I've started thinking about what to do next year; I've started asking around for career advice, although it's hard to conduct a job search via text-message from my cell phone (only reliable means of communication). I'm thinking about consulting or banking or something in marketing or technology. All I really know is that I want to live in New York City.

As of the writing of this update, there are 50 school days left until graduation, and 79 days (including weekends) until I come home. The all-important high school entrance exam is coming up very soon, but nobody will tell me when exactly it will be. This makes it difficult to plan my curriculum, not knowing when my students need to be ready. To their credit, nobody really even knows when the test will be. It's supposed to take place in April or May, and depends on when there will be a boat coming to take the tester here. So I have somewhere between 2 and 8 weeks to prepare my students.

update from charlie

I was working on a great video to send home and post here, but then my computer broke. I will have to finish it when I get home. I used to watch a lot of movies and tv shows on the compute; I was initially pretty bummed when it broke, but without it I may get out more, and ultimately have a more rewarding experience without it. After all, I can watch TV at home.
In addition to school, my daily routine now includes baking bread, playing volleyball, and jogging (in that order). I have gotten much better at all three. As for the baking, I have started experimenting with herb additions and using starter for sourdough.
People keep trying to set me up with Marshallese girls, some of which are single, some not. “You take [name of current girl] for your wife?” they say. I have not accepted any offers, much to their surprise.
After New Years I traveled again by boat from Majuro to Kili. The return trip was much more pleasant than my initial journey to Majuro before New Years. I didn’t throw up at all and I slept on a mat, not in a hallway. However, it rained most of the journey and our tarp-shelter leaked all over Sarah and me. If the climate were anything less than tropical, we would have quickly acquired hypothermia. I woke up with pruny hands and feet and clothes soaked through.
I can’t wait to go back home. We are too overworked and under-resourced to really enjoy teaching here. I might have enjoyed teaching somewhere else. None of us – Sarah, Erin, or I – plan on returning next year. But I have a lot to look forward to back home. Besides vegetables and efficient economic systems, I am excited to see friends and family again. Also I will be working as director of the sailing program in Point O’ Woods, NY this summer. So the future is bright.

-Charlie

February

We have 4 months to go and I’ve been thinking about my time here and what will happen when I leave. I’ve compiled a list of the things that I’m okay with now that I never thought I would be and a list of things I’m really going to miss when I leave.

Things I’ve gotten used to:

• Bugs- I’ve become completely fine with bugs everywhere, including on me. Ants often crawl on my body and instead of feeling dirty like I used to, I just calmly kill them and continue what I was doing.
• Carrying around a large stick to scare off attacking dogs- Most of the dogs on Ejit show me respect even when I don’t have the stick and it’s gotten me out of a few problems in Rita with dogs there. So far I’ve only had to hit one. There’s a pretty cool tooth mark on my escrima stick from when I struck the dog on the jaw.
• Eating deli meat a month or so after the sell by date- It obviously doesn’t hurt you because I’ve done it for months but the idea of ‘expired’ meat made me queasy in the beginning of the year.
• Wet clothes- when low tide is pretty high (more than 1 foot over the mean low tide mark) it’s impossible to cross the reef without getting a little wet. This means that I’ve had to walk around town and run errands with saltwater wet shorts. Clothes dry quickly here but I got used to it pretty quickly.
• Snot- the Marshallese have no taboos against nose picking, snot rockets or spitting. I’m not exactly okay with the first two but I’ve learned to ignore them. Spitting is something that I’ve taken up myself. As long as it’s not full of betel nut and it’s outside I don’t mind it.
• Dogs barking at night- If I’m asleep the barking no longer wakes me up.

Things I’m going to miss:

• The kids of course.
• Coconut water- I really really love fresh coconuts, and if I win the lottery or something later on in life I’ll have them imported.
• Walking across the reef at night. Stars at the equator twinkle red and blue and the light pollution is really low in the middle of the reef.
• Snorkeling- there are still some beautiful reefs here.
• Spear fishing- like snorkeling but with a purpose.
• How friendly and easygoing the Marshallese are.

