Marshall Islands Part Two

Yokwe aolep! I have been back in the Marshall Islands for about 11 days now and am beginning to adjust back to life on this very small island in the middle of the Pacific.

After leaving Illinois June 3rd, I made a quick stop in Hawaii to see David, his wife Elsie and their beautiful daughter Mackenzie. (I really hope I correctly spelled her name) In my little under 36 hours in Hawaii, I was able to see the Army base that David and his family now call home, visit a beautiful beach and go on a snorkeling adventure with David, and most importantly have great conversation over good food with friends.

If only Oliver were a little older.

I left early in the morning on June 4th and after a 5-hour plane ride found myself magically transported to the future (June 5th) thanks to the International Dateline. Arriving back in the Majuro was such a weird feeling. I was instantly overwhelmed with memories of the first time I landed on this small atoll as a part of WorldTeach and how much that experience changed me.

For my six weeks here in Majuro, Darren, a fellow WorldTeach alum, has kindly allowed me to stay with him. If you remember for my last stay in the Marshall Islands, Majuro is about 30 miles long. The “town” is miles one – five. The bridge marks the end of the town. (Fun Fact: This bridge is the highest point in all of the RMI a soaring 12 meters) Darren’s house is right after the bridge at mile six. (All of these distances are estimates) Living here feels like big city living compared to my year in Ajeltake! (Mile 17) I am able to take a taxi into town (no more hitch hiking), have cable television, hot water, and air conditioning! Oh, and get this… I can drink the water right out of the faucet. Fancy!

Darren's Living Room / Kitchn

View out of the front door look left (Towards the lagoon)

View out the front door looking right. (Towards the ocean)

Even with all of these convinces the first few days back in Majuro were pretty hard. I was homesick. While everyday still has its lonely moments, I am doing better now that I have started working and discovered the joy of Skype (My Skype name is kathrynsmit. I am typically connected to the Internet here from 7-10 Illinois time and able to take calls)

Another joy that has made my time here easier, are my Ajeltake students. Walking down the street of the main town area I have run in to a surprising number of students. Last Wednesday night, Monkono, one of my favorite students and close friends from Ajeltake, and I went to dinner at the Tide Table. She brought a friend and the three of us had a good time eating pizza, drinking soda, chatting and laughing at the silly pictures we took on the I photo application on my laptop. Monkono is now entering the 11th grade. It was amazing to see what a wonderful young woman she has turned into since I taught her in the 8th grade. We plan to have dinner a few more times while I am here.

For the six weeks that I am in the Marshall Islands, I will be teaching at the College of the Marshall Islands. The College of the Marshall Islands is a regionally accredited community college offering high school equivalency, community extension, student development, certificate, and associate degree programs in liberal arts, business and computer studies, elementary education, and nursing. I am teaching Introduction to Education and Foundations of Special Education. The idea that I have the opportunity to teach teachers and impact generations of students is both amazing and overwhelming.

I will try to post another update next week this time. Hope everyone on the other side of the ocean is doing well. I can't wait to see you'll in just a little over a month. :) Katie

Is this my last post? Does anyone still read this?

I can't believe that next week I will be back in Illinois! I am wrapping projects and paperwork up hear and getting ready to leave next Wednesday. I fly out of here at 8pm Wednesday night and arrive in HI at 2:30 in the morning Wednesday. (Time travel thanks to the IDL) I then have a 20 hour layover to see HI and drink bloody marys. Then off to LA, Chicago, then Champaign. I arrive in Champaign at 6pm Thursday!

This past weekend I went to Eneco on last time and thought that I would include post a few pictures. Robyee, Courtney, and I had a shell carved in the shape of their yacht logo made for Ted and Karen as a thank you for being our island parents. Forest (barely viable in the back of the picture) is the artist and also a wonderful friend here on island.

Karen brought along a bouy for us to paint as apart of the coral reef protection project. I was the "coral master" in charge of painting all coral. I think I have found my life's calling!

I will see you soon! - K

Picture Update

My library remodel is doing well. I am in a hurry to catch a bus, so that I can get home and start making play dough for 30 1st graders. I think just having the pictures shows shat a great job the kids and I are doing. I am really impressed with how the whole school is willing to help.

Ryan, Enne, and Benjimon think that we moved all the books out to make a "boyshelf" not paint a bookshelf. They are too cute!

Edward, Wena, and Junior help me with some cleaning and heavy lifting!

We painted the wall...

and then Isako and I painted the bookshelves. Now we just need books!

See you all in about a week! Katie

Less than one month until I am home. I am feeling a crazy mix of feeling, but most of them are being overridden by the idea of eating a salad. A huge salad bar. Eggs. Ranch Dressing. Broccoli Salad. Peppers. Carrots. Wow -- I am going to pass out. I have not been up to much. Teaching, as always, takes up most of my days. But, I did take a break this past weekend to set up and attend a fake wedding. Ali and Steve are really getting married but in 2 months in Boston. Before they left to go home (Ali was here working for the NGOs and Steve doing an internship for grad school at Brandeis) we had an island wedding so we could all share in their special day.

