The Principal of a Small Private School on an Island

We are living on a small island with no theater, bowling alley, skating rink, mall or public parks. There are those who complain about being bored, but that has yet to be the case for me. When I was first thinking about working as a principal of a small school with but a handful of teachers I thought, how hard can it be? Let’s just say everyday keeps me on my toes and there is never a dull moment!

Last week our seniors worked the concessions for the opening of the new movie, The Sound of Crickets at Night. Yes, I said we don’t have a theater. But we do have a large meeting room at the hotel that can be set up with a projector and screen. Our board president has been making local films for the last few years (the last two have been award winning at several international film festivals) and his new one has just released. So the seniors are taking advantage of the opportunity to fundraise and are selling microwave popcorn and hotdogs at 22 showings over two weekends. So that occupied most of last weekend.

As to my week, I am teaching Algebra 2 and a College Seminar class. I am also my own secretary, counselor, and custodian. Of course there are staff and parent needs to continually. This week I also gave placement tests to two new students and welcomed them to the fold. I am also responsible to write multiple grants so we can keep afloat financially and also improve our school. I was relieved to finish a mid-term report and send it off yesterday for one of my grants

There is both PTA the Board of Directors to write monthly reports to and their meetings to attend. This last Thursday we had a general PTA meeting planned. All parents and staff are expected to participate. We were all ready to go when we heard one of our beloved board members had just passed away. Our power was out and the internet down so we couldn’t really connect with parents to let them know the meeting was cancelled. It was a tough evening, sharing the news and trying to figure out how we’ll move forward without such a vital voice in our community. It turns out that folks here care in ways that are similar to home; we take up a collection and bring food to the family. One difference is that the children often attend school the next day. Robert, the little 2^nd grader wore his father’s flip-flops to class. Evidently this is how the family gives the children a place to be so the adults can tend to the business of grieving and planning a funeral. In the midst of this, school still goes on.

There are folks who constantly call or drop in with invitations for the principal. Sometimes they give me an hour’s notice, sometimes a week or two. There is an expectation that I attend and I try to comply as much as I can. So far this school year I have been invited to opening and closing ceremonies for community college/Taiwanese exchanges, a hearing deficit workshop,  a 3-day diabetes seminar and a high school college fair for the University. The USP Day was how yesterday began.

All of my high school students met and sat outdoors on USP’s beautiful campus grounds. The ceremony started 45 minutes late because the RMI President was invited and they cannot start the ceremony until he either comes or sends his regrets. Once we knew he couldn’t attend, we heard speakers and watched cultural dances. The students were then given tours of the campus, saw the facilities and looked at displays the college students had produced. Meanwhile, the high school teachers and principals were gifted with plates of sandwiches and desserts.

Shortly after returning to the Co-op campus I had visitors. These two women came by to introduce themselves and ask our participation in an upcoming Bob Festival (bob is the Marshallese word for pandanus, a tree that grows on the islands. The islanders eat the fruit and use the leaves for thatched roofs, woven mats, handicrafts and more). They want us to sell raffle tickets and build a Bob Float. The student body officers are excited to participate so we are in. Before we finished our conversation, I had another visitor.

We are getting ready to celebrate Manit (Marshallese culture) in a couple of weeks. My next visitor was looking for my students to help lead some traditional games at the island-wide fest. He announced a meeting for us to attend at 5:30 that (yesterday) evening. I asked the students but they gave me the impression they weren’t going to be able to come, even though I volunteered to pay for their food. Meanwhile, I had students in the library earning community service hours.

Several of you have been very kind to donate books to our high school library. Some of you have even garage sale and/or bargain book sale shopped. We have some lovely reading choices now, thanks to folks like the Chutes, Smiths, Riefs, Jaquishs and Williams! We were able to shelve some of the books but quickly ran out of space. This summer one of my priorities was to have new shelves in the library, just for the high school students. Our maintenance man just finished building two new sets of shelves and the students spent their Friday afternoon happily sorting, alphabetizing and beginning to shelve the books. It was wonderful! They told me they might not have enough shelf space and I told them not to worry, that we can figure out!

Oh, how I underestimated the group of students I volunteered to feed! Five of them showed up for the dinner meeting and were happy to order at my expense (I was thinking 2)! I think the committee didn’t quite know what to think of us all showing up at their planning meeting but the students made me proud. By 7:00 the meeting was wrapped up and we had some idea of how we would fit in to the program.

Now it’s the weekend. Willard is off fishing and the internet is down. I am writing my long overdue blog, doing some school work, walking the dog on the beach, and enjoying some new art supplies. I may get a snorkel in and hopefully there will be fresh fish for dinner!

Our love to you,

Becky and the Cabana Boy

High school students organizing the new high school section with their newly donated books.

My beautiful high school students at the University of the South Pacific for a presentation

Cabana Boy update 9/8/12

I must beg the pardon of those who read our blog for not keeping it up to date but it seems that since returning from our vacation I’ve found one thing after another to occupy my time.

With school resuming the first week of August, Becky has been immersed in running the high school. She has had a need for an algebra teacher for one period a day (first period) and although she had a couple of candidates, neither of them worked out. So, for right now the Cabana Boy is teaching algebra one every morning to 15 students, mostly 9^th graders with a few from the other grades. I’m so not a morning person. One morning I got up, put the water on for coffee, put the beans in the grinder, washed out the French press and when the water boiled I poured it in to the press. Oops, no coffee, still in the grinder. No problem, pour coffee from the grinder into the press. Oops, forgot to grind the beans. Throw out the mess and start over. This teaching stuff puts a crimp in my Cabana Boy duties but I soldier on and Becky is trying to find a permanent math teacher.

