Last weekend was one of the most bizarre and wonderful of my life. It was not at all a typical Marshall Islands weekend, but a welcome relief. Friday night I came into town with plans to stay in town from one night to chit-chat, buy food, and use the Internet. However, the comic-what-not had a different idea. Courtney and I went to a surprise birthday party for a woman who is working on a music preservation project here in the Marshall Islands. No one we know well, so we didn’t plan to stay long. How wrong I was. We ended having a wonderful time singing karaoke (the big thing to do here on a weekend night. I, of course, only listened. We all know I sound like a dying cat.), playing pool, and laughing. While carrying on we met Anthony. Anthony is on vacation from Australia surfing with his friend Paul here in the Marshall Islands. Some how after living here for 7 months this was the first I heard about surfing in the Marshall Islands. Apparently, as the weekend revealed, this is the new big place. Shh. Don’t tell.

Anthony invited Courtney and I to join his the following day the Australian Navy compound for Australia Day. I have always walked past “Wallbee Downs” but never before seen the inside. Going would mean that I would miss the last bus to Ajeltake until Monday and would have to hitchhike home, but I felt this chance to celebrate a whole new holiday and see the inside of W.D. was worth the trouble.

Boy was I right. In the middle of Majuro is a little piece of Aussie heaven. Whenever I speak of wanting to live in a commune this is what I am picturing. (Except the houses were on the ground not in trees) Three wonderful families live together with a community play area and a beautiful back yard entertaining area. The company was amazing. So many interesting people from town and the yachting community with endless stories of amazing adventures!
While at the party a whisper of excitement started to circulate among my armature surfing friends. Martin Daly had arrived. Now, I am new to the surfing world, but apparently this was something to the effect of Elvis arriving. Martin Daly, who I have yet to Google, is apparently the guru of untouched surfing spots throughout the world. Apparently he made Indonesia what it is today in the surfing world. Martin had arrived with his very large boat in which for $12,500 per day you can charter to take you to amazing dive and surfing locations. He has been here finding 18 new world-class waves. (none of which he was willing to divulge the location of) He brought to the party his crew who, I will not lie, consisted of five attractive surfers. Anyway they invited Courtney, Robyee, and I to join them back on the boat. How could we say no?! This boat was way more than I expected. It had beautiful deck, an amazing dining area, and a helicopter pad with amazing views of the stars. So fun! This again was another late night, but there was no time for sleep! In the morning we were off to Arno!Arno is the nearest atoll of Majuro. At its closest point it is about 10 miles away. Our plan was to read and enjoy the sun while the men did their wave thing. Now, I found out about 45 minutes into the boat ride that I get very seasick. I spent most of the day getting sick or trying to avoid getting sick by laying as still as possible. Even with the consistant vomiting it was amazing to see the waves, watch the surfing, and every once and a while watch a school of dolphins swim by!

This week has been very low key. My handycraft class is over, so I am not as busy as I was. I spend my days working, reading in my hamock, and playing vollyball and baseball. Not too much to complain about. I hate to end on a sad note but Buda, one of my dogs is missing. The conclusion the Bener and have come to is that she was stolen and eaten. Let's all take a minute to wish Buda the best in the doggy after life.K

How cute is this kid. He is wearing my glasses and acting like a mini-Katie.

This past week has been particularly challenging. That weird rash and cold quickly transformed into a weird “unknown” rash and a high fever. Thursday night I was brought back into the downtown area by the request of WT. I spent the night at my field director’s house and returned in the morning to the doctor’s office. The doctor still believes, as do I, that the rash and temperature are unrelated. He did a blood test that showed that I had a viral infection that was causing the fever. Like all viruses I just had to wait it out. I stayed in town Friday night as well and returned to Ajeltake Saturday afternoon to rest. Sunday morning I woke up to find that my temperature had switched places with horrible stomach pains that come and go. I called the doctor Monday to see if these pains could be a common side effect of the anti-allergen medicine I am taking for the rash. He said no, but I am unwilling to become the hypochondriac that this blog makes me sound like I am. I am going to give my stomach time to heal. I have been buying my water and not filtering to try and cure my stomach woes. I am afraid that after 6 months my filter may not be effective?? (I hate doing this because the one-gallon jugs that the water is sold in is not recyclable. I do however donate them to the “gas station” across the street so they can be reused.)
Other than my illnesses, I have not completely come out of my funk that has trapped me for the last two months. It is not really a homesickness as it is a… well funk. I have been doing a lot of reading (my current reading has me convinced that I need to study meditation and yoga), journaling (Maggie are you proud?), and general reflecting. It is my sincere hope that I quickly remove myself from the funk and start living, learning from, and just generally enjoying my last four months here.

