Preschool update. : )

I also wanted to update you guys on how work is going. I love my job. I mean, what other job lets you play all day? Not only that, but every day my kids amaze me with what they can do. Because of their needs, my kids make gains very slowly. But let me tell you, we celebrate every single little milestone. We cheer like they just won an Oscar when they do something they've never done before. It's the most exciting event of our day when one of our girls is able to throw away her paper towel after washing her hands without tearing it into little tiny pieces, trying to eat it, and then running across the room flinging paper towel bits everywhere.

One of my boys started sorting things by color the other day. I was playing one of those magnetic fishing games with him and we were putting the colored fish on paper plates of the same color. I had tried getting him to sort colors another time and he just had no clue, so I just figured I'd try and build it into play to help him understand how to do it. I did a few with him, then I walked away to get something. When I came back, I looked down and the orange fish was on the orange plate. I looked at my aide and said "He put the orange fish on the orange plate!" It was extremely exciting. It's just amazing to see these kids who have all odds against them do the most amazing things. Things that 30 years ago they may not even have been encouraged to do. They teach me something new every day, and I am always humbled by their ability to overcome the hurdles that nature has thrown at them. They're amazing. And I love them.

One of my kids fell in the hallway yesterday when she was walking with her aide and she cut her chin open really badly. She ended up having to go to the hospital and get 3 stitches in her chin. Needless to say, I felt horrible (even though I wasn't even there at the time) and I know the aide did as well. I have such a sense of responsibility for these kids to not only be their teacher but their advocate and their cheerleader (which I do pretty well, I must say). I just wish I could show you all pictures of them, because on top of being amazing they are also adorable. But I'll have to settle for anecdotes and descriptions of the wonderful and often hilarious things they do.

Our new bulletin board for fire safety week. : )

Things you see a lot in Guam

1. Rainbows. I used to think they were rare and amazing, but apparently here it's a common occurrence. Today I tried to take a picture of the sun, because there was a rainbow ring around it. You can't really tell in the picture. It was really pretty! Now that being said, I never get sick of seeing a rainbow and I still ooh and ahh  and act like it's the first one I've ever seen every time I see one.

2. Random animals:

• Dogs everywhere! Apparently here they don't believe in leashing or otherwise keeping their dogs cooped up so they are just roaming all over. There are also a ton of strays wandering around. These dogs are referred to as "boonie dogs" and they are permanent fixtures on all the roads. There's one that sits in the exact same spot on the road to work and I see him every day. Now although lots of people don't believe in  penning up their dogs, there are lots of big houses that have really big, mean looking guard dogs in little tiny pens. At night they close the fence around their house and let them run around. The house right near me has guard dogs and if I walk or drive past they snarl and get all scary. I think it's pretty sad. 
• Roosters! I just learned that there is apparently a big cock-fighting scene on Guam. I went on a home visit to one of my kid's houses and they had all these roosters tied to little posts in their yard. I'm pretty sure now that's what they're for. But there are roosters all over this island and they crow all the time. Apparently that whole thing about roosters crowing when the sun comes up is BS because there are roosters in the yard next door that crow at 3:00 in the morning. They also like to cross the street at really inconvenient times. The other day I was driving and a rooster started across the road in my lane. I slowed down and he didn't look like he was going to keep crossing so I moved over into the other lane and at that exact moment he decided to continue crossing so I had to slam on my brakes and wait for the damn rooster to cross the road. 
• Big fat toads. Near my apartment at night there are huge toads that come out of the woods. I have to cringe every time I drive here at night  because I think I've probably killed like 50 toads total. I felt really bad about it at first, but then my friend told me these toads are an invasive species so I shouldn't feel bad about it. 
• Karabao. I had no idea what a karabao was and had never seen a karabao in my life and I was driving down the street the other day and there was this guy just walking with a big cow-like animal on the side of the road. Thankfully, my friend Jackie was with me and when I exclaimed "What is that??" she nonchalantly said..."Oh, you haven't seen a karabao yet?" Apparently there is a guy who walks a karabao on one of the main streets with a dog riding on top. I really want to see this. Today I was driving home and I passed a little group of karabao just mosying along. : ) 

• Now with all these animals, there is a noticeable lack of birds. The brown tree snake is an invasive species that has apparently killed off most of the bird species on the island except for a few. So it's kind of weird to never see birds or hear birds chirping. There are, however, these little black birds called Marianas Swifts that apparently attack people while they're running. I'm tempted to see if this is true. : ) Fun fact about the brown tree snake: I guess the researchers have found that Acetaminophen will kill them. So in order to control the population they have decided to parachute dead mice laced with Tylenol into the trees. The snakes will eat them if they're dangling from the tree but apparently not if they're on the ground, so the government has actually designed a special parachute to drop these mice into the trees. I can only imagine walking through a forest and being rained on by dead mice. 

3. Really pretty sunsets. 

4. Japanese tourists. They're EVERYWHERE! It's kind of homey feeling though, I'm not gonna lie. The only difference is that these tourists tend to be kind of rude and pushy. I assume it's probably just because of the class of Japanese people that are able to vacation in Guam...who knows, but they are a far cry from the soft spoken, courteous Japanese people I know. There are certain times of year where they just take over the entire island. When I first got here I had a lot of trouble getting a rental car and finding a backup hotel to stay in because there were so many Japanese tourists here. I guess I never realized this was a popular vacation spot for them. 

5. Potholes. The roads here are notoriously bad. The traffic and driving is also terrible. I'm surprised I don't see more accidents. It's always nice to drive behind someone who knows the roads because you can just follow them when they swerve to avoid giant potholes. 

6. Beautiful beaches. Obviously it's an island so everywhere you turn there's a beach, but the other day I went to a beach on the north west side of the island it was like paradise. You had to drive down a really bumpy, crappy road to get there and after we parked we had to walk through a jungle and there were butterflies everywhere and then we came out onto this gorgeous beach! Just another day in the life. : )