It’s been a while since my last update. Not much has happened here on the small island of Angaur. Since school let out, the pace here has certainly slowed. I’ve gotten a few inquiries about what it is exactly that I’m doing over the summer here, so I thought that I’d share what I’m up to.
With regard to my work here- I’m working the summer reading camp at my school. It’s basically summer school, but the only focus is English and reading. I’m working with the first through third graders, which is proving to be a challenge for me. Older students you can reason with, but these young kids you just can’t do that. Oh well, it’s a learning experience for us both.
Summertime also holds a lot of special Peace Corps meetings and trainings. I’ve completed a training earlier this month where we focused on the collaboration between the volunteer and host agency. We also focused on different team teaching strategies, and how to best implement them at our specific sites. The coming week I will be attending a volunteer forum, where I am the representative for my team in Palau. We’ll share successes, work out problems, and discuss policy and how we can make this whole thing better for the incoming volunteers.
Lastly, I’m working with some members in my community on a campaign to keep the older teens off drugs and alcohol. I don’t think that it’s a huge problem in Angaur, but we got a grant to do some fun projects with the teenage kids. We are going to be painting a mural on one of the walls of the community center. Angaur is lucky to have a very good artist as one of its youth; I’ve seen his sketches and am eager to see what the finished product will look like. Also, we’ll be updating the signs on all the government buildings (hospital, state office, community center, school, etc.) and some landscaping around the state buildings- all things that will help the students take pride in their state.
Other than that, I’ve got a lot of time to explore, swim, read, “stroll”, and get to know the people in my community. I’m thoroughly enjoying my summer here.
With regard to my work here- I’m working the summer reading camp at my school. It’s basically summer school, but the only focus is English and reading. I’m working with the first through third graders, which is proving to be a challenge for me. Older students you can reason with, but these young kids you just can’t do that. Oh well, it’s a learning experience for us both.
Summertime also holds a lot of special Peace Corps meetings and trainings. I’ve completed a training earlier this month where we focused on the collaboration between the volunteer and host agency. We also focused on different team teaching strategies, and how to best implement them at our specific sites. The coming week I will be attending a volunteer forum, where I am the representative for my team in Palau. We’ll share successes, work out problems, and discuss policy and how we can make this whole thing better for the incoming volunteers.
Lastly, I’m working with some members in my community on a campaign to keep the older teens off drugs and alcohol. I don’t think that it’s a huge problem in Angaur, but we got a grant to do some fun projects with the teenage kids. We are going to be painting a mural on one of the walls of the community center. Angaur is lucky to have a very good artist as one of its youth; I’ve seen his sketches and am eager to see what the finished product will look like. Also, we’ll be updating the signs on all the government buildings (hospital, state office, community center, school, etc.) and some landscaping around the state buildings- all things that will help the students take pride in their state.
Other than that, I’ve got a lot of time to explore, swim, read, “stroll”, and get to know the people in my community. I’m thoroughly enjoying my summer here.
Games; plenty, plenty games! No night here is complete without a game of some sort. Usually Hanaguda or Crazy 8’s. Speed is another favorite. Unfortunately, I rarely win. 
Just hanging out with my cousins, the girl is Seba- a high school student and the baby is Joe. He insisted on seeing what was so intriguing about the book I was reading, and why it commanded all my attention (that could have been used on him).
My family just built a new house, and so we spent a few days clearing all the trees around it. It didn’t seem like much work, but after the 10th trip to dump a truck full of foliage, it became apparent that this would be a big task.
As I have more time, I’ve more of an opportunity to cook. Here I’m making white chicken chili. This particular dish led to a fiercely tongued debate between my host father and mother, as he much preferred my way of preparing the chicken for soups (de-boning and de-skinning) than my host mother’s (just cut the chicken into small pieces, bones included).
After swimming, we usually stick around to watch the sunset before heading home for dinner.
