May 26 Tuesday: Dmitry, Chris and I spent some time loading their supplies onto the SpinDrift as they prepared for a Wednesday departure for the outer islands on the way to Yap and Palau. Dmitry likes to fancy himself a smuggler and he brought much more literature than he had told Mac and Charlie he would, but that is also what he feels is the biggest priority for those people on the islands, moreso than toys or even the medical supplies. We also did a bunch of errands, got water, last minute supplies, a fishing pole, etc. I spent some time reading and talking with the locals around the marina as the day wound down. Dmitry and I watched two short videos, Come By Here and Return to Hauna, about a woman who spent 23 years in Papua New Guinea, creating a phonetic alphabet for the language of the people she was living with, teaching them to read their own language, and ultimately translating the Bible into their language. Very emotional and very powerful. I'm glad I saw them.
May 27 Wednesday: Grace had the day off and Dmitry was needed at the boat, so after dropping him off, we headed to Mt. Lam Lam. It was only a half hour hike to the summit of the 'World's Tallest Mountain' (relative to the Marianas Trench) and the hike is marked by 10 shrines for the Catholic faithful, culminating with a field of Crosses at the summit. We were there contemplating the crosses and the views when we got a call from Dmitry and we needed to go back and retrieve him. They finished faster than they had expected and there was good wind so they wanted to leave sooner. We went back so Dmitry could get the rest of his stuff from home. Then we took him back to the base and said goodbye. I had time to quickly go through the War museum just outside the gates of the naval base. Grace took me to the Chamorro village, a weekly open market/cultural experience. The dancing was later in the evening, so we missed that, but I picked up a couple more souvenirs to fill out my box for home. Instead of staying for the dancing, we left to attend the farewell dinner for the principal of Guam Adventist Academy and also for one of the islands pastors. Again, lots of good fellowship and good food.
May 28 Thursday: In the morning before Grace needed to be at work, we went the get a tour of Adventist World Radio's facilities on Guam. They reach most of Asia and the Pacific and even can hit parts of the Middle East and eastern edge of Africa. June Ivy came with two newly arrived clinic workers, and Steven Silva came with his sister visiting from SoCal, so we all did the tour together. They have six antennas, each 100,000 Watts, broadcasting 44 hours of programming every day. This is all maintained by a seven person team of electrical engineers and staff. All programming material is produced in the country where it will be heard and sent via internet to this station, then broadcast back out. Their monthly power bill is nearly $60,000 and that is all covered by donations.
After the tour, Grace and I stopped at Simply Food for lunch. I had a spinach lasagna and some soy soft serve. Then Grace went to work and I took the car to go exploring. First I spent a thrilling 40 minutes in the post office sending a package home. The lone bright spot in that was I got to say hi to Charles' wife Wendy, who was also in line. Back in the car I headed north and made a loop crossing the island west to east, then north and stopping at Ritidian Point. This is a nature preserve wedged between two Air Force facilities. Two of the crew from the Rota race, Eli and Rachel, both work there, trying to find solutions to the invasive brown tree snake's decimation of the native bird populations. I stopped at the visitor center where the cheerful ranger gave me a baby turtle magnet and told me that they are currently watching the beach for hatching turtles. She also gave me two posters of the local fish. I'll keep the magnet, but there is no way for me to keep the posters without folding them, so I'll give them to Dmitry. I walked down to the beach and indeed a good portion of it was fenced off for the turtles. In the open section was a group of people doing a photo shoot in the water. There were three models and various crew. Further down the beach I could see a few other people. It was only moments after getting onto the beach that a ranger came running down to the photography group, asking them if they could read, if they had a permit, why they were in the water at all, why they had a dog in the water with them, that she needed to confiscate the film, since they were violated so many posted rules for the preserve. I am sure they deserved the grilling. I moved further down the beach, a wide white sand one, and looked at the tidepools from the shore. Back in the car I continued my loop heading south along the western coast. My next stop was at Two Lover's Point, where local legend says two Chamorro lovers jumped to their deaths rather than the girl submitting to an arranged marriage to a Spanish explorer. The sheer cliffs and expansive views are impressive regardless of the veracity of the legend. I still had time to drive down to Nimitz Hill and explore the park there before I had to return and meet Grace after her shift was done. This evening was the 8th grade graduation for Guam Adventist Academy, a class of 13 students. We went there directly after Grace was finished and were able to see the second half of the ceremony. Grace had gifts to give a few of the students. There were refreshments afterwards and it ended up being more like a meal. Back at Grace and Dmitry's we watched 'Fireproof' before going to bed.
May 29 Friday: Grace and I both slept in some this morning, but then after a quick breakfast we took Kemo and hiked down to Tarzan Falls. There is water running on it year round, but right now it was little more than a trickle. Enough so you can imagine how impressive it would be with a lot of water flowing over it. There was a decent sized pool at the bottom and it felt good to stand in the cooling spray from the falls in the humid morning air. Next we went to a series of caves near Grace and Dmitry's home. We had walked near here the first Friday I was here. This time happened to be in the midst of a butterfly swarm. Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of them with their wings spread, but I did get a number of shots I am happy with. The top of the wings look black with powder blue spotting, but in the right light the whole wing becomes a reflective blue. The undersides also look black on first glance, but are a deep velvety red when observed closely. Eventually we made it to the caves, including one that Grace had never actually gone in, thinking it was a dead end. There was actually room for close to 100 people in two large chambers. There was another overlook that had an impressive panorama of the Guam coastline. Kemo got his exercise and we returned home, got showers, and I finished my packing.
We went to the Clinic, so Grace could catch the tail end of her providers meeting. We got some good pesto pasta and fruit salad and I had a chance to say goodbye to Dr. Robinson, Pastor Nambu, June Ivy, Ruby, and Steven. On the way to the airport, Grace suggested we stop at Guam Premium Outlets for Coldstone Creamery. I got a mango banana smoothie that was very good. Grace and I had prayer as she dropped me off at the airport and my two weeks around Guam came to an end. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time.I had redistributed my stuff between the main pack and the carry on and this time I did not have to pay an overweight charge, so that worked out. The flight was full and largely uneventful.
Manila is a massive swarm of humanity. The taxi driver did not know the address, but knew the area, so between his driving and my directions from the hostel, we made it safely. The traffic is amazing, the jeepneys amusing to see, and the sheer masses of people quite overwhelming. The hostel is similar to the Flametree in Majuro, just fine for my needs. The Japanese couple that runs it are extremely helpful. I may go and do some exploring tomorrow. We will see.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
May 19 Tuesday: Today Dmitry and I cleaned up his yard, trimming a hedge, knocking down coconuts, weed whacking, cutting the seeds down from another tree, raking up leaves and bamboo detritus. He wanted to give the yard a once over since he will be gone for two months after the weekend trip to Rota, going by boat to Yap and Palau bringing medical supplies, clothes, and literature to a host of remote islands. Grace will be joining him by plane shortly after I leave for Papua New Guinea. I brought in my laundry, which had been drying on the line outside. After lunch we headed into town to pick up more material to give away on Rota and the rest of his trip. We got food that had been ordered, a lot of donated stuff at the church, more literature from a couple places. Dmitry gave me a tour of the largest SDA church on the island, the radio station the church runs: Joy 91.9, and several other SDA run offices. We met the conference treasurer and another employee who's mother comes from Arno, even though she has not been there herself due to fears of boats and an inability to swim. She was happy to know I had been in Majuro where she grew up.
We went to a fund raiser/spaghetti feed for students at Guam Adventist Academy for dinner. $7 all you can eat spaghetti/garlic bread/potato salad/cookies/juice. Then back home. Grace and Dmitry showed me a youtube video of a giant octopus capturing and eating a shark and explained that she had been a little apprehensive when we encountered the octopus last Sunday.
May 20 Wednesday: Dmitry and I went to the base to help get the boat in the water. We arrived at 7:30am just in time to find out the crane was not going to be there until later in the day. We unloaded all the material and supplies that Dmitry is taking on the second part of this trip to Yap and Palau, then he had to leave to return the van that we had borrowed. Mac and I kept working on a few odds and ends. At nearly one we had lunch at a restaurant on the base with a view of the marina and Mac's boat. At two o'clock the crane showed up, but the crew immediately left for lunch themselves. An hour later they were back and with eight guys of our own we set about the artful maneuvering of the boat to its natural habitat. Much like the cows and horses I have seen harnessed in and being helicoptered about in the Swiss alps, we ran eighteen inch straps under the front and back of the boat, got it hoisted 7 feet off the ground, did some touch up grinding and painting to the bottom of the hull, and swung the Spindrift out into the channel. Then with an improvised sling we set the main mast into place. All of this took a mere two and a half hours. Some of the guys had to take off after that, but a group of us sat around shooting the breeze. Mac was a happy man. At 7:45pm when we still had not been able to contact Dmitry, Mac offered to drive me to their place. He has never been there and I have been on the island all of 5 days, but I knew enough landmarks so that we made it there (not by the shortest route, but we made it there directly, without getting off course once). Grace and Dmitry arrived about a half an hour later.
May 21 Thursday: Again, Dmitry had to do a number of other errands, but Chris Carmen, who is going on the second leg of the trip with Dmitry, had arrived the day before, so the two of us headed for the base and more work on the boat. Deanne, who also lives at the marina gave us a team of four and together we got the rigging straightened out, attached the sails and jig, and moved the boat over to her normal berth. This necessitated hoisting me up the main and mizzen masts to attach and tighten cables and other little tasks. So I was 50 feet in the air velcroed to a chair and a winch. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights. Eventually, when Chris's wife got off work at the clinic, she picked the two of us up and they gave me a ride to Talofofo.
May 22 Friday: The boat I am on is the Spindrift, a 44 foot ketch with two sails and a jig. It is capable of running a spinnaker but the spinnaker pole is not currently on board. There are 8 rigging lines on the main mast and six on the mizzen mast. Based on it's weight distribution the boat is supposed to right itself within two minutes if a capsize situation were to occur. The sailboat weights approximately 15 tons and does have a diesel engine for times when the wind is too calm for sails alone. When the engine is running it is called motor sailing. There is an on board short wave radio for communications, it has autopilot and gps as navigation features. This particular boat has two cabins and places for two more to sleep in the galley.
We got up at 4:30am to make sure we could set sail as close to 6 as possible. We ended up leaving at nearly 7 after waiting for a couple other people to show up. I got a brief lesson on manning the helm and logged nearly three hours throughout the day steering our craft. Not particularly difficult, I just had to keep us on a single heading and aim for the western side of Rota, which was visible nearly from the start of our sail. I did manage to overtake another sailboat while at the helm and that was exciting. They had left an hour before us. I also managed to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep down in the galley. When we neared Rota, a bull mahimahi bit on one of our lines. After a brief battle to reel him in (during which I unfortunately drained my camera battery trying to get video of it jumping out of the water and made me miss some amazing shots later in the weekend), Charles, one of the crew, hauled it on board, but the feisty and absolutely gorgeous fish had enough strength left to get free of the hook and over the side rails, back to the sea. Half the crew were dismayed at that because they were looking forward to grilling on the dock at Rota, but Eli and Dmitry both had secretly wished it would get away and were quite happy. I'm glad we got to get such a close look at it, but also glad it got away. The seas were very calm, too calm for this boat. It operates most efficiently at a wind speed quite a bit higher than the 6 knots we were getting. Since we were not officially racing, we motor sailed most of the way. That means we had our sails out and the diesel engine running as well. We pulled into the Rota harbor at 5 pm and made it through immigration and customs. While that was going on we watched a local spear an octopus that was in the harbor. The octopus waited until the last minute to use his ink defense, but it was not enough. That was interesting to see. The octopus itself was quite small, especially compared to the one we saw snorkeling a few days ago.
Grace, who had flown up to Rota, picked us up and brought us to Pastor Ondap's house. We had time to shower, change and eat before evening vespers with the Rota SDA company. There are about 20 members and most were there this evening. There used to be approximately 5000 people living on Rota, but that number is down to 4000 due to the economy. Many of them have returned to homes overseas after coming to Rota to work. There are many closed businesses. The island is known as “The Home of the Hand Wavers”, because nearly everyone waves to each other as they pass on the roads.
