Sooooo... Stefani my roommate just realized the address WorldTeach gave us was wrong. It is actually PO Box 5129 (NOT 5179). I am a bit upset... but I think I will still be able to get what you sent me. A good thing about small islands and being a rebelle is people can find me.
I will try to write a post this weekend. Miss you all!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Half a Post
August 20, 2008
My last week on Majuro passed so quickly. Living in Darren’s apartment was fun. I was able to get to know Matt, Nick, and Stefani better, which is exciting because they will all be living on the Kwajelein Atoll with me.
Tuesday morning I finished my last minute packing in the morning and then packed up all of our stuff into a van. Luckily everything fit, including us! However the van’s battery decided it didn’t feel like starting up the engine. So we pushed the van in reverse, then forward, until it was in the road. The four of us, along with Lauren and Annie, pushed the van with Darren and our luggage inside down the road until we gained enough speed for the van to start. Oh how wonderfully exciting every moment is in the Marshall Islands.
The airport is as small as any paved airport you can think of. We walk in and bring our bags right to a short line that contains only a few passengers on our plane. A guy helps me weigh my bags (46 and 72 pounds) then brings them over to a table to hand inspect them. There is no x-ray machine so they must look through each bag. The inspector found a lighter in Stefani’s bag which she thought was long gone. After we checked our luggage we had breakfast then went through customs (a guy who glances at our passport) and into the one and only gate. I took a nap and read until we had to load the plane. I walked across the single runway and onto the plane; my second time on this specific Continental plane (four more times to go).
The flight was short and smooth. Considering all of the flights I have had since I left home I am lucky they have all been easy rides. On the Kwaj base there were strict procedures we had to follow. Our bags were sniffed by dogs and we were personally escorted to a holding area to wait in until we could catch our boat.
More to come later. Time is tight… sorry
My last week on Majuro passed so quickly. Living in Darren’s apartment was fun. I was able to get to know Matt, Nick, and Stefani better, which is exciting because they will all be living on the Kwajelein Atoll with me.
Tuesday morning I finished my last minute packing in the morning and then packed up all of our stuff into a van. Luckily everything fit, including us! However the van’s battery decided it didn’t feel like starting up the engine. So we pushed the van in reverse, then forward, until it was in the road. The four of us, along with Lauren and Annie, pushed the van with Darren and our luggage inside down the road until we gained enough speed for the van to start. Oh how wonderfully exciting every moment is in the Marshall Islands.
The airport is as small as any paved airport you can think of. We walk in and bring our bags right to a short line that contains only a few passengers on our plane. A guy helps me weigh my bags (46 and 72 pounds) then brings them over to a table to hand inspect them. There is no x-ray machine so they must look through each bag. The inspector found a lighter in Stefani’s bag which she thought was long gone. After we checked our luggage we had breakfast then went through customs (a guy who glances at our passport) and into the one and only gate. I took a nap and read until we had to load the plane. I walked across the single runway and onto the plane; my second time on this specific Continental plane (four more times to go).
The flight was short and smooth. Considering all of the flights I have had since I left home I am lucky they have all been easy rides. On the Kwaj base there were strict procedures we had to follow. Our bags were sniffed by dogs and we were personally escorted to a holding area to wait in until we could catch our boat.
More to come later. Time is tight… sorry
Monday, August 18, 2008
Leaving in the Morning
Hello Friends!
I am (pretty much) officially leaving tomorrow morning. Our plane is scheduled to leave at noon and we have to get there 4 hours early! There is only one customs officer so we have to go through customs before the plane arrives and the passengers go through customs. Everything here is awesome.
I just went to see the Dark Knight. Yes there is a movie theater in Majuro. Best of all it cost $3. The theater has three movies showing. They change weekly.
