Christmas party

The Majuro Deaf School is on the campus of Marshall Islands High School. The high school had a Christmas party and invited us to join them.  At first, I didn't really want to go because I wanted to bake cookies for our big picnic the next day.  After talking to some people, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to experience some cultural events (which is what I really enjoy about being here).  I am glad I went.  

Some of the Special Education folks.  As you can see, I am a giant. 

The party was supposed to start at 6 so I showed up at 6, no one was there.  I watched the sunset and waited some more.  People started arriving around 7.  The party officially started at 7:30 (Island time you say?)

We started out with a prayer for the party, played some games and then dinner was finally served after saying another prayer. I was starving by that time. We had mostly Chinese food, along with Marshallese food.

One of the games that we played was fun to watch.  We all had to blow up a balloon then try to fit as many balloons into pantyhose.  

The music started and different groups including the special education group did a sing-a-long.  It was interesting to see how the different cultural groups sang.  There was a group of Philippines, Fijians,  Tuvalus, and of course Marshalls.  The Fijians sang and did a little dance.  I learned that the Marshallese will spray some coconut oil and put lotion on your face if they really like your singing.  The Fijians and Marshallese got that special treatment. 

We were getting tired so we left at around 10:30.  I ended up baking the cookies early on Friday.