Ali and Steve were married by Dan. He worked really hard on putting togeather a wonderful ceremony complete with an inspirational reading from The Alchemist. Ben sang songs between each reading and part of the wedding. The boys did a great job. A group photo. There were many other people in attendance. This was just the group that set up and were there when the picture was taken.

As you can see I did not catch the bouquet. Shocking! Ray did but in his triumph dance shook the flowers to pieces!
As the year winds up I am getting very homesick. I decided that I needed a project, so I am going to "remodel" the library with the help of my 6th grade class. We are going to clean, organize, and paint. Then I am going to teach each class how to keep the library clean. We will see how it goes! (I know Liz's mom reads this. Tam is giving me part of your grant money for supplies. I will send you pictures of the process. Thank you so much for all you do for the program. We all are very appreciative. )

See everyone soon!

Easter Weekend

For Easter weekend Tim and I traveled back to Arno to visit Greg. We left Friday morning on the boat and arrived in Inea, Arno a little after noon. Marshallese custom is very strict when it comes to observing the “no work rule” on holy days. Because Friday was Good Friday our activity options were very limited. We were not able to go swimming, fishing, or anything else that might seem to “work-ish.” I choose to set up my hammock and spent the day reading and sleeping under the shade of a palm tree near the Arno lagoon. Shucks!

Around 5 the bells began to ring. I showered, put on my mumu, and joined the boys for church. Church only lasted about an hour, but following church Greg also had to attend choir practice. Tim and I headed back to Greg’s house to wait for him to finish, but within 30 minutes were both sound asleep.

Tim is tired of giving "goo goos" (piggy back rides) to Rino and takes his turn!

Saturday morning we work up and headed out on a walk down to the next village. We had heard that there was a sunken WWII plane in the lagoon just off the beach. As we walked we stopped and talked with many people. I ran into some kids and somehow ended up doing an impromptu drawing lesson in the sand. We also looked at maps of the Arno Atoll with the Iroj (king) of the atoll, and drank coconuts with one of Greg’s fellow teachers.

Drawing in the sand.

Easter morning we headed to church about 10:30. The service only lasted about 2 hours, but was then followed by HOURS of programs. All of the different villages on Arno were represented and did their beat. (dance) We took a break around three for a big Easter meal. The meal was hard boiled eggs, donuts, rice, beef soup (i think), and turtle. Now, I know that turtles are not only endangered but also my dad and Lisa's pet of choice, but... well... it tastes a little like beef jerky. When in Rome...

Easter Sevice

Around 8 at night we finished with church and treated the kids to the American tradition of roasting marshmallows over the fire! It was a blast. Once the kids got all doped up on sugar we went back to Greg's for a short nights sleep before the truck to take us back to the dock arrived at 4am. Luckly, they arrived at 4am Marshallese time! (6am)

Doped up on sugar outside Greg's house!

Nothing exciting coming up in the next few weeks. I am going to work on organizing my game of capture the flag that I have been wanting to do all year.

Update on Life

The last time I wrote I had just returned from Arno. That seems so long ago! Nothing too exciting has been going here. We have wrapped up the 3rd quarter of school and am now in the second week of 4th quarter. It seems impossible that the year has gone so fast. I am feeling intense amount of pressure to make every day as education packed as possible. This feeling combined with the 4th quarter wiggles that my students are suffering is creating a little tension in the classroom. I am trying to relax and make the lessons as engaging as possible. I will keep you updated.

The week I returned from Arno we had Education Week. Education Week was centered on the motto “Students First”. Elders in the community came to tell stories to the children, women in the community taught the students local handy crafts, teachers read their favorite stories, we had a field day, a walkathon, and I officiated a spelling bee. Over all I was very impressed with the week. It really got the community involved in the school and was a great experience for me and the kids. Jenny and a women from the community work on weaving plates from palm tree leaves.
Mark, Wisa, and I are glad we are done walking!

This past weekend was Robyee and Courtney’s joint birthday party. We went all out and for a moment it felt like I was not living in the Marshall Islands. I even used a blow dryer! The girls rented the same bungalow that my mom had every local ri-belle over for drinks and dancing!

Robyee learned her lesson at my mom's party. She will never dangle her toes in the Pacific again!

Sunday was the end to the sailing season. We sailed out to a small island where we had a picnic. We ate an 80-pound tuna and listened to Ben and two visiting musicians jam. It was a perfect Sunday. This upcoming weekend I have Friday off for Good Friday and the following Monday and Tuesday off for spring break. I am headed back to Arno for Friday to Monday to visit Greg with my friend Tim. I love Arno because, unlike the past weekend, I feel like I am really experiencing a cultural experience. I get to speak in Marshallese, walk on parts of the earth that very few people have ever seen, enjoy amazing snorkeling, and solitude.

Leah's Requested Post

I have had a really wonderful couple weeks, but have really been slacking on the blog post. I will post a new blog on my Monday. I promise. Good pictures too!

K