The Diary of a Second Grade Teacher

Public urination, I see it at least 6 times a day. “What? Emily, that is an awful subject to start off on..couldn’t you just say, Welcome to Ebeye?”  I could, but then I might have forgotten to talk about the public urination here, and boy wouldn’t that have been terrible. But really, it’s all over…every free nook and cranny there is on this island someone is shoved up in it relieving themselves. The day I first arrived to Ebeye, I was bewildered at a teenage boy who stopped right in front of me and turned into a lone corner and just stood there.My naïve Ebeye self, turned around to see what he was doing, and that turn was followed by a quick 180. There’s a lot of things on this island that make it just oh so special…that makes it, Ebeye. After getting off the ferry, I was quickly told that I should change my guam;  a dress that I had bought in Majuro that all the villagers wear. Apparently, the queen of Ebeye, hates those, and will rip them off any girls she sees wearing them to publicly humiliate them. I thought to myself, 1) why’s there a queen? And 2) Well, I have shorts on underneath and a shirt, so I would be fine with that, but for the sake of my purpose being here and for the school I hastily changed.  Blake, Ryan (the principle), Justin (a little Marshallese boy) and I made the trek to our apartment, where we met all our other sm’s. They are great by the way. We call ourselves a big family. Our apartment is much nicer than the rest of the town, but sadly enough that doesn’t say much.  The houses here are basically just walls with holes in them. Some have roofs, which are either wood or steel are held down by large rocks. There’s graffiti all over them! If your reading this and have a child that has trouble controlling their wall coloring, send them here, no problem, they will get it all out of their system and will probably promise to never draw again if you let them come home..There’s absolutely no privacy whatsoever. Our houses, distant wise, are like trashy town houses…feet away.  There are always at least a dozen people outside infront of their houses…people are everywhere. They don’t have anything to do, so they are all just sitting outside, with their entire family tree and their dog, cat,rooster collection..The roosters are super obnxious!"What?! How did you even get here?".. A few days ago I saw a naked boy climbing a tree, I immediately looked away and focused on the pile of trash ahead of me, and then I heard him calling, “Ms. Em! Missah!!” He was waving with a giant smile on his face. I was thinking, really? You’re not embarrassed at all? Alright.. Haha. Ahh, Ebeye. The kids, man. The kids are great. They love you! You could be the most closed off person in history, but they wouldn’t care. “Missah (Ms. But in Marshallese form) high five? Hello! Give me dollah!” You politely tell them only if they give you a “dollah” first and then they smile and laugh and run off and you can’t help but want to laugh. Now, I don’t want to make myself sound like the best person in the world because I smile at little kids on the street, anyone with a mouth can do that... The Lord has definitely and will definitely be helping my patience and understanding with my second graders. I am teaching second grade, but unfortunately it is more like kindergarten. Today I got back an assignment, I handed out to my kids. It was fill in the blank. Can you guess which one was filled in? “My favorite color is banana and I like to eat pink, In my spare time I like to, bleay and Ms. Em”  haha yeah, it’s funny right? But, not when all your kids (18 boys and 8 girls) have the same answers, because they have a large cheating problem..  Before I stepped in, their teacher was pretty soft spoken. A very nice woman indeed, just very soft spoken. I, as a teacher, am not. I am definitely disciplining them. ..”You threw that piece of garbage out the window, while in class, onto the rest of the pile outside, when I specifically told you not to? Okay, go down there and bring up your garbage to me, show me, and then throw it away in the trash.” “But Missah…”…I don’t enjoy disciplining them, but I am slowly trying to teach these kids all I can. They are climbing all over their desks, punching eachother, climbing out the window to pick leaves, eating in class, handstands. The language barrier makes it pretty difficult. “This is a pencil….What is this?” *insert blank stare* Some of the students are at a second grade level, about 3 as of now, the rest, I am praying and doing my best to help them learn. But the thing is, they don’t care. They are on a one mile island, and their family has lived here all their life, why would they want an education? What good is that to them? It’s very frustrating. I had a lesson plan set up, and now I am redoing it all tonight, so it can meet their level.  I think about them before school, after school, when I sleep. Not in a negative way, but I plead to the Lord to help them understand. They say how much they love me, but they don’t obey what I say. “We love you Ms. Em.” You do? Well, can you please not climb out the window like I asked you not to?...It’s kind of like our relationship with God.  When I was walking home I started pondering that thought..”Oh God, I see what you’re doing.. you are pretty wise,  teaching me to grow each day, huh?” That I know will only continue..It is a struggle right now. Not necessarily being away from home, (although I wish I could skype my family and friends without only hearing every few words), or the U.S. but just my kiddos, and the stress of being a teacher…but I have this peace. This comfort that comes from above, that I.. I, am the person who is supposed to be with these kids and help them learn.These kids with the most unique names like, “Wi Wi, Barnabas, Jimeko”...Oh Lord, I have no idea what I’m doing…seriously. But God keeps reminding me that He does not call the qualified, but He qualifies the called. There is absolutely hands down, no place I would rather be than Ebeye right now. Anywhere I go I have this purpose in my heart that needs to be filled. This giant opportunity is right here, and is literally calling out “Ms. Em” and I am taking it, day by day with the Lords help…After a long day I turn over the homework assignment I handed out the day before..the super frustrating one, only to see a drawing, of myself holding one of the little girls hands, “Miriam + Ms. Em. I love you” And literally in one second, that paper alone, is worth every headache, frustration, heartache, or confusion that I had that day.… “The lord is my shepherd, I have all I need” Psalm 23:1.