May 23 Sabbath: I got up at 6:30 to review my lesson, since I have the privilege of teaching it this morning. We had breakfast of fresh papaya, WHOLE fried local fish (not pretty to look at, but the meat was pretty good, just not very much of it), and hot chocolate. This is a true home church. You have to walk through the Ondap's kitchen to get to the living room/chapel. The group is getting ready to celebrate their fifth year of existence at the end of June. They also have a tradition of taking a group picture at the end of the service. This ends up on a bulletin board and also in the bulletin for the next weeks service. I kept a couple copies of the bulletin since our names are in it. Originally, Chris Carmen had been planning to come with us. If that had happened I would have only done the mission story and he would have done the lesson study, but I got to do both in his absence. They also had me do prayers a number of times during Friday and Sabbath, since I was the tallest person on the island. The lesson was about Rest/Sabbath and the discussion was lively. Dmitry preached on the Ultimate Gift, Grace had special musics, and then we had a potluck. Half the dishes had fish in them. I think like most of Asia, Micronesians consider fish to be a vegetable. The pastor was planning on loaning us his car for the afternoon, but another church member borrowed it and did not return until after dark. So, eventually the pastor himself took us to visit Kristina, a German woman whom Grace and Dmitry befriended on previous trips to Rota. Kristina's husband Kurt, is currently bringing a sailboat from LA to Hawaii, and eventually out to Rota. They have carved out a beautiful homestead/oasis in the jungle. They have a large garden, chickens, solar and wind power, wonderful landscaping and views and a practical and cozy home. And it is almost all their own handiwork.She would later tell us some of the travails they have experienced getting to this point. In Rota (as with a number of other foreign countries) non locals cannot own property and that makes for very sticky negotiations, especially given the levels of corruption in the government here. Everything is stacked in the locals favor and they are looking for ways to take advantage of anyone coming to this island from businesses to individuals. They do not understand how it is ultimately shooting themselves in the foot to continue these practices, but it was wonderful to see what this couple have created there. They also are world travelers and spent a number of years doing so by boat. She was highly recommending the Mt. Hagan festivals in PNG for while I am there.
May 24 Sunday: We got up early to go to the bird sanctuary. From a vantage point high on a cliff you can see the birds in the trees below. As they woke up and started flying, we could spot terns, red-footed and brown boobys, white tail tropicbirds, and others. There are frigatebirds in the area, but we did not see any in flight or identifying themselves by puffing up the signature red airbags on their throats. We returned to the Ondap's for a breakfast of watermelon, papaya, lima beans, chard, and hot chocolate. Then Dmitry, Grace and I took the car and went to Honey Garden, another beautiful site sometimes used for weddings. It has lots of lush landscaping, a visitor center, a private beach and section of reef, some caves, etc. Just a nice place to come and relax. We had the place to ourselves and set about snorkeling. Our top sightings included a 5 ft black tip shark, two giant clams (still in the 1 – 2 ft size range, one with red colorations and one with black), an intricate red and green nudibranch (I wish I had an underwater camera right then especially), and a brilliant blue crab with internet tron guy-like patterning. We swam into a nice cool grotto and found a couple 'hot tubs', where the receding tide and the sun had made for some very warm pools. One sad thing was discovering a starving puppy in the museum/visitor center. Dmitry had told me that one of his favorite dogs in the whole world lived at that site and this was obviously one of her puppies. He had no food or water and ate five bananas when we tried to get him to eat something. Just before we left, a man came and said the dog was his daughter's, that she was away, and that he was checking in on it. But he did not bring any food with him, so I guess, checking in means letting it starve.
Near Honey Garden are several old Japanese gun installations, including one with a large cannon that still swivels to cover a large portion of the Rota Harbor and south end of the island. We returned to the Ondaps for a late lunch of fruit smoothies, mung bean sprouts, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and fried breadfruit and bananas. It was very good and I was completely stuffed. After taking a short nap, we went to a viewpoint above Songsong village and then to the TongaTonga cave, a large cave in the cliff below the Songsong village viewpoint. It has been turned into a series of Catholic shrines. On the way Dmitry gave a ride to a Filipina hitchhiker and invited her to the SDA church.Then we went to the marina to find out our schedule for Monday morning and the party for the evening. All the participants in the race get together for a celebration and we were invited. It was in the beautiful home of a couple Americans, complete with artifacts from around the world and a lush atrium in the center of the home. The glow of the lights from Guam was clearly visible and the Southern Cross stood out in the night sky. We mingled, had finger foods, and eventually more substantial food and had a pleasant evening. We left just before 10 mainly because our hosts, the Ondaps, are in their 70's and go to bed early, so we did not want to be locked out and have to wake them.
May 25 Monday Memorial Day. All the boats left the Rota harbor by 6:45 and the race was underway by 7am. But before that we were treated to a bag breakfast by the Rota islanders. This was an insane amount of food: 2 oranges, 2 bananas, 3 egg salad sandwiches, a dozen sugar cookies (minus the sugar), 8 rolls, about a dozen papaya and mango turnovers, and a half dozen hard boiled eggs. EACH. I ate the fruit, some rolls, the awesome turnovers, a couple cookies and an egg. I saved the egg salad for later. The seas were even more calm than on Friday and while we planned on truly sailing back, two hours in, our captain threw in the towel and we started motor sailing. We were in last place and over the course of the day we passed every single other boat, save two that had motor sailed right from the beginning. Two smaller boats that were running spinnakers were doing a tremendous job almost matching our pace under wind power alone. They were the only two boats that did come back under wind power. Since we are returning from a foreign port everyone has to be run through customs and if you do not make it to the customs checkpoint by 6pm you have to stay on board your vessel til the next morning. Nobody wants that, so most of the other boats eventually kicked on their motors, and the bulk of the boats came in a cluster around 5 pm.
Dmitry has been talking about divine appointments and we had several over the weekend, including the hitchhiker on Sunday. But the most interesting one was one of our crew members, Charles. He has Jewish ancestry, but was raised in a marginally Catholic household. On the sail to Rota he had asked some questions and deduced that Dmitry and I were Adventist. He has an Adventist coworker, but had always felt awkward asking this person about what we believe. So given this opportunity, he asked many questions. He said that he had had the impression that we are 'a hyper legalistic' church and that we, through our conversations on diet and other topics, did not fit that idea. He said he had through independent study come to the conclusion that Sabbath should not have been changed to Sunday and he invited Dmitry to his home for followup study.
Getting ready to set Mac's boat back in the water.
The flag of Guam
The view from an overlook in Talofofo near Grace and Dmitry's place
Adjusting the rigging and adding a weather vane. Much better view from up there! Lots of work still to do before we set sail in the morning.
We went to a fund raiser/spaghetti feed for students at Guam Adventist Academy for dinner. $7 all you can eat spaghetti/garlic bread/potato salad/cookies/juice. Then back home. Grace and Dmitry showed me a youtube video of a giant octopus capturing and eating a shark and explained that she had been a little apprehensive when we encountered the octopus last Sunday.
May 20 Wednesday: Dmitry and I went to the base to help get the boat in the water. We arrived at 7:30am just in time to find out the crane was not going to be there until later in the day. We unloaded all the material and supplies that Dmitry is taking on the second part of this trip to Yap and Palau, then he had to leave to return the van that we had borrowed. Mac and I kept working on a few odds and ends. At nearly one we had lunch at a restaurant on the base with a view of the marina and Mac's boat. At two o'clock the crane showed up, but the crew immediately left for lunch themselves. An hour later they were back and with eight guys of our own we set about the artful maneuvering of the boat to its natural habitat. Much like the cows and horses I have seen harnessed in and being helicoptered about in the Swiss alps, we ran eighteen inch straps under the front and back of the boat, got it hoisted 7 feet off the ground, did some touch up grinding and painting to the bottom of the hull, and swung the Spindrift out into the channel. Then with an improvised sling we set the main mast into place. All of this took a mere two and a half hours. Some of the guys had to take off after that, but a group of us sat around shooting the breeze. Mac was a happy man. At 7:45pm when we still had not been able to contact Dmitry, Mac offered to drive me to their place. He has never been there and I have been on the island all of 5 days, but I knew enough landmarks so that we made it there (not by the shortest route, but we made it there directly, without getting off course once). Grace and Dmitry arrived about a half an hour later.
May 21 Thursday: Again, Dmitry had to do a number of other errands, but Chris Carmen, who is going on the second leg of the trip with Dmitry, had arrived the day before, so the two of us headed for the base and more work on the boat. Deanne, who also lives at the marina gave us a team of four and together we got the rigging straightened out, attached the sails and jig, and moved the boat over to her normal berth. This necessitated hoisting me up the main and mizzen masts to attach and tighten cables and other little tasks. So I was 50 feet in the air velcroed to a chair and a winch. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights. Eventually, when Chris's wife got off work at the clinic, she picked the two of us up and they gave me a ride to Talofofo.
May 22 Friday: The boat I am on is the Spindrift, a 44 foot ketch with two sails and a jig. It is capable of running a spinnaker but the spinnaker pole is not currently on board. There are 8 rigging lines on the main mast and six on the mizzen mast. Based on it's weight distribution the boat is supposed to right itself within two minutes if a capsize situation were to occur. The sailboat weights approximately 15 tons and does have a diesel engine for times when the wind is too calm for sails alone. When the engine is running it is called motor sailing. There is an on board short wave radio for communications, it has autopilot and gps as navigation features. This particular boat has two cabins and places for two more to sleep in the galley.
We got up at 4:30am to make sure we could set sail as close to 6 as possible. We ended up leaving at nearly 7 after waiting for a couple other people to show up. I got a brief lesson on manning the helm and logged nearly three hours throughout the day steering our craft. Not particularly difficult, I just had to keep us on a single heading and aim for the western side of Rota, which was visible nearly from the start of our sail. I did manage to overtake another sailboat while at the helm and that was exciting. They had left an hour before us. I also managed to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep down in the galley. When we neared Rota, a bull mahimahi bit on one of our lines. After a brief battle to reel him in (during which I unfortunately drained my camera battery trying to get video of it jumping out of the water and made me miss some amazing shots later in the weekend), Charles, one of the crew, hauled it on board, but the feisty and absolutely gorgeous fish had enough strength left to get free of the hook and over the side rails, back to the sea. Half the crew were dismayed at that because they were looking forward to grilling on the dock at Rota, but Eli and Dmitry both had secretly wished it would get away and were quite happy. I'm glad we got to get such a close look at it, but also glad it got away. The seas were very calm, too calm for this boat. It operates most efficiently at a wind speed quite a bit higher than the 6 knots we were getting. Since we were not officially racing, we motor sailed most of the way. That means we had our sails out and the diesel engine running as well. We pulled into the Rota harbor at 5 pm and made it through immigration and customs. While that was going on we watched a local spear an octopus that was in the harbor. The octopus waited until the last minute to use his ink defense, but it was not enough. That was interesting to see. The octopus itself was quite small, especially compared to the one we saw snorkeling a few days ago.
Grace, who had flown up to Rota, picked us up and brought us to Pastor Ondap's house. We had time to shower, change and eat before evening vespers with the Rota SDA company. There are about 20 members and most were there this evening. There used to be approximately 5000 people living on Rota, but that number is down to 4000 due to the economy. Many of them have returned to homes overseas after coming to Rota to work. There are many closed businesses. The island is known as “The Home of the Hand Wavers”, because nearly everyone waves to each other as they pass on the roads.
May 23 Sabbath: I got up at 6:30 to review my lesson, since I have the privilege of teaching it this morning. We had breakfast of fresh papaya, WHOLE fried local fish (not pretty to look at, but the meat was pretty good, just not very much of it), and hot chocolate. This is a true home church. You have to walk through the Ondap's kitchen to get to the living room/chapel. The group is getting ready to celebrate their fifth year of existence at the end of June. They also have a tradition of taking a group picture at the end of the service. This ends up on a bulletin board and also in the bulletin for the next weeks service. I kept a couple copies of the bulletin since our names are in it. Originally, Chris Carmen had been planning to come with us. If that had happened I would have only done the mission story and he would have done the lesson study, but I got to do both in his absence. They also had me do prayers a number of times during Friday and Sabbath, since I was the tallest person on the island. The lesson was about Rest/Sabbath and the discussion was lively. Dmitry preached on the Ultimate Gift, Grace had special musics, and then we had a potluck. Half the dishes had fish in them. I think like most of Asia, Micronesians consider fish to be a vegetable. The pastor was planning on loaning us his car for the afternoon, but another church member borrowed it and did not return until after dark. So, eventually the pastor himself took us to visit Kristina, a German woman whom Grace and Dmitry befriended on previous trips to Rota. Kristina's husband Kurt, is currently bringing a sailboat from LA to Hawaii, and eventually out to Rota. They have carved out a beautiful homestead/oasis in the jungle. They have a large garden, chickens, solar and wind power, wonderful landscaping and views and a practical and cozy home. And it is almost all their own handiwork.She would later tell us some of the travails they have experienced getting to this point. In Rota (as with a number of other foreign countries) non locals cannot own property and that makes for very sticky negotiations, especially given the levels of corruption in the government here. Everything is stacked in the locals favor and they are looking for ways to take advantage of anyone coming to this island from businesses to individuals. They do not understand how it is ultimately shooting themselves in the foot to continue these practices, but it was wonderful to see what this couple have created there. They also are world travelers and spent a number of years doing so by boat. She was highly recommending the Mt. Hagan festivals in PNG for while I am there.