Last night the new ambassador's mother-in-law invited us to her house for a party. Her house is one of the nicest houses in the country. It is absolutely beautiful. The party was in the afternoon. When we arrived the host told us she has lots planned for us and she was true to her word. I learned how to cook breadfruit over coals in the traditional way, scraping off the soot with a seashell while holding the fruit with a coconut shell. I learned how to make plates out of coconut and breadfruit tree leaves, which we then ate out of. I ate fish, breadfruit, coconut, rice, chicken, coconut bread, and many other delicious dishes of which I still need to learn their names. After dinner a couple of the women made a "love potion" of coconut and special herbs which was used on the children. We played games of volleyball, the Marshallese teens totally ruined us. At the end of the night I learned how to make a "Marshallese Ball" which is really a cube our of coconut leaves. All of which was done in a backyard with two mini gazebos and a wall right next to the breathtaking lagoon. My first Marahallese party was one I'll never forget.
Leaving tomorrow is such a weird feeling. It is weird saying goodbye to people who I have come so close with in the past month, knowing that I will may never see them again.
Love you all! XOXO
I am (pretty much) officially leaving tomorrow morning. Our plane is scheduled to leave at noon and we have to get there 4 hours early! There is only one customs officer so we have to go through customs before the plane arrives and the passengers go through customs. Everything here is awesome.
I just went to see the Dark Knight. Yes there is a movie theater in Majuro. Best of all it cost $3. The theater has three movies showing. They change weekly.
Last night the new ambassador's mother-in-law invited us to her house for a party. Her house is one of the nicest houses in the country. It is absolutely beautiful. The party was in the afternoon. When we arrived the host told us she has lots planned for us and she was true to her word. I learned how to cook breadfruit over coals in the traditional way, scraping off the soot with a seashell while holding the fruit with a coconut shell. I learned how to make plates out of coconut and breadfruit tree leaves, which we then ate out of. I ate fish, breadfruit, coconut, rice, chicken, coconut bread, and many other delicious dishes of which I still need to learn their names. After dinner a couple of the women made a "love potion" of coconut and special herbs which was used on the children. We played games of volleyball, the Marshallese teens totally ruined us. At the end of the night I learned how to make a "Marshallese Ball" which is really a cube our of coconut leaves. All of which was done in a backyard with two mini gazebos and a wall right next to the breathtaking lagoon. My first Marahallese party was one I'll never forget.
Leaving tomorrow is such a weird feeling. It is weird saying goodbye to people who I have come so close with in the past month, knowing that I will may never see them again.
Love you all! XOXO
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Hello
Thank you for all of your messages. I'm sorry I haven't been able to write back to them individually, but I just want to let you know that I love hearing from you all and I am thinking of you often.
Goobie & Jan- I did have a coconut! I drank the coconut water directly from the coconut, then broke it open and ate some of the meat. Yum! I also have coconut in many of my meals. The Marshallese make a dish that is similar to tapioca pudding that have coconut in it. Look up breadfruit, that is what I have been eating at almost every meal. Also look up pandanas. They are so healthy and very very yummy. I have only had one so far, but I hopefully will have more.
Love you all very much!! Enjoy the last few weeks of summer :D
Goobie & Jan- I did have a coconut! I drank the coconut water directly from the coconut, then broke it open and ate some of the meat. Yum! I also have coconut in many of my meals. The Marshallese make a dish that is similar to tapioca pudding that have coconut in it. Look up breadfruit, that is what I have been eating at almost every meal. Also look up pandanas. They are so healthy and very very yummy. I have only had one so far, but I hopefully will have more.
Love you all very much!! Enjoy the last few weeks of summer :D
Leaving Tuesday
The following entry was written on Tuesday, August 12.
About ten minutes after my last entry I found out my flight to Gugeegue was moved to Tuesday the 19th. Almost everyday there is something in our schedule that changes for one reason or another, planning anything concrete is almost impossible. Because of the difficulties I have with keeping track of time, I sometimes don’t even notice the changes in schedule. So it works out for me!
