May Day

May 1st was "Constitution Day", also called "May Day".  I had no idea what to expect for this day.  I knew about all the Christmas festivities, but no one told us about Constitution Day.

A brief history:  This is the day that the RMI signed their constitution in 1979! Only 9 months older than I am...

I really enjoyed the day.  I think this is going to be one of my favorite events here in the RMI, along with the Ekiden run and Christmas festivities.  Do you see a pattern?  Those are the days that the community come together to celebrate.

I had a little project that I took on and since I hadn't completed that project close to May 1, we decided to make it our goal date, and it was completed by May 1st.  See our new uniform shirts!

Front of the shirt.  The logo was designed by one of the Deaf Marshallese people.  It incorporates the island life with signs for those items.  The school name (Majuro Deaf Education Center) is around the top of the circle with the finger spelled alphabet for M D E C.  

The back of the shirts have a Marshallese flag on the top. 

I asked local organizations for donations and received enough to get each student a free shirt to reduce the financial burden for parents. 

Picture of my very small class (3 students showed up for the march), and 2 educational assistants... Can you see why I feel like a giant! LOL 

I took many pictures and videos.  I figured the best way to share the love is to separate the day into three parts.

The first part:  March

All the different organizations of the Marshall Islands march about half a mile from the ECC to the "Castle", where all the governmental offices were.  That building is not safe to use anymore, so it is just sitting there waiting for its fate.

I arrived at 8:15 (we were told to meet at 8) but of course no one was there.  People started arriving around 9 and it was packed.  We stood around waiting for the march to start.  It was very hot and children were complaining that they were hot and thirsty.  Finally, we walked to our position behind Marshall Islands High School band and in front of Marshall Islands High School.  I have no idea the logic behind that, but when we arrived the castle, we let the MIHS people walk past us to join the band.  There were people around telling us that it needs to be set up this way.

We walked about 1/2 mile, and along the way, we saw many Marshallese people cheering us on.  We held posters that we designed and waved Marshallese flags.  When we arrived the castle, we posed for a picture and then walked around the "center of the castle to  reach the sitting area where we would sit and watch different people give speeches.  We sat to the left of people entering the area, so we could see how different organizations (schools, governmental offices, businesses) entered.  You will see some in the video.

Video of Constitution Day march

We sat watching different people give speeches (the president, ministers, etc.) and then we were dismissed to the park area where there were many different tents set up selling food, mostly BBQ chicken, fish, rice, breadfruit, etc.  By that time, we all were starving so we were glad to get food!

Panoramic view of the park with different tents set up

The tents stayed there all day until after dark.  There was supposed to be fireworks, but it was cancelled. :(  

The second part: Floats

The night before (April 30th), we gathered at the Field Director's house to decorate posters for the parade.  I thought it was the same thing as the march, but then I found out that there would be another one that afternoon.  It was supposed to start at 3 pm, of course, island time...  We arrived to end of Rita to find different decorated vehicles.  You will see some in the video.  We were supposed to be with World Teach, but since it was raining off and on, we joined the Ministry of Education float. It was much more elaborately decorated, with a roof and a bench for people to sit on.  We threw candy to children along the way until we reached Delap park, where there was a huge crowd of people (mostly children) waiting for us.  We ran out of candy in the middle of the route so the Field Director and another volunteer ran to a store to buy more candy.  I hit some people in the heads with the candy, oops!  It was so much fun.

Video of Constitution Day Floats

The third part:  Dances

The Delap park was full of people from the day's activities and there was a tug of war between different businesses, then people were invited to go on the stage and show their cultural dances.  In the years past, there were fireworks, but this year there were no fireworks apparently due to budget issues, but it was very windy so it would not have been safe anyways.

Video of Constitution Day dances

I rode past Delap park the day before (April 30th) and saw people setting up tents.  When I rode past it again that morning at 8 am, people were already cooking food.  That is how huge it was.

