The end is here...

The year is coming to an end for this year’s WorldTeach volunteer cohort. Since my school is the last school to finish, I get the unique opportunity to see the vast majority of the volunteers return to Majuro and depart from the Marshall Islands (possibly forever). I cannot believe that this “year-long” commitment is almost over. For some people, they are ready to return to the life they once knew and left behind. For a few other people, they are not quite ready to leave, even though they know that their time to depart has come. For all, whether or not they ever desire to return to the Marshalls or their “home” atoll, they will miss this unique place that shows up as a speck on a world map, or sometimes doesn’t even show up at all.

People are going to return home changed by the harsh conditions, environment, or situations they have often endured on their own. Sadly it will be nearly impossible for returned volunteers to convey their experiences to their closest family and friends who have never trekked to this part of the world. They will lack a certain understanding that one only receives when they have experienced a small pacific island first hand.

Before I embarked on my journey to the Marshall Islands I thought I was completely prepared. I read every website related to the Marshall Islands (the RMI government site, the US embassy site, university web pages, CIA factbook, Wikipedia,etc. ), I read personal blog and magazine articles, and I looked at on-line picture and watched video clips (thanks to the innovations of flickr, picasaweb and youtube). Additionally, I talked to multiple returned volunteers, who lived on Majuro and on outer islands, through email and on the telephone. (I chose to collect my information in this manner so it would be more relative to my situation and, hopefully, more up to date than a book written in the 1990’s or earlier.) With all of my preparation, the transition to move to a small, developing country with inadequate infrastructure, and few resources (and even fewer local resources) was eased. But certain aspects of life, the nuisances of living on an island, isolated from the rest of the world had to be experienced firsthand to be understood.

However, to truly succeed, or at least appear to be comfortable, people coming to the Marshall Islands (especially to live for an extended period of time) need to have a certain level of patience and flexibility (when I say a certain level, it sometimes has to be very high…this would be a very difficult place for a neurotic person). Unfortunately, not everyone who passes through this region of the world comes with these traits and they often leave cynical, disgusted and with little faith in the long term future of this region. The people who come with these traits, or learn to hone these traits while living in this region, may leave frustrated, but they leave with a better understanding and have given deep thought to the past, current and potential future situations that will ultimately shape this region.

I am still alive..

...and in the Marshall Islands.... more to write later...school ends soon

Kwajalein, Ebeye and Gugeegue Pictures (Well no pics of Kwaj....I think i would get arrested or something)

Here are the pics from my trip to the other side of the country





As always you can look at the photos in the album here:

Marshall Islands part 11

Kwajalein, Ebeye and Gugeegue

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit Kwajalein Atoll, the largest atoll/lagoon in the world and home to the Ronald Regan Missile Range. This place is one of the strange microcosms of the world. There is a clash of cultures, people and money.

The area is split into two main populations: American military and contractor personnel and their families on the Army base (the majority of them white) and the “local” Marshallese community (some who are from this atoll and others from various outer islands).

People who live on the base live like Americans with cheap food, one family per home and a well developed infrastructure. Obviously there is somewhat of a reduction of freedom for security since these people live on a military base, but more or less it appears to be American suburbia transplanted to a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific.

The majority of the Marshallese community lives on the small island of Ebeye (approximately 0.14 square miles in area). I am told that eleven thousands of people crowd on this little island making Ebeye one of the most densely populated places in the world (approximately equivalent to 78,500 people per square mile).

Due to security reasons I was not able to visit Kwajalein. I guess I am a potential security threat. The most interesting thing was passing through the security checkpoints and having people give me funny looks when I told them I was going to Ebeye. First of all, I was the only person who was not Marshallese going to Ebeye from the airplane that day. That means I had to get a special police escort from the airport to the dock and had to answer a series of questions about my visit. The people looked as if they didn’t believe me when I told them I was staying 5 days in Ebeye and Gugeegue.

For as crowded as Ebeye is, the people hide behind the high walls and fences during the day. In some places the streets look deserted. It is weird for there to be almost no one in the street when you know that behind the walls and in the homes people are huddled together (10, 20, 30 or more people) in a small shack with inconsistent electricity and probably no running water. It is sad to see the outhouses and the dump at one end of town completely surrounded by children, adults and homes.

