we are reading “The Scarlet Letter” with my Juniors and it seemed fitting. Daisy Pearl is also “her mother’s only treasure.” Well, maybe not QUITE that dramatic. But, she is my treasure. AND, I think Daisy Pearl has a nice Southern twang to it. Keeping the south alive here in Palau…..

You may be asking yourselves, why would they get a puppy? The answer: it’s lonely here! And, this poor thing was a stray. Here’s what happened.

We had a holiday weekend this past weekend (now, two weeks ago) I had three glorious days off, except that Sunday I had to help the student association at their booth where they were selling food. There is a type of fair/concession stands/people selling stuff at the big bridge you have all seen pictures of. There are also boat races, which my students say makes this weekend the best weekend of the entire year. It was fun. But, the most fun part was there was this poor puppy sleeping at our stand. I picked her up and was asking people if they owned her. She had no collar of course. I took her to this one family and there was a definite language barrier. What I gathered was it was their dog. The five kids took the puppy from me and carried her around by the head the rest of the day. Well, it was sad for me. I felt so terrible for this tortured dog. Eventually, my kids ran out of food to sell and it was time to go. I left a little before my SA kids because the transportation was leaving (of course it was, I HATE the transportation system here) So, my kids stayed behind to finish cleaning up. According to them, this family that I had left the puppy with left the dog.  They caught up with them and asked about her. The family sad, “oh, we just found her on the road and our kids wanted to play with her for the day. She is not our doggie.” ( I discovered from some locals that this bridge is where they dump strays) My kids then got the BRILLANT idea to take her home and surprise me at school the next day.

When I got off the bus Monday morning my kids were by their cars calling me over. I went and there was Daisy in a little box. My heart did a little flip flop. Long story short, I kept her in a SM’s apartment until Jesse came at noon for week of prayer. I took him to the apartment and showed him the doggie. He was a bit surprised. But, he loved her too. And…he loves ME. So, it wasn’t to hard to sweet talk him into a dog. She pretty much did that herself, because she is ADORABLE!!!!!!!

Le My puppy is now cuddling on the couch with me right now. We took her to the vet and they said she was only about a month and a half. That was a guess by a local bum (in my opinion he was a bum)so who knows. But….too young to get shots. Only the worm medicine, we have to go back for shots. The worm medicine was only 10 bucks, as are shots. I love that about Palau!!! Dogs are so much more expensive in the states. But, the downside to the worm medicine is my puppy has the runs. We had a little disaster before school this morning which resulted in a fast shower before 7am for my puppy pie. She now smells like lovely “Joy” dish soap. Which is good, because she likes to sleep with us. We have an old pillow for her, but who wants to sleep on a pillow when you can sleep on a bed, is her motto! Last night, I was on my side and Daisy’s head as on my neck. It was the sweetest thing. So, our bed feels a bit smaller.  After all, the poor thing is only a month and a half old. She probably misses her doggie mommy. I have discovered that I am “Mama” to Daisy and Jess is “Daddy” It is pretty crazy. I never would have thought that I would refer to myself as “Mama” It is just what comes out of my mouth. I guess I’m more Southern than I thought.

Prayers please for Daisy. She is a little malnourished but not terribly. We gave her a flea bath and found two ticks on her the first day. She has a flea collar and pink/purple collar. She has a home. She needed a home. She makes Palau feel more like home.

Ebeye!?!?!

So Keith Rodman, the former director of education for the Guam/Micronesia Mission, which both Palau and Ebeye are a part of, was at Hawaii for the training/orientation session. He was also on Ebeye back in 2008 for a few days and while he was there he observed me in my 4th grade classroom. He even took some photos of me in action. He gave them to me in Hawaii during our meetings a few weeks ago. Have a look…

Don’t worry, our classrooms at the Palauan schools ALL look better than my classroom on Ebeye, even the ones referred to as “the dungeon.” Our friends Jeff and Misty Fender help teach the jr-high kids down in “the dungeon.”

Also, do you think I should regrow my Ebeye chin-beard?

Thanks for the help!

Jesse

My English Classroom

This gallery contains 5 photos.

  Hailey

The first few weeks…..

We are still alive here in Palau! Sorry we haven’t kept up with the blog since we have been here. Today is our fourth Sabbath. Hardly seems like a month, but we have been here almost a month. I wish I was better blogging consistently. Ideally, I would write at least a few times a week but NO time. At least when I do write, they are long posts!

The second full week of teaching finished yesterday at noon. These first two weeks of teaching have been absolute craziness. I teach two sections of sophomore English, two sections of Junior English, as well as two sections of Senior English. Which means, if I gave a written assignment everyday I would have around 120 papers to read/grade EVERYDAY! And, this is no plush English job like one in the states where every academy teacher has at least one reader to grade, if not two. Nope. I do EVERYTHING myself. Then, I have to upload all the grades onto the computer, which takes a super long time. The first two weeks were also difficult to learn all my students’ names. Many of them have names in Palauan or Chinese, and are then given English names. At times, I thought these kids were two different students until I figured out that the office had them down with one name and yet another in my classroom. CONFUSION. I think I have most of that situated now. We have many students attending PMA that are from other Asian countries, mostly China or Korea. They are here strictly to learn to speak English. I learned this past week that many of them have already taken most of the core classes we offer at PMA (like maths and sciences) at an earlier age. They can pass those classes easily since it is a review for them. But, the history classes and MY ENGLISH classes are very difficult for them. And, key to helping them learn the language. Students that have been here multiple years are now seniors and are NOT at a senior level. And in my class I’m expecting my students to read literature, analyze poetry, and WRITE. How can I ask these students to do those things???? And when do I have TIME to differentiate their lessons and teach them how to speak english and write correctly???? I’m hoping that I will figure out the best way to help these sweet kids. Right now, it is really difficult. But, God knows their needs and He knows my earnest heart to help them. With His help, we will get through this school year. I will try to upload some pictures of my classroom soon too, if not today. I have the nicest room in the school, which is nice for me! It has a lovely air conditioner, desks, and white board. You guys will see it soon.

