Please wind, come back!

The wind is gone this week, which means the cell phone reception at my house is gone this week, and of course, this is the only week I really want to talk to people. I go down to the ocean hopeful, at least three times a day, but there is nothing. I can connect for a brief second, but that is it. All I want to do is talk to my family at home or talk to Phil. I don’t like teaching and my family here is driving me crazy. I have tried teaching them manners but that isn’t going so well. They just feel completely entitled to everything that is mine. I understand things are different here, and I don’t want to be selfish or mean, but I can’t support a family of seven. I don’t have enough tea for them to drink it every meal…even if I am not drinking it they still ask. I have started pretending I just don’t have more of the stuff they constantly ask for – and I feel bad – but they don’t ask nicely for one thing and I don’t have a ton for another. “Give me one your tea.” “You got Mosquito Coil, I need.” “You go and get an oatmeal Taylor eh.” I don’t mind sharing if you ask nice or a offer, but like this is really getting to me. I try to spend more time alone or with June June and Junior (some guys my age who think its hilarious I like doing Marshallese things and they love teaching me) and I really like that. We hang out a night, which is a nice break from the kids and family, and we are starting to hang out after school. I really like being able to hang out with people my own age and now that I speak more and more Marshallese it is becoming a lot easier. June June is already talking about how boring Lukoj is going to be when I leave hahah. He is one to think ahead apparently.

Today we husked coconuts to make some coconut oil and jamboed down to the house with the basketball hoop. It wasn’t much of anything, but it put me in a better mood after yet another, frustrating day at school. There are definitely some things that are getting better and I am figuring stuff out little by little… but the older kids really get to me. They just don’t think sometimes and always take advantage of every opportunity to make a joke or say something about me in Marshallese and crack up and then not tell me, and simply not put effort into understanding directions. I am trying to do something fun by making the garden, but that is turning out to just be play time. Maybe after the quiz they earned themselves on Friday they wont look at it as playtime anyone. But then again, who knows. They probably still will, because no one really cares about grades here. Soooo, who knows.

Well, it is now 8:30 and I am ready for bed. These kids have learned how to ware me out. Hah - I am going to bed with a positive attitude tonight though and am hopeful that tomorrow, a new day, will be a good one. I made cookies tonight with my sister for school tomorrow so hopefully that will inspire some kids to listen. If it works though, I’m in trouble cause I can’t do that all the time. Oh well, maybe I will get one day of sanity out of it. I offered my mom 2 cookies tonight and she just simply said, “Well do you think I could maybe have 6 or 7.” I probably should have been surprised, but I wasn’t, and just said, “No, but you can have the two I offered you.” I think that might have been a little mean, but I told her I was making them for my students, and she wanted 7 cookies! Last time she ate all the cookies I put aside for my sister. I was SO mad. Lizzy was crying and she just told her to stop. UH- some things make me so annoyed here.

Ok I have to stop complaining now. I really do like a lot of things here – and it probably isn’t as bad as my complaining makes it out to be sometimes. I am just starting to get really homesick right now, so a lot more is bugging me than what is probably normal. Oh well. Just so long as the wind comes back so I can talk to home and people keep sending me wonderful letters, I will be ok.

Hope everyone is doing well, I miss you all tons.
Love,
Taylor