I’m still working on my guitar practice and at times it even sounds like something you could recognize as music. Amazon continues to be my friend and is the source for most of our reading, music, and movies.

Fishing has been poor the last few times I’ve been out. The boat I fish with won the yearly President’s Cup and last weekend we represented the Marshall Islands in the “All Micronesia” tournament. We did terrible and after two full days we were lucky to have a Wahoo to take home for dinner. If fact, we had to barrow a small skipjack tuna for the team picture. Very embarrassing.

We still get out to snorkel our reef and, during the past month, we have been to two of the other islands on this atoll and done some snorkeling there.

We continue to enjoy the people here in Majuro. Our house has become a regular stopping place for the neighborhood children. We try to keep fruit on hand for them and it is fun to talk with them about island life.

 Mischief loves the beach and water. When we take her out she doesn’t want to come back in and we usually have to leave her and sit on the porch until she figures we won’t be coming back out and then she will reluctantly return.

Can't keep Mischief out of the water

I’m still busy with my Cabana Boy duties, but it’s a great retirement job. Life’s tough when you’re a Cabana Boy.

Great Sunsets

Becky reading while the Cabana Boy slaves

Becky on the deck after being served by the Cabana boy

Willard

Pohnpei

We decided - actually I begged and Willard acquiesced - that we would spend a couple of days in Pohnpei after Palau since it was on the way home. We have heard both good and bad about Pohnpei so I didn’t have huge expectations.

But first, it was back on the Island Hopper. It was brutal in a new way. We had to board the plane in Palau at 2 AM which meant there was no sleep that night. I was wearing a skirt since I had visited the Ministry of Education that morning and found out the hard way that they frisk you if you are in a skirt. When we got to Guam we saw Cheryl and Phil off onto their flight - they had to make a mad dash and almost missed their connection - and then we went to chill for two plus hours waiting for our next plane. We were up, then down in Chuuck, then up and down again in Pohnpei somewhere around 2 PM. By this time we were exhausted and I was questioning my sanity for wanting to make the extra stop.  In addition to being tired, we had not made any reservations - we were flying by the seat of our pants. The only thing I’d done is to research hotels online and I thought I had a reasonable place to try.

After we collected our luggage, we started to stagger outside. Willard approached a young man who said he’d be glad to take us to the hotel; it was on his way to his place of business. We hopped in his rig and off we went. He dropped us off and Willard handed him $5.  The Rainbow Cliff had room and it was exactly what the Internet said - somewhat outdated but clean, fine, friendly help, and good food. It didn’t seem like a $100/night room but we were too tired to argue. After unpacking our things we went down for an iced tea and Willard began looking at the map/brochure and asked what I wanted to do. Nap. By this time I was beyond tired - that was that for the day.

The next day, however, we were able to get on what we thought was a day of snorkeling. A cab driver took us down the road to a spiffier hotel, The Village, where we met five Japanese JICA folks, an Australian woman, and a young man from America who is doing firefighting in Kwajalein. When one of the Japanese began to explain JICA (these folks do a two year volunteer stint akin to our  Peace Corps), I explained that I had just said good-bye to my JICA Japanese teacher and was getting ready to welcome a new one. It turns out they all knew the new teacher; she was in their training classes! Our guide was a Pohnpei man named Ward.

 Our first stop was to go to Manta Road, a channel of water between islands that has manta rays. The whole time we were in Palau, Phil, Cheryl, and Willard, mentioned repeatedly that it would be very cool to see a manta ray. I was indifferent really. I have seen large eagle rays off of our reef and so a ray wasn’t on top of my list. But, immediately, when we pop into the water, everyone is excited - there is a ray! But it is really deep and I only see it for a couple of seconds so I decide not to concern myself and move over to the reef and enjoy the coral and the fish. After a half hour everyone climbs back in the boat so I figure that is that.  It turns out we needed to hang out for a while, while the tide changed and while we did Ward showed me where there is a school of fish. He showed me how the water bubbles or looks like it is boiling and that’s how you know the fish are there. Then he goes on to say that the manta rays like to circle these fish and the next thing we know, he has jumped in. We follow and, true to his word, there is the ray! This creature was over 8 feet wide and swam right to us, within a yard, before turning off.  It was too fast to follow but we found that if we stayed with the school of fish, sure enough, it would come back around. Before we were done there were two, doing all sorts of acrobatics right in front of us. I almost got an affidavit signed by all of our witnesses because I don’t think Phil or Cheryl will ever believe us! The manta rays are amazing and now I understand why the others were keen to see them.

From there we went to a small little island to eat a nice lunch and we snorkeled off its shore. We then went to a waterfall. We hiked for five minutes to a fall that was about 200 feet. It was beautiful and I think it is the first time I have swam under a fall! Ward then took us to the Nan Madol Ruins. This looks to be a village that is made from huge basalt stones. The walls are 15 feet or better and the stones are up to 6 tons. These ruins date around 500 A.D. and no one knows the real story of why they are there or HOW they got there. Archaeologists say there are several tombs that were for royalty and a place of worship but mostly the 150 acres of 93 man-made islets of ruins are all a mystery.