May 24 Sunday: We got up early to go to the bird sanctuary. From a vantage point high on a cliff you can see the birds in the trees below. As they woke up and started flying, we could spot terns, red-footed and brown boobys, white tail tropicbirds, and others. There are frigatebirds in the area, but we did not see any in flight or identifying themselves by puffing up the signature red airbags on their throats. We returned to the Ondap's for a breakfast of watermelon, papaya, lima beans, chard, and hot chocolate. Then Dmitry, Grace and I took the car and went to Honey Garden, another beautiful site sometimes used for weddings. It has lots of lush landscaping, a visitor center, a private beach and section of reef, some caves, etc. Just a nice place to come and relax. We had the place to ourselves and set about snorkeling. Our top sightings included a 5 ft black tip shark, two giant clams (still in the 1 – 2 ft size range, one with red colorations and one with black), an intricate red and green nudibranch (I wish I had an underwater camera right then especially), and a brilliant blue crab with internet tron guy-like patterning. We swam into a nice cool grotto and found a couple 'hot tubs', where the receding tide and the sun had made for some very warm pools. One sad thing was discovering a starving puppy in the museum/visitor center. Dmitry had told me that one of his favorite dogs in the whole world lived at that site and this was obviously one of her puppies. He had no food or water and ate five bananas when we tried to get him to eat something. Just before we left, a man came and said the dog was his daughter's, that she was away, and that he was checking in on it. But he did not bring any food with him, so I guess, checking in means letting it starve.
Near Honey Garden are several old Japanese gun installations, including one with a large cannon that still swivels to cover a large portion of the Rota Harbor and south end of the island. We returned to the Ondaps for a late lunch of fruit smoothies, mung bean sprouts, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and fried breadfruit and bananas. It was very good and I was completely stuffed. After taking a short nap, we went to a viewpoint above Songsong village and then to the TongaTonga cave, a large cave in the cliff below the Songsong village viewpoint. It has been turned into a series of Catholic shrines. On the way Dmitry gave a ride to a Filipina hitchhiker and invited her to the SDA church.Then we went to the marina to find out our schedule for Monday morning and the party for the evening. All the participants in the race get together for a celebration and we were invited. It was in the beautiful home of a couple Americans, complete with artifacts from around the world and a lush atrium in the center of the home. The glow of the lights from Guam was clearly visible and the Southern Cross stood out in the night sky. We mingled, had finger foods, and eventually more substantial food and had a pleasant evening. We left just before 10 mainly because our hosts, the Ondaps, are in their 70's and go to bed early, so we did not want to be locked out and have to wake them.
May 25 Monday Memorial Day. All the boats left the Rota harbor by 6:45 and the race was underway by 7am. But before that we were treated to a bag breakfast by the Rota islanders. This was an insane amount of food: 2 oranges, 2 bananas, 3 egg salad sandwiches, a dozen sugar cookies (minus the sugar), 8 rolls, about a dozen papaya and mango turnovers, and a half dozen hard boiled eggs. EACH. I ate the fruit, some rolls, the awesome turnovers, a couple cookies and an egg. I saved the egg salad for later. The seas were even more calm than on Friday and while we planned on truly sailing back, two hours in, our captain threw in the towel and we started motor sailing. We were in last place and over the course of the day we passed every single other boat, save two that had motor sailed right from the beginning. Two smaller boats that were running spinnakers were doing a tremendous job almost matching our pace under wind power alone. They were the only two boats that did come back under wind power. Since we are returning from a foreign port everyone has to be run through customs and if you do not make it to the customs checkpoint by 6pm you have to stay on board your vessel til the next morning. Nobody wants that, so most of the other boats eventually kicked on their motors, and the bulk of the boats came in a cluster around 5 pm.
Dmitry has been talking about divine appointments and we had several over the weekend, including the hitchhiker on Sunday. But the most interesting one was one of our crew members, Charles. He has Jewish ancestry, but was raised in a marginally Catholic household. On the sail to Rota he had asked some questions and deduced that Dmitry and I were Adventist. He has an Adventist coworker, but had always felt awkward asking this person about what we believe. So given this opportunity, he asked many questions. He said that he had had the impression that we are 'a hyper legalistic' church and that we, through our conversations on diet and other topics, did not fit that idea. He said he had through independent study come to the conclusion that Sabbath should not have been changed to Sunday and he invited Dmitry to his home for followup study.
Getting ready to set Mac's boat back in the water.
The flag of Guam
The view from an overlook in Talofofo near Grace and Dmitry's place
Adjusting the rigging and adding a weather vane. Much better view from up there! Lots of work still to do before we set sail in the morning.Tuesday, May 19, 2009
May 15 Friday: At 7:30 Dmitry and I headed to the naval base to help his friend Mack McMillan with his sailboat for a few hours. We got our clearances to be on the base with Mack's wife Charlie and got dropped off at the boat, a nice looking 40 footer, on dry dock. They are planning on putting it back in the water this weekend. Dmitry started working on a panel to finish out one of the bathrooms, and I got assigned to reattach a plate around one of the windows. Some silicon caulk and a few screws later it was in place. Next Mack had me cut some hose to use as spacers on his side band radio antennae. We got that in place, but he was still having issues with the radio. When Dmitry finished his panel, we took a break and made a list of some plumbing components needed to finish off that bathroom. At around noon we left because Dmitry had a presentation to make at the SDA clinic for a doctor's group. And when I say we left, it was more complicated than that: The van we were driving had a computer hiccup and when Dmitry backed out of the parking space in the visitor lot at the naval base, the van stuck in reverse. Then because the vehicle's computer was telling it it was in reverse, we could not restart it. Of course, this was not the first thing we thought of. It could have been the transmission or a fuel pump or any number of other problems. Dmitry got a hold of the true owner of the van and we got picked up and dropped off at the meeting. Apparently, what the doctors have done is created a fund into which they put any money they make while working on Sabbaths. This money is then used for various mission projects as they come up. Dmitry and Grace were giving a presentation on a trip they made recently through this groups funding. They also asked me to talk a little to the group about what I had seen in Majuro and my trip. I spoke briefly about the school in Arno and then more on the Diabetes issue. This group is planning a visit to the Marshall's in September, so it is helpful to them to know what the needs are. For it being spur of the moment, I think I handled it well. There was lunch served at the meeting and it was very good. It included a couple Chamorro dishes (the natives of Guam are the Chamorro) that I liked. After we had to go back to the disabled van, remove all the stuff Grace and Dmitry had in it and meet the tow truck to get it on it's way to the van hospital. In the evening just before sundown the three of us walked a short trail to a lookout point for a bit of exercise and to welcome the Sabbath.
May 16 Sabbath: While there is an SDA church just a block from where Grace and Dmitry live, we drove over to the Ypao/Ordot SDA church about 20 minutes away. This church is planning to move in the next couple years as a church is built next to the SDA clinic. There was a potluck afterwards and then a group got together to go through the neighborhood knocking on doors to make sure the people are aware of the SDA presence in the area and to let them know what kind of programs the church offers for free. It is not an easy thing to do for most people (myself included), but it went better than I expected. Almost every house on Guam has a dog, so one of the first things is to find out how long the dog's chain is. Then you can approach the door. There was no response at more than half of the doors my group went to. But we did get to talk to several people and there was some definite interest in some of the programs. In the evening Dmitry and I watched the Conscientious Objector documentary about Desmond Doss. I had not seen the entire thing, although I had been at the partial screening at PUC when Mr. Doss was a special guest of honor. It is a powerful story. Dmitry gave me a book to read about a Japanese man who was sentenced to death for a couple assassinations during World War II. He found God while in prison, was eventually pardoned, and is now an SDA pastor. Both of these stories include episodes on Guam.
May 17 Sunday: We ran a bunch of errands for groceries, water, mail, attempted to get the plumbing parts for Mac (the parts he wanted were not available and the work arounds that I could see were exorbitantly expensive, so we did not bother). Dmitry loves to talk and tell stories and shares Jesus with anyone that will listen. It is amazing to watch. He was telling me that the people from Chuuk (Chuukese) are kind of like Hispanics in the US: treated as second class citizens much of the time. They hold many of the low level jobs here in Guam and just by showing them simple respect, he has a receptive audience with them. Back to the bit about telling stories here is one of his: A Japanese man went on vacation to the Philippines. The taxi that picked him up was Korean made and driven by a Filipino man. As they made their way to the Japanese tourists hotel they were passed by Toyota taxi. The Japanese man exclaimed “See Japanese made car – very fast”. A bit later a Honda taxi passed them. Again the tourist happily stated, “Japanese made car – very fast”. A third time a taxi passed them. This time it was a Nissan, and the Japanese man made his comment again. When the taxi arrived at the hotel, the Japanese man asked about the charge. “$537” was the response. The flabbergasted man asked how that could be. The taxi driver calmly said “Korean car okay, but Japanese meter – very fast!”
About 3 pm we arrived at the naval base to do some snorkeling. Mac picked us up and after driving by Gab Gab beach (too crowded), we ended up at San Luis beach. The crane had been a no show, so Mac's boat is still out of the water and he was slightly irritated by that. We waded into the water and within five minutes I had spotted a bright red octopus. It flashed the red when I got too close to it, otherwise I might have missed it. It was the size of a large watermelon and quickly squeezed itself into a crevice in the coral. When I called over Dmitry and Grace, they prodded it out of the crevice and it began swimming away changing colors and patterns at will. It darted into another crevice and we prodded it out once more. We followed it as it swam for a bit and then left it alone when it found another hole to hide in. Just incredible to see the shape/color shifting it was capable of. There were soooooo many different beautifully colored fish. Eventually at the wall, where the shallow reef drops down farther than you can see, we saw a few larger fish and a sea turtle. Mac says she has been a regular at that beach for about 15 years and it is only because it is on the base that she has not been killed. He also mentioned that someone had been bitten by a shark a couple days ago, but that he had deserved it, playing with the shark after spearing it while fishing. We snorkeled for close to two hours and the water actually got to feeling cool. We got out in time to watch the sunset.
May 18 Monday: We left early this morning, dropped Grace off at her work and headed to the naval base. It took us half an hour to get our passes for the day and then we got to work. The crane bailed again this morning, so Mac was busy trying to arrange an alternative and was able to speak with a crane operator already located on the base. Wednesday morning should be a go now. We worked on a number of small projects. I was putting hinges on a hatch door and fashioning a couple of the plumbing pieces we needed from spare parts. The naval base is very self contained and you could live there without ever leaving. There are churches, theaters, malls, restaurants, etc. We had lunch at a Subway on the base and Mac found one of the plumbing parts we had been unable to find elsewhere at the on base building supply place. The on base gas stations are 50 cents less than anything off base.We left about 3pm to pick up Grace since we are down to just one car after the incident on Friday. But before we left we got clearance for me to go to Rota on the sailboat this weekend. There still has to be a signoff from the naval base on Wednesday and if that goes alright, I'll be sailing with Dmitry and about six others at 6am on a 70 mile trip that should take all day. This is part of the Rota race, a yearly event between the islands of Guam and Rota. Our boat is going early and not racing, but participating in some of the other events for the weekend and then returning on Monday. Dmitry has it all planned out so we are going to take a bunch of medical supplies and literature to give out in Rota. He will most likely preach on Sabbath, Grace does part of the service and they would like me to talk about my trip as well. Just another part of the grand adventure I'm on. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm also trying to line up scuba lessons and they are actually a third of the cost that they were in Majuro, but I have to work out the scheduling with an instructor over the next couple days.
After picking up Grace, we picked up medical supplies and another van to replace the one that malfunctioned on Friday. We also went to a Bible study at Steven Silva's house. There were six of us and one person in the group is doing some serious soul searching. She has some struggles in her life right now that are really straining her emotionally. It was a good meeting even though I really do not know the whole story and I know having people that can support you is incredibly reassuring.
May 16 Sabbath: While there is an SDA church just a block from where Grace and Dmitry live, we drove over to the Ypao/Ordot SDA church about 20 minutes away. This church is planning to move in the next couple years as a church is built next to the SDA clinic. There was a potluck afterwards and then a group got together to go through the neighborhood knocking on doors to make sure the people are aware of the SDA presence in the area and to let them know what kind of programs the church offers for free. It is not an easy thing to do for most people (myself included), but it went better than I expected. Almost every house on Guam has a dog, so one of the first things is to find out how long the dog's chain is. Then you can approach the door. There was no response at more than half of the doors my group went to. But we did get to talk to several people and there was some definite interest in some of the programs. In the evening Dmitry and I watched the Conscientious Objector documentary about Desmond Doss. I had not seen the entire thing, although I had been at the partial screening at PUC when Mr. Doss was a special guest of honor. It is a powerful story. Dmitry gave me a book to read about a Japanese man who was sentenced to death for a couple assassinations during World War II. He found God while in prison, was eventually pardoned, and is now an SDA pastor. Both of these stories include episodes on Guam.