We all were exhausted and I zonked out right when I arrived to my room.

Hearing aids

The EHDI team consisting of an ENT doctor and audiologist came here in the beginning of April.  They come here twice a year to provide services to the Marshallese people such as doing hearing tests and surgeries for ENT issues such as inserting ear tubes. 

Two children got hearing aids, both donated.  One is a baby and another is a child in my class.  

When he showed up to school the next day, it was funny to watch how the other children reacted to his new hearing aids.  A lot of them wanted to know what they were.  As students arrived on their buses, the students who already saw the hearing aids would tell them to look at his new hearing aids.  Now, a month has passed and the novelty has wore off, but there are still a few students who are curious about the hearing aids and ask me about them, especially one student. 

One of the other students in my class always look at his hearing aids when he is next to the student with hearing aids as if he expects something to jump out of his ears. He does it every time they are next to each other.  

I just think it is funny.  I am sure that's how people reacted when hearing aids were first introduced in America. 

None of the other children have a hearing aid except for that one student in my school.  There are a few adults who have hearing aids on island.  There is also no one who wears a cochlear implant on island. 

I would imagine that it is difficult to maintain hearing aids here.  There is no audiologist on island so if it is broken, they would have to wait for the EHDI team to come.  If the child needs a new ear mold, they would have to wait for the EHDI team to come.  There is no speech therapist or people knowledgable about auditory development on island, so no one to really teach the child how to listen.  We work with what we have.  

So it's been an interesting experience for everyone.  

6 months!

1/2 of the year... How did it arrive so quickly?!? 3 months until I return to America...

Some highlights of the month:

-my birthday 

-yoga

-irooj funeral

-Chinese new year-made dumplings and spring rolls

-baseball game

-saw a turtle (dead one-more on that later)

-first time being sick here

I read 10 books this month, including "Gone Girl"... Still reeling from that book!

For the next month anniversary, Jenny will have come and left! Her visit is gettig closer and closer!

Overdue updates

Iakwe aolep (hello everyone)...

I know this post is long time coming.  I have been busy (well busy and not so busy at the same time).  The major reason I haven't updated in a while is because I lost my beloved phone.  I was very sad and felt naked although I could use it only in NTA wi-fi areas.  I use it for a lot more than just phone-it was my camera, my pen and paper to communicate with people, my blog entries, and of course to keep in touch with people when I am in wi-fi areas.  I put an announcement on the radio but it hasn't been returned to me yet.  Life moves on.  There are worse things happening in this world.  Luckily, my sister Damara had an old phone that I could use for now until I return to the states when I plan to upgrade my phone.  Thanks, Damara, mike, holligan and Melvia for finding me the phone and mailing it to me!  Thus, the reason I haven't really updated my blog.  I usually write an entry in my phone, then post it when I am in an Internet area. I can't type the blog on the spot on my laptop when I am in an Internet area.  I type the blog on my phone wen I feel inspired to do so and post it when I am in an Internet area.  So... I apologize to my family and friends who have been waiting for a new entry.

I am doing good-as good as I can be considering I have this pesky cold that has been going on for 2 weeks.  If it doesn't go away by Monday I am going to the doctor.  I have been putting it off because you all know how much I love to go to the doctor.

My birthday came and went.  I started the day with a very good 8 mile run where I saw a shooting star, then did laundry and went to tide table where I video chatted with family and friends. Abby and I discussed our trip to Europe and we bought our plane ticket to fly to Europe that evening!  There was also a beautiful sunset thy evening.  It was a good, low key day. 

There is a king tide warning happening here now.  The last king tide (January) resulted in water covering the road around Rairok, blocking traffic for several hours until the water receded.  I guess that was enough to cancel school for my school since we have kids from all over the island.  The water levels were a bit high but no road flooding as far as I know.  The school closure was real nice, though.  I was able to do some errands.  School was closed on Monday as well because crews were supposed to cut down a tree behind the school because it was leaning dangerously close to the school and if it fell down, it would hit the school. So school was cancelled on Monday so crews could cut down the tree... The catch was that no one came.  The engine apparently died r something so they are working on fixing the engine then when they arrive, kids will go home immediately. I am not sure it will happen before we go home for the summer. We shall see. So basically I only had school for 3 days this week.  Gotta love 3 day school weeks!