We finished the day feeling like we’d made new friends and had an incredible tour. We called for a taxi driver and a man named Keeper (not lying) came and got us. He took us to a local saceu (the Pohnpei version of kava) stop and we passed the coconut cup of brew. He agreed to come for us again this morning and take us around the island for $50. Since it cost $65 to rent a car, we felt we had a deal!

Keeper was right on time and took us around the island. Almost all of it is very rural and the jungle is beautiful. The main road that goes around is paved and in good shape. There are no roads that go across - it’s uninhabited hill and jungle. Once you have headed out of town you better have eaten, peed, and have gas in your car because there are no facilities. We saw the national capitol building, the state capitol building, several schools and a pepper farm.

We liked Pohnpei a lot and would come back, even to live! The people are friendly and the island is cleaner than Majuro. The locals live poor but they have all they need; Keeper says they do not know starvation. They are able to grow bananas, coconuts, mango, papaya, breadfruit, taro and more. And of course they fish.

Tomorrow we are back on the Island Hopper and back to Majuro. It has been a good vacation!

Love to you, Becky and C.B.

Pohnpei

I didn't take this picture but this is exactly like the rays we saw

Keeper and Willard

In my new skirt from Pohnpei!

Vacation in Palau

We are on vacation! My sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Phil, joined us in Guam where we got on the plane for Palau. While this destination was highly recommended to us by islanders and tourists alike, I really didn’t have much in the way of expectations except a clean hotel, decent food, and great snorkeling.

We arrived at the nicest airport I’ve been to in the South Pacific (except Guam which doesn’t really count). It’s clean, attractive and efficient. We were picked up by a man from our hotel and brought to the Waterfront Villa. It is not posh, but rather funky. For $80/night we have our own furnished apartment that is nicer than our house in Majuro. It is run by Seventh Day Adventists so there is absolutely no help from sundown on Friday to 6 PM on Saturday, but they forewarn you and beyond this little inconvenience, the help is warm, friendly, and eager to please. There is a restaurant that serves a decent breakfast and a pool.

Two of my favorite Palauans so far are the two ladies we met at the Budget Rent-a-Car. They were happy to chat with Cheryl and I about their customs, including the money beads the Palauan women receive from parents and husbands that is worth more to them than actual money. They told us that their country was originally Belau but people said the name so fast that others misunderstood the B for a P and so it because Palau. They recommended restaurants and things to see and do. They were wonderful!

My other favorite person is Swing. On Sunday, we helped ourselves to the posh resort, eating lunch and snorkeling off of their beach. I asked the bartender what he would do if he was a visitor here with just a couple of days. He said, “I’d call Swing and have him take me out on his boat. He is Palauan and he knows all of the good spots.” We got a phone number and thought we’d give him a call later on. Later that evening we were at a restaurant, chatting it up with the waitress. She wanted to know what we were up to and we told her we wanted to snorkel. She told us that she knows Swing and that yes, we need to go with him. In fact, she said she would call him on the spot and she did!

So yesterday we go with Swing. He is funny and friendly and he does know all of the good spots. We started out a little crabby because we found out there is a $100 permit we needed to purchase in addition to the boat ride but we buy our permits and board. From there we pick up another couple who are from Germany and off we go. The snorkeling was amazing and just kept getting better. He took us to four different spots in addition to Jellyfish Lake.

This is a lake that is 60% saltwater and 40% rainwater. Somehow the jellyfish made their way through crevices from the sea into this lake and over time lost their stinging tentacles through evolution since there are no predators to threaten them in the lake. Willard and I hiked up some very uneven and quite vertical steps for several minutes until I thought I would die (there are no steps in Majuro to keep me in shape) and then down into the lake. You just put on your mask and fins and hop in and swim with a gazillion jellyfish that range in size from a marble to larger than a softball. There are a couple of species of fish as well but you don’t notice them - you just see that you are surrounded by these gentle moving peach colored sea creatures, everywhere! We were also surrounded by two hundred Taiwanese. It turns out that these folks can come to Palau for $500 on a chartered trip and they come in droves. What cracked me up is that we kept crossing paths with them in the lake and the ocean and every time they were out in the water just chatting it up with one another. Very few were actually looking at anything beneath the surface! It made me even happier we had chosen to go with Swing!

As I said, the snorkeling here is amazing. We have seen more varieties of coral than I have ever seen and there are fish galore! There is absolutely no litter on the sea floor which makes me happy to have paid the permit fee. I think my new favorite creature is the giant clam! We find the shells on our beach in Majuro but I have not seen one live until now. They can weigh up to 400 pounds and can be 3 feet high. What is amazing is that most of the ones we have seen have these brilliant, electric colorings - almost psychedelic - and each one is very different than the next. Some are blue, others green or pink or ….. Anyway, at the end of our last snorkel, Swing told the six of us to grab the tow rope and he drug us through the water. It made me feel like a kid and it was a fun way to end the day. We all had to admit we were very tired; Swing had given us our money’s worth!

We are loving our time with Cheryl and Phil and happily eating our way through Palau. We have eaten in several places and feel we struck gold every time. They even have a brewery here that makes a very nice amber! We’ve also toured the aquarium and museum and found them to be nicely done. Today we are driving the islands so we’ll see what kind of mischief we can make on this new adventure!

