April 21 Tuesday: I got a little more background on what has been happening at the two schools on Majuro (and part of the reason, Jim has not had much time to arrange a meeting with the Arno irooj). This morning two SM's got dropped off at the airport. They were being sent home for some undisclosed, but apparently ongoing indiscretions. That is rather disappointing this close to the end of a school year. And Cameron told me this evening they were heading up to Laura to pull a teacher at that school. This one is not being sent home, but will be brought to the Delap school where he can be supervised a little more directly. There have been a number of small, but inadequately addressed issues with this teacher and his handling of discipline in the classroom. That has resulted in the students thinking he hates them and being quite disrespectful to him in return. Not a good learning environment, so they are switching some teachers around.

Jim, Cameron, I and two other SM's, John and Scott, who wanted to Jambo, headed to Laura in the pickup at 8:30 pm. Riding in the truckbed was more enjoyable on the way out than on the way back mainly because it was not as windy and John, Scott, and I could talk audibly. John is an accounting major and Scott, while he has had a great year in Majuro, is planning to change his major from education to psychology. We talked about books, the wonderful speedbumps everywhere, my trip, their experiences over the year, on occasion getting smacked in the head by low hanging palm branches if we didn't duck in time. We also had a large box for Matt, one of the Laura SM's, from some of his friends back in the US. On arrival, Jim unloaded his stuff, since he is going to stay up there for a few days and teach the classes of the one SM we were pulling out and make sure things stabilize. We got Matt his box and he happily tore into it. It was packed with crayons, water balloons, candy, Pringles,
fish crackers, and other goodies. The campus in Laura is much smaller, but the teachers living quarters are quite nice, definitely simple, but nice. After loading all the belongings of the SM we were taking back we made the very windy return trip.

I had a rude awakening this morning, early, when the cat of the house decided she would come into my room at 1 am and pee on my leg, the mattress, and the floor. No long term damage done, but not how I hope to be woken up again any time soon.

Cameron and I took a ride over to the US Embassy mid afternoon to pick up his new passport, a rather intense process going through security, scanners, etc, then returning an item to the Formosa store, and mailing a package for one of the Laura SM's.

April 22 Wednesday Liam (the SM mentioned yesterday) skipped out on their morning meeting, so it appears he is not taking this reprimand very well. Cameron said from their conversation in the truck cab on the ride last night, Liam was sincerely bothered that the situation was happening at all. He really likes the kids and did not want to be removed. He assumes he is going to be sent home like the other two SM's a day earlier, but that is not the case. On Monday, while I had been at the Laura point, Cameron had been interviewing some of the students individually, and while they were consistent and quite unanimous, their side is very different from what Liam is telling the administrators. I know how difficult dealing with a situation like this would be for me and am glad I do not have to deal with this one. Cameron and Jim seems to work well together as a team and I am sure it will be resolved in the best interests of all involved, but it is not an easy thing.

On some lighter notes, I can now unequivocally say I understand the phrase squeal like a pig. I have lived around farm areas off and on throughout my life, but being raised Adventist, most of my farm experience has been minus piggies. Sure I've encountered them at county/state fairs and you get your standard assortment of oinks, grunts, and so on. But nothing like the distressed animal nearby my lodgings. By the sound of it the owners are getting just enough bacon off him each day for breakfast and he has an amazing set of lungs. The squeals can last nearly 90 seconds at a pop and are shrill. Yet somehow he survives to do it again day after day.

Another thing I was thinking about on my return boat ride after being left behind, was how similar being in the lagoon at night is to standing in the middle of Black Rock City at night. You are surrounded by lights off in the distance,evidence of the life and activity going on in a 360 degree ring around you. Except that now the only sound is the lapping of the waves against the boat and the small engine purring away It still was a pleasant connection to make.

Yesterday, I finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, according to Alice Walker, one of the most influential black female authors of this century. It was written in 1937 and tells the life story of a black woman, thrice married. At the beginning I assumed that the title referred to the newly freed former slaves watching God to give them justice, but it ends up being connected with a climactic hurricane and the wrath of God implied in the ensuing damage. It takes a while to get comfortable with the cadence and phonetic spelling of the conversations between characters, but it is a rewarding read when you reach the end. I appreciate the glimpse into a way of life in the Florida swamps, as I will only ever know by reading.