Last week was "education week".  We weren't aware that we were supposed to plan activities for the kids the entire week until Tuesday so we planned activities for Wednesday-Friday.  On Wednesday, we went on a field trip to the fire department, to the bank and to the wellness center.  On Thursday we went to the airport to watch a plane landing (it's surprising how few kids have been to the airport considering how small the island is).  We missed the actual lading by a few seconds and waited forever for the plane to take off, but when it finally did, it was magical for the kids who were willing to get out of the van and back into the sun after standing in the sun for a while waiting. On Friday, we had activities for the entire school to participate in and to interact with each other.  After the activities. We had a bbq lunch of chicken, hot dog, fish for the adults, potato salad, rice, breadfruit, and chocolate cake.  It was good to have the entire school together and seeing how they interact with each other.

This week...  Majuro day was on Tuesday. No one I talked to has an idea of what that day signifies or what to do on that day.  I was supposed to teach sign class in Laura (other end of the island) at 4.  I had a feeling that something would happen but I didn't notify the other deaf volunteers.  I went on my home visit in ajeltake like I always do before the sign class.  The visit went a bit late so I was in a hurry to grab a taxi, no taxi vans came for a while.  I finally got on a taxi at 4.  I would have cancelled the class of it wasn't for my team teacher.  I finally arrived in Laura at 430.  The school was locked! So I got back on the same taxi and rode around picking people up, returning to majuro around 6:30.  I basically spent 2 1/2 hours jamboing the island in a taxi cab.  Fun times.  It ended up that all schools went to the event.  Of course no one told us. 

 I had a very busy Thursday evening.  First, chinilla and I decided to watch a women's softball game.  It was a championship game between delap (one of the neighborhoods of majuro) and the island chains beyond majuro but in the lagoon (I forgot the name).  The island chains won the game.  Then we went to her mother in law's home where they were cooking breadfruit.  I was so fascinated with it.

They cook the breadfruit in a pit in the ground to make the skin hard, then use a piece of broken glass to shred the burnt black skin off the breadfruit (below).  If it is not hard enough, the skin will come off.

Video of shredding the burnt part off the breadfruit. 

After that, we went to grab something to eat and then drive to Chinilla's house so she could change into appropriate clothes for the funeral of an irooj (chief) from Maloelap (her family is from that atoll).  

I think I counted 10 pictures of the irooj, it was the same picture but with different background photoshopped onto the pictures. 

View of the coffin and pictures from outside the church. 

It was my first funeral of an irooj.  I had gone to another funeral for a child before but not for an important person.  The funeral was held over several days at the international conference center where all the nitijela (congress) attended then it moved to the church.  The body will either be flown or transported by a boat to Maloelap where there will be another funeral and then he will be buried.  At each funeral, you are supposed to give at least a dollar to help the family offset the cost of the funeral and refreshments after the funeral.  There was a big Marshallese basket near the coffin that was full of money of varying denominations.  Amazing. 

Friday was the Chinese New Year celebration.  Two volunteers who know how to make Asian food hosted a dinner party.  We learned how to make pork dumplings and shrimp spring rolls.  I had a good time. 

Before it all started 

Working on making dumplings 

Dumplings that I made (before cooking)

My very first spring roll I made! Not perfect but still delicious!

Dinner party guests (volunteers plus assistant field director)

And another one with me in it!

Now that I have this phone, I should be updating more often!  Sorry this one was a long post!

Addresses

While Abby was here, she asked me how do people know where to go if no one has an address here.  I thought it would be a good blog post.