May 17 Sunday: We ran a bunch of errands for groceries, water, mail, attempted to get the plumbing parts for Mac (the parts he wanted were not available and the work arounds that I could see were exorbitantly expensive, so we did not bother). Dmitry loves to talk and tell stories and shares Jesus with anyone that will listen. It is amazing to watch. He was telling me that the people from Chuuk (Chuukese) are kind of like Hispanics in the US: treated as second class citizens much of the time. They hold many of the low level jobs here in Guam and just by showing them simple respect, he has a receptive audience with them. Back to the bit about telling stories here is one of his: A Japanese man went on vacation to the Philippines. The taxi that picked him up was Korean made and driven by a Filipino man. As they made their way to the Japanese tourists hotel they were passed by Toyota taxi. The Japanese man exclaimed “See Japanese made car – very fast”. A bit later a Honda taxi passed them. Again the tourist happily stated, “Japanese made car – very fast”. A third time a taxi passed them. This time it was a Nissan, and the Japanese man made his comment again. When the taxi arrived at the hotel, the Japanese man asked about the charge. “$537” was the response. The flabbergasted man asked how that could be. The taxi driver calmly said “Korean car okay, but Japanese meter – very fast!”
About 3 pm we arrived at the naval base to do some snorkeling. Mac picked us up and after driving by Gab Gab beach (too crowded), we ended up at San Luis beach. The crane had been a no show, so Mac's boat is still out of the water and he was slightly irritated by that. We waded into the water and within five minutes I had spotted a bright red octopus. It flashed the red when I got too close to it, otherwise I might have missed it. It was the size of a large watermelon and quickly squeezed itself into a crevice in the coral. When I called over Dmitry and Grace, they prodded it out of the crevice and it began swimming away changing colors and patterns at will. It darted into another crevice and we prodded it out once more. We followed it as it swam for a bit and then left it alone when it found another hole to hide in. Just incredible to see the shape/color shifting it was capable of. There were soooooo many different beautifully colored fish. Eventually at the wall, where the shallow reef drops down farther than you can see, we saw a few larger fish and a sea turtle. Mac says she has been a regular at that beach for about 15 years and it is only because it is on the base that she has not been killed. He also mentioned that someone had been bitten by a shark a couple days ago, but that he had deserved it, playing with the shark after spearing it while fishing. We snorkeled for close to two hours and the water actually got to feeling cool. We got out in time to watch the sunset.
May 18 Monday: We left early this morning, dropped Grace off at her work and headed to the naval base. It took us half an hour to get our passes for the day and then we got to work. The crane bailed again this morning, so Mac was busy trying to arrange an alternative and was able to speak with a crane operator already located on the base. Wednesday morning should be a go now. We worked on a number of small projects. I was putting hinges on a hatch door and fashioning a couple of the plumbing pieces we needed from spare parts. The naval base is very self contained and you could live there without ever leaving. There are churches, theaters, malls, restaurants, etc. We had lunch at a Subway on the base and Mac found one of the plumbing parts we had been unable to find elsewhere at the on base building supply place. The on base gas stations are 50 cents less than anything off base.We left about 3pm to pick up Grace since we are down to just one car after the incident on Friday. But before we left we got clearance for me to go to Rota on the sailboat this weekend. There still has to be a signoff from the naval base on Wednesday and if that goes alright, I'll be sailing with Dmitry and about six others at 6am on a 70 mile trip that should take all day. This is part of the Rota race, a yearly event between the islands of Guam and Rota. Our boat is going early and not racing, but participating in some of the other events for the weekend and then returning on Monday. Dmitry has it all planned out so we are going to take a bunch of medical supplies and literature to give out in Rota. He will most likely preach on Sabbath, Grace does part of the service and they would like me to talk about my trip as well. Just another part of the grand adventure I'm on. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm also trying to line up scuba lessons and they are actually a third of the cost that they were in Majuro, but I have to work out the scheduling with an instructor over the next couple days.
After picking up Grace, we picked up medical supplies and another van to replace the one that malfunctioned on Friday. We also went to a Bible study at Steven Silva's house. There were six of us and one person in the group is doing some serious soul searching. She has some struggles in her life right now that are really straining her emotionally. It was a good meeting even though I really do not know the whole story and I know having people that can support you is incredibly reassuring.
Just a short clip showing the clouds that mesmerized me throughout my travel day last Thursday. This is just after takeoff from Chuuk, with a tiny island at the top of the window to begin. The second one is on the beach at Ine, Arno. You see Lucien our guide and the lagoon side dock, which is just about a straight shot in 100 yards to the school site.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
May 10 Sunday: Having been told that Sunday was the only time we could get to Arno with Tony the irooj, we had made a number of phone calls Sabbath evening and Sunday morning, trying to line up a boat, any boat. But given that it was mother's day people were busy with other things and boat charters came up with a goose egg. Given that it was mother's day it also meant that the backup trip to Enemanot was a no go because Larry had taken his family camping for the weekend and his boat was gone. Four of the SM's had really been looking forward to going to Enemanot as it was one of the last weekends of the school year for them before heading back home. So we made a few more phone calls once we knew Arno was not going to happen and found a boat from Kramer's resort that was still going to Enemanot from a dock near the US Embassy. We made it to the boat on time and minutes after leaving the dock were hit by a tremendous rain storm with near whiteout conditions. This went on for most of the trip over to the island and while it broke for the most part, we had a gentle rain for the first hour on the island. I swam out to the buoys that are set to triangulate a wrecked jet in the water, but it was deep enough that I could not make out anything. I swam back to the floating diving board where the SM's were soaking up sun and asked if I could borrow a mask. Once I had a mask, I returned to the buoys and eventually found the front half of the jet. The tail section was missing, but you could look into the shell of the plane and see the benches and if you were really ambitious you could make your way into the cockpit. That wasn't for me. Following a consistent crunching sound, I made my way to a cluster of coral that was being methodically eaten by the clown and parrot fish. A few angel fish and various other colorful species flitted in and out of the coral as I floated above it all. This was the first time in my trips to this island that I was able to do any snorkeling and I was happy for the chance and what I had been able to see. Then I swam over to the pier and on to the other side, which is where no one goes and there I found my own little 'Blue Planet' landscape. Huge fan corals, brain corals, every other kind of coral, in hot pinks, bright blues, oranges, tans, whites. The fish were what you imagine when you think of nature specials on the reefs of the world. Multicolored and beautiful, sea cucumbers, some eels, LARGE specimens of the snails with their unblemished shells completely eclipsing the dull versions that wash up on shore, shrimp and crabs, etc. It was breathtaking. I thanked God for the variations in nature that declare His handiwork.
We left Enemanot just ahead of an approaching storm and avoided the worst of it by doing so. A Marshallese woman catching a ride on the boat got sea sick and threw up, which was tremendously funny to a Marshallese man who was watching her. Back at the school Matt, who had gone to the airport to look for shells in a place the natives had recommended, showed us his haul. He got a number of beautifully colored, if small in size, shells, mostly cowries. Cameron and I drove Matt and Evan back up to Laura. Matt was still trying to figure out what to do with a giant conch shell he had. It would not fit in any of the flat rate postal boxes and would have cost $50 to ship on its own. Hopefully, he finds a way to get it home. On the way back to Delap, Cameron and I were again praying and discussing about Arno and how it was in God's hands, whether it would happen or not. At that point we were essentially done and Cameron would have to make the trip himself when he got a chance. He could scope out the site, get pictures, and send it on to Burton and others in the States.
May 11 Monday: This morning Denis called and told us that the Sunday restriction was no longer in place and if we could charger a boat Tony would go with us. We spent a couple hours calling people with boats and they were all booked for the day. Just about when we were ready to give up, Ben, the son of the man who runs the three times a week boat service to the other end of Arno, called and said he had a boat. Good news! Then he told us the price: $750. That was just too much for us to pay and just like that Arno was again off the table. I think Ben knew we were kind of desperate to get a boat and he did not really want to go, because that price is so much more than anyone else had said the trip would cost, if they had been available. So, Cameron and I prayed again, put it in God's hands and went about other things for the day. I finished a book I had borrowed from Scott Young, one of the SM's, then went to MIR to use the internet and post my last set of notes. Walking home, I arrived just as a truckload of kids was heading out with Cameron and Steve Baker. They asked if I wanted to go and see the Taiwanese naval ships that had recently docked. Of course, I did. How often will I get a chance to go on board an active military vessel for another country? Before boarding we were scanned and had our temperatures taken (as a precaution against swine flu apparently). There was a marked route to follow through the ship, but we were not guided through it. Placards gave information on what a lot of the equipment and weaponry was and did. Towards the end of the tour there was a section of the deck arranged to promote the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. Cameron can speak Chinese, so he had fun interacting with the sailors, who were mostly surprised at a white guy speaking their language. The kids were all excited about how big the ships were and the boys were drawn to the rockets and torpedoes. I'm glad I had the chance to see the ships.
May 12 Tuesday: First thing this morning we were told to go find John at the WAAN canoe making shop, who knows of a boat we can charter. After some exploring to actually find the shop and John himself, we were next sent to get a hold of JoEl the boat owner. This also took a while, so that by the time everything was settled, we could not make the trip today and arranged to go to Arno on Wednesday for $300. Cameron and I went to eat lunch at Diabetes Wellness Center, talked to Denis some more and Denis wanted to take me to dinner that evening to talk some more about Canvasback/ priorities, etc. I got a load of laundry started and did a few errands. Because of all our running around on Monday, they had not been able to have gymnastics practice, so Tuesday was a makeup day and the 25 eager students had a great time practicing round offs and hand stands. About a half hour before their practice was over I went down to the Formosa store and got oranges to give to the kids.
With practice done and most of the kids dropped off at their homes, it was time for me to meet up with Denis. Cameron had an English tutoring session with a Taiwanese woman, so it worked out well for us to be doing our own things. Denis was just closing up the Wellness Center when I arrived at 5:30. Cherise came along too and they took me to their favorite restaurant on the island, Monica's. It is a Chinese place, but the reason they like it and are promoting it through the Wellness Center, is that they will make any dish vegetarian, will use brown rice instead of white, and in general already serve food that is in line with the Wellness Center's ideals. Denis ordered for all of us and it was fantastic. Part way through the meal Monica came out and gave us a new dish they were just thinking of adding to the menu: spicy bamboo shoots. Amazing taste and very spicy, which made me happy. After the meal, we walked along the shoreline for a while and sat under a gazebo on the lagoon side. Then on the way home Denis stopped by Tony Roberts home so I could meet the Irooj prior to our trip to Arno. That went well and we looked to be all set for Wednesday.