Being with Cheryl and Phil makes me realize how much we miss all of you. Please let us know how you are doing – throw us a line once in a while! Take care, we send our love,

Becky and the Cabana Boy

Having an amazing snorkel day in Palau!

Swing driving the boat

 /s

The Rock Islands

A picture of a giant clam - no I didn't take the picture but this is what they look like

The jellyfish - I didn't take this picture either

This is a cave the Japanese blasted out and used to hold fuel

 

Names for a Grandbaby and more Mischief

There will be no surprise to any of you that I am excited to be a grandmother (bubu) in a few months! I wonder if this new being will be a he or a she and what gifts God will bestow. Will this person be musical, artistic, funny, smart, serious, athletic, or…..? And what name will the parents give this child? Here are some ideas from where we sit.

We have a father here with three children: two girls and a boy. His name is James. His kids? Jamie, Jamie, and James but the boy is called Scipio. We have a student named Peter Halber but some of his records say Royden and he goes by Spanky (he is 16 years old). A lot of our children have a formal name and a name they go by. Carly Ann goes by Nala, Julie Ann goes by Lulani, and Denisa goes by Elle. I don’t see the connection and when I ask, they don’t see the need for one. Several girls here are called Beauty and we have a Kyeoeo (pronounced key-yo-yo which is the name of a local flower). There are students with several names. One of our graduates has the first name Chrytle Hazle Lee, middle name Tigno and then her last name. When they put part of her first name as a middle name on her visa they had to start all over. Two of our favorites are Dylexia (girl) and Osmosis (boy).  There is also the new student we got yesterday.

One of my favorite parents is a young mom named Leona. She has a teenage daughter who attends Co-op, Momo, and she also has a baby. I have chatted with Leona off and on all year and thought these were her kids. Oh no, she has two more that she puts at another school (this is actually fairly common here) and then she shows up yesterday with a young daughter who has been raised by paternal grandparents on an outer island. “What is her name?” I ask. “Ready.” “Ready?” “Yes, like are you Ready to go?,” she replies. O.K., Ready it is!

And then there is Journal. Journal is a nice, distinguished man who is probably in his forties. He is the father of another one of our grads, Annietha. One of our bolder teachers asked him if Journal was a common name here in the Marshall Islands and how his name came to be. He told us his father was in Kwajalein as a young man and saw a fat notebook on a shelf at work that was called “Journal.”

I thought I was entertained in the states with a girls named Liberty - middle name Bell, and Twinkle but these folks take naming to whole new levels! So to Marcia and Will, have fun figuring it all out, just name your kids something they can live with!

Some of you have asked about our “child.” Mischief is doing just fine. She loves living with a Cabana Boy and, other than the fact that she is possessed by some kind of sand bug that likes to bite her, she is completely acclimated to life here. Her newest game is fetching her ball in the lagoon. This morning I took her walking on the beach during a low tide. I throw the ball while I walk, she runs and gets it and we continue for a half mile or so. Sugar Pie and Buckwheat, the two strays that have adopted us, follow along loyally but care nothing about this silly game we are playing. Then all of a sudden Mischief changes course. She has turned to the water and isn’t to be dissuaded. So we play fetch in the water for a half hour. Below are the pictures of what happened when I thought she was too tired to play anymore and I was ready to come in!

I hope all of you are well and getting a little summer in your 63 degree Northwest! Love to you all, Becky

I've come in and she's just standing out there - "But I'm not done yet. I don't wanna come in!"

Then before she came in she had to roll around in the coral sand - yes she is still a black dog!

Overdue Update

Well Guam has changed. When I was there 35 years ago it was not nearly as developed as it is now. The small villages that I remember are still there at the far end of the island but area around my base has been turned into housing developments and the village of Tumon is now hotel row. It seems that everywhere you go there someone has figured out a way to create a tourist draw. After reflecting on the change I totally understand the change. Guam’s two major sources of income are the US military and Japanese tourists and both groups are happy to spend their money on activities and entertainment. Oh well things change.

Now Majuro reminds me of Guam of 35 years ago, limited income, small villages, not a lot of night life, but plenty of quiet.  Since we returned from Guam we have been busy. I have been helping out a couple days a week at the school substituting as the craziness of the end of the year takes hold. Mostly though I’ve been keeping the house and entertaining the dog. We have just about reached the end of the dry season which is a relief. We have been watching our water usage very carefully but haven’t run dry yet. With the dry season came the trade winds which blow from the east consistently at about 20 knots. It feels a little breezy at times but it also cools the house and keeps the mosquitoes down.

Because of the trade winds the water in the lagoon has been pretty choppy but it doesn’t stop us from getting out and snorkeling. We are lucky to live in a place that has beautiful reef and fish to match. Yesterday we were snorkeling off our reef and we saw a huge Eagle Ray just swimming by us, just cruising by us and up the reef. We have seen small rays on top of the reef when the tide is up but this is the first one we’ve seen in the open lagoon. Very cool.

Shopping in Majuro is interesting. Most of the technology is at least a year old and almost twice as expensive. We shop but generally don’t buy.  For most of our media (books, movies, x-box games) we order from Amazon who will ship direct. For other items from Amazon we send them to our friends John and Sue Rief who then forward them to us.  Music we get from I-Tunes via the internet but at 5 minutes a song it takes a while to download our purchases.  

