Another item checked off my bucket list

In the past, not many babies would live to see their first birthday so they really celebrate a baby's first birthday here.  It is called a "Kemen".  

On this recent Tuesday, my coworker for the early intervention aspect of my time here asked me if I wanted to go to a birthday party for the hearing screening nurse's grand son.  I decided to go just to have something to do.  I did not realize til I arrived that it was a Kemen!  I was thrilled because I have wanted to experience it and now I can.  

The party was supposed to start at 7 pm, but my coworker told me to arrive around 7:30 so I did.  The taxi ride there was a completely different adventure. Anyways, so we entered the room, found a place to sit, chatted with the other people on our table.  The room was about halfway full.  We chatted, chatted, chatted... And chatted til like 8:30 when the birthday boy arrived.  He went around the room so that people could wish him a happy birthday.  There was a speech given by his mom to thank everyone for coming, a prayer by a nun and then it was time to eat.  It was a buffet full of seafood and we all know how much I love seafood.  We were asked to help serve food to the young children so we did.  The young children got rice, potato salad, chicken and spam.  I scooped rice onto their plates.  When all the children were served, we went over to the adult buffet to get our food.  I tried to get a little of everything so I could try it.   There were some food that I didn't get because it was raw fish and I did not want to risk getting sick.  

I tried some sushi (made myself eat it.. I gagged but I swallowed it! Progress!), fried shrimp, mussels, some kind of seafood salad with some kind of seafood in it, reef fish (not pictured) and yes that is a lobster.  I ate a little of everything except for the potato salad-Marshallese potato salads are yummmmmmy!

After everyone ate, the baby sat and we all came to him, throwing a dollar into a box.  Then there was music and a dance show showing Kiribati dances (the family is from Kiribati, another island country), and then we had child dance off where a girl and boy won a prize (see video below), then trivia about the birthday boy.  People who answered correctly won Kiribati sarongs and shirts.  Then cake was served and everyone was encouraged to take food home for their families. Not like they needed encouragement anyways.  People here tend to get a plate for themselves, then a few more to bring home to their families. Another example of the collectivist culture here. 

Children watching Kiribati dances

I didn't get home til close to 11, and I was exhausted the next day but it was all worth it! Now I can check it off my bucket list!

 Oh yeah, I also received a crown of flowers-my third one! 

3 months!

Highlights:

-Ate whole fish

-Tried pandanus, breadfruit and u

-Tried crab (didn't like it-wasn't a good kind apparently)

-got a crown of flowers made by my Educational Assistant for National Teacher Day (see pic above)

-Finished 8 books

-Ran my first 5k here and came in third for my age group

For my 3 months here, I thought I would write sort of like a poem about my decision to come here up until orientation, the whole thing started back in November of 2013, almost a year ago!

November 2013. 

Conference.

Presentation.

Interested.

Research.

Apply.

Dad sick.

Withdraw.

Email.

Research.

Reopen application.

Interview.

Accept.

Excited.

Scared.

Resign.

Inform.

Donations.

Books.

Toys.

Move.

Drive.

Right decision?

Farewells.

LAX.

Scared.

Unsure.

Meet volunteers.

Hawaii.

Sleep.

Painful shower.

Bye America.

Water.

Island!

Beautiful waters.

Hot!

Humid!

Shock.

Orientation.

True-biz here!

No power

Nothing like having no power for 24 hours to make you appreciate having access to electricity at all times in America.

The power went out at 9 am on Friday (it was a scheduled outage).  It was supposed to come back on at 5 pm but it didn't come on til 2 am for 2 hours then out again til around 10 am on Saturday. 

There are occasional outages here.  I have been lucky, this is only the third outage since I arrived here.  Apparently it would happen once a week last year.  

Off to appreciate having electricity!

Food

Since Abby has been asking me for a new post, I thought I would post about food.  Not much is new on the work or personal front, so I do not have much to report other than moving back into the dorm.  Fingers crossed that the pipe situation really has been taken care of for good. 

Now about the food.... There are two food stores on the island that I frequent due to their cleanliness, variety and quality of food.  They are basically smaller versions of food stores in America.  So, what we eat depend on what the store has, and it varies from shipment to shipment.  If the store is out of a specific food item, we have to wait for the next shipment to come in.  Food is shipped in from America, Australia, and Asia, depending on the item.  

