A good cause..

I want to encourage everyone who followed my life in the Marshall Islands to take a minute to sign this petition against a Maryland-based company that has created a haunted house based on the horrific nuclear testing that the United States did in the Marshall Islands.  This is a real life tragedy that affected countless Marshallese people directly....including the parents and grandparents of many of my close friends and students.  Please take a look & sign the petition!

Sign the petition here!!!

Sharks, Octopus & Rays...Oh my!

The past few months have flown by & I can’t believe my time here in the Marshall Islands is almost up.  I’m unsure how to really summarize all that’s happened since my last post.  The 3^rd quarter came to a close, and 4^th quarter has come & gone so quickly—I have 2 more days of classes and then it’s time for our final exams.  Teaching has gotten easier over the course of the year, especially after Mid-Service.  At that time, I was warned that the second half of the year would go by much faster than the first.  So true.  I’ve gotten to know my students on a more personal and individual level which has been the biggest highlight of this year.  At first everyone was shy, but now it’s hard to get them to quiet down and act calm for the course of a class period.  Their individual personalities are hilarious, and they are so much fun to watch and be around. 

April was a month full of excitement.  I celebrated Easter on the base with some friends.  On Easter Sunday I went on a boat trip & saw dolphins!!!  Being able to call the US is an addition perk that the base has to offer-- hearing my mom’s, sister’s, and grandma’s voices really goes a long way, especially on holidays when I’m missing home.  J  Back on Gugeegue, I tried spearfishing for the first time.  This usually isn’t something that women do here, but one of the watchmen from the school was nice enough to take me.  It was really fun; I saw squid, beautiful reef fish, a ray, an octopus and even a stonefish—the most poisonous fish in the world.

As far as school goes, April had of a lot of action.  The greatest day of all was probably my birthday. My students were amazing and really made my day perfect.  Some made cakes to share with the class, others brought soda and snacks, and some even got me gifts.  It is tradition to give speeches on occasions like birthdays, so needless to say, I cried in at least one class!  I was so thankful for their kind words and gestures, especially being so far away from friends & family back home, that it just really made my day.  They have been the biggest constant in my life here so far, so it’s definitely nice to feel like I have a ‘family’ here—a huge family of my students.  (I have to say I love them so much more on days that we have parties, rather than when I’m trying to force them to listen & behave J--regardless, this day made up for it all).  Besides my birthday, there were 5 other staff members that had birthdays, including the Principal so it was a busy month!  We also had the prom for the Junior & Senior classes a few weeks ago.  This was a night of dancing, singing, and letting loose.  Like any prom, the students pulled some shenanigans.  As a teacher, sometimes I feel more like a police officer or drill sergeant.  Some occasions are definitely more enjoyable than others…  Luckily, we were also able to teach the students Sex Ed.  We separated boys & girls, and I think it was successful.  The most interesting thing was teaching the 9^th grade girls, who were shocked more than anything at some of the facts we told them!  Additionally, I analyzed the data we had collected from the Sex Ed pretests, and some of the data was definitely startling more than anything… My last update is that the yearbook is finished & is on its way from Palau!  This was my big project for the school year, so I’m really excited to finally see the finished piece.  For awhile there, I was very nervous things might not work out & the students might not get their yearbooks before school ended, but it looks like I’ll get my wish!!!  All the hard work will most definitely be worth it when I see how happy the Seniors are with a book full of memories of their year.

I am scuba certified!!!  This has probably been the biggest highlight this year outside of teaching.  I’ve dove three different islands so far, including the island I live on.  Our first dive was 30 feet; I saw some new fish & coral.  The second dive was 60 feet.  It was unbelievable.  We swam and swam and finally came to a place where we couldn’t see ahead of us—there was just a huge drop.  All ahead was a steep slope downward into the darkness of the ocean.  While there wasn’t much to see as far as aquatic life, but I feel more comfortable the more & more I practice.  My third dive was 100 feet.  We dove a Japanese shipwreck off the beach of the neighboring island.  Amazing how much history lies below sea level!  Today I was lucky enough to go on a boat trip across the lagoon to dive the Prinz Eugen, a German ship from WWII that endured the nuclear testing at Bikini and was sunk in the Kwajalein lagoon about 60 years ago.  The screws and rudder stick out of the water & are visible from my side of the lagoon.  It was a beautiful day, and to top it off I finally saw a shark!!  Actually I saw 4 or 5 sharks.  Luckily, they were calm & curious, so I was calm too just watching their slow, graceful movements.