One more week of life on Majuro and then I will be settling into my “apartment” with Stefani. Until then we have a busy schedule. Tomorrow and Thursday we will have our Marshallese lessons and teacher sessions all day. On Friday the volunteers staying in Majuro are moving out while the rest of us clean the school. That night we will go into town to finish up our shopping and have a dinner/talent show at a local hotel with our language teachers. Most of us will come back to the elementary school we are staying in to sleep. The next morning we all move out so the school can start getting ready for classes. We will move into an array of different places until our boats or planes come to get us. I will be staying with Darren, the co-field director, Stefani, Matt, and Nick the Kwajelein volunteers. We will have a few relaxing days before heading out. Maybe I will indulge in bringing my clothes to the laundry mat. Bucket washing them just isn't the same; they all smell so musty.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Quick Update
Hello! Thank you for all of your messages. I love reading them!
I don't have much time, so I am going to try to update quickly. I am leaving for Gugeegue on Saturday the 16th. I have just over a week here. School is supposed to start the 18th but knowing a bit about the Marshallese culture I doubt it will start that early. I still don't know what I will be teaching at the High School and I probably won't know until I get there.
I am healthy, though there are four volunteers that are very sick. I am taking my vitamins and trying my best to not get sick.
I will update this blog more often once I am on my island. During training we are super busy and don't have much access to the internet. Pictures are coming soon :D
Miss you very much! Hope you are all enjoying your summers.
Sidenote: I hung my laundry next to the ocean under the stars and moon on coconut trees. I'm so lucky to be here.
I don't have much time, so I am going to try to update quickly. I am leaving for Gugeegue on Saturday the 16th. I have just over a week here. School is supposed to start the 18th but knowing a bit about the Marshallese culture I doubt it will start that early. I still don't know what I will be teaching at the High School and I probably won't know until I get there.
I am healthy, though there are four volunteers that are very sick. I am taking my vitamins and trying my best to not get sick.
I will update this blog more often once I am on my island. During training we are super busy and don't have much access to the internet. Pictures are coming soon :D
Miss you very much! Hope you are all enjoying your summers.
Sidenote: I hung my laundry next to the ocean under the stars and moon on coconut trees. I'm so lucky to be here.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
A Break From Training
Hello Friends! I am currently sitting outside at a restaurant eating french fries, using free Internet, hanging with friends, and looking out over the ocean. We are not usually at a place were we can enjoy such things so I am taking full advantage!
I think I figured out how to post pictures, yay! I hope they work. Last time the internet was too slow so I didn't have time to put them up. The first picture is a picture of the bus our group travels around on. If there was ever a problem and we had to get off the bus fast it would be very hard. When we travel we have to have at least two people sitting on the floor and two people standing. So funny. To travel from the school we are staying in to the town, where we have spent most of the past week it is about an hour trip. The speed limit is 15 mph and gas is $6.75/gallon.
My new favorite activity is showering in the rain. I sweat a lot here. Basically unless I am in an air conditioned room I am sweating everywhere! Don't worry I still enjoy a good bucket shower, but showering in the rain is thrilling. I shower under a spout from the roof completely clothed. At home I would put on a bathing suit but here my bathing suit consists of more clothes than I would normally wear on a hot day; covered knees, shoulders, and chest.
Last weekend we traveled to an uninhabited island to go to the beach. I had such a wonderful time. The beach was sandy and there were little structures with benches and tables to sit under. I was in the water for about two hours because the coral was so beautiful. The colors of the coral were golden, yellow, and orange. The fish ranged in size from tiny to about a foot long. I was so glad I remembered to pack goggles! I saw a nemo fish, stripped fish, iridescent fish, schools of little blue fish, they were all different colors. Eventually I was tired from swimming and holding my breath for so long that I had to get out of the water. On shore the water looked aqua blue. There were pigs, crabs, and chickens wandering around the island. I hope we get to go back soon.
I am learning to speak cajun majel (Marshallese). I am in a group of five volunteers and Arther is our teacher. He is great; just graduated from high school and is going to go to Hawaii for college in August. My computer is starting to act weird. I will update soon! XOXO
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