Arrived a Week Ago

Yay! I finally have the chance to use the internet to update my blog. We have been very busy during orientation. Once I get to my placement I will be able to update you all more often. I have pictures, but I am not sure it they loaded correctly.

I wrote the following entry on Sunday, July 27^th.

My first few days here have been amazing. We arrived at about midnight. The baggage claim area was man-powered, no conveyer belts here. Two buses came to pick us up, one for luggage and one for people. We packed both buses full. Since it was night we could only see trees as we drove.

When we arrived at the bright purple and lavender school we unloaded into classrooms and went to bed. I am in a room with ten girls. We are staying at the school for 3.5 weeks of orientation which includes: language classes, teacher classes, culture classes, and talks about logistics. Except for the weekends we don’t have much free time 8:30am-7:00pm.

The first morning I woke up at 6am because of jet lag. I thought it was still raining outside from the night before so I went to the window to look outside. I was shocked to see the ocean about 50 feet from the school. The combination of the wind blowing and the ocean rolling made the sound I thought was a downpour. The ocean is so beautiful. The waves are bright aqua (Baka’s favorite color).

The school is a pretty nice place to be staying. We have four toilets, two showers, a kitchen area, the ocean right behind us and the lagoon across the street and down a small path. We have three inch pads which make the concrete very comfortable. There are pigs, chickens, and dogs wandering around. A rooster wakes us up in the morning. The less convenient aspects of living at the school I have come to appreciate. Showering using a bucket of cold water and a cup is so refreshing. I am learning to master the technique and now use about 8 cups of water to take a refreshing shower. (Speaking of showering I just ran outside to wash my face and cool down in a three minute downpour. One of the girls actually washed her hair using the downspout. I wish I grabbed my camera.) The water we use for washing dishes, taking showers, and flushing toilets is mostly collected from the school’s roof into a huge catchment or into trash bins. To flush a toilet we have to get a bucket of water from a bin and dump it into the bowl and the toilet automatically flushes. Our kitchen has rats and our room has cockroaches, mosquitoes, ants, and a hermit crab (he got into someone’s bag when we went to the beach, haha). They are all part of the experience and none of them really bother me. Oh I almost forgot, the ocean has sharks close enough to shore some of the volunteers have seen them while swimming.

Majuro, the capital island and the island we are staying on, is about thirty miles long and at most four blocks wide, usually only one or two. Sine Majuro is on an atoll there is a lagoon side and an ocean side. I swam in the lagoon side and will swim in the ocean side soon.

Sorry this is so long. I will post more later :D Love you all and miss you very much!!!

Waiting in Hawaii

Three plane rides down, one to go. This morning I was up at 3am getting ready to get to the airport for our early morning flight. Before the second shuttle leaves for the airport we found out that our flight was delayed tentatively until 8pm. So I have another day in Hawaii, maybe more depending on when the plane arrives from Majuro (the capitol city).

Yesterday I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time from the plane to Hawaii. Once we got settled in our hotel a group of three girls and I took an hour long bus ride to Waikiki, a touristy shopping area next to a beautiful aqua beach. After eating Chinese food I was able to go for a swim! I was so excited. The water went from my knees to my neck in three steps then stayed up to my neck after I swam out for a good five to ten minutes. The surfers seemed to be out so deep, but there didn't seem to be a drop off for a long while after the first one at the shore. Unfortunately I do not have my camera cord because I checked it in my luggage. I will post pictures soon, I promise.

Hawaii is a little disappointing to me. We are in a very commercial area. I am in my hotel room now and all I can here are cars buzzing by on the highway. Which is fine, I am not here for very long and I am in Hawaii after all!

Today, while waiting for the plane, I went with a group of 10 to Pearl Harbor. We went to the USS Arizona Museum and were able to see the harbor where all of the ships sank. It was a very somber site. Full of history.

I am not sure when I will be able to update next. With luck our plane will come tonight and we will be on our way to the Marshalls. Peace friends!

Last Day

Wow. This week went by faster than I could have imagined. Today I really have to buckle down and get everything into my bags. Kayla has been so helpful sharpening about 100 pencils for me and addressing envelops for thank you notes.

I want to thank everyone for all the support I have received. Without all of you I wouldn't be able to be going on a trip like this. Thank you!