Throughout this time Denis was telling me about the crisis of Diabetes in the Marshall Islands and the sense I had picked up from him about the school in Arno not being a primary priority was clarified. He would love to get a school going out there, but it would have a direct impact on at most 60 students and then ripple out from there. Diabetes is an epidemic in the Marshalls: during health screenings 50% of people have diabetes and the government itself says that nearly 90% are on their way and will get it. The government is spending $17-18 million of its $21 million health budget on diabetes treatment. It is a major issue to them, obviously. The Wellness Center is in a perfect position to have a huge impact on the Marshall's both physically and spiritually. Currently, they are providing a breakfast and a lunch service at very reasonable prices (and which is keeping them in the black), free exercise classes (aerobics/tai chi/etc), health interventions (three month courses with nutritionists/dietitians to modify the lifestyles of those who need to), cooking classes, etc. They do not do a dinner service because it would be exhausting to the staff (although they have requests for it constantly) and they made a commitment to not compete against the local restaurants when they need that time to make most of their money. They also have offered to give any and all of their recipes to any restaurant that would want them. Primary needs are curriculum/presentation materials that can be presented to ALL the elementary schools on Majuro and extending to the outer islands. This has full backing from the government, but they need help putting the material together and producing it and funds/resources to establish a better follow up system for people who are going through the current programs. These steps would have an immediate impact on thousands of people and provide a fantastic opening for the church since it is clear that this health message is coming from the SDA church and the government understands and supports it. (Gabe, Scott, Kirsten, etc, if you think you could take a look at the canvasback website and offer improvements or expertise in presentation development, I can get you contact info)
May 13 Wednesday: Because of an overnight storm we adjusted our departure time to just after noon. So in the morning I packed most of my stuff up and did a little reading. At 10am we took all the 7th Graders to the Diabetes Wellness Center for a lecture and information, tour of their gym facilities and lunch. Then ARNO, we arrived at the RRE dock and spotted the boat right away. It was a small 20 footer with twin engines. JoEl was there, said everything was ready and the crew was waiting so we hopped on. The crew consisted of three men, the pilot of the boat, was a lookalike for Tony Roberts, but was obviously not him. We eventually figured out he was a cousin. But it did seem strange that after all that effort Tony did not come on the trip himself. I never did find out what the reason for that was. Anyway, as soon as we crossed under the Majuro bridge and hit the open ocean, we hit really choppy water. I thought it was quite exciting, although after an hour and a half of the boat slamming down every few seconds, my butt was ready for a break. Too bad the boat ride took another forty five minutes Flying fish made many appearances and I was very surprised at how far they can fly once airborne and they can stay out even longer by skipping through the tips of high waves. With the birds you see the wings flapping, the flying fish is more like a silver bar with hummingbird-like fin motion. Just a blur, floating a few feet above the water for as much as 45 seconds. As we drove along the coastline of Arno, you immediately got a sense of how much more primitive it is compared to Majuro, just 20 miles away. Very quiet, no vehicles (there are only 5 or 6 trucks on the island total), long clean looking beaches, once in a while a person standing on the shore watching us pass. Arriving at the dock, we were somewhat unsure of how to proceed, since Tony was not with us and his cousin could barely speak English, but almost immediately we found a young man a few years younger than me named Lucien who spoke very good English. We soon discovered that he had been a student of the SDA school before it got shut down. He became our tour guide. We probably could have managed without one, because the site is in such a convenient and prime spot, but it was very helpful to have him show us other things as well. Only a couple hundred yards from the dock we hit the existing concrete slab. The lagoon side is visible from the site and has a dock on that side as well. There is a large meadow adjacent to the site, which already is being used as a community volleyball court. It is within sight of an existing Protestant church and we spoke with the pastor there about using the church on Sabbaths and he was completely open to the idea of sharing the space, so doing a separate church may not be necessary. There is also a “hospital” and the only store in Ine within sight of the school space. Lucien showed us a couple existing buildings that had been part of the old school and are now being used as housing for families. Very small, the new school would easily be three times as large. All of this was tremendously encouraging. The slab itself, we were told had been the town hall and meeting space, but it is in a terrible state. It is not usable for any sort of structure whatsoever. It is so overgrown that it would need to be cleaned off before a decision could be made, but I suspect the easiest solution would be to dig and pour a new footing around the outside of what is there and relevel the floor. There is enough space to almost double the footprint without having to cut down many palm trees if that became necessary for some reason, but the existing area seems quite good. It will definitely be a camping environment for anyone going out there to do the construction. I took a lot of pictures (and hopefully I can get them up soon) found one little Arno cowrie as a souvenir. We were given a bag of freshly husked cocoanuts, so we drank the milk and scraped out the meat while we wandered around the island. The longer we were there the more people came out of the woodwork. At first it seemed largely abandoned, but before we left a rambunctious volleyball game got underway, kids were riding their bikes around, and testing their confidence by coming and asking us things. Quite a crowd was at the dock for our departure. The return trip was much quicker as the sea had calmed down to almost glass. The flying fish were gone. I think after observing their methods, the stormy water helps them out a lot. But we did get another treat: dolphins/porpoises (not sure which). They were fairly small, darker than the “grey” ones we traditionally see at parks, jumping rhythmically as they paced the boat for a while. I only regret that they stopped as soon as I got my camera out.
We got back to Majuro in time to grab a quick bite and go to Bible study with the Rita kids. Then a brief download with Denis and more last minute packing. I got a bunch of my pictures and videos transferred to Cameron; all the stuff that had him in it and all the Arno pictures. We played one last game of Scrabble which I won.
May 14 Thursday: Travel day, up at 7am, finished my oranges off, finished packing, donated some money to the school, said some goodbyes, picked up a dvd from the Diabetes Wellness Center and set off to the airport a little after 9am. Once there I got to go through the circus of removing my Pac Saf netting so they could scan my pack, then reattach the Pac Saf, then pay extra because it was overweight, and pay my $20 “exit fee” to be allowed to leave the islands. But everyone was friendly, they all have been, and the woman at the counter is actually the wife of one of the guys we had been going to Enemanot with many of the weekends I was here. That was nice. And after a half hour of waiting we were allowed to board. First stop was Kwajalein and they warned us that we couldn't get off the plane and were not allowed to take any pictures because it is an active military installation. About half the passenger did get off as this was their destination. Our next jump took us to Kosrae where we could disembark and I bought a wooden shark (with real shark teeth) that I'll have to ship home from Guam. The next stop was Pohnpei where it was rainy and we were asked to stay on board the plane. We picked up a lot of passengers on this stop and the plane was full. I was in seat 6A, seat 6B had been empty up until this point and seat 6C was filled by a Continental mechanic. We had talked a little with him giving me many recommendations about places to scuba dive and telling me I should modify my trip to make sure I could see Palau and Saipan. Well, a passenger tried to sit in 6B, but the mechanic made him move, so it remained open. Since the plane was so full, I asked why he did that and he told me once the plane was airborne, the pilot was going to come back and watch the recent championship boxing fight with him on their laptop. Shortly after taking off and reaching a reasonable altitude, back came the pilot, sat down beside me and they proceeded to watch the fight through twice. It was a rather short fight, ending in the second round, but they enjoyed themselves. Eventually the pilot had to go back to the cockpit. I do not think any of the other passengers knew about the situation (and I'm pretty sure there are more than one pilot on a plane that size anyway) or we might have been more nervous. We made a clean landing at Truk/Chuuk most of the passengers disembarked, but we picked up nearly the same number for the last leg to Guam.
Nearly all day I have been glued to my window. After being in Majuro for six weeks and getting accustomed to everything being flat, each new set of islands has its own texture and contours and mountains and they have been getting bigger as the day progresses. Plus, the amazing cloud formations, with towering strata of thin wispy layers, fluffy cotton balls, dense gray rainclouds with sheets of water being wrung from them, all in seeming suspended animation as the plane pushes through them, glides over the top, or just under the ceiling. And on top of that the way sunlight interplays with all of the above to create visual masterpieces. There really are not words that adequately describe it all. All day I praised God for the beauty and infinite variety on this Earth and thanked Him for allowing me to see even this little bit of it.
In Guam, I waited for my pack with the father/son tandem from Australia that I had met several weeks earlier on a boat, we wished each other luck on our continued travels and I marched out where Grace was already waiting for me. Guam is a modern island compared to Majuro, much cleaner, much bigger, much more developed. It does remind me of parts of Hawaii, something I did not feel at all in the Marshall's. An atoll is a completely different animal. Grace told me that they often attend a bible study on Thursday evenings and I was fine with going there. First we stopped at an Indian restaurant and had some very good food, more than the two of us could finish off, so we brought it home. When we arrived at the apartment complex where the Bible study was to take place, we found two couples, but they were just socializing. We spent some time talking about my trip, how it has been going, what they all do in Guam (work in a dental clinic), etc. Then Grace said we had a few more errands to run, so we moved on. We stopped by the apartment of a Japanese/American couple (both teachers at a university on the island) to return some Japanese language software Grace had borrowed. This is a couple that Grace and Dmitry are hoping to have bible studies with. Then we had a 25 minute drive out to where the Lossev's live in Talofofo. It was already dark so I could not see much of the terrain, but it is definitely quieter and more suburb-like.
Here is a link to a lot more pictures.
We left Enemanot just ahead of an approaching storm and avoided the worst of it by doing so. A Marshallese woman catching a ride on the boat got sea sick and threw up, which was tremendously funny to a Marshallese man who was watching her. Back at the school Matt, who had gone to the airport to look for shells in a place the natives had recommended, showed us his haul. He got a number of beautifully colored, if small in size, shells, mostly cowries. Cameron and I drove Matt and Evan back up to Laura. Matt was still trying to figure out what to do with a giant conch shell he had. It would not fit in any of the flat rate postal boxes and would have cost $50 to ship on its own. Hopefully, he finds a way to get it home. On the way back to Delap, Cameron and I were again praying and discussing about Arno and how it was in God's hands, whether it would happen or not. At that point we were essentially done and Cameron would have to make the trip himself when he got a chance. He could scope out the site, get pictures, and send it on to Burton and others in the States.
May 11 Monday: This morning Denis called and told us that the Sunday restriction was no longer in place and if we could charger a boat Tony would go with us. We spent a couple hours calling people with boats and they were all booked for the day. Just about when we were ready to give up, Ben, the son of the man who runs the three times a week boat service to the other end of Arno, called and said he had a boat. Good news! Then he told us the price: $750. That was just too much for us to pay and just like that Arno was again off the table. I think Ben knew we were kind of desperate to get a boat and he did not really want to go, because that price is so much more than anyone else had said the trip would cost, if they had been available. So, Cameron and I prayed again, put it in God's hands and went about other things for the day. I finished a book I had borrowed from Scott Young, one of the SM's, then went to MIR to use the internet and post my last set of notes. Walking home, I arrived just as a truckload of kids was heading out with Cameron and Steve Baker. They asked if I wanted to go and see the Taiwanese naval ships that had recently docked. Of course, I did. How often will I get a chance to go on board an active military vessel for another country? Before boarding we were scanned and had our temperatures taken (as a precaution against swine flu apparently). There was a marked route to follow through the ship, but we were not guided through it. Placards gave information on what a lot of the equipment and weaponry was and did. Towards the end of the tour there was a section of the deck arranged to promote the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. Cameron can speak Chinese, so he had fun interacting with the sailors, who were mostly surprised at a white guy speaking their language. The kids were all excited about how big the ships were and the boys were drawn to the rockets and torpedoes. I'm glad I had the chance to see the ships.
May 12 Tuesday: First thing this morning we were told to go find John at the WAAN canoe making shop, who knows of a boat we can charter. After some exploring to actually find the shop and John himself, we were next sent to get a hold of JoEl the boat owner. This also took a while, so that by the time everything was settled, we could not make the trip today and arranged to go to Arno on Wednesday for $300. Cameron and I went to eat lunch at Diabetes Wellness Center, talked to Denis some more and Denis wanted to take me to dinner that evening to talk some more about Canvasback/ priorities, etc. I got a load of laundry started and did a few errands. Because of all our running around on Monday, they had not been able to have gymnastics practice, so Tuesday was a makeup day and the 25 eager students had a great time practicing round offs and hand stands. About a half hour before their practice was over I went down to the Formosa store and got oranges to give to the kids.
With practice done and most of the kids dropped off at their homes, it was time for me to meet up with Denis. Cameron had an English tutoring session with a Taiwanese woman, so it worked out well for us to be doing our own things. Denis was just closing up the Wellness Center when I arrived at 5:30. Cherise came along too and they took me to their favorite restaurant on the island, Monica's. It is a Chinese place, but the reason they like it and are promoting it through the Wellness Center, is that they will make any dish vegetarian, will use brown rice instead of white, and in general already serve food that is in line with the Wellness Center's ideals. Denis ordered for all of us and it was fantastic. Part way through the meal Monica came out and gave us a new dish they were just thinking of adding to the menu: spicy bamboo shoots. Amazing taste and very spicy, which made me happy. After the meal, we walked along the shoreline for a while and sat under a gazebo on the lagoon side. Then on the way home Denis stopped by Tony Roberts home so I could meet the Irooj prior to our trip to Arno. That went well and we looked to be all set for Wednesday.