On a side note, pink eye has come to Majuro big time. Tons of kids and adults have it and we canceled school today because the only teachers without pinkeye (including substitutes) were the three volunteers.

The New Year

So the winter break has come and gone. On Ejit, we’ve finished 2^nd quarter finals and we’re in the beginning of quarter two. I spent Christmas here in the Marshall Islands and Annie went back to visit home so I spent a lot of time getting to know the community here.

Christmas in the Marshall Islands is celebrated during and after the 25^th with the Christmas “Jebta” or beat. It’s basically a marathon of dancing and/or singing with various performing groups. After they perform a collection for the church is made. They had 3 beats in Ejit and at each one I donated an average of 3 dollars. It was really great seeing my kids practice for the beat and then perform in front of the whole community. They had a lot of fun and I enjoyed it.

The greatest benefit from staying was definitely the greater way I’ve been accepted by the community here. I’ve celebrated Kemmems (1^st birthdays), the Christmas Jebta, and New Years with Ejit and they’ve definitely noticed. Kids and adults have opened up to me and are much more welcoming. The vast majority of mine and most of Annie’s kids definitely enjoy hanging out with me outside of school (inside also) and we’ve had a lot of positive experiences.

New Years here was crazy. Every year there is a huge “block” party in Majuro where food, drinks and entertainment are available in a protected block near the RRE (a hotel). Kristin’s band opened for an Okinawan cultural/conversationalist band. They put on a pretty good show and the energy (and booze) were so high that a bunch of Japanese tourists and outer island volunteers jumped on the stage. I left the block party early and walked back home at 1:30 am to join the celebration in Ejit. New Years is like Halloween or Christmas caroling here in the Marshall Islands. The kids go door to door singing new year songs and get candy. I stayed with the kids until around 4 am and went back home exhausted.

Even though Annie was gone I didn’t spend much time alone. There are always kids knocking on my door but Sarah and Charlie from Kili also came over and spent time living in Ejit. Sarah came early but she left for a while when her boyfriend Steve came to visit. Charlie arrived on New Years Eve and moved into Annie’s room. They even subbed for Annie when her arrival was slightly delayed. Charlie taught us how to make French bread (it’s delicious) and the kids a few new step patterns. Sarah came back when Steve left and relaxed. They left for Kili yesterday and we were sad to see them go.

There are a few more things I could write about but I’ll save them for the next entry or the January update. It’s coming out in two weeks or so.

End of 2007

I’m in Majuro until Tuesday (tomorrow), when I ship back to Kili. I’ve been here since New Year’s Eve, and it has been great to take a break in civilization. I had some beer, a salad, butter, internet, lots of great things.
Christmas on Kili was alright, although in my opinion Christmas is not Christmas without family. So from my perspective there was no Christmas this year. Although you might say I had a Christmas miracle in the sense that I was able to get back to Majuro at all. The boat was scheduled to leave December 27th, some time in the afternoon. At 2am that, there was knocking on our door, and I thought it was probably the crazy guy looking for food. But in fact it was two students, telling us that the boat was here, and that it was leaving soon. I thought it impossible that it would leave so soon after arriving, because they had to unload stuff. But I started packing any way, and half an hour later, I arrived at the beach to see the ship, the “Ribuukae” floating away. I was heartbroken and went on a Scrubs binge, watching all of season four over the next two days. But fortune smiled upon me – the boat got as far as Jaluit, but then was called back because they failed to drop off some equipment for the public works department on Kili. So I got on the boat and made it back to Majuro. I threw up a couple times from seasickness, but it was a triumphant seasickness, because I knew I was going back to civilization.
In November we finally got around to teaching sex ed to grade 6,7, and 8. We separated the boys and the girls – I taught the boys. I was daunted at first by the prospect of teaching 25 boys about sex all at once, but we got through it. My main problem by the end was keeping them from drawing penises all over their papers.
People on Kili often ask us for recorded CD’s and digital photo prints - and we don’t have nearly enough paper, ink, or CD’s to give them away – so we’ve begun various systems of exchange. I like to think we are introducing some economic development. In return for burning CD’s for students, we’ve gotten such things as fresh-squeezed lime juice (for limeade!), loads of coconuts, breadfruits, squash, and – my favorite – crabs. We had a couple crab feasts just before Christmas. The third graders who brought us the crabs were able to get 20 in a matter of hours just by picking them up off the reef! I was impressed.
We liked to play volleyball every day at our neighbor Brenda’s house with her and her daughters and other neighbors, until the house’s patriarch (who sometimes joins in our games) cut up the net into little pieces with his machete. Apparently he was angry at his daughter for not helping to clean the house, so he did it to punish her. Unfortunately, he punished a lot more people than that. I couldn’t believe someone would destroy something that so many people enjoy, especially because it is so irreplaceable. It would be weeks or months before someone was able to take a ship to Majuro and buy a new one. Fortunately I did just that and I will bring a net back with me when I return to Kili. I talked to a Marshallese woman about the net getting cut up, and she said, “That happens a lot.”
“What happens?” I said.
“Men not using their brains.”

