Every question I ever had, and every doubt my mind ever fostered, was completely wiped away today. It had been a long, LONG hot day with session after session in town, and I didn’t expect anything different to come of the next session. Little did I know, however, the next presentation by a few Marshallese kids would completely reaffirm and accentuate every reason behind why I wanted to do this program.
Sitting in the Melele room, we were all anxious to get out and explore Majuro some more. Just when we were all about to leave early because the Youth to Youth group was on Marshallese time, and we were bored waiting, music started blaring from the hallway. Three seconds later, the doors swung open and a heard of young adults came in singing, dancing and playing ukuleles. They sang up front for a minute, then started coming out and bringing us up to dance with them. (For all you UNC people, imagine how great I am at PDC…I’m not any better at Marshallese dancing) Apparently, this one kid Lucius, thought I was pretty great at dancing, and me, with this kid no older then 10, were definitely the duo to watch! Hahah - he was a hilarious dancer and pulled some pretty awesome Marshallese moves out. The entire room was dancing at one point, and everyone was absolutely loving it. I don’t like dancing, and I was even having a blast.
After the introductory dance was over, they explained what they were here for and proceeded to do a skit. The point of youth to youth in the RMI is to raise sexual health and drug/alcohol awareness among teens their age, and provide a support system for those who struggle with these problems in their family. They make teens aware of the potentially fatal outcomes of mixing poor sexual responsibility, alcohol and drugs, and go to all different social and scholastic events in an attempt to educate teens throughout the RMI.
After the skit they sang for a while longer, and we were up and down dancing and watching the rest of the hour. Sitting there watching these kids, so full of energy and excitement – so genuine and so bright - made me feel happier than I have in an extremely long time. I could not even begin to describe how real and how happy those kids were, and part of me just doesn’t understand how. But, they are – they look happier than I think I have ever felt in my entire life – every single one of them. To see 30 kids up there, having what looked to be the time of their life, doing something so good and so meaningful, in a country that really needs it, truly touched me. Seeing this made me want, more than ever, to help this country in any way that I could, because today I really saw what the Marshallese culture is all about. For today at least, all the doubts that have been running through my head for the past week, were washed completely out the window.
Aside from the Youth to Youth presentation there really hasn’t been anything too exciting going on. We have quite a consistent schedule of boring class after boring class in hot sticky classrooms. It has been nice to be in town though, because I have been able to talk online, read e-mails and buy MUMU’s! I have acquired some very nice Marshallese clothing now – and I am sure to get tons more as a gift when I arrive in Arno.
It is a strange sensation adjusting to this culture. There are so many things I love and so many that drive me crazy; that when I experience them together I am puzzled as to what I truly think and feel. I love the views and I love the people – but I hate the trash and I hate the language barriers. The list could go on forever about things I love and things that drive me crazy, but I am hoping that eventually I will find a way to turn all this craziness into something I may love. Use the trash to create sculptures? Or learn the language and become fluent. There are tons of solutions to quirks that drive my crazy, and I am just hoping that I may be fortunate enough to find them before my year is up!
Well that is all I have time for right now. I'll keep trying to post pictures, but the internet speed is not ideal for that. I will continue to try, but I can’t promise that it will work. Might just have to wait until I send some home!
Miss everyone tons! Talk to you again soon, hopefully.
Love,
Taylor
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