Here, no one has an address.  There is only one road so I guess it is a little hard not to know where anyone lives. When people give directions or describe where they live, they will use a landmark (most times its a church, store or restaurant) then describe it from that landmark.  

For newly identified children (either school age or early intervention), we do what is called a "child find" where we (deaf support teacher or early intervention coordinator) goes to the village that the child lives in and walk around asking for the parents or grandparents by name or asking if anyone knows of a deaf child/baby in this area. The neighbors will usually know and point us into the right direction.  

So this is what life is like without addresses :-) 

Wellllll... Hello!

It's been a long while since I posted something. It's been a very busy few weeks.

Abby came and left, we had a good time together exploring the island. We went to my early intervention families' homes to give them gifts.  Abby was able to meet the children and families and see Marshallese homes, then we went to a party on Christmas Eve with the people I work with so Abby was able to meet the people I work with.  We saw the Christmas events that I have been "hearing" about since the summer (please see previous post).  We went to Laura beach but that day was very windy so we didn't get to really enjoy the beach, but I think Abby had fun.  The next day we went to Eneko and it was the first time I went snorkeling there.  Amazing!  U can't wait for Jenny to get here so we can go together.  Abby isn't fond of fish, however, she did enter the water, up to her knees. I am proud of her! :-)  we stayed at a hotel, I had been looking forward to hot showers for a while.  It was very nice to get hot showers for a week, once I got used to the heat.  The first day or two, the warm setting was too hot for me.

Abby and I 

Abby and I at Laura Beach. 

Another long awaited event came and went: the New Year Eve block party.  Abby left earlier that day so she didn't get to experience a Marshallese new year or ringing the new year in before everyone else did.  It felt funny to be in 2015 while the majority of the world was still in 2014.  There were two block parties-one in Uliga area and one in Delap area.  I went to both since the Delap one was just a few steps from the hotel we were staying at.  It was in a park, there were various booths set in a semi circle around a band area.  It was not busy yet so I hailed a cab and rode on over to the second block party.  That one was bigger, using one "block" from the RRE hotel all the way to Payless food store.  If you have ever experienced New Year Eve in Las Vegas, it's similar but much smaller.  The road was closed to cars, and there were booths on both sides of the road selling various items-food, alcohol, light up things, clothes, and there were three band areas.  I walked up and down the block, observing people and just enjoying myself.  Chinilla's family had a booth selling alcohol so I hung around there a bit chatting with Chinilla.  When it got closer to midnight, I returned to her booth and rang in the New Year with her and her family, then she drove me back to the hotel.  There were some fire works at midnight, at a much smaller scale than the ones we are used to in America.  It was a nice New Year Eve. Before the events began, we were warned that there wis be drunk people there and that we may be groped.  Thankfully nothing happened but I did see some drunk people.  They kept their hands to themselves.

Taiwan provided some entertainment

Don't be jealous! 

People listening to music and dancing

Same

Fireworks at midnight 

Chinilla, her daughter and her niece

School started.... The teachers and teacher aides were at the school by 8:15, some students came (4) who walked to school.  By 9:30 there were no buses so we sent everyone home and did some work.  It was nice to be able to do some work but I missed my students.  On Tuesday, I had 4 students, uneventful day.  On Wednesday, I had 5 students, but there was an issue with the lock on our door so we weren't able to start til around 9:15 am.  On Thursday, I had 6 students, uneventful day.  There was no school for students on Friday so we could meet with parents and give out their report cards.  It's been an interesting year so far. :-)

Today, I went to my spot to watch th sunset.  While I was walking there, I noticed a large group of people near the pier and felt music so I went to check it out.  It was the second annual Christa deBrum fishing tournament.  Chinilla told me that Christa was a young adult who choked on a piece of meat and died so the family hosted a fishing tournament in her honor.  It was the largest fishing tournament I have seen, complete with music, a BBQ, result chart and dancing girls (that didn't come out right).  I hung out there for a bit then went to watch the sunset. 