After Christmas

This whole break has been an amazing experience. I’ve gotten to know the kids here much better. The kids I was close to before the break are even closer and I’ve gotten to know more kids on a more meaningful level. Staying in Ejit for Christmas has cemented me into the community here and I feel more accepted. This is especially apparent when I go to community events. My kids will yell out “Hi Paul” even if there is an important speech going on but then there are the babies. The babies or more accurately the toddlers on Ejit seem to think I am the most fun thing that ever came to Ejit. When I show up they immediately mob me and ask to be carried (jaja) or to get piggy-back rides (kuku). I can usually keep them off for a while but eventually their cuteness breaks through my mental shields and I have them take turns playing king of the (Paul) mountain.

My favorite one and he know’s it is a baby called Popeye. Seriously. I’m pretty sure it’s on his birth certificate. Toddlers are pushy in the Marshall Islands and the greatest cultural differences between American or ribelle babies and Marshallese (rimajel) babies are their tantrums and the ways they show anger.

The Marshallese tantrum is unmistakable. It consists of the child yelling vaguely intelligible insults and demands at adults and then picking up a rock and throwing it at anyone in range. The tantrumite however has this technique down to a science. They take one rock and then threaten to throw it at you multiple times. A baby will pump his or her arm at you about five times, finally throw the rock and then pick up another. Kids reserve this tantrum for their parents but I’ve seen it directed at me once when a kid wanted to get on a boat with his mom and dad but they were going to leave him with relatives.

Marshallese culture (manit majel) does not have strong taboos against bad words and cursing. Just blatantly saying another person’s parent’s name is considered and insult (if I were a kid and someone just said “Peter” or “Ana” loudly we would fight) but they don’t hold distinctions between levels of curses and bad words. They know what the middle finger means, and usually the recipient will raise his or her hand and say “Paul, he f*** me.” With a middle finger held in the air to leave no doubt.

Popeye knows what the middle finger means but he will also say it when showing the finger to someone he is angry at. (Usually a school aged aunt, uncle or cousin). I laugh about it when he’s not there but whenever he does it I make sure he knows I don’t like it.

In the Marshall Islands they celebrate Christmas with at beat or jebta. Everyone on island performs a dance and song for the beat and collections are made for the church. I went to the celebration and on the 26^th another community came and performed the beat at the church. After taking a seat I was immediately surrounded by kids wanting to sit next to/near me and finally Popeye came over and climbed onto my lap. I was watching the beat when Gerrick (9^th grade) next to me started to admonish Popeye for something. Popeye pushed him away and right from my lap gave Gerrick the middle finger and told him what it meant. Gerrick took Popeye away (he’s his uncle and therefore considered Popeye’s father) for punishment. When Popeye came back, I looking him in the eye, in church and told him. “La Popeye. Jaab f*** you. Kwomelele ke?” (Hey, Popeye. No f*** you. Do you understand?) He nodded and then went back to my watching the show. The differences between acceptable behavior during performances, church and gatherings in the Marshall Islands are interesting, and I may post on that in the future.

On the 29^th to the 31^st we’re having our midyear retreat so after that I’ll post something again.

