Two Things

1. Finished grading essays, so I scribbled. I know. Such talent, no training.

2. Michael's mug is in the yearbook. Love.

"Picking flower by leg"

I really want to know what the game "making me broken" or "hand balling" is all about. 

Click on the program picture to get a better view of activities--read the bottom, right corner.

It makes me happy.

I am reposting a link Sandy had on her g-chat. I loved it. 

The link for this postcard is below. Thanks, Sandy!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXoikMLaqwAfoxG-iy06CfdQIMSeTcd05nmFNSK55i7KnEAodlNxkVpvYw8ZCsxjoLh4pTJI9nTFM7O60sW8KU16fy3CX7LJEbK6wZ6ivB1ccDWJQTFkMcqw8ZkGW7odx4zHKDSCE9ckU/s1600/werealljustkindawiningit.jpg

Wildlife At Risk

On Saturday, Michael and I took the National Honor Society students to volunteer at Wildlife At Risk. WAR is located out by the Cu Chi tunnels, so we were able to volunteer at the institute and then climb down into the tunnels used during the Vietnam/American war.

Our students cleared brush, raked leaves, cut up fruit and veggies, and fed the endangered animals during our time at Wildlife At Risk. We loved the otters and bears, and one of the gibbons "loved" us. Her long arms wiggled out to grab hair, scratch arms and make us (me specifically) squeal. I have to give the gibbon a break because she was previously living in an abusive environment, and she doesn't like women/girls.Needless to say, we won't be sitting down for a chat and a coffee any time soon.

After volunteering at WAR, we were off to the Cu Chi tunnels. We toured through the tunnels used in the Vietnam/American war and were even able to shimmy our way through miles and miles of tunnel. Well, the kids climbed down into the tunnels. I freaked out due to the lack of air and space and made the entire crew back out, so I could get to open air. One of my more memorable moments as a leader. 

After our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, we climbed back into the van and promptly fell asleep after a long day in the sun. I had a wonderful day with this fantastic group of students and Mr. I. Hooray for NHS!

SSIS Graduation 2010

Another year, another graduation. What a class! The seniors of SSIS have so much to be proud of from their college admissions to their leadership and service in our community. I will miss the class of 2010. Best Wishes!

Building to Deal with Grief

Recently, I've been dealing with the death of a dear friend. A friend who was my boyfriend for six years, Tyler Kohut. In the six years we were together, we had our moments of bliss and moments of conflict, like all relationships. I've missed Tyler's friendship for a long time. It's been six years since we parted ways, but now I miss him because the other half who shared his life with me, at one point, is gone. I haven't been able to talk or write about the past, and quite frankly don't know why I'm typing these words right now. It's a form of therapy, I guess. I find that when I feel heartache, my hands ache. I do not register pain in my chest, but in my hands. This past week, I was able to engage in some physical therapy to ease the ache in my hands.

From May 23rd to May 27th, twenty one seniors, Mark Isley and I traveled two hours south to My Tho, Vietnam to build two houses with Habitat for Humanity. 

This is my group of seven students: Jenny, Patrizia, Thao, Ha My, Dai, AP, and Bryan. If you look at the background you can see the beginnings of the house we built. Throughout the week, we built three walls, one bathroom, smashed rocks with hammers to cover the floor, and mixed and dumped mortar to create the foundation. Every day, we looked as if we were survivors of a monsoon. Sweat dripped from the top of our heads, down to our mouth--good salt lick--and our clothes were sopping wet. Our socks were wet, our gloves were wet, our shoes were wet. But, we loved every moment of it. Building, working, sweating, physically moving to create something, a house for someone else, quiets the mass of negative emotions, guilt, grief, and pain that we all struggle with, in our own way. I loved the moment where AP cackled and shouted while smashing rocks. He said he was going to open up his own therapy office with a room of rocks where his patients could smash them. And smash them we did. There's nothing like smashing rocks to wake your mind up and make you feel alive. 

I discovered new talents along the way. I believe there's a machine to straighten rebar, but not in Nam. Here, we straighten rebar with our hands. The first time I straightened rebar, it looked like a snake or the Saigon river, but my second try was a success, or at least compared to the first. Building is so different than grading papers and being part of the writing process. Writing is a work in progress, and I enjoy being part of the student process, but when you build, you can see a finished work right in front of your eyes. To look at a wall and say, "I built that" gives you, gives me, a sense of accomplishment. 

At the end of our build, we were able to present our work to the home owners. Habitat for Humanity expects the home owners to take part in the building process. The man holding the picture of our group, in the center, is the homeowner of this structure. At the end of our week, he thanked us for our work and was proud that he was a major part of the process. I was so impressed with his building skills and the help he gave us while wearing flip-flops! One impressive man. 

In addition to building, there were also beautiful moments of bonding where we all ate lunch together, told jokes, walked through the city, waited for the bus... One of my favorite moments was eating dinner with one of our SSIS student's family. The meal was delicious, and the most memorable dish was the snake stew. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the snake skin, and at the back of the spoon is a snake egg. Delicious and a little frightening, to be honest.

Every student worked hard, slept hard, and ate a lot of food during our trip. We bonded, gave back to our community, and supported each other for five days. It was just like summer camp, but with back pain and heat exhaustion! All joking aside, this was one of those life changing trips that I know I will never forget. 

The pain of losing Tyler is shared by many. I know people all around the world are celebrating his creative spirit and cunning sense of humor. I know that dealing with death is an ebb and flow of emotion, but I also know that I deal best when helping others with my hands. So this, is what I will continue to do.

Saturday Night at the Roller Rink!

What do you do in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday night? Roller skate! Last night, a group of us from SSIS went to a roller skating rink in District 1. The music was blaring, the strobe lights blinding, and I was the oldest person in the room. We all had gigantic smiles pasted to our faces while rolling around the rink. Paul showed us his fancy moves, Dyana was determined not to fall, Kris and Betsy showed us their couples moves, Elaine was a champ, Stacey laughed her way around the rink, and Michael was our resident photographer. A good time was had by all! 

The Gang, ready to roller!