Well it’s time to practice my guitar, after six months sometimes it actually sounds like something. House to clean, dog to walk, and books to read, life’s tough when you’re a cabana boy!

On Guam

Talofofo Falls, Guam

Our friend Sue asked about Guam so here goes!

First there was the accreditation piece. I got really lucky to have a team and team leader that worked like a finely tuned machine and they’re all really fun! All five were Hawaiians that knew each other and have worked with each other before but they embraced me as one of them. We accredited a middle school that has great things happening so it all worked out well. Whew, I was pretty nervous going into the whole thing!

Willard came on Tuesday evening and he has his own version of the Island Hopper. The visibility was low over Kosrae, so after they descended like they were going to land, all of a sudden they were ascending again! Anyway he met my team and ate with us and then hung out for a day while we finished our work.

Yesterday was a play day for the two of us. We decided to drive the perimeter of the island and see what is on Guam. Willard was a little sad and disappointed that Guam has developed so much: roads, hotels, and population. Honestly it is like a little Hawaii and the Japanese come here and vacation as such. When we got down south we drove inland to one of the sights you are supposed to see while you are here, Talofofo Falls. When Willard was here 35 years ago, he and his buddies used to drive up then walk in and enjoy the whole thing for free. They’d jump in and ride down the falls and swim in the water. When we arrived we drove up to a parking lot and a $20.00/each entry fee. I was a little aghast but Willard paid it. We went in and saw a couple of carnival rides and the entry to the falls. When we entered we were led to a monorail car that took us to the falls. After enjoying the scenery and the lunch we brought, we came back up and saw two deer in a cage like you’d see in an old school zoo and that for $2 each we could take a train ride to Yokoi’s cave.

Yokoi was a Japanese soldier from WWII who was discovered in 1972 by some village farmers. He and two other Japanese soldiers built a cave and lived in it for over 20 years after the war, coming out only at night to trap shrimp in the river and gather coconuts and bananas in the surrounding jungle. The other two men died eight years before Yokoi was found. One of the men who discovered Yokoi wouldn’t allow him to be killed and eventually he was able to return to Japan. He came back to Guam more than once and it appears he was treated like a local hero. We decide to see his cave and pay our money. A young local man takes just the two of us on this crazy train that runs by what looks like a lawn mower motor and shows us the cave. Willard makes a comment about how he thought the cave was up against the hills and the young man then confesses that this is a mock-up - not the real cave. He then goes on to tell us that it was his grandfather who was one of the men who discovered Yokoi and gave us his version of the story. We were starting to feel like we were getting our money’s worth whether it was all true - or not! He then returned us to the starting point.

On our way out we noticed a Ghost House. We decided to go in since it was included in the cost and it turns out that it was a fairly elaborate haunted house - out in the middle of nowhere and in late April! I have to admit it got me good a couple of times! We exit and have some laughs about how random it all is and then Willard notices a sign directing us to “Loveland,” and of course we have to check this out too. 

As we enter, there is a sign saying that you may only enter if you are over 19 years old. This seems strange because it is right next to the carnival rides we saw in the beginning. I need to mention there is also a Buddha where you can pay your respects near the entrance. When we go in we realize we are walking a quarter mile trail that is one life size statue after another. Some are replicas of famous statues like the Venus de Milo, but others are quite erotic (understatement). It was really something - again, out in the middle of what used to be an out of the way place for a swim and picnic by a waterfall!

We left in the heat of the afternoon, as evidenced by the family of pigs who took refuge under one of the cars in the parking lot for shade! I don’t think I need to mention that we are still having an adventure!

Today we had fun snorkeling and shopping. We have a couple of more days to play and then it’s back on the Island Hopper for us. We hope you are all well and having fun!

Take care, Love, Becky 

On the train to see Yokoi's Cave

This is the entrance to the "cave" - it is a hole in the ground lined with bamboo

This is a diagram of the underground cave

Here are guide is telling us how his grandfather wanted to  kill Yokoi

Here you can pay your respects! It turns out a Korean rents the attraction from the governor of Guam so he has these shrines in several places throughout the site. 

I felt I needed a picture to validate my story - you can't make this stuff up!

The pigs are free to wander - or to find shade under your vehicle!

The Cabana Boy Returns

Well after a six week stint as a working stiff I have returned. I took a short term job as a consultant to the High Court to write a procedure manual for the court bailiffs and then provide training for the bailiffs on the manual and some general training for professional development. It was an interesting experience and gave me a better understanding of the police operations here in the Marshall Islands.

Becky and I spent spring break in Kosrae which is a small nation state, part of the Federated States of Micronesia. The population of the island is about 6500 and has a land mass of about 47 square miles with hills, water falls, and mangrove swamps.  It was a very relaxing time and we had great experience.

Upon our return to Majuro, Becky returned to work and I had one day left with the court. Becky has been teaching a contemporary living class for her seniors and she currently has me teaching a first aid class. I’m not a certified instructor but there isn’t a certified instructor on the island so I’m it. We have been working out of a first aid/CPR manual and even if they don’t get a certification they will have a good working knowledge of the material.