Christmas Break

Ejit started Christmas break last Friday and it’s been a whirlwind weekend. Friday we had the Christmas Concert and Present Day for Ejit. The whole community comes together to celebrate Christmas, watch the students sing Christmas songs and then the children get their presents from the year (from parents and relatives. Santa comes on Christmas. E-mail me if you want more of a scoop on Santa in the Marshall Islands). Everyone pitches in and there is food also. Traditionally volunteers make home made sugar cookies but Annie and I decided that was too much work (cookies for 300?) and we made brownies instead. Last year was an absolute disaster but this year we started a precedent of positive Christmas concert experiences. This year the program order went performance, presents and food. We had a great time and Annie caught all of the performances on tape. Everything on Ejit is communal and especially so because everyone here is related so everyone’s favorite gift was a set of inflatable rafts one family of kids got. They’ve been floating them off the dock ever since. I was exhausted after we finished but Annie’s plane was leaving that day so she took off.

Saturday was the Christmas Parade. At 8 AM I was woken up by knocking on my door. The kids wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the parade. I harnessed my inner Grinch and told them that the parade wasn’t until 10, to never knock on my door that early again and to come back in an hour. At 9 on the dot (a lot of the kids have their watches exactly synched to mine) they knocked on my door and told me we were leaving now. I threw on some clothes, gathered my things and ran outside only to have the kids ask me if I could ask Meljodik if she could send a boat to Rita so we could all watch the parade. Finally the kids got Randy and Nono to drive a boat over so everyone could go.

We got there way too early and everyone was standing around. There were a few people there and the police were waiting but none of the parade goers were in sight. I wasn’t able to eat breakfast so I walked over to one of the window stores and bought 3 bags of donuts ($4.50) and shared them with the kids. Then the Harlem Ambassadors basketball team showed up . They were playing a game at the ECC (don’t remember what the acronym stands for) that night and were invited. The kids stunned by their height (when the center walked out of the bus there was a collective “whoa”. The parade finally arrived and the team was given a place of honor in the parade (the hertz car and on the back of a new Ford truck). When the parade finally started the main flatbed truck started throwing candy out to the mob of children and they all began to follow it like the Pied Piper. I followed along but I eventually realized that I was sort of in charge of a large group of children by myself. All the other adults had stayed behind while we followed the candy truck. The kids were more excited than I was about the candy so they were all ahead. I slowly caught up, gathering kids as I went and then the older kids led the pack back to the boats for Ejit. I hopped on a taxi to run some errands and headed back.

At around 4 I started asking all of the kids if they were going to the Harlem Ambassadors game. A good number were going but a few couldn’t make it. Some of the boys had asked me to take them when we first heard about it last week. I was a bit worried that I would be showing favoritism if I took them because I wouldn’t be able to take every kid who wanted to go. Fortunately that problem sorted itself out. Only 3 kids who wanted to go (that I talked to) didn’t have anyone to take them so I spoke to their parents, made sure they had $1.50 for the cab ride there and back and we hopped on a boat.

The game itself was interesting. There were similarities between the Harlem Globetrotters, the Harlem All-Stars (I think that’s their name) and the Ambassadors. The Majuro team was totally outmatched by height and additionally Marshallese don’t like playing defense. The first seven minutes of the game was a string of breakaway dunks followed by many awed oohing and ahhing from the crowd. Soon everyone began to lose interest and the kids began to act like they normally do all the time. Whenever there was a break in play kids would wander on to the court. My personal favorite moment was when the announcer for the Ambassadors said “Parents, please keep your children off of the court.” If there was one adult there for every 10 kids I would be surprised. Basically the kids ignored everything the poor lady told them to do. This is our life. However, I do have a leg up on her in my classroom. I personally know every one of my kids’ parents.

After dropping the kids off at Rita I waited for a boat and then told them that I was going to spend the night in Rita with friends. I went to meet them for something to eat because I didn’t eat dinner and then went to sleep for our first Meico Beach Yacht Club Race Day. It was really fun and we had gorgeous weather. During the after-party the entire yacht club was invited to attend the Christmas party at the Australian Navy compound. The area is considered one of the most gorgeous in Majuro and I’ve been told that if you get an invite you’d better go. It’s on the 23^rd so I’ll probably post again after that.

Merry Christmas.