Kauai Outing and School Feastday Celebration

I have much to write about and pictures to share! We decided that for our Community Outing, we would go to the National Tropical Botanical Garden. On the way, we stopped at Spouting Horn and Poipu Beach. 

On the right is a picture I took of Spouting Horn. It is a hole that the lava made, and water from the surf shoots up through it, making a cool site to see.

While we were there, we had a picnic that Sr. Hannah prepared for us. It was so good that we even had chickens come and beg.

Our next stop was Poipu Beach.  We are looking forward to our return!

Lastly, we went to the Botanical Gardens, where we had a fun tour. Everything was stunning, and I loved learning about the history of the  plant life in Hawaii. 

Our tour guide, Martin, was both entertaining and knowledgeable. Here he is sharing with us one of the many fruits he picked for us during the tour.

Also, today was a very special day at St. Theresa School! We celebrated the Feastdays of both St. Theresa and St. Francis of Assisi. We had a special mass, and Fr. Arnel shared with us at his homily how similar St. Francis and St. Theresa were, along with their messages for us who are living today. 

All students who wished could dress up as St. Theresa or St. Francis. Our principal, Mrs. Buza-sims, praised these students for expressing their faith for this special day....I had to use what I have learned from being a Sister to help the veils stay on!

On her Pilgrimage to Assisi this past June, Sr. Carol Ann generously picked up  Tau Cross necklaces for all the students. The seventh graders put them on the children.

We had a procession to the Statue of St. Theresa after Mass.

One of the things I like about this school is the mentoring program. The older grades  partner up with the younger grades for activities.

This is most of my class. They're fun!

St. Theresa with her beautiful flowers and leis. Notice the handmade  lei the kindergarten made!

The children were happy to eat their Lady Jacoba-inspired cookies!

Sr. Carol Ann distributed coloring pages to the teachers. It gave me an opportunity to teach my students more about St. Francis. It gave my students a chance to recover from their sugar-high and all the excitement of the morning!

The Weird Time Thing

 

My goodness, the time goes by so fast! Every Monday morning, I seem to enter into this weird time thing, because before I know it, it's already Friday. Each day is a breath and each week is 10 minutes.

 

"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day."

- 2 Peter 3:8, NAB

I'm starting to know what he means by the second part of that verse.

 

I am enjoying my time here very much. I love my students, and the people here are so warm and generous. They have shared with us fruit from their yards, such as papayas, avocados, bananas and mangos. I am usually more of a vegetable person, but I love the fruit in Hawaii. I have had opportunities to use them in recipes, as we each take turns cooking. One of our parishioners shared with us a mango salsa recipe that I enjoy putting together.

 

Mango Salsa

1 Mango

1 Can of Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz), drained

Just over 1/4 cup Diced Onions

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix and enjoy! It tastes even better if you keep it in the refrigerator over night before serving.

I learned the hard way that I can't cut up the mangos myself. It turns out that I am allergic to mango tree sap. It's a relative to poison ivy, but not everyone is allergic to it. It just causes a similar reaction. I am glad that I'm not allergic to the fruit itself!

I plan on writing again soon! I hope things are going well for all of you!