A Marshallese joke: Why is it safer to drive in the rain on Majuro?

Anyway, I expect we will head to Rita this evening to spend some time with the kids there. Cameron also mentioned we should go jump off the Majuro bridge. I think he needs the stress relief right now and it actually sounds like fun, but probably not tonight.

Answer: Because there are less people/animals in the street while it is raining. Komol tata

April 23 Thursday: This morning I spent two hours exploring the tide pools just off the seawall at the SDA school. Sea cucumbers, eels, many types of crabs, shrimp, snails and larger mollusks, brittle stars and various fish were among the things I discovered. And I also made a man made discovery at the beginning of my time out there: a complete scuba tank and breathing apparatus lying in a pool at the base of the sea wall. There was absolutely no one else on the beach as far as I could see in either direction. I set the equipment on a flat rock part way up the embankment and went exploring the tide pools. No one came by in the two hours I was out there, so I brought the tank, which has no markings on it to indicate ownership, back to Cameron's. It is fairly heavy and that has definitely added to the mystery of how it arrived at the location where I found it. It was low tide and about 200 feet from where the reef drops off into deeper ocean. While I have no doubt the ocean is powerful enough to push a tank like this across the top of the reef, there is no plausible way for it to have gotten to the top of the reef if it had fallen off a boat or been dropped during a dive off shore and it's location is also inexplicable if someone was walking along the beach and decided to leave it there temporarily. The hoses and apparatus attached to the tank itself shows no sign of being battered by the surf, which I feel would have had to occur if it was pushed in from further out on the reef. We went to the neighbors and asked if anyone was missing a tank or had been asked about one. All clear there, so we now have SCUBA equipment. In the afternoon, I dropped off a dvd (pirated, of course) for one of the SM's, got a flat rate postal box, replenished our macaroni and cheese supply, and picked up a few oranges. The flat rate box is so I can send a book, some shells, and most likely part of my jetboil back home. I am realizing that getting fuel for it during the trip will be futile.

Back to last night: this time there were twenty kids waiting for us at Rita and one of their moms translated when it was story time. When we arrived, a bbq was just getting started in the front yard. This was good news to Cameron and David (a teacher at the school, originally from Burma), since both had skipped lunch during their busy days. We had our songs and story time (a moral story about not stealing and how sometimes our parents and other authority figures punish or reprimand us because they love us and do not want to see us going further down a bad path than we already have, not because they hate us). The host of the house asked us to eat with them, but Cameron knew there was not enough food already prepared (bbq hot dogs, chicken and white rice). So being the spontaneous guy that he is, we ran back to the school, grabbed the stuff to make four boxes of mac and cheese and quickly returned to Rita. They already had water boiling for us and I made the mac and cheese on the kitchen floor. (see picture) With our contribution there was enough food for everyone. Most Marshallese do not use utensils for eating, but there are usually a few forks if you feel it is necessary. The kids definitely do not find them necessary. We had peanut butter twix for dessert, something that I wish they still sold in the States. I prefer these over the caramel kind. The mother of Toshiro and Kraythia, and adopted mom to Kathy, was the translator for us this evening She was telling me she comes from a family with 17 brothers and sisters and all 20 of the kids there are hers or are her nieces and nephews.

Back at the school, we played a game of Scrabble before going to bed.

April 24 Friday: Today has been a relaxing day for me. I had cereal with slices of local bananas, an orange and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast, read the last 150 pages of The World According To Garp, had a macaroni salad for lunch, refilled the water jugs from the filtered water supply, listened to the happy mixed babbling of Marshallese/English coming from the playground outside the window, and watched a group of four men net fishing out on the reef as the tide was coming back in. I think I will head over to MIR this afternoon to use the internet for a while and see what is happening in the rest of the world.

PS I did not get to the internet on Friday, but we went bridge jumping for a while just before sundown. I'll try and post again tomorrow, with news from the weekend.