Unloading fish to be weighted

Boats waiting for their turn and banner/music area

Crowd watching the girls dance

4 young girls dancing

Young girls dancing

Older girls dancing

The board listing team names and results 

Event seen from afar 

'Ts the season

Wow so I have experienced THE holiday that I have been waiting a long time for.  People have told me about the events that happen on Christmas here on the island but nothing compares to experiencing it yourself. 

Since December started, I have been seeing more and more Christmas decor in homes and stores.  Stores started having percentage off sales.  Traffic in stores increased.  Of course nothing like the states, but I could see the difference between BCS and DCS (before Christmas season and during Christmas season).  

On Christmas Eve, stores were filled with people, there were huge discounts for clothes, toys and small housewares.  Car traffic in downtown Majuro was horrendous the entire day.  I went to a small gathering near downtown and saw people shopping at around 7 pm.  I went to another gathering and got home around midnight.  On the way, people were still shopping!  Yes, at midnight.. No early closures on Christmas Eve here. 

On Christmas morning, Abby and I ate breakfast at our hotel then took off to one of my aides' house to attend church with them and see the famed "Christmas dances".  We got there at 10 am, finally got to church at around 1130 and dancing started around 230.  Yeah, island time.  But I didn't mind because while we were waiting to go to church, we chatted, ate some Marshallese donuts and told Abby about some Marshallese culture things such as the water catchment tank.  One of my students just happened to walk by with his mom so he joined in on the fun while his mom went to church. The aide's family wanted us to stay after church for some BBQ food.  After we saw my EA's twins dance, we went back to her home and ate BBQ chicken, ribs and rice.  

We went back to the church and saw other groups from other churches around the island dance.  It is like a traveling dance troupe, groups visit different churches and dance for them, then go to the next church. Some groups gave money, others gave lots of food to the church.  We left around 730 pm and it was very difficult to get a taxi that could fit two people.  We waited for about an hour before finally finding one.  By the way, stores were still open on Christmas Day.  

Although I was not with my biological family other than Abby for Christmas, I felt that the entire community was my family because we spent most of the day together.  

Enjoy the pictures and videos. 

My student that joined us for a while.

Above two pictures: local church dancing group (mostly children)

Another church dancing/singing group

Another group 

I couldn't post the video directly on this blog, so I uploaded it onto youtube, and the link is http://youtu.be/AYbeTXL9R7M  Enjoy!

Another group waiting outside the church to begin 

The inside of the church was filled with maybe 100-200 people and maybe 100 more were outside the church watching/listening through the windows. 

Amazing experience!  

Game

My students have been playing this game during recess after snack and sometimes even in the classroom when they have nothing to do (between activities).  It took me a while to figure out what they were doing.

Yep, they were playing rock, paper, scissors along with some hand games.   Did I mention that they are Kindergarten students.... 

I still haven't figured out how/when they determine it is time to play the rock, paper, scissors game.

Jasmi

I am sure that you noticed by now that I see a lot of cultural things during my home visits.  Well, here is another one. 

I went on a home visit, just as I was finishing up, the family used gestures to communicate with me.  They signed fish, pointed to their stove so I said ok.  The father is a fisherman (what male here isn't..) and they have given me fish to take home in the past.  Well, this time it was a bit different.  

The parents got up and went outside. They told me to stay inside.  Of course I was curious what was happening outside so I went outside after a while.  The father was sharpening his knife and washing fish. He had a box of maybe 5 fish in it.  The mother told me to go back inside and wait.  So I did.... 

The mother came inside with me, we chatted a bit and she started cooking the rice.  I asked her what was going on, she said "Jasmi" and when I gave her a puzzled look, she said wait.  So wait I did... 

The father gave me a plate with cleaned up fish; the head and tail cut off.  The fish's skin was cut diagonally to the bone so the top part of the meat was cut but still attached to the bone.  The mother told me to try it.  I took very little and tasted it.  I had never tried raw fish before so of course I was a bit nervous.  