The one fun thing we are doing here in Palau is taking scuba classes. Well, fun for Jesse and stressful for me. For as much as I love the water, I’ve been surprised how much I do not enjoy scuba. It is really stressful. But, this last trip I was a bit better. We go again tomorrow and take the final test. Last week we took some quizzes and were absolutely starving because it was right after our half day of teaching (Fridays are half days). We were provided lunch but they made us wait until after the quizzes, so we ate on the tiny boat while everyone gathered their gear. It was a rainy day and the sea was rough. Even though we were tied to the dock, I was getting sea sick. I didn’t know I was the seasick type, but between the sea and the lovely (joke) chicken masterpiece (NOT) before me, I didn’t really eat. I didn’t want to be one of the statistics that throws up in their regulator under the water.

I have not been cooking much since we arrived. There is just no time. Although, last night I did make mashed potatoes (from scratch) with cream cheese and garlic for potluck today. Our kitchen smelled like Sabbath. Something about the smell of garlic that always smells like Sabbath to me. Cooking is difficult when we get home around 4 in the afternoons. I jump right into school stuff until sundown. I know if I waited until after supper I wouldn’t make it. Then, we just eat whatever is easy……..toast, cereal, one day I made chicken and potato wedges. I did cook that time. So, that is a  total of two great meals. Oh man. That sounds so terrible. I am now motivated to do better. We also make lots of rice in the rice maker early on in the week and have been eat on that. We bought the old fashioned beans that you have to soak at night. They didn’t taste as good as canned black beans. Any suggestions on how to make those taste good??????

Sabbaths are nice here. Sabbath school starts at 9 and it is just like in the states. Only the retired folks show up at nine, and of course us missionaries:) Today the Chinese/ Korean/ Taiwanese students from the dorm at PMA helped make it look at little more crowded. When the classes split up we had at least 450 or 50 people in the youth room by 9:45. .It is called Youth Sabbath school and meets in the youth room.It is the youth room but it is also the only English class at the church so its very crowded.I guess technically, Jess and I aren’t even youth anymore:) The Chinese students love songs with motions, they do those even if they don’t sing since English is so terrible. I think this makes the singing more fun for them to have motions so I tried to pick songs they would like. It is different from the States; back home youth hate motions it seems. They are too cool.. But, I successfully taught the lesson this past week. Jesse led the activity because I didn’t want to just sit in a circle and talk. The last 2 weeks only the student missionaries were talking. The local kids weren’t, so we tried to do something a little more fun today. I think it worked.

The pathfinder club is getting started up again here too. Our friends, Jeff and Misty are in charge of that(They are a sweet married couple, I call them my instant best friends).  Jess and I will help, but we aren’t in charge (whew). They are worried about next year because they leave in May………I’m not sure we can take that on and they know that. We are praying that someone from the church will step up. Last week we had a meeting that was just for leaders and to see what kind of support we will get. This week it starts officially with meetings every Sabbath from 5:30 until 7:00. I think it will be good on Sabbath here. The youth are bored…..

I haven’t had time to do anything fun like run or go to the water (aside from scuba class) I can see the water from our bedroom window…I know its there but I haven’t walked that direction. Koror is pretty narrow so you could walk across the island in a short time, but haven’t done this yet. I should be napping right now but my mind is so active I decided to write instead. Maybe we will go for a walk and find this mystery ocean……

I know I’ve said this before but I will again:I have NEVER been so exhausted in all of my life. I thought that student teaching and wedding planning was exhausting, but piece of cake compared to this. It is really draining. I want to be a good teacher but there are many obstacles. I feel like I’ve been an ok teacher this past week. Not good. I’ve been keeping my head above water.

Well….a long post from me. Thank you for all the prayers and support. It is nice to know that so many people from back home are praying for us. We definitely need it. God is good. We feel very blessed to be here. The people in the church are so great. It already feels homier than our time at church in Michigan. I love that about Palau. I love my students too. One last story about school……

On the bus the kids aren’t allowed to have headphones and listen to music (sounds like Highland back in the day). So sometimes the bus driver turns on the radio for the kids. Thursday a couple of kids must have used the cell phone (which of course they are also not supposed to use on the bus) to call into the radio and they dedicated a song to Mr. and Mrs. Malin! It was really cute. Some island song that of course I have never heard before. The dedication said……….”From the freaks on the bus who really need Mr. And Mrs. Malin”. It made me smile, especially because the day before they were all mad at us because we had reserved a row for us to sit in each and every time we are on the bus. They apparently thought this was unfair and we should have to scramble for a seat like they all do, pushing and shoving to get a seat. But, they were over it the next day and they were dedicating songs to us. God is good. It was an uplifting encouragement for me that I desperately needed that day.

For anyone who is interested in our address here in Palau here it is.

Jesse Malin

PO Box 1166

Palau SDA Schools

Koror, PW 96940

Starting a team blog.

Hey there,

Hailey and I will be getting this blog up and going very soon. I’ll probably be doing most of the ‘work’ but she will be making most of the ‘important’ decisions. The event that really prompted us to start a blog is our impending 2 year mission to the little island nation of Palau.

Look! A map.

We will be working at the SDA schools there. I will be the Vice Principal and Chaplain at the academy. Hailey will be doing something…we don’t know what yet, because she will be one of the only certified teachers there, so she will also be one of the most versatile teachers there.

Enjoy!