Now that we all are on the same page about food supply and demand... This past weekend and the weekend before that, BOTH food stores were out of fresh fruits and vegetables.  We were able to manage our dietary needs by using up some vegetables that we had left over. Today, I went to one of the food stores to find that fruits and vegetables have been restocked. It was like Christmas Morning and bought several items, including spaghetti squash!  I can't wait to cook it and eat it!

I have become a semi-vegetarian since moving here.  Meat (other than fish, and I am not comfortable cooking fish yet) here is very expensive, and the quality is not the best since it has to be shipped, similar to vegetables.  So I have been eating lots of vegetables. When I eat out at one of the two restaurants we frequent, I usually enjoy some kind of meat dish because I don't eat it when I cook.  I try to be creative with my cooking because there is not a great variety of fresh vegetables available.   They have canned vegetables but I prefer to avoid that if possible.  I do use frozen vegetables though, sometimes freezing the fresh vegetables I buy.

I really appreciate the food that some people have sent in from America.  It is a nice treat to have something that is not found on the island, especially almonds and almond butter!  I wish strawberries and grapes could be mailed to me.  Those two fruits are my favorite fruits, and they are usually not in the best shape when they arrive here, and at ridiculous prices. My second or so week in the dorm, I was thrilled to see a bag of grapes in good condition so I got a bag without looking at the price, it ended up costing me $12! 😳. You bet I made sure to eat every grape in that bag! 

We really take food for granted in America!  Please enjoy some grapes and strawberries for me! 😄

Manit Day (week)

September 26th was Manit Day, a national holiday in the Marshall Islands to celebrate its culture.  Manit means culture in Marshallese language.  At the school, we decided to have events all week. 

On Monday, we had a man come to tell us some traditional Marshallese bwebwenatos (stories).  

On Tuesday, we made Marshallese necklaces/bracelets. One of the educational assistants is very good at making Marshallese handicraft so she brought in some Palm tree fronds and shells.  Each student got three strands of fronds to braid. When they were done, we could put a shell in the middle and at the end to make a clasp.  The holes in the shells were made by holding the shell in a crevice of rock/coral, then pounding a nail through the top part with another rock.  Easier said than done!  I was able to pound a hole in a shell, but not after several tries!

My kindergarten kids were able to make their own version the next day since they go home before this activity took place.  

On Wednesday, we went to the Alele museum of Marshallese history.  I won't say much about the museum because I am planning to take Abby there when she visits in December.  I will say that it was very interesting and a good museum to visit if you ever go to the Marshall Islands.  

On Thursday, we had a feast of Marshallese food.  Each person (staff members and students) were to bring two coconuts and a piece of fish.  I am sure that the students had an easier time getting coconuts and fish as they probably just climbed a tree and fished at home.  I went to a farmers market for the coconuts and another teacher went to the food store for the fish.  It all cost $8 total (for 4 coconuts and 2 pieces of fish)!  

Parents and family members came to help with the feast.  Some women wove Palm tree leaves to make plates.  I tried my hand at the weaving.  It was easy once you got the hang of it.  Other women cooked breadfruit in an abandoned tire rim.  Fish was cooked on the grill.  Mature coconut meat was taken out and made into a drink called "u" made of mashed coconut meat, condensed milk, sugar and ice.  There was music and lots of children dancing and exploring the ocean in front of school.   We also saw different ways to husk a coconut (with a machete or by teeth) and drank/ate a lot of coconut juice and meat.  It was a fun day learning culture.

It was the first time I ate a whole fish with its face still attached to it.  The meat was easy to slide off the fish, and it didn't taste too much like fish.  Just ignore the face while eating. 😄. I also ate some breadfruit, pandanus, and drank some u. It was also my first time that I drank some coconut juice and liked it!  I didn't like it before. 

My lunch after a student stole my food. 

Go to my facebook page to see the movie I made of different videos from that day. 

It was really good to see the children be proud of their culture and "show off" their skills to the ribelles.  Some students climbed a coconut tree that went straight up, others cut open a coconut/husked a coconut with his teeth, others grilled the fish, and yet more wove the plates.  They were thrilled to teach us what they knew. It is one of my favorite days/week so far.

On Friday, there was supposed to be some cultural games, dances and food/handcraft being sold on the Alele grounds, but we were rained out. We were able to get transportation for all the students to attend but it rained off and on all day so we were not able to enjoy any games.  We did see some dances though.  I got a crown made of flowers.  It was beautiful and very fragrant!