We waited a bit more, she told me to add lemon and salt to the cut parts of the dish.  I did so with her guidance, then we waited... The rice was still cooking. 

I was getting worried because I had to get back to the office before 5 to pick up my stuff before it closed.  It was getting close to 4.  I was also wondering how I could eat it without something to drink.  I usually bring my water bottle, but of course the day I don't, I need it and it's not safe to drink unfiltered water. The family offered to buy me a drink, problem solved!

The rice was finally ready so they gave me some rice and we ate the fish with rice.  It wasn't too bad actually.  The lemon and salt softened the fish so it was  easy to take off and eat.  The taste of the fish went well with the lemon and salt so all the flavors blended together, making it taste good.  I ate the top half of the fish, the family gave me the bottom half to bring home and eat later. 

So... That is what Jasmi is!

By the way, I got to the office just in time before it closed.

Giving thanks....

People here do not celebrate thanksgiving, but us Americans have the day off.

I would like to take the time to give a few thanks:

First, I would like to thank my family and friends who are behind me 100% in this experience since the beginning, from texting/emailing me to face timing me to mailing me care packages and letters, I couldn't have survived this far without you guys!

Thanks to the Ministry of Education, EHDI (Jean), DeafWorldTeach and WorldTeach for allowing me to have this experience of a lifetime.  Thanks to Judy for contacting me and making me reconsider everything. 

 

I am very thankful for technology that makes it possible for me to keep in touch with my family and friends back home as well as keep up with some American news.

I am also thankful to everyone who donated money and made it possible for me to buy a lot of stuff for the kids here--books, toys and games for both the brain and the body.

I am thankful that the people I have met here so far are very welcoming and willing to integrate me into their culture by showing me stuff, giving me food and answering all my questions honestly without laughing at me 😄.

4 months!

In the past month, I....

-celebrated a baby's first birthday (Kemen)

-Tried lobster, mussels, crab

-Forced myself to eat and swallow a sushi roll

-Tried stand up paddling (not as hard as I thought it would be)

-went on home visits alone

-had a home visit with naked baby (hilarious!)

-went to Eneko... Beautiful!

-First time I ordered tuna on my own (tuna salad) and loved it!

-saw Marshallese oven 

-watched women make Marshallese roof from pandanus and coconut leaves 

-read 10 books (total: 29 since I arrived)

Well, the fourth month anniversary has arrived.  By the time the fifth month rolls along, Abby will be here! 

Marshallese oven

The Marshallese people tend to cook over an open fire, so naturally I assumed that they do not bake things.  Well, imagine my surprise when I went on a home visit to see them baking cookies.  Wanna see how??? 

Ta-da!  It is technicially an open fire in an enclosed place.  The oven is made of wood with iron for the racks and to hold the fire in the box.  The fire is made outside of the oven, and then inserted into the oven using a wooden stick with a nail (the box has holes in it for the nail to go through).  The cookies that came out of the oven was very good, very chewy.  Still amazed! 

Home visits

The EHDI coordinator and I have been doing home visits together since I arrived because Marshallese people are shy and not comfortable around people who are not Marshallese.  She went to a conference in Texas last week so I have been doing them on my own for two weeks now.  

It's been an interesting experience.  Most parents are able to read/write English to some degree.  We usually try to communicate by lip reading (hard because they pronounce things differently) or gestures before goog to written English.  They also teach me Marshallese while I teach them sign language so it works out both ways! 😄

Today I had a first: home visit with a naked 3 year old boy. 😄. I arrived to their home to see him standing out near the driveway.  I wasn't sure if it was the right boy or not but he led me to his mother and I figured it was the right boy. I just had to giggle in my head... Welcome to Marshall Islands! Lol!

Young children are often naked for whatever reason and I guess I was bound to encounter this experience sooner or later. 😄

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!

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!