Weeks 31 and 32 in Tarawa

It's been a long time since we tried to post a video.  We hope this works.  While this isn't the highest surf we've ever had, it gives you a good idea of what we live with day and night.  The sound has become familiar and comforting; it's something we will always remember and always miss when we return home.









While we're at it, here's something else we marvel over: the beauty of the cloud formations and sky.  The little white dot near the top center of the photo is Venus. 

One of the fun things I've been asked to do is occasionally help teach Ioram's physics class.  When I came this day, he apologized that he hadn't been able to round up the equipment he needed for the lab and would have to reschedule to another day.  I looked at the lab on Hook's Law, the force-displacement relationship in the linear region of a spring, and realized I could do it with a meter stick instead of a wound metal spring.  I ran home, got a meter stick, a bottle of water, a measuring cup, and a few twist ties.  The students were able to measure the deflection of the end of the meter stick clamped to the table top with 100 gram increments of water added to the bottle hung from the end.  I think the students actually learned about F=kX.



At the Young Women's meeting last week, the Young Women's Presidency asked Sister Sumner for a quick idea for something to do because the girls didn't come prepared to work on their Personal Progress books.  In a moment of inspiration, she suggested they pair up and style each other's hair and then have a fashion show and a discussion on personal grooming.  It was a great hit.

 

 Most of the girls here have waist long, thick, dark, curly hair, so braids and buns are common styles.  We've seen some really amazing hair styles.

This lesson on personal grooming will be followed in two weeks by a lesson on personal hygiene which will be taught by the school nurse.







On Saturday, April 25th, a school anniversary celebration was held by the alumni association, LAMB.  This picture shows the chapel decorations and the alumni president, Tepwi, giving his farewell speech.  He and his wife are moving to an outer island where his wife has been offered a wonderful new job with the National Ministry.  We loved the wood carving of Moroni at the front right.  It's always hard, however, to sit through long talks in Kiribati.

We were asked to be judges for the marching parade and food activities after the program.  They think we know how to judge these things.


This past week has been crazy busy with daily after-school online surveys for BYU-Hawaii.  They wanted to get information on student attendance and motivation.  Our internet situation made it hard for us to do as many as they would have liked, but we did our best  under difficult circumstances.