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!