Laura beach day

The first semester ended on Friday December 19th.  We wanted to celebrate the end of the first semester and just to start off our break right so we decided to go to Laura.  Each student/family was to bring some food (chicken, rice, or some other food) and 6 pack of soda. I decided to make my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies which I baked that morning after my run because I decided to go to the Christmas party.

I got to the school at 8 which was the time we were supposed to meet.  Some students and their families started trickling in.  We waited, waited, and waited for the bus.  I was getting frustrated because I was looking forward to swimming with the students.  The bus finally arrived at around noon.  We got in and hurried to Laura.  

Me and one of my students waiting for the bus.... 

While we were waiting for the bus, one of my students climbed the lightpost in front of the school.  She just turned 6 years old.. 

Another one of my student attempted to climb the lightpost... 

I was in the van that stopped along the way to pick up some students in Ajeltake.  When we arrived, a prayer was said and we ate.  Everyone was waiting for us to arrive.  We had BBQ chicken, rice, pasta, potato salad, sashimi, and breadfruit.  I ate and then swam with the students. I had so much fun interacting with the students and families outside of school. 

Christmas gifts I got from some families. 

Some of the early intervention families that I worked with attended as well.  Chinilla worked out transportation for them and brought food for them so they could see other deaf children and just have fun with us.  I think they enjoyed themselves.

Me with two of my students (Kindergarten class and Early Intervention)

Early Intervention families

I took one of the babies into the water with me.  No one told me that you are supposed to take the diaper off the baby before they enter the water, so the families laughed at me.  I took the diaper off and entered the water again to rinse him off. 

Everyone commented on how red my face was.  Yeah, that's what happens when you put a ribelle under the sun.  Haha. 

We left at 4:30 to drive back to school, dropping off families along the way.  I got home at 6:30.  I was very exhausted.  I cooked my dinner, took a shower and then tried to read my book but zonked out.  

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! 

Third week tidbits

We (the teachers) are getting into the routine of school. We have a general idea of what to teach and getting the hang of our schedule.  The kids are learning the rules, some faster than others but we all are doing well getting into the routine of coming to school.  Nothing to report on the school (classroom) front.  The students will be working on a project this week.  Be on the look out for details next week!

I started going on home visits this recent week.  The first visit was a no show, second and third visits were successful. At the third visit, the family gave me 4 mature coconuts. I expected to find juice inside the coconuts but found this instead:

It's a solid thing called io I believe. It is very light and tastes sweet.  The whole thing will definitely fill you up!

We had no school on Friday for Rijerbal day (Labor Day).  I spent most of the day helping someone edit and caption  Marshallese sign language video. We are hoping to preserve Marshallese sign language.  

Last weekend there was the 22nd annual all-Micronesia fishing tournament. All the different countries of Micronesia (Guam, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, American Samoa, all the countries in the South Pacific region) came to Marshall Islands and went fishing for the largest fish they could find for two days with a weigh-in on both days.  On Saturday, there was a weigh-in and most of the fish were smaller ocean fish, a lot of pink fish, spotted fish, silver fish, and a few large round blue fish.  On Sunday, it was a completely different story, the boats that came in were bigger and fancier (same people competed on both days), and the fish were much more larger.  There was a lot of blue marlins.  The largest one was 432 pounds, second was 345 and third was 228.  

Audience at Sunday's weigh-in 

Fishing poles with huge spools of string.

158 lbs blue marlin with the people who caught it and miss Micronesia giving out flower necklaces. 

Same as above 

228 lbs blue marlin

345 lbs! 

Hoisting the fish onto the truck

Chilling on the truck 

Some people didn't get a fish so they got a picture taken with a fake fish.. 

This is what a 432 lb blue marlin looks like. 

Sometime between Friday night and Saturday night, all 15,000 of my pictures disappeared from iPhoto. I have no idea how it happened or where it went. It just went *poof* on it's own.  I tried to find them with no luck. If there is a good computer person here, I may have them look at it. If they are gone, they are gone. Luckily I have several pics on Facebook/Instagram and I can get a few more from family/friends. There are worse things that could happen other than pictures disappearing.  Luckily before 2012 I always saved pictures in two locations-iPhoto and the pictures folder on my computer so I have all pictures prior to 2012 so only 2012-2014 are missing.  

Have a great week! 

Getting into routine

Going into my third week of teaching, getting settled into my daily routine.  My students are very funny and I really enjoy working with them... Until they start telling on each move that other children make like looking at them.  I usually just ignore the telling part unless it's something serious. It seems that Marshallese students like to tell on each other. I see students up to middle school doing that. 

After I eat dinner, I tend to go to one place that is near the water to watch the sunset. It gives me an opportunity to walk a bit (about a mile one way), see what is going on in the locals' lives and of course enjoy the sunsets. Sorry there's been many pictures of sunsets on Instagram and Facebook.  I tell myself that I won't post anything but then it's so beautiful that I can't resist! 😄. Last night's sunset is the best I have seen since arriving.  Pictures doesn't even do it justice. 

During dinner, my friend and I decided that sunset would not be good because of all the clouds but then we started noticing the sky colors so we just paid for our dinner and ran over to the water. I am glad we caught it in time. 

During my free time (I have lots), I have been running, walking around, and reading books.  I am so glad I signed up with Philadelphia library so I can borrow books to read on my kindle app on the phone.  I can just pop out my phone and read anywhere I have some down time. I am on my 6th book right now.  A volunteer from last year said she read 47 books during the year. I will see how many I read. 

I am trying to get back into running mode. I never really stopped running, but it's hard to run here with the heat and high humidity. I have been running in the mornings before work, so it's not too bad but I am not as fast as I used to be 😞. Working on getting used to the heat then I should be back to normal.  I ran 6 miles yesterday-longest in about 2 months!  I hope to continue the long runs. 

Our first day off from school is this Friday, for Rijerbal day (Labor Day.. Jerbal=work  ri=person who so word means person who works).  We have another day off at end of month, then nothing until November.  We have less days off during the year, so we get out very early.  

Tomorrow I will go on my first official home visit.  I will be working with 3 EI families.  

Later today I will go to Enemonit Island, a short boat ride across the lagoon to the other side. I am looking forward to it!  That island has good snorkeling, hammocks, grilling, etc.  Be on the lookout for pictures.