On a sad note, before I started my job, most mornings I was having morning coffee at a little stand down the road. The stand was run by a Marshallese man and his daughter.  Bob was a nice guy with a voracious reading habit and we would discuss books and exchanged a few. After my job ended I returned to the stand to have my morning coffee and found that Bob had passed away several weeks prior. I will miss the time we spent together.

Becky left for Guam on Saturday and Mischief and I have been hanging out at the house. Lots of reading, guitar practicing, dog walking, and Xbox playing to keep us amused. I’ll be meeting Becky on Tuesday and we will be spending a few days seeing Guam. I was stationed there when I was in the service and it will be fun to see the changes that have occurred in 34 years.

Well, time to walk the dog and then practice my guitar. Life’s tough when you’re a Cabana Boy.

The Island Hopper

I have just arrived in Guam, flying on the infamous Island Hopper. This is United’s 737 that takes you from island to island on your route to wherever, in my case Guam. I left the ground at a little after 9 a.m. First stop, Kwajelin. This is a U.S. military base so No One gets off unless it’s your destination and you have clearance. You are instructed to put all electronics away and there are NO PICTURES. Everyone remaining on the plane takes down their carry-ons and an official inspector person comes aboard to check out the plane. Then we’re off to Kosrae. We stop and now we all de-board; not a bad thing because I can buy some delicious Kosraen tangerines for the trip. Back on and we’re on our way to Pohnpei, another island in the Federated States of Micronesia. Folks get off and more get on. It’s interesting because all of these islands honor folks with leis that are worn on the head, but each culture has its own version. The Pohnpeins have leis that are little fronds that hang down from a crocheted string. By now the plane ride is fragrant with the smell of hibiscus - it’s lovely. On to Chuuck, another FSM island. This island has my curiosity piqued because it is known for being one of the rougher groups of locals, not the safest of the places to go. We get off the plane once again so they can spiff up the plane for the new group. From what I can see Chuuck looks like it has seen better days, the buildings are not in real good shape. The airport is much like the others, just a couple of rooms but I am disappointed there are no crafts to look at or buy. There is a large poster of what Chuuck has to offer. This is a huge diving destination because there are at least 13 huge WWII war ships that were sunk in the area. The people from this island are wearing another beautiful version of the head piece; theirs is floral with very little greenery; they are gorgeous. One young woman is in a very pretty traditional dress with her long black hair and her head piece. I would take her picture but I think it would mortify her. Now we get back on and now we are finally off to Guam. Another hour and fifty five minutes and I arrive in Guam about 4:40 p.m. It’s quite a change coming to a large airport with all of the modern amenities! I must say, my Island Hopper ride was very interesting, but the 9 hours of screaming little ones make me a strong candidate for the noise cancelling headphones!

This man from Paupa-New Guinea was standing behind me at the airport and let me take his picture. Guess what the stick is for!

Easter on Kosrae

It’s Spring Vacation - hurray! Willard and I boarded a plane yesterday and went southwest to the island of Kosrae. This is one of the islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), formerly known as the Caroline Islands. We are happy to be staying at a nice hotel called the Nautilus. It’s air conditioned and clean and we are thrilled!

Yesterday we settled in and wandered about a bit. The island is hilly; the center is actually 2000+ feet in altitude and is called Mt. Finkol. The land is lush with beautiful flowers and vegetation. There is no water shortage here because there is no dry season. It also feels cleaner and less populated than Majuro. There are 6,500 people on the island.

Today is Easter and we decided to go to services. Last night the waiter tells us most of the island is Protestant and we are welcome to attend services. In fact, the hotel owner will give us a lift. And he does. He is an Australian who has been on Kosrae on and off for ten years. He tells us the church we are attending is in temporary quarters because they are renovating their actual church. Later he explains that there was nothing wrong with the church they had, but there are five protestant churches on the island and they are constantly working to outdo one another. A couple of years ago another church was rebuilt and 2,000 pigs were butchered for the celebration (remember, there are only 6,500 people on the whole island)! He tells us this church will be rebuilt before Christmas because there is some sort of big celebration every four years and this is the year. The church, he says will be totally bought and paid for - nothing owed, but a lot of parishioners will be severely in debt. In addition, each adult male will be expected to provide a large pig and every teenage male a small pig. Much of it will be waste because there is no refrigeration for all of the leftovers.

When we get to the entrance it is obvious that men sit on the right and the women sit on the left side of the sanctuary. I felt pretty out of place even though I had on a pretty blouse and skirt. Everyone I was sitting near was in a white dress, and the men were all in long sleeved starched white shirts and ties. The dresses were beautiful - they looked like something you could get married in, or at least wear as the mother of the bride. There were folks dressed in other colors too, but not where we were. As the service progressed, I was told that on Easter there is a sort of choir contest where different choirs perform, and if you are in the choir, you wear white. The music was pretty amazing. The pastor spoke (in Kosraen, so we didn’t understand a word) and then the congregation would reply in song - always sung in four part harmony. It was beautiful, but a little screechy, all at the same time. The only parts I caught were the Lord’s Prayer and (I am pretty sure) John 3:16 because of the cadences. There were some alleluias too. I am glad we went; it was really interesting. But I am glad the service only ran one hour!

On the way home the hotel owner tells us that Kosrae is a man’s world. The women are the smart ones who do all of the work (I am not sure that is smart, but….) and the men hold all of the offices and own the land. Before motor boats, the women even did all of the fishing, but when motor  boats came along, the men couldn’t resist the “toys” and so now they fish.

