Guam Bound!
Week 5 Moments
● Sunday – Community Groups lunch: Capricciosa
● Monday – great day!
● Tuesday –
● Wednesday – “one more” Chamorro Village
● Thursday – Young Pros bible study
● Friday – “The Play that Goes Wrong” school
drama
● Saturday – sunrise at the beach; hike Pagat
Week 5 Recap
This week definitely went better than last week. I felt
more comfortable in the classroom and my lessons went much
better too! On Saturday, Kyla, Brittany, her friend Charity, and I
all went to a really cool coffee shop called Slowalk to work on all
kinds of work. Some of us were more productive than others,
but it was super cool to visit this coffee shop and spend time
with friends. Then, in the afternoon, Kyla and I attended the
bridal shower for an FBBC student who graduated last year and
is from Micronesia. It was a fun experience to go to an island
bridal shower. The hosting ladies fed us very well with a
traditional Chamorro table spread of Chamorro barbeque (ribs
or chicken wings), rice (red or white), Filipino pancit (noodles), lumpia (Filipino spring roll), potato
salad, and fruit dish…aside from the three different desserts! It was SO good! And, to top it all off,
Kyla and I went to a teacher’s movie night (and being the only ones there). We got to play with
sugar candy, play with their dog, and enjoy snacks while watching a movie. We were kinda
exhausted😂.
On Sunday, Kyla and I’s community group went out to lunch after church at Capricciosa (a
nice Italian restaurant). We all met for lunch because it wasn’t going to work for our group to meet
in the evening this week. Kyla and I got to eat at the kid’s table with the Taylor kids (who we
absolutely love)! They have no problem talking to us about anything and everything😂. I am very
thankful for the Taylor family and how they look after us. It has been so much fun getting to know
them and their kids–Devin (in college), Rai (“Ry,” 6th grade), Carson (4th grade), Dreani (only girl,
my 3rd grade class), Louie (nextdoor 3rd grade class), and Ronnie (2nd grade). The rest of the
afternoon, Kyla and I were thankful to be able to work on things and relax before starting school
again.
Monday was a great day! The week started off great for me in all ways–getting up early,
devos, coffee, breakfast, being productive on FBBC work & lesson plans, etc. I was encouraged by
starting the week off on such a great note. I was hoping that would carry it through the rest of the
week (and it mostly has😁). Tuesday was another normal day of school. My lessons did not go as
well as I wanted them to, but they weren’t bad by any means. I am building relationships and
making friends here too. After school, I got to talk to a few of the teachers lingering around with
afterschool care and they have been very sweet in offering to do many activities with us–starting
with one more Chamorro Village visit on Wednesday!
This week, Kyla and I made a “bucket list” for all the things we still want to do before we
leave Guam. On that list was visiting Chamorro Village one more time. Wednesday evening Kyla
and I went with Jose, Josh, and Lai (Lay) to Chamorro Village and had a ton of fun hanging out with
them. Jose is the Spanish teacher and Josh and Lai are Filipino and teach music. They grabbed food
(it’s a great place to grab Chamorro food from food trucks & smoothies/fruit drinks) and Kyla and I
shared a smoothie. We didn’t buy anything this time, but we just got to talk with our new friends
and make more plans to cross things off our bucket list–continuing, possibly, this weekend…
The rest of the school week was pretty normal. Thursday had some really good lessons. In
science, we walked around school making
connections on how things change and why
they do. We had great class discussion
showing that my students were
understanding the unit, which was
encouraging. And in Bible, all the lessons
this week are about Jesus in the early
gospels. I have gospel opportunities with
every lesson, which is so cool to talk
through with them.
We are continuing to make
connections at church and get to know
people. Everyone is sweet and loves to get
to know us. I am thankful that Harvest has a
good community of people! My student teaching continues to get better every day and next week I
take over everything (this week, it didn’t work out as well)!
The week ended with attending the school’s play, “The Play that Goes Wrong.” We loved it
and laughed so much–literally nothing in the play went right, except making us laugh. And on
Saturday, Kyla and I got up early to watch the sunset on the beach. The church was hosting a ladies
day at the beach that we were planning on going to, until Kyla’s 4th grade teacher offered to take
us hiking to Pagat Cave–a hike that leads to a cave you can swim in, that is on our bucket list–with,
hopefully, some others too.
Prayer Requests & Praises
1. Teaching – I will be full-time teaching this coming week!😝Kyla and I both need strength to
continue in this and to do well.
2. Finishing Strong- Kyla and I have a week and a half of teaching left. The last week is a “free”
week for us to finish anything and everything for student teaching requirements.
3. Student- Tehyun (Tay-yoon) is still not the best student and he needs the Lord, but he did not
cause major problems this week. Pray that all my students will behave well this week for me.
4. Being a blessing to those around us.
5. **My sunburn is healed!
6. **We gotinsect spray for the ants & they are slowly disappearing!
7. **The community here is trying to make sure our experience is everything it can be! They
really take care of us.
8. **I am ahead in lesson planning, and will be done doing that soon (1 week & 1⁄2 left of
teaching).
Guam Culture & Facts
● Chamorro Food: a blend of Asian, Spanish, and Pacific Island
(Pancit) (Red Rice) (Lumpia) (Barbeque Chicken)
● Bright colors are everywhere! People wear lots of island, or
what we would call Hawaiian, shirts and ladies wear all sorts
of bright island dresses.
○ The island college students come from various other
islands. The young girls always wear traditional island
skirts every day–each tribe has a unique style and
language.
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“I willsing of the mercies of the LORD forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulnessto all
generations.”
~Psalm 89:1 Sending love from Guam,
Whitney