Throughout this time Denis was telling me about the crisis of Diabetes in the Marshall Islands and the sense I had picked up from him about the school in Arno not being a primary priority was clarified. He would love to get a school going out there, but it would have a direct impact on at most 60 students and then ripple out from there. Diabetes is an epidemic in the Marshalls: during health screenings 50% of people have diabetes and the government itself says that nearly 90% are on their way and will get it. The government is spending $17-18 million of its $21 million health budget on diabetes treatment. It is a major issue to them, obviously. The Wellness Center is in a perfect position to have a huge impact on the Marshall's both physically and spiritually. Currently, they are providing a breakfast and a lunch service at very reasonable prices (and which is keeping them in the black), free exercise classes (aerobics/tai chi/etc), health interventions (three month courses with nutritionists/dietitians to modify the lifestyles of those who need to), cooking classes, etc. They do not do a dinner service because it would be exhausting to the staff (although they have requests for it constantly) and they made a commitment to not compete against the local restaurants when they need that time to make most of their money. They also have offered to give any and all of their recipes to any restaurant that would want them. Primary needs are curriculum/presentation materials that can be presented to ALL the elementary schools on Majuro and extending to the outer islands. This has full backing from the government, but they need help putting the material together and producing it and funds/resources to establish a better follow up system for people who are going through the current programs. These steps would have an immediate impact on thousands of people and provide a fantastic opening for the church since it is clear that this health message is coming from the SDA church and the government understands and supports it. (Gabe, Scott, Kirsten, etc, if you think you could take a look at the canvasback website and offer improvements or expertise in presentation development, I can get you contact info)
May 13 Wednesday: Because of an overnight storm we adjusted our departure time to just after noon. So in the morning I packed most of my stuff up and did a little reading. At 10am we took all the 7th Graders to the Diabetes Wellness Center for a lecture and information, tour of their gym facilities and lunch. Then ARNO, we arrived at the RRE dock and spotted the boat right away. It was a small 20 footer with twin engines. JoEl was there, said everything was ready and the crew was waiting so we hopped on. The crew consisted of three men, the pilot of the boat, was a lookalike for Tony Roberts, but was obviously not him. We eventually figured out he was a cousin. But it did seem strange that after all that effort Tony did not come on the trip himself. I never did find out what the reason for that was. Anyway, as soon as we crossed under the Majuro bridge and hit the open ocean, we hit really choppy water. I thought it was quite exciting, although after an hour and a half of the boat slamming down every few seconds, my butt was ready for a break. Too bad the boat ride took another forty five minutes Flying fish made many appearances and I was very surprised at how far they can fly once airborne and they can stay out even longer by skipping through the tips of high waves. With the birds you see the wings flapping, the flying fish is more like a silver bar with hummingbird-like fin motion. Just a blur, floating a few feet above the water for as much as 45 seconds. As we drove along the coastline of Arno, you immediately got a sense of how much more primitive it is compared to Majuro, just 20 miles away. Very quiet, no vehicles (there are only 5 or 6 trucks on the island total), long clean looking beaches, once in a while a person standing on the shore watching us pass. Arriving at the dock, we were somewhat unsure of how to proceed, since Tony was not with us and his cousin could barely speak English, but almost immediately we found a young man a few years younger than me named Lucien who spoke very good English. We soon discovered that he had been a student of the SDA school before it got shut down. He became our tour guide. We probably could have managed without one, because the site is in such a convenient and prime spot, but it was very helpful to have him show us other things as well. Only a couple hundred yards from the dock we hit the existing concrete slab. The lagoon side is visible from the site and has a dock on that side as well. There is a large meadow adjacent to the site, which already is being used as a community volleyball court. It is within sight of an existing Protestant church and we spoke with the pastor there about using the church on Sabbaths and he was completely open to the idea of sharing the space, so doing a separate church may not be necessary. There is also a “hospital” and the only store in Ine within sight of the school space. Lucien showed us a couple existing buildings that had been part of the old school and are now being used as housing for families. Very small, the new school would easily be three times as large. All of this was tremendously encouraging. The slab itself, we were told had been the town hall and meeting space, but it is in a terrible state. It is not usable for any sort of structure whatsoever. It is so overgrown that it would need to be cleaned off before a decision could be made, but I suspect the easiest solution would be to dig and pour a new footing around the outside of what is there and relevel the floor. There is enough space to almost double the footprint without having to cut down many palm trees if that became necessary for some reason, but the existing area seems quite good. It will definitely be a camping environment for anyone going out there to do the construction. I took a lot of pictures (and hopefully I can get them up soon) found one little Arno cowrie as a souvenir. We were given a bag of freshly husked cocoanuts, so we drank the milk and scraped out the meat while we wandered around the island. The longer we were there the more people came out of the woodwork. At first it seemed largely abandoned, but before we left a rambunctious volleyball game got underway, kids were riding their bikes around, and testing their confidence by coming and asking us things. Quite a crowd was at the dock for our departure. The return trip was much quicker as the sea had calmed down to almost glass. The flying fish were gone. I think after observing their methods, the stormy water helps them out a lot. But we did get another treat: dolphins/porpoises (not sure which). They were fairly small, darker than the “grey” ones we traditionally see at parks, jumping rhythmically as they paced the boat for a while. I only regret that they stopped as soon as I got my camera out.
We got back to Majuro in time to grab a quick bite and go to Bible study with the Rita kids. Then a brief download with Denis and more last minute packing. I got a bunch of my pictures and videos transferred to Cameron; all the stuff that had him in it and all the Arno pictures. We played one last game of Scrabble which I won.
May 14 Thursday: Travel day, up at 7am, finished my oranges off, finished packing, donated some money to the school, said some goodbyes, picked up a dvd from the Diabetes Wellness Center and set off to the airport a little after 9am. Once there I got to go through the circus of removing my Pac Saf netting so they could scan my pack, then reattach the Pac Saf, then pay extra because it was overweight, and pay my $20 “exit fee” to be allowed to leave the islands. But everyone was friendly, they all have been, and the woman at the counter is actually the wife of one of the guys we had been going to Enemanot with many of the weekends I was here. That was nice. And after a half hour of waiting we were allowed to board. First stop was Kwajalein and they warned us that we couldn't get off the plane and were not allowed to take any pictures because it is an active military installation. About half the passenger did get off as this was their destination. Our next jump took us to Kosrae where we could disembark and I bought a wooden shark (with real shark teeth) that I'll have to ship home from Guam. The next stop was Pohnpei where it was rainy and we were asked to stay on board the plane. We picked up a lot of passengers on this stop and the plane was full. I was in seat 6A, seat 6B had been empty up until this point and seat 6C was filled by a Continental mechanic. We had talked a little with him giving me many recommendations about places to scuba dive and telling me I should modify my trip to make sure I could see Palau and Saipan. Well, a passenger tried to sit in 6B, but the mechanic made him move, so it remained open. Since the plane was so full, I asked why he did that and he told me once the plane was airborne, the pilot was going to come back and watch the recent championship boxing fight with him on their laptop. Shortly after taking off and reaching a reasonable altitude, back came the pilot, sat down beside me and they proceeded to watch the fight through twice. It was a rather short fight, ending in the second round, but they enjoyed themselves. Eventually the pilot had to go back to the cockpit. I do not think any of the other passengers knew about the situation (and I'm pretty sure there are more than one pilot on a plane that size anyway) or we might have been more nervous. We made a clean landing at Truk/Chuuk most of the passengers disembarked, but we picked up nearly the same number for the last leg to Guam.
Nearly all day I have been glued to my window. After being in Majuro for six weeks and getting accustomed to everything being flat, each new set of islands has its own texture and contours and mountains and they have been getting bigger as the day progresses. Plus, the amazing cloud formations, with towering strata of thin wispy layers, fluffy cotton balls, dense gray rainclouds with sheets of water being wrung from them, all in seeming suspended animation as the plane pushes through them, glides over the top, or just under the ceiling. And on top of that the way sunlight interplays with all of the above to create visual masterpieces. There really are not words that adequately describe it all. All day I praised God for the beauty and infinite variety on this Earth and thanked Him for allowing me to see even this little bit of it.
In Guam, I waited for my pack with the father/son tandem from Australia that I had met several weeks earlier on a boat, we wished each other luck on our continued travels and I marched out where Grace was already waiting for me. Guam is a modern island compared to Majuro, much cleaner, much bigger, much more developed. It does remind me of parts of Hawaii, something I did not feel at all in the Marshall's. An atoll is a completely different animal. Grace told me that they often attend a bible study on Thursday evenings and I was fine with going there. First we stopped at an Indian restaurant and had some very good food, more than the two of us could finish off, so we brought it home. When we arrived at the apartment complex where the Bible study was to take place, we found two couples, but they were just socializing. We spent some time talking about my trip, how it has been going, what they all do in Guam (work in a dental clinic), etc. Then Grace said we had a few more errands to run, so we moved on. We stopped by the apartment of a Japanese/American couple (both teachers at a university on the island) to return some Japanese language software Grace had borrowed. This is a couple that Grace and Dmitry are hoping to have bible studies with. Then we had a 25 minute drive out to where the Lossev's live in Talofofo. It was already dark so I could not see much of the terrain, but it is definitely quieter and more suburb-like.
Here is a link to a lot more pictures.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
May 7 Thursday: I felt better in the morning, but the runny nose came back and mid afternoon I had a set of chills even in the high 80's outside temp. But I put on long sleeves, long pants, drank a lot, sweated even more, and I broke the cold. Cameron is feeling almost completely better which is good since today is the first practice for a new gymnastics team he is putting together. There are 25 super excited 4th through 6th graders lined up for it. I went along to shoot some video and photos and just get out of the house. We stopped at Payless on the way home and I got several more apples since today is the last day of the sale. Cherise came for dinner again tonight, and the three of us had a nice evening cooking food and talking.
May 8 Friday: Again, I felt great in the morning, but this time it stuck. I went out to the reef outside the school and played in the tide pools. Did not find much to keep, although the pools themselves are immensely fascinating: the sheer numbers of types of crabs and the array of colors they come in, the vast variety of life from snails, sea cucumbers, eels, worms, fish, shrimp, hermit crabs, anemones, corals, brittle stars, etc etc goes on and on. My major find was a hermit crab occupying a conch shell the size of both of my fists put together. I'll attempt to get him to surrender his home. The irooj has now told us that Sunday is the only day he can show us around, but the new trick will be getting a boat on Sunday. That will most likely be a private charter and cost more than $200. We have a little time to work on it though and we will give it our best shot. I went to observe the second gymnastics practice, stopping and buying oranges for when the kids finished. I am constantly reminded of the difference between American kids (forbidden to go outside, overweight as a indirect result, whiny) and the kids here (outside all the time, way over sugared, but not overweight, very infrequent whining/crying). This is an incomplete thought, but I am not going to finish it here, yet.
May 9 Saturday: Matt arrived late yesterday afternoon, so the three of us had breakfast together and got ready for church. He was the last to get a shower, and just before he got to hop in the water stopped flowing. Since I was in the program I did not wait around, but several times lately the water has gone off for an hour or two. At church, I was talking to Seeyoum Teshome (mom, that is the Ethiopian man's name, you can check with Adu about him, he is really interesting to talk to, is currently in charge of the Computer Science Dept at College of the Marshall Islands, has been very happy to have me around and his two kids are great, the younger son follows his older brother around like a puppy) and getting my role clarified. I gave a summary of the weeks lesson topic from the quarterly. They try and do this because they often run out of time in the actual classes and this way everyone at least hears a brief synopsis of what was covered throughout the week. Then we break up into Marshallese and English speaking groups to go further into detail on the lesson. During church there was a special Mother's day story and music (the words are below, I do not have a translation, but it was a beautiful piece sung by about twenty of the high school age kids)
A Mother's Day Song:
Elon ran im bon
Ilo mour e ao
Ij bukot jakjan, nan ao naj ukot boke eo
Nan yuk jino kin aolep yio ko
Rellon kwar jiban io ie
Ijela kwojella ejjelok men en elaplak
Kin yokwe eo am nan yuk mama
Kwe eo kwoj utiej
Kwaibojoj ibba kin men ko otemjej io lal
Winnin al im ao
Naj kwalok nan mejen lal in bwe
Kwe eo ilon im ion menono e ao mama
Jonan lal in mama
Eddrik nan ao naj
Katolak yuk jen io im eban ukot
Menono e ao ij kamolol Jemed
Ilan kin onak eo, eo an nan kwe im na
They sang it several times as the younger kids were passing out cards to the mothers. A special evening vespers, starting an hour earlier than normal was announced, which turned out to be a church/school wide musical talent show and went on for nearly three hours. Many talented musicians – young and old and from a very international background. I tried to video many of the performances, but I was also trying to protect my camera while keeping five wiggly little kids quiet and reasonably under control. The recordings suffered greatly in this endeavor, but I got good pictures of Dolly, Alibert, and a few of the other unidentified munchkins that seek us out regularly
Happy Mothers Day, MOM!
May 8 Friday: Again, I felt great in the morning, but this time it stuck. I went out to the reef outside the school and played in the tide pools. Did not find much to keep, although the pools themselves are immensely fascinating: the sheer numbers of types of crabs and the array of colors they come in, the vast variety of life from snails, sea cucumbers, eels, worms, fish, shrimp, hermit crabs, anemones, corals, brittle stars, etc etc goes on and on. My major find was a hermit crab occupying a conch shell the size of both of my fists put together. I'll attempt to get him to surrender his home. The irooj has now told us that Sunday is the only day he can show us around, but the new trick will be getting a boat on Sunday. That will most likely be a private charter and cost more than $200. We have a little time to work on it though and we will give it our best shot. I went to observe the second gymnastics practice, stopping and buying oranges for when the kids finished. I am constantly reminded of the difference between American kids (forbidden to go outside, overweight as a indirect result, whiny) and the kids here (outside all the time, way over sugared, but not overweight, very infrequent whining/crying). This is an incomplete thought, but I am not going to finish it here, yet.