I am currently blaming Lost. I have for almost two years recognized my addiction to television and purged my life of its hypnotic powers. However about two months ago (coincidence?) I was given Lost Seasons 1 and 2. Since that time I have been spending at least an hour a day (ya, right. Closer to two hours) inside watching T.V. I love TV because it allows me to zone out, forget my worries, and sit in the one air-conditioned room of my house. However, when I journal about this (again making Maggie proud) TV does nothing but make me sad, lazy, and remove me for the community which is all based outdoors. So, the TV is off. I am reading, enjoying my hammock, playing with the kids outside, and participating in life. Not ‘zoning out’ of it.

K

Hello friends. Today is January 17, 2008. I am not at school today because I am waiting to see the doctor. I woke up a couple days ago to find a weird, very ugly rash on each of my elbows. I planned to come into town yesterday and go to the doctor as well as my jewelry class, but was just feeling to crummy to deal with the bus ride that some days takes hours. (For those of you who don’t know I am taking a traditional Marshallese jewelry class on Tuesday and Wednesdays this month. I love it!)

Anyways the doctor is closed for lunch so I am at the Tide Tables eating a cheeseburger and passing the time. Other than a cold and the weird rash I am doing well. The time is passing quickly again. I am trying to stop focusing on going home to all my creature comforts and really live each day to the fullest. It is hard to do.

This weekend I had my first race with the yacht club. It was wonderful to spend time out on the water. For being on an island under four square miles, I spend a surprisingly little time on and in the water.

Okay, I feel horrible and am going to cut this short. I am going to TRY to attach a couple pictures. We’ll see how it goes.

Miss you all,
K

Hey there friends

A quick note. It is about one million degrees in the computer room today. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am adjusting well to being back here in Majuro. School has started up again and provided me with purpose. I am heading out today for a sailing race around the lagoon. The boat that I am crewing is owned by a very interesting couple that I am sure will teach me a lot about sailing and tell great stories of their adventures. After sailing I am going to some how make it back out to Ajeltake and start another busy week of school and handy craft classes. I miss and love you all. K

As I write at the beginning of every blog, this one too is very overdue. So much has happened since my last sleep deprived blog. I arrived in Chicago on the 14th of December. Maggie, Leah, and Sarah met me in the Hilton bar for a Jack and Coke. (The same way they sent me off.) I spent the first weekend of my visit in Chicago celebrating Libby’s birthday and reconnecting with friends. As always we had a wonderful time and constantly wondered if there was another group of friends in the world that have remained so close for so long and still had so much fun.

After Chicago I went to Champaign to visit my family and friends there. It was wonderful to see everyone, drink water right from the sink, and explore the grocery and bookstore. Choice is something that I had taken for granted before this experience.

On Christmas morning Maggie and I headed back the Marshall Islands. I am so thankful that she came with me. I not only loved showing her my life here, but it also made leaving home so much easier.

Now that Maggie is gone I am struggling a bit. I knew this would happen. The wonderful part of going home and having her here was that I could reconnect with my friends and family. The bad part was that now I have to re-disconnect. I have to readjusted to the extreme isolation that I had become accustom to, but this time with out the excitement of a new experience.

I am committed to being the best teacher that I can be to these incredibly deserving children in my last five months. I am determined to learn as much as I can from the Marshallese culture that has already taught me so much. However, I hope I can stop counting the days until I go home while I do all this.

On a positive I am getting closer to having Internet back in my home. By closer I mean that I may be working on it for three more months, but I think before I leave I may get to send one email from my house.

I hate to end on a bad note, but I do have devastating news to share. A Hummer has reached the Marshall Islands. How? I have no idea. It is not even one of the small “fuel efficient” models it is a full-fledged Arnold “the Governator” Hummer. With gas steadily climbing into the mid $5 range it is not even a status symbol, it is just a mark of stupidity.

I will add more pictures, but as always the Internet is being silly.