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