Brittany's Adventures

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

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.