This past weekend was Xavier Day – a kind of field day event with games and competitions among Xavier students, faculty, and alumni. Not too many alumni were there – mostly younger people living in Sapuk or Penia. There were races and sporting events, and also things like eating competitions and water balloon tosses. I played a few games, joined the faculty basketball team, and ran some sprints and relays. I didn’t do too badly for someone who hasn’t really been involved in sports for a while. Of course, now I’m extremely sore, but it’s kind of a good feeling. It was really impressive to see how well the students work and bond together in the name of school spirit. They organized the entire day without any help from the faculty. They’re surprisingly resourceful and focused… when they want to be, of course. I took a lot of pictures, but I think I’m going to have to wait for Guam to upload anything – it takes a full free day to get anything online. At night, there was some dancing and a huge dinner of local foods like tapioca, crab, fish, and the freshly killed Xavier pig, which I didn’t eat. There were also six different kinds of cake and ice cream. I’m always really appreciative when the school goes all out for these kinds of things, but consequently we have had no money for food for the past two weeks. There’s been no milk, bread, or vegetables for over a week and we haven’t had breakfast for the past few days. If we eat well one day, it’s pretty much guaranteed that we won’t eat at all for a few days before and after. We also had no water last night or this morning – really only frustrating when you want to take a shower and relieve your body of all the dust and sweat.

Greg also came this weekend from Guam. He arrived on Friday for the dedication of the new student center and stuck around for a few games that we had. He left today for Pohnpei with the Micronesian superior. I actually didn’t get to see as much of him as I would have liked, but I’ll see him back in Guam in two weeks for Christmas. I can’t believe how quickly this semester flew by. This is the last week of classes before reviews and final exams start. I’m almost nervous for the semester to be over because the next one will be so different. New people, new schedules, maybe less students… and it will also be one step closer to leaving, which I’m not sure I want to do. Right now though, all I can think about is my huge to-do list of grading papers, typing study guides, and making final exams. Then of course I should also be shopping for some gifts at least, and writing return letters to my friends. There are just not enough hours in the day for me to get everything done I would like to!

I’m hoping everyone back home is enjoying the Christmas season. Even though it’s December, it doesn’t feel like the holidays at all. I’ve never been in hot, humid, summer weather during “winter,” so I don’t necessarily feel like Christmas is quickly coming. I really miss Christmas in NY – the tree at Rockefeller Center, the winter markets, snowfall, spending time with friends making cookies and wrapping presents. Thankfully I did all these things last year, knowing that this year I might not be around for one reason or another. It feels so unreal to be sweating in December, but like everything else here, once you get past the initial strangeness, it becomes completely normal and natural, and part of the routine