Again... An Overdue Post

First, for all of you who check my blog I apologize for not updating it with the care and frequency that I should. Technology here sometimes seems to be more trouble than it is worth. But, it is important to me to stay connected to everyone at home. I have signed up for Internet at my house, but as you may have come to understand through the emails I will be lucky if it is working in 3 months.

Next, I wanted to share the wonderful time that I had with my mom with all of you. She arrived on October 27th. As you read in the blog, I was too excited to function in the days leading up to her arrival. My friends Robyee, Dan, and Darren joined me as the official “Majuro Welcome Team.” I forced everyone to arrive at the airport excessively early. (I have been known to miss flights due underestimating what time you need to arrive.) Because we arrived so early we were able to explore a part of Majuro we had not yet seen… the airport bar.

After Mom arrived we headed back to my house for a little brunch before setting out on an afternoon Jambo. (Jambo: To walk or drive with out destination.) We had a wonderful afternoon visiting Laura and going to a birthday party for the WT Director’s “daughter.” It was nice for my mom to meet everyone that is in my life in one quick swoop.

During the week my mom lived my Marshallese life with me. She went to school and met the students, dealt with the constant power outages like a pro, and joined in on an afternoon baseball game. At school the students graciously demonstrated one of my favorite parts of living here in the Marshall Islands: Marshallese Manit (culture). The students sang songs, brought gifts, gave speeches, and made my mother feel loved and appreciated. All of this without any request from me. It was amazing for me to see my mother with the students and equally amazing to see the students with her. I will never forget those days.
I took the Friday and Monday before my mom left off of school. Friday we took the bus into town and checked into the RRE Hotel. We spent the day “Jamboing” on foot looking at Marshallese handicrafts and I showed her all of the locations that I speak of so often on the phone and in my blog. Friday night we had all of the WT volunteers that are on island over to the bungalow for happy hour. (A Simpson Tradition) Needless to say we had a wonderful time. Robyee stepped on a sea erchant and… well… there is only one thing to do to help with the pain… poor ammonia on the sting. We didn’t have any ammonia, so Robyee got in the shower and person after person lined up to pee on her foot. Then we all got cleaned up and headed out to the Marshall Islands Club for a little shuffleboard.

The next morning we had a little bit of a rocky start. But, we rallied and met up with Courtney and Tim at Shoreline Dock. We took a 45-minute boat ride out to Ennco Island. Ennco Island is in the Majuro atoll and, other than the caretakers, completely uninhabited. We spent Saturday playing Rummy, eating, and looking for shells. Sunday we woke up to constant heavy rain. I was very impressed with Mom’s eagerness to go out and explore despite the yucky weather. We walked all the way around the island looking for shells and trying to avoid phenomena.

It was a wonderful week. The past week has been a little hard. Knowing that I will not see my family until June (maybe May) is hard. I am still happy to be here. Once I can get out of bed and get to school I am reminded why I am here. I love teaching and am not ready to leave yet.

Now, my request. Many of you have sent me messages telling me to let you know if I need anything. I need something. I am out of books to read. I would like who ever is interested to send me their favorite book. Not only will it provide me with a very diverse reading selection, I also think it would make me feel close to everyone. Maggie has sent me a book directly through Amazon and reportedly shipping was not outrageous. (Shipping it from home with a note written in the cover would be pretty wonderful too.) The book does not need to be a surprise if you would like to check with me to see if I have read it that would be okay. My address is:

Katie Smith
c/o WorldTeach
PO Box 627
Majuro, MH 96960
RMI

I have more pictures to go with this blog, but they are not working. I will try and add them this weekend. Katie