This place is full of so many amazing things.  I am looking forward to the free time I will have after this coming week, just so I can soak up & appreciate it all.  Graduation is next Monday, but before that I’m planning a sleepover on Gugeegue with all of my 10^th grade girls (their idea J) and a picnic with the entire 10^th grade.  I’m excited to spend more time with my students before I leave!

Weekend on the base

Swimming on Gugeegue

Kaiolani & Kapiolani with me at my birthday party

My students celebrating my birthday!

Day 1 of  Scuba

SCUBA

My field director's site visit!

The day I rescued 5 puppies from my 4 year-old neighbor :)

KAVA :)

KAHS receives a new bus!

Spearfishing- Octopus

Gugeegue Beach

Adriel & I

Seeing things in a whole new light...

As I’ve previously written, it’s hard to get “close” to Marshallese.  The culture is very hands-off and I still have yet to feel like anyone here really knows me…or anything personal about me at least.  It’s a crazy feeling to feel, especially being thousands of miles away from all my friends & family that I am so entirely close to.  They know me, inside and out, so it’s never been something I had to really wonder about and analyze.  Anyway, it hasn’t happened here.  Not even close.  This all seemed to change when I started coaching the KAHS girls volleyball team and then playing on the Gugeegue women’s team.  For some reason, volleyball seemed to open the doors for all the people in my community and all the students at my school to seemingly get to know more about me.  Since becoming more involved in both my school and community, I have made new friends and met new people I often saw around the island & never knew.  For once, I felt like myself—not covered up by the Marshallese disguise or quieted by the language barrier. 

My high school girls went on to win the championship among all the high schools, and the team I played on won the championship among all the other island groups & communities.  It was an awesome feeling!  I was on display more than ever and for the first time, I didn’t even mind because the attention I was getting wasn’t necessarily because I’m a ribelle and stand out everywhere I go but more so because I was making an effort to be a part of their team and the tournament they all anticipate so much.  Since, my students & the Gugeegue children still talk about it.  I’ve been told I ‘jump like a man’ (women here play volleyball barefoot & don’t really jump at all) and there’s been jokes about how Gugeegue cheated by having the ribelle on their team.  Oh dear….

A few of the KAHS girls after their win



Gugeegue Women's Team



Parading around Ebeye, celebrating Gugeegue's win

What children do for fun....

Children here are amazingly creative.  I've never seen such young people be so so resourceful.  Who needs to buy toys, really?!

1)  boogie board/surf on plywood and/or tires. 

2)  pull each other sliding around on glass.

3)  electric tape tied to a soda can/fling it around (homemade skip-it)

4)  play with (aka torture) chickens, puppies & animals of all sorts

5)  marbles!  Draw a square in the dirt, roll your marble in & you get whichever marbles it hits out of the square.

6)  belly flopping into the puddles….in Ebeye of all places.  Yes, it may be waste water, but it’s better than any water park you could imagine.  And it doesn’t smell like rotten chlorine.

7)  rock fight.  Sure, you could get hurt, but it’s still fun.  Not so fun for innocent bystanders (I have yet to be hit), but whatever.

8)  wiffle ball.  This includes no such thing as actually running around the bases; but chasing each other around the bases?  Yes.

9)  volleyball.  This is definitely a hybrid sport of completely unconventional hits & moves, but it works.  They are scrappy & can hit the ball over the net.  Whether it’s out of bounds or not is irrelevant: there are no lines.

10)  dodgeball.  Different than any game of dodgeball I’ve played, but similar enough for even me to find it fun & entertaining.

11) climbing trees.  They have climbing abilities like monkeys- legitimately.

12) swimming.  Bring a few kids to the lagoon and you'll attract a bunch of other children on island.  Forget about a relaxing snorkel....

13) jumping off the dock.  Again, this will attract majority of the kids on island...if they're not already there.

14) throwing rocks at dogs.  I've only done it once at a mean, barking dog.  Marshallese sometimes just do it for fun.

15) jumping around in the 'dump'.  One man's trash is another man's treasure:  True that.

16) getting photographed.  anywhere & everything.  by anyone.  As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s a rare occasion to get a picture where each kid is NOT throwing up a random gang sign.

17) Even better than getting their picture taken is taking their OWN pictures!

18) computer games.  This is even entertaining for me--all the giggles & yelling.  Hilarious.