After we came home we had lunch and then went for a long snorkel. We were allowed to snorkel on Sunday but could not dive and nothing is open, except the hotel restaurant. Alcohol is not served on the Sabbath either. But pizza is half price at the restaurant so that was our Easter feast.

We thought about friends and family sitting around ham dinners back at home. We hope you all had a good Easter.

We look forward to a relaxing week. A kayak ride through mangrove trees, a hike to a waterfall, more snorkeling, and a lot of sleeping in is on the agenda!

Take care, write when you can, love, Becky

On a hike with friends, Jen and James. Behind us is a eucalyptus tree.

We kayaked through the mangrove trees

Easter service at the local Protestant church

These mangrove trees thrive in salt water and help with erosion problems

Email Glitch

To all are friends...our email has been hacked. We are not in Spain and don't need money. If you got an email from us asking you to help us, please ignore it. We are currenly locked out of MSN but we do have email at:

majurocoophs@yahoo.com - Becky
rwlathrop@gmail.com - Willard

We hope nobody was too concerned.

Willard and Becky

The Marshall Islands Journal and Other Amusements

The newspaper here never fails to amuse me. I think it is the first newspaper that I have ever read consistently cover to cover. Here is a recent article that gives you an example of why it humors me:

Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are neat, but for some reason many people feel they are very bad and should be banned. The suggestion is that cloth bags should be used instead of plastic, but cloth bags also have inherent difficulties. Cloth bags need occasional washing and fresh water and imported soap to do so.

Plastic bags have a convenient recyclable aspect: after emptying plastic bags are used as trash bags. They serve this function conveniently.

Plastic bags are dangerous because they can smother babies. This is why warnings are printed on plastic bags.

What do we recommend? That everyone wear oversize shirts, like if you are XX, buy a XXX. When you check out at the supermarket grab the front of your shirt at the bottom and draw the shirt up. This makes a pouch in front of your belly like a kangaroo. Stuff purchases in the pouch and go home. When you arrive, release the goods onto the kitchen table or whatever. If you need shopping shirts to go shopping you can buy them at Payless in Delap. Help keep Majuro neat.

A couple of months ago they hosted  political elections here. One race was extremely close. There were issues and they needed to recount the votes. When they finished they reported it all in the paper, including the names of the two voters who swayed the vote!

Most of the time there is an ad that reads: Please don’t rob banks!

On another subject, we have been blessed this week with rain. This is not a place that grumbles about rain! No, we are thankful - the catchments are about three-quarters full and we can do laundry without worry for a minute. The weather here feels a little cooler because of the trade-winds but it probably gets as low as 78 degrees. So it cracks us up that we see folks walking around with coats and sweatshirts! As for us, we are feeling very comfortable. The only down side to the winds as I see it, is it makes the snorkeling more difficult.

We did get a chance to go last weekend though. We got a call with an invitation to go out with a group of divers to Arno, a close atoll. The weather was perfect and the snorkeling pretty good. Part of the way there the skipper decided we should fish. The Japanese folk who were on board were excited about the prospect of fresh sashimi. So I put out a hand line and a couple minutes later got a big strike! I was SO excited and Willard and one of the Japanese men started pulling in the line (there was no reel). I was pretty disappointed that it got away - but now I think I’ll have to go again - I think I’ve caught the fever! Got another smaller hit again a little while later but it was fleeting as well. I did learn how to look for the flocks of birds having a feeding frenzy on the water. They are feeding on the little fish, and where there is little fish, there is my dinner! Of course there will be pictures when I catch it!

Hope you are all well - I hear spring might visit the Northwest any day! Take care - Love, Becky



My students who earned all As and Bs this quarter - aren't they adorable?



More Fun in the Marshall's

Last Saturday was the February fishing tournament and we went out for a day of fishing but lousy catching. The weather was good and the sea was easy but the fish were not biting. We did catch a couple of nice wahoos but only one was a qualifier, and a couple of small tunas so there was fish for dinner but no big fish. Currently our team is still in first place for the years point total but we better get lucky next month.

The week was slow but I did have to cover a couple of classes at the school while my lovely bride attended to other duties.  I have a regular coffee meeting down the road at a little store where I meet with a Marshallese man named Bob. We have coffee and discuss books we are reading and exchange books that we think the other will like. Bob is a US Army veteran and has lived all over the world before coming to the Marshall Islands to retire. 

This Saturday, Becky and I went out with Hiro and Carey for a day of diving and snorkeling. We left Majuro about 9 AM on Carey’s boat and traveled to Arno (the next atoll to the East). We Arrived at Arno and I went for a SCUBA dive with Hiro and Becky snorkeled.  I had a great dive Becky got to snorkel around the dive site. We had lunch on the boat and then while we moved to the next site we put out the fishing lines. Becky was running a hand line and had a tremendous striking but Hiro and I were unable to keep on the line and pull it in. Becky got a second strike but lost it. That’s the only luck we had. We dropped Becky off to go snorkeling and ran up the island to do a drift dive. I saw my first pair black tip sharks and we had a great dive. We fished all the way home but had not luck.

Life here in Majuro is good and Becky and I are doing well. I continue my job as the head cook and bottle washer and Becky continues to bring home the bacon. Life’s tough when you’re a cabana boy.