May 9 Saturday: Matt arrived late yesterday afternoon, so the three of us had breakfast together and got ready for church. He was the last to get a shower, and just before he got to hop in the water stopped flowing. Since I was in the program I did not wait around, but several times lately the water has gone off for an hour or two. At church, I was talking to Seeyoum Teshome (mom, that is the Ethiopian man's name, you can check with Adu about him, he is really interesting to talk to, is currently in charge of the Computer Science Dept at College of the Marshall Islands, has been very happy to have me around and his two kids are great, the younger son follows his older brother around like a puppy) and getting my role clarified. I gave a summary of the weeks lesson topic from the quarterly. They try and do this because they often run out of time in the actual classes and this way everyone at least hears a brief synopsis of what was covered throughout the week. Then we break up into Marshallese and English speaking groups to go further into detail on the lesson. During church there was a special Mother's day story and music (the words are below, I do not have a translation, but it was a beautiful piece sung by about twenty of the high school age kids)
A Mother's Day Song:
Elon ran im bon
Ilo mour e ao
Ij bukot jakjan, nan ao naj ukot boke eo
Nan yuk jino kin aolep yio ko
Rellon kwar jiban io ie
Ijela kwojella ejjelok men en elaplak
Kin yokwe eo am nan yuk mama
Kwe eo kwoj utiej
Kwaibojoj ibba kin men ko otemjej io lal
Winnin al im ao
Naj kwalok nan mejen lal in bwe
Kwe eo ilon im ion menono e ao mama
Jonan lal in mama
Eddrik nan ao naj
Katolak yuk jen io im eban ukot
Menono e ao ij kamolol Jemed
Ilan kin onak eo, eo an nan kwe im na
They sang it several times as the younger kids were passing out cards to the mothers. A special evening vespers, starting an hour earlier than normal was announced, which turned out to be a church/school wide musical talent show and went on for nearly three hours. Many talented musicians – young and old and from a very international background. I tried to video many of the performances, but I was also trying to protect my camera while keeping five wiggly little kids quiet and reasonably under control. The recordings suffered greatly in this endeavor, but I got good pictures of Dolly, Alibert, and a few of the other unidentified munchkins that seek us out regularly
Happy Mothers Day, MOM!
May 4 Monday: We had had hopes of making it to Arno today, but Dennis, who has been acting as a sort of liaison with the Arno chief, went sailing on Sunday in a small boat and late in the afternoon they lost their rudder. They were stuck overnight on one of the rim islands and had to be rescued this morning. So everything is getting pushed back again. At least everyone was safe and in good spirits after the rescue. I spent most of the day in the principals office at the school and as usual it is a nonstop beehive of activity. Kids coming in to get excused for this or that, parents paying bills, kids checking out balls to play with, or just to play guitar, or ukulele or see what is happening. Cameron and I had lunch at Diabetes. In the afternoon, I finished another book. In the evening Cherise, one of the Filipina girls that works at the Wellness Center, came over for dinner. She has been here ten months and has the option for staying another year, but has not made her decision. She likes the work, but misses things like malls and her friends. She told us about the rescue of the disabled sailboat, since she was one of the people that found and picked them up. Everyone thinks they were lucky because the sailboat was far too small for them to be trying the trip they were doing and they actually capsized twice before the rudder broke. They had spent the night at a small island that had an abandoned shack on it
May 5 Tuesday: We met with Dennis this morning and talked about the school in Arno. While we apparently have full support from the chief and his family (including a willingness to add a church after the school is in place), Dennis thinks it might be more productive to concentrate on building up the SDA schools that already exist. He is especially concerned that two new schools are going to be opened on Majuro in the fall. He is very interested in working on ways to make the school tuition as low as possible (his goal is free) because the scholastic results completely support the SDA schools as the best learning environments on the islands. The people would come, no matter how many schools were out there if they could afford it. He does want a school in Arno it is just not as much of a priority for him. We talked about some of the challenges of building in Arno: no on site power, getting materials over there by boat, types of construction, etc. He and Cameron talked about health education for a while and ways to really make a point of healthy eating with at least the older kids. I guess the CMI (College of Marshall Islands) has done a study and the kids that go to the private schools on the islands average two inches taller than their public school counterparts and this is attributed to diet primarily. (The families that can afford private school can also afford more and healthier food). The average family out here is living on an income of about $300 a month. Private schools mostly cost about $100/month. This makes it an obvious hardship for a good portion of the families out here. We stopped by the Taiwanese bakery and I got a piece of chocolate cake for later, Cameron got some french bread and a milk tea.
Later in the day I had a meeting with Larry, the manager at Do-It Best, which is the equivalent of HomeDepot in California. We talked about what type of building materials are most common, durable in the weather here, options for power in Arno, getting the cargo dropped at Arno most effectively, We have been told there is a 60 foot concrete slab already poured at the school site, but we need to make sure it can support a building on top of it and whether we can push for two stories or not. I think it was productive and we should be able to work with them on this project. Then I went across the street to MIR and had a late lunch and used the internet for close to three hours. I walked down to where the Assumption Catholic school is located because there are a few local craft shops nearby. So now my box is nearly full and ready to send back home. On the way walking back to the school I had some Papaya juice. School was already out and some of the little kids were running around the campus, including Dolly, Tonita, Lonnie, Alibert, and many others. We played with them for a bit (but as always, never enough) and finally got them unlatched from our legs long enough to escape the school grounds to go to the Tide Table. It is another restaurant and the second place on the island with free internet access. It was my first time there (MIR is a lot closer), but Cameron had been talking about Taco Tuesday, their Spanish food theme night and it was packed. If that was typical, then I'm glad I have been using MIR, because it is a lot quieter and I think the internet is much faster and more stable there. I did not need to use the internet, but Cameron got on for a while. The power went out partway through the meal to great cheering from the diners, and they quickly switched to generator power. We were both stuffed by the time we left and decided to walk rather than take a taxi back. And since we were walking, we stopped at Youth to Youth house for some ping pong and weight lifting. Then continued our walk home, passing the power line that was being repaired from the earlier power outage, and on to sleep.
May 6 Wednesday: Both Cameron and I have runny noses this morning. Cameron started sniffling yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure where we got it from, but most likely from some of the kids we have been playing with. Dennis was going to give us a call this morning and we are waiting on that, but we will probably call him if we do not hear from him soon. Right now I have been watching 7 or 8 people out at the reef edge fishing as the tide is making its way in. With my runny nose I feel like sleeping more, and maybe I'll do that for a while. Which I did. After that I went to Payless on a mission: get fresh fruit and vegetables to fight the cold. They were having a sale on apples, I got oranges, bananas, a giant red bell pepper, some baby carrots, etc. When I returned and the SM's saw I had apples, several left immediately to get their own: the sale price was very good. I find it is best to get extras anyway, since almost always I end up sharing bits of apple or orange with the kids that are hanging around and they love them. In the late afternoon several kids came looking for Cameron, I had them come in while we waited for him to return. I was cutting up apples and giving them pieces of orange and carrots. It is almost surprising how much they liked them given that they seem to be used to eating tons of junk food and candy, but since they liked it I spread what I had around. I can easily get more, it must be rare for them to get raw fresh food like that. I only got a couple to try the bell pepper and only one of those liked it. I did not go to see the Rita kids tonight since I was feeling so stuffed up all day. I went to bed at 9:30 to try and get extra sleep, but woke up several times throughout the night, so it evened out to a normal amount of sleep for me.
May 5 Tuesday: We met with Dennis this morning and talked about the school in Arno. While we apparently have full support from the chief and his family (including a willingness to add a church after the school is in place), Dennis thinks it might be more productive to concentrate on building up the SDA schools that already exist. He is especially concerned that two new schools are going to be opened on Majuro in the fall. He is very interested in working on ways to make the school tuition as low as possible (his goal is free) because the scholastic results completely support the SDA schools as the best learning environments on the islands. The people would come, no matter how many schools were out there if they could afford it. He does want a school in Arno it is just not as much of a priority for him. We talked about some of the challenges of building in Arno: no on site power, getting materials over there by boat, types of construction, etc. He and Cameron talked about health education for a while and ways to really make a point of healthy eating with at least the older kids. I guess the CMI (College of Marshall Islands) has done a study and the kids that go to the private schools on the islands average two inches taller than their public school counterparts and this is attributed to diet primarily. (The families that can afford private school can also afford more and healthier food). The average family out here is living on an income of about $300 a month. Private schools mostly cost about $100/month. This makes it an obvious hardship for a good portion of the families out here. We stopped by the Taiwanese bakery and I got a piece of chocolate cake for later, Cameron got some french bread and a milk tea.
Later in the day I had a meeting with Larry, the manager at Do-It Best, which is the equivalent of HomeDepot in California. We talked about what type of building materials are most common, durable in the weather here, options for power in Arno, getting the cargo dropped at Arno most effectively, We have been told there is a 60 foot concrete slab already poured at the school site, but we need to make sure it can support a building on top of it and whether we can push for two stories or not. I think it was productive and we should be able to work with them on this project. Then I went across the street to MIR and had a late lunch and used the internet for close to three hours. I walked down to where the Assumption Catholic school is located because there are a few local craft shops nearby. So now my box is nearly full and ready to send back home. On the way walking back to the school I had some Papaya juice. School was already out and some of the little kids were running around the campus, including Dolly, Tonita, Lonnie, Alibert, and many others. We played with them for a bit (but as always, never enough) and finally got them unlatched from our legs long enough to escape the school grounds to go to the Tide Table. It is another restaurant and the second place on the island with free internet access. It was my first time there (MIR is a lot closer), but Cameron had been talking about Taco Tuesday, their Spanish food theme night and it was packed. If that was typical, then I'm glad I have been using MIR, because it is a lot quieter and I think the internet is much faster and more stable there. I did not need to use the internet, but Cameron got on for a while. The power went out partway through the meal to great cheering from the diners, and they quickly switched to generator power. We were both stuffed by the time we left and decided to walk rather than take a taxi back. And since we were walking, we stopped at Youth to Youth house for some ping pong and weight lifting. Then continued our walk home, passing the power line that was being repaired from the earlier power outage, and on to sleep.
May 6 Wednesday: Both Cameron and I have runny noses this morning. Cameron started sniffling yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure where we got it from, but most likely from some of the kids we have been playing with. Dennis was going to give us a call this morning and we are waiting on that, but we will probably call him if we do not hear from him soon. Right now I have been watching 7 or 8 people out at the reef edge fishing as the tide is making its way in. With my runny nose I feel like sleeping more, and maybe I'll do that for a while. Which I did. After that I went to Payless on a mission: get fresh fruit and vegetables to fight the cold. They were having a sale on apples, I got oranges, bananas, a giant red bell pepper, some baby carrots, etc. When I returned and the SM's saw I had apples, several left immediately to get their own: the sale price was very good. I find it is best to get extras anyway, since almost always I end up sharing bits of apple or orange with the kids that are hanging around and they love them. In the late afternoon several kids came looking for Cameron, I had them come in while we waited for him to return. I was cutting up apples and giving them pieces of orange and carrots. It is almost surprising how much they liked them given that they seem to be used to eating tons of junk food and candy, but since they liked it I spread what I had around. I can easily get more, it must be rare for them to get raw fresh food like that. I only got a couple to try the bell pepper and only one of those liked it. I did not go to see the Rita kids tonight since I was feeling so stuffed up all day. I went to bed at 9:30 to try and get extra sleep, but woke up several times throughout the night, so it evened out to a normal amount of sleep for me.
Monday, May 4, 2009
May 1, Friday: The BIG day, Constitution Day, the 30th Anniversary of their status as an independent nation. There was going to be a parade, so I walked down to the starting point and watched all the schools collect and take their positions. When the SDA school group went by they called for me to join them, so I marched along with them to the capital building. It was amusing to see how the group grew as we marched because Jim the principal kept grabbing students from the spectators and reprimanding them for not being in the group already. At the capital building dignitaries from many of the other islands and other countries made a bunch of speeches and then things moved over to a large field that had a stage set up and many shade structures. The shade structures were set up for various schools and organizations to first provide shade, but also to sell food or souvenirs. Lots of “Pig in Plate” available, which I did not try. The stage was used for various musical acts, traditional dances, giving out the awards for many of the events of the past week (including the spelling bees). We went to the top of an old radio tower to get a better view and take some pictures. What made that kind of scary was that the handrails were made of pvc piping and not at all stable. We did not stay up there very long. There were so many acts, dances and awards that this was an all day affair. After the 2nd and 3rd place prizes for the spelling bees were given out, we left. I was quite roasted by that point, having forgotten my sunscreen.
We had vespers like normal, slightly late, a nice song service and a short talk by one of the SM's.
