December 1, 2008

Time really has the ability to fly here…but it’s a strange type of flying by. I feel like the weeks zip by – faster than I ever thought time could go – yet I can’t seem to understand how I have only been here for 4 months when time goes by so fast. I feel like the weeks fly by and yet somehow the months seem to crawl. I can’t figure that one out. I feel like I have been saying ‘only 7 more months’ forever now. Wow, I just counted again, and its still 7 ☹ maybe I was just rounding all the times I counted before and rounded down to 7. Who knows…but now…7 more months! Yikes, that seems like a long time if I have only been on Arno 3. Oh well, good thing I like it. I just gotta figure the food thing out and I’m good to go…if I keep going down the path I am no, no good. Jill….you might have to up those nightly sit-ups when I get back to like 1000, 500 wont cut it I don’t think. And we might need to do intervals like 3 times a day…no joke. Haha I already can’t wait for it though ☺ PS…Jill has certainly won the letter writing contest so far…best letter EVER today. My mom came over from the cookhouse to see what I was laughing at because I was laughing so loudly with the door open. It was 11 pages complete with outstanding pictures and everything. I miss you begegakkkkkk!

Anyways, life is still good. I rekindled my love for coconuts and they are my new favorite after school snack. We are getting ready to put our first nursery of plants in the ground and I am also getting ready to extract my first pih waste from the tank. YIKES. I can honestly say that I never thought I would be doing that. Maybe I wont come to think of it…maybe I will just slightly take advantage of the fact that people love to do things for me here and lets my students do that. Hahah we shall see. Sounds like a good plan at the moment.

We are down to three teachers this week because two of our teachers had ‘emergencies’ and needed to go to Majuro. They both said they were sick, but weather or not they really were remains a mystery. Neither of them told Movie or I that they were going – they just didn’t show up and people that had been at the dock told us later that day that they saw them go. So that’s always good. At least the three teachers left are the ones who do any form of work though; that’s a bonus.

Well, there really isn’t anything very interesting to tell you about at the moment. Life is pretty steady. Lots of biit, lots of school and lots of bwebwenato-ing and jambo-ing. I love going around town and learning new things with people and talking Marshallese – its so much fun. I started helping make copra and everyone just thinks that is hilarious. Everyone always tells me how much of a ‘ledrik in Majel’ (Marshallese girl) I am and they tell me I am not ripelle anymore; and I like that for some reason. Hah it makes me feel more a part of this place to know that they look at me like that, and I guess that was one of my goals coming in - so it is a nice feeling knowing that people acknowledge my efforts to really learn and become a part of their culture. It is such a drastically different culture, but the experience of truly becoming part of it is incredible. To gain such a new understanding of life is something that will help me in many ways and something I will truly be thankful for. Sure things suck at times and sure I have contemplated swimming home or swimming over to Samoa; but over all the experience is one of incredible worth that I will always carry with me. There will be good memories and bad, but my cultural lens will be forever changed, and I don’t think that can ever really be anything but good.