Water Hours and Rain Dances

The Dry Season is here. For most of the year there is enough rain to keep everyone happy. The trees and ground cover stay green and the water catchments are full. But from January to May the rain is infrequent, to the point where serious care and planning is necessary. Because most of the teachers live in school-provided housing, they share catchments. To help keep the water shortage at bay, we have had to host meetings to discuss ways to save water. On the way out, one teacher summed up the meeting by remarking, “So it’s water hours and rain dances!” Here are some things we do:

1.       There is a bucket at the bottom of the shower. All of that water is saved. Use it to soak dishes before they are washed.

2.       Never ever leave the water running – ever – for shaving, teeth brushing, etc.

3.       Never leave your hose connected. Make sure there is no handle on the spigot – people steal water here.

4.       For the group housing, they turn the water off during the day and late at night – in other words, they have water hours; again so neighbors don’t have the opportunity to steal the water.

5.       Run the washer when it rains.

6.       Showers are SHORT.

7.       If it’s yellow let it mellow.

There is city water but it is only turned on two days a week. And if the water runs out, it’s simply gone. Yikes! This morning our catchment was a quarter full and we were getting pretty nervous. So even though we were cold and wet on the sailing race today, we rejoiced when the rain came. The catchment is now half full.

I apologize I haven’t written in quite some time. Nate came before Christmas and stayed until February. Willard’s folks came in mid-January and were here for two weeks. Meanwhile work has been very busy. My personal goal is to finish sending out Christmas cards this week!

Lest you think I am whining, I include a picture of how we spent our Saturday afternoon. Our girls are undefeated – I call them the Scrappy Girls. They don’t have a great shooting percentage but they can sure steal a ball and get it down the court! Some are barefoot and others are running in flip-flops. It is great fun to watch them, especially on a sunny afternoon with a nice breeze! During half-time I watched the coach draw out his plans on his little white board and then erase it with the sole of his flip-flop and then continue to draw and explain the plays. As I’ve said before, life is pretty interesting here!

Thanks for reading, take care! Love to you, Becky

The Scrappy Girls in red win against the Catholic Girls

The Cabana Boy Returns

It’s been about six weeks since I added to my blog so I guess I better get back with the program. Nate came to visit us just before Christmas and stayed until the end of January.  We had a great time with him. Right after Christmas we traveled to a neighboring atoll and spent three days living on a beautiful beach virtually isolated from the rest of the world.

We returned to Majuro just in time for the New Year’s block party. We wandered up and down the street listening to different bands compete with each other for who was the loudest. The closer to midnight it got the drunker the crowd got. We left right after midnight but I guess the real dancing didn’t get going until even later.

The second Tuesday in January Nate and I went out with Ronnie Remer for the monthly fishing tournament.  We had a great day fishing although it was a bit rough. We caught, tagged, and released three marlins (little guys, about 120 pounds) and five mahi mahi, two of which qualified for tournament points.  A long day but fun.

Nate and I also got certified to SCUBA dive in an intensive two- session stint which included four dives. We spent the week prior doing all the book work and taking the tests and on Saturday we were ready to go. Our training sessions took place at a small island on the other side of the lagoon. The first morning was all drills and procedures in shallow water. The afternoon was a iittle deeper with two interesting sights. A Huey helicopter sitting upright in about thirty feet of water and a DC3 cargo plane in about forty feet. Day two saw us back at the island and our morning dive took us to 100 foot passenger ship resting  at 60 feet. That afternoon we motored out to a submerged reef where we dove with schools of Barracudas. Barracudas are mean looking fish but they didn’t bother us although I was a little nervous.

My Mom and Dad arrived on the 19^th and stayed with us until February 1. We rented the house across the street for them because our little one bedroom house was already filled with the addition of Nate. I think Mom and Dad had a good time but the heat was bit much for them.  The average day time temperature is in the low eighties and the humidity is about 80 percent. It does take some getting used to.

Dad, Nate, and I went fishing with Ronnie one day and we caught four nice mahi mahi, one of which was over thirty pounds (that’s a big one). But our day got caught short when another boat lost power and we went to assist them. This boat, XXXX (pronounced “Four X”) was on the way to a container ship that had an ill sailor on board (appendicitis) and planned to evac him to Majuro. The ship was too big for the harbor entrance so a planned rendezvous was to take place about three miles out.  We took XXXX in tow and started back to the lagoon. About half way there a second boat arrived and we watched as the medical team transferred over. It was a pretty calm day with swells about five to seven feet. I was amazed that all medical personnel made the transfer with nobody getting hurt or tossed into the ocean.

After the transfer we continued our tow back into the lagoon and into the dock. It turned out that XXXX had lost their cooling system and fried their diesel.  It will take a new engine before it gets back in the water. We on the other hand had fresh mahi for dinner.

Nate left on January 30^th and, Mom and Dad left on February 1^st. After six weeks of having family around it does seem a little quiet around here. The power has gone out now and I’m finishing this by battery power on the back deck. The tide is way out but I know it will be in at 4 PM  because I’m diving with Todd Newman who is with the Royal Australian Navy and we will be doing some maintenance on their boat (he will, I’m just the dive buddy). Tomorrow is the monthly fishing tournament so I’ll have to get to bed early but with any luck there will be fresh fish for dinner tomorrow night. Life’s tough when you’re a Cabana Boy.