Later in the evening, around 9 they had a fireworks display from a boat in the lagoon. It was a decent show, but I think I have been very spoiled with a couple of fireworks shows in the past. When I was a kid, our family was in Zürich for the celebration of the city's 2000th anniversary. I remember the fireworks going on and on and on. It made an impression that has remained a yardstick against which all other fireworks are judged. And only one other display has rivaled it: a fourth of July weekend with some friends at the Lost Coast. It is a state?? park and since fires, etc are not allowed, I do not think any of use expected fireworks at all. On the beach very near where we were camped three separate groups put on shows in sequence. It was unexpected and amazing and a favorite fourth of July memory for me. After the fireworks, we walked around and, even more than usual, there were hordes of people wandering around. I think almost everyone was out in the streets. That seems to be a common occurrence here anyway, with people outside at all hours of the day or night. Between that and the reality that after spending only a couple weeks here you will start running into the same people (familiarity), I have felt completely safe here. (I have been much more at risk of injury from the kitten that is still learning when to use claws and when not to and who has an insatiable drive to chew on just about everything I own, it is an ongoing battle)
May 2 Sabbath: We were invited to a party/potluck this evening and spent part of the afternoon working on a sweet and sour (vege)chicken dish to bring. It was a gathering of most of the SM's at the Delap school and had a Hawaiian theme for the food. After eating we played a game kind of like 20 questions. Three people would pick a true story from one of their pasts and based on questions to all three we had to decide who it really happened to. It was a simple idea and it was quite a bit of fun. Then Cameron and I went to the gym and while he played volleyball, I stepped into the breach once more to play with some of the littlest kids. Tonita and Lonnie were two girls that stayed until after 11 pm. Several people have said that Marshallese parents show very little affection to their children and rarely if ever play with them, which does seem to be the case from my observation. The kids just latch on to you if you show them the tiniest little bit of attention and can not get enough piggy back rides, flips, swings, etc. I got a full workout by the time we went back to the apartment. Neither of us was tired after running around, so we watched “The Rocker”, a movie with the guy who plays Dwight Schrute in the American version of “The Office” His role as a bitter former member of a superstar band gets a second chance years later was amusing, if somewhat formulaic.
Earlier in the day I was asked to be part of the church service for next weekend.
May 3 Sunday: We went to Enemanot today. There was an Australian father/son duo, Mark and Brent, along for the day. They come from Melbourne and are just on vacation after some business in Guam. I walked to the next island over at about the midpoint of the cycle to low tide. It was chest deep in a few places. As we were leaving later in the afternoon, it was low tide and you could walk all the way across on dry land. I found a few shells, but not many. Seeing all the shells I have over the past few weeks has been reminding me of my grandmother. She and my grandfather both had a love of nature and spent a lot of time collecting seeds, pine cones, rocks, sea shells, etc. They took the time to classify and otherwise identify most of them and also taught groups like Pathfinders about what they had learned. I have many good memories of her different collections and I know she would have enjoyed seeing many of the shells in their native state. After returning and getting some food, I stayed in the shade for a good portion of the afternoon. I know I got burned pretty good on Friday. There was a group of guys near where we were congregated for eating and they wanted to join Cameron and I as we tossed a Frisbee around. Only one of the 14 of them could throw a Frisbee with any skill, this may have been due to their state of inebriation, but I suspect they would not have been much improved when sober.
We had vespers like normal, slightly late, a nice song service and a short talk by one of the SM's.
Later in the evening, around 9 they had a fireworks display from a boat in the lagoon. It was a decent show, but I think I have been very spoiled with a couple of fireworks shows in the past. When I was a kid, our family was in Zürich for the celebration of the city's 2000th anniversary. I remember the fireworks going on and on and on. It made an impression that has remained a yardstick against which all other fireworks are judged. And only one other display has rivaled it: a fourth of July weekend with some friends at the Lost Coast. It is a state?? park and since fires, etc are not allowed, I do not think any of use expected fireworks at all. On the beach very near where we were camped three separate groups put on shows in sequence. It was unexpected and amazing and a favorite fourth of July memory for me. After the fireworks, we walked around and, even more than usual, there were hordes of people wandering around. I think almost everyone was out in the streets. That seems to be a common occurrence here anyway, with people outside at all hours of the day or night. Between that and the reality that after spending only a couple weeks here you will start running into the same people (familiarity), I have felt completely safe here. (I have been much more at risk of injury from the kitten that is still learning when to use claws and when not to and who has an insatiable drive to chew on just about everything I own, it is an ongoing battle)
May 2 Sabbath: We were invited to a party/potluck this evening and spent part of the afternoon working on a sweet and sour (vege)chicken dish to bring. It was a gathering of most of the SM's at the Delap school and had a Hawaiian theme for the food. After eating we played a game kind of like 20 questions. Three people would pick a true story from one of their pasts and based on questions to all three we had to decide who it really happened to. It was a simple idea and it was quite a bit of fun. Then Cameron and I went to the gym and while he played volleyball, I stepped into the breach once more to play with some of the littlest kids. Tonita and Lonnie were two girls that stayed until after 11 pm. Several people have said that Marshallese parents show very little affection to their children and rarely if ever play with them, which does seem to be the case from my observation. The kids just latch on to you if you show them the tiniest little bit of attention and can not get enough piggy back rides, flips, swings, etc. I got a full workout by the time we went back to the apartment. Neither of us was tired after running around, so we watched “The Rocker”, a movie with the guy who plays Dwight Schrute in the American version of “The Office” His role as a bitter former member of a superstar band gets a second chance years later was amusing, if somewhat formulaic.
Earlier in the day I was asked to be part of the church service for next weekend.
May 3 Sunday: We went to Enemanot today. There was an Australian father/son duo, Mark and Brent, along for the day. They come from Melbourne and are just on vacation after some business in Guam. I walked to the next island over at about the midpoint of the cycle to low tide. It was chest deep in a few places. As we were leaving later in the afternoon, it was low tide and you could walk all the way across on dry land. I found a few shells, but not many. Seeing all the shells I have over the past few weeks has been reminding me of my grandmother. She and my grandfather both had a love of nature and spent a lot of time collecting seeds, pine cones, rocks, sea shells, etc. They took the time to classify and otherwise identify most of them and also taught groups like Pathfinders about what they had learned. I have many good memories of her different collections and I know she would have enjoyed seeing many of the shells in their native state. After returning and getting some food, I stayed in the shade for a good portion of the afternoon. I know I got burned pretty good on Friday. There was a group of guys near where we were congregated for eating and they wanted to join Cameron and I as we tossed a Frisbee around. Only one of the 14 of them could throw a Frisbee with any skill, this may have been due to their state of inebriation, but I suspect they would not have been much improved when sober.
April 30 Thursday: Well the fourth graders did not do so well in the Marshallese spelling bee. The SDA kids were actually the first school out. The language is basically supposed to be phonetic, but even knowing that, I would have gotten nowhere. They use more letters than the Hawaiian alphabet, but fewer than standard English. It was extremely difficult for me just listening to even catch what some of the words were. While that was going on, I had a plate with some local fish (very good, with a buttery flavor), rice, another dish made with pumpkin (how they make it is a mystery, because I can't think of a comparison, but it was definitely pumpkin), and a desert made of coconut and date. Sorry I did not get a picture. I also had a frozen container of Bob juice. Bob is the local name for the pandanas fruit, which is quite similar to pineapple both in appearance and taste. I know why we do not have them on the mainland though: they are the size four or five pineapples put together, but are much closer to an artichoke in actual edible material. Not very efficient. So Bob juice is the pulp and juice that is crushed out of a pandanas.
In the evening John, Kari, Carli, Cameron, Frederic, Junior and I went to Rita to spend time with the other kids (and we picked up a couple on the drive over. We sang songs for a while, then I told a story (with Toshiro's mom translating) for the 20+ kids that were there. We did not stay too long this time because Toshiro's family had a few things to do. With the extra time we ended up watching Anchorman. I had not seen it before and now I am caught up on a few more pop culture references like “I love lamp”.
So now today (Thursday) has been reasonably busy. I had breakfast at Diabetes, then went into several shops, buying a Tshirt and talking with a man named David who is from India and has lived in Majuro for four years. He told me there is only a small contingent of 5 people from India living here. He stressed how important it would be for us (Gabe and I) to spend some time in Agra (where the Taj is), Goa (which he called paradise), and recommended a couple other points about his homeland. He said when I first walked into the store that he thought I was Indian. I spent three hours online at MIR, which was packed at lunchtime. Then bought new slippers, since my $2 pair is already almost worn through. Not sure what I expected for $2, I probably got my money's worth. I tried a Famous House Papaya Juice drink, made with papaya juice and milk, which was good but overly sweet. I stopped at the bank since tomorrow is a national holiday and picked up some cash for the next couple weeks. When I got back to the school they had just let out classes for the day and the debate team from the high school was already gone. I know where they are holding the debates and I think I'll take the half hour walk down there to see what happens.
Just as I was heading out the door to do what I said in the last sentence I got a text from Cameron. They were on their way to the school and then out to the debates. So I just waited and got a ride with everyone else. The debates were being held at the capital building. Three were held yesterday and three would be held this afternoon. The SDA school was up first against GRE. Not sure where they are from. The debate topic was whether the RMI government should favor Marshallese for jobs or more qualified persons from other countries and was conducted in Marshallese. It is hard to say how it went, but the audience roared with laughter at points made by both sides, so it was at least a funny debate. (later in the evening we found out that SDA lost 30 points to 26.5 points). Midway through the second debate we left and took everyone back to the school.
It is easy to tell that Constitution Day is a big deal here. All during the past week there have been crews planting flowers in the road medians, Marshallese (and for some reason, Taiwanese) flags have appeared all over the place and things have been spruced up in general. Several times today processions of police cars have driven by sirens blaring as they escort various dignitaries around the island. Just after the sun set we followed a large crowd out to one of the nearby fields and the men were doing tug of war, island against island. We watched Majuro beat Arno and then heard that down the road a bit a Volleyball game between girls from Arno and a team from Honolulu was going on, so we headed that direction. There was also a basketball game going on between two other islands. I watched the end of the basketball game and then joined Cameron in watching the final game of the volleyball match. Arno won. Then there was an intermission and an Arno men's team was going to play a team from the island of Emon. This ended up being a tremendous match, with Arno having a couple better servers and a slightly stronger net presence. The games were 25-21, 24-26, and 16-14.
In the evening John, Kari, Carli, Cameron, Frederic, Junior and I went to Rita to spend time with the other kids (and we picked up a couple on the drive over. We sang songs for a while, then I told a story (with Toshiro's mom translating) for the 20+ kids that were there. We did not stay too long this time because Toshiro's family had a few things to do. With the extra time we ended up watching Anchorman. I had not seen it before and now I am caught up on a few more pop culture references like “I love lamp”.
So now today (Thursday) has been reasonably busy. I had breakfast at Diabetes, then went into several shops, buying a Tshirt and talking with a man named David who is from India and has lived in Majuro for four years. He told me there is only a small contingent of 5 people from India living here. He stressed how important it would be for us (Gabe and I) to spend some time in Agra (where the Taj is), Goa (which he called paradise), and recommended a couple other points about his homeland. He said when I first walked into the store that he thought I was Indian. I spent three hours online at MIR, which was packed at lunchtime. Then bought new slippers, since my $2 pair is already almost worn through. Not sure what I expected for $2, I probably got my money's worth. I tried a Famous House Papaya Juice drink, made with papaya juice and milk, which was good but overly sweet. I stopped at the bank since tomorrow is a national holiday and picked up some cash for the next couple weeks. When I got back to the school they had just let out classes for the day and the debate team from the high school was already gone. I know where they are holding the debates and I think I'll take the half hour walk down there to see what happens.
Just as I was heading out the door to do what I said in the last sentence I got a text from Cameron. They were on their way to the school and then out to the debates. So I just waited and got a ride with everyone else. The debates were being held at the capital building. Three were held yesterday and three would be held this afternoon. The SDA school was up first against GRE. Not sure where they are from. The debate topic was whether the RMI government should favor Marshallese for jobs or more qualified persons from other countries and was conducted in Marshallese. It is hard to say how it went, but the audience roared with laughter at points made by both sides, so it was at least a funny debate. (later in the evening we found out that SDA lost 30 points to 26.5 points). Midway through the second debate we left and took everyone back to the school.
It is easy to tell that Constitution Day is a big deal here. All during the past week there have been crews planting flowers in the road medians, Marshallese (and for some reason, Taiwanese) flags have appeared all over the place and things have been spruced up in general. Several times today processions of police cars have driven by sirens blaring as they escort various dignitaries around the island. Just after the sun set we followed a large crowd out to one of the nearby fields and the men were doing tug of war, island against island. We watched Majuro beat Arno and then heard that down the road a bit a Volleyball game between girls from Arno and a team from Honolulu was going on, so we headed that direction. There was also a basketball game going on between two other islands. I watched the end of the basketball game and then joined Cameron in watching the final game of the volleyball match. Arno won. Then there was an intermission and an Arno men's team was going to play a team from the island of Emon. This ended up being a tremendous match, with Arno having a couple better servers and a slightly stronger net presence. The games were 25-21, 24-26, and 16-14.
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