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Guam 2020: Post 9 - Going as Planned, or Not Going As Planned



Yesterday I tutored in the morning, as planned.  The thing that did not go as planned, was that when it was time for my students to spell words that follow the rule we are learning this lesson, by typing on the screen I was sharing from my computer, some of the letters they typed came out as different letters.  I started keeping track of what was happening.  If they typed a "n", it showed up as "l".  If they typed an "l", it showed up as a "p", and "c" was "i".  How frustrating for a student who was trying to spell correctly but it came out as something they didn't want. Some letters were ok, but there were 8 that were wrong.  So any time the student wanted one of those letters, they would have to ask me to type it.  All the letters came out correct when I typed them.  Very strange and very frustrating.  My students are trying so hard to overcome issues with reading and spelling, I don't want technology issues to get in the way of their progress in any way.

I forgot to talk about my husband about it when he got home, and then panicked this morning, because I did not want another day with typing issues.  He googled things and didn't find anything that applied to my computer set up.  30 minutes before it was time for me to meet my first student on Zoom, he decided to update my Zoom software, just in case.  My computer started updating everything! There were only minutes to spare when it finished.  I started the program holding my breath, but my fear was needless.  The software update fixed the issues.  I was so delighted to tutor today without issues, and so glad to see my students have success with what ever lesson they were on.  I'm so proud of them.

After tutoring I went over to visit my friend, Antonieta.  I was on Guam when she arrived on island three years ago, with her husband who had been hired to work at AWR.  He spoke English and Spanish.  She spoke only Spanish.  I was hired to spend 3 hours per day teaching her English.  She was such a good student and a delight to work with.  Now I am even more delighted to see how comfortably she is speaking English now, and how easy she is to understand.  She has made such progress.  After I left last time, some other people worked with her some, and she continued to study on her own.  On this visit we were able to talk about so many more things she didn't have enough vocabulary to talk about before.



Antonieta shared some of the food from her home country with me, Arepas wrapped in banana leaves with vegetarian filling.  The small one she gave me to taste was so delicious!  Then when I left after our visit, she sent some home with me to have for supper and share with my husband.  She is a very good cook.  I hope we get to do some more things together while we are on Guam this time.



While I was getting supper ready, Rob brought in a coconut he had found, and proceeded to open it up, just like he had learned to do three years ago.  We didn't have any fancy tools and didn't want to spend money on any last time, so he googled on how to open a coconut with something simple that we had.  He learned to open coconuts with a butter knife and something hard, like a rock or a brick.  Sure enough, he still had his skills.  Coconut man, he is.  We've got fresh coconut in the refrigerator now.



Today after tutoring I drove to town to get some things.  I discovered we were all but out of toilet paper.  And didn't have any bags for the kitchen trash can, except the one that was in it.  While in town, I searched for some inexpensive white rope, because I wanted to make macrame hangers for my two pots of pink flowers.  I hadn't done any macrame since I was a teen, but figured if I could do it then, I could relearn it now.  Back at home I searched online for how to make easy macrame hangers.  The first You Tube tutorial I watched was exactly what I needed, and titled 5 Minute Macrame Hangers!  What a cinch!  I think they taught me the 5 hour macrame hanger method when I was a kid.  You can watch the video here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaeUZP1zP3w

So with this method, all you need to do is cut some rope to your desired length, and then tie the most basic knot on the planet 10 times, and then insert your plant and then hang it on your hook.  Done!  The hardest part was untangling the rope when I was trying to measure it.  I didn't have a measuring tape, or even a ruler.  I looked for something of known size, about 3 feet long, but didn't know for sure if it really was.  Then I grabbed a sheet of paper, it is 11 inches long.  That is close to a foot.  So I used it for my measuring device.  Four pieces of rope, each 10 paper lengths long, made the perfect sized hanger for my flowers.



Of course I wanted to know what kind of flowers they are, there is a tag on the side that says, "Vinica."  Perfect!  We have some lavender colored Vinica that are used for bedding plants at home called Periwinkle.   Well these are hot pink Vinica that likes semi-tropical conditions, in the sun or shade.  Perfect.  I think they will enjoy my porch.  In less than an hour I had rope cut, tied into hangers, and plants inserted.  I also swept the porch and took a photo so you can see how nice they look.  I really enjoyed doing some garden work.  I kind of wish I had a whole garden to tend here.

Amy brought me over a surprise.  She was able to get a whole box of discounted bananas for me and one for her.  Only $10 for the whole box!  I think I paid $9 for three hands of bananas earlier.  There are now 5 full gallon Ziplock bags in my freezer, ready for smoothies, or a cold snack.  They were in quite good condition too.



On my way home from town, I stopped at the park by Chamorro Village Market, so I could see what the ocean looked like.  It seemed like there were some pretty big waves there.  I enjoyed watching them for quite a while from on top of a rock jetty that was quite close to the reef, protecting the entrance to the Hatgatna Marina.



 Just before I left, a boat came out of the marina.  And I couldn't believe my eyes, but it was headed straight out toward those big waves.  Then I noticed that there was one narrow pathway, between channel markers that was relatively calm.  The boat stayed strictly in the middle of that small channel, and had no problem going out, right between the big waves.



After that I could see that the boat must have had a paying customer.  It was a super windy day with big waves, but that person went up anyway.

It seems the lesson is, stick to the center of the channel and you can drive straight past the waves.

Comments

  1. The channel's deeper, so the waves don't break as hard there. Big navigational challenge, especially on the way back in.

    ReplyDelete

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