In the end, this was quite the eye opening experience and I am glad I had the opportunity to see and stay in Ebeye. It is much different than Majuro and the outer islands. And in some ways it may be the most difficult place to live in the Marshall Islands.

Learn Marshallese Part III

Here is the third episode of this series(it's a little late..I know)

Learn Marshallese part II

Here is the second video in this series. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Water Photos

Here are some photos from the Majuro lagoon and latest Billfish tournament. The fish is a 77 pound Yellowfin (Ahi) Tuna.

Learn Marshallese

I often get asked from my friends at home, "So what language do people speak in the Marshall Islands?" And I promptly respond, "Marshallese." The follow up question usually is something along the lines of, "Is Marshallese a real language? Where does it come from?"

Today I begin a series of videos that will teach you some basic Marshallese words and phrases. The speakers and singers in this video series are my students from NVTI in Majuro, Marshall Islands.

Enjoy! :)

3rd quater

Today the third quarter ended. That means I have about 9 weeks left of school. At this point you would think I would have a routine down and would be able to cruise through the last quarter, but you are wrong. Not being a trained teacher and having minimal teaching experience before coming to the Marshall Islands has made this a very challenging experience.

In addition to having little teaching experience, I have had even less exposure to the Marshallese Language. While I am supposed to be teaching English with an emphasis on oral communication and grammar, the majority of my classes consist of my students sitting silent doing nothing (usually being embarrassed to speak or they are unwilling to raise their hand/speak up for help) or they speak to each other, or sometimes me, in Marshallese because they are shy or once again embarrassed to speak in English. My students know and understand much more English than they often display, however they are sometimes unsure if they are saying or using a word correctly.

These factors have caused me to have a very slow and sometimes difficult year. The range in students’ ages (14-18 years old) and English language abilities varies greatly. The number of students and the length of class do not really allow for time to do private tutoring. The students who come in after school to hang out or for extra assistance usually don’t need it (at least when compared to the other students in the class), but then again every student in my school needs assistance in all areas of English.

Lastly the most difficult part of this year has been trying to teach these students without a developed curriculum or relevant text book that they can understand. The cool thing about having little to no direction is that you can do pretty much whatever you want in class.

Pictures

Here are photos from my class Easter BBQ and the two marlin from the last bill fish tourney... Also...for the pamphlets/info in the previous posts click on them so that you can read them...my parents could not figure that out


:)

More information on the Marshall Islands

Here is some information on the Marshall Islands

Handicrafts of the Marshall Islands:





The WUTMI (Women United Together Marshall Islands) June 2007 Newsletter

Spring Break

There was a fishing tournament two weeks ago. We caught two marlin (one black and one blue) but they were too small to keep. Because of the two tag and releases our boat got second place in the tournament.

This past week was Easter and my school’s spring break. On Saturday we had an Easter Picnic by the airport. This was supposed to be a picnic for my home room class and it in turn included a number of other random students. It was a good time.

Because I live in a developing country, transportation to the more rural parts of the country is not always reliable. Since last October the national airlines has not been running and is just now testing the airplanes. The volunteers on the outer islands have all used boats to get to and from their placements, with the longest boat ride of the year being 10 days. In the past volunteers have been able to visit outer islands on their spring break, but this year it was not possible. It is unfortunate since I think it would have been awesome to truly be on an island in the middle of nowhere.

The Talent Show

This past weekend marked the NVTI talent show. This is an event that showcases about 10 classes dancing to three different songs. Sometimes the dances were exactly the same too. Since the students had spent most of the preceding weeks planning and preparing for the show, it was the job of the faculty and staff to work and attempt to maintain order at the actual event. Since this event took place in the Marshall Islands working the door and taking tickets was almost as entertaining as the actual show. Marshall Islands High School held their talent show two weeks previously and were criticized for the number of drunk people in the audience and subsequently banned from using that venue again. To maintain order we decided to check the students’ backpacks and pat them down as they entered the talent show. This type of thing is probably somewhat common at many schools in the US, but how this was conducted in the Marshall Islands was hilarious. To check student backpacks, one teacher would pick them up and throw them on the ground. He said that if they had glass alcohol bottles then they would break. Another teacher when patting down the students would have them lift their shirts, check their pockets and then pat their crotch. The funny thing was that while some of the students objected to the extensiveness of the search no one seemed to be offended. This much be something much more accepted in the Marshallese culture that I am still learning to understand.

