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

And breathe.

I took a four-day weekend in order to go visit Greg on Arno. Arno is the next closest atoll to me. Greg lives in Inea, Arno about 20 miles from Arno, Arno then ‘main’ village. To get to him I had to take an hour and a half boat ride and then catch a truck for the very bumpy slow ride to Greg’s village.

I had left for the boat at 8 am but did not arrive to Greg’s house until nearly 6 pm. When I arrived Greg was shocked. He had given up on me coming hours before. That night was very low key. We took a walk, played with the kids, ate with his grandparents, and then went to Youth Group singing practice. At practice we made a young boy cry. I guess the sight of two white people was just too overwhelming to handle. The mother had to get up and move where the baby could not see us. ☺

Saturday we slept in and had a slow relaxing morning. (His grandma made us pancakes!) When we finally got moving we went down to the ocean for some snorkeling. The snorkeling there was the best that I have ever seen. The coral was so colorful and created deep caverns where fish of all sizes and colors swam around. At times there would be so many small colorful fish (hundreds at least) that I felt like I was swimming though confetti. Much to my disappointment, I didn’t see a shark! We finished the day by talking and walking around his village.

Sunday we woke up and put on our Sunday best for church. Because everyone lives on ‘island time’ the chuch bell rang at 9 am just to say ‘We are still planning on having church today. Wake up.’ The bell rings again at about 10. “Make sure everyone is up. Eat. Shower. Get Ready. Again, at 11 the bell rings 3 times. ‘REALLY, you need to get ready hurry.’ Finally, at around 11:30 church gets under way. Some how Greg and I still managed to be late. Church was wonderful. I could not understand much of what they were saying but I still loved every second. Greg, sadly, did not get up to sing. After church I took my hammock to the lagoon side and found a breezy spot to read a book. I never got to read because as soon as I laid down 5 girls ran over and jumped in too.

After lunch Greg and I walked to the end of the island. We left a little before 3 and did not return until 7. When we got home my feet were blistered and cut from such a long walk in my sandals, but the view was worth it. It was so interesting to think about how few people have ever stood on the end of this island. Sometimes it dawns on my how I am truly in the middle of nowhere. After our walk we were exhausted and quickly went to sleep.

Monday I woke up and began the daylong journey home.

Today is Tuesday and it is Education Week. This is wonderful for me because we are having guest speakers all day long. I have been using the time to catch up on my grading and get ready for finals next week. I can’t believe that the 3rd quarter is almost over.

I never wrote the blog that I promised to last week. A few words on pink eye and environmental week. Finally it is over, but for most of February attendance at schools through out Majuro was nearly cut in half. Pink eye at one time or another effected 80% of the island. It got so bad that the hospital ran out of medicine. I was able to escape pink eye free. Also, I held Environment Week for my 6th and 8th grade. We talked about littering and the difference between bio and non-biodegradable trash. Then we had two speakers from the EPA come into to discuss littering in both English and Marshallese. Finally we took a trip to the dump. I have seen the students litter since. It is so ingrained in them to just through trash on the ground. A horrible habit that hopefully I took a tiny step to break.

And finally my host family finally moved in! I have a family and am so excited. I will let you know more about them and my new life later.

Greg's House

Inside of Greg's House

Greg "hanging tough" with his students.

Sitting in my hammock in my Sunday best with some Inea girls.

My students looking at the huge piles of plastic and glass bottles on our field trip to the Majuro Dump.