Despite our best efforts to keep alcohol out of the talent show, audience members still managed to become very intoxicated. Some were slurring words, some had trouble standing or walking and some had even passed out in the seats. While the second night we relatively uneventful—meaning the drunks managed to escort themselves out early….or at least their friends took them home—the first night the police came and arrested a number of people and carted them off to jail. What was most disappointing (I think that is the correct choice of words…I hope) was that everyone I saw who was blatantly drunk or causing disturbances was not a student but other members of the community. This not to say that our students were not drinking this weekend, there have been multiple incidents this year where students have been caught drinking during or after school around campus.

More info and my trip to Arno

Some more information about the Marshall Islands and pictures from my trip to Arno.

Germans in the Marshall Inseln:







Traditional Handicrafts from the Marshall Islands:








Over the weekend I got my first outer island experience. I was able to visit Arno, the atoll closest to Majuro. Unfortunately I was unable to stay with one of the volunteers on Arno so instead I stayed at Francis Reimer's Bed and Breakfast. The weekend was great, enjoy the pictures.

My Trip to Arno, Arno, Marshall Islands:

More info on the Marshalls

Here are some more of the pamphlets.

Marshallese Language:






Coral Atolls:

Info on the Marshalls

For those of you wishing to learn more about the Marshall Islands I have scanned the pamphlets that were developed by the Marshall Islands Visitors Association and distributed at various locations around Majuro. I hope this information is interesting. The internet is a little slow today...so I will load more of the pamphlets later :)

A Brief History of the Marshall Islands:

Marshallese Canoes:

Fish

Went fishing on Saturday and it rained all day.....but it was fun.

Fish I have caught this year:

Barracuda
Wahoo
Mahi Mahi
Skipjack Tuna
Yellow Fin Tuna
Marlin
Spearfish


The Spearfish:


Joe with the spearfish:


Wahoo!:


The catch:

fish fotos

majuro sunset

Long time no post….

Christmas came and left, New Years came and left and now January is almost over. This week marks the end of the first semester at NVTI. After six months in the Marshall Islands and about 5 months of teaching I am starting to feel at home here. Well as at home as one can feel living in a country where one does not know the language.

Teaching has been a challenge and it is difficult to determine if you are doing a good or bad job. I know I have had an impact on my students but I don’t know in what direction. Over the last couple of months I have felt that I will probably never teach again, but right now I am starting to become more comfortable with my position and may consider teaching again….but then again who knows my mind changes every couple of days/hours/minutes……

The past couple of weekends have been quite relaxing. I spent one day on Eneko, an evening on the Indies Trader IV, a day on Enamanit, one day fishing in a Billfish Tournament, and another day on Enamanit. Being able to get off of the main island in the Majuro Atoll is key to keeping ones sanity and allows one to escape from the rigors of living in the RMI.

The Billfish Tournament on January 19 was a Catch 5 tournament where the goal is to catch all five of the main “big game” fish in the Marshall Islands: Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo, Barracuda, and Mahi Mahi. The fishing started at 6AM and by 6:45 we had our first fish, a 16 lbs Barracuda. Two hours later we landed our first of our 8 Mahi Mahi. The largest Mahi Mahi was 20 lbs. Around 11 or 11:30 we caught a 13 lbs. Wahoo. That left us with over 5 hrs to catch one Tuna (yellowfin, skipjack, or dogtooth) and one Marlin. Unfortunately, around 2 or 2:30 one of our two engines died. We were about 5 or 6 miles offshore and had to slowly drag ourselves back to land……it was a good day….

The first sunrise of the new year